One Lap 2008: Starting the Hype

[BoxerSix]

Originally Posted by EJEvo

We've talked about it, but my buddy Christo is trying to sort out what he'll work on obtaining first: a new baby or a new Z4 M Coupe.

I told him my One Lap clock is ticking, too. The year we did it was considered one of the easiest One Laps ever (thus the 'One Nap of America' nickname the regulars gave it), due to being able to sleep every night in a bed. The worst night we faced was driving from Roebling Road in Georgia to Nelson Ledges in Ohio (750 miles) - we left Georgia by 11am and hit Ohio around 2am, and got 4hrs of sleep that night. Maybe it was the cumulative effect of the previous 6 days before that, but we were wiped the next day for Nelson Ledges. During that drive, around 1am, Christo kept hitting the brakes hard and I'd wake up asking what happened, and he kept saying he thought he'd seen a cop car along the road, but there was never a car each time. We finally had to swap spots because he acknowledged he was losing it. Christo said he had real concentration problems driving Nelson Ledges the next day, but snapped to in the afternoon and put down a decent time.

Now, on a regular One Lap there will be a few nights like that, and a few where you simply get in the car, leave one site, and then arrive at the next site the next morning, just in time to go out on the track. It's that kind of sleep deprivation that can lead to hallucinations, lack of concentration, and other things that add up to being a danger on the track, and even the highway. That is a young man's game, for sure.

As much of a fan as I am of this...I 100% totaly agree with this statement.

The OLOA was sanctioned to be a legal and safe way to get away doing such an event like a "cannon ball run", however one has to think very clearly about it and consider the safer setup:

A)Crazy fast cars driven by good drivers who are fully alert and awake to what's happening while blasting up the highways at 120+mph in a first come first serve type of race(aka cannonball).....

or

B)Crazy fast cars driven by good drivers who are on the verge of passing out from sleep deprivation and exhaustion, doing relative speeds eight days straight in a TSD style event.....

I really think the OLOA should have some mandatory rest stops here and there along the course of the 8 day event just to bump the safety margin up.

I for one cannot make it through a 24hr days in a cramped car w/o sleep. Just wont happen. I'd rather sleep for 5 hours a day and make it up in the top end knowing I'm going to be awake

Just my 2 cents on this matter. OLOA info carry on..


Oh and it's looking like my sister might be leading a triple pack of HHR SS's this year in the retro class, straight from GM, or a CTS-V. At least I know it'll be a comfortable trip

[EJEvo]

There's definitely some wink-wink action with those "safe speeds" mentioned on the official route book handed to all participants. Sure, you only need to average 43mph to go from Lizard Breath, IN to Smack Bottom, WY, where the next venue is, but if you want to catch 3hrs of SLEEP, then you'll need to average, um, *cough* 87mph *cough*.

We had a blast, and we enjoyed so much of it because we were relatively rested throughout. I remember seeing pics from 2003 & 2004 with guys sleeping in the pits after a 1500 mile all-night drive, dead to the world while amazing machinery is all around them. How much fun can you have and retain if you're a complete zombie? We were usually talking with our fellow competitors, taking pics, and generally just loving every minute we were there.

While 2 people is the minimum needed to participate, if you have to literally drive from event to event w/o sleep then you need 3 people - 1 to drive, 1 to read the route book and act as navigator, and 1 to catch z's. We tried napping with just 2, and unless you were on a stretch of road for an hr or more straight, it was just too difficult to try to read the book and drive by yourself. You think cellphones are distracting while driving? Try reading. Some guys tried using their nav systems instead of the OLOA routebook, but many times the nav took you off the official route, if it could find some of the backwater venues at all, which means there'll be less chance someone will stop to help if you need it, less camaraderie along the way, less seeing someone else's incredible whatever, etc. (the plus side was Johnny Law was less likely to have been put on edge by previous entries buzzing by him at triple digit speeds, but the downside was he wasn't distracted by those triple digit guys and could fully concentrate on you and your high double digits).

Speaking of comfortable, we were in a fully equipped 325i w/ heated seats, full sound deadening, a killer stereo, etc. When it poured at Roebling Road, we were able to kick on the heated seats and dry out as we drove that day. The poor suckers in the Radical were, well, stuck driving wet in a Radical, and nearly went deaf even with earplugs and helmets on throughout their time on the road (and nothing like being inches off the ground and having every other car on the road have their lights aimed directly in your face). So when you see that totally prepared and stripped barely street-legal race car in the line up, remember he'll only have several glory minutes on each track, followed by hours of agony between each track.

[EJEvo]

And for those who are interested in seeing pics and reading about my 2005 OLA adventure:

2005 One Lap of America - a photoset on Flickr

Team ABsolute Puppies - One Lap of America

[JClark]

I'm all for doing OLOA in an MB E63 AMG or something with 3 people.

[VOTBLINDUB]

that small blue one in the back looks quite tasty. what is it?