Hi Folks,
It was great seeing all of you yesterday. I have posted photos of the
drive on the Yahoo Group in the Photos section.
There were several new members, as well as some long-timers who haven't
been on a drive in awhile. Unfortunately, several people were left
behind at the first traffic light, and although John pulled over on
River Road, he apparently thought Jim Legg, behind Trish and me, was the
last car, and took off before the rest could catch up. Jim and I hung
back for quite awhile, but didn't see the abandoned ones, which is a
drag. Fortunately, a few of you found us at Sbragio Vineyards thanks to
a phone call to Renee, but it was a drag to get separated like that.
John can speak for himself, but let me say that I know that it was
unintentional on his part, and he really did want us to travel as a
group. John has graciously stepped up since Ron's passing to lead many
of the drives, for which it seems few members really want to take
responsibility.
In the interest of improving our drive experiences and making sure we
all have fun, I have some ideas to share. Trish and I have been leading
many GGLC drives over the years, which regularly see 35 cars (!) and I
learned some lessons from an NOBBC drive several years ago when we had
an unexpectedly large turnout and I inadvertently left some people
behind at our meeting place.
First, I have found that in every club there are those who want to
travel at a relatively faster or slower pace. That is particularly true
now that the NOBBC membership has grown over the years. For many years
now, I have split my drives into a faster group and a slower group, with
a drive leader for each group.
Also, I make sure we have a brief driver's meeting before we depart, so
that everyone knows the basic route and destination. Normally, we all
decide on a route and destination, but we don't often have such a large
group as yesterday. Good initial communication makes it easier for
people to stay with the group.
For pre-planned drive routes, I post a map for people to use, and while
I've found most don't use it, at least it's there for reference. Not an
option for our typically unplanned, impromptu decisions at the meeting
spot, however.
For long drives, I have scheduled stops, and on all drives, I pull over
to let people catch up, particularly when we go through traffic lights
or lots of stops. It's always a balance, though, between keeping up a
nice drive pace, and keeping people together, which is why I have
adopted the first rule - two groups for a large turnout.
Last, please don't get discouraged and drop out of future drives. Please
think about taking the lead on an upcoming drive. I have a lot of other
suggestions learned the hard way from leading drives that I can share
with anyone who is interested, but isn't confident or thinks it's too
much trouble to lead.
We had one breakdown yesterday - Jim Legg was lagging behind our car
about 2/3 way through the drive, and I thought he had decided to turn
around and head back. When Trish and I were on the way home, there was
Jim, sitting on a winery's low stone wall, his MGB in the driveway with
a broken U-joint! Poor guy had been waiting for a tow truck, then
another when the tow company sent the wrong truck. We waited with him
until the second truck arrived. Fortunately, a U-joint is an easy and
cheap repair.
Have a great holiday!
Greg Tatarian
1967 Lotus Elan S3 SE Coupe
1971 Lotus Elan S4 DHC
1974 Triumph TR6
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