Controlled Over-Steer

The Official Newsletter of the Indy Miata Club Volume 26 Issue 1 January 2015 What s Inside Page 2 Curves Ahead (cont.) Page 3 4th Gen. MX-5 News & Photos Page 4 2015 Regional Events Page 5 7 Collings Southwest Adventure Page 8 More 4th Gen. MX-5 photos Page 9 Advertisers Page 10 Tentative 2015 Club Events Advertisers Controlled Over-Steer By Tom Lewis, President Wishing each and every one of you a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and extraordinarily Curvy 2015! It s really hard to believe that it was exactly 6 years ago that I first sat down to pen my first Open Road article as club President for the January 2009 edition. It sure doesn t seem that long ago. A lot has happened in the club during that time, with some turnover in members which is to be expected. But since that time, there s always been a core group of people who keep the day to day operations of the club possible your Board of Directors. Gary Weidman has led us as President this past year and we all own him a big THANKS for the time and talent he and his wife Linda have contributed IMPORTANT NOTICE! Club memberships expires on Dec. 31 of each year. Renew your membership immediately by submitting your dues and membership form to our Treasurer ASAP! to the club. It s always good to take over while things are running smoothly and Gary s done a great job of keeping the club on a steady course. We have the dynamic duo of Ken and Joan Rabbers to thank for their time and talents, too. As our club s Treasurer, Ken keeps the money and books in line while his wife, Joan, documents and keeps records as our club s Secretary. Darlene Evans, former First-Navigator while her husband, Jeff, served as club President, receives our gratitude as our Membership Director, setting up new member accounts and sending out new membership kits. Steve Crouse has worn many hats for both the Indy Miata Club and the Gateway Miata Club in St Louis, most recently as our club Treasurer for many years, and now as our Open Road newsletter editor, publishing a new version every month. And what can we say about our Webmaster, Sara J McBride? For so many years now, Sara J has been giving to the club in many ways, from hosting and operating the club s website, editor, photographer and over-all club cheerleader, she s done it all. Thanks, Sara J, for your contributions and your spirit that adds some much fun to this club. And finally, a big Congratulations and thank you to our new Vice President, Ken Koehler. Cont. on pg. 2

Page 2 Open Road January 2015 Indy Miata Club Officers 2014 President Tom Lewis president@indymiata.org Vice-President Ken Koehler vicepresident@indymiata.org Treasurer Ken Rabbers treasurer@indymiata.org Membership Director Darlene Evans membership@indymiata.org Secretary Joan Rabbers secretary@indymiata.org Website Editor Sara J McBride webmaster@indymiata.org Newsletter Editor Steve Crouse editor@indymiata.org Curves Ahead, cont. During our Holiday Celebration Dinner and Annual Club Elections, Ken was nominated by the Board to act as Vice President during 2015, and ultimately as President in 2016. Ken s nomination was unanimously accepted by the members present. On behalf of the other Board Members, I welcome Ken and look forward to a fun, curvy and productive year. When I penned that first article 6 years ago, the club had just completed a spectacular year in terms of club activities and member participation. The majority of activities was centered on the club hosting the 2008 Midwest Miata Gathering, with nearly 170 Miatas from across the US and Canada coming to Indianapolis to experience an unforgettable weekend. Preparations for this gathering seemed to keep the calendar full with a steady flow of meetings, activities and practice runs on roads we would be using to share our home turf s best curves and most scenic routes. Since beginning my involvement in the Club in 2002, it seems that the club peaked in 2008, again, in terms of club activities filling the calendar and members participating in activities. I guess that s how I judge the club s overall health the number of events on the calendar. And over the past couple years it seems we ve become a bit lethargic, with fewer and fewer events on the calendar. My goal this year is to see if we can put a few more events on the calendar than we did the last couple of years. So, let s put a number to it call the driving season from April through October, or seven months. 2 Events per month sounds doable, so let s set a goal of 14 Events on the 2015 Driving Season Calendar. I m counting on you all to help me meet this Goal! And things look promising. Many of you have already informed me that you plan on hosting an event this year. That is fabulous. Just be sure to contact me or VP Ken Koehler so we can get the date on the calendar and offer you any assistance in planning. We have several events already listed, some still in need of rallymasters/hosts, including our annual Night Before gatherings for the 500, Brickyard and MotoGP. These gatherings are easy to plan pick a spot, announce it, show up with a clean Miata and mingle (preferably with something to munch on)! Want to put together a driving event? Great! Email me at President@IndyMiata.org and let me know how I can help you get started. Whether it s picking a route from our current library of choice roads around the state or helping you plan your own route on some of your favorite roads, all you need to do is email me and I and other officers and experienced members will assist you in your planning. Whatever we have to do, ultimately, we need to meet or exceed our Goal of 14 Events in 2015. Let me know YOUR ideas for meeting our Goal and making 2015 a successful year! The Open Road is published monthly for the members of the Indy Miata Club. The Indy Miata Club assumes no liability for any information contained herein, or injury or damage resulting from the use of this information. The ideas, opinions, maintenance or modification tips expressed are to be used at the reader s discretion. Individual contributors and/or the editors express no approval, authentication, or endorsement. Thank you.

