1000 Rally

Day 3 finished in Cottonwood after a trip to Crown King and the beautiful drive through Sedona. Some of us saw an unfortunate, but spectacular, fire in an RV on the interstate. Glenda and I must have passed it early in the process as we thought the firefighters were going to be able to save it. Later teams said the entire unit was destroyed!

Revere and Larry were able to restart today after getting their tire replaced. Day 4's tire disaster was in Car 10. They had two slow leaks and then a flat.They skipped the last section to limp back to Cottonwood and were able to get one tire repaired and replaced two, so they will start again on Friday. Jack & Fred had a flat during the odo check this morning and report that, when changing the pickup wheel, it's important to turn off the computer. Seems they...

We started from Payson at 8:45 this morning, and were all well rested with the extra 45 minutes of sleep. I took photos in the ponderosa pine forest before control 1, while Glenda worked control 3. That provided a bit of confusion for teams used to seeing us closer than 3 miles apart. The key times for controls 1 and 3 were 5 minutes apart, so I figured Glenda would be back to pick me up... 5 minutes for the key time, plus 2-3 minutes to close down her control and 6 - 7 minutes for the drive back down... about 9:45 or so. After car 16 (the 2nd red RAV4) passed, I collected my "stuff" and selected a spot to get a photo as Glenda came down the hill, then I waited. About 10 I starting to really worry when she finally showed up. Seems she was waiting for...

Well we had a bit of excitement in the lead car today when Bill couldn't find his keys. Turned out they were in my pocket after I borrowed them to get something. I realized it when we were 2 miles down the road, just about the time Bill realized where they were and that John had my spare set. Disaster averted!

Today's route was from Globe to Payson, over 178 miles and 36 planned controls, 34 of which were used. One control was dumped due to "CSI-type" tape at the intended location and the other just missed by course opening.

Stories from today included the exploding tire (Damm's)..."can we make it to the end of the section in .15"....well, actually there is nothing left but rim and bead, so I guess not! Once again we had a swap of times for the two red RAV 4's, but we were wise...

After the pre-rally car issues, Day 1 was relatively uneventful. 7 teams left Gold Canyon this morning and all 7 made it to the finish in Globe, after 247 miles and 31 timed controls. A change to the posted entry list: Jameson & Sears are going to run L instead of S.

Emerging victorious were defending E class competitors Fred & Jack with 41 points. Close behind were Gary and John with 54. Dave and John led L with 89 points after Stephen M & Steve N had some issues in the latter part of the first section for 200 total for the day. Chuck & J had 98 points, running unopposed in S. Full results / leg scores will be posted Weds when we are at home.

Damms are having "issues" with their external odometer pickup, resulting in erratic mileages and scores to match. It was much better this...

It's been an eventful evening. First, the new (to the 1000) team from Portland, Marinus & Renee Damm, elected to fly / rent rather than drive. So the entry list Red BMW is now a red Toyota RAV4. No problem.

Then we learned that Chuck Hanson's Ford Contour made it here to the hotel, only to "give up the ghost". He thinks it's the starter and they hope to have it back tomorrow night. For day 1 they will be in a Jeep. Good thing tomorrow's hotel is not that far from here. J thinks he's jinxed. Last year he ran with Dave Jameson whose truck quit mid-week, and they finished the event in a rental.

Next we heard that Fred's intrepid Audi has at least one bad wheel bearing...somewhere in Texas. So he and Jack are in.... a red Toyota RAV4. At least they're not the car directly next...

We were pleased to receive another entry, this one for just Friday. Jack & Glenna Sheerin, formerly of Maryland now of Tucson, will be joining us. Another east coast rally team relocates to Arizona...can't be because there are so many roads...

 Debbi

Well, the Forest Service has posted most of the Mogollon rim at 30 MPH, requiring some last minute re-routes. But the route books are printed...only took two tries at the copy place.. and we are ready to go. Looking forward to seeing you soon

Debbi

The rallymaster has provided a list of car numbers, which are now posted on the website

http://retiredaz.4t.com/rally/entries.htm

The final mileage run will be tomorrow, hoping that all the roads on the mogollon rim are now open (post-May 1). It hasn't snowed in at least a week...

Debbi

If some of your information is missing on the entry page it's because I think I didn't receive it. Please send missing info as soon as possible, particularly car make, model, color (unless you are renting). That will save time after registration when we have to print 5 days worth of log sheets with car info on them...

thanks

Debbi

Posted today. Click the link at the bottom of any 1000 page for a pdf file.

 See you all in a few weeks

Debbi

Hopefully by now everyone has made their hotel reservations. Hotels will start releasing rooms not booked this coming week.

As we approach the March 1st deadline and with only three entries having been submitted, we are getting close to cancelling the event. We have pared the budget as much as we can, but 9 entries are necessary to break even.

Please let us know NOW if you are planning to enter but have been waiting.

thanks

Debbi, Bill, R. Dale, John, Francesca