So, what does a typical day look like on a Classic Motorsports Road Tour?

Breakfast

Your road tour registration includes breakfast at our host hotel. The location and style of breakfast will vary from tour to tour, but typically you will receive breakfast vouchers upon checking into your room, which you can use at an on-site restaurant or quick service. At hotels that do not have a breakfast restaurant, we will have our own meeting room with a catered breakfast each morning.

Just make sure you grab something to eat before 8:45 AM, because that’s when we always have our daily…

driver’s meeting

Every day of the tour, at exactly 8:45 AM, we meet in our designated parking area to go over our plans for the day, answer any questions you may have, and make sure everyone gets on the road at the same time with GPS units working properly.

Most folks (including some tour staff) will already be out in our parking area between an hour and 30 minutes before the driver’s meeting. This is a great time to ask staff any questions you may have about the tour or the GPS units, give your car a quick once-over with the detailing supplies we have on hand, and grab some water bottles from our cooler.

Things to know before you hit the road:

• Make sure you have your legal photo ID with you for the day’s activities. We sometimes visit distilleries or wineries that require proof of legal drinking age for entry (or souvenir purchase).

• The lead staff car always needs to leave before the rest of the group and will take the fastest route to the next destination and make sure everything is ready for us there.
  Do not follow the lead car, and do not leave any stop before the lead car leaves.

• Another staff car (usually driven by our Publisher Emeritus, Tim Suddard) will drive towards the front of the touring pack, following the GPS route.

• The photography car will sometimes follow the route, but will often deviate to get ahead of the pack and set up for photos along the side of the road. Keep an eye out for them, and don’t be afraid to smile and wave for the camera!

• The chase staff car will always follow along at the back of the pack and will not leave any stop until after the last guest car has left. This car will follow the GPS route exactly, monitoring for breakdowns or other issues. For this reason, if you break down or have an issue where you need to stop, please stay on the route. Pull over and stay visible.

Hitting the road

At 9:00 AM every day of the tour, we’ll all leave our designated parking area at the same time to start Leg 1 of the day’s route. Be sure to have read the GPS Instructions page in your guide book so you know how to get started on the pre-planned route.

This is not a timed rally or a race. You do not need to be competitive with the other cars. Drive at whatever pace you are comfortable with, and do not feel pressured to keep up with the front of the pack. All we ask is that if you know you will be driving slower than other cars, please allow the faster cars to leave the parking area first.

Things to know about our curated driving routes:

• These routes are almost always longer than the fastest route from point A to point B. The roads are a big part of the fun, so sometimes we go out of our way to get on some more winding roads with better scenery and less traffic. We promise it’s worth it.

• You are allowed to stop to use the bathroom or fuel up during legs of the route, just make sure you know how to get back on the route if you’ve left it to do so. Check your guide book - we try to recommend clean bathrooms along the route during longer transits, and we’ll note any Sunoco gas stations along the route on a page near the front of the book.

• Our routes are designed to be safe for older cars. If your GPS directs you down a gravel or dirt road, you are no longer on the planned route. Consult the GPS instructions for what to do next. That being said, because we are a large group, we may occasionally need to park on unpaved areas.

Lunch time

At our lunch stops, we’ll either have a limited menu for you to select from, or you will have already chosen your entrees ahead of time. If you pre-selected entrees for a meal, we will have place cards for you to take to your seats which will let the wait staff know what you ordered.

Non-alcoholic beverages are included at lunches as part of the tour. For liability reasons, though, any alcoholic beverages you may order during a lunch stop are your own responsibility, and you will receive a separate bill for them.