I guess we've got a couple of interesting things happening:
I guess we've got a couple of interesting things happening:
XOOM has joined with NBC now and has become NBCi.com. I have no idea when the "XOOM" address will stop working, so if you've bookmarked anything, you might want to change it now.
I joined a Yahoo! Web Ring for Technology and Education. Be sure to follow the link at the bottom to visit other Tech Ed pages. If you have a page of your own, join up!
I'm moving again. I'm getting tired of living in boxes. I was born in Victoria BC, and moved to Sooke, to Victoria, to Terrace (two places), to Stewart, to Salmon Arm, to Armstrong, to Calgary Alberta, back to Armstrong (two places), to Langley, to Armstrong, to Burnaby, to Vancouver, to Burnaby, to Port Moody, and now yet another locale for residence. That's 16 times. At least I'm good at packing....
This school year looks promising!
And still, the never ending why won't it stop saga of... The Heinous Honda....
September 24 I ran the last Regional Event of the year. I took 3rd, which was pretty good considering I was quite out of control for most of the runs. I lost 1st by 4/10 a second, and lost 2nd by 1/10 of a second. What I had done, is replace the front sway bar links with Honda's original design and replaced a failed rear sway bar bushing - the front was softer, and the rear was stiffer - which threw my carefully experimented tire pressures right out the window. I was the Oversteer King. I decided I had to go to a more conservative rear pressure from now on - perhaps 45/34 psi f/r.
October 01 was the last Novice Event of the year! The Novice Series is a series of six races for beginning autocrossers, where the top six drivers at the end of the year win a set of BFGoodrich R-compound race tires.
We only got 3 runs in for the day because we were a bit late getting started, and then one competitor rolled his car 1 1/2 times, which took some time to clean up all the glass and oil and debris (the driver is OK - thanks to a 5-point seatbelt, helmet and racing seat).
Since I was in fourth place in the series, I desparately wanted to pull in a good time. I ran
45/36 psi tire pressures front/rear for the first run, and was still quite loose
(the back end wanted to spin). I dropped the front pressure to 44, which had the tires rolling
onto the tread edge more than I wanted, but didn't it induce any understeer - in fact, I spun out
completely! For the final run, I raised the rear pressures all the way to 40 psi, figuring that
if this didn't do it, I might as well just go home. Before I got on track, I chickened out and
dropped it to 38psi and guess what? It worked!
The car handled beautifully! It stuck really well, and just "danced" through the slaloms. It was a joy and a delight to drive!! I pulled in a 65.1 second time, which I think was one of the (if not the) quickest H/Stock times of the day. I think I was able to maintain my standings, but I have not yet received the results (and times were not posted). One competitor's C/SP CRX ran a 59, so for me to be only 6 seconds behind, that's about as close as I ever get to the fast guys when I'm running well.
Amazing how I finally sort it all out in time for the last run of the last event of the year. After this last run, I was beaming. I was so happy it was just wonderful. My father was down for the weekend to help me move, and was able to have him proud of me. Funny how as a grown adult, I still seek my father's approval (but it sure felt good to have him proud of me!).
One thing I would like to mention. These races are held on Sundays. The day I give to the Lord. I felt guilty skipping church to go racing on Sundays, but I felt such joy in racing that I can't explain how wonderful it feels. Just as the main character in "Chariots of Fire" says "When I run, I feel God's pleasure," so to do I. I want to give glory to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for giving me the opportunity to participate in this sport, for keeping me safe and for keeping the Heinous Honda running, and for granting me one of the desires of my heart - Racing!
And the spring and the fall was the first season.... (grin)