[Primitive]

For those of you who love a brisk, gravel (or snow) TSD, great roads, wonderful scenery, and a HUGE sense of adventure, consider entering in the Totem Rally, the Thunderbird Rally, or even the Alcan Winter Rally. Street cars with proper tires, fire extinguishers, and safety gear are the norm, but you can use a rally car as well.

Totem is November 15-16 near Cache Creek in BC (just west of Kamloops a few hours north of the border). I have never run this rally, but I have talked with those that have, and it looks like fun!I will be there this year. Entry is like $120USD.

Thunderbird is a GREAT rally that I have personally competed in. Probably will run Feb 14-15th from Merritt, BC (a smidge closer than Cache Creek) and sometimes features an "ice autocross" on Sunday on a frozen lake (nature permitting). It is a challenge and breathtaking, with a few heart-stopping downhill runs on snow covered roads with brisk CASTs in Western Canada.

The Alcan Winter Rally (also known as the Alcan 5000) is the mother of all adventure rallies and includes 3 ice autocrosses as it makes its way from Seattle to Inuvik (top of NorthWest Territories about 240 miles NORTH of the Arctic Circle) then over to Anchorage mostly following the Alcan Highway, covering about 4500 miles in 9 days in February. This rally is only held every 4 years and Feb 17-26th are the dates for 2004. Entry includes hotels for the team each night (so don't have a stroke when you see it). It is truly a "once in a lifetime" adventure as well as a rally raid. This year it also runs up the treacherous Demspster Highway in Canada, while last time it ran the "Haul Road" to into Prudhoe Bay stopping at the Arctic Ocean.

In 2000, it brought out competitors from around the world including Johnny Unser, Paul Dallenbach, Tom Grimshaw, Satch Carlson and even gentleman rally racer Alberto Pirelli (yes, from Italy). There are no factory service rigs allowed, so all the competitors are on an even keel. Ah, the stories you hear each night.... (and the wolves, caribou, elk, moose, polar bears, and vistas you see along the way)

You should consider entering (or help work it)

Visit these sites for more info:
www.rallybc.com
www.alcan5000.com
www.get-primitive.com/alcan.htm

Get involved and have fun. Pe

(yes, the Paris-to-Dakar rally raid is also upcoming, but a bit out of my budget and hemisphere)

 

[warwick]

Hmmmmmm..... Alcan Winter Rally eh?
Never considered it, but now that I think about this would be a great adventure - especially after looking at some of the photos! I thought getting "zeros" at Thunderbird was hard...I can't imagine 4500 miles!

 

[Bee Driver]

I'll ditto everything that paul said about Alcan and Thunderbird. My two favorite rallys. I think Paul got a bit of hardware at 2000 Alcan.

Experienced Winter Alcan navvie available for 2004.
Two Winter Alcans plus other forays over the Alaska Hwy. 8th place in 2000 with a shot at 6th but made an error. Competent snow driver (from Idaho). Will run with two wheel drive or older car. I'm game, the cold and desolation doesn't make me over fearful, just careful.

A great event and I need to see Tuktoyaktuk some day.

Dick"Dark Raider"Fuhrman
200miles under aurora b without headlights.

 

[Primitive]

>200 miles under aurora b without headlights.

See, that's just the kind of story that gets me going. I never saw the Aurora Borealis on the last trip. It sounds coool.

I just read this from one of the workers and thought it was good at trying to explain just why people do it:

http://www.drivenorth.com/dogmushing/alcanrally1.html

I think there are 60 or so people who participate each time and each person has their own reasons for going...

ps. This may be rumor, but I believe that Ben Bradley himself woke up Skinny Dick when we were passing through the Fairbanks area, just to buy a Skinny Dick's T-shirt...

 

[Bee Driver]

Joel Wright gets credit for the driving, I got to watch the light show overhead, very bright green and very active. We thought the alternator was packing it in and turned off all accessories, like lights and heater blower. We tailed another car for 3 hours into Fort Nelson. Gassed and I pulled the battery out. At 20 below a small flashlight in your mouth lasts about 1 min. I think I changed batteries three times. The next morn after checking the car it seemed OK. To go or not to go, that was the question. 700 miles to Whitehorse. Well I convinced (pryed out of a warm room) Joel we should go on. It turns out we had hit a bump and glitched the cars computer which turned on the idiotlights. Turning off the ignition reset everything. So the car was OK but it was still unnerving. We were now late, real late, The first tsd was 150 miles up the road at 12:00. We left at 10:15. We almost made it. I had a great drive thru the mountains, arrived at 12:17 and were out at 12:11 so maxed the leg. But a great drive I'll always remember. 70-75mph average on ice and snowpack thru the mountains on Les Schwab retreads, unstudded.

