TeamD Adventures

Well the 2010 Trail of the GNU is over and I’ve recovered enough to think about a post (translation, I’m now only physically exhausted not both physically and mentally exhausted). As Marinus mentioned the other day (The Road to Rocky Mountain House) we ended up in Alberta because neither of us blinked. And not flinching turned out to be a pretty good approach to the rally too. Made easier by getting car #1. Usually a somewhat dubious honor, it allowed us to be unaffected by the chaos and drama on the route behind us: 6 extractions, several stuck cars (cleared by competitors), and multiple mechanical issues. On the downside there were no tracks to follow, although that means there were no ruts to deal with except when the course looped over subsections. And we got to scare off a lot of wildlife, at least 3 dozen white tailed deer during the day. Fortunately none of them attempted to run across the road to get away from the red demon bearing down on them. GNU appears to be relatively heavy on the Calc class cars. 3 of the 6 registered Unlimited cars had mechanical difficulties the week before the event (including last year’s winners Peter and Geoff Hill) leaving a small field of class competitors. Both Calculator cars, Ryan Oliver & Jack Bensley won the tie (in a vintage 1970 Volvo) edging out Shane McAssey & Mark Geusebroek. I had a ton of fun at the event, very glad we made the long haul out. I’m still a bit stunned we actually completed the trip. Will we be doing it again next year? … Perhaps. It’s a big long commitment and maybe once was enough.

It’s a nice feeling, fixing your own car. It was a mere coincidence that it failed while I was tearing apart the dash. Just. A.

-Report from Marinus Damm Marilyn, outside a restaurant at Lake Louise, in Banff National Park, Alberta

Why are we here?

“We” are Marinus and Marvin. Neither of us blinked.

–Report from Ron Sorem

March 26, I know,

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).