[RallySnake]

In my 30+ years of Cobra driving in California, I've been wet many times. If the weather is warm, it can be a lot of fun! Your tires slip much more easily and your engine produces more power. So, if your car is balanced, you can drift effortlessly through curves.

We have started many long car rallies knowing that we may encounter rain. The worst was the 1997 Starlite Rally. It was 12 hours from Santa Barbara to Las Vegas in December. It started raining before the start. I had erected a Jeep bikini top to help keep the water off. But, at speeds above 45 mph it would flap up and down and hit the top of your head so hard your vision would blur. Pulled that off and gutted out the rest of the rally. Got very cold and almost died.

We knew that the 2000 rally would be a wet on. So I bought a hard top from Ron Butler. I also made some side curtains. It made the event much better because it rained all night long. The biggest problem on that rally were the Hoosier Racing Tires. I couldn't go faster than 60 or 65 without spinning them. The hard top really restricts your vision and the enclosed feeling is not nearly as much fun. You just have to keep a bunch of towels handy.

On the 2003 "No Frills Iron Bottom Motoring Tour" My wife and I were at a Spanish Mission in Monterey when I saw heavy clouds approaching. I told her to jump in the car quick and handed her a towel. We managed to get onto the freeway before the rain hit. It came down hard! Jamming the towels under the wind wings kept the water from flowing around the windshield post and pouring down our legs. We made the 100 mile drive back to our hotel in Paso Robles at 75 to 85 mph and were almost completely dry. It is so interesting to look up at the falling rain that does not hit your face!

We have also run shorter rallies when rain was a factor. As long as you have a waterproof jacket, a baseball cap and eye protection you're good. In my car, I have to keep the speed up to 55 to keep the rain off our heads. On twisty roads, we get wet, but the wind drys you pretty fast.

The one event I will always remember was late in the evening. It had been raining pretty hard and had gotten pretty cold. We were doing well in the rally and had hopes of winning. But, we missed an important turn and I was trying to make up for lost time by going faster. We were probably doing 80 in the fast lane of the freeway, when the left front tire hit a big puddle of water. The steering wheel jerked very hard, but I managed to keep the car from swerving into the center median. I had not realized that my jacket had formed a big fold in the front and this was full of very cold water. When I jerked my arms to catch the car, all that water poured down into my crotch. Wow, was that a shock!