Stage 3 Day 14 Great Race 2018

Actually it is only day 3, but that is what came out when I typed, so it must feel a little like day 14.

Brad wants to thank everyone for the kind and thoughtful Birthday wishes!

We started this morning in Albany, New York and headed North through Schenectady, Saratoga and Glen Falls, New York. We were heading for Vermont via the Adirondack Park. It was so fun looking at people’s front porches to see if they had Adirondacks chairs. Many had them, but we saw many more with rocking chairs. The morning went by quickly, and before we knew it we were in the mountains of Vermont. The scenery was incredible, we had blue skies with lots of pretty clouds. We drove along lush forested roads, and over and next to pretty little creeks. We spent the majority of the morning driving on mountain roads, and then coming back down south to the valley floor around lunch time.

We had our lunch stop today at Hemmings Motor News in Bennington, Vermont. Bennington is located in the SouthWest corner of the state. Hemmings are one of the big sponsors and supporters of The Great Race. Their Publisher Jim Menneto is a participant every year in the race, and often has a different employee navigating for him. He drives an open wheel 1932 Ford Speedster with a bonnet type cover. He is a good competitor, however he teaches a new navigator most years. He must have the patience of Jobe.

Jim Menetto’s ’32 Ford Speedster

After lunch we headed back up North toward Burlington. We had long pulls at the same speed which felt like hours. It is always hard after lunch to focus on a speed and not fall asleep. Many racers will try to eat a light lunch which is often difficult because the people hosting put together such nice spreads. We typically share a sandwich or whatever they are serving to avoid the after lunch fog. The last few legs were a testament to the driving skills needed for this race. Although it sounds easy, in older cars there is not a computer or anything to help hold a speed. The roads twist and turn, and you are undulating up and down as the grades change. We need to be exact, if we are 10% off, every 10 seconds, we gain or lose a second. If we are off for a minute, we gain or lose 6 seconds. Needless to say when you are worried about tenths of a second, you are really worried about full seconds.

There were few instructions in the afternoon. Most of the time my eyes were split with one on the road and the other on my speedometer, (which is mounted on top of the dash), but I was still able to catch much of the beauty that is Vermont. Vermont is truly picture perfect. We drove along the Eastern side of Lake Champlain, and awed at the pretty homes, and barns and the landscape around them. It is mostly rural, but not in a back woods kind of way.

Middlebury, Vermont traffic jam. Great Race participant’s car stalled.

We finished in the early evening, and thought we did well despite having missed a sign before lunch, passing a road we were suppose to turn on, and being slowed for a minute by a tractor. We had made the corrections and hoped for the best. We finished the day with the scores of 3,1,1,1,1,5,3. We are hanging in there. Many people had a good days. We have dropped from 4th to 8th overall. We are third in our class for now with a difference of .75 seconds between us and first place. We are surrounded by some very experienced ralliers and feel fortunate to be doing as well as we are.

We still have a long way to go, but we are having fun as we move along.

Thank you for continuing to follow the journey and cheering us on! All of your notes are read and put smiles on our faces.

Pictures to follow….

Author: emcniff

This is not really about me, but about an adventure we are lucky enough to take each year. Each trip provides new discoveries, and the opportunity to see this beautiful country we are so blessed to live in. View all posts by emcniff