BTDT wrote on 02/18/8 at 11:47:49:I want to give great kudos to the competitors. Early in Leg B, you were having fun in the woods and in the wee hours of the morning, round a corner and see what you think are two idiots standing outside in the cold, beside a ML checkpoint board, waving a flashlight to get your attention to the board. After you shake your head a few times, blink your eyes a few times, you came to the realization that it was not a hallucination but yep indeed it was two idiots standing outside in the cold, beside a ML checkpoint board with no vehicle in sight (see previous message for details on that) manning a checkpoint. After you allowed this realization to sink in, brought your vehicle to a stop and made you way back to the "idiots"- the barrage of questions started, a) are you really a checkpoint? b) where's your vehicle? c) are you okay d) can we help? and the flurry of answers while manning one flashlight, writing stickers, logging times and handing out stickers - a) yes we really are a checkpoint b) up the road about 100 feet in the ditch -you can't miss it, c) yes we are okay and the organizing group and workers know what's happened, d) thanks for offering but we are going to need something much bigger to get us out. Doug and I really appreciated your concern about us and offers to help. Thanks to Ryan for loaning his mom his ski pants, toque and gloves so she didn't freeze too badly doing the checkpoint. Thanks to Mr. local Tow Truck driver for hauling us out of the ditch and the best part was that the van suffered really only minor cosmetic damage and we were off in plenty of time to run our next two (out of four that night) checkpoints.
Would we do it all again? Yup for sure - the rally must go on!
Donna and Doug
aka "the two idiots"
I didn't know this blurb was out there. I just read it now. The facts are quite correct except for this: There was only one idiot out there. The way I recall it, in a nip to re-locate a misplaced C/P, doing the road nicely, I let something distract me just for a split second, something stupid. A clip board was sliding around, apparently in grave imminent danger. I didn't reach for it, but just thinking about it cost me. Ross said "miscued", he's so kind, but we'll go with that. I woke up on top of the curve, all wrong. A little too hot & no feel, the road spit me away. Somebody said things like 'off camber' and 'icy', but that's not the reason. I think the car experienced a control problem. Nice landing. I can definitely recommend the snow for this purpose. We lost the clip board, though it was later recovered showing no visible damage. The car not so much, but easy to fix. (A sapling tree failed to run out of the way in time. My apologies to the forest.)
Snow sucks. I mean a ditch full of wet snow has an affinity for anything large and metallic. Some heavy iron was needed to pry it out. Many thanks to Mr. Bill Brinklow of Brinklow Towing. A sport and a gentleman, he always seems to show up just when I need him. (How does he do that?) He came the long way in following R/T, did his thing, stuck around while we chiseled out the engine bay, and charged quite fairly for it all. Reasonable enough I thought later, that perhaps a grat should have been in order, but we missed the mark. Also I meant to ask about frequent flyer points.
So remember, when in the Greater Bancroft Area, rely on the friendly folks at Brinklow Towing to handle all your special recovery needs. Enquire about group rates when travelling with friends.
It was a fun night for me and most others. I'm glad it turned out okay. It's a good day when we can all laugh about it. And special thanks to Donna for not being totally p----- with me.
Doug Edwards, idiot
VE3 DEF
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