jimbo, I know there are 3 of us flying out together from Perth now, another 5 or 6 I know of that are really keen, and a couple that are waiting until they know how their race season here is going to pan out before making plans, but if they're not racing in Sydney or at Willowbank, then they're planning on hiring an RV and seeing a few sites, including SpeedWeek...
I'm a 90% chance at this stage. Probably better than 90% but I haven't made plans yet. I'll be in the US from early Aug until late Sept. I just don't know where yet. The only firm date in the itinerary at the moment is B'ville. Might be looking to hook up with someone coming from the mid west (Iowa) area. Probably going to leave the family with relatives and go solo. Need to firm up plans. Pete
Go mate you won't regret it - its like being on the moon - the landscape is so different to what we have in Australia - outback included!!!! Wendover - poverty one side - plenty the other side of the border
by the way, those of you from Australia who are planning on going, Air New Zealand have the best airfares by a long shot to both LA and San Francisco...
my wife and i will be rolling through iowa probably tuesday the 10th, or thereabouts. let me know if the timing works and you want the company. we'll be meeting up with people in nebraska too. more hamb type folk, if you can stand 'em.
Hudson, This is _exactly_ what we're planning on doing... we were thinking about going from the salt at the end of the day to Wendover for the beer n bs and then parking up at the bend in the road in the RV when it was time to crash... but maybe will check out the actual RV parks as well...
This is gonna rock!! I am really looking forward to seeing the salt and experiensing the races for the first time. Road trip with Klaus and Cindy!!
Here's some more tips for those who have never been to Bonneville for Speedweek: When you get out to the salt at the start of Speedweek, you have your choice of buying either a single-day p*** or a p*** good for all week. I always get the week-long p***, even though i usually stay for three days. It's cheaper that way, and less h***le when you're ariving each morning from Wendover or the Bend in the road. They just wave you through when you show them you already have your p***es. Another tip if you're into Bonneville Speedweek souveneers: at the start of the pits near where they do the car inspections, the SCTA will have a trailer set up where they will sell official T shirts, caps, decals, etc. for Speedweek 2010. The earlier you hit that, the better because they do sometimes run out of certain sizes of official T shirts, etc. When you're taking pictures of cars, remember that the the super brightness of the sun and the salt will tend to have your automatic exposure meter misread the light coming from the car itself (and under-expose it). I always try to get up close to get a light reading off the car I'm shooting and then manually overide the automatic exposure meter in the camera as i back up for the shot. Besides my camera, I always carry a small tape measure and a notebook that fits in the back pocket of my Levis. That way I can record all kinds of proportions off traditional rods there that I see and like (how much its chopped or channeled, its wheelbase, pickup bed length etc.). Later on when looking through the pics that I took, I have a good record of everything: engine, ******, rear end, body measurements, special features etc., etc. Also you can record the names and phone numbers of people you meet and sometimes work out after-the-fact vintage/race part trades. For example, I got some scarce '32 Ford parts from a guy I met on the salt flats last year. After bs'ing for a while we found that we each had something the other guy needed, so a mutually beneficial trade was worked out. That's another reason for a Notebook and pen. I see some of the same guys at Speedweek that I've met before and now can remember several of their names. I sometimes call one or the other of them to have them tell me how they did a certain tech on a rod they brought to Speedweek. If you have a bicycle, it's much easier to visit as many as the pit locations as you want and perhaps you may get to talk to the guys about the cars that they have brought to race. You can do it on foot, but the pits are almost longer than you can walk, and if you should run out of water in the process... Some guys drive the pits and that works for them, but it's not as good as with a bike, IMO.
Great advice above. The pits tend to be very long. Walking would be (for me at any rate) an effort. If you run out of water just ask anyone. Most everyone carries water. You might wind up as a pit crew!! A couple of years ago at El Mirage my regular pit crew guy couldn't make it and my wife had a broken wrist. I spotted two guys looking at my bike and asked them if they would crew for me. Turns out they were Swedish tourists! But they saved my bacon!
Coming over from UK with wife and 15 year old, just managed to get a room at Rainbow from Sunday to Tuesday we had booked at Days Inn for later in the week but cancelled when Rainbow room came up, boy did they go quick. Looking forward to it, whole holiday booked around it, never been before but can't wait, flying into Las Vegas and a week in LA.
Bonneville.....ahh a fantastic place. Have been twice now & certainly isn't enough. A few Kiwis heading over this year again, including Harris Family Racing with their C/GR 32 roadster. Hope to be there although finances aren't looking too flash at the moment. Lots of good advice here especially lots of water & pit bicycle. Also, if your tent camping at "the Bend" the wind can get up quite quickly & very strong. Make sure those tents are well secured !! Just do it, but be warned, once your'e bitten by the bug, it's a fatal disease. And if you Aussies can, take in the HAMB drags as well, thats a real mindblower !!!
hehe.... we wanted to go last year, but my boss taking holidays during the first couple of days stopped that... (we still went to the US, as my brother got married in San Jose the week after speedweek) we flew out the day he came back, via Auckland, and were on the return flight with a bunch of Kiwis who, judging from their shirts, appeared to have gone to Bonneville with a bike..
Here is a few hundred pictures of inspiration and what to expect from last year! http://s559.photobucket.com/albums/ss34/rottenleonard/bonneville 09/
Well... we got rooms We managed to get 4 rooms at The Red Garter from the 13th to the 17th... so the plan to hire RV's has gone out the window...
so.... who got tickets for the ZZ Top show at the Peppermill on the 13th? noticed that for a place that was supposedly sold out, they managed to find enough rooms that needed filling to make the tickets available as a package only....
Hope to see everyone there, I managed to snag an RV out of Provo UT from Cruise America this week nand will be at the "bend". They had a few left at the time so maybe you'll get lucky. Been there twice already but first time camping and looking forward to it.
we're still planning on camping at the bend. the plans of everyone around us are changing, so the landscape of our trip looks a little different. but the '54 has always been reliable, and things look good. still gotta install some seat belts. maybe some method of playing music. i haven't ever had more than 10 days off in a row in my life. 3 weeks on the road in the summer (VERY rarely do i get time off in the summer in my line of work) is gonna be a dream come true. and that i get to spend it in bonneville, and at the hamb drags? oh my.
Went in '09 had to stay in Salt lake city too late to book in Wendover. This year we are firing up our 28' MH and will be camping out on the Bend area .I finally talked my wife into going, hopefully she'll understand what saltfever is all about.... and Denise, looking forward to seeing ya again...
Is there anybody or group driving up from the San Jose area? My first time and would like to go up with some "seasoned" veterans!
we're departing from San Jose, but going the long way round... will be leaving on the 2nd of August...
The Jalopy Journal
