You know, those things that you blow up and put on little kids' arms in the pool. Except that I need them for my car, so I can get home without having to take the long route there.

Geesh. You droptop S2kers must be having withdrawl by now.

 

You betcha... mine's been undercover (literally) for 10 days now!

 

I get my fix w/ motorcycle and car racing games on my Xbox.

 

NFS is badass on the XBox! Got kinda tired of SegaGT 2002, but might get back into it.

MotoGP is not great, I don't think. heheh

 

That's just b/c you don't know how to ride...I think it's AWESOME!!! I like the Ricky Carmichael MX 2002 even better, though.

 

Hey, I drove home from work yesterday with the top down and still had the top down when we went to dinner last night. :-)

 

Xbox as fix? I haven't turned mine on in 6 months!

I don't know what's happening down in the citified parts of Austin, but it was dry up here last night and I had a fantastic "S2K" drive out to Marble Falls and beyond on some of our usual roads. Pitch black, no traffic, no obstructions (only a skunk that had seen better days), and top down all the way out and back. I woudl have kept on going out to Fredericksburg and probably stayed there overnight if a business call hadn't come in...

I flew back in Thursday morning on a much-delayed redeye flight from LA... 16 hours travelling (all delays due to weather). After sleeping only a couple of hours at home - couldn't do that on the long leg of the flight w/ a sick baby in the row ahead of me and ill-behaved teens behind - I was ready by 6PM to burn off the rest of the blues with a great drive!

This was the best night drive I've ever had in this car... perfect conditions on the (perfect) twisty roads, good tunes on the radio (all 8 watts of it!), HIDs showing the way, perfect focus and control on my part, lotsa revs , about 200 miles out and back. It's what this car was made for.

It compares well with my all-time favorite night drive about 10 years ago at an SCCA Pro Rally in Pennsylvania... up in the mountains (Susquehanna National Forest) on narrow roads and logging trails all night long... pitch black and very fast, hundreds of miles, halogens creating a visual tunnel thru the trees and blackness, navigating to specific spots to spectate, then down and out of the mtns back to the motel at 6AM - with a 535 behind me briefly - hopelessly attempting to keep up. An 18-hour day following the race around... my 4-cam Yamaha V6 at 7200 RPM and more, 5-speed close at hand, dual exhaust acting as an auditory tach, tightly held in place by excellent seats, challenging paved and unpaved roads, and perfect attention to the task of pure driving.

Driving is what it's all about!

 

Jeff, you are brave! I think DEER and that's enough to keep me and my S tucked safely away at home...

 

And, up in PA, the deer are *real* - aka really big, really healthy, and really aggressive - not these skinny little starved thangs we have down here!

Cool thing about spectating the Pro Rally up there (particularly one in a forest and in warm weather - versus the last one I did in freezing rain and mud) was standing perfectly still in the pitch black *heavy* forest (actually hanging over the side of a hill overlooking the road, gripping a tree with one arm and my cameras with the other), waiting for the rally cars to come by (hearing them in the distance on and off, as they go up and down far-distant hills), and listening to deer, bears, and who knows what else walk by - just out of sight! Then, the rally cars start to come, flashing past at sometimes a hundred (or making a U-turn and occasionally missing, then crashing down the hill into the trees - before a bunch of us run down the hill to help them get out or to push the car thru) - that makes the deer suddenly run terrified in the opposite direction. Scary hearing them tear thru the trees behind you.

Last night, locally, it was late enough for the cute Bambis to all be in their own little beds, safely tucked in and warm. But, having terrifying nightmares about a woman in a startling bright red car with a terrific wail, coming up on them suddenly, and violently taking their little lives if they should come too close!

 

AKA, 'jackrabbits'. I harken from up north, where they grow 'em big.

Your post reminds of a 24 hr mountain bike race I did in West Virginia. Being at speed at night, especially in solitude, is an otherworldly experience once you get into the zone.