Tour de Sol -- May 10 - 14
 

The weather's warming up, and so is everyone's fuel economy! Here's
a great opportunity to help create a huge, high-density cloud of
smug even in the face of $3-and-up fuel prices.
.
As it's turning out, I will be helping staff the High Efficiency
Rally part of Tour de Sol this year, which among other things means
that I'm NOT competing. However, I and another gentleman with a
stock Insight will likely be running the course the day before, to
make sure it's free of hazards/construction/confusion, and also to
hopefully set a benchmark as to fuel economy that's reasonable for
the course. We will try to run under the same conditions -- warmed
up, good tire pressure, force-charged, all that -- and ballasted
for navigator weight if we don't have one going with us. [Which
is likely, since a lot of the rest of the NESEA staff/volunteers
will be doing six thousand other things at once].
.
I don't consider myself a radical hypermiler but I do try to
pay attention, and think I do reasonably well in an essentially
unmodded Prius. Your job, therefore, is to
.
A> sign up, at
_ http://www.nesea.org/transportation/...arlo_Rally.php
B> read the rules, posted as PDFs under
_ http://www.nesea.org/transportation/tour/2006rules.php
C> arrange NOW for a couple of days off from work in May,
D> check the latest version of advice for Prius drivers, at
_ http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/car...ally-hints.txt
E> and come out to beautiful Saratoga Springs NY and environs, and
blow the doors off our benchmarks.
.
Even if you don't want to drive the rally, there will be plenty of
hybrid geekin' to be done at the auto show on Saturday. If we get
our act together we might even have the "EV button install clinic".
.
_H* [Cross-spammed to several forums and groups.]