Rallye Star!

	May 5, 2005 After a late arrival in Lancaster and an even later meeting with our co-drivers, Leon and I were sitting in his truck ready for Friday’s early morning recce. This would be the first race where both Leon and I were competing, but I wasn’t really that worried about being alone. It just made me think harder about pushing myself and staying on my best driving behavior. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The recce caravan started at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, which also played host to the service area and rally HQ. Our first recce of the day was about forty-five minutes away, but the time passed quickly with four rally nuts in the car. Leon’s co-driver Mark McAllister was originally from Ireland and told us stories about the Irish tarmac rallies he’d done in years past. Casey was co-driving for me this time and he took the time to show me the notes. At least with two co-drivers in the car we wouldn’t get lost! The morning had dawned gloomily and I was really hoping it wouldn’t rain especially since we’d nearly lost Del Sur and had given up many more stages to Mother Nature. When we arrived at the Gorman stages it was raining intermittently, just playing with my emotions! It’s not like I was afraid of driving in the rain (certainly not after Oregon), but only a few years ago it rained terribly during the rally and the roads were such a mess that the rally was canceled early and most of the two wheel drive cars couldn’t drive and either got stuck or ended up t-boning a stuck car. The first stage of Gorman looked terrible. I didn’t like it at all and besides, I had a bone to pick with Gorman. That was my first rally and my first DNF. I was going to attack these roads with a vengeance! But there would have to be a lot of careful driving on this road—it hadn’t been graded since I ran it the first time, dirt bike riders had left their mark and the recent rain had brought the big rocks out. No fun. When we were done with the first stage, the caravan stopped and something really funny happened. Almost at the same time, a large number of males scampered out of their cars, turned their backs to the caravan and took a piss, not even attempting to find cover. It was hysterical! An entire line, standing in the ditch. I hate peeing in the woods. I will wait for hours for a flush toilet and walk a mile into the bushes to avoid being seen by the guys. They always make fun of me, but this time I was laughing at them. The second stage of Gorman was smoother, just like I remembered. It was short and it made us all forget about how nasty the first one was. Del Sur was up next! Yay! This is my favorite road (so far) and when we got up there, it was beautiful! When Leon heard about the rain damage, he decided to sponsor the Del Sur stage and paid for the road’s repair. See Del Sur is Leon’s favorite, too. So we were all very excited to be racing it. It was in better condition than when I had run it as part of the Gorman rally, and something told me that magic was going to happen on this stage. It was really beautiful, even though it was raining in earnest now. Wildflowers sprung from the hillside and everything was green. It was pouring when we got to the Magic Mountain and Messenger Flats stages. These stages freaked me out! They were tiny paved roads, but they were old and weathered with large strips of gravel in between and many treacherous potholes. Worse yet, the beautiful wildflowers decided that they wanted in on the rally action and had creeped out into the road, like a parting crowd in a Group B video. Even though I had gotten to drive on nearly every surface wet and dry at Oregon, I wasn’t to keen on zipping around the slippery slopes of a mountain. It’s different at the PIR- there’s only grass and armcos there. Here, it’s grass, armcos, rocks and gravel and the cliff. I just kept my eyes on the road, figuring out where I wanted to go. Mark and Leon were having a great time in the front seat. The got on like school boys sneaking into a peep show. Casey, however, was feeling kind of green and I was getting cramped in the back seat. We ended the night with a trip to registration and a lackluster meal at Coco’s. I hit the pillows early, while Mark and Casey retired to their room. I was glad that they were getting along after a clerical mistake on our part left them sharing a room. As I fell asleep, I kept thinking about driving and my goal to continue what I’d started in Oregon, only this time I’d be driving like I do in my fantasies… you know the one where I’ve got my Peugeot 206 and am sitting in the lead of Rally Finland, just pulling minutes off of Petter and Seb and Marcus and Markko and everyone’s all…Damn! Where the hell did she come from?” Yeah, that one. Back to Diary of a Driver.

