I'm looking at attending the challenge this year, what is the best way to get there from the Philly area? Fly to JAX and rent a car? Fly with a million connections to Gainesville? Bum a ride with somebody?
Right now it seems like the answer is to fly to JAX and maybe share a rental car with someone, or possibly see if a team is picking up members from the airport.
I plan to drive my Challenge car from Indiana to Florida, so if you can get to a city that's on the way, you're welcome to pile in.
Also I am willing to tow someone's Challenge car with my Challenge car if you are on the way and in need. It's a Roadmaster wagon, so up to 5,000 lbs including trailer.
Hitch a ride with someone on the way down (could be a mix, like fly to Atlanta first), or fly to a cheaper airport and drive w/ the rental.
You definitely need to go 
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
If flying, the answer is to fly into Jax and rent a car. That combo is still likely cheaper than flying into Gainesville. If you do fly into Gainesville, the hotel has a free shuttle that will pick you up at the Gainesville airport. The hotel is still about 15-20 minutes from the airport.
I will be driving through Jax briefly but I'm not sure what time and that is likely Weds.
There are a couple of competitors who live in Jax.
Other options to pursue:
Andy Newman will be trailering down from York, PA
Andrew Nelson and family will be trailering down from York, PA also.
Will you be joining in on the Ghettocet!?
google maps says 13.5 hour drive, about 900 miles. Wake up early and get er done. Flying will probably be 7-8 hours total trip if you can go direct. 1 hr travel to airport + 2 hours early at airport to park, shuttle, security, (and then realize you were 1.5 hours too early but you couldn't have chanced it the other way) + 2 hour flight + 1 hour to de-board and make it to the rental car + 1-2 hr to drive to final destination.
You'll be looking at $200-$300 in gas for the there and back, so it gives you a baseline to compare for flights + rental car. Say you can score a $250 flight, then $100 for a cheap weekend rental + a little gas, that might be worth the 10 hours you save by flying.
But if the flight is $500 and rental $200, then you make $40/hour by driving to the challenge! (700-300 = 400 / 10 hours saved) I can't think of a better way to earn $40/hour.
In reply to Robbie:
Rental car from neighborhood location will also be much cheaper than rental from airport with as much as $15 per day added in tourist taxes/fees.
I was thinking about doing 2 challenge cars with one being drivable to the challenge. Not sure I'll get them both done though. Potentially you could drive the one to the event. I am inYork, PA. This would also give you the opportunity to have a car to compete in all weekend and have fun.
Other than that I'm hoping to leave Wednesday before the event to drive down.
Yes, the plan would be to participate in the last minute Ghettocet parking lot build. Part of the appeal of flying is the ability to sleep since I doubt I'll get much working on the car- I'm sure I can knock out the drive easily but that's wasted time and energy if I want to be on my A-game for Thursday, especially if I don't take Wednesday off.
In reply to Andy Neuman:
If you need me to drive a car down I'm up for it- the more questionable the vehicle the better!
I am near both of you in West Chester area. I have been really wanting to go and reserved a room a couple months ago... I have been planning on driving my van down but a challenge car could be fun, or pit for one in my van on he way down...? Convoy.
I'm up for carpooling and happy to split fuel costs or whatever. I guess I need a room, will pay my share of that too if anybody wants to split. Looking to do this on the cheap!
There is plenty of time and space to sleep under the car.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: In reply to Andy Neuman: If you need me to drive a car down I'm up for it- the more questionable the vehicle the better!
This is the least questionable car ever. Full interior LS400 with coilovers, radio currently doesn't work because someone stole the amp. Car only has 111k miles on it so far.
In reply to Andy Neuman:
Well in that case sounds like a nice place to sleep! (While moving if Ross413 and I go all "Team Polizei" and drive it down for you)
If you're up for the adventure is driving down from Baltimore in a challenge car with fixed back buckets and no A/C let me know. Hey it will have a functional roof scoop at least
In reply to captdownshift:
I'm up for that too- if I'm driving, no reason not to make it a bit of a challenge in and of itself!
'Join' my 'team' down in Atlantic City and we can split the driving duties all around?
Seriously, I could use the help wrenching but driving there and back is a lot of miles, too. I don't really race anymore so plenty of seat time at the challenge. I will probably work on the parking lot builds, too (hard habit to kick...).
Full interior, automatic, maybe a stereo, possibly a/c, really comfy seats and decent mileage in my challenge car..
In reply to tb:
I might be able to contribute to some last-minute wrenching just before leaving for the challenge, but my current projects have me fully booked for the foreseeable future.
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
I hear you; every time I think that I have free time life just gets in the way...
I do not really do last minute hustle stuff; the car will be finished in time. I might just run it as 'phase 1' this year and bring it back again next year in its ultimate form...
Seriously, getting there and back solo is one of my biggest hurdles to entering a car this year and if you want to copilot something then you can definitely ride with me without having to bust your knuckles on anything until we get there.
If you want to talk about possible plans I am always around: (2 one 5) two 8 zero - 0 seven 3 zero
I'm driving to the Challenge from Melbourne, FL. MLB (Melbourne) and MCO (Orlando) can both be on my way if you need a ride.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: In reply to Andy Neuman: Well in that case sounds like a nice place to sleep! (While moving if Ross413 and I go all "Team Polizei" and drive it down for you)
Right there, whole other aspect of the challenge... Challenge cars driven to Florida, Gumball style run, for us eastcoasters say Baltimore area start!!! Ha.
Really though, I saw I had nothing on the calendar that weekend and it looks like fun. I am up for anything from driving myself down there to some crazyness... Lets do it.
In reply to Ross413:
It looks like there are a great many people in need of drivers here, so I'm guessing we'll end up with separate cars. We'll see how things shake out as it gets closer- I had no idea that driving someone's car down for them was an option!
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
Yeah man, sorry to hijack. Just saw your post and thought it would be fun. No worries either way. Fun stuff.
I am just being totally honest about my challenge future: at this point actually getting there and back is a big obstacle. My health issues at this point make it hard for me to drive more than 3-5 hours straight without a break.
For the past few years I have flown down to Jacksonville and rented a car to drive to Gainseville and then have a little fun with... Usually I end up driving others around for errands (gas, food, etc.) and such (break downs, party supplies, etc.) since I am not a huge drinker now that I take so many medications. If I wind up spectating this year that is what I will do; so I will fly there (probably thursday) and have a car big enough to drive people around wherever needed until I head back to the airport (probably sunday). I think that flying to JAX and renting a car has worked out well for that past couple years so I would suggest it as a first option and if we both wind up with similar schedules (same flight, even) I think sharing a car would be easy and am amenable to sharing a room also if anyone needs to keep their costs down.
Lately I have been satisfying myself with being flexible and useful and just leaving the keys in the ignition... I do really plan on having my current challenge effort running any day now and it should only take a weekend to upgrade that to actually driving but I know I will not be brokenhearted if I don't make it this year.
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