How not to end a 3,000 mile road trip...

[HankLloydRight]

So I've been on this 3,000 mile/3 week road trip this month... had a great time, especially stopping at Cedar Point on Monday ("just wow!"). Yesterday was my very last day -- a final 550 mile drive home.

I was 50 miles/50 minutes from home, on I-287N in New Jersey headed for the Tapan Zee Bridge. Thinking about what a great time and all the fun things I did and really looking forward to getting home to my family and dogs...

.. but then I changed lanes into the right lane, and had to avoid a car in the middle lane also moving into my lane.. had to drop into the shoulder a few inches to avoid a collision.... but then I hit a big pothole (or something) on the edge of the shoulder.

Blew out both right tires and possibly bent the rims. Had to get AAA to flatbed my car home the rest of the way.

But I am an optimist. It could have been a lot worse --it could have been cold, raining, or snowing. Or there could have been body damage or loss of control. Or could have happened on the first day of my trip, and not the last.

Since I was stranded on the highway in a bad spot (around a blind curve) and at night, AAA gave my call priority and I only waited about 30 minutes for the tow.

FYI, here was my trip route -- 25 Superchargers and just about one megawatt of energy consumed.

 

[AustinP]

Like the way you see positively thru this not so fortunate ending. Hope you get back on wheels soon.

 

[tstafford]

Man - you missed the every day party that is Nashville by only few miles!

 

[TexasTeslaRacing]

That pot hole must have been huge!

 

[Don TLR]

Glad it was only rims, though not the best way to end a fun trip..

 

[HankLloydRight]

That pot hole must have been huge!

I really don't know what it was.. I'll try to pull the dashcam footage and see if it shows anything.

 

[dark cloud]

Does this make you consider going to 19"s? (No way of knowing whether this road crater would have blown those out as well, of course....)

And you're right; it could have been much more unpleasant.

 

[Ardie]

Sorry to hear about your mishap / glad to know that everyone is okay.
But enough of the bad news.
So, tell us all about your trip.

-- Ardie

 

[HankLloydRight]

Does this make you consider going to 19"s?

Never!! Ha ha. I love the 21" for summer, and will continue to take the associated risks.

I had just filled all the tires to 45 PSI (cold) earlier in the day, so I'm hoping the higher pressure and the tires took the brunt of the impact and not the rims. They actually look OK and not bent, but I'll find out more tomorrow.

And if they are bent, I already have three 21" Turbine spares in the garage, and I have a local shop that will fix any rim "as good as new" for $250 each, including stripping and powder coating. Worse case scenario, this event is less than $1k of damage.

 

[dark cloud]

Never!! Ha ha. I love the 21" for summer, and will continue to take the associated risks.

I had just filled all the tires to 45 PSI (cold) earlier in the day, so I'm hoping the higher pressure and the tires took the brunt of the impact and not the rims. They actually look OK and not bent, but I'll find out more tomorrow.

And if they are bent, I already have three 21" Turbine spares in the garage, and I have a local shop that will fix any rim "as good as new" for $250 each, including stripping and powder coating. Worse case scenario, this event is less than $1k of damage.

I am surprised you don't have Arachnid's? You prefer the turbines look? it would have made no difference to the tire of course...

 

[HankLloydRight]

I am surprised you don't have Arachnid's? You prefer the turbines look? it would have made no difference to the tire of course...

I've won and sold several sets of the Arachnids. It's just not a design I like. I much prefer the classic Turbines. Although I've seen the new style Turbine wheels in person, and I do like them as well.

*The Arachnid are also staggered which (a) doesn't really provide any measurable or visual benefit, it's also (b) hard to find a good staggered tire selection and (c) can't rotate them. They're really only good for bragging rights and to make people think they have something other people don't.

 

[rooter]

You went to Chicago for vacation?!

 

[Muzzman1]

Whew! Glad to see there's no other damage! $1k isn't bad at all to get you going again!

BTW....how's the amp? Is it in that car?

 

[HankLloydRight]

BTW....how's the amp? Is it in that car?

The amp is awesome!! Yes, I enjoyed it on most of this trip (although I did spend a fair amount of time catching up on some audio books). Thank you again for the amp.

 

[HankLloydRight]

You went to Chicago for vacation?!

DeLorean Convention and Show

 

[mbhforum]

Sorry to hear Hank but you’ll be back in no time! I was ending my road trip yesterday also and was on 287 also, but during the afternoon (and not in model S due to the ac issues I had).

 

[Sprandt23]

Oh man, that stinks Hank, but glad to hear you're ok. Did a 2500 mile round trip this summer as well, it was a blast and can't wait for the next one!

 

[HustleSimmons]

Glad to see your ok. The title sounded like it could have been way worse. Glad you got to visit Cedar Point. Best collection of roller coasters in America IMO. You ride the Top Thrill Dragster?

 

[jlv1]

You ride the Top Thrill Dragster

It's usually has too long a line for the 23 second thrill that you get... now, IMHO, Millennium Force is worth the wait no matter how long the line is.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Glad to see your ok. The title sounded like it could have been way worse. Glad you got to visit Cedar Point. Best collection of roller coasters in America IMO. You ride the Top Thrill Dragster?

TTD and Millenium Force are my favorite coasters** at CP. I was there for 1.5 days. I arrived on Sunday afternoon and went straight to the park and TTD... just as a flood of people are flowing out of the ride line. Ride was down, not sure when it would be back up again. Drats. Hopefully it's up the next day (Monday) where I was at the park all day.

Get there Monday, TTD is still down...I inquire, and they tell me it won't be back running all day. F*********K... Part of the reason I came to CP was to specifically ride TTD about 10 times. (I bought the Fast Lane Plus which skips most of the line with very little, if any, waiting time). I kept my ears open throughout the day in case it started running (you can hear and see that thing launch througout the park).

In the early afternoon I walked by, and yup -- it was down for sure -- the main cable snapped (or broke, I don't know). They had four massive spools of new cable and were threading it into the ride. There was another worker welding some rail parts back together. So it was a massive failure, or something triggered the sensor that the main cable had to be replaced (maybe it was just frayed?). That made me feel a little better that it wasn't some $10 sensor that failed and they're just sitting around waiting for it to arrive from wherever. They were on the ball getting it fixed, for sure. But it was a no-go all day.

No worries, Millenium Force was still operational, and I rode that about 4 or 5 times.

It's usually has too long a line for the 23 second thrill that you get... now, IMHO, Millennium Force is worth the wait no matter how long the line is.

NOT ANYMORE... Like I said, these two coasters were the best rides in the park. But they've both been unseated by Steel Vengeance. HANDS DOWN. There's no way to describe this ride. I mean, they pulled out all the stops and made a new roller coaster like no other I've EVER ridden. There's real airtime where you least expect it. I rode SV three times, I think. It's like the best of every steel and woodie coaster ever built. The last time I did have to wait 45 minutes in the Fast Lane Plus line! I have no idea how long the plebe^H^H^H^H^H^H regular line was, but at least two hours. The most I waited for MF was 15 minutes.

Right next to SV was Maverick, another newer ride, which is also very very awesome. I'd rank it one step below MF and TTD and two steps below SV, but well worth it. A lot of fun.

Gatekeeper is another newer ride that was up there -- a lot of fun, but a bit twisty. Smooth, but twisty. Ranked one step below Maverick.

And one non-coaster ride I really like is "Max Air".. and as the name describes.. lots and lots and lots of airtime.

** were my favorite.