Day 4: Queretaro to Morelia

We did it! Back in the saddle today and ran pretty darn well, given the circumstances. The guys got the engine running great and we didn't even have the overheating issues. The first two speed sections were canceled due to a very bad head-on collision with a race car and a civilian car. Occupants of both vehicles were transported to emergency care and besides broken bones and serious injuries, it sounds like all involved will be ok. This was a very scary incident and shook everyone up. The racers knew the section was canceled but assumed that no other traffic was let onto the road. The race car cut into a blind left turn, into the oncoming lane, and met the civilian car head-on. 


So, we all tried to compose ourselves and carry on to the servicio, which was a long transit 80 km transit through the beautiful countryside. 

Taking a break before the next section

Every town has a very large church and it seems it must take generations to build them because most look to be in a constant state of construction.

One of Dad's favorite parts of the whole race is hearing the squeal from the school kids as we pass by. Because we race during the day and most of it is weekdays, the school kids all stand by the side of the road or in the school yard and yell, more squeal-like, as the cars go through their town. They all get so excited! It's neat to see.

Here we are lined up after servicio for the next speed section. These sections were my favorites of the whole race. They are known as Mil Cumbres - one thousand summits, or hills. They go so fast and the road is shaded through the mountains and some parts of he road are wet. It really can be a dangerous trek but we took it pretty easy and really enjoyed it. I will post in-car video later!

Survived Mil Cumbres! What a blast!!!

Representing my love for beef, of course! 

Heading into Morelia. This is the most fun city to drive into because we follow the ancient aqueduct. It starts out small and gets bigger and bigger.

Morelia is the most beautiful town! The square is huge and the cars get to park down the street in front of the cathedral (which is said to be the most beautiful in Mexico). We really enjoyed the atmosphere and beauty of Morelia.

Dinner in a cafe in the square. How cute are these chips and the presentation?!?

We were sitting in the cafe with a group of friends and Bill Hemmer, another racer, came and asked me if I had been on the roof yet. I said that I had not but that I needed to, stat! So Bill took me through the bar next door, up a beautifully carved staircase and onto a balcony overlooking the street. It was awesome! Such a view! I them ventured from the balcony up the next set of stairs and onto the roof to take more pictures.

The driver's meeting and awards were in  historic Governor's Palace and, because we finished the day, we were back on the podium taking second place! Whoop whoop! The palace was was stunning. We walked down the street and this was the door we entered: 

Which opened up to this:

And the walls were painted like this:

Walking back past the cathedral:

I would definitely return to Morelia. I would love to explore the city more. 

We were off the next morning, racing back through Mil Cumbres. 

Day 3: A Day on the Trailer

Well, we made it to Queretaro but not in the car. The guys did diagnose the engine problem: the electrical coil inconveniently exploded causing a push rod to be bent, thus the slight clunk when the engine quit.

Clearly, bent = no bueno.

Sooo we trailered in to Queretaro and I navigated for Tom in the big rig. I don't have any pictures from this trip of Tom's rig but HERE it is when we rode down to the Chihuahua Express in 2009. The trailer in that blog post is the open trailer but you can see parts of the enclosed trailer in this post. Either way - it's a BEAST!

We made it into Queretaro and to our hotel in time to see the other teams pull into the hotel parking lot. Dad and I had some "down time" so we jumped in a taxi to go to the center of town to see the cars come in and to get a bite to eat. So here we are, in a cafe in the square enjoying a cold cerveza and some tacos as the cars arrive.

I really enjoy Queretaro's ambiance. The architecture reminds me of Europe. I found this great travel website page that tells about Queretaro. Have I mentioned how much I love Mexico's history? I'm reading Timeless Mexico by Hudson Strode (sidenote: my Grandma gave it to my Grandpa in 1947 for Christmas, her handwritten message is on the inside cover) and it is so good!

***UPDATE: Our friend, Jorge Arrellano, has shared some great information with me about Queretaro. He says, "About Queretaro, a common mistake is that San Francisco´s church is the Cathedral, but actually the Cathedral is two streets behind the Art Museum where the awards ceremony is held. For me its logical that as it is in the main square it would be, but is not." Jorge has a great BLOG that highlights the La Carrera. Great pictures, too!

