BC1: Day One
Got up pre-dawn (3:30am to be exact)… went into the main tent and reserved a spot just like Adriana requested. Near the heater and near the notice board. It must have been the right move cause we were right by the entire Ford Performance crew. I was one of the first in the tent apart from the Ford team, the rest of the teams trickled in and most were there by 5am. This day we got an on-time enduro; I quickly did the math. At 5am, we are allowed to go back to the vehicles which have been in “impound” all night. At this point I start cleaning it up, packing things in and organizing it for the day. The drivers meeting starts every morning at 6am. I rush back to eat breakfast, drink more coffee, help Adriana where I can, gather our lunch, and then furiously write notes while Emily tells us about the day. Missing even a slight detail could derail us… I am sure I missed things but it’s almost too much to process (especially at 6am). This is where having friends really helps. We were off the line early, 21st at around 7:15 or so… it didn’t give us much time to prepare or much time for Adriana to look over the Enduro.
The previous day (prologue), the enduro started in the middle of the day and their was a green checkpoint with a person and a start clock. I assumed (incorrectly) that today would be the same. Nope! We didn’t realize it until it was too late. The start line was the start of the time for the enduro. Instead of starting our clock at the start line, we started our clock at the blue flag… as close as we could figure it, which wasn’t close enough. First major gaff of the day. Every control point was around 14-16 seconds off so we botched that timed enduro. Lesson learned!
The day started out with a long loop through lowlands filled with cattle and dusty trails. Easy fast driving for the most part. At the beginning of the day, we are told the total kilometers for the day (yes everything is in kilometers not miles). I knew we were going to be cutting it close with milage and the gas tank. It wasn’t impossible, but as I told Adriana… we didn’t have room to search for checkpoints or make big mistakes. If we drove conservatively we would make it on one tank to the finish line. They also told us during the meeting that we could stop at base camp for a 5 gallon top off during the day.
LIES!!!! When we stopped for our “splash” it wasn’t available…. Plot twist? Real mishap? No one will ever truly know. During the Rebelle you just have to be ready to roll with the punches.
The upcoming loop had been described to us as a “driver’s course” which I found very exciting. Rocks and big climbs are my specialty! This smaller loop was in a mining area super steep eroded shelf roads, roads that were…. On the map but not actually there. Weird new trails that weren’t on the map, trails without tracks, trails with boulders in the middle of them, trails that dead ended into cliffs…… we were so confused. Eventually we just started going down every path we found and inadvertently found some check points! Then miraculously found our friends! Who were equally frustrated which majorly improved our spirits because… hey now we weren’t alone! We had spent so much time searching for checkpoints the gas was staring to become a concern for me. These steep hill climbs were drinking a ton and I didn’t know how far basecamp was away and how hard it would be for us to find it! This is where communication is key between the driver and navigator. I think Adri and I did well communicating and this was an example. instead of risking a penalty for running out of gas and missing our checkpoint for returning home, we decided to call it and make sure to get back on time. We ended the day on a high note, even though most of the day was frustrating from beginning to end. That night we learned that when the course staff went out to set the course for the day, they discovered that the trails had been freshly bull-dozed, some had been moved, some completely demolished. All the teams faced the same frustration that day.
I found that the Rebelle Rally is a Petrie Dish for life. A small condensed sample…. You get super frustrated and it feels like nothing is going right for you and you get stuck in a bubble of ruminating over it… just to step out of that bubble to realize that everyone is struggling and that you are not alone. Couple of tears shed, hugs, and bed time! Tomorrow is a new day.
