Tough Enough? Yeah Baby!

[RallySnake]

The Old Roads, Sept. 27 2003

I am pleased to report that the Cobra Team prevailed in Saturday’s 8 hour Monte Carlo Rally. Many have scoffed that the undersized and overpowered machine could never compete on the arduous rally course with the teams of Subaru, Mitsubishi and Porsche. Yet, at the end of the day, it was the Cobra boys in first place overall.

We were warned that the Expert Class would be very challenging. We expected the Rallymaster, Ron Green, to throw every trick in the book at us. And man, did he ever and even made up some new ones! Monte Carlo Rallies start with the planning stage. Over lunch at the “Cookery” restaurant in Lebec, we studied the 10 maps and 21 pages of instructions. We had 3 hours to work out 17 stages. We figured out where the checkpoints were, how to approach them and the order of events. The time evaporated as we created our navigation plan. Most of the legs could be worked out in advance, but some remained a mystery until clues are given on the course. These are the most difficult in the beast. While others sit in air conditioned, well-padded, comfort boxes, we’re being buffeted by wind, exhaust reverberation and flapping maps.

The day was clear and beautiful. It was in the low nineties and my white knit shirt and khaki pants proved to be a good combination. The key is “lots” of sunscreen and then “more” sunscreen. Like power, too much is about right! Ron Dunlop, team co-driver and navigator wore light colors, too and we both brought jackets, just in case. Of course, we were both wearing our "COBRA" caps!

There’s a little town, Lake of the Woods, near Frazier Mountain Park. Quaint little vacation cabins are scattered all around the hillside community. The one-lane roads are a twisty little maze through the trees and homes. Checkpoint one was at the top of a steep hill. The altitude (7,000 feet), heat and slow climb had pushed the temperature gauge way up and we crossed the checkpoint hose two one-hundredths late with the engine gasping and clutch smoking. This was going to be a tough rally!

I guess you can only have one “favorite”, right? Many years ago, I decided that Lockwood Valley Road was my favorite. It combines every possible type of curve (including vertical and water fords), with long straights (where top end can be explored), with pine forests and mountains. What more could you want? The Rallymaster had us looking for a checkpoint just past the point where the Cuyama River crosses “a” road. It goes over the road on Lockwood Valley! We found the river, but no checkpoint. It was a trick. The checkpoint was further up where it actually crosses under Highway 33.

If you’ve never driven Highway 33 down to Ojai, you’ve missed something. Thanks to the U.S. Air Force, I’ve driven GREAT roads, all around the world, but very few give you the spectacular mountain views you get on 33. I wish I could bring all my new friends from the Texas Cobra Club, and the rest of you, too, for a day of driving in the California mountains. It’ll knock your socks off! The twists and turns across the top of the range give you views of the road twisting and turning down through the valley below. We made good speed but kept in mind the possibility of rocks in the road (a Rallymaster once destroyed the front of his car here) and gravel that can make wide tires act like furniture dollies.

We entered Ojai with some trepidation. I’ve lost rallies here before due to the unusual layout of the roads. It’s easy to get confused. We used some of the time we had saved coming down the mountain to stop for cold drinks. Then, Ron guided us unerringly along the golf course and to the checkpoint on the very pretty Creek Road. Oak trees line the road and canopy it from the sun. I hit the checkpoint hose perfectly (I thought) but received a 1 point penalty, late. We left Ojai on the West-bound 150 which climbs a steep hill out of town in a series of tight switchbacks that rival anything you can find in the Alps (even the South of France). We followed a couple of rally cars up the hill to a brief straight where 400 HP launched us past them in seconds. Blasting up the steep hill felt so GOOD, like being launched off an aircraft carrier, I yelled “AH HAAA”, then backed off a little for the next tight curve. There, we met a Highway Patrol officer coming toward us. Ron yelled, “AH HAAA”. I wanted to punch him, but laughed instead.

