Alaska to Mexico Marathon.

The event beginning in Leavenworth was day one for us but the 12th day for rally proper.

It started on the evening of the 7th Sept as the participants began arriving from the days travel. Dusty and some people tired looking.

It was good to see those that we had enjoyed previous rally’s with and to meet others new.

Leavenworth.

Up until this time we had not received any information in respect of operating manuals, road books, time cards etc so there was a real need to brush up on what to do and how to understand the workings of an organised rally. We hadn’t been active in this scene since 2019. There were a number of changes of operations also so it was “back to school”

We had a lot of information to digest including finding out what time we needed to kick off in the morning. The event was to start at 8.30am and at minute intervals cars would depart.

We started at 9.01am ie 30 cars ahead of us. And headed into the bush and rough gravel road to partake in the first regularity of the day, a short 10 k average speed event consisting of a 5km at 35 km per hour the 50 km per hour to the finish. It was a self starter. We pulled behind one ready to go. Waited the one minute and began our run. Off.

But not long and we had caught up to the car in font and looked for how we could pass. No show.

Then at the 5km mark he took off and we didn’t see him again even though we too sped up to the 50 speed. The road was way too rough for the designated speed we were to achieve in our opinion.

Then the penny dropped. We had not adjusted the GPS to read out in km’s. It was reading miles!!

Onto the “Planned Diversion”. A short speed run of approx 3kms with a sharp downhill left hook on the end. It was well described but apparently some cars didn’t quite make it in one turn. We made it ok and it was a fun event.

The next regularity didn’t pan out all that well either as the navigator hadn’t read up on how this was all to work. Accordingly, it didn’t work out. But a quick word to one in the know at the afternoon tea stop en route, we acquired further info as to the operation of the regularity charts.

The last regularity was ok. We partook in a fashion that looked like we knew what to do and finished in a respectable manner.

Then off to the hotel in WallaWalla, Washington state. Checked in etc.

This is a huge country. The many scenes are reminiscent of areas in nz. The roads though are very much better. Even the gravel roads are better than some of our sealed roads in nz

Our second day tomorrow, which I’ll refer to as per the formal rally will be day 13.

It will take us to Boise in Idaho State there will be three regularities to test us. And it will cover nearly 500 kms.

The day starts at 7.30 am. We will start at at 8.01.

Should be a fun day.

ALASKA TO MEXICO MATATHON

We left the Renton hotel at 10am and headed for the inland port to uplift Betty from clearing place.

No issues with the exception of the car being down somewhat in the right rear end where the attendant informed us that the car was held down in the container around the rear spring rather than the wheel.

And there were a couple of paint chips observed. The customs had been through the car, inside door panels removed and it had been thoroughly searched for…….?

Betty fresh out of the box. Gleaming.

Once a little fuel was put through her system she sparked up immediately. Really good to hear her engine spring into life.

Then down to the fuel depot to fill her up and the affix the Washington licence plates.

Back to the hotel and to check out and thank the many people that we had met and who had assisted in the many little ways including running us around the Renton township, dropping us off and us up from the various eating, shopping, banking and licensing facilities.

Off to Leavenworth on the 405, a drive reminiscent of the many natural features seen in NZ. A nice easy drive on relatively good roads.

And then there are the roadside features that are always interesting and informative.

Having a word with to the driver. Slow down.
A typical American bridge
Can you see the bear?
River scene. another bear.
In the middle of nowhere.
Didn’t find any.
Not many eating places on Stephen’s (Stevens) Pass.
Sky high petrol prices. See that diesel is more expensive than petrol!! In gallons of course.
Stevens pass is in the alps so there are lots of chalets.
Yes.
Abandoned buildings.
Typical scenery. no bears here.
The outside of a candy store in the middle of nowhere.
Inside.
Some of the products for sale.
And condiments.
More.
And more.
Just full of sweets.
Abandoned money on the sidewalk.
And more. No one picks up coin money. It seems that it’s worthless. what?
Betty in her shinning livery.
Entering Leavenworth from the south.
Patriotism is all about in the USA.

Lots of photos say many thousands of words.

Betty performed like she was designed to. Didn’t miss a beat.

Tomorrow we have a day off as we await the troops of the rally to arrive in the evening. this their first stop in the USA.

We will need to catch up with the RTG organisation to obtain the necessary Tulip books, program the GPS’s an inform ourselves as to how we will fit into the rally programs.

