Green Grand Prix -- May 3 2008 ??

I'm not sure whether to drop this in the NY area or New England,
but it doesn't really matter ... this sprang out of some of the
post-discussion around our Boston meetup last weekend. Last year
I participated in the Green Grand Prix and so far have been
planning on going again, except that the GGP website has no
information about this year even on the schedule page
which has nothing but a TBA placeholder. Otherwise the site only
seems to have a few pictures from 2007. This is sort of disturbing.
.
But I had started to bang in a bunch of stuff from last year
and decided to move all that off to this separate thread. It
was fun, even though the SCCA people don't understand the first
thing about high-MPG driving technique. They're all about
exact timing and average speeds and nothing else, and the rally
scoring was a bit disappointing from that standpoint.
.
So I've been pushing the idea of more emphasis on MPG achievements
and driving style in discussions with Bob Gillespie, one of the event
founders, and he's told me straight up that in his discussions with
the SCCA about that he might as well have been speaking chinese.
Which is sad and ironic as hell for an event that calls itself
"green". He suggested that I try to organize some kind of "fun run"
for MPG numbers around the same rally route, but didn't really offer
any support from his own organization for it. No, I told him, I
can't pull that off by myself, that's ridiculous. Especially when
the speed limits on many of the roads around Seneca Lake are 50 - 55
with substantial hills and farmer pickups chewing your nice person the
whole way.
.
So I don't know what's up with this event. It was a nice little
road-trip from the Boston area, and after the rally run we all
moved into a parking lot at a local school to show off for the
public. What I should do is pull together my pix from last year
and post a page about it, and hopefully more info about this year
will emerge soon. If anyone is more local or knows the people
behind the event better and can find out more, by all means please
post here.
.
There are two campgrounds, one sort of typical redneck RV park
called "Clute" a little ways eastward out of town still in the
valley, where I stayed last year, and the other being the state park
way up on the hill over the Glen itself that I toured briefly around
and then kicked myself that I hadn't gone for in the first place.
It's much nicer, more secluded with woods, etc with the only
downside being that it's up on a hill that's more than a battery
pack's worth of SOC high above lake level!
.
_H*

 

This will sound astoundingly lame, but I never really finished
organizing the pix I shot of GGP 2007 last year. As a tool to
perhaps encourage a little more interest and head off the problem
of being lost and directionless in Watkins Glen, I've finally
thrown together a little page about it. It has embedded links
to the various campgrounds and such, as well as a nice big
annotated map from my discoveries last year.
.
I talked to Bob Gillespie today. He said that despite the website
being sort of screwed up, registration has been brisk. And
I also found out that the nice state park campground opens up
for business on *MAY 2* -- perfect timing.
.
So, who wants to make a weekend event out of it, take a nice
drive, do some public show-n-tell, see some gorgeous scenery,
and maybe spend the Sunday bangin' around in the Glen itself?
We could create a nest of sleeping Priii in the woods.
.
_H*

 

Well, I just called the state park campground, and the lady said
they open May 2 for the first night of camping and it's not even
worth making a reservation because they'll have lots of sites
available and a cash-per-night basis is just fine with them.
She warned that various facilities aren't open yet [like the
pool] and it can still get sort of chilly at night up there, but
other than that it sounds totally doable. We could probably
get hundreds of those rowdy, partyin' Prius types up there if
we really tried and have our own little hybrid Laconia.
.
Oop, I didn't ask about multiple cars per site since I dipped
back into this thread after calling. If anyone wants to follow
up to (607) 535-4511 and ask about that, go for it...
.
I haven't tried the Glen Motor Inn yet, but might be up for a
roomshare there instead, depending on pricing and all.
.
_H*

 

Okay, from this far out the weather for Watkins Glen is looking
kind of iffy -- about 50% chance of rain all days. And one of
the lines on the park page says the gorge trail may not be open
until mid-May. Calling the number [after hours at the moment]
yields a recording saying that the trail is partially open, as far
as "lover's lane" wherever that is. Might still be worth a hike
on Sunday morning.
.
Those who are definite might want to PM some cellphone numbers
back and forth to enable on-the-road logisticating, as well as
do some more in-depth trip planning here. Perhaps enough chat
about it will encourage some more people to join us!
.
The campground staff seem personable enough that they'd likely
accomodate grouping us up, maybe nearish [but not right next to]
the shower building. Might be able to pull up and say "we're
that bunch of Prius people with GGP" and get directed to the
right place. No, I haven't tried to coordinate that specifically.
.
_H*

 

I've got a conflict this year, and already sent my regrets to
Bob. Heading for Baltimore instead, helping with a once-
every-few-years convention..
.
[edit: Oh, and y'all might want to start a *new* thread to
discuss this year...]
.
_H*