Use your imagination for translation about who that guy is and why he's gettin' down with his bad self. At first glance I thought the plaque said he like chimichangas. Educated sources tellme he is an Aztec. That's all they tell me. Feel free to enlighten me.

***UPDATE: I've been enlightened! Thank you, thank you to our friend, Jorge, for this info about the statue: "The brass statue of the dancer is not an Aztec, is a Chichimeca, is or was a local ethnic group. The representation is of a conchero dancer. Conchero is a word derived of the word concha, shell. They used things called shells around the ankles and when they danced made noise. The funny thing is that those are not real shells, are more like dry seeds. Still to this day some people keep the tradition and dance in a nearby church on September 13th. Some streets are closed for a big parade for the re-enactment. Here is a video with pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej3ADreJPJQ

Thank you, Jorge!

Even though we didn't race today we still wanted to go to the Driver's Meeting because it was in the beautiful Queretaro Art Museum. Isn't that gorgeous?

Back to reality and the broken car: Turns out the push rods that we have in the Y block are rare (there are 16: 2 for each cylinder, their job is to open and close the exhaust and the intake values for each cylinder), so Tom and Miguel were able to find another at an AutoZone that, with some engineering, would work. Or - we could close that valve off and run on 7 with less power. Opting for option A, we were fortunate to have the support and mechanical geniuses of Jack Roger's (car #369) mechanic Steve Strupp and Hayden Groendyke's crew - Jason, Keith and Brad. Steve fabricated - did you get that? FABRICATED IN A PARKING LOT IN MEXICO - a push rod to fit (these are rare cup and ball endings) and the other guys worked into the early hours of the morning tearing the engine apart and putting it back together.

Actually, the push rod didn't "fall down," it "fell out of place."

Jason and Brad under the hood. I'm no mechanic but I think Brad is putting sealer on the heads before bolting down the intake manifold.

The loading ramp of Tom's trailer was the "shop" for the night.

Keith and Dad

Steve! The push rod genius.

Old head gasket

Thanks to the hard work of all these guys, we will be back on the road...in the car...in the morning! Dad stayed up with them until the wee hours of the morning and we are ready to roll!

Has this made you want to drink tequila? Yeah, me too.

Day 2: Oaxaca - Puebla

Unfortunately, I don't have much good news to share for the day. We thought we had the overheating figured out but soon found out otherwise at the beginning of the first speed stage out of Oaxaca. When were overheating getting out of town in traffic but got going and the temp dropped (it is much better when we are running with airflow and very bad idling). We got to the first speed stage and were spitting water out of the reserve reservoir. We proceeded on the speed section, taking it pretty easy and then all of a sudden there was a klinkity-clank noise and loss of power. Neither of which are never good. Dad pulled the car over on the shoulder and we waited as the rest of the cars passed and the crews who were sweeping started to come by. Fortunately, Todd Landon and Kristin Stewart stopped to check on us. They let us load onto their trailer and hauled us in to Servicio. It was very frustrating to be on the trailer but we had no other choice.

On our way to Servicio with the car on the trailer, we came across this GIANT wash out. Fortunately it wasn't during a speed section but, still, Holy Cow! Ya just never know what's around the next corner.

Every town has an impressive church. If someone hasn't already - coffee book table idea: The Churches of Mexico.

Once at Servicio we met Tom with the big truck and trailer and left the car with Tom to load to haul to Puebla. Because lack of room in Tom's rig (two other cars and drivers/copilotos also needed somewhere to ride) we rode with Todd and Kristin the rest of the day. It turned out to be a lovely ride with them. It was great to visit and get to know Todd and Kristin. We had quite a few laughs, made ourselves really hungry talking about beef and butter (Todd works for Land O' Lakes) and even picked up more passengers - a Mexican team in a Fiat who were having electrical problems. They became amigos of ours for the rest of the race and were always good spirited and friendly. They rode with us {and by "with us" I mean inside the Fiat} all the way to Tehuacan where their service crew met them and got them running again.

Alfredo and Ernesto's Fiat. Kinda funny story: It took a lot of effort to get our Ford on the trailer in the morning - three guys with an electric winch pulling up on the cord and then pulling in the slack with the electric motor and two people pushing from behind. The Fiat was so much lighter that the two guys just pushed it right on the trailer in the blink of an eye!

Lead the way, Einstein!

The biggest poinsettia plant I have ever seen!

These "bull"etin boards dotted our way through Mexico. No idea what they are selling. However, every time we would see one Dad would say, "Hurry, hurry, take a picture!" I would then be flustered and scrounge for the camera and try to get a picture as we zoomed by. This was the best I could do. We don't hold still for long enough!

Photo by Kristin - she caught us taking a little siesta. You don't realize how exhausted you get until you sit still.

Will update when I know more about the car. Lots of carnage and broken cars today.

The good news: We are safe and saw lots of beautiful scenery today. Mexico truly is a beautiful country.

Day 1: Huatulco - Oaxaca

Day 1: Check! It was a LONG and grueling day to bring us to Oaxaca. It was hot leaving sea level and especially hot when we were in the hills and canyons with no breeze but we made it to higher elevation, about 6,000 ft.

Speaking of hot - What is it like to be sitting in a race car, strapped in & ready for take off, seat belts tight, race suit up to your chin, helmet tight feeling like your head is swelling and is going to explode at the slightest movement, it's 90 degrees with 90% humidity and sweat is slowly rolling down your nose? Imagine getting inside your sleeping bag, in a sauna, in a straight jacket. There ya have it. Oh - and then when the speed section is over you can grab your water bottle from behind the seat and quench your thirst with near-boiling water. Are we having fun yet?!?

{all kidding aside, even though it can be hotter than a two dollar pistol, it doesn't trump the exhilaration of La Carrera}

We left Huatulco on a beautiful, sunny morning. It was really fun to all of the cars and drivers getting ready before the starting arch.

One shot before taking off

The faster cars going through the starting arch

Doug Mockett and Angelica Fuentes in the uber fast Olds

This was the driver's meeting the night before the start. They did a wonderful job and threw a great party!

The country that we raced through sure was beautiful! There were 12 speed sections ranging from 7 kms to 21 kms. In the second speed stage of the morning, dad felt something change in the power steering and it wasn't the same the rest of the day. The car also ran hot all day and we refilled water twice. AND - the roads after servicio were horrible; one of the speed sections was cancelled because of bad pot holes and rough road. What else can I complain about, oh - 20 cars crashed out today. Other than that, the day was ok.

Dad and me with Rocio Berriochoa. She was our fabulous hostess in Huatulco.

My view from the inside of the Tequila Fortaleza Ford, lined up at the speed section after servicio. We should have kept some of the tequila in the car. I could have used it.

I will do a diagram of what all those things are later, but this is my command center.

We made it into the city of Oaxaca!

They sure give us an enthusiastic welcome!

What we usually do when we get into a town is park the car in the square where the officials tell us, get out of the car while being accosted by the locals, sign a few "hero" cards, take pictures with people, kiss babies and then escape the crowd and head to an outdoor cafe on the square for some food and alcohol {Dad doesn't drink so he has coffee but I try to make up for his abstinence}.

Chapulines! {crickets} These are a delicacy in southern Mexico. They go great on tacos and tostadas.

That is our dear Canadian friend, Linda Robertson. She and her husband, Stewart, drive a really cool Studebaker and finished in the top 10 this year.

The Vicky parked in front of the cathedral.

If you do have a chance to try some Tequila Fortaleza, take the opportunity. It is delicious!

After all the dust settled for the day, we were second in Original Pan Am to our friend John Gregory. Great to be on the podium with friends! Any day finishing is a good day.

On to new day! To Puebla. Hopefully Tom was able to get the issues straightened out and we can rum more smoothly today (they think power steering pump is the culprit for power steering issues).

Onward!