It’ll be down to business then as we wheedle our way down to the Baja peninsula into Mexico as part of the real reason that we joined this mission in

Until then.

Stephen and corgi.

Alaska to Mexico Marathon.

We’ll here we go again!!

Stephen and I hadn’t intended doing another rally and the last one was near 3 years ago Peking to Paris. That one ended with both of us going down with a severe bout of the flu, or was it covid? Late November 2019 in Paris France.

We were both very tired and that rally was not long after the rally of India. Too close together.

We’re at Auckland international airport waiting to board flight NZ 6 bound for Los Angeles.

I haven’t got excited yet as trying to sort out last minute matters and Stephen has been chasing up the details of when the car will be available for pick up from the ward at Renton, north of Seattle.

Don’t want to waste any time there as we need to catch with the rally in Leavenworth where they stop for a days rest.

Steve, always one to plan ahead, has searched for a suitable car to purchase in case that Betty, the Galaxie isn’t ready for pick up in time.

We are still waiting to receive the third party insurance certificate promised to be sent toady, 30th august. The insurers are playing the game close to the chest.

We stay one night in LA then spirit up to Seattle.

Then the excitement will really kick in.

Alaska to Mexico Marathon.

We are well on the way to leaving New Zealand, 30th August, to Leavenworth via Los Angeles, Seattle and Renton, where we are getting the car off the wharf.

That may take a day or two. All of the research Steve undertook to arrange the insurance in the States and in Mexico have paid off handsomely, the savings being in the thousands of US dollars. The 3rd party insurance in Mexico is essential and was settled only three days ago! Very late in the piece, as without it we probably would have turned left at the border rather than attempt the Mexican portion of the rally without it.

We still need to obtain entry and exit documentation prior to entering Mexico as the authorities do not permit applying for same 30 days prior to entry. So we’ll have to do this on the run.

Otherwise, everything seems in order at this end and Steve can relax and I’m not getting excited until I get onto the ‘plane. Then it’ll be all go to drive to Leavenworth to catch up with the rally participants there. It’ll be good to catch up with rally goers from previous rallies. That’ll be really good. And looking forward to it.

So that’s all for now. We’ll keep you up to date as we move about.

Steve and Corgi.

ALASKA to MEXICO Marathon. 27August to 26 September 2023

Stephen and Corgi are partaking in this rally after competing in two Peking to Paris events, the Tranz America rally, the South America Rally and the Jewel of India rally.

Like the Tranz America event Stephen has once again prepared “Betty” the 1961 Ford Galaxy. She’s been completely renovated top to bottom over the past 18 months, such that she’s almost a brand new car. The motor has been in and out now five times in order to ensure that it’s capable to withstand the rigours of the difficult terrain and weather conditions to be expected. Theres not one area that has been missed inspection and appraised. It’s likely that most parts of the car have been removed, upgraded or replaced. It’s been a massive task. Betty looks just fine!!

Ready to roll.

Betty is being shipped out of NZ on Monday 17 July bound for Seattle where she’ll be debunked and be readied for where we will begin the rally. Due to circumstances beyond our control we will be unable to begin the event in Alaska. Accordingly we will join the rally when it departs From Walla Walla in Washington State in the USA. We will then need to arrange and obtain the necessary navigation downloads and the course manuals and get to grips with what is to eventuate from there on. The excitement is building but won’t be experienced until the day we get going.

Betty’s back side. She’s a very pretty car. Many a competitor will see her from this angle 😊

Graveltravel will keep up a daily blog once the event gets underway from Walla Walla down to the resort town of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico where the rally ends. Meanwhile, we will keep you all posted when items of interest come into play. Adios.

Betty ready for boxing up for transport to Seattle, USA.

ALASKA to MEXICO Marathon.

Stephen and Corgi are registered for this epic event taking place for 27th August to 26th September 2023.

Details will be forthcoming over the next few weeks do this message is a precursor for things to come.

Day 36 – Ypres to Paris

The competition is over and the drive toParis commences.

The change in attitudes among thecompetitors is very noticeable. The guard is down. Almost suddenly there is agreater feeling of unmitigated friendship. No rally tactics to conceal orsecrets to protect any longer.

So, the short trip into Paris on the crowdedmotorway didn’t seem daunting. The day was overcast and cool. We still neededto follow the route book and travel through passage controls but these weren’tmandatory and just a formality.

