One Gallon Challenge - Boston, MA - 8/16/12
 

This event sounds interesting. I was informed about it from Bob Gillespie:

Coming up this August is the "One Gallon Challenge", an event where drivers can choose to leave from two locations, Plymouth or Greenfield and then all converge at city hall plaza in the Boston area, at an environmental Festival. A distance of 111 miles.

The event is going to start Thursday, Aug 16 and the rules for the drivers are right here Boston GreenFest 2012 ~ One Gallon Challenge.

Mike

It seems that the web site link is down at this moment. It worked this afternoon. In any case here's a link to last years event so you'll get the idea.

The Annual One Gallon Challenge Draws Unique Cars for 111 Mile “Race”

I spoke with a woman from that orginazation last week. Some one was suppossed to get back to me. What are the rules?

Ooooooo! Let's go!! Now I have incentive to work even harder on the Jetta!! Would make a great practice run before Boneville. What you gonna bring, Mike?

Sent an email, also. Will post when I hear from them.

I have to hear the rules first. ;)

Got a reply from Daniel Richardson, and it appears to be an honor system type run. There are two starting points, Plymouth and Greenfield(closer to me) and both end up meeting at City Hall Plaza. There will be placards/write ups like this;

I'll ask about specific locations to meet and routes. Any other questions?

Getting 111 MPG is a difficult thing.. but not impossible :)
Seems like a good event.

I emailed him and told him my Civic gets about 55 mpg these days (true). He encouraged me to participate.

I still wonder if my humble car would be completely uninteresting in the company of cars such as the ones pictured on their site. All those little home-built things with teardrop shapes and tiny engines, or just battery/motor setups.

I'm on the fence.

Hmmm. If a bunch of us participate, we may start outnumbering the one-off 90 mpg beasts. We may not get 90 mpg but we CAN show people what you can achieve with an oem car and a bunch of tools in a driveway.

I'm a bit less inspired now than I was when the idea was presented. I might go to spectate though. Not sure yet.

Mike

I'm going to try to make it. Still haven't heard about the meeting places yet.

You can start in Greenfield or Plymouth, MA. You get to choose!

Where? Town Hall, maybe? It ends in City Hall Plaza in Boston.

I would probably push the car on the flat and drive up hills :)

Hey guys here's one of the routes you could take from Greenfield

When the Rally starts, Thursday at 11 AM, leave the Miles Street
parking lot, and turn right on Main Street and, after a few blocks, turn
left on High Street, which is Route 2A. Follow 2A North and turn right,
(East) on Route 2. Hooray!
We're in the country!
At Exit 15, head South on Route 122
At Barre, head East on Route 62. This road may test your
suspension...
After Sterling, you need to get up to route 117 heading
East. Here's one way: Go North on Route 12. When you hit
Interstate 190, go north on it to the next exit, Exit 7, and go East
on Route 117. Follow 117 just into Waltham when you cross
Interstate 95. Stop! Your odometer may read about 90 miles at this point.
Here you have a bunch of choices: There's a Mobil on the left. You
could top up on fuel, note your miles travelled, load onto
your trailer, and head for Boston. Whew!
Or you could continue the 17 remaining miles to City Hall Plaza in
Boston, and fill up near there. But fueling there is tricky. You have a
gas-but-no-diesel gas-station at the 7-11 on Milk St. just
before Gov. Center, and gas and diesel at the Mobil on Friend St.
just after Gov. Center. But driving in Boston, looking for gas is
pretty crazy! If you're traveling with fuel in a jerrycan in your
tow vehicle, you could drive right to the Plaza and fill up yourself. But
to get an accurate MPG in a super efficient car, you need very exact
measurement. really hundredths of a gallon.
Wether on a trailer or in eco-car itself, here's how to proceed to the
Plaza. Take a deep breath...Head South on Interstate 95 (the old route 128
beltway), which is signposted right at that junction on Rt 117 in Waltham,
and once on 95 South, in just a few miles head East on the Mass Pike.
Continue past the Cambridge exit, then be careful to stay left at a
confusing exit while in a dark underpass,
and then eventually exit left onto Interstate 93 North. You're
heading for Government Center.
Once you're on 93 North, stay right and get off at the Gov. Ctr exit,
turning left onto North Street, which soon dead ends into Congress St. At
this point, you're facing the big cement facade of City Hall. Turn Left on
Congress St, and then bear immediately
right, keeping the big Plaza on your right, and enter the Plaza,
clearing with the attendants, who will be expecting you. Offload your
vehicle if it's on a trailer, and park it right in the center of things,
where you see One Gallon Challenge's banner.

Thanks Danny. Much appreciated. I'm going to try to go, if my car is ready:eek:. Hopefully I can give some of the other specialty cars a run for their money.

I'll see if I can pinpoint things with pictures. We love pics around here:thumbup:. Might even try a scouting run.

Thanks again. Hope to see you there.

Ken

Edit- Looks like Miles St is a short dead-end street about 1km East of Exit 26 off I-91, on the right as you are heading East. I like easy to find starting points:D.

Figured out the route listed above on Google maps and am trying the link out;

Miles St, Greenfield, MA 01301 to City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA 02203 - Google Maps

I put the Bear Hill Rd. Mobile station as destination B as I think this is what Danny was talking about as a possible fill point.

NeilBlanchard, aren't you from Maynard? I noticed the route goes right by there:cool:.

Danny, thx for the great write up. I'm still considering doing this event. Could be excellent.

Any word on how long we would stay at the Boston location before heading home?

I plan to be there. The day will be a good workout for my new deep cycle battery installed last weekend. Car should now have a cruise range of three hours plus, with alternator unplugged and headlights on.

Headlights might not matter in the One Gallon Chalenge, but I might need them driving home afterwards!

&@#XXX%$! I just figured out this is on a Thursday. I'd have to leave Boston an hour before I got there to pick up my son. I could come down for the start. Good short trip to test 'er out.

Shucks, I thought we'd drive this thing together. Well maybe you'll be able to be at the start. You've been strong in this thread from early on, and much thanks is due for your help here.

blownb310 most recently wrote that he might come to spectate (this post), so it looks like I'm the only EcoModder driving.

Anyone else??? Come on!

Sorry Bruce. I really thought it was on Friday. I was even going to go on a scouting run this weekend. Might still on Sunday. Saturday is struts, alignment, final check on exhaust, and maybe belly pan.

If I do go this weekend, I'll take good notes. I know it won't be work-week traffic, but still might be fun.

Didn't make the run this weekend. Going crazy getting ready for Bonneville.

Bruce, still going? I took the day off to go to the start point, but if no one is going to go, I'll either work or work on the car. Or maybe just a meet up for lunch? Or this weekend?

Mike- You going?

Anybody going?

I'm out for this event Ken. Buried with work on several cars and prepping a site for a new garage. Skid steer, gravel, and lots of sweat. :p

I'm planning on going. Ken, I'll definitely understand if you're not there.

Shucks, Bonneville is a VERY big deal! Getting the car prepped for that definitely rates up there on the priority list. If you do make it to the One Gallon Challenge in some fashion, I'll be glad to see you.

What time are you getting there? 9-9:30-10? It would be nice to chat for a while before the run.

Aiming for 9:00 arrival.

I just received this from Daniel Richardson of the One Gallon Challenge:

"Hey everyone, a little change for tomorrow. *The original set up of everything on the plaza is being changed and we'll need as much room on the plaza as possible to do this so we're asking you all to show up around 3:30. *I hope this doesn't change anything for any of you and that you all can still make it."

I'm already committed to arrive in Greenfield 9 am so I'll be hanging in town for a bit.

Me too:D.

Met up with BrucePick at the start point and hung out for about 3 hours. Bruce charged up his batteries thanks to the great people at Solar Store of Greenfield | Energy Saving Products and Services.
Had some fun watching people walk by/around my car and talked to a few who displayed some interest. Having problems up loading pics on Photobucket, but once I get it figured out, I'll get them up.

Good luck Bruce:thumbup:!

P.S. Got 81.58mpg on the round trip:D.

I would of like to have gone and seen some master Ecomodders and Hypermilers at work! Had to work, now that i think about i could have called in sick.

I got some of the pics up loaded, but apparently Photobucket is doing some kind of maintenance;

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/...M/HPIM1794.jpg

The two cars in the parking lot.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345153850

Getting Bruce's car juiced up. they had Kil-a-watts on the shelf for $29. I don't know what they are else where, but if all my pennies weren't already spoken for, I'd have grabbed one.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345153837

It seems that Bruce is well prepared for any emergency tuft testing...

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345153816

and then some:thumbup::D. That's part of Bruce's battery management system on the floor, the main contacts for his Lithium and lead acid deep cycles.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345153795

And thanks again to Greenfield Solar Store:thumbup:.

Nice work, JethroBodine!! I didn't even notice you getting all those pics. And thx again for the tips re. Injectors & O-rings.

And double thanks to the Greenfield Solar Store. Getting batteries charges up - with a welcome smile far from home - is wonderful.

Just arrived home from Boston, exhausted. Got 58.76 mpg on the run, but I'm going from memory on that. Paper records are on the car. More later.

Any pics of the other cars? Did you drive into Boston with any other competitors?

Bruce- How'd you like the event. Something to shoot for next year?

Wow, what a day. Got up at 5 a.m., got home 10:30 p.m. Drove 360 miles in total, from home to Greenfield MA starting point, then 135 mi. to downtown Boston, then back to CT at night.

I recharged the deep cycle batteries at the Solar Store of Greenfield and again at GreenFest, for the trip home.

I would do it again. It would hope for these changes:

1) Have the One Gallon Challenge (OGC) on a Saturday. GreenFest runs all day Fri & Sat with Thurs really as a setup day for displays and vendors etc. Organizers hope the cars and drivers will stay for Fri and Sat to be met and seen by the public. If we arrive Sat afternoon we can meet the public without taking two days off work with all the expenses of overnight travel. I came home Thurs evening and worked Friday, am not trekking back to Boston Saturday (tomorrow).

2) Permit drivers to start at a location of their own choosing, with a suggested driving distance and a recommendation to use scenic state roads in preference to interstates. I met two other OGC drivers at GreenFest and neither had started at either of the two designated start points.

OK, so how was the drive for the One Gallon Challenge?

The route was about 110 miles with about 15 of that being interstates near Boston. The rest are smaller roads, mostly 2-lane. I did fine following the route for about 21 miles, then missed a critical left turn. Critical because I then drove south alongside a narrow north-south lake, with no detected crossing back to the original route. Approx 40 (!!) miles later I found what town i was in. Reading an old-school map, I planned a workable route and told Garmin to take me to Ware and then towards Sturbridge. Slghtly east of Sturbridge I found an entance to I-90, the Mass Pike. I got on headed east to Boston with a mere (!!!) 60 miles yet to go. Total distance 135 miles.

I had done well on fuel economy prior to getting on the interstate, with the MPGuino showing just under 63 mpg at that point. Traffic had been sparse and I was able to pulse and glide to good advantage. The Civic's aero properties served me well on the Mass Pike and just outside Boston the 'Guino was just under 61 mpg, not bad at all. I had to deal with heavy traffic in Boston and ended up slightly under 59 mpg overall.

Other One Gallon Challenge vehicles at GreenFest:

I spoke at length with Jory Squibb, who is retired following a career teaching physics. Showing capabilities beyond those of the classroom, Jory single-handed an Atlantic crossing by sail power some decades ago. Jory rode "Sunbeam", a human and electric powered quadricycle 40 miles to get it to GreenFest. An electric motor powered by a 20AH LiFePO4 battery gives an assist on hills.

I also spoke with Bill Buchholz, who drove the Dirigo to Boston from Maine. This vehicle has an approx 30 HP Daihatsu diesel and an aero body of fiberglassed wood (cedar?) over a metal frame. It is highway capable and began life as an X-Prize contest entry. Dirigo Car | Cross Country Rally Green