Category Archives: Events

2016 Hagerty Silver Summit – Day Two Preview

Day one of the Hagerty Silver Summit was dominated by tight, twisting roads with multiple switchbacks going back and forth. With fantastic weather and new driving friends, the group awoke excited for what day two would bring. The Driver’s meeting was held outside in the sunshine, with a promise of perfect driving weather ahead…

Normally, when we dismiss the driver’s meeting there is a small version of a LeMans start as driver’s and co-driver’s try not to look like they are running for first position on the road. Our group today, however, was interestingly different. Despite cars being warmed up before the driver’s meeting, despite bags packed and washroom breaks taken, the group wasn’t jockeying for first spot on the road. No, instead it seemed road-groups were forming, everyone making sure each car was ready before heading out.

Today’s route was designed with the ‘bigger’ cars, in both size and engine, in mind. We looked for highways and byways which we consider to be great ‘touring roads’. They meander through the countryside, offering elevation changes and sweeping corners. Rather than rowing between 2nd and 3rd gear in the switchbacks, driver’s were predominantly moving between 4th and 5th gear throughout the day.

We certainly didn’t forget about the twisties though! Each hour of faster touring brought a section of twisting corners or a mountain pass to challenge both car and driver alike. Whether it was carving corners through the canyons on CO-114, or climbing one of the many mountain passes…the route found something for everyone to enjoy.

Especially enjoyable today was the way in which the whole event seemed to spend time hanging out with each other. The first group stop I came upon in the Rally Beetle was at the summit of Monarch Pass. Here, over 11,000ft up, a group of cars were building snowmen from the snow on the side of the road. We had our usual meet ups at the Petrol Stations, but it was in the town of Del Norte that the group really found a bond.

The first cars to arrive at Del Norte decided on an outdoor patio and wood fired pizza for lunch. Just as they were finishing their meal, the next wave of cars arrived. A third wave arrived, just in time to see the first set of cars off. Just as the 2nd and 3rd wave were preparing to leave, the final set of cars from our group pulled in. Throughout the course of an hour the entire event enjoyed a well organized, but completely spontaneous, lunch together.

The afternoon continued our mix of touring roads and mountain passes, climbing to over 10,000 feet on Spring Creek Pass, and then over 11,000 feet on Slumgullion Pass. In the late afternoon, climbing through one of the passes, the view suddenly opens up and the West Elk Mountains, completely snow capped, suddenly dominate the horizon. For the rest of the day we drove towards them, eventually arriving in Mt. Crested Butte for the finish of day two.

A preview gallery of photos from Andrew Snucins Photography is available below:

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2016 Hagerty Silver Summit – Day One

Typically, the week of an event, I stop watching the weather reports. By time our first driver’s meeting begins, it’s too late to worry about it. The weather is, what the weather is. Last year in Colorado, however, taught me differently. No where else in the world does the saying “don’t like the weather, wait five minutes” ring more true. 2” of snow on our first day last year wasn’t what I was hoping for…so this year, I’ve been watching the weather like a hawk.

By the time this morning’s Driver’s meeting began, I knew today would be a weather hit. True, there was a threat of rain for part of the afternoon, but we’d be in the lower valleys by that point, and snow free for certain. With a final check of the road reports, I opened the morning’s participant meeting.

By the time we departed the Hagerty Collector Car Insurance Denver office, the anticipation and excitement for what lay ahead was palatable. Right off the bat, half the entrants turned right instead of left…Yup, this was going to be just as fun as all our other events! With a quick correction, or meeting up around the block, we were off onto the first highway into the mountains.

Today’s morning route took the group through Golden, up Mt Evans and over Squaw pass into Evergreen. We enjoyed gorgeous pine forests, tight switchbacks front range mountain passes. The morning route took the group by some snow, to remind them of our opening year, but fortunately this year it was just on the side of the road and not falling! After passing through Evergreen, we explored twisty low roads and then climbed up towards this historic mining town of Victor, before descending down into Canon City for our evening finish. Along the way we found B-roads and C-roads that even our lifetime Colorado residents didn’t know existed.

