We started this morning in Dawson City and ran the Midnight Dome TSD. We’re sitting at 44 points to 35 in Car 2. This does not include drops for days 5,6,7. We think we’ve figured out why were picking up points.
Ahhhh, after a grueling day yesterday on the South Canol, today was easy! We dropped off the flat tire at the local tire store and ran Long Lake TSD out of Whitehorse. We did this section on the Winter 2008 AlCan. Then it’s off to Whitehorse, again. Starting to check for Aurora Borealis status to see if we might get to see it. Our hotel staff will wake us if it becomes active. We might take them up on the offer.
We started in Watson Lake and ran the Watson Lake TSD, a new one for us. Jerry, the organizer, greeted us with bagged lunches as we pulled out. We ran the section with no issues then headed up to Ross River for an ‘extreme control’. BTW, Marvin is doing a fabulous job with scoring.
We started in Dawson Creek and ran the Old Alaska Hwy TSD and then the Kansas TSD. Car #2, the veterans, lead by 7 points now.
Marinus says, First, my inner editor (who’d been shouting, “Yes, yes!” into my ear Wednesday night, but wouldn’t look me in the eye yesterday) demands some corrective flashbacks. So here are two tiny tweaks to the Saturday part of this story: It wasn’t crazy fast. The speeds I’m talking about are in kilometers. “Twenty over” a 60 cast is 50 mph. KMs are like Monopoly Miles. The speeds chosen might have been predicated on less snow, but if you look at the detailed scores you’ll see that several teams had little trouble with ’em. The snow on Saturday’s sections required exceptional levels of concentration, from both of us. And for me, at least, more than the usual level of exertion. About ten minutes into the deep snow sections, the driving demands exceeded my upper body aerobic conditioning. Here’s how I know: A short time after we passed the snowplow, my vision was closing in, the edges of my view graying out. Nope – I wasn’t passing out; I was just breathing so hard that the windshield was fogging. I panted out, “Need de-fog”, like a surgeon calling for sponges, and my co-driver cranked up the fan. Hubris -10. Right, where were we? Oh, yes, Sunday. Back in ’07 we had 744 points. How did that score improve so much? Easy answer — we’ve been hanging out with great TSD ralliers. There’s a long list of ’em, from the Olson twins, the Saagers, Satchmo, Russ and R. Dale and Katy, Brandon & Jason, the Team D folks from Seattle, Kevin & Chris & Ben & the Tabors, the J.Zs … we’re surrounded by folks who “get” rally. They’re nice and helpful and sharing before and after the events — and they’ll press you past your limits when competing. We’re already looking forward to the next “brisk gravel rally” (and I’m working on my stamina).