Page 3 Open Road January 2015 Miata news that may, or may NOT be true. Truck space in the new 4th Gen. MX-5. A rendering of the potential PRHT of the 4th gen. MX-5/Miata. Mazda Introduces "Mazda LM55 Vision Gran Turismo", Virtual Sports Car Exclusive for Videogame 2016 Mazda MX-5 Rendered as Implausible Crossover

Page 4 Open Road January 2015 Regional Miata Events in 2015 Here are some of the regional Miata events scheduled for the coming year. If you haven t attended a BIG Miata rally, you are missing a grand gathering of Miata-philes. If you need help finding information, contact one of our club officers, or search Miata.Net. March 26, Triad Miata Club, Miatas at Myrtle Beach IX June 4, Tri-Cities Miata Club, Zoomin' the Mountains of East Tennessee June 5, Windy City Miata Club, 25th Anniversary Celebration July 3, Miatas at the Gap (MATG XIX) August 7, Underground Miata Network, Canada's Capital Miata Meet October 8, San Diego Miata Club, Surf 'N' Safari Coming to Road Atlanta, April 24-26, 2015 The first ever international invasion of V8 Miatas at Mitty! This will be a world record-breaking event, with the most ever V8 Miatas gathered in one place! No, really, we have a couple cars coming from Canada and the old record is 13, so we should break it... If you know of any V8 owners, please give them this info and come check out the V8s at Mitty! Here is the website for more information: http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=562167

Page 5 Open Road January 2015 Our South West Adventure by Gary & Kathy Collings In early summer,2014, we left Indiana on June 25 and spent three days in Moab, Utah with its unique combination of beautiful red rock scenery and arches along with the cool waters of the Colorado River. From Moab we traveled to the Bryce Canyon gathering of 125 Miatas hosted by the Utah Miata Club from July 2 5, where we were awe-struck by the raw beauty of colorfully displayed cathedral-like hoodoos as far as the eye could see. (See the Colling s trip report in the November Open Road.) On July 8, 2014 we stored our Miata at Salt Lake City after the Bryce Canyon event and flew back home to Indiana as an alternative to driving through Kansas again. We then flew back over Kansas to Salt Lake City on September 8 for the 8-day tour dubbed the Great South West Adventure, which included standin on the corner at Winslow, Arizona and took us across four states (Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado). The eager travelers in 12 cars had already made overnight reservations at previously designated hotels along the route. The highlights of our journey are recounted as follows: Day 1 (9/20/14) We left Salt Lake City and traveled approximately 335 miles to Kanab, Utah. Our route took us through the Dixie National Forest and surrounding Cedar Breaks National Monument, which resembles a miniature Bryce Canyon. Situated at an elevation of 10,000 feet, Cedar Breaks is shaped like a giant coliseum dropping 2,000 feet to its floor. The Indians called Cedar Breaks the Circle of Painted Cliffs. Near our destination we traveled through the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, which features coral-hued sand dunes located beside red sandstone cliffs. High winds pass through the notch between the Moquith and Moccasin Mountains and pick up loose sand particles and then drop them onto the dunes. The 1,200 acres of dunes are formed from the erosion of pink-colored Navajo sandstone and are a popular destination for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts. Day 2 (9/21/14) We set out for the second day s itinerary of 300 miles bound for Holbrook, AZ via the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park so named because of its large deposits of petrified wood. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside select stands of the petrified trees to be designated as the Petrified Forest National Monument. In 1932, an additional 53,200 acres of Painted Desert were included in the Monument. In 2004, Congress authorized expanded boundaries that more than doubled the park s size. The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived about 225 million years ago. The park s earliest inhabitants arrived at least 8,000 years ago. Approximately 2,000 years ago, they were growing corn in the area and building pit houses. Later the inhabitants built above-ground dwellings called pueblos. Day 3 (9/22/14) On our third day s journey of 260 miles we passed through Tuba City near the Four Corners region on the route to Safford, AZ. Thirty miles east of Flagstaff off of I-40 we detoured to the Meteor Crater. It indeed is one of the most extraordinary places on earth as advertised. It is speculated that 50,000 years ago, out of the northeastern sky, a pinpoint of light grew rapidly into a brilliant meteor that was to instantaneously transform the unbroken plains. The meteorite was hurtling at an estimated 26,000 miles per hour and lost little velocity or mass when it passed through the earth s atmosphere. We were told that traveling at the speed of 26,000 mph one could go from California to New York in five minutes. The huge iron-nickel meteorite, calculated to have been about 150 feet across and weighing (cont. on pg. 6)

Page 6 Open Road January 2015 several hundred thousand tons, struck the rocky plains with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT! Beyond the melted region of impact, an enormous volume of rock underwent complete fragmentation and ejection. The results of these violent conditions was the excavation of a giant bowl-shaped cavity. In seconds, a crater 700 feet deep, over 4,000 feet across, and 2.4 miles in circumference was carved into this once-flat rocky plain. In today s terms, the crater reportedly would house 20 football fields and seat two million spectators around its perimeter. If the Washington Monument was placed on the floor of the crater 550 feet below the observation deck, its top would be at eye level. The Meteor Crater, designated as a Natural Landmark by the Department of the Interior in 1968, is the first proven and best preserved impact site on Earth. We next took a side excursion on Route 66 to Winslow, AZ where we stopped for a photo opportunity standin on the corner by the flatbed Ford famously noted in the 1972 song, Take it Easy, by the Eagles. We capped off this day s journey with a 120 mile mountainous drive from Springerville to Clifton through the Apache National Forest for some of the greatest continuous twisty, switch-back driving we have ever done. No wonder this Route 191 is also known as the Devil s Highway (aka Old 666). The Federal Highway Administration reportedly considers it to be the curviest road in the nation with 1,100 curves and a multitude of 10 mph curve warning signs. The road is narrow in places and runs along the cliff side with no shoulder or guard rails, which may explain why we had no other traffic to impede our spirited drive. Near the end of the route as we descended a 6,000 mile elevation change, we were surprised to suddenly come upon a huge copper strip mine excavation site that was operational for miles in the Morenci valley. All 12 of our Miatas would likely have fit into one of the dump trucks. This third day of travel was packed full of sights and curves beyond our experience. (For more photos of Route 191/Old 666/The Devil s Highway, go to our Indy Miata Club website, link to the Forum and look for the subject under Interesting Roads and Drives.) Day 4 (9/23/14) By the end of this fourth day we logged 260 miles through the boundaries of the White Sands National Monument west of Alamogordo, NM as our final destination for the evening. It is in the Tularosa Basin, where for thousands of years the prevailing westerly winds have deposited gypsum powder (yes, as in your wall boards). The gypsum powder formerly eroded from the nearby San Andres Mountains, washed down by rainwater, and deposited in the seasonal Lake Lucero. The deposits created a huge area of white dunes covering 275 square miles. When daylight begins to fade after a sunny day, the white sands (gypsum) take on a reddish-pink hue and the surface patterns become more pronounced as the shadows lengthen. Sixty miles north is the White Sands Missile Range and the Trinity Site where the first atomic bomb was detonated in July 1945. Day 5 (9/24/14) Unfortunately, the fifth day would be our final one with the caravan, as we were called home for a family funeral. We ended our trip with a tour of the Carlsbad Cavern National Park in the Guadalupe Mountains in southeastern New Mexico. Carlsbad Cavern includes a large cave chamber, the Big Room, a natural limestone chamber (4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high at the highest point). It is the fifth largest chamber in North America and the twenty-eighth largest in the world. The cavern was reportedly discovered by what early settlers thought were plumes of black smoke in the evening sky presumably indicating a fire of some magnitude. Upon exploration, the black (cont. on pg. 7)

Page 7 Open Road January 2015 smoke was discovered to be Mexican free-tailed bats, which are present from April through October. Usually around sunset the bats emerge for about three hours in a dense group, corkscrewing upwards and counter-clockwise. The group continued on its itinerary to Roswell, NM to view the UFO Crash Site which reportedly took place in June or July 1947, when an airborne object crashed on a ranch. Judging from the pictures, our friends had a great time at this UFO phenomenon. Day 6 (9/25/14) - The group traveled to Santa Fe, NM to explore its visible history and art market. On a previous trip we had enjoyed Santa Fe in conjunction with viewing the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival held each October in Albuquerque, NM, which we recommend for your bucket list. Day 7 (9/25/14) - The caravan headed to Cortez, CO and the Mesa Verde National Park, which is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States. We regretted missing the opportunity to view the over 600 cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people. Day 8 (9/26/14) - The group s destination was Grand Junction, CO and the Colorado National Monument and its Black Canyon, which was carved out by the Gunnison River. Black Canyon On our return three-day trip home from Carlsbad Cavern we avoided Kansas again by taking Interstate 40 across the southern route through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, then north on I-65 through Kentucky, and back home again in Indiana for a one-way journey of 3,200 miles. We have marked off another great Miata adventure on our bucket list. Painted Desert Petrified tree Colorado National Monument

Page 8 Open Road January 2015 More photo-shopped color ideas for the new MX-5.

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Page 10 Open Road January 2015 Tentative Club Events for 2015 April 18, Post Tax Blues Rally 2015 May??, Indy 500 Festival Community Day May 23, Night before the 500 Mingle July 18, Dream Cars at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (with Cinti club) July 25, Night before the Brickyard 400 Mingle August 8, Night before the Indianapolis MotoGP Mingle September 11-13, St Louis Fireworks weekend November 7, Hidden Drives Rally December, IMC Christmas Dinner-Party Volunteers are needed to organize some of these events. Now is your chance to contribute to the club s activities. Now celebrating 40 years! Exclusive Discounts for Indy Miata Club Members Tom Roush Mazda, Indiana s first Mazda dealer established in 1972 has not only the most experienced sales and service staff in town, but also is the highest volume dealer in Indiana. We hope to serve you in our next 40 years as Indy s premier Mazda dealer. In support of the Miata Club member s we would like to offer the following benefits: 15% off regular door labor rate 15% off any accessory purchase S-Plan pricing to eligible customer s Extended Saturday service hours 7:30 3:30 US 31 North @ 169th Street Westfield, IN 46074 800-891-3056