Escape to Wisconsin report. Our first D.N.F

Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Not terribly warm mind you, it was only 34F when I went out for my morning run. We even took our MGB out for a spin (with the roof up). It was looking like a great day for a road Rallye.

As we arrived at Paddy Ryan's bar in Hudson, WI we were even further cheered to see so many new faces turning up for their first attempt at road rally. Seventeen cars were registered for the event and about two thirds of them were new. Good news for anyone who would think that road rally is on the decline. The hope is, of course, that they come back for their second and third rallies. 

We were allocated number 17 to run as a kind of sweep to help out any of these newbies in case we found any looking lost by the side of the road. Our little Scion was not equipped to handle proper sweep duties like hauling someone back on to the road.

At 3pm we were treated to the sight of some 14 other cars heading out on the rally. As the last car, we waited around with paperwork just in case the late arrivals turned up. They didn't, so at our appointed time we set out. 

It had been a long time since our last rally so we used the odo check leg to get used to reading the instructions and communicating the information needed between the two of us, and by the time we reached the start point of the rally we were feeling pretty good about how things would go.

The sight that greeted us at the start point was quite impressive. A line of many and varied cars, Porsches, Subarus, a brand spanking new Camaro, a Fiat 500 and even a Mazda MX-5 with the roof down. Of which mention has to be made of the crew of Randall and Van Hagen for staying out with the top down. The cars heater was needed, but not all the time apparently. It did kind of make me feel like we should have taken the MGB. But as any MGB owner will tell you, the heaters in one of them aren't the best.

As the rally route unfolded in front of us we were treated to sweeping vistas, and steep hills both up and down. Grit and dirt on these steep hills from winter road care made me wonder if we wouldn't come across a car that had run off the road at one of the many hairpin bends on these slopes.  
Running last, we were presented with reasons to take time delays wether it be passing information between control points or getting stuck behind farm equipment and locals out for a leisurely drive. Sometimes I'd sit back and take the delay and sometimes I'd try and get back the time. I found it very hard to be disciplined enough to stay back and keep the delay constant. In the end trying to get back the time probably contributed to our downfall, but we weren't to know that at the time.

One of the most enjoyable parts of a road rally is the breaks along the route, where you get a chance to mix with the other entrants to share experiences, socialize, and make new friends. As for the most part before the race you spend so much time going over the rally instructions it's difficult to find time to stop and chat. Even by the first rest stop in Knapp there were stories to share of wrong turns and other hiccups. 

The second rest stop in Menomonie is the one that the wife and I look forward to the most. For UW-Stout there is where we first met. There have been changes in the town but it still looks like the place we hung out together all those years ago. 

With memory lane tripped along we joined the other competitors at Riverside Park in the town. We had a chance to socialize a bit more and I even met a rally beginner who was a reader of this blog! I know many of the local Rallye regulars read along with this to humor me, but to meet someone you don't know who reads and enjoys these ramblings makes you feel pretty good. The clear consensus among the entrants was that everyone was enjoying themselves. So hopefully everyone will come back for more.

One by one the cars headed out on the third leg of the rally. We were feeling pretty good about our progress not knowing we were about to become very disappointed. 

The hilly nature of the course has been noted already and our little Scion, with almost a quarter of a million miles on it, was certainly feeling every one of those miles, and a short distance before the final timing control the car gave a cough, the check engine warning light came on and it decided to travel at no more than 30 mph. I suspected that perhaps we'd cooked the automatic transmission fluid, but when the check engine light comes on for something as innocuous as not getting the fuel filler cap on correctly you can't be too sure. So we forlornly coasted into the timing control and told Rallymaster Clarence Westberg of our woes and that discretion was the better part of valour and we'd withdraw and limp home. 

Suspecting the tranny fluid as the issue we rested up in Elmwood to give things a chance to cool down. Restarting the car after 10 minutes or so my suspicions were sort of confirmed as the warning light stayed off. I suppose we could have rejoined the rally but knowing there would be more of the same hilly terrain in the next section, and not wanting to make things any worse (should it not have been the tranny fluid) we drove away from Elmwood. It did not help our low spirits to see the cars lined up ready for section four as we turned right up Highway 128 and headed away out of town.

Our first D.N.F.  The drive back was glum and quiet. Not even the sight of the Wallace and Grommit Austin A40 Van on our Garmin could raise a smile amongst us.

By the time we reached Elk River, 20 miles from home we had cheered up enough to get some amusement from our Garmins breathy pronunciation of the words Ramp (R-Haamp) and Ten (T-Hen).

Now a few days later things aren't so bad and we are looking forward to our next event. Very probably the Waterloo rally in Iowa on May 17th. I'm sure we'll get the Automatic transmission fluid refreshed before then.