Cross Country Elan
34 posts
• Page 2 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
Post by: TBG » Sun Apr 11, 2021 9:25 pm
Hullo all - not trying to hijack the thread with nonsense about 3:1 cwp!! Just saying that's all......
"I start gingerly with the 3.55 and cannot imagine a hill start with a 3.1."
Well I don't have to imagine it and can start easily on really steep slopes forwards and backwards with no more clutch slip than normal. It is actually what the clutch is for!!
PPS have a lovely trip - I so wish I could afford to get mine over the pond as you have some stunning roads. I did 4k around California and the states close by but in a Golf convertible - not the same thing at all. Lucky old you...............
"I start gingerly with the 3.55 and cannot imagine a hill start with a 3.1."
Well I don't have to imagine it and can start easily on really steep slopes forwards and backwards with no more clutch slip than normal. It is actually what the clutch is for!!
PPS have a lovely trip - I so wish I could afford to get mine over the pond as you have some stunning roads. I did 4k around California and the states close by but in a Golf convertible - not the same thing at all. Lucky old you...............
- TBG
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Post by: persiflage » Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:27 pm
“Curious car”.... don’t you love that description?
USA by back roads
Have a safe and wonderful adventure.
- persiflage
- Second Gear
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Post by: Ross Robbins » Sun May 23, 2021 10:56 pm
DAY THIRTY SIX – It is Done!! This is a recap post from my blog http://www.xcountryelan.com If you want to read about the entire adventure that is the place to find everything including the references below.
It was an amazing 36 days on the road out of 40 days since April 11th. I have the mixed feeling of excitement to having achieved the goal and sadness that there will be no more travel. So, it is now over and I can reflect a bit on the adventure and achievement.
Let’s start with some basic statistics about the trip in response to questions I have been asked and think might be asked:
• Total miles traveled – This is subject to revision as I recalculate each segment over the next month or so, but using my odometer and adjusting for its error I believe I traveled 11,544 miles in 36 days for an average of just over 320 miles per day or a bit less than I estimated.
• Total Fuel used - Again my records are less than perfect although I tried to enter every fill-up as soon as I finished, some were from recall so it actually may be one or two tenths more or less. I used 385.8 gallons for a miles per gallon average of almost 30 at 29.923 MPG for the whole trip. Not bad!
• Best Day – That’s easy, the last one coming home through Colorado. There were a lot of memorable places though and I’ll cover some of them in another post.
• Worst Day – This one is easy too; driving from Death Valley to Goleta CA through the desert and the edge of Los Angeles in the horrible traffic with no clutch. A distant second was the trip south from Madawaska Maine in the cold and rain on that awful Highway 11.
• Number of States touched – 34: Twenty three on the East loop; Eleven on the West.
• Number of Tickets or Police Encounters – One. A setup in Alma just for the photo.
• Problems on the Road – Only four, of which two were serious and two were minor. 1. Needing fuel in Mississippi and getting enough to make it to the next town with a gas station, 2. The Rear Suspension replacement at RD Enterprises (read blog posts 10-12 to get this whole story) 3. Clutch slave cylinder at JAE in Goleta (read west blog posts 4 and 5 to get this whole story), and finally, 4. Brake Lights at Spencer Motorsport in Rohnert Park, CA, (read west blog post six to get this whole story).
• Weather Observations – I was really fortunate to miss any major severe weather during the trip. I left home both times just after major storm systems had passed through and found generally mild and dry weather across the whole country. The two exceptions were the rain day in Jacksonville when I was off the road at the Bungay’s and the cold rainy weather in Maine and New York neither of which was bad. Now that I am home safe in the garage, there are severe rainstorms across the south central states and major snow in Montana where I just was. I was incredibly lucky, indeed!
• Percentage of Time with Top Down – 50% is a guess. Most of the eastern loop after Kansas I had the top up because of wind or rainy weather, or the cold in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York and the entire western loop except for the early morning on the last day was top down.
• My condition after the drive – Wiped out! I clearly overestimated my endurance, but I’m grinning!
Impressions from the trip end day:
• This is a very big and diverse country in geography and density but a much more unified country in values than is portrayed in the press. I think both of these things surprised me.
• I am really glad I did this trip. The planning of it was a beacon of hope last year when hope was hard to find and the doing of it was even better. I found that what holds us back is usually overstated and what makes us go is usually undervalued. Mark Twain said it best: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
• Several times I wondered if the Elan would make it all the way…I should not have doubted. This is one tough little featherweight car, much like Mighty Mouse it punches well above its weight. Cute my eye!
• It seems to be rare and getting rarer to do things without all the modern conveniences. Do we really need all the aids we have to do pretty mundane things like drive? How do we keep skills sharp that we don’t use anymore? Now it seems a clerk cannot even make change without the machine doing the math. I worry that we are getting too soft and when an external challenge comes we will be found wanting. I hope I’m wrong.
It was an amazing 36 days on the road out of 40 days since April 11th. I have the mixed feeling of excitement to having achieved the goal and sadness that there will be no more travel. So, it is now over and I can reflect a bit on the adventure and achievement.
Let’s start with some basic statistics about the trip in response to questions I have been asked and think might be asked:
• Total miles traveled – This is subject to revision as I recalculate each segment over the next month or so, but using my odometer and adjusting for its error I believe I traveled 11,544 miles in 36 days for an average of just over 320 miles per day or a bit less than I estimated.
• Total Fuel used - Again my records are less than perfect although I tried to enter every fill-up as soon as I finished, some were from recall so it actually may be one or two tenths more or less. I used 385.8 gallons for a miles per gallon average of almost 30 at 29.923 MPG for the whole trip. Not bad!
• Best Day – That’s easy, the last one coming home through Colorado. There were a lot of memorable places though and I’ll cover some of them in another post.
• Worst Day – This one is easy too; driving from Death Valley to Goleta CA through the desert and the edge of Los Angeles in the horrible traffic with no clutch. A distant second was the trip south from Madawaska Maine in the cold and rain on that awful Highway 11.
• Number of States touched – 34: Twenty three on the East loop; Eleven on the West.
• Number of Tickets or Police Encounters – One. A setup in Alma just for the photo.
• Problems on the Road – Only four, of which two were serious and two were minor. 1. Needing fuel in Mississippi and getting enough to make it to the next town with a gas station, 2. The Rear Suspension replacement at RD Enterprises (read blog posts 10-12 to get this whole story) 3. Clutch slave cylinder at JAE in Goleta (read west blog posts 4 and 5 to get this whole story), and finally, 4. Brake Lights at Spencer Motorsport in Rohnert Park, CA, (read west blog post six to get this whole story).
• Weather Observations – I was really fortunate to miss any major severe weather during the trip. I left home both times just after major storm systems had passed through and found generally mild and dry weather across the whole country. The two exceptions were the rain day in Jacksonville when I was off the road at the Bungay’s and the cold rainy weather in Maine and New York neither of which was bad. Now that I am home safe in the garage, there are severe rainstorms across the south central states and major snow in Montana where I just was. I was incredibly lucky, indeed!
• Percentage of Time with Top Down – 50% is a guess. Most of the eastern loop after Kansas I had the top up because of wind or rainy weather, or the cold in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York and the entire western loop except for the early morning on the last day was top down.
• My condition after the drive – Wiped out! I clearly overestimated my endurance, but I’m grinning!
Impressions from the trip end day:
• This is a very big and diverse country in geography and density but a much more unified country in values than is portrayed in the press. I think both of these things surprised me.
