Stage 5 Great Race 2018

Augusta, Maine to Bangor, Maine (pronounced bang gore)

We started our day with the sun shining and one of the warmest mornings yet. It was about 57 degrees at 8am and it felt great. We started the morning in Augusta, Maine and we were the lucky recipients of an early start. We were the fourth car to start today which is advantageous because you have fewer people making mistakes around you. We also ran behind the winners from last year, which is another advantage. Often times you can see them ahead of you on a long straight run, or on a run when you change speed from fast to real slow. Beth and Jody, the winners from last year, drive a bright red 1932 Ford roadster which also makes them easier to spot.

Beth and Jody’s ’32 Ford with their trophy from 2017 (Beth’s daughter’s car next to theirs).

The day was filled with rallying, but we still had time to enjoy some of the scenery. Although similar to Vermont, Maine is not as lush and wooded as Vermont. Maine’s beauty is its coast and New England style homes. We saw many shingled and clap board homes. While we were driving to lunch in Owls Head, there was no doubt we were in the North East. Owls Head sits on a point, and the coast line is spectacular. Our first glimpse of the water was exactly as you might imagine it. The coves were rocky and we could see across to the island that is close to the mainland. Between the two was a sail boat that looked like a tall ship and other boats on the water. It was just a taste of what’s to come.

We had lunch at the Transportation Museum in Owls Head. It is an airplane hanger turned museum. The Museum sits on a working runway and small aircraft still use it today. The museum had a variety of airplanes and cars, and some vintage aircraft were taking off while we ate our lunch. One of the 200 volunteers that work at the museum told us that the museum was started by Rockefeller and Watson (the head of IBM at that time). Mr. Watson sent a note to Mr. Rockefeller and said “wouldn’t it be nice if there were airplanes flying around Owls Head”. In 1975 the Museum had its first rally with all types of transportation.

We enjoyed the museum and headed back out. As we were heading back out to rally, we drove through some residential neighborhoods. We couldn’t believe how obvious it was that we were in Maine. Many of the houses were Cape Cod style, and of course many were also the clapboard farm style. There were several beautiful and well maintained Victorian style homes. We marveled at the scenery, and then went back on the clock.

It was a full day of rallying with 12 legs. A leg is a timed section of driving from Point A to Point B, there is a check point for each leg. Twelve is a big number for two reasons. First it means we were constantly rallying and working to earn a perfect leg, and second, even if we had all 1s on every leg, we would finish with 12 seconds for the day. We are not that good or lucky. Although we had lots of good luck today, and had mostly a great day at of rallying, we finished with a 23. We (I) lost my head for a moment, and decided to take a turn at the speed we were going. This is a bad idea when you are not continuing the same speed on the other side of the turn. We time each turn as we go in and come out and then multiply that number by a factor and that gives us the time lost on the turn. By driving straight through you don’t have the opportunity to figure out what we lost. We were super lucky, we have a rough number that it takes one second to increase 5mph. We had increased 10 mph so I told Brad correct for losing two seconds. We made the adjustments and moved on. We then had our second lucky break, we were coming from a high speed into a right turn. We spotted the street and when we actually made the turn, I had over shot the street. I slammed on the brakes, the wheels locked up, and we were sliding into a corner. When we came to a stop, I threw it in reverse, backed up a few feet, and scurried back up the street. We couldn’t figure our exact loss time, but we did the best we could.

We finished our evening with a “typical Maine barbecue dinner” in Bangor, the capitol. Our dinner consisted of bacon wrapped chicken marinated in maple syrup, “red hot dogs”, baked beans, brown bread, and cole slaw. It was all delicious!

Tomorrow we have a later start, and a chance of rain. Below is picture from earlier this week in the rain.

We are thankful we drive Jane and thankful we get to stay dry.

Thank you for all the support, and confidence in us!

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