[October 8th 2016] Birmingham Road Meet

[codyg1985]

I will now formally announce the Birmingham, AL road meet. The featured attraction is the new I-22/I-65 interchange. We will be driving every ramp in the interchange. Also, the I-20/59/65 interchange revamp will be in full swing, so we will take a look at that. We will also take a look at recent improvements along US 280 south and east of Birmingham. Time permitting, we will also check out the construction along the Birmingham Northern Beltline north of Center Point.

I am looking at these potential dates to hold the meet

- September 17th
- October 8th
- October 15th

If you are interested, respond with a date that works best for you, and then I will announce a formal date from there.

Also, restaurant is TBD.

[vdeane]

Have to admit, I'm in favor of the September date regardless so it doesn't crowd out my Capital District meet (was thinking of Columbus Day since it's a two day meet... never occurred to me that that half of the calendar could fill up so soon, as I'm still not used to the whole "announce the meet a year in advance" thing).

[jpi]

I am ok with any of those dates. I am planning on being in central PA around the time of 9/23 to 10/2 time frame so any of those dates should be fine.

[rawmustard]

Of those dates listed, I would prefer Oct 8 because of being Columbus Day weekend. (I also have a holiday the previous weekend because of my birthday, but don't let my preferences be the determining factor.)

[A.J. Bertin]

Out of all these dates, I'd prefer September 17 because I figure I'll be doing some frantic wedding-planning stuff throughout the month of October. However, if an October date is chosen, I'll probably be able to make it work.

This meet is definitely a must for me for 2016.

[codyg1985]

D'oh! I just realized that I can't really do September 17th. My fiancee's birthday is the following day, so I don't think she would appreciate me having a road meet the day before.

So the October dates are the ones that will be under consideration.

I'm trying to avoid weekends where Alabama plays their college football games at home, but in order to appease everyone I may have to do it during one of those weekends.

[Brandon]

Should I go, October 15 is out.  That's my cousin's wedding date.

[codyg1985]

I am heavily leaning towards October 8th.

[jpi]

At this point 10/8 works for me, Steph will probably be able to make it too.

[SSOWorld]

D'oh! I just realized that I can't really do September 17th. My fiancee's birthday is the following day, so I don't think she would appreciate me having a road meet the day before.

So the October dates are the ones that will be under consideration.

I'm trying to avoid weekends where Alabama plays their college football games at home, but in order to appease everyone I may have to do it during one of those weekends.

Bring her along - have a party!

(j/k)

As for me: distant road meets are not possible for me for the foreseeable due to other obligations.  Opportunity appreciated though.

[freebrickproductions]

I'll see about going. Gonna have to deal with college though, so that may be an issue.

[kharvey10]

This is the time of the year that gets to be the busiest time at my employer.  I will see about it later this year if I got time vacation time left.

[codyg1985]

I have posted an event for it on Facebook. It will be on October 8th. https://www.facebook.com/events/1518154818487248/

[freebrickproductions]

Yea, college is going to make this a lot harder for me to schedule. I'll see if I can go or not when I get closer.

[jpi]

Steph and I should be good to attend but we are "maybe" for now, as we get closer I will change to "going"

[US71]

I'm a "maybe" for now. I'll know better when it gets closer.

[cjk374]

I am also a hopeful attendee. I will let you know for sure closer to time as well.

[vdeane]

As I mentioned on Facebook, it's been harder for me to find affordable hotels in the Tononto area that don't have bedbug reports than expected, so I've decided to attend one of the fall roadmeets instead.  I'm currently leaning towards Birmingham; it would net me 5 new states and wouldn't require backtracking like Battle Creek would; it's also a longer trip (4 overnights instead of two) and we actually know when it will be (as opposed to the not yet scheduled Battle Creek, which could end up in limited daylight November).  I can easily take the western NY photos that I would take on the way to/from Battle Creek as a separate trip out of Rochester, so that alone isn't enough of a draw to shift me to that side.

[codyg1985]

I haven't connected the dots yet or vetted out all of the attractions, but attached is an idea of the things I would like to cover on the meet. We won't get to all of these, but let me know which ones you guys are interested in.
There are a lot of old TRUCK signs east of US 31/280 that may be of interest to some of you. I have also thrown in a couple of old bridges, too

https://drive.google.com/open?id=18PjxXdUrX5LSuo6-v8Yv90lX0ao&usp=sharing

[Alps]

I haven't connected the dots yet or vetted out all of the attractions, but attached is an idea of the things I would like to cover on the meet. We won't get to all of these, but let me know which ones you guys are interested in.
There are a lot of old TRUCK signs east of US 31/280 that may be of interest to some of you. I have also thrown in a couple of old bridges, too

https://drive.google.com/open?id=18PjxXdUrX5LSuo6-v8Yv90lX0ao&usp=sharing

I like old bridges, in terms of the stops. Not sure what there is to see at 47th, and in my experience, old cloverleaves are much more exciting in aerial views than when visiting on the ground.

Pit stops: I've found that a meet can go 4-5 hours without planned pit stops. As long as each car has directions to the next stop and everyone has cell phones from other cars, one car can radio "we stopped for 5 minutes" and it all works out. Planned pit stops turn into 25-minute discussions as everyone browses.

Attractions: Honestly, they all sound great. I will hold out hope we have enough daylight for all of them. The two out on US 78 and Buck Short Bridge work as a long loop during our question to drive the ramps at 22/65. If you think you have enough time to fit it in, drop me an itinerary and I'll let you know my thoughts on overall time. If any one thing had to drop, I would recommend 20/459 because of how far away from all the other things it is, and it's just a stack interchange. The multiple interesting things to the NW are more worthy of our time.

[codyg1985]

When I get the final route set, I will do a dry run on it to get an idea of how long it will be. Right now I don't plan on doing the Mount Olive Road bridge, but if it seems like there will be some spare time, I may add that back in. I can remove the cloverleaf and the 20/459 stack. The only thing about the cloverleaf that is kind of cool to see is the US 31 bridge over Lakeshore: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4682288,-86.7780036,3a,60y,45.96h,85.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZyjV-yMvf6aEcpAyHuJHlA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

As for pit stops, I try and build them in as a restroom and snack break. Of course, depending on where we are, we could relieve ourselves at the stop, but I still try and build them in so that we don't make an unscheduled stop for it. This way it is built into the schedule.

[codyg1985]

I also haven't scouted out the Old US 78 bridge yet. I am going to take a visit down there this weekend to do a dry run.

[froggie]

Pit stops: I've found that a meet can go 4-5 hours without planned pit stops.

It can, but I would certainly accommodate "unplanned" pit stops during that time.  While Steve is correct in that stops can drag out, that does not have to be the case...if it means the lead needs to "ride herd" on the rest of the group, then so be it.

[US71]

Barring a major crisis, I will be there, and have a room reserved.

[Alps]

When I get the final route set, I will do a dry run on it to get an idea of how long it will be. Right now I don't plan on doing the Mount Olive Road bridge, but if it seems like there will be some spare time, I may add that back in. I can remove the cloverleaf and the 20/459 stack. The only thing about the cloverleaf that is kind of cool to see is the US 31 bridge over Lakeshore: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4682288,-86.7780036,3a,60y,45.96h,85.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZyjV-yMvf6aEcpAyHuJHlA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

As for pit stops, I try and build them in as a restroom and snack break. Of course, depending on where we are, we could relieve ourselves at the stop, but I still try and build them in so that we don't make an unscheduled stop for it. This way it is built into the schedule.

That is a cool bridge.