By Mary Medo
January 20, 2010 - my inbox
Dear Mary,
Thanks for sending the information about the Audi Badger Chapter's Ice Driving School. I am excited and nervous. I have a few questions. Do I need special insurance? Like if my car goes into the lake, am I still covered? Has anyone ever damaged their vehicle or cracked the ice? Are other people nervous or just excited with no fear? When do they actually test the ice, that morning or the day before?
Thanks, Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Don't worry. We'll take good care of you. I don't know of anyone who gets special insurance because it's very unlikely that you'll fall into the lake or damage your car. Think of it as a big parking lot that's covered with more than a foot and a half of ice. The Wisconsin Autosports Group (WAG) checks the ice pretty often because they actually hold races on the frozen lake. Of course, we won't be racing, but we'll have a chance to ride in a real ice-racing car. Won't that be fun?
Cheers, Mary
There were dozens of other emails with questions. But they were more like, 'Can my friend come and ride along?' 'Will I have an instructor? My passenger door doesn't open. What should I do?' 'I've been working hard getting my car ready, and now I see that registration is closed. Please, PLEASE, try to fit me in.' Yes, we did have a wait list, but we were able to give spots to this guy and a couple others.
February 6, 2010 - Hustisford, WI
Rachel was one of the first to arrive at the Rock River Bar and Grill to sign in. She wasn't nervous any more, but very excited to be there and eager to become a better, more confident winter driver.
There were 52 excited ice drivers and six incredible WAG instructors. The ice was thick, the weather was pretty good for early February, and the enthusiasm was high. Mark Greenisen, a WAG instructor, gave us excellent tips on winter driving; Dave Parps gave us an overview of the day's activities. After our classroom session, we divided drivers into six groups and headed to the lake. Woohoo!! Let the fun begin.
Each WAG instructor was in charge of one of the six exercises and Audi Club volunteers assisted them: Hank Nisiewicz, Henry Bakemeyer, Larry Boyer, Chris Schelble, Ralph Stephens, and our beloved Ken Newman. The exercises consisted of braking, a couple of J-turns, acceleration, 'Stop at the Wall,' and skid pad. The favorites seemed to be the left and right J-turns and the skid pad.
Dancing on Ice
Not surprising, a few adventurous drivers headed to the wide-open spaces on the lake and were 'free-styling,' creating a blizzard around their cars. We saw donuts, hand brake turns, 360's and even some unidentifiable maneuvers. Cars were dancing on the ice!
Doesn't this look like FUN?
Check out this snow-covered TT. 
Tracy Fowler left her husband and son at home and made the long drive from Illinois by herself. Do you think she had fun? Hmmm...it look like girls are good at free-styling, too! You can hardly tell that her car is Denim Blue!
Teen Drivers Whoop it Up!
Seven of the 52 ice drivers were amazing teens. Here are two teens' stories.
Jane Fox
I'm a junior at Regina Dominican in Wilmette, Illinois. Throughout my three years of high school, I've participated in a wide range of activities, from basketball to French club. Outside of school, I'm interested in photography as well as music. I got my driver's license this past January, but my Dad first mentioned the ice-driving event around November of last year. The idea was appealing, but I was also a little scared...I mean, how solid is this ice, really? However, I was excited to go. At 5am on Saturday, February 6, my Dad and I (with our chocolate Labrador companion) made our way to Hustisford, Wisconsin along with numerous other car devotees and enthusiastic learners. I learned a lot of new information and had a blast in the process. I believe even the aforementioned chocolate lab had a good time.
Adam Schenck
This Middletown High senior came to the ice driving school with his dad, Terry. Cars are Adam's passion. He said, "I have a 2000 Honda Civic Si and spent a lot of time working on it. I'm in the process of assembling a turbo kit that I plan to install myself. I hope to participate in autocross this summer through the Madison Sports Car Club." He said that his car is a horrible winter car, so he thought that he might learn to drive it better at the ice driving school. Here's what he had to say about his experience. "Morning was a little chaotic but the afternoon was fun. I drove most of the courses then did donuts out in the middle of the lake with my dad. I also rode in the Subaru Forester and VW that the instructors brought. Not sure if I improved my skills but I think it was useful to experience my car being out of control at both low and high speed. I think I'll be less likely to panic if that ever happens to me in real world driving."
Tim Cahill - not a teen any more emailed this to his friends.
I went to ice driving school this past weekend. The cool thing is that I learned a lot. The ice couldn't have been smoother if they brought a Zamboni out on the lake. I took the Explorer because I have the front off the Audi so I can install the big intercooler. That and I would have taken a chance of tearing the splitter off. The Explorer has massive understeer on glare ice and I learned how to deal with it and turn by left foot braking. Better to learn on a big frozen lake than a parking lot with guard rails and light posts.
Whatever happened to Rachel? She went through all the exercises and was proud to say that she even learned left-foot braking on the skid pad. By the middle of the day, she was free-styling...doing donuts and J-turns like the best of them. To top her day off, Rachel went for wild rides with the ice racers including Peter Kulas in his Audi with regular rubber and Dave Parps in his VW with studded tires. Can it get any better than this? Come join us next year and find out!!