TeamD Adventures

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).