The day wasn’t without it’s mechanical difficulties. Kevin and Mary’s beautiful bug-eye Sprite decided to give them only 4th gear in Evergreen, and unfortunately won’t be repairable this weekend. They’ll be meeting us tomorrow in their “other Sprite”, cleverly disguised as a Honda S2000. The Mercedes guys seem to be having fuel issues, but suspected problems before the event mean they’re traveling with a trunk full of filters and simply change out at regular intervals. Duncan’s Mustang has a curious case of vapour lock. Curious, because it carries a fuel-injected modern drivetrain! Otherwise we haven’t heard of any problems, and the two cars we anticipated to have issues (the beetle and the 442) are humming along nicely.

No trip to Canon City is complete without a run up, and down, Skyline Drive. With 800 foot drops on either side, this 1903 road follows the spine of a ridge and gives a most unique perspective of the city as you arrive. Upon arrival, it seemed dinner wasn’t that important. Everyone was more interested in sharing stories, debating the best road option, or discussing the details of cars and friendships. Never before have we had to encourage folks to get up and join the buffet line, usually it’s a stampede!

A preview of photos from Andrew Snucins Photography is available below:

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2016 Hagerty Spring Thaw – Day Three

Following a frosty night in Nelson, we met for our third Driver’s meeting in basked in warmth and sunshine. Day three promised to be a fantastic day of driving as the group trekked from Nelson over to Osoyoos for our finish.

Despite being our shortest day of driving, it was not without challenges. The route book joked about the entire route being uphill, and soon the group found themselves climbing yet again. The first casualty was Geoff’s MG, it’s coolant departing the radiator in a steamy cloud. Not ones to leave a fellow motorist stranded, each passing car stopped to hand over whatever water they had on board. “Sorry, we only have Vitamin Water,” one car apologized. “No problem, the MG will take anything!” and so the radiator was filled with whatever watery-like substance would get them home.

Next up was a Caterham Seven, it’s hayabusa engine leaning out dangerously on the climbs. The RWM&Co sweep team arrived, worked out the intake leak problem and issued a temporary fix which was likely to get the car home.

And so the day continued, sweep stopping every once and a while to help with a repair or two…completely expected when one takes 80+ classic cars and asks them to drive for so many kilometres.

All of our entrants who aimed for the finish made it under their own power. Of the cars which turned back early for home, all but one avoided the dreaded tow truck ride home. And for our unlucky flat-deck gents, it was less a ‘need’ for a tow truck and more the convenience of one showing up at the right time! For the first time in Hagerty Spring Thaw history, the “Hard Luck Award” (given to the team which breaks down permanently) was placed back in the box to be used next year. Simply amazing!

For everyone, whether stopping to repair or simply enjoying the drive, the day was filled with incredible scenery and spectacular weather. We wound our way through Rossland and Trail, the historic town of Greenwood and eventually dropped through the switchbacks down into Osoyoos.

Our finish this year was at the Osoyoos golf club, where they rolled out the preverbal red carpet to host our group. In this case, the red carpet was replaced with orange golf shirts, worn by the many hosts who directed the group into reserved parking spaces. The course hosted a parking lot party, followed by a finisher’s lunch in the course restaurant. The only downside to the day? We had to say goodbye to our entrants and friends for another year…

Photo’s courtesy of Andrew Snucins Photography

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2016 Hagerty Spring Thaw – Day Two

With but a few hours sleep, the alarm was going off to begin day two of the Hagerty Spring Thaw. Problem though, was it the correct alarm or the other alarm? The event, you see, had traveled from the Pacific time zone into the Mountain Time zone, but just for the night. The route book explained the event would run on Pacific time, and to simply ignore the local time. It all seemed so reasonable and simple before an early wake up!

The CCA entrants, though, are a hearty bunch. I think a few people had an extra hour to polish their cars in the morning (some were suspiciously clean), only one driver’s meeting was needed (8:45am Pacific time) and all were in attendance. That in itself might be impressive considering the time issues, but even the Mini crew who swapped out a head gasket after dinner were all accounted for. Every car that started the event, was there at the driver’s meeting.

Today brought sunshine, some cloudy periods and a touch of rain if you were at the tail end of the group. The weather in the mountains can be rather unpredictable, and while some of us were enjoying finishing beers in the sun at the hotel, a mere 36km away other entrants were experiencing a deluge of water. As the organizer, who was conveniently at the finish point sun by this point, I could claim today was a sunny and rain free day of motoring. Unfortunately our amazing photographer Andrew Snucins was standing in that deluge of rain getting his final photos for the day!

The route brought us east of Cranbrook for a series of figure eights and loops roads never before touched by a CCA event. Whether it was the gentle sweeping highways favouring the touring cars, or the very narrow twisty back roads for the sports cars…there was something for everyone. The entire first half of the day was played to a backdrop of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and then we ventured over the Kootenay Pass to settle into Nelson for the night.

At dinner we welcomed in the newest members to the “Five Year Club”, celebrating those who have attended five years of Hagerty Spring Thaw events. We followed up with the generous prizes and gifts donated by sponsors, and amazingly sent every car home with a prize from the mountain of gifts we had.

Tomorrow promises more good weather as we head back East towards our finish.

Teaser pics from today courtesy of Andrew Snucins Photography.

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2015 Thanksgiving Run Photos

Well, it was a touch damp this morning. Okay, okay, it was rather wet. But still! 49 cars braved the weather and met in North Vancouver for the start of the CCA Thanksgiving Run. Following our slightly damp drive to Squamish, we stopped at the base of the Sea to Sky Gondola. We found the coffee shop not only featured fantastic Galileo Coffee, but a warm and dry spot to hang out as well!

With coffee finished, and the draw prizes all pulled, we figured we were done…but there was the small matter of push-starting a couple cars for their departure. Oh, and the Hagerty Spring Thaw…

“Hagerty Spring Thaw?”, I can hear you asking, yup! We put all the draw tags back in the hat, added the names and cars of anyone how hadn’t filled out a draw tag, and then pulled a lucky winner out of the hat. Ian Steward will have car number 1 reserved for his entry, no rushing to the mail required!

Here’s a small gallery from today:

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2015 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day Three Photo Preview

Whew! What a weekend! The weather was simply stunning. I’m thoroughly sunburnt from driving in a Convertible most of the weekend…and deaf from from driving the ’65 Mustang. The deaf part is probably my fault, it’s hard not to continually romp on the ‘loud pedal’, when the car sounds so good!

Day Three began, as per usual, with a driver’s meeting outside the parking lot. After sharing jokes and thank you’s, we got down to the nitty gritty; Construction and road paving had played havoc with our plans for day three. The day’s route map (found in the route book) was pulled out, and the problems highlighted. Just as the co-driver’s were readying their pens for a tonne of note taking, Dave pulled out a ‘route book supplement’ for all the participants. The route book supplement included a new map, new route and our usual style of notes and directions. Sleep? Organizer’s don’t need sleep! All kidding aside, we tossed a coffee between the front seats and embarked South towards the finish.

Today’s route, a touch shortened due to construction, wound it’s way down highway 11 with views of the Canadian Shield and the fall colours starting to emerge. Secondary roads and strategic loops took our group off the main highway for some great touring roads. As the finish loomed closer, one final road surprise was waiting. The summer camp Dave worked at in his youth was located next to a highlight in Muskoka’s road collection. Tight turns, elevation changes, lakeside views and not another car in sight. Just as the road straightened out, we turned into Golf Course and parked for our finish.

The golf-course fairway, concour d’elegance, style of parking was a first for Classic Car Adventures…and a fitting way to finish our first event in Ontario Canada.

Here are some Day Three photo previews, courtesy of Ralph Saulnier Photography:

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2015 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day Two Preview

Glorious weather welcomed us for day two of the Hagerty Maple Mille. The group descended onto a figure eight of Muskoka Loops, before heading North, and then East to North Bay Ontario. The hotel check-in staff couldn’t believe we took eight hours to get from Parry Sound to North Bay, as the trip is normally just 1.5 hours by the fastest route! But the fastest route would miss favourites such as Muskoka 632 to Port Sandfield, the Bunny Trail from Dunchurch and of course lunch at the Red Door Bakery.

Throughout the day we began to see the fall colours taking shape, and there is nothing quite like rolling hills, twisting turns and classic cars against a backdrop of yellows, red and orange.

Once again it seemed that everyone wanted to try someone else’s car. Cars, keys, seats and co-drivers were being traded so often it was hard to keep track. At one point, as a group of cars pulled into a gas station one owner was heard to exclaim “wait, if you’re here in a Triumph…where is my Mustang!?!” Eventually all the cars, drivers and co-driver’s arrived at our hotel and combinations returned to matching the entry list.

A preview of photos, courtesy of Ralph Saulnier:

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