May 5, 2005

After a late arrival in Lancaster and an even later meeting with our co-drivers, Leon and I were sitting in his truck ready for Friday’s early morning recce. This would be the first race where both Leon and I were competing, but I wasn’t really that worried about being alone. It just made me think harder about pushing myself and staying on my best driving behavior. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The recce caravan started at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, which also played host to the service area and rally HQ. Our first recce of the day was about forty-five minutes away, but the time passed quickly with four rally nuts in the car. Leon’s co-driver Mark McAllister was originally from Ireland and told us stories about the Irish tarmac rallies he’d done in years past. Casey was co-driving for me this time and he took the time to show me the notes. At least with two co-drivers in the car we wouldn’t get lost!

Rally rainbows.

The morning had dawned gloomily and I was really hoping it wouldn’t rain especially since we’d nearly lost Del Sur and had given up many more stages to Mother Nature. When we arrived at the Gorman stages it was raining intermittently, just playing with my emotions! It’s not like I was afraid of driving in the rain (certainly not after Oregon), but only a few years ago it rained terribly during the rally and the roads were such a mess that the rally was canceled early and most of the two wheel drive cars couldn’t drive and either got stuck or ended up t-boning a stuck car. The first stage of Gorman looked terrible. I didn’t like it at all and besides, I had a bone to pick with Gorman. That was my first rally and my first DNF. I was going to attack these roads with a vengeance! But there would have to be a lot of careful driving on this road—it hadn’t been graded since I ran it the first time, dirt bike riders had left their mark and the recent rain had brought the big rocks out. No fun.

Gorman recce.

When we were done with the first stage, the caravan stopped and something really funny happened. Almost at the same time, a large number of males scampered out of their cars, turned their backs to the caravan and took a piss, not even attempting to find cover. It was hysterical! An entire line, standing in the ditch. I hate peeing in the woods. I will wait for hours for a flush toilet and walk a mile into the bushes to avoid being seen by the guys. They always make fun of me, but this time I was laughing at them. The second stage of Gorman was smoother, just like I remembered. It was short and it made us all forget about how nasty the first one was.

Del Sur was up next! Yay! This is my favorite road (so far) and when we got up there, it was beautiful! When Leon heard about the rain damage, he decided to sponsor the Del Sur stage and paid for the road’s repair. See Del Sur is Leon’s favorite, too. So we were all very excited to be racing it. It was in better condition than when I had run it as part of the Gorman rally, and something told me that magic was going to happen on this stage. It was really beautiful, even though it was raining in earnest now. Wildflowers sprung from the hillside and everything was green.

Mark found a pine cone.

It was pouring when we got to the Magic Mountain and Messenger Flats stages. These stages freaked me out! They were tiny paved roads, but they were old and weathered with large strips of gravel in between and many treacherous potholes. Worse yet, the beautiful wildflowers decided that they wanted in on the rally action and had creeped out into the road, like a parting crowd in a Group B video. Even though I had gotten to drive on nearly every surface wet and dry at Oregon, I wasn’t to keen on zipping around the slippery slopes of a mountain. It’s different at the PIR- there’s only grass and armcos there. Here, it’s grass, armcos, rocks and gravel and the cliff. I just kept my eyes on the road, figuring out where I wanted to go. Mark and Leon were having a great time in the front seat. The got on like school boys sneaking into a peep show. Casey, however, was feeling kind of green and I was getting cramped in the back seat. We ended the night with a trip to registration and a lackluster meal at Coco’s. I hit the pillows early, while Mark and Casey retired to their room. I was glad that they were getting along after a clerical mistake on our part left them sharing a room. As I fell asleep, I kept thinking about driving and my goal to continue what I’d started in Oregon, only this time I’d be driving like I do in my fantasies… you know the one where I’ve got my Peugeot 206 and am sitting in the lead of Rally Finland, just pulling minutes off of Petter and Seb and Marcus and Markko and everyone’s all…Damn! Where the hell did she come from?” Yeah, that one.

Back to Diary of a Driver.