Quote:
Originally Posted by rohittunga Well, the meet finally happened and what a great trip it was.
One thing I’ve learnt attending a few Team BHP meets in the past is how valuable planning is.
Even though it was just a day trip, all of us had to travel a long way to reach the starting point.
After our initial meet & greet, we all tanked up our cars, emptied our bladders and headed out. Don’t know about you guys but I love convoy driving. There’s something nice about it. |
June 19, 2021. A day to Remember for a long long time. This drive will always bring a smile to me. A smile of content, happiness and the pleasure of meeting fellow T’Bhpians and their beautiful machines.
Big Big shout out to
Rohit aka rohittunga for meticulously planning this out!
![Clapping](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/Clapping.gif)
Imagine the level of planning when I say, Rohit actually looked up the Instagram pics (from various folks who posted about the Triple Nickel), located the pic’s gps coordinates and actually plotted them on the g-maps for precision. That was the level of planning! Hell, we even had run through the menu of the restaurant prior to going there.
Pittsburgh being only about 140 miles to the starting point, I guess I had it the easiest in terms of travel distance. Jeeva (aka jeevandeepan from NJ) and Sunay (aka fusionbang from Philly) came over the previous night and stayed at my place. This probably accorded them some much needed rest and a good break in journey to be fresh in the morning.
Jeeva and I swapped cars. Jeeva’s ND2 MX5 RF is a pocket rocket. Took a quick bio + coffee break after driving for about a 100 miles. Sunay swapped with Jeeva and got behind the M340i. I continued with the MX5. It is such a fun car to drive. We just drove in a convoy, sticking to the speed limits. It was the first time I was seeing my car in motion while not sitting in it. She sure looks beautiful.
Us at the starting point with a quick catch up before embarking on that epic drive!
Quote:
Originally Posted by rohittunga Nikhil (aka nikhilarni) in his BMW M340i probably an even faster rocket ship and finally me Rohit (aka rohittunga) in an E60 BMW M5 - BMW’s first and last V10 engined car |
Haha, loved that introduction. Danke.
We need to add, “… And she is the fastest car in the fleet aka the Millennium Falcon”, for your M5
Quote:
Originally Posted by rohittunga Section 1 ended when we took an exit from boring 4 lane highway into an exciting single lane road. That began the start of Ohio State Route 555, or commonly known as Triple Nickel. Let me tell one thing right off the bat - that road did not disappoint. |
We stopped for a photoshoot spending about 30 odd mins and we were off on the first section of our Triple Nickel Drive. I was behind our Millennium Falcon aka Rohit’s exquisite M5.
Right off the first turn back on the 555, I see Rohit just about gunned it and raced ahead. I was next. I tried keeping up at a safe distance. What a drive it was. More like a preview of what was to come in our post-lunch session. The post lunch drive was a Cracker! Thankfully, there was very scant traffic.
Should I mention that I got brutally trolled by fellow members for driving in Comfort mode during the first section.
![LOL](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/LOL.png)
My first experience with unleashing the true potential of this car, I was just getting a feel of my
Blauer Pfeil, and then on,
Sports mode it was. Boy oh Boy! What an adrenalin rush it was.
The second section was pure thrill. I guess every driver was pushing their cars to the road’s limits. The elevations, drops, banked curves and turns were something to be experienced. Adding to the whole thrill were the blind drops and immediate turns after that.
Brake – Turn - Accelerate – Turn - Brake – Turn – Accelerate. Getting out of those turns felt nothing short of a sling shot. I seriously wish I had a GoPro mounted behind the front wheels to capture the turns and tire movement. Now that I said it, I’ll probably make sure to have it on the next drive.
Like a video simulator, that drive is still playing in my mind. Like a fellow member said, the meets and drives continue to linger for days after the meet. Such is the fun and thrill of these meets.
When we took the second stop at the end of the second section, the adrenalin was so high, that my legs were still shaking even after parking the car. For a few mins, I could barely stand straight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rehaan Wow... looks almost like someone draped a velvet black ribbon across the hilly countryside ![Love It](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/loveit.png) |
You just summarized the entire stretch of road in that sentence!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mobike008 I felt like being on a roll-coaster ride for those 90 miles
There were quite a few moments were we involuntarily said “Umm” or “Darn” or “What the heck” ![Rolling Laughter](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/Rolling laughter.gif) when the car would go through sudden drops in elevation
It’s unbelievable to know M5 burnt 275 liters of petrol for the whole trip.
I burnt around 29 Gallons (~105 Liters of 93 Octane) of liquid gold for 650 miles of overall drive
This meet will definitely go down as one of the great ones and most memorable. Let’s meet one last time as faraway horizons are callin’ me. !!! |
Avi, totally agree that this drive will go down our memory lanes as one of the most thrilling drives and fun meets. I too had those “umm” and “Omg” moments on those unpredictable turns. It was nothing short of a roller coaster, only one in which you are in the front seat, controlling it all the way.
I burnt about 20 odd gallons ( ~75 liters of 93 Octane) fuel for about 440 miles of overall drive.
We will definitely meet before you leave for the far away horizons, and will continue to meet even after.