Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 12:07:08 -0700
Reply-To: Brad Anderson <BAnderso@STARBUCKS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Brad Anderson <BAnderso@STARBUCKS.COM>
Subject: Re: Friday Vanagon Verse!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
The section of the message that Bob is referring to was written by me, not
Roger, and as much as I am bored by the run-on threads on this list, I feel
I need to say something in rebuttal.
With all due respect, I am not a teenager. I am, in fact 31. I spent the
first half of my driving years on the East side of Washington State and the
last half on the West side of the Cascades. As I love snowboarding (here
come the stereotypes) and am a professional instructor, I have spent a good
amount of those 15 years driving back and forth in snowy or worse
conditions.
I feel I am experienced; you may disagree.
My note to the list was intended to extoll the virtues of the syncro system
and to share the excitement I feel by surprising others with the abilities
of the 'moving guardrail'. The syncro vanagon has such perfect weight
distribution and grip, without chains, that you can maintain 50mph in fresh
snow easily and in great control. If you haven't experienced this, again I
encourage you to do so, at your own speed.
I don't drive recklessly, though again you may disagree. When provisional
speed limits are in place due to conditions, I obey them, of course. When
they are not, I drive as I see fit, which is probably different than what
you see fit. Incidentally, I always carry chains; though, in the 5 years I
have owned my van I have never used them.
Regards and apologies to those I've offended; I'll shut up now.
Brad
'87 Vanagon Syncro
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Gourley [SMTP:spruce@HARBORSIDE.COM]
> Sent: Monday, September 27, 1999 11:48 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Friday Vanagon Verse!
>
> Roger; you say that you were going 50 mph after everyone else had slowed
> to
> 30 mph?
> What is that at the bottom of your page? "Live smart". "Think for
> yourself". "Transform the future".
> Now listen kid, You had better let someone else do the thinking for you
> because with your stupid thinking you wont have a future. I assume that
> you
> are in your teens because of the ego and exhilaration expressed
> in your letter. Four teen-agers have been killed in auto accidents within
> a
> 6 mile radius of my house within
> the last year. Speed and or inexperience was the cause. I knew 3 of the
> kids. Sad.
>
> I have never driven my '87 Syncro in snow but it does the job in sand. I
> made a full circle with my '63 VW
> bus in the Cascades one time. It had rained , frozen and then snowed on
> top
> of the ice.
>
> I wish you young people would listen to us old fuddy duddys when we tell
> you
> to slow down, don't smoke,
> don't drink, don't do dope and don't have sex before marriage. What is
> your
> hurry , Roger?
>
> ps. Teen-age kids tell me that I am NOT an old fuddy duddy. When I reach
> 86
> in 11-18-99 , maybe I can
> classify. Meantime, if you come up behind a pokey '87Syncro or an '84
> Dolphin motor home, rest assured,
> I will let you pass as soon as I can find a wide spot.----Bob
>
>
>
> .
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roger Bowman <bowmanrp@EARTHLINK.NET>
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Date: Monday, September 27, 1999 8:20 AM
> Subject: Re: Friday Vanagon Verse!
>
>
> >> Sure, as I'm climbing the pass with a few buddies I get passed because
> I
> >> can't do much more than 60mph up a grade. But when we reach 2500 feet
> and
> >> everyone slows to 30 because of the 4 inches of new, I'm still in the
> >> untracked fast lane doing fifty and in total control. Its a sight to
> behold.
> >> And sure enough, in my wake are the handful of aggressive Legacys and
> >> Outbacks, all flying past the bloated Expeditions and Suburbans whose
> >> drivers thought height, brawn, and dollars would cure their fear of
> driving
> >> in the winter.
> >> That, friends, is how you can sleep late and get first tracks during
> the
> >> long Northwest winters. Maybe another time I'll describe how fun it is
> to
> go
> >> down the pass!
> >
> >This reminds me of a (hopefully short!) story about me, my syncro westie,
> a
> >ford bronco, and snowy conditions on the Angeles Forest Highway (Near Los
> >Angeles, CA) on a February evening.
> >
> >One of the colder storms I can remember had come through the LA basin
> early
> >Sunday morning, and stuck around to make the day cold, crisp, with
> showers
> >and dark clouds over the San Gabriels - one of the few days each year
> that
> >LA is actually a decent place. (Or so it seems...)
> >
> >By the time I left the Basin late in the evening for my return trip to
> >Lancaster (Sandblaster...) the sun had set, and rain had started to fall;
> >snow level was about 3,500 ft, and the pass I had to travel over is about
> >4,500 ft., and I was looking forward to some snow time!
> >
> >Leaving Tujunga (I had to take the alternate route, since the Angeles
> Crest
> >was closed due to stupidity) I quickly acquired a bothersome Bronco on my
> >tail, whom I let pass - musta been going 25 mph faster then me by the
> >time...
> >
> >The Angeles Forest Hwy connects Pasadena and (about) Palmdale; it is a 2
> >lane mountain road, lots of twisties and elevation gain; I've been
> driving
> >this hwy since I learned to drive. After a while, the rain started to
> turn
> >into snow, and as I got higher, the snow started to stick, and finally
> >turned to solid cover, and the asphalt was covered with snow.
> >
> >As the snow started to thicken, my lowly VW 2.1l started to reel in the
> >Bronco with its huge tires and giant (relatively speaking...) motor.
> >Eventually, I was on his tail, just as he had been on my bumper - much to
> my
> >delight! The gutless wonder sucks in the off road machine!
> >
> >And then...coming around a corner, the Bronco broke traction, and ended
> up
> >sliding sideways down the center of the highway, fully blocking the road
> as
> >he came to a halt. After all my pride in catching up with him, I was
> >following too close; braking just locked up all 4 wheels on the camper,
> and
> >It appeared I was going to T-bone the Bronco at about 10 mph, when I
> spied
> >the shoulder, downshifted, and pulled off the road, several inches in
> from
> >of the front bumper, in full view of the passengers and totally
> illuminated
> >by the headlights...and pulled away.
> >
> >I passed a couple of other cars that night, some of which had been
> >abandonded in the snow drifts (of like - 4 inches). The Bronco turned
> around
> >and went back down the mountain; I was able to see the headlights as he
> got
> >everything straitened out...the syncro was able to pull through a steep
> >climbing sweeper that had collected 2 cars earlier. And without chains!
> >
> >On an interesting aside, do any of the other syncro owners notice how
> much
> >snow packs into the undercarriage, especially when conditions are "mashed
> >potato(e)s"? I seem to get several hundred pounds of snow in the frame,
> >which significantly slows and quiets the camper...and drips and trails
> water
> >for miles and miles once out of the mountains..
> >
> >Roger Bowman - bowmanrp@ earthlink.net
> >Live Smart. Think for Yourself. Transform the Future
> >
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