Interest Gauging for the Southeast Meet Runs August 21-24

[JRinKY]

Post in this thread or in the parallel thread on the Solstice Forum so that we can gauge the interest in each of the run options.

I have been working on scheduling the runs, and here is a preliminary plan. Keep in mind that it will change based on interest and the number of leaders that we can introduce to the runs. This schedule is available for Friday and Saturday, and if there is interest, on Thursday and Sunday. The times listed are for the first group out, with subsequent departures at 5-10 minute intervals, if required.

All of these runs are pretty strong on twisties. The Winery and Distillery Tours both run through the Kentucky River Palisades, and the Winery Tour adds a run down to the river at Valley View and back. The few roads that are straight for any distance are hilly, so nothing will be boring. We are referring to the 227 run as the serious twisty run because it runs through some semi-remote countryside, and is lightly travelled. The speed limit for most of its length is 55 MPH, and not many people can run the whole thing that fast, so generally you can run it as fast as you want. It is probably the only run that we will divide into speed classes.

8:00 AM : Depart for a run up 227 and back. It is a little under an hour each way, so the return would be by 10:00 AM. I plan to lead this run as many times as anyone wants to make it, because the road is that much fun.

10:00 AM : Depart for the Red River Gorge. This is classed as a long run because it is mostly driving. The "Tours" involve quite a lot of stopped time. This run will return by 3:00 PM.

10:30 AM : Depart for the Winery Tour. The full tour lasts until 5:00 PM if we do all of the convenient wineries. There are several easy-return bail-out points for anyone who wants to return early, or we can shorten the whole run to return at 3:00 if there is limited interest in actually visiting and tasting at all of the wineries.

10:30 AM : Depart for the Bourbon Tour. This tour will easily allow a return by 3:00 PM if we limit the stops to two (Woodford Reserve and Wild Turkey). Woodford is a small-batch, hand operation, Turkey is a medium-sized operation. If there is enough interest we can add a mass production operation, which would stretch the return out to 5:00 PM.

If there are any hot shoes that want to run 227, but don't want to get up early, we will have a mid-morning departure for that run as well.

I am also planning to make a more leisurely run up 227 on at least one evening to have a light dinner at the Elk Creek Winery, and maybe listen to some live music on their deck.

I am making detailed trip notes for each of the runs, so anyone that wants to go out on their own is welcome to do so.