- Category:
- Just for Fun - Totally Random
- Description:
- