2008 Winter Alcan Notes

02/28/2008 23:14 - After a night a much needed sleep and a day back to work to clear my email box, I have the time to thanks the people that helped Tres Hombres win this years Alcan. First off our spouses. They have indulged us this crazy sport that rally is. We can be the best in our field and still we don't get paid millions. In fact we pay a fairly hefty sum in travel and hotels, not to mention gas, to even compete. Weekend after weekend spent driving around on back roads trying to make ourselves better in anticipation of the year when the Alcan Winter Rally will run again. This obsession can cost marriages for some, but for us it's part of who we are and our spouses accept this. I’d like to thank Glenn Wallace, my tire sponsor. I bet that he didn’t figure on having his tires beat him. I’d like to thank Visa/MC for not cancelling my card during the event. They tried, but we were able to catch it in time to salvage the trip. Finally I’d like to thank Pete Goerdel at Better Concepts Inc. who simply became so interested in what were doing as to get us a decal at the last second and cheer us on during the event. Expect to see this name involved in the future. Winning is an elixir that makes the thought of running this again far more palatable. Expect us in 2012!

02/27/2008 22:43 - Well, we're all home at this point. Gary grabbed a bus to Abbotsford where John Kisela picked him up to take him to SeaTac airport to head back home to AZ. I'm back in Bellevue and Russ and Katy should be pulling back into Battle Ground shortly. Time for sleep and a bit of car care. Photo processing and sorting will result in a much fuller photo album. I wish to thank the organizer Jerry for the tremendous effort he puts into this event. A huge thanks to the workers who have covered many additional miles to keep us in our places. Tres Hombres congratulates Glenn Wallace and R. Dale Kraushaar for the tremendous effort put forth to keep us honest for the whole 9 days. Never more than 6.5 points away, they finished second by a scant 3.5 points. And given the way that any TSD section can go, that is a very small difference indeed. Team D once again brought forth a formidable collection of players to the event. Congratulations to them for being right at the top of the “Had the most fun” category. A huge thanks to our “Bookends” teammates from the Team Mitsubishi Outlander folks in Cars #21 and #24. You all rock and there are several ‘competitions’ I will no longer attempt to best you at :) In Car#1 we had a spectacular time. Each in our own way have enjoyed this Alcan victory. For Gary, he becomes the only three time winner. For Russ he has a 1st to place next the 2nd and 3rd he already had. For Greg it was the opportunity to win and put his name in such company as Gary and Russ. Oh, and Satch, we missed you. A Toast: To friends old and new. Greg

02/26/2008 23:10 - Good day. Great competition! Greg's first win; Russ' first win to go with his 4th, 3rd and 2nd place finishes; and Gary's 3rd win. He's the ONLY 3-time Alcan winner. Congrats Gary! What a team! Glenn and R. Dale kept them honest -- never more than 6 points behind and only 3.5 at the finish.

02/26/2008 20:17 - Got a quick text from Greg. They won! He's off to the banquet.

02/26/2008 00:18 - Took 4 points today (1,3) so will drop the worst score. That will keep them 4.5 points ahead of car 2 (Glenn & R.Dale) who will still be able to drop one score from tomorrow. (They had 1,1 today.) Have to be perfect tomorrow!

02/25/2008 20:06 - Greg's back in cell phone range so I got a text message to post. He's feeling much better! At 4:00 they were about to the last regularity of the day. Morning went well with Airport Regularity. Tower Regularity was next, then they reach Mile 0 of the Alcan Highway. He also said, "Gordon Ryall scorched us in the ice race and gave the tsd guys 10 points and a lesson." They were still in first at noon. More after scores are posted.

02/23/2008 20:34 - Got a quick call from Greg in Whitehorse. Russ is back with them and feeling better; Gary's better too; however, as you could predict Greg is now sick. They enjoyed the Great White North, that wasn't very white.... No snow on the road the entire way to Inuvik. It finally got to 0 degrees prompting Greg to do a little dance. At least the ice road was still great!

02/22/2008 02:03 - Day 5: We've arrived in Inuvik. It's a balmy 25 degrees F. Hardly any snow. :-( Left Russ in Dawson with Katy to recover from his Arctic Flu. Tomorrow is the ice road to Tuk. :-)

02/21/2008 00:10 - So, the best day of the event has happened... We're off the clock now! We get the next couple days to just enjoy the great North and make the trip to the Arctic Ocean and then back to Whitehorse in peace. We had a tsd and a ice race today. We nearly clean sheeted the tsd (scored a 2) and stayed midpack with the competition in the ice race. We gained on all of our friends and still lead the rally. It's close and starting Sunday we'll start at it again! Going to try to catch a bit of sleep as Gary has been sick from the start and now Russ coming down with it. They may be staying in either Dawson or Eagle Plains rather then take the run north. Sometimes sleep is all you need. I'll be north of the Arctic Circle for a couple days and communication is spotty. Hope to post pictures early next week. Having a great time, wish you were here.

