A sobering day

While preparing for this event, we knew there were many inherent risks involved. Today we were reminded of all of them.

We started off by showing up to the raceway only to find that there was too much snow for them to clear the course. So right off the bat things were messed up. We agreed to meet at the TSD start in a few hours, at a school they always stop at so the kids can see the cars. I heard that some of these kids travel 30-40 miles per day to get to school. I can't imagine that. On the way to the school, we came upon a horrific accident, a tractor trailer on SUV impact. The entire passenger side of the car was crunched. When we got to the school we heard from people from our group that stopped that it was a fatal accident, possibly decapitated. That was very hard to hear right before we were supposed to start a race stage.

Just as we were getting going, it came over the radio that the stage had been cancelled. Some cars were stuck at the fatality, which had closed the highway just after we passed, and one of the support cars went off the course and rolled onto its side. These people are amazing drivers, and they were saying it was the worst conditions they've driven in. I was pretty uncomfortable on the course, which was the only way out, but I just picked a speed that was comfortable, and stayed on the road. It was a proud driving achievement, but I'd be happy to never do it again.

There was supposed to be a second TSD, but a group of us decided to screw it and just continue on to the next hotel. So we had a nice 6 car caravan that stuck together and kept each other company on the radio. Along the way, we passed another big accident, looked like a pickup versus a minivan. It snowed nearly the whole way, and there were a lot of sections with blowing snow. Visibility sucked. As the day wore on, some more cars caught up with us. They started talking and mentioned the MINI that crashed. After some questioning, we found out that Dave had crashed into a tree on the second TSD stage. Even though it had been cancelled, a few cars decided to check it out, and unfortunately Dave didn't make it. From what I heard, it was a foot of powder they were driving on, and he came down a hill and couldn't slow down before a turn. I called, and all Ross said was they had to go, but they were just fine. Dave has been in touch with MINI, and they're taking his car to Vancouver to get checked out. It's such a bummer to not be continuing on with our friends, especially someone as enthusiastic as Dave. After all the planning and hard work, it's crushing to have to bail on day 2.

 Along the drive we spotted a ton of wildlife. Lots of moose, which has earned me the radio handle "Moose Magnet", as I was seeing them when no one else did. I also spotted a wolf, and some deer. I could swear I saw two bears, but I can't be sure, other people say it's not possible. They said tomorrow we should see lots more.

I'm mentally beat. Today was really tough, and it made us really think about what our gameplan here was. We certainly want to hang with the pack, but I can't keep doing race stages like today's. And all the accidents are messing with my head. Tomorrow is the first 700+ mile day. We're pulling out at 6:30 and it should take about 13 hours. There are no TSD's, so we can take our own pace, but it's still a ton of driving. We're going to be safe and do what we're comfortable with, even if it means we're way behind everyone. As long as we get to the hotel every night, I'm fine with that.