OK OK The Flame War Is ON!!!!

[wardsweb]

I pulled this from the Yahoo Groups:

Hi Everyone, (Especially you Leon)

For all of those who missed the run to the Flightline Cafe, Yes I am the one who got lost for a little while (~1 mile). Operating on dead-reconning, I knew Hondo was in a westerly direction and that we were proceeding in that direction as well, so I went with gut instinct. After seeing a couple of signs listing the road as "Scenic Loop" rather that "Scenic Dr" as stated on the directions. So I turned around and found Bob chasing me down and helped correct my error. My apologies to the group for the delay in reaching the 10 o'clock potty break. I think we arrived 15-20 min. late for our 11 o'clock lunch.

With that being said, I would like to now FLAME about some of the run characteristics I have noticed and found unappealing. First is the speed at which we go, case in point was the 80 mph we went through a residential area marked with a 40 mph speed limit. To this I ask how many of you would allow your children or grand children to play near our route. (and this coming from a single person with no offspring)

To me, an enjoyable ride in my Miata is going on the roads less traveled, enjoying the sights, sound, and smells the world has to offer. At speeds above 45 mph, I am focused on what the road is doing and what dangers may lay ahead, not enjoyable at all, only stressful. I do not want a deer, or a SUV to mash my car (what about you Leon?)
I will not put myself in that situation again. If I wanted to go fast, I would have bought a Corvette. (not that I suffer from little big man syndrome, like most Corvette owner do.)

My second point is the view of run leader. One thing I have learned as an Officer is that you cannot be a leader unless you have followers. And a good leader always looks after his/her follower. I would restate this that everyone on a drive is a leader for those behind them and not just be focused on how fast the car can go regardless of who or what is around them.

Finally, if you are going to point out my mistakes, at least give me the credit. Don't just hide it with vague references. Use my name.

OK, I am spent and await your return fire. I will again be unable to attend this next month's meeting due to competting commitments I have made. (ok, bowling with my fellow and superior officers does take precedence over the car club)

CPT Dennis Blunt
MS, USA

[Skeeter]

Dennis, I am not here to argue as to how fast the run was going, but just to reiterate the fact that a driver made a wrong turn, and it was not unnoticed. The radio was full of chatter. You were not lost. I knew where you were. And I had a full tank of gas to bring you back. I took the initiative. I turned right and followed you, and sent the others on their way. "Our" detour did NOT cause the run to be late in any way...We were the only one's that were a little behind schedule.

Skeeter (Robert)

[tmac]

You know I was surprised at getting the e-mail from Dennis. I thought it was to me, not to the whole group. Now my e-mail is filling up with everybody's opinion, even from an S-2000 club member....thanks Rick. Ron Wojnar, so many new members, do I know you? Were you on the run?
I didn't want a petty war about the run but here is what I wrote to Dennis with a copy to Leon, and Pat. Maybe it's not worth spending the hours and the gas putting runs together? But then I have some nice complements too, so I'll focus on that.

Dennis,
I was quite surprised by your e-mail. So I will reply:
1. You missed a turn, who hasn't, and it will happen again. Who cares? Nobody!
I make mistakes on my q-sheet, and on my articles to the newsletter. I get rapped on all of them. It's in fun, not to make me feel bad, but just to have a good laugh, and being able to laugh at yourself is a powerful gift.
2. Sorry about putting down scenic dr. instead of scenic route, but you see again, i make mistakes. But then again it did say turn left.
3. About my being a run leader. Yes, we drive fast, and maybe don't make the best choices, but we try. When going through Gray Forest, we were going 30. When going
down through Helotes we were going close to the speed limit, down Talley road we speeded up to take some of the curves, and followed the speed limit most of way to our first break. On the 2nd part of the run, we knew we were going to be going at a high rate of speed. The only populated area was down River Road. In the club, we enjoy the same things that you enjoy, scenery, weather, etc. but we also enjoy pushing our cars on mostly rural roads because they are able to perform at a higher degree of safety than say a SUV. Most people with a Miata sell it because they get bored driving back and forth to work in it, and never experiencing the thrill of letting this high performance engine do what it was designed for. Some points I would like to make:
- In most of our runs we are going to push the speed limit
- You are under no constraints to drive at a speed you feel uncomfortable with. That's why we have someone with a radio in the back, so we know when to wait for slower drivers.
-We do have members that drive quite a bit slower, and we wait at appropriate places for them to join us.
-We have a planning meeting every year to decide which events we will schedule. If you lead a run, you decide what speed everybody drives. It's not up to debate, the leader decides. If you are uncomfortable, get near the back and drive at the speed your are comfortable with. If you lead a slow run, we will all ride behind you and enjoy the scenery more!
-No one is criticizing your other commitments. Paul and Judy, Jose and Irma, and other people on the west side never make the meetings. No one is going to say anything other than "we missed you."
-You have the perfect freedom to e-mail or call a leader and ask about the run, and if you think it will make you feel uncomfortable don't go. We don't want to put you in a situation that you are uncomfortable with.
-We have had drivers who never went on another run after the first one. We also have drivers (club members) who have quit the club because in their view we have slowed down too much. Can't please everybody.
-One more thing, did you count the number of times I slowed down or stopped to allow others to make the turn, or catch up with the group. The run leader and the person at the back try to coordinate to the best of their ability to keep the group together. That's why Bob went after you, and why we waited until you caught up. Time are estimates, I called the restaurant to delay our reservation...no problem.

Finally, I have enjoyed getting to know you. I appreciate your concern, but you need to decide if being in the club is something you want to do. I don't think it's going to change much. Most of us had our children, they are on their own so we have more freedom to enjoy these little cars. Nobody wants to get hurt or hurt anybody else. I drive at the speeds I feel comfortable at, I don't push it as much as some others, so I settle in the pack where I feel comfortable. Besides my conscience is sitting in the seat next to me!

Where we live lends itself to thrilling drives. That's why the Miata clubs in Houston and Midland love to come here for the Texas round-up, and you ought to see how they drive. (There a lot of young people.) As for Leon, if I took him serious out of his poking fun at me, I would have quit a long time ago. He has no malice, just a good sense of humor (except in politics.)
Zoom-Zoom

Tim McCurdy tmac@satx.rr.com

LET THE FLAME WAR END PLEASE!!!

[Slideroadster]

WOW?! and i didnt think you guys had any fun on these runs... :D