• I am really glad I did this trip. The planning of it was a beacon of hope last year when hope was hard to find and the doing of it was even better. I found that what holds us back is usually overstated and what makes us go is usually undervalued. Mark Twain said it best: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
• Several times I wondered if the Elan would make it all the way…I should not have doubted. This is one tough little featherweight car, much like Mighty Mouse it punches well above its weight. Cute my eye!
• It seems to be rare and getting rarer to do things without all the modern conveniences. Do we really need all the aids we have to do pretty mundane things like drive? How do we keep skills sharp that we don’t use anymore? Now it seems a clerk cannot even make change without the machine doing the math. I worry that we are getting too soft and when an external challenge comes we will be found wanting. I hope I’m wrong.
- Ross Robbins
- Fourth Gear
- Posts: 553
- Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Post by: tedtaylor » Mon May 24, 2021 2:22 am
i didn't doubt for a minute that you (and your Elan) wouldn't make it!
CONGRATS!!!!
CONGRATS!!!!
TED
"Driving a Lotus is a triumph of bravery over intelligence." Stirling Moss
"TaylorMadeClassicCars" on WWW and Facebook
"Driving a Lotus is a triumph of bravery over intelligence." Stirling Moss
"TaylorMadeClassicCars" on WWW and Facebook
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Post by: Bombay Racing Green » Tue May 25, 2021 6:31 am
Congratulations on an amazing adventure. Thanks for the progress reports.
Pete
1970 S4 DHC
1971 S2 Europa
1968 +2
1970 S4 DHC
1971 S2 Europa
1968 +2
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Post by: Spyder fan » Tue May 25, 2021 2:55 pm
Congratulations! a real achievement, I look forward to reading about it. When are you publishing?
Kindest regards
Alan Thomas
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Post by: stugilmour » Tue May 25, 2021 3:47 pm
Congratulations on a marvellous trip Ross. Very inspiring. Great for the kids!
Stu & Lynn
Stu & Lynn
Stu
1969 Plus 2 Federal LHD
1969 Plus 2 Federal LHD
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Post by: Ross Robbins » Thu May 27, 2021 8:09 pm
Thank you all for your kind words. I have received a lot of support from folks on this forum and appreciate every morsel. The most important thing is to let you all know it is possible to do long distances in an Elan successfully and encourage all of you to get out in yours and drive!! The worst thing for these cars is to sit and I am on a crusade to not let that happen.
Cheers,
Ross the Iron Butt
Cheers,
Ross the Iron Butt
- Ross Robbins
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- Posts: 553
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Post by: Ross Robbins » Thu May 27, 2021 8:14 pm
A specific reply for Alan:
The entire trip is written up in daily blogs here: [https://xcountryelan.com/] and since most of those interested are availing themselves of this version of the story I don't think there would be a market for a book to make it worth doing. I know it is a bit cumbersome to scroll all the way down to get the whole story so hang in there or buy me a beer when I am next in England and I'll tell it to you then. Cheers.
The entire trip is written up in daily blogs here: [https://xcountryelan.com/] and since most of those interested are availing themselves of this version of the story I don't think there would be a market for a book to make it worth doing. I know it is a bit cumbersome to scroll all the way down to get the whole story so hang in there or buy me a beer when I am next in England and I'll tell it to you then. Cheers.
- Ross Robbins
- Fourth Gear
- Posts: 553
- Joined: 03 Apr 2006
Post by: Spyder fan » Fri May 28, 2021 5:16 am
Ross Robbins wrote:A specific reply for Alan:
The entire trip is written up in daily blogs here: [https://xcountryelan.com/] and since most of those interested are availing themselves of this version of the story I don't think there would be a market for a book to make it worth doing. I know it is a bit cumbersome to scroll all the way down to get the whole story so hang in there or buy me a beer when I am next in England and I'll tell it to you then. Cheers.
Thanks Ross,
I have it on my bookmarks now. Lots of beer awaits you when you next visit England.
Kindest regards
Alan Thomas
Alan Thomas
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Spyder fan - Coveted Fifth Gear
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