The organization was great too. Head honcho Bob Gillespie seems like a very cool guy - laid back, yet everything went off without a hitch. A crack team of volunteers & marshalls to get the two driving events started and finished with a minimum of fuss. No small feat considering how many noobs they had to deal with.
And I thought it was especially cool how they involved students in things, from grade school kids to high school to university level. I liked the art competition for grade school students to come up with new vehicles with creative fuels & drivetrains. I think there were more awards given for plans/drawings of "used diaper-powered" and "cockroach-powered" cars than there were awards for the big kids in the rally and fuel economy events!
Oh yeah - both ends of the motorcycle spectrum were represented: a Suzuki Hayabusa and a pair of Vespas in the mpg run. The zucchini managed something like 58 mpg (I think)! Both Will & I saw him ride past, tucked down low for better aero.
For me the only downside to the event wasn't at the event itself, it was on the way home! A minivan driver crossed the highway from a side road RIGHT in front of me. I had to emergency brake from 50 mph / 80 km/h to avoid stuffing my car into her sliding door. The driver looked right at me as she crossed my lane - fear in her face when she realized what she'd done. I'm just glad she stayed on the go pedal so I could slip by her back end. It was serious enough that my first thought when I went for the brakes was NOT "oh, crap - it's going to take me a while to make up for
that wasted energy."