Day 1 results and what not.

Wow, what a day! It is hard to belive we were in Seattle this morning! We started the day out with brekkie at Shari's, pancakes, eggs scrambled, sausage and milk.

We're teamed up with Car #16, Kealty/Kealty (Forester,) and Car #17, Daly/Ryall/Ustare (WRX,) who make up team Sirius, for the Alcan team competition, which requires at least one novice competitor. We are all novice competitors!



The first transit was around 60 miles, taking us to Mosquito Lake. The Mosquito lake TSD was a little more than 40 miles long, with 5 controls, (the location of which is unkown,) that we were never more than 3 seconds early or late for, giving us a leg score of 11 and putting us in 8th place. In contrast, the #1 car scored a 1.

After that rather spirited driving by yours truly, Doug needed some fresh air, and we switched places in Sumas, WA. Going through the border was ok for us: we were forewarned that the Canadian customs dude in the left lane was in a bad mood, so we took the right. Given the no-nonsense attitude of the right-lane guy, I'm really glad we didn't choose the left! Car 23, Dick and Marie, were held up for 25 minutes before they were allowed through.

Here is a shot of Doug, driving us through the Fraser Canyon.




We came upon a stranded motorist who had broken his wheel on a rock, and had a malfunctioning jack. We let him borrow our jack, and we were both on our way in short order!



Following Ohio Knox and Ken Adams on highway 97.



The second TSD was Soda Creek, in the dark, and on mixed surfaces. Mixed between rough pavement/gravel and snow/ice. 600 ft/lbs of torque enables us to break the tires loose almost at will, so we have to be careful! Here is a picture of us waiting for the TSD to start.



The PIAA lights worked great, and I'm glad I took the time to clean them before starting the TSD. About 2 miles into the 17 mile long stage, I pulled the transfer case shifter into 4-Hi. This was a good time to engage 4wd as we started exceeding the limits of our traction shortly thereafter.

At one point we made a wrong turn, but corrected it within .2 miles, but at that point were a minute off the pace. Making up that minute was exciting! Frank, imagine riding with me in Delphine's Mustang on North Bay Drive! We were late to check points 2 and 3, but made 5 and 6 within 5 seconds of perfect time.

Stevan and Kristin went off sometime after checkpoint 3, but were subsequently rescued by Mitsubishi Car #1, Zursch/Tabor/Bockman.

We got into Quesnel, (pronounced Quinnell,) filled up on diesel, and checked into the Sandman Inn. Dinner at the Shark's something: I ordered the soup of the day, but the waitress didn't know what it was and said she'd be back to let me know. I said don't worry, I'll have what ever it is. It turned out to be pretty good tomato bisque.

Some bad news: the slalom tomorrow is canceled because they can't get the track plowed. Which means that we'll have three TSDs tomorrow instead. Doug will be at the helm tomorrow.

Provisional scores were posted late tonight, and I found a flaw, now corrected by the officials, with ours. Checkpoints 4 & 5 had our times and Stevan and Kristen's times mixed up. We're currently tied for 12th overall, and 1st, (of two!) in class IIE. The official website has us listed as 19th, but they'll get that patched up soon.

Okay, time for bed.

-Bill