I'm having mandatory 6 day work weeks now, so I'm curtailing my longer distance explorations for the time being. This weekend I just drove up to Alice Lake for a short hike. It was a brilliant day, with pretty high temperatures that are more suitable for summer tires. I'm still on my winters till the end of the month, just in case.
The hike around Alice Lake took just over 2 hours, then I headed over for lunch near the Eagle Run Viewing Shelter. In the proper season, eagles can be seen roosting on the trees across the river. None were there, but lunch at the Watershed Grill was pretty good, especially with the views.
After, I visited Alexander Falls. The area around the falls were still frozen, so much so I was wondering if I was in the right area. But no, the maps said I was right where I was supposed to be... it's just that the path to the falls was snowed in. About 10 feet high.
I'm a bit surprised this area was not closed as everything was packed under the snowfall. If you look closely at one of the photos, you'll see how high the snow had covered the outdoor toilet!
Brilliant day out, and I can't wait for summer to properly arrive!
I've added a few accessories to my MX5 - some seat covers and mudflaps.
Above: Original Seats
Above: Eurosport Seat Covers
First, Eurosport Seat Covers from Moss Miata. Given that it's a convertible and exposed to the elements, the covers should keep the original seats in great condition. Installation was a snap, the back seat/headrest is one piece, and slides over easily, and a velcro strip mates the front and rear cloth pieces.
The base cover is connected using two straps under the seat. There are also side flaps that seem to be for the side air bags, but the flaps appear to open to the rear (???). I'm curious how it'll actually work when they really need to deploy lol.
In use, the seat covers do change the feel of the stock cloth seats a little bit, they feel much firmer. They also give the impression that the seats are much sturdier than they are previously, and the knowledge that any wear is going to be on them, not the original seat makes it so much easier to slide into the seat instead of doing the wiggle dance.
Next up, mudflaps!
Given that I'm going to be travelling in areas where the "roads" are basically a gravel path, I thought it would be prudent to get some mudflaps to reduce the effects of rock chips on the paint. The next step will be to apply some transparent vinyl to the rocker panels, front quarter panel and perhaps part of the door.
Previously on the trip up to Lillooet and Cache creek, the kickup patterns are pretty obvious. The mudflaps should reduce this by a great amount.
I was waffling about posting here as the trip wasn't very exciting per say, but decided, why not, it's a good way to remember some travels around BC :)
Originally, I wanted to do a drive north to Penticton then loop back via Keremeos, but I had a dinner meetup in the evening and that would take far too long. I decided just a drive to Keremeos and back would suffice :)
I started with a breakfast stop in Abbotsford, then a refueling stop in Hope. I also stocked up on some drinks and food items in case thing went awry. I then drove to Keremeos.
There were several towns of interest that I have to revisit come the summer; Hedley is a tiny township that has a gold mine, and in Princeton I drove past what seemed like a milkshake place.
The roads were pretty clear, not too much traffic, but there several times I drove over patches of ice where I could feel the car travel sideways. Slightly disconcerting but I was white knuckled the first time it happened!
Now, you might ask, why Keremeos? It's a tiny village filled with vineyards and fruit markets. Well, it was just to visit an old shop that used to service Mazdas back in the day, Eunos Automotive.
They used to operate out of North Vancouver, but moved to Keremeos awhile back. I thought it'd be cool to visit their new location just for fun.
I didn't dawdle too long, I had a few snaps, the grabbed lunch nearby at K Mountain Diner. Just a quick sandwich lunch. One thing about the food outside of Vancouver, is how fresh it is!
With that done, I turned around and headed back for Vancouver. I stopped at Princeton to refuel, as they were the only place I could find with ethenol-free fuel. And yet another stop at Hope for a refuel and bathroom break.
The last leg of the trip I avoided the highway and took the backroads back to coquitlam for a quick diy carwash before heading back to Vancouver.
Overall, yet another brilliant drive. The scenery both ways were amazing, and difficult to share via dashcam footage.
Sadly, work has now started doing mandatory 6 day work weeks, so I only have Sunday left to do any roadtrips. Still, there's lots to explore here and there's the entirety of Washington just two hours south. Till the next post!
A quick short blog as I'm pretty exhausted. Woke up just before 6 for the drive to the airfield, froze my ass off in the middle of the airfield, but what a day.
Unfortunately, not much photos as I was trying to keep up with everything. I arrived just after the gates to the airfield opened, found a parking spot and removed everything from my car and dumped it into a rubbermaid container I bought the day before.
Next, is "tech", where I had my car inspected. Pedals and battery were checked, as were the emptiness of the boot, and tires. Soon after, there was a driver's meeting, and being the first time doing autocross, had a novice meeting. Novices could have experienced drivers tag along for feedback and guidance.
The runs are very short; my first run took 56 seconds. There were three runs, then I parked the car, and went to do track duties. What makes autocross an affordable motorsport is the participation by the drivers when we're not driving - most will be hanging around certain parts of the track (see the numbers in the photo above) to radio back to control if any drivers hit a cone (a time penalty), or goes off the track (Did Not Finish - DNF). They also have to replace any cones hit. They're other duties as well and I'm not certain of what the lot are, so do google it if you're keen!
Once that's done, I have time off while waiting for my next run; it was noon by this time and I drove to a nearby strip mall to get some grub.
Once back, I watched the other cars go around the track, and ops it was soon my turn.
We had five more runs in total, and after that I once again did my track duties. And that was it! Some folks would stay to pack up the track but for most of us who have did our runs and duties, that was it and I left. Got the car cleaned up at a self-serve car wash, then headed home :)
Overall it's really fun. I get to test the maximum potential of my driving "skills" and my car in a safe environment. The flip side is the actual time on the track. In total, I drove for less than 8 minutes for the 7 hours I was there. I do wish I could get more runs in but oh well.
I actually got a gps and RaceChrono to capture my runs, however the gopro decided to die after an hour in the cold (~2c) recording barely 2 minutes of footage. My runs were very, very bad, so I'm not going to bother posting them. I was overdriving the car, and only got better at it in the afternoon runs.
