Now that I've had time to read the thread in its entirety, it's obvious we need to change something to prevent the situation of 2 seperated groups traveling in totally opposite directions but how we could always revert to Cols traditional run...... Melbourne to Geelong..... thunderpoint meet up.... ApoloBay for lunch... home start @ 9ish and home by 4ish..... & I actually went close to doing that exact run this year but decided against it, I belive most members want the mystery of the run I do and the sometimes exotic stops and indeed roads we take. In doing so tho I'm at the mercy of the GOR and its constant changing/evolving habits, what was a great spot yesterday is definately no place for a ZX today, and so I have to adapt & alter often on the run as we go...... my navi gets yelled at quite a lot as maps are frantically searched for an alternative road that hooks up with the remaining part of the run and this year was no differant...... :bash: Perhaps an explanation of the dificulties of this run may help us all better understand and assist in finding a solution..... driver needs / driver ability / driver expectations Each driver has a differant view of what the GOR should have, some of us want it to simply showcase the stunning ZX and more so our own ZX over others as we cruise through the townships on the GOR Some want the challenge of the drive and cant wait for the more "spirited sections", whilst others just want a lesurely relaxing plod through the forest to inhale the natural smells of the eucalypts....... Few of us have a racing bloodline and the spirited sections offer some joyfull memories of past performances, others struggle with the fact that the GOR isnt a multi lane freeway and some have barely had the ink dry on the fresh newly issued licence :br: Some of are more than happy to spend hours behind the wheel & find having to stop even for fuel a painfull event ..... I'm certainly in that class, one of my former cars had a range of 1300K's & it really sucked having to stop for re-fueling Others tire out after only an hour or so, and some look like thay are ready for bed at the halfway point..... :rofl: The GOR.... plain n simple or that mystery supprise..... Plain n simple is easy stuff, we could plan the next 50 GOR runs right now and forget it untill the day of the run, or we can mix it up and highlight many of the hidden supprises that is the GOR..... One of my favourites was the sheer look of horror on members faces as 2 choppers hovered only meters above their beloved cars...... others will say the Otway Fly was the best nature walk they've done..... and then theres the guys that have a grin from ear to ear over that last corner when the front wheel lifted clear of the deck and the whole car stepped out a foot or so..... that momentary experiance is what for me makes the GOR great and each year I head home with a great memory and none are the same from any of the previous years. Choppers hovering, Renzed's first GOR after the rebuild, Mike and that airborne corner, bloated bellies from the big feed at the fly, BADZX drifting in the rain, ..... "where the phuck are we" questions followed by..... "is this even on a map" :rofl: What dont work on the GOR UHF radios..... in "line of sight" ya on a winner, but as soon as guys enter the next valley or go over that peak, a message written on a rock and thrown in their general direction is probably a better choice CB radio however does work down here My 4X4ing rigs all had both UHF and CB radios, the uhf was for close range and the cb was for the distance work..... but try finding an affordable handheld cb radio, and none of us wants a hole in the bodywork for an ariel..... Mobile phones....... first year my number has not been attatched to the GOR thread, not that it would of mattered as most of the area was virtually dead from the telstra tower burn, UHF was at that stage a 'better' option.... Mobile coverage is really only newish along the GOR and there are still many dead spots even when its all running right..... dont laugh but even TV reception is many homes is still limited to the ABC and maybe ch9 if ya lucky The other side of the mobile is that not many of us are willing to post up our numbers and it becomes pointless if its only a few members that have exchanged numbers when I/we need to reach every member on the run..... Planned run ... printed out route... Could be an answer until a re-route is needed, in that instant it as worthless as the paper its written on Having led bigger groups through the Otways (50+cars) I used a rally type set of course notes, and they worked a treat up until a large tree was blown across the road mid pack which resulted in absolute chaos.... My leed pack was hot on my tail, one lot did Uturns and re routing on the fly and the 3rd group attacked the tree for 2 hours in vain attempts to move it from the road.... All up instead of puting 50+ cars through a 100K section in an ~hour we found we had a 4hour window instead with terratrips all reading some wild figures. The other big problem with a course style route notes is the actual trip meters..... differant wheels means that my trip meter reading will be vastly differant to someone on stockies or on 20"rims..... That simple size comparision means that a ......... Turn right @ 23.7k's can see car A heading to the Otway Fly while car B