02/19/2008 22:43 - Where in Whitehorse tonight. Finally found a place where I could hook my laptop in. Everything up to know has been typed in with my phone (that has a broken 'C' and 'V' key) or translated by Nora from a text message. I've dumped a bunch of new photos in the album. Today was mostly a long haul the length of British Columbia. We are finally in the Yukon in Whitehorse. Tomorrow Dawson and the we truely head north to the Arctic Circle and Inuvik. I'll try to send more pictures from Inuvik, but may have to wait until I'm back here for a connection. More from the road as it happens (with no C or V key :)

02/19/2008 00:08 - Still in first. 18 points. 2nd is Glenn at 23 and 3rd is tie at 27. Remember we get to drop a score. But we will still lead. One tsd tomorrow.

02/18/2008 22:41 - Wainting for results ... Might be 10:00

02/18/2008 21:12 - Day Two: The three tsd sections today were varied. The morning was fast and slick while the afternoon two were wide and boring. It will be interesting to see scores tonight. Day 2 is always great to see in your rearview mirror. So many years events have been lost on the tsd's of the first two days. Scores posted soon may tell the tale for some -- but NOT Car 1!

02/18/2008 12:06 - Day two: 11% Grade was as tough as rememberewd from years past. You will take some points here. Its a matter of taking as few as possible. Now on to Blakwater ...

02/18/2008 01:39 - 1st after 1st day with 2 points! 3 regularities tomorrow so Russ is happy. Gary will drive 11% grade then Greg will do Blackwater.

02/18/2008 00:31 - Update: Team Tres Hombre leads after first day. Only soring 2 points! Team D Eric and Stee tied 2nd with our team mates April.Marus.Kein in 24. Goldpan has been droppd :( so less fun for Greg. Russ is happy!

02/17/2008 22:30 - We are in the bar at Sharkie's at Quesnel. This is an offical time ontrol. :) Great time with great friends. Tomorrow is another day and more stories.

02/17/2008 21:38 - Notes are being added by Nora as Greg's PDA has two letters not functioning, "letter after b and letter after u." Must not like the cold. :-) Message is: "At the hotel. All is well. Maybe 2 points or so. We gave nothing away! Tomorrow is ibbe rabbe and Blabbwater." (Translates to ice race and Blackwater.)

02/17/2008 21:02 - 4:11 pm Arrived at 100 Mile House. Making good time. 5:41 pm About to start Soap Lake TSD. Snow!

02/17/2008 19:39 - were in wlm lake waiting for the start of soap lake tsd. finally a little snow todrive on. light are on and were ready to zero . more from the hotel tonight.

02/17/2008 17:03 - In Canada and doing great! Did well on first tsd of rally. More to come.

02/15/2008 18:23 - Tres Hombres would like to announce our new event sponsor, Better Concepts Inc. out of Atlanta, GA. BetterConceptsInc.com has been helping its customers create better built performance trucks for both street and off-road use. They have recently expanded their line of products and adopted this new name, Better Concepts Inc. The website is brand new and under construction, but expect to see new stuff there RSN. Tres Hombres is proud to be associated with Pete at BCI and happy to carry their banner at the front of the event!

02/15/2008 12:25 - New car top cargo box is installed and ready to go. No problem with space now. I guess we can pack that extra pair of undies. See it in the Photo Album (the box, not the undies!)

02/11/2008 11:17 - Well, the Thunderbird Rally is over and the Tres Hombre team had mixed results. Russ along with Satch Carlson, failed to make the start as returning champions in the mighty Sonnet. Same clutch issues as last year had them turning around halfway to the start. Gary took is newly prepped 1982 Celica up but had transmission woes on the first day and was forced to retire. Doing remarkably well at the time. Greg, in the Red RS took along novice navigator Steven Kang and had a fantastic outing. Finishing tied for 4th with the TeamD gang was a great place to be heading into the Alcan08 weekend. The car worked flawlessly but we did realize we need a better car-top carrier. The canvas one we have leaks! With this shakedown out of the way, we're putting on the final prep (for -60 degress F) and getting Car 1 ready for next Sunday's start. Stay tuned...

02/04/2008 21:55 - This note is a test for my PDA to see if I can post updates from the road. Bet it works!

02/04/2008 21:47 - Two weeks to go until the Alcan begins. Car prep is finished. We'll throw a couple spares into the the trunk and Greg and Steven Kang will take the car up to Thunderbird Rally for a shake-down run.

02/02/2008 21:05 - The team is assembled. Gary and Greg are pleased to announce that Russ Kraushaar will be joining us on our assult of the Great White North.

01/25/2008 12:30 - Gary and Greg have decided to take Greg's reliable Subaru Impreza 2.5rs for the Alcan Winter Rally.