RCF
I have lots of winter stories, I like snow.

 

[Ben]

>ps. This may be rumor, but I believe that Ben Bradley
>himself woke up Skinny Dick when we were passing through the
>Fairbanks area, just to buy a Skinny Dick's T-shirt...

Alas a rumor. But I did get a picture of Skinny Dick as he opened the door to discover about 10 AlCan cars in his parking lot, at 2 minutes before opening time, ready to descend upon him to buy Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn souvenirs. Pity we couldn't stick around for beverages and to shoot pool, but we still had a long day ahead of us.

Ben

 

[Primitive]

upon him to buy Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn souvenirs.
> Pity we couldn't stick around for beverages and to shoot
>pool, but we still had a long day ahead of us.


Here is a fitting photo to help describe the competitive spirit of the Alcan Winter Rally.... ....and just what happens on some of those long days...

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/images/chinook-racing.jpg

These guys were awesome!

 

[Charlie KA8OQF]

>>ps. This may be rumor, but I believe that Ben Bradley
>>himself woke up Skinny Dick when we were passing through the
>>Fairbanks area, just to buy a Skinny Dick's T-shirt...
>
>Alas a rumor. But I did get a picture of Skinny Dick as he
>opened the door to discover about 10 AlCan cars in his
>parking lot, at 2 minutes before opening time, ready to
>descend upon him to buy Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn souvenirs.
> Pity we couldn't stick around for beverages and to shoot
>pool, but we still had a long day ahead of us.
>
>Ben

Just out of curiosity, Ben, didn't you run that one once with some now-yellow-shirted SCCA honcho from my neck of the woods?

 

[Primitive]

>
>A great event and I need to see Tuktoyaktuk some day.
>

I believe that there are currently about 11 spots open for entry (although he can usually manage a few extra for last minute press entries etc).

This will be the 20th anniversary of the Alcan. It appears that there are already 2 Lancer EVO's signed up in Class 1, looks like we need an STi to take up the challenge.

I will be running a Forester Turbo XT. If anyone saw it at the SEMA show at the Subaru booth, can you tell me what color it is? Thanks,

Pe

 

[Primitive]

RE: Upcoming Rallys !!

>will be running a Forester Turbo XT. If anyone saw it at
>the SEMA show at the Subaru booth, can you tell me what
>color it is? Thanks,

Well, I found out that the Forester will be Black, our jackets red, and that I need a bit more practice... After a pretty good DAY 1 at the snowy Totem Rally last weekend, we slipped on Day 2 and could not find those zeros. Came in 2nd in Calculator Class (stock odo with 4-function calculator) and 6th overall (out of 30 entries).

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/cv/biopix/biopix22.jpg

This was what the Alcan Subaru looked like last time.

 

[ron s]

I need to see Tuktoyaktuk some day.
>
Why?

 

[Bee Driver]

> I need to see Tuktoyaktuk some day.
>>
>Why?


For the same reason I drove to Hay, Washington, today.

If you have to ask, this is probably not your event.


RCF

 

[ron s]

My reply is this limerick

It's all a mistake you see
I thought the man said go to Tuk
Turns out he said Get to f**k

After that I resolved to never take anyone so seriously when they said "Go to He77."

 

[Bee Driver]

Hey, Ron,
I wasn't trying to be snippy. Why Tuktoyaktuk? I don't know.

I really like winter in the far north. Miles and miles of mind numbing retina burning white. Grey white, blue white, white on white. Miles and miles of miles and miles.

Maybe it's because I was a voracious reader as a child and Jack London was a favorite. All that adventure and romance of the Yukon and such.

The Alcan Winter Rally is not a stage rally yet it takes good driving skills. It is not a typical TSD rally. I've driven a 700+ mile day including a tsd section and did not turn off the road except to get gas and food.

I savor the total lack of humanity. If your car breaks down help may be hundreds of miles away. Yet, I don't think of wilderness as being empty.
It is alive and vital and rest always in my subconscous. When I am blanked out and staring into space this is one of the places I go.
Oooo... I am waxing poetic here.

You ask why? "cause

Dick Fuhrman

 

[Ben]

>Just out of curiosity, Ben, didn't you run that one once
>with some now-yellow-shirted SCCA honcho from my neck of the
>woods?

As a matter of fact, yes.

BB