Being Sunday, apparently it wasn’t busy,but to us it was busy. We needed to follow instructions so as not to get lostand to be at Place Vendome so that we would pass through the finishing portaland get our medals and be photographed finishing. The roads onto Paris werebusy. A wrong turn and you end up in the wrong district. The landscape changedfrom backroad townships into city blocks and the typical French architecture.

  • The landscape as we come into Paris
  • Typical village houses

Noticeable were the homeless, presumablyrefugees who camp in the parks and roadsides into the city. These people walkedonto the busy intersections demanding goods and money. Not a good scene andthese people have nowhere else to live.

Then the long wait in the hot afternoonsun as we inched forward through so many sets of lights. Denise getting hot andwe too, as to dispense heat from the motor the heater was turned on. Like asauna inside the car but it works to cool the engine.

When we arrived at Place Vendome thecrowds had gathered to see what was happening and welcomed us into the square.

Among those gathered were Steve’s sisterJune-Rose and his wife Louise and my family son Brooke, who has been managingthis publication, thanks Brooke and daughter Tracie and grandchildren Amber andCody. So pleased to see these guys. Really neat.

So slowly we drove over into the podiumto do the official deed of finishing and recording. Great experience.

Place Vendome

The feeling of relief that there wouldnot be the early rising and the concentration of rallying around the countryany more. Hugs if joy between competitors and shaking of hands, backslappingand congratulation.

The vintage winners: 1, Graham and Marina Goodwin; 2, Artur Lukasiewicz and Bill Cleyndert; 3, Keith and Norah Ashworth. For Classic winners: 1, Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson; 2, David and Susan Danglard; 3, Chris and Tjerk Bury.

Congratulations to them!

Very few people have had the chance toexperience the tour that we have been lucky to have made. In all we travelledsafely and almost free from any motor issues. Just maintenance.

Thanks to all the great people that wemet on this journey who made it interesting and possible.

Thanks also to the people whoparticipated in reading our daily progress blog and to those that made commentsin support, or corrections.

It’s been our pleasure to have been ableto bring you along on this fabulous journey.

C’est la vie!

Stephen and Corgi.

A valiant effort!

Day 35 – Liège to Ypres

Like all short mileage days, they are filled with lots of slow hard roads to travel.

Today was not so difficult but it was very winding around small country villages on sort of farm tracks. The farmers didn’t like all this traffic on their narrow roads, especially from some of our drivers who disrespect their rules. Not good. Anyhow it was interesting country navigating. 35 pages of instructions!

It involves a number of official instructions and stops, time checks and passage controls. One event on the streets of a small village involved two circuits of their town square and a run down a country road that the police had isolated public traffic from.

  • A time control stop
  • The waiting game for starting orders

Good fun but we had to take care of the car.

So, an interesting day but we were not prepared for the welcome that we would receive in Ypres. In their town square, surrounded by exquisite buildings was a welcoming committee of several thousand people, waving flags and shaking hands clapping and shouting. It was just overwhelming and fantastic. In amongst the crowd were friends from New Zealand Lolly and Bernie Cotter from Mt Maunganui.

Arrival in Ypres

They just happened to notice a large sign on the Straat where we were to have dinner that night so decided to stay here for another day to meet us. So neat!

There aren’t any large international hotels here, the rally members were dispersed among 12 establishments in the town and these hotels were full.

Getting to the hotel we were staying at and enjoying a drink with our friends was a welcome way of ending the days driving.

The evening at a rally dinner was enjoyed by so many competitors and their friends and family was a neat way to finish the competitive part of the rally today.

  • More architecture
  • Details of architecture. It’s truly fantastic

Day 34 – Wolfsburg to Liège, Belgium

This was rumoured to be a long hard slog today. 600kms of road to make a beeline for Belgium.

Lars waiting for his start

And so it was to be. One ‘time control’ and a ‘track event’ in Peugeot at days end. Seemed simple from the advice we get and the route book didn’t have anything special to be aware of. The time seemed easy to achieve.

At the aerodrome race track

Wow! What a surprise. It’s Friday, the day people here planned their weekend and the roads were mayhem. Four way autobahns and villages, which we are always directed through, were jam packed with vehicles. 
And bikes on the roads. You’ve got to look out for bikes, especially on pedestrian crossings where they seem to have right of way at all times even at stop lights. Care is essential but when you’re in a hurry you have to go for it. 
Boy what an exercise! We raced where we could but the traffic was relentless. There was no way that we could get to the first time control in time. An accident on the autobahn and, well, we were getting angry that the organisation was so short sighted as to expect us to take many risks in order to achieve a timetable. We let them know how we felt when we arrived late. We were placated in that the organisation would take the situation into account and not penalise us.