trundles down a private driveway as car C heads off road down the Aire river crossing Ahhhhh use road signs...... great idea...... how many of you know where Turtons track is.... YOU should know as we've traveled it twice, once from either direction..... ofcourse if it was actually sign posted you'd have half a chance :rofl: It becomes difficult when we can all relate to town names like Lorne / ApoloBay / LaversHill, but then where is Forrest / Princetown / Deans Marsh in relation to them...... You've all been to them, and these are the bigger towns, how much confusion is there if I add in the tiny ones..... Wongurra, HordenVale, Glenaire, Weeaproinah, Ferguson You've been through them too and on several past runs aswell At this stage ..... the buddy system has been working , check ya mirrors for the zed behind you, no ZX then slow down and wait for them.... its dead simple, but the weak link is any number of zeds that loose concerntration for a few moments and loose sight whether from behind or in front of the other car, its then that the problem is compounded with one car blasting off in hot pursuit or stopped in a hidden from view spot and the other taking a guess as to 'left/right/straighton'...... As the front runner, I have no way of knowing whats happening back with Col or for that matter mid pack...... All I can see is those that are in my mirrors and I try to keep atleast 2 cars in my mirrors at all times with the one exception..... Turtons where you simply cant take a wrong turn unless you've gone bush, and thats a bad thing Check points Requires manpower and people with local knowlege, no point is sending Alex ahead to BeachForest - Mt Sabine Rd when he has SFA idea as to where it is (psssst ....... Turtons track"s propper name ) Summary: It wasnt broken, but now its had a major fail and we need to address it. Thoughts? Kingy
And the photography thing we did..... WORKED A TREAT & I am planing some more additions to that setup for next year.....
Badzx.... After reading all that, I still like the way that the modern day GOR is organised and run. I think the current recipe works best, but I must admit that I do prefer spending more time on the GOR than on the inland roads. But that's just me, and I still love the day regardless. It's one of the highlights in my calendar. As for the separation of the two groups, and one of those groups getting lost on the return journey, a possible explaination exists as to why it failed us this year. After speaking to some of the guys here, it seems that the last car in group 1 was the black M3 that joined us at the BP servo at Avalon. It seems that they didn't stop or make an attempt to slow down when the groups became separated and rather just floored it and took off. So how do we address this? Is it right to assume that another Zedder would have slowed down at waited? Do we really make ALL non zeds travel at the back of the pack to prevent this from happening? This last point seems to be a bit elitist to me, and I certainly would not force old time forum members like Trav in his SS to travel at the back because he no longer drives a Zed. Plus, being on public roads, I don't think you can force anyone to drive anywhere they don't want to... All I can assume is that since the guys in he black M3 joined us at Avalon, they may have missed BigCols speech at Todd rd telling everyone to keep the car behind them in the rear view mirror. But then again, I was sure that Kingy gave the same speech at Avalon..,,, So who knows, the solutions are never simple. For the previous years, our methods have always worked. Maybe next year it will work again. Either way, the day was still awesome
It was stated in the GOR thread in comming events It was stated by Col @ Todd Rd meetup It was again stated by me @ the BP meetup For me its a pointless excersise to place the blame on any specific person / vehicle, perhaps the last car in the leed pack had a ZX in his mirror and that ZX may well have been a someone that wasnt involved in either the forum or its GOR run...... I remember a few years back a white 2+2 ZX going in the opposite direction to the main group between Lorne and ApoloBay and I slowed the pack down so this vehicle could Uturn and catch up..... found out a week later it wasnt even a forum member nor where they on any cruise...... I think the simplest fix is to double it.......... Keep 2 300zx's in ya mirrors at all times, that way if your a weak link then someone else is covering yo ass
On the GOR I had three cars behind me... A Toyota behind me then a red zx, and the ss... I noticed that behind those three there was no one else, so I tried to slow the 4 in front of me to no avail.... This was up front as I believe the 4 in front of me where behind the front few that where no where in sight.. So anyway, I eventually gave up trying to slow the group in front because they just wernt taking note, and I pulled over (they kept going still -_-) The Toyota just went around me and kept going (thanks a lot) but the ss and the red zed did. The rest of the zeds (20 odd!) then caught up and I was in lead and we all kept together for the rest of the way. Turns out they got stuck behind a bus.
what some saw and others missed..... next time I must remember to clean the windscreen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ1MpZy9yWg&feature=youtu.be enjoy :br:
