On January 30th, 2012, I began a new job with Lane Transit District as an IT Support Technician. LTD is the public transportation agency for Lane County, providing service to the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area and surrounding cities. So far, it has been a very exciting and educational experience, and I’m happy to say that everyone I have met has been very nice and welcoming.

]]> http://www.smitasin.com/2012/02/05/new-beginnings/feed/ 0 http://www.smitasin.com/2011/12/30/sunset-time-lapse/ http://www.smitasin.com/2011/12/30/sunset-time-lapse/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:06:55 +0000 smitasin http://www.smitasin.com/?p=166 I’m spending a week in San Diego for the Winter break, and decided to try out some time-lapse with my new GoPro HD. This is a quick one from the La Jolla Shores Hotel:

All I need now is some decent fixtures for them.

Gabe & I aren’t quite done processing all of the photos yet, but here’s a preview from my batch:

Here’s the car on my drive through Grass Valley, Oregon:

More photos in my Flickr set.

The view from the track is pretty amazing. You can see both Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens when it’s clear, and you’re surrounded by rolling grass hills in all directions (so there’s not much to hit if you make a mistake!). The town of Grass Valley is extremely small, without a gas station, convenience store or motel, but it’s cute and quaint none-the-less. If you want to stay close to the track, there are Bed & Breakfasts dotted around, or you can stay at the Tall Winds Motel at the next town over, Moro. I would highly recommend this option, it’s very clean, affordable, and about 10-15 minutes to the track. They have free WiFi and HD programming on LCD TVs, plus wide parking spaces. Make a reservation as early as possible though, as it will fill up with other track goers quickly (when I woke up, there were four Corvettes, an Evo, a Cayman, an S4, another M3 and a full-race 3 series). Also, check a map for the location, as my GPS directed me to someone’s house in Grass Valley rather than Moro, and you probably won’t have a cell phone signal.

The drive to the track from Eugene was pretty amazing as well (though the front of my car was covered in bugs afterward). I took 126 to Redmond, then 97 up to Grass Valley. During Summer proper, Route 242, aka the McKenzie Pass – Santiam Pass Scenic Byway, is open, which, though longer and slower, is an absolute wonder to drive (it was closed for me, unfortunately). 20 miles of hairpins, banked curves, smooth pavement, and gorgeous views are to be had if you can spare the time. I’d argue it’s the best driving road in Oregon, if you can make it during a time when there’s not much traffic (but drive safely and legally, as some of it has sharp drop-offs and no guard rails).

Above: Walter (Silver E36 M3), Myself (White E36 M3), Todd (Red Corvette Z06), Davis (Red Turbo Miata), and Clarke (Silver Corvette Z06).

ORP as a track is superb. The facilities are under-developed, but that will likely improve as it becomes more popular. There are a LOT of elevation changes and technical corners that make it very fun and challenging. They call it a Double Black Diamond of road courses, and I don’t doubt it for a minute.

We ran it in the clockwise configuration, which is supposed to be easier, fortunately. Turn 1 looks like a low speed 90 degree turn, but you can take it faster than you’d think. You’ll find yourself quickly going into turn 2, which is a sharp, greater than 90 degree turn, but has a car sized pavement patch that lets you take it at more speed as well. These two almost remind me of turns 6 and 7 at Road Atlanta. Coming out you’ll be on the second straight, which has a couple of blind hills, and you’ll quickly find yourself in the braking zone leading up to turn 3, which is a nearly 90 degree, off-camber corner. I struggled with this turn toward the end of the day, coming in too hot and nearly going off track at the exit a couple of times.

Turn 4 is wide, and I found myself understeering if I hadn’t managed the throttle properly. If you get it right though, it’ll set you up well for turn 5, which is a no-braking corner that drops you off into a valley then up the hill to turn 6 at full throttle all the way. I hear turn 6 is supposed to be full-throttle as well, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s a low radius, high speed turn, but it’s blind and a little off-camber, and I just didn’t have the courage to take it at full speed. The braking zone for turn 7 comes up pretty quick, but it’s a high speed turn as well, so you can get away with just a little brake there.

Turn 12 is blind and kind of part of turn 13′s braking zone. This was probably the corner I struggled with most, because it’s a sharp, probably 110-115 degree turn, and I kept over-braking and not having enough speed going through it. Turns 14 and 15 are fairly easy, but turn 16 is quite dangerous, so I took it very easy through there. It’s the only turn with concrete wall next to it, and if you go off into the grass and try to correct, you could easily find yourself in that wall. Then you’re back onto the front straight to do it all again.

I owe my safety, enjoyment and education to my wonderful instructors, Don and Rob, who really guided me through the track and helped me make huge improvements to my technique. Thank you both so much, you really made the event enjoyable for me!