Sunday Cruise

"BeaterGT" (beatergt) 03/19/2018 at 08:58 • Filed to: Weekend Cruise, Best amount of gears, Foodlopnik

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MGW

Was a decent day for cruising in the Pine Barrens. It may have been cold and windy but the roads were long and winding; a pleasant respite from stop-go traffic and PA drivers.

Stopped by a friend’s place to check out some toys, he’s got a few cars and a couple of bikes. Learned a few things about this monster, a Honda ST1300. It makes glorious sounds and has a neat adjustable windscreen.

Bonus Z06

Interior of a 2002 CL55 AMG, need to drive this next time.

Had some great dinner to top the day off. I’ve found the easiest way to enjoy asparagus is to cover it in gratuitous amounts of fancy cheese. Was nice to get a cruise in before the Z gets track-prepped, hope everyone had a good weekend or at least got to drive their cars!

CalzoneGolem > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 09:07

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My favorite way to prepare asparagus is to coat them in oil, garlic and Montreal Steak Seasoning then grilling it.

BeaterGT > CalzoneGolem 03/19/2018 at 09:12

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That does sound good. Can’t wait for grilling season.

CalzoneGolem > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 09:16

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You need one of these.

Chuckles > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 09:17

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Are there any particularly good roads through the Pine Barrens? I’ve been meaning to check it out sometime. I live in PA but not too far from there.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 09:19

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Jealous of the “got to drive your own cars” bit. I’m away on travel for work and had to stay the weekend this trip. Spending two weeks without driving either car is just weird! Also I find it wild how straight some of those roads are in the pine Barrens. I like the constant surroundings of trees and random podunk towns though. But it’s different from like upstate NY or other places in New England. Even like PA, MD, and DE feel kind of like that rural new England feel more than South Jersey away from the shore. In some ways you feel more like it’s rural Mississippi or something.

Chuckles > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/19/2018 at 09:21

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Long straight roads, small towns, and pine tree forests? Sounds exactly like eastern North Carolina.

BeaterGT > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/19/2018 at 09:45

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I’d find that weird as well, that’s too long without your own car.

Well said about the Barrens, even the backwoods towns. Biggest surprise to me is some of the elevation changes on these mostly desolate roads that head to some of the southern shore towns.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Chuckles 03/19/2018 at 09:53

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Yes that is exactly it! I was having a hard time placing the location but Eastern NC is definitely the exact spot. I think it mainly has to do with how tall/old the trees are. Elsewhere in NJ the trees are just so much smaller. Driving through NC and parts of SC and GA as well, there is that similar feel of holy shit these are huge trees.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 09:55

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I found it troubling to attempt to go the speed limit down there, even in my Miata. I was going about 80 heading down to NJMP once and it still felt too slow. Even the parkway/turnpike doesnt really feel that way due to traffic. Pretty sure most of those roads are like 50/55 which is like molasses. Its funny because I keep seeing 70/75 on inner city freeways here in Texas and I am just like holy shit that seems fast there. No way that would be above 45/50 elsewhere.

And yeah such is the reality of work travel. I suppose at least it saves me wear and tear and gas money. But its definitely better to at least get the weekends to drive. I hope to not spend any more weekends here. I dont really miss my cars during the week since that is just commuting anyways.

BeaterGT > Chuckles 03/19/2018 at 10:02

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Unfortunately, I don’t know them by name but that would be a fun project to do. Off the top of my head, Brendan T Byrne has some quick, flowing roads. Down near Bass River SF is more tight corners through the woods. Best thing to do would make a day trip out of it and head to a state park for some camping or a shore town and enjoy the roads along the way. Make sure to check “Avoid Highways” on your GPS.

BeaterGT > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/19/2018 at 10:06

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Good point, put that abuse on some other car!

Must be that NJ state of mind aka rushrushrush. The route down to NJMP is a good cruise too albeit more boring. I’ve never driven there from the TR/Brick area.

Chuckles > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/19/2018 at 10:20

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I’m happy to be living back in PA, but part of me will always miss the emptiness of Eastern NC. Route 264 between Belhaven and the outer banks is a vast, beautiful, desolate place.

BeaterGT > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/19/2018 at 10:22

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Also wanted to ask, how does NJ traffic and highway speeds compare to Texas?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 10:25

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Its parkway down into like the 40s/30s exits I forget. But then another 45 minutes of just through the woods backroads. Thankfully I was still in a Miata so the temptations to go 100+ just werent there lol.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 10:39

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Well I am living in Los Angeles although I have spent a lot of time the last two months in Dallas. Both VERY different areas from NJ lol. Traffic patterns here in Dallas though seem to match closer to those in NJ. There is a morning rush heading towards “the city” and an evening rush heading away from “the city”. Depending on where you are in NJ that means Philly or NYC. And here of course that is downtown Dallas. But outside of rush hours, traffic seems to go away predictably. Whereas at my home of Los Angeles, it is just chaos in all directions at any given time. Sure there are rush hours but that seems to just make traffic in EVERY direction bad. That part makes no sense to me but I guess its the lack of a dedicated business hub or city center. Sure there is a downtown but where people work is so spread out that it is hard to declare that. It is the same reason why public transit is so irreparably fucked/impossible in Socal.

I do find that traffic speeds are 100% identical in all three places. There are just vastly different speed limits. The same road in NJ will have a 55 mph limit, CA 65mph limit, and TX 75 mph limit. But you will go 80 on all of them.

BeaterGT > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/19/2018 at 10:46

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Very interesting, thanks for the insight. I figured LA traffic was its own beast which is why I asked about Texas lol.

Chuckles > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 11:17

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A weekend trip sounds fun, but if I’m trying to keep costs down I could probably get there and back in a day. I live in Allentown PA so it wouldn’t be too bad.

BeaterGT > Chuckles 03/19/2018 at 11:41

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Not too bad. If you like wings, you could head to the Pic-a-lilli Inn (actually an old pub) and make a day out of it.

Chuckles > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 11:55

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This is the kind of information that I’m here for. Thanks for the tip. Now I just need to wait for my Miata to get back from the shop. On my last fun drive I hit a large unavoidable pothole and my entire dash went dead.

BeaterGT > Chuckles 03/19/2018 at 11:59

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No problem. Hope it’s an easy fix and your Miata is back on the road soon.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BeaterGT 03/19/2018 at 13:37

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In some ways the freeways and how people drive on them reminds me a little of Los Angeles. There is that same sort of massive congestion that seems to go on here in Dallas if you get on a road at the wrong time. The same sort of crazy left lane accidents and stupid people everywhere. But maybe that is just a thing everywhere. Since that was also how things were generally during rush hour on the Turnpike in NJ. I mean legally, everything is faster here in Texas though for sure. I guess there is more space of course but one would think road design and safety stuff could be the same everywhere to make 80mph speed limits perfectly safe on any limited access freeway.