More interesting structures

Then back on the autobahn and into the countryside through villages and townships.

The autobahn

For the quick peeks that we could take when we weren’t doing other things, these towns were really nice. Different construction and architecture for buildings set in flowing countryside. The populace must have been appalled at these machines racing through their hallowed territory. And not good for the organisation that drivers were disrespecting their rules, speed etc.
We were looking at the time needed to get to the track event and it didn’t look good for getting there in time. Steve tried hard to reach the track in time to no avail. When we did arrive we were met by two couples who we had previously befriended on other rally’s. Mick and Grace and Anty and Sonja. We were surprised and delighted to see them at the track. We were late but meeting them made up for the frustration that we had experienced throughout the day. 

A competitors car and crew. Great guys doing their thing getting to the race track

Thanks for the welcome. 
We did the track with care as of the situation with not having spare wheels. So the speed was kept down. We’ve got to be practical if we want to get to Paris in one piece.

In the car park in Belgium

A wall painting on the wall of a building nearby

Day 33 – Szczecin to Wolfsburg, Germany. 382kms

As predicted, there was a change of start times this morning. We scheduled to begin the rally day at 8.25. Heading straight to the first track event of the day, Waly Chrobrego track, a race track set in what seems to be the centre of town and on what is called pavement. A cobblestone surface with the circuit having four chicanes and two hairpins. Two rounds to be done in no less than 2mins 45 secs or no more than 8mins 15 secs. Denise did in a comfortable 4mins 42 secs. A nice event.

A hundred kms down the road on now formal and beautiful German country lanes clean and well looked after homes built right next to the road. Really pretty in summer. Solid brick or concrete that has stood the test of time.

German village Main Street

To another track – GroB Dolln. A nice track with just one chicane obstacle. Windy on tarmac surface.

Min time 3mins 15 secs, max time 9mins 45secs. Denise did 5.02 mins.

So far a nice day out and the kms seem to just evaporate.

About halfway through the next 180kms to the Stendal Track while just moseying along a straight strip of tarmac road at 90kms and “BANG” shudder, noise and steering difficulty, keeping Denise on the road, in a straight line. Wow. What was it? That woke us from a mesmerised state. When we came to a stop we got out not knowing what to expect. It was the right rear wheel again. The outer ring on the rim that keeps the Tyre on had sheered around half of the rims circumference. See photo.

Our wheel problem. Went with a bang!!!!

We only had one spare left after the other experience with the metal fatigue on the centre rim. 

Easy to get up and go again though after a wheel change as it turned out, but Steve was thinking about the collateral damage to the other moving parts of the rear wheel running gear. Bearings, axels etc.

Then of course the track event on the Stendal airstrip. Yet to be done.

About a km before the track Steve noticed a contractor’s yard, with a nice Porsche parked outside, so he whipped in and asked a chap standing at the door if they had any welding gear. Thinking that if we got the first damaged rim welded it could be used as a spare in the event of another tyre mishap. These guys were only too keen to assist and welded the fatigued rim crack on both sides. Right away. Ok for an emergency. Well done!

It’s amazing what people will do to assist if you’re in strife and just ask nicely.

That done we headed down the road to the Stendal air strip track. We took it easy on the circuit not sluggishly, but, and completed this task to ensure that we complied to the rally rules and regs.

A jet plane at the airstrip track

A bridge en route

The last leg of the day was to end up at the VW Autostadt in Wolfsburg. The VW headquarters. What an outfit. Everything here was state of the art, enormous, clean and well presented. No doubt some of you will have seen pics of this place. It’s fantastic. We really only had time to see their museum, a collection of many makes of cars, and including many of their earlier car models.

  • Denice in the carpark
  • A river outside the VW office
  • In one of the halls
  • Vertical car showroom
  • Specimen cars
  • A golf with a W12 engine!!
  • Kids learning to drive
  • Boxed car exhibits
  • They have their own beach
  • At the VW headquarters

A neat afternoon.

When we parked in the basement Steve checked the condition of the right rear wheel and sensed that it needed work. Off with the wheel and brake drum. I headed away to leave the surgeon to do the work. Not much use standing around watching an expert and pissing him off with comments and thoughts aye?

Our hotel for the night is the Innside Hotel.

A nice pub to put one’s head down for what hopefully is a good night’s rest.

It a 599km run tomorrow so being fresh is important.