Updates from the Road
PanAmericana Road Race >> Updates
Read updates from Team FHC:
Thursday 10/29/2009
We got the car back up and running but not in time to win! At least we finished the race with both drivers still alive and the car (mostly) intact.
Thank you for following our journey. I can’t wait to get back to Massachusetts to share my experience with my friends at Franciscan!
Adiós hasta el año próximo!
Wednesday, 10/28/2009
Hey kids,
My co-driver and I are now sitting on the road side curb in "downtown" Jalisco looking at our wounded Porsche. We got lost getting out of Guadalajara and fell 45 minutes behind but we managed to get it figured out - don't ask how - and got to 1 min off schedule - don't ask how - and then the clutch broke (what's a clutch again??). For a while, there was a big crowd standing around talking and laughing at and with us. But now we are completely alone. We have no tools and I'm not sure we could do much if we had them. I think a piece of metal broke in the clutch linkage. It's interesting sitting out here in the middle of nowhere with a limited knowledge of Spanish and no cell phone coverage.
About every half hour or so some guys will stop and talk. Many of them have lived and/or worked in the US at one point. So far they couldn't be nicer. Some guy just brought us some tacos from home....and we had to eat them, right? Couldn't say no. But it is always dangerous to eat so-called 'street' food.....I guess we'll know in the morning!
We are waiting for one of the crew trucks to come pick us up......so far its been 3 hours. But I am happy to be in Mexico enjoying this unique experience! I'll be sure to let you know what happened!!
OK, its now 5pm and the car is on a trailer behind the van I'm in. The mechanics think its a shifting fork - look it up! - and can be fixed - they hope. I hope! So we have a 2 hour ride to the hotel and the mechanics have a loooooong night ahead.
Hasta la vista, baby!!
Tuesday, 10/27/2009
Hey kids!
Short tonight because we are going to a big fiesta in Tequila, Mexico! Today was really long and hot, but no donkies! At least not in the roads. Today's excitement was a really spectacular crash with a Corvette going over a cliff into the tree tops! Everyone is fine but that's not good. I know I write about accidents a lot, but its hard to describe the actual racing. I guess the accidents help to show that the actual racing is very competitive and fast and usually really fun. This is NOT professional racing - it's all amateur and almost all of us are and hope to remain friends. So while I really want to do well, its not like we'll make a lot of money if we win. In fact, the winner gets a nice trophy and his or her picture taken and a pat on the back and a big bill! I guess we are not that smart are we?!
OK, I am off to the fiesta. Tomorrow is the next to last day then its Nuevo Laredo and the finish. I think we are in the top 50 now overall and about 10th in class, but we had a big clutch (what's a clutch - look it up) problem that slowed us down. We will find out in the morning if it set us back. I sure hope not!
Did you check that blog I mentioned? He has some cool video you really should see.
Hasta pronto amigos!
Monday, 10/26/2009
Hey kids!
Does it ever end? Day 4 is over and another of our team has crashed - this time a beautiful 1964 Jaguar XKE Drivers are ok - they had to crash into a dirt bank to avoid another crashed car that was on its roof in the middle of the road! Lots of this stuff today I'm sorry to say.
We are now in San Luis Potosi, another beautiful Mexican town. The day was filled with some more scary mountain roads with amazing cliffs and - very exciting - lots of wandering donkies! Really, just walking up and down the roads, often just when you would rather they not, like when you are roaring around a blind corner! Donkies caused 2 crashes today! And I really don't think they care all that much.
By the way, one of our fellow drivers is doing a real blog with some cool video - check out http://byrondefoor.wordpress.com.
We have been having some car issues - no surprise after 4 days of punishment, but the mechanics did some work last night while I was sleeping on the carburetors - look it up! With those fixes, the car was a rocket today! Let's hope we can improve our position tomorrow - and miss the donkies!
Short day tomorrow on the way to Guadalajara and a big party tomorrow night! I like big parties!
Hasta la proxima, amigos.....oh, by the way, our race suits are getting real smelly after 4 days and no laundry. Sorry you missed it!!
Sunday, 10/25/2009
Hi kids,
We are in Queretaro, Mexico. Look it up. It's awesome. It's where we ended up today after a day of scary mountain racing.
