I have been inspired to make my first TR. I would have preferred to report on a great ski trip, but.... this was just as fun.
For my birthday Lane and a bunch of my friends bought me a Rally Experience. I tend to drive round the windy (and windy) roads of Wellington like I am in a race and when out of town I like to find as many dirt roads to drive on as possible.
There was one slight hiccup in the plan... I can't drive a stick. But I was assured that all I needed to know was the H pattern so I was set.
So early on Sunday morning (which just happened to be Lane's birthday) I turned up at a cold, wet forest, a bit late and missing most of the instructions. As much as I wanted to do this, I was petrified. Me petrified = quiet and grumpy. Straight into some overalls and into a car with an instructor who told me everything I missed. Better than a whiteboard lesson!
NB the look of excitement on my face.
After a lap of instruction, I swapped seats, got belted up and drove myself round the course 3 times, directions constantly being piped to me through the helmet. Ok...so it took about 3 times, each time, to actually get the car moving. I'm still to perfect 1st gear... love the downhill start!
It was insane. I have no idea how fast I went, nor do I remember much of the drive at all. You focus completely on the road and doing what the guy tells you. Steering at trees, accelerating downhill, power on through the apex, light tap on brakes twice at the caution, trying to put the car into 3rd not 5th...
Here I come...
There I go...
Then I got a hot lap with a professional driver. No way - no way ever - could I be a navigator. You wouldn't be able to see through the windshield for the vomit. I much prefer driving!!! It was amazingly fun though.
I was a bit of a stunned mullet for the rest of the day. But I can now say it was an incredibly fun morning, I learned heaps about driving, and I can't wait to get on a dirt road again. Big thanks to Lane and all my friends who got me there! Now gimme the snow so I can go skiing.
Results 1 to 25 of 58
Thread: TR: Rally driving experience NSR
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06-19-2007, 04:16 PM #1
Tasty...
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
- Location
- Much closer to snow than I used to be!
- Posts
- 85
TR: Rally driving experience NSR
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06-19-2007, 04:26 PM #2
ZGwrapper
- Join Date
- Nov 2005
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- over 8,000ft
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- 1,045
sweet TR
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06-19-2007, 04:31 PM #3
Registered User
- Join Date
- Dec 2002
- Location
- Summit County
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- 5,055
Holy shit! that makes skip barber look like an after school special.
does anyone know if there is anything like this in the states?"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" --Margaret Thatcher
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06-19-2007, 04:32 PM #4
Um, yeah, that guy
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Carbondale
- Posts
- 12,699
Now that is a summer NSR TR!
Good work.www.dpsskis.com
www.point6.com
formerly an ambassador for a few others, but the ski industry is... interesting.
Fukt: a very small amount of snow.
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06-19-2007, 04:37 PM #5
Southbound Pachyderm
- Join Date
- Sep 2001
- Location
- Orangina
- Posts
- 9,624
I hope I can be a "stunned mullet" someday. But until then, thanks for the sweet TR and great idea for an activity while in NZ!
"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring."
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06-19-2007, 04:42 PM #6
is back at it
- Join Date
- May 2004
- Location
- Colorado
- Posts
- 5,917
Oh man, I so want to do this!
"Can't vouch for him, though he seems normal via email."
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06-19-2007, 04:42 PM #7
Resident Texan
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- Southside of heaven
- Posts
- 3,260
Solid TR. Looks like a blast. I'm also quite impressed that you were able to drive that course in a manual having just learned it that morning.
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06-19-2007, 05:05 PM #8
LUCKY!
- Join Date
- Oct 2003
- Location
- Ta-hoes Love Face Shots!
- Posts
- 2,525
tHe GnAr
Karrot = radness on wheels.
Anyone interested who is coming down this way can learn more here:
http://rallydrivenz.co.nz/
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06-19-2007, 05:07 PM #9
wide open
- Join Date
- Nov 2003
- Location
- high and dry
- Posts
- 2,253
that rocks.
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06-19-2007, 05:13 PM #10
Smooth side down
- Join Date
- Oct 2003
- Location
- 20 steps from the hot tub
- Posts
- 3,774
Fun TR!
Rally driving is a blast. Dirt roads rule. And I used to have a stunned mullet during the 70s but now I have Jesus hair.
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06-19-2007, 05:21 PM #11
Obstinate Oldskooligan
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Alpental
- Posts
- 6,670
Very Cool.
I did this on a trip to the UK a few years back here http://www.forestrally.co.uk. We drove down to Wales the same day the Lorry drivers were protesting the gas tax and blockaded all the refineries. Coming back the road were completely empty.
I was used to driving a stick- but not a right hand drive stick, so it was extra fun. The trip with the instructor was awesome.Move upside and let the man go through...
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06-19-2007, 05:26 PM #12
Tasty...
- Join Date
- Apr 2006
- Location
- Much closer to snow than I used to be!
- Posts
- 85
Lane had taken me for an intensive 1hr of 1st gear instruction in a hire car back in May. That saved my bacon! And a little WRC playstation action as well.
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06-19-2007, 05:36 PM #13
Shamalama DingDong
- Join Date
- Aug 2004
- Location
- New Haven Line heading north
- Posts
- 2,956
Did the driving school provide sauced locals who inexplicably stand too close to the tight turns and get walloped when out of control rally cars miss said turns and cartwheel into said locals?
Charlie, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me, speak well.
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06-19-2007, 05:38 PM #14
Huck Test Monkey
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Posts
- 1,158
sick, that blows away go-kart racer in SF. Rally is a great reason to head back to New Zealand!
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06-19-2007, 05:47 PM #15
Mutt Wrangler
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- Missoula, MT
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- 22,949
Way to go girl!!!
nice subbyNo longer stuck.
Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn
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06-19-2007, 06:29 PM #16
The leading edge of cool
- Join Date
- Dec 2003
- Location
- Wasatch Back
- Posts
- 5,422
That is one of the coolest non-skiing TRs ever. EVER!
I would love a ride in a rally car. And an F1 car. And a fighter plane. It could happen.A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Science-fiction author Robert Heinlein
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06-19-2007, 06:40 PM #17
Registered User
- Join Date
- Jun 2004
- Location
- Sacramento, CA
- Posts
- 1,084
Completely kick ass!
Soooooo jealous.
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06-19-2007, 06:42 PM #18
Creek Local
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
- Posts
- 346
Sick, rally racing is crazy. I have seen lots of it on tv, and its a truly stoked sport. Fucking insane watching the pros going like 70 on these little bumpy roads. One thing I have always wanted to try for sure.
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06-19-2007, 07:58 PM #19
Powder Slut
- Join Date
- Sep 2004
- Location
- What's today's date?
- Posts
- 2,382
I got to do the Steamboat Ice Driving School for a day as part of a pr thing, and that looks like more fun.
Not that there's anything wrong with the Steamboat track. It may be as close as you can get to sliding a rally car as a civilian in the US.
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06-19-2007, 08:45 PM #20
A. K. A. Yank Mojo
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- Just outside the bubble
- Posts
- 1,742
Looks pretty damn cool to me!
Have fun or get hurt bad. "MFT" A.K.A. Dr. Doom
There are but three true sports--bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games. "Ernest Hemingway"
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06-19-2007, 09:17 PM #21
Registered Utard
- Join Date
- Oct 2006
- Location
- Logan, UT
- Posts
- 1,091
That was an amazing TR! It looks like so much fun!
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06-20-2007, 01:14 AM #22
Wrecking Ball
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Posts
- 2,886
It's a Mitsubishi Evo. Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn
Looks like a whole barrel load of fun!
On a sorta related note, I'm having lunch with Colin McRae today. I'm excited!"Nothing is funnier than Hitler." - Smokey McPole
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06-20-2007, 02:15 AM #23
Ca plane pour moi
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- France
- Posts
- 3,440
Looks fun !
The closest experience, I had of rally driving was in 1984, or 85, in the Massif Central, a montainous region in France. I was driving on a small twisting road when I get caught by a Renault 11. I started to push harder and harder, to the best I could do, tyres screaming, brakes smoking... The Renault was still stuck in my mirror, and I could see the driver elbow sticking from the window. The bastard was just cruising.
When he finally blasted by me, I saw it was Didier Auriol on reconnaissance for the Rallye du Rouergue...
He wasn't even trying.
Humbling experience."Typically euro, french in particular, in my opinion. It's the same skiing or climbing there. They are completely unfazed by their own assholeness. Like it's normal." - srsosbso
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06-20-2007, 04:32 AM #24
Don't Panic
- Join Date
- Jun 2006
- Location
- Ventura Highway in the Sunshine
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- 22,445
Looks like a fun day. We do not having anything like that in the US, that I know of, but there are rally cross days sponsored by SCCS. Not quite the same, but driving at Laguna Seca, a world class track here in California on a rainy day can be nearly as much fun. The first rain on the track so all the oil comes out is about as slippery as snot. It is great fun in an Audi with quattro, but the rear wheel drive BMW's went home early because it was too slippery, WTF
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06-20-2007, 06:07 AM #25
Registered User
- Join Date
- Dec 2003
- Posts
- 1,145
If you're ever on the EC, check out Team O'Neil. Also, in September Rally Colorado is happening...looks like it could a lot of fun to watch.
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