tldr; tail-gating car passes me, but can't do curves. Sounds a little like a #humblebrag - but it is not. I really AM slow, and those of you who have seen me autocross know it. My car is not cool in either the GRM or the Hemmings way. This also sounds a little bit like a story poopshovel told a few years ago - but this is not as cool as his story, either, because the person didn't stop to talk to me about my cool car afterwards
Hi All,
Yes, I've been gone for ever, and I'm sorry about that....every since the career change three years ago I've been focusing on the new job (....and starting get some good feedback, but that's a separate story.) That's also why the '32 datsun replica hasn't been touched in nearly two years. (Ouch, that hurt to even say.) It has been even longer than that since I was in an autocross. (God, this is turning into a confessional) FWIW, I'll probably have a slightly easier schedule in the fall, and hope do some car stuff then.
Now that I've already answered the two off-my-topic questions that would have arisen in this should-have-put-it-in-the-minor-rants-thread, I'll get to the point....I'm here because of a minor irritant on the way back from the movie theater tonight. A few minutes ago, I was driving west on a two lane road that is on the outskirts of town...one that used to be in the country, but which has housing developments built along it in the last few years....enough of them that they've even added some traffic lights to it and lowered the speed limit to 45 mph. (That's key to this story.)
I'm a fat old man, with nothing to prove, driving the most beige-box thing possible; a bone stock base model corolla from nearly a decade ago. It is not old enough to be fun (my first car was a little red E72, so I know a smidge about that) and not new enough to use techno-wizardy-voodoo to make it fun DESPITE the bulk. The car is pudgy and powerless, just like me. The tires are rock hard, chosen for their cheapness.
I'm driving at 45 mph - the speed limit - as I typically do.[+] I have the cruise control on. (Which, BTW, is the greatest invention since sliced bread. Cruise control is often my "you don't need to respond to that" reminder.) Even if it wasn't my habit - as it is - to drive right at the speed limit, the conditions are such that I would have done so ANYWAY
a) It is night, there are no street lights, and I can't easily if there are pedestrians from the housing developments walking at the side of the road.
b) Most of this road doesn't have a sidewalk to keep any pedestrians walking at a safe distance away from the road.
c) there's a police station on the road
d) there's a car rushing up behind me AFTER I just passed that police station; what if it is a cop about to turn on his lights and pass me in a hurry on the way to do Important Cop Stuff (ICS).
Nope, this is definitely NOT a situation to speed. I'm driving the speed limit and I'm not ashamed of it. There's not any temptation to do otherwise at this point, either; this section of the road is boring and straight....there are some redeeming features[++] to the road further ahead when it wiggles around both a retention pond from a housing development and the shore of a proper lake, but right now it is positively dull.
All right, here's the meat of the story: I'm minding my own business, driving my at-the-speed-limit pace....yes, it is slower than many people would like to go, but it is actually a reasonable speed on that road at night, and it is RIGHT after a police station (i.e. if they had a lick of brains they wouldn't be speeding on that road anyway.) Anyway, point d): a car is accelerating up at me from behind, and has a slight head of steam. There's oncoming traffic, so I'm thinking "that's a copy who's about to light up the blues so they clear the deck."
It's not...it is a hothead who starts tailgating me until the oncoming traffic passes. He then rushes past me, just so he can ride his brakes hard and slow me down. It's not an actual brake check, mind you, not that abrupt, and he put his hazards on to make sure I knew about it. He holds our pace to about 5 below the speed limit the way - hazards flashing - for less than a minute, then accelerates away.
Then the curvy bit of the road came, and you all know how the rest of the story goes. He was on the brakes hard for the corners. I was below the speed limit, but using my entire lane and not braking. When he saw how quickly I was catching up, he actually pulled off at the entrance of a houseing development, let me pass, then got in behind me.
Frankly, THAT scared me....I thought I had accidentally stumbled into some road rage-ish idiot who was about to brandish - or worse - but he didn't follow me when I made my turn. After that, I relaxed a little bit....after another half mile, I started to feel smug. I know what fast in the curves[++] is, and I don't have it....but it was nice to see that some other people are even further from it.
I know that I showed poor judgement, should have gone even slower to let the hothead stay far, far ahead of me at all times to keep safe....but I guess that's why I'm here, and why I'm taking the time to type this out; you're the only people who might possibly understand what I'm saying about how running curves near the speed limit can feel like an accomplishment
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+ - Riding once around Sebring with Ian in Peter's OneLap GT3 permanently cured me of the misconception that I will ever feel "fast" on a public road, or that I can ever do "fast" myself.
++ - Be honest, I'm not the only person with a gutless car who thinks it is fun to slow down as little as possible on the curves....Hey, I'm STILL not over the speed limit
+++ - Hell, real speed scared me enough to convince me that I probably don't actually WANT to be fast.
it feels to know that I will have a job next year. Before this, I was in an annual contract, which means they have to re-hire you each year, and that always made me feel uneasy.