The last time I had driven 150 from Ojai to Santa Paula, I was leading a group of Cobras after the meeting at the Sandwich Factory in Ventura. The road brought back great memories of the snarling snakes. In Santa Paula, we had to find the elusive South Mountain Road and get to Bardsdale. Bardsdale is an unusual community and a Rallymaster favorite. It’s an Orange grove with a grid work of roads, ¼ mile apart, running through it. Checkpoints 4, 5, 6, and 7 had to be found and crossed. The clues we had helped us find them all, in the proper order, at the right time. Then, we had to work our way out of the maze without fouling any of the checkpoints. We took South Mountain back to Santa Paula and 126 up to Fillmore to find checkpoint eight.

Checkpoint 8 was a minimum speed checkpoint. This is a trap that usually has experienced rallyists shaking in their boots. It’s SO easy to ruin a good score because you cannot travel less than the preset speed, in this case 40 mph. If you do, it’s a 100 point penalty. We had a TSD rally clock and used it to run an exact average speed of 45 mph for the mile leading to the checkpoint. This worked perfectly and we got another zero. We were living up to my license plate, “ZEROS”.

Industrial parks are another Rallymaster favorite. There’s little weekend traffic and the grid work of roads can make finding checkpoints very difficult. Fortunately, the search pattern we had decided on, took us straight to checkpoint 9 in the new Valencia Commerce Center. We could see the towering rides of Magic Mountain in the background as we collected another zero.

The Rallymaster’s next trick was to suck us into checkpoint 10 backwards. We had been on the road for more than 4 hours and the dinner break was coming up. All we had to do was cruise up the The Old Road through the checkpoint and the gas stations and restaurants in Castaic. WRONG! Careful reading of the instructions tells you that you must enter the checkpoint FROM the North. Ron caught this just in time and we found a way to circle the checkpoint through a residential area and enter from the correct direction.

I have to admit, getting out of the car was not easy. The old legs were very stiff after the hours in the tight seat. After stretching at the gas station and while downing a burger at Jack-in-the-Box, I felt much better. The car had run perfectly. I didn’t even bother to clean the bugs off the Lexan windshield before hitting the road again.

Ron drove up Lake Hughes road with its’ spectacular rock formations and demanding curves while I got a chance to enjoy the scenery. Ron has a smooth driving style learned at the controls of the many aircraft he has mastered. Smooth actions are critical in a car as on-edge as the Cobra and he’s a perfect co-driver. We arrived at the restart location and met the other teams assembled under tall pine trees. There were many Subaru WRXs, most of them that sharp deep royal blue color, but also a black one and silver one. There were some Mitsus of various shades and a lone silver Porsche 911. A bright red Mini Cooper looked great with white rally stripes across the hood. There was an assortment of Mazda’s, Nissans and Hondas too, but no other open cars. The usual Miata and S2000 teams had selected more comfortable cars for this event. The BWW Team did not show up at all, maybe due to the Holiday. After taking some compass bearings as clues to the location of the upcoming checkpoints, we were off again.

(End Part One, see Part Two)

[RallySnake]

(Part Two, Continued}

Bouquet Canyon Road twists alongside a stream running through a 15-mile canyon. Running up it reminded us of a previous rally where we had come around a wicked switchback curve to find a small pickup truck upside down across the road. This time the route was clear, but Checkpoint 11 was another dreaded minimum speed ordeal. It required 40 mph again, but that’s OK, we had our procedure down pat. We cruised the measured .4 miles at exactly 45 mph for a 2-point penalty. Not too bad!

It was totally dark now and the temperatures were finally dropping. We were much more comfortable making the 20 mile loop around to Pine Canyon and Checkpoint 12. We had enough time to stop for cold Gatorades on the way and still got there on time.

The HID headlights and 240 Watts of spot light power were put to the test looking for Checkpoint 13. It was way past the point the compass told us it would be. The Cobra was roaring through the flat desert landscape. For a second, I thought I was seeing mutant fireflies. As we got closer, it was a bicycle rally going on in the middle of nowhere and we were seeing their red, blinking LED taillights. It was the easiest pass of the day though.

After a "Don't spare the ponies" from Ron, we finally got to Checkpoint 13, 67/100ths late. This could cost us the rally, but we had to persevere. Munz Ranch Road is brand new and the pristine asphalt undulates through Willow Springs Canyon like a rollercoaster. It was a joyride into Checkpoint 14.

If you like decreasing radius curves, you’ll love Spunky Canyon. We passed a blue Subaru before turning onto it and worked hard to catch another WRX ahead of us. It was not easy and the tires were singing as some incredibly tight turns got tighter. It took a few minutes, but finally, the second WRX was in the sights and the Cobra struck on the next straight. I had a big smile on my face as we turned up to Checkpoint 15 on Bouquet Canyon. Checkpoint 15 was a passage control, so off we went in search of 16.

The Rallymaster must have decided everyone would be tired by this point and made Checkpoints 16 and 17 fairly easy. Some teams were late anyway. Checkpoint 16 was on Avenue M-8 and required a loop around to get to it in the proper direction. We were in Palmdale now and took the safe way around to 17 on Elizabeth Lake Road. After eight hours of pounding around canyon roads, I was taking it all pretty easy at this point. It’s a good thing too as I came up on a County Sheriff in a Yukon going my way. We slowed and waited for our turn for the last checkpoint as the Sheriff drove on down the road. It’s a good thing he did too, because a couple of minutes later the Porsche team came flying in very late and very fast! We knocked out another zero at 17 then headed for the finish at a local restaurant with a total score of about 70 points.

Denny’s is not my favorite place to eat. But, it’s one of the few places open late in Palmdale. I have to say after a full day of driving, the “Moons Over My Hammy” and the rally stories were excellent. No one had crashed or been arrested, but everyone had problems following the course. When the awards were announced, there was a lot of applause for the winners of the Novice, Regular and Expert Classes. When they got to First Place, Expert Class, the Rallymaster got out the words, “You may have seen a little red rocket ship on the course”, and everyone knew. The team in the undersized, primitive, uncomfortable, overpowered, beast of a car, had pulled out a win.

Paul

[BlueRooster]

Hal could not have written it better. What a great story.

[KobraKarl]

Paul ,sounds like a blast, Congratulations!

KK

[Bill E]

To cool

[Tom Howland]

Paul,
sounds like you enjoy rallying!!! Great story

[Jamo]

Congrats Paul!

Sounds like you gents did your homework and kept your eyes on the ball, which the rallymaster definitly had bouncing around.

I just came back home via 33 from some work in Oxnard about a month ago...assolutely one of the great roads. Lockwood Valley's even better.

Stop telling folks about these roads, damn it! Don't want a bunch of traffic in our playground!

[bwana50]

Congratulations, and a great story!

[RallySnake]

Thanks guys,

I believe that rallies are the best way to enjoy these cars. The next one is November 14, 15 and 16. It's 16 hours on the road and ends in Laughlin. Next year, there will be a 4 hour rally for first timers. I'll post more information when it becomes available.

Paul

[Clois Harlan]

Paul,

Didn't you and your son drive to the Texas Cobra Club meet in Austin last February from the Los Angles area? And didn't you encounter snow etc on you journey? So, a little 8 hour ralley was really nothing for you, right?

Great story! Good reading.

Clois

[RallySnake]

Thank you Clois,

The trip to Texas in the Cobra was a very high point in my life. I will never forget you and all the great people I met there. I will probably never come close to covering as much ground in as short a period of time.

Driving in snow is one of my MOST favorite things. Doing it in the Cobra requires very gentle inputs and quick opposite lock at times.

Driving in a rally takes a lot of concentration. There's no time to think of life's problems. It's the road and the clock and the Navigator. You never think even think of the car unless something's wrong.

Now if we could just set up a rally from California to Texas in the snow. Man, that would be perfect!

Paul

[Clois Harlan]

YIKES! Does any phrases come to mind with the word "PUCKER"?

Your the man, without a doubt.

Clois

[RallySnake]

Hey Clois,

I was stationed at Tinker AFB in OKC in 1968 through 1970. I used to go to Tulsa once a year to run Autocrosses at the old Warbonnet Raceway. Is the track still there? It was a great little racetrack, but the bridge needed some work.

Paul

[trularin]

Excellent!!!!

Always good to hear Cobras rule.