Just something to keep in everyone's mind

I trust that you all are drivers who want to be smart as well as fast, and I've read the philosophy here and agree completely.

I heard recently that they are working on locking down Deal's Gap with more police patrols etc because of incidents.

We can't do much about what other people do, but one of my greatest worries is that as more people become interested in touge, the chance will grow that some freak incident will rob us all of enjoying what we love, running the mountain roads.

The more we set a serious example, especially about lane safety, talking about it with others etc, the more years we'll be able to enjoy doing this.

The other reason I'm posting this is that over the weekend I went what felt like half a car over the double yellows (went in too hot), and that really bothers me. If there was a bike near the yellows in the on-coming, or a truck, it could have been a disaster. I don't take that screw-up lightly, and none of us should take mountain-run screw-ups lightly when we talk about them with others.

Well, I'll get off the soapbox now! See you all up there!

Chuck.

First rule of the 4 touge club is don't cross the yellow line

second rule of the 4 touge club is don't cross the yellow line.

third rule of the 4 touge club is if this is your first touge, you have to drive.

what the hell does that third one mean...?

all your base are belong to us?

Sung needs to edit post.

Sung... That sig so damn distracting... LOL

done~

have you guys never seen that sig?

Trekster wrote:

First rule of the 4 touge club is don't cross the yellow line

second rule of the 4 touge club is don't cross the yellow line.

third rule of the 4 touge club is if this is your first touge, you have to drive.

Your sig is AWESOME.... What is that, a roach crawling in a figure 8? Freakin AWESOME!!!!

lol joey's following suit.

good advice dont drive over your head if you are scared you are going too fast. if you are not scared that you are going too fast please don't show up for our events.

there is definitely no shame in running in the back of the back, Any run you come home safe from was a good one.

^yeah that.

I like to think I'm a decent driver. I want to see how well I can do on a windier road. Any tips or advice for the touge newb?

leadfoot_mf wrote:

good advice dont drive over your head if you are scared you are going too fast. if you are not scared that you are going too fast please don't show up for our events.

Was there any event that made you want to go find this thread?

omgvtec04 wrote:

I like to think I'm a decent driver. I want to see how well I can do on a windier road. Any tips or advice for the touge newb?

learn your limits before you try to push those limits trying to keep up with someone who's limits exceed your's.

omgvtec04 wrote:

I like to think I'm a decent driver. I want to see how well I can do on a windier road. Any tips or advice for the touge newb?

Autox it before you mountain run it to learn the limits of your car.

While on the mountain brake sooner than you think you should for a corner to allow some 'oh f*ck' time, and if you are having to many of these moments you ought to slow down. Dont lead unless you know your limits, your car's limits, and you know the road VERY well.

Follow folks that know what they are doing and start out slower and then get faster. It isnt a race, just good clean fun. Some of us have our competitive moments, but it isnt really a race.

Another thing that help is recording your runs, you can go back and look at certain moments in the tape to see what you could have done different.

It wont let me edit in this section, but Autox before you mountain run your car to learn the limits. You make a mistake on the mountain you go over a cliff, if you make that same mistake autox'ing you run a cone over.

SPARTA wrote:

omgvtec04 wrote:

I like to think I'm a decent driver. I want to see how well I can do on a windier road. Any tips or advice for the touge newb?

learn your limits before you try to push those limits trying to keep up with someone who's limits exceed your's.

Right... I'm not an idiot. Lol. I'm actually a pretty big pansy when it comes to speeding and taking turns too fast. But the more I drive my car, the more confidence I gain in myself and my driving skills. I want to go on a little baby run first.

That is a good mentality to have.

~The_Duke~ wrote:

That is a good mentality to have.

I'm a pretty quick learner, too. Evan said "try to heel-toe", I YouTube'd a How-to video and had it down in like 2-3 days. Trying to adjust to the new clutch AND re-learning heel-toe has been frustrating but I'm getting comfortable again.

I never do anything I'm not completely comfortable with but I try to push my limits when I know it's safe to do so.

I hate asking for help but when I set my mind on something.... Well, I have a vajay so you know how that goes. Lol.

Ya heel toe is a very important technique IMO. I use it all the time.

How to videos and in car videos can be helpful if you know which road you are watching.

omgvtec04 wrote:

I like to think I'm a decent driver. I want to see how well I can do on a windier road. Any tips or advice for the touge newb?

Pretty much what everyone else already said. Just practice. If you haven't been up to the mountains, first time you go just take it easy and get a good feel for it. Each time you go, you'll be more used to it and be able to push a bit more but that is entirely up to you if you want to or not.

The idea is to enjoy yourself and take baby steps. You could also buy some books that teach you about driving and suspension to understand better what's going on. I've been to lazy to do that but will at some point. It'd be nice to understand why a bigger or smaller sway bar causes more or less understeer, or why/when would you want to stiffen the front or rear of your car, etc. etc.

Finally, at first I would go to the mountains and just drive. Then each time I went I would start paying attention to what was really happening: am I braking too fast or not fast enough, am I going in to wide or narrow, etc. so my next visit I could pick one thing I wasn't doing well and work on that.

Ohh and make sure on your first time there, you don't drive close to me

I also wouldn't recommend going up and meeting at 9am when you were out drinking and s*** until 6am...trust me, it sucks

and jake pukes

oh, edit - jake pukes after having 2 beers and going to bed at midnight...biatch

My GF has to take motion sickness meds when she rides with me on mountain runs now.