Going to Montreal, What Should I Bring?

[Insomniac]

I'm going to my first F1 race in Montreal. Seats are at the hairpin near the fence. My biggest question is, what I should get to protect my ears. Ear plugs, ear muffs? I don't think I have a concept of how loud they will actually be, and for that prolonged a period of time.

Any other tips or recommendations for a first timer?

[Ankf00]

eat the poutine, get there early as the crowds to cross the pedestrian bridges are huge, simple yellow ear plugs served me fine, but could go fancy w/ full ear protection w/ integrated radio.

st. elizabeth pub, thank me later.

[Cam]

MTL will be relatively open compared to the confines of IMS where the echo of the screaming lumps can be heard from all around the track. Wearing ear plugs at an F1 event is blasphemy. :gomer:

[Gnam]

Styrofoam cooler to throw on track. Show 'em how Americans enjoy a race. :gomer:

[Don Quixote]

Styrofoam cooler to throw on track. Show 'em how Americans enjoy a race. :gomer: I thought that was empty Col. Sanders chicken buckets.

[Insomniac]

eat the poutine, get there early as the crowds to cross the pedestrian bridges are huge, simple yellow ear plugs served me fine, but could go fancy w/ full ear protection w/ integrated radio.

st. elizabeth pub, thank me later.

Is some type of radio a must at the track. I know there's a video board in the hair pin, but if I should have a radio to have any clue about what's going on then I should probably look into that or those headphones/earmuffs.

[Indy]

Are you going to spend all weekend at the track? If so, take some earplugs just in case you get a headache.

Otherwise, I agree with Cam. I can not imagine a better reason to invite hearing damage.

[G.]

My tinnitis will enjoy the company.

Does poutine come in buckets?

I'm totally jealous, btw.

[chop456]

There's a chain of restaurants called 'PFK'. Don't miss it.

[Michaelhatesfans]

sunblock and a rain poncho, you'll probably need both!

[Ankf00]

Is some type of radio a must at the track. I know there's a video board in the hair pin, but if I should have a radio to have any clue about what's going on then I should probably look into that or those headphones/earmuffs.

the video board is the F1 TV feed iirc (haven't been back since I graduated, FML), so if that does the job for you, then perfect.

also, you used to be able to bring in a backpack and bring your own sandwiches & beer, the undersides of the grandstands would be littered with empties. MTL > USA. and go back next year when it's a Euro/World Cup year, s*** gets rowdy all day all night.

and for those of us not expecting to be on medicaid in the next decade, we like maintaining our hearing capacity for a wee bit longer :p

[Cam]

Is some type of radio a must at the track. I know there's a video board in the hair pin, but if I should have a radio to have any clue about what's going on then I should probably look into that or those headphones/earmuffs.

Radio? You won't even be able to hear the on track PA system!!! A radio isn't going to cut it.

[pchall]

I thought that was empty Col. Sanders chicken buckets.

How do you get an empty chicken bucket to fly more than five feet?

[Cam]

How do you get an empty chicken bucket to fly more than five feet?

Chikkin bonez. And bud cans with the warm dregs in the bottom.. :gomer:

Where's the puke smiley? :eek:

[NismoZ]

Me.

[Michaelhatesfans]

I use standard foam plugs for F1. I do the first lap of each session and the opening lap of the race without them just to see how painful it is, then they go back in!

[Michaelhatesfans]

And while there isn't much in the way of GA, during a practice session walk over to the bridge that lets you in to the paddock. Mind you, they'll stomp your balls off if you try to cross the bridge, but it puts you right next to the fence and from there you can see the cars blow by at full song as they approach the "corner of champions." That's one place where I took off the ear plugs for a little while for the full mind bending effect.

It's also a great place to phone your buddies and hold up the phone as the cars scream past. I got a lot of return calls that began with, "You ****er!"

:laugh:

[SteveH]

During the first practice session at the first USGP @ IMS, I stood at pit out with no ear protection - probably 10 feet from the cars as they left the pits. I thought for sure my ears were bleeding after I left. I now have 30% loss of high frequency hearing. But it was for a good cause. :gomer:

[Insomniac]

Thanks for all the advice! I'm definitely going to wear ear plugs, but I did plan to take them off at times for full effect as others mentioned.

Being a vegetarian, I have a feeling that poulain with some type of non-meat gravy probably loses something in translation. :)

PFK? Is that a joke or is the Canadian KFC something magical?

[Insomniac]

During the first practice session at the first USGP @ IMS, I stood at pit out with no ear protection - probably 10 feet from the cars as they left the pits. I thought for sure my ears were bleeding after I left. I now have 30% loss of high frequency hearing. But it was for a good cause. :gomer:

Holy crap! I was bummed out that I can no longer hear sounds above 16 KHz. :)

[Indy]

Huh?

[Insomniac]

Huh?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito

[cameraman]

Tinnitus sucks, keep the ear plugs in.

[chop456]

PFK? Is that a joke or is the Canadian KFC something magical?

Non-magical. Subway, too. Even though the counter girls speak French, it's still the same garbage. :)

[TravelGal]

When you manage to dry out, tell us how it was. Did you stay for the whole thing?

[Insomniac]

I stayed pretty dry. :) I have a ton of photos to sort through this weekend.

On Friday it was real nice. Sunny with a nice breeze. Wish the whole weekend was that way. I think Saturday afternoon was the worst after Qualifying. It was so rainy and cold we didn't stick around long after.

On a side note, Saturday morning we went to see the Notre-Dame Basilica. We were about to leave just as P3 was starting and we could hear the F1 engines inside from 1.5 miles away. The engine note could penetrate the walls (outside, it mostly blended into the noise).

The race was long as you all know. In the hair pin, there wasn't much action (a Ferrari (not F1, but the Ferrari Challenge) managed to get through the hairpin, start to head up the straight and spin right into the the hairpin barrier (around the opposite side of where Kubica had his crash a couple years back). I didn't think it needed to start under a safety car (we could see the rear blinking lights all the way up the straight away from the hair pin). I am glad they didn't just drive around the safety car when the down pour started because for those of us who stuck around got to see the race finish on a drying track.

Aside from Button winning, I had a good time. The race in person is a very different experience from watching on TV. I feel way more informed watching on TV, but it can't come close to replicating being there. The smell, sounds, seeing the speed in person. I have some iPhone video and they just look slow in the video compared to seeing it in person. All the fans (even the French Canadians ;)) were great to be around. I enjoyed the crowd (cheered even louder every time it rained harder and for the guy on the scooter who drove around the track after each F1 session ended).

I don't think the support races added much. The historics might be what F1 wants with all their dumb penalties for accidents. Those guys were more concerned with not bumping each other in any way they left plenty of room. Formula 3000 was similar. IMSA (Porsche GT) and Ferrari Challenges actually raced and the wet track led to some offroading at times. Even heard some crunching between the Ferraris.

The rain delay went by quicker than it actually was (that seems surprising to me).

Thanks to everyone for the tips. Standard ear plugs worked fine and there is no way I could've handled the sound without some protection. I didn't come away with any food recommendations to give you guys. (Also for anyone wondering, you could bring whatever you want with you to the track. No one was checking anything as far as I could tell.)

[TravelGal]

Great review. You were quite the trooper to stay until the end of the race. Now if we could just get this Austin mess sorted out we'd all have something to look forward to for next year.