Well, the rally was a blast! Dicey conditions with all the rain we had, but that added to the challenge.
We never ended up using the GPS to datalog cos it stopped talking to the laptop. Oh well.

Here is the post I made to the SoCal list, for those interested...



My nav and I got totally off track looking for SO6. I think we missed
the turnoff and followed that road way too far south, down to the
point where it curves around and starts heading north again. Nav got
a little quesy here, so had to take it easy after that in the bends.

We got in to CP7, and the control workers said we were the last ones,
so I guess they forgot about Marc and Ian or something. They then
followed us, 'sweeping the course'. That last section of the twisty
road in the hills was fun in the conditions. Got a rythm going and
was able to put some distance on the course workers behind us in their
Subie Outback. Sure wish _I_ had AWD and ABS!

Other points of note...

- Remember the family with the two kids? We drove past them as they
were pulled over, just in time to see the girl totally barf. Yuck!

- Closest call for me was in the "closed to through traffic" section.
The Subie just in front of us seemed to totally slow down for a wash
without the brake lights coming on, so by the time I noticed they were
no longer going as fast as I was, there was barely enough time for
full braking and a swerve into the oncoming lane. Thank god there was
noone coming the other way! Got my pulse up pretty high right there...

- Hydroplaning is, um, interesting. Especially when you know as the
driver that the person sitting next to you has no idea you have little
control of the car right then.

- Sure glad i put the stock intake back on friday night.

- Palmdale gets crazy flooded when it rains. The whole 138 back to
the IE was interesting too.

- Driving in conditions like that is nothing compared to driving in
snow. Still, it definitely commands your full attention.

It was nice to see such a big turnout. I agree with the consensus
that at street prepared Eclipse was not the ideal vehicle for the
conditions.



There were 34 cars running. My nav and I came in 7th of 8 in the Novice class. Got off course, missed a checkpoint, and maxed the time on the rest. Thought we were the last ones done, but two more straggled in about 15 minutes later.

For some pics, go to http://v99.net/DSM/ITN%20Rally/3-15-2003/
The ones I took are at the bottom, with itn in the filename.

Rally on!
juan