There were 5 accidents today with 4 cars out for the race. We sure hope that doesn't happen to us, but it can.
Yesterday a famous professional race car driver, Jim Pace, crashed a 1961 Maserati 3500 GT – it was a beautiful car. He made a little mistake and..... he's ok but not the car. We had 1 high speed race track event at the Autodromo Tres Hermanos Rodriguez cancelled because of rain. It was too dangerous for us amateurs:)
These smaller Mexican cities are magical. There are beautiful towns with central parks and really nice people. Tomorrow is our last day of major mountains. Then we get to drive the longer race segments with trickier directions. I'm not sure what that means yet, but I’ll let you know. Also our days’ schedule will get a little shorter.
Look up Queretaro, Mexico and 1961 Maserati 3500 GT.
Hasta la proxima, amigos:)
Saturday, 10/24/2009
Hey kids!
It helps in life to be a little bit nuts! We started in Oaxaca at 7:00AM. We just pulled into Mexico City at 8:30PM in the pouring rain. We have no windshield wipers and one window missing and it is cold!
But we had a great day in the mountains - lots of scary roads and only a few wrecks and a bunch of breakdowns.
Driving old cars really hard breaks things like transmissions and rear ends and engines. Remember I told you about my car's digestion problems .....you remember?
We still have them which makes it all the more interesting.
My co-driver was not feeling well today so I drove all day...kinda tough on an old geezer. In your geography lessons I hope you can compare the cities - I don't know how big Mexico City is, but it feels congested. There are millions of people trying to make a living. The road is clogged with TONS of cars. I like Oaxaca better. Tehuacan is a city we stopped in today. I had never heard of it. There were several thousand people to meet us and mob the cars. Very nice people and a nice city. Check it out for me, amigos!
I'm going to bed......
!Buen afortunado a todos!
Thursday, 10/22/2009
7:39 PM
Hi kids! I just wanted to update you on today’s action. The race starts tomorrow - Huatalco to Oaxaca (go ahead and pronounce that one!) In about 10 hours - wow! So this afternoon was practice.......and 3 cars crashed! Out of over 100 cars, 3 are already done. No one got hurt, but all 3 cars are done. They hauled the cars ALL the way to southern Mexico and crashed on day 1!!!
We did fine and we are really excited - and a little scared too to be honest. But we got the 1st day of driving accomplished and tomorrow WE GO RACING! Carefully, I hope:)
Hope to get some good pictures to you tomorrow!
7:06 PM
Hi kids! This is day 2. Another day of testing before the race starts tomorrow. Testing is a good thing, because even this late in the game some cars have had problems. We hope they are fixed now! I must say that thinking about the race makes me a little nervous - 6 days of racing on real roads through towns and villages at fast speeds dodging donkies and goats (really!) is silly:)
The town of Huatulco is very pretty - right on the Pacific Ocean. Very hot and humid. It will get cooler - into the 50's - when we get into the mountains tomorrow afternoon.
I hope some of the pictures are getting to you! I am thinking about you!
Buena suerte a todos!
Wednesday, 10/21/2009
Hi kids! Its Russell Gee writing from Huatulco, Mexico getting ready for the big race! This is a small town way down on the Mexico - Guatamala border on the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful beaches and big surf! Check it out on a map. Getting here was hard - 2 days of foolishness, but here we are! The race starts on Friday, but now we have to test the cars and get them (and the drivers!) ready. Its a long race - almost 2000 miles so we need to be ready.
Some of these cars are older than your grandparents - mine is a 1966 Porsche 911T. Some have names you have never heard of - Studebaker or Hudson! Lots of the cars have cool paint jobs. Some have flames painted on them and some even have teeth! My car has Franciscan Hospital logos - maybe teeth next year! I'm going to try to write everyday and to send pictures. We are thinking of you and buen afortunado a todos!!
Saturday, 10/17/2009
The crew unloaded the cars in Mexico for the townspeople to check out. And this little dude showed up and even got a ride!
Saturday, 10/10/2009
My racing partner and I just finished up our practice session in Tennessee this week. In the week ahead, the car will be transported down to Mexico. When it gets there, the race prep guys will affix the Hospital's logo to the car after the Mexican race authorities have affixed theirs. For now, this photo with us holding the banner will have to suffice!
