Subject: [NOBBC] Photos of yesterday's drive

From: NOBBC <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2013 09:32:32 -0800

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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From: Gary Germano <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2013 21:39:02 -0800

Hi Greg and all,
Although I was unable to attend this run, I understand the disappointment of
being lost or getting left behind.
The idea of a "faster and slower" run is a very good one.
Additionally, I think that with this era of  "communication" with most
everyone having a cell phone (even I have what they now refer to as a
"brick"...as I am not overly techie...), somehow the leader could communicate
with an "assigned"  last car  in the group (and maybe someone in the middle)
in efforts to keep the group together.
Also, there could be more "pre-planned"  short stop points for people to
"catch up" if necessary.  A count on cars at the beginning of the run would be
helpful here.
Hopefully some other members in the club will share some ideas on keeping the
group together, and through this "brainstorming" we can come up with several
"failsafes" that will insure that all that start the run will have the
enjoyment of ending up with the group they started with at the finish. It is
always nice to have a "win/win".
Best regards to all and a Happy, Healthy, "Safety Fast" 2014,
Gary(From the AKA) Gary and Janet Germano '70 Yellow MGB

> Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2013 09:32:32 -0800
> From: [email-masked]
> To: [email-masked]; [email-masked]
> Subject: [NOBBC] Photos of yesterday's drive
>
> Hi Folks,
>
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