Spinoff: what's the average number of hours you drive to a comp?

[Alexa RnQ]

Hearing people say they have multiple contests from which to choose within a radius of two to four hours' drive is making me so jealous.

I added up the hours spent driving to our various comps in 2008:
Buckeye 1, Avondale 1, Rio Rancho 7, Stagecoach 4.5, Modesto 12.5, Boulder City 7.5, Snowbird 12, Durango 8, Fairfield 14, Salt Lake 12, Taylor 4, Clovis 10, Viejas 7, Buckeye 1. That puts us at an average of nearly thirteen hours driving ONE WAY, and makes my butt sore to think about it.

How many hours is your one-way average to your last season's shows? And if four hours or less, where do you live, and do you want new neighbors? http://www.divaherself.com/funny/shiner.gif

[NotleyQue]

Average for 2008 was about 3.6 hours, with Fairfield Ca. (7.5 hours) being the longest drive. Did a total of 9 contests in 09.

[MilitantSquatter]

DH - I think your one-way avg is more like 6-8 based on those #'s and maybe 13 roundtrip.. You can get your avg under 4 if you cut out some of the others !!!

Still that's pretty heavy !!! Hopefully it's an easy ride for you and VQ at least !!

Getting off Long Island through NYC and over the bridges is a killer sometimes. NJ Turnpike usually sucks too. Leaving on Friday's and coming home on Sundays are no picnic around this area.

[Ron_L]

Our farthest was 4 hours. Average was probably around 2 but I haven't calculated it.

[SmokeInDaEye]

I fortunately didn't have to travel far this year due to contest selection. 1 hour to Monmouth county, NJ; 30 minutes to Sayville for the BBQ Battle Royale; 30 minutes to Grilling on Da Bay; 30 minutes to Oyster Bay grilling thing; 1 hour to Westport, CT; and 4 or so hours to New Holland, PA.

I try not to go too far with my work schedule, plus I hate a long ride home after I lose.

[jtfisher63]

Atleast Diva and VQ arrive in style in their towncar! Even a 2 hour ride to Clovis in the motorhome feels like 8!

[Munkee's Pit]

Aahhh. The perks of bring a MOFO. Never had to drive longer than 30 minutes.

[Alexa RnQ]

DH - I think your one-way avg is more like 6-8 based on those #'s and maybe 13 roundtrip
:shock:
Blonde AND math-impaired. And here I thought I was being so good by not counting the long trip.

VQ would like us to cut out needing to pee, eat or fuel -- that would save MINUTES each way.

But since I want to add contests next year, I think the easiest thing would be to simply live a lot closer to contest-centric areas.

[Gowan]

This year the average was approx. 2.5 hours, but that's everything within a 3 hour radius so if we want to do more contests we have to go much further out and that average will go up fast.

[backporchbbq]

Our average is 1 hour each way. We did Dover which is 2 hours. I think this year we have one that is less than 10 minutes from my house, I am really excited for that. By the way Green Lane, PA it is either Mid May or March, I believe March they are having a comp. Look at KCBS for details.

[CajunSmoker]

We only did 4, but they all were 4.5 - 5 hours away.

[Dale P]

I guess around 2 hours average. We have gone farther but until this economy gets better, that aint happening.

[Vince RnQ]

Atleast Diva and VQ arrive in style in their towncar! Even a 2 hour ride to Clovis in the motorhome feels like 8!

Truly there's nothing like the sight of a Lincoln Towncar pulling a 5x8 enclosed trailer. Talk about stylin'!!


:shock:
VQ would like us to cut out needing to pee, eat or fuel -- that would save MINUTES each way.

Well, it would.

[txschutte]

We have 2 non-sanctioned within 1/2 hour, and we always do well at them. Honky Tonk BBQ is about an hour away, and with the RCR and Ribfest in Lincoln being 2 1/2 to 3 hrs away, we may look at doing these as well. Chit, if we feel froggy next year, we may consider the AR Open, just for the experience.

[Jacked UP BBQ]

We usually travel around 2.5 hours to kcbs events.

[lunchlady]

We are lucky - we have 7 or 8, maybe more, events in New England that are in the '3 hours or less' range, but we also have a bunch further out (MD, NY, PA) that we wouldn't miss for ANYTHING... those run anywhere from 6 to 8 to 10 hours away.

I'm actually thinking of cooking more MABA events this year. . .

And hopefully we'll trek even further out (either west or south)to cook as well... just gotta win the megabucks, thats all.

(HoDeDo... now I really can't wait for Lake Placid! Didn't get much of a chance to chat with you (or Kim) in Lynchburg so that will be awesome... I love the long 4th of July weekend at LP!
If you have any ?s at all about LP, just PM me... it's one of my faves, hands down. We've been every year they've held it.)

