The 1st Annual Waumandee, Wisconsin Hillclimb

06:30, Saturday, 22 September, 2012
Waumandee, Wisconsin

It was cold, damp, windy, and still dark when our little caravan approached a roadblock on Blank Hill Road near Waumandee, Wisconsin.  As we stopped by the barricade we were soon met by Tom Hazen, the event coordinator for the day.  He gave us a packet of release forms to be signed by every adult entering the area, information sheets for drivers and a whole bag of snacks.  In just a minute, Dan and I became the entry gate volunteers for the first hour of the day.  A short time later a group of early rising Girl Scouts and their parents arrived to set up a food stand.  The paddock eventually became home to the refreshment stand, a registration tent, about 30 vintage cars and small groups of drivers and spectators.  By 9 am the rain had mostly stopped, drivers and cars were all registered and ready, the safety meeting had concluded, and all the volunteer corner workers were in position on the course.  The very first Waumandee, Wisconsin Vintage Car Hillclimb sponsored by the Austin Healey Club of Minnesota was about to get underway.

The three race cars in the field were first to run the hill.  Since these cars are not licensed for public roads they had to go down the hill while no one was coming up the hill.  This required some coordination and the runs were stopped for a time at the end of each run cycle to accommodate these cars.  While the race cars were going down and and making their runs back up the hill, the rest of us drove on public roads to reach the start of the course at the bottom of the hill.  The hillclimb course had an elevation change of about 400 feet and was about 2 miles long.  Trip around was about 7 miles.

As I queued to start my first trip around to get to the bottom of the hill, The Waumandee Booster Club readied and fired their pumpkin cannon.  The gun crew loaded a ripe watermelon into the cannon, pumped the reservoir to 60 psi with an air compressor and launched the melon.  The launch forces blew the melon to mist and those of us who were downwind, myself and several others, were coated with eau de watermelon.  We were all just a little sticky.  Fortunately watermelon dust is very soluble in soapy water so it was an easy matter to wash the car the next day.  What a blast!

Dan and I near the bottom of the hill                  Photo by Andy Lindberg

I made a total of 8 runs up the hill.  The first was to learn the course and was untimed, Dan rode along for the second, and one of the girl scout moms was a passenger on the third.  She probably will not forget the noisy, 'close to the road' persona of a Bugeye Sprite, even just running easy.  I ran the other 5 timings with spirit.  I had no equipment failures other than a loose ignition connector, easily fixed, and drove the car home at the end of the day.

  Photo by Heidi

 



Keep em running
As always
The GlassStacker's Assistant

The I35E Bridge over Maryland Avenue in St Paul

On Saturday, August 18, 2012, Karen, the Boss, and I were on the corner of Mississippi Street and Jessamine Avenue in St. Paul.  A small group had gathered there to watch the installation of the Maryland Avenue bridge.  What made this a special event was that the bridge had been previously constructed on a lot adjacent to the freeway and was being moved into position by a self-propelled bridge hauler.  We spent a very enjoyable and informative two hours watching MNDOT move the bridge into position while chatting with the small contingent of St. Paul residents that had turned out to observe the whole operation.
The bridge had been under construction for several weeks and we were very keen to know just how it would be moved to the Maryland Avenue site.  A lot of wheels were sure to be involved but we were unsure about the details of the procedure.
The day before, after goofing off at an estate sale in Minneapolis, we passed the bridge site on the way back to Karen's place.  As we passed, Karen very excitedly exclaimed, "Did you see all those wheels?"  We very nearly had to go back around to have another look!  In fact, the Boss and I did take another look on our way home later in the day.  We could see that an awful lot of wheels and equipment had been installed under one of the bridge segments.
About 6 am Saturday morning, my phone beeped with a text from Karen suggesting that the bridge would be on the move soon and that we should go and watch, that it was our civic duty to watch our state government in action.  Without even brushing our teeth, we were out of bed and on our way St. Paul.  By 8 am, we were part of a small, diverse group of locals who were interested in the final installation of the Maryland Avenue bridge over I-35-E.
The self-propelled bridge hauler is operated by a Texas company. A pair of diesel engines run hydraulic pumps that raise or lower the entire bridge, rotate and turn the wheels.  The platform supports the entire bridge and moves at a walking pace.  It can be turned and maneuvered as required to place the bridge on its supports and is controlled by one man with a small computer.

Note that 2 pair of wheels were raised, malfunction?, while the bridge was being moved.  We counted 192 pair of hydraulically driven wheels on the transporter. (384 wheels, a lot of steel girders, one man, one computer program and a great big, heavy bridge)

Note also that our viewing location was very nicely shaded.
What a day!

Keep em running.
As Always,
The GlassStacker's Assistant