[Scottie]

Is Maine a for sure?

I agree, Lake Placid is a top rated contest in my view. Wish I could cook what the judges wanted. But that wouldn't stop me from going back. Although, might not be next year. Not sure if I want to do a Western swing, Maine and LP. Too bad, as Dmitry and crew are some of the hardest working folks out there. And he also happens to have good vodka.

[HoDeDo]

(HoDeDo... now I really can't wait for Lake Placid! Didn't get much of a chance to chat with you (or Kim) in Lynchburg so that will be awesome... I love the long 4th of July weekend at LP!
If you have any ?s at all about LP, just PM me... it's one of my faves, hands down. We've been every year they've held it.)

We are going to try to make a long trip out of it... Ideally, we cook wildwood, hang for the week - get some camping in, and drop in on a few folks,etc. Dmitry has offered to hook us up as well for a few days as a base camp. Luge action, meet the team, etc.

If I can't get wildwood in, I will try to pick another one on either end of LP, somewhere along the route out or home. I'm envisioning about a 10 day jaunt. It also looks like I am going to be bringing a guest to compete in the Junior BBQ World Championship as well... working all the details, I'll likely start a planning thread soon, and get the ball rolling -- some serious griswold action, National Lampoons BBQ VACATION!!!! :twisted:

Dmitry said he had an absolute blast with you and the girls, Scottie. We are going to try to make a summer trip of it!

[Bentley]

We did Wishland, 1 hr, Hesperia, 2 hrs. and Clovis, 5 hrs. So if I Ciphered correctly, 2.66 hrs avg. 1 way.

[HBMTN]

If things go good next year it will be

Pork in the Park, MD 5.5 hr
Pigs in the Park, VA 2 hr
Que and Cruz, Va 1.5 hr
Battle of the Pigs, TN 4 hr
Pickin in the PanHandle, WV 2hr

and if a few miracles happen :shock::shock::shock::shock:

Kansas City 18ish hrs and Lynchburg 10ish hrs

[TexEx]

I don't cook (not yet), but I am an FBA judge and make a lot of the comps. This year I attended 11 events with an average of 197 miles one-way and an average travel time of 3 hours 38 minutes one-way.

I expect about the same next year. Of course I pay all my expenses myself and there is no chance of winning any payoff but I sure do enjoy it.

Ray

[Bigmista]

But since I want to add contests next year, I think the easiest thing would be to simply live a lot closer to contest-centric areas.

Moving to KC so someone else has a chance to win on the West Coast?

[Bigmista]

March Madness 30 minutes
Palm Desert 2 hours
Wishland 1 hour
Stagecoach 2 hours
Hesperia 1.5 hours
Viejas 2 hours

Avg. 1.3 hours

[NotleyQue]

I have a strong feeling the Slap Your Daddies will be destroying the west coast comp scene next year.




Moving to KC so someone else has a chance to win on the West Coast?

[U2CANQUE]

average drive time, about 5 hours for the previous summer, will be the same, if not more the next year....

[Nature Boy]

It's big country out your way. Things are a little tighter out East. Lately we have been trying to stay under 5 hours. North to Jersey. South to Danville. And we're fortunate to have several in Maryland and Virginia. The Royal and Jack kinda increase our average in a big way. But except for those two, we can manage to stay purty close to home.
Cheers!
Chris

[Smokin' Gnome BBQ]

I generally stay in the two hour each way range, any longer really gives me to much time to think about how bad my food really is.

[Scottie]

OK, so all you guys got me interested and I had to figure it out. These are all by memory, but basically they are spot on for time. Don't know the exact mileage, but I have that at home...

- 20 hours Felda, FL
- 14 hours Hammond, LA
- 11 hours Pine Bluff, AR
- 6 hours Austin, MN
- 5 minutes Westmont, IL
- 5 hours Des Moines, IA
- 30 minutes Elk Grove Village, IL
- 3 hour plane ride - .75 hour drive Salt Lake City, UT
- 16 hours Lake Placid, NY
- 2.25 hours Shannon, IL
- 4.75 hours Kettering, OH
- 3.5 hours Grand Rapids, MI
- 3.5 hours Princeton, WI
- 1.5 hours Milwaukee, WI
- 3.0 hours Dubuque, IA
- 10 hours Vermillion, SD
- 4 hours Silver Lake, MI
- 1.75 hours Menomonee Falls, WI
- 1.5 hours Racine, WI
- 7.5 hours Gallatin, TN
- 3 hours Arthur, IL
- .75 hours Libertyville, IL
- 3.5 hour plane ride – 2.5 hour drive Buckeye, AZ

Total flight time = 6.5 hours

Total drive time = 122.85 hours

14 different states

Average Drive Time = 5.34 hours

[Dale P]

WOW Scottie. I envy the hell out of that schedule. If I had the $ I would do the same.

Gas is at $1.69 today in my town. Back when you were driving to all of those comps I bet average around $3.75. Weird times.

[Fatback Joe]

I don't cook (not yet), but I am an FBA judge and make a lot of the comps. This year I attended 11 events with an average of 197 miles one-way and an average travel time of 3 hours 38 minutes one-way.

I expect about the same next year. Of course I pay all my expenses myself and there is no chance of winning any payoff but I sure do enjoy it.

Ray

Remind me to give you two beers instead of one the next time I see you. :mrgreen:

[Jorge]

OK, so all you guys got me interested and I had to figure it out. These are all by memory, but basically they are spot on for time. Don't know the exact mileage, but I have that at home...

- 20 hours Felda, FL
- 14 hours Hammond, LA
- 11 hours Pine Bluff, AR
- 6 hours Austin, MN
- 5 minutes Westmont, IL
- 5 hours Des Moines, IA
- 30 minutes Elk Grove Village, IL
- 3 hour plane ride - .75 hour drive Salt Lake City, UT
- 16 hours Lake Placid, NY
- 2.25 hours Shannon, IL
- 4.75 hours Kettering, OH
- 3.5 hours Grand Rapids, MI
- 3.5 hours Princeton, WI
- 1.5 hours Milwaukee, WI
- 3.0 hours Dubuque, IA
- 10 hours Vermillion, SD
- 4 hours Silver Lake, MI
- 1.75 hours Menomonee Falls, WI
- 1.5 hours Racine, WI
- 7.5 hours Gallatin, TN
- 3 hours Arthur, IL
- .75 hours Libertyville, IL
- 3.5 hour plane ride – 2.5 hour drive Buckeye, AZ

Total flight time = 6.5 hours

Total drive time = 122.85 hours

14 different states

Average Drive Time = 5.34 hours

Somehow I have this image of you on a CB all of a sudden8-)

[Scottie]

Nope just an iPod on shuffle. I've tried doing the blackberry while driving... But my eyes are going and it's hard to get that focus back. So I try not to surf the internet while driving... :shock:

While I hate long drives, it is very peaceful. Especially if the girls aren't fighting and I don't have to be the referee from up front...

[Bentley]

You got me thinking..23 contest in one year! If I took off just half a day of work for each, I would still be 1 1/2 days in the hole at my job and have no vacation days. Would be nice to have a job that allowed me to compete that much!

Man I gotta laugh... My 1st contest was May of 2003, I have done a total of 18 since...Wonder if my competition BBQ would get any better if I could compete 23 times in one year?

Edit Mod:

Not sure how to word this. Obviously the learning curve is faster the more contest you can compete in the year, may I ask if you used primarily the same rub and sauce on all contests?

[big brother smoke]

3.5 hours one way!

[TexEx]

Remind me to give you two beers instead of one the next time I see you. :mrgreen:

Thanks!! You bet I will take you up on your offer...

Ray

[Scottie]

Not sure how to word this. Obviously the learning curve is faster the more contest you can compete in the year, may I ask if you used primarily the same rub and sauce on all contests?

I use Smokin Guns, Blues Hog, Fab, BBQr's Delight Pellets, FEC-100's. I also get some extra sauces and rubs from hawgeyesbbq.com. Besides tweaking my chicken, I use the same stuff from one contest to the next. I'm boring, do the same thing from week to week. Except when messing with chicken. But I've been doing the same on that since July.

I've been at my job for 22 years and get a lot of vacation.

Consistency wins. I get that with all my products that I use.

Scottie

[U2CANQUE]

Consistency wins.

Now, that is the trick getting there......now back to the chicken...

[Rolling Smoke]

I've been at my job for 22 years and get a lot of vacation.

Damn! You're older than I thought you were. :biggrin:

[Scottie]

I was a child prodigy. I skipped a few grades... Yeah, that's the ticket...

Best to Tina.

Scottie

ps consistency can come from cooking at home too. As I have done a lot of that over the years.

[Bentley]

I use the same stuff from one contest to the next. I'm boring, do the same thing from week to week.


Thanks. This is what I really wanted to know, when you only cook 3-4 events a year, hard to figure if it was a bad day or bad sauce.

[Bud's BBQ]

I've been at my job for 22 years and get a lot of vacation.

Scottie


Scottie started at this company when he was 12 year old :icon_pissed

We did about 14 comps from April - October. At 7 mpg, we kept our trips down to about 300 mile radius which is 51/2 to 6 hours each way. Thank goodness for the three Michigan comps.

Scottie, curious to know how you got to Kettering Ohio from Chicago land in less than 5 hours. We might have a new sport for you to dominate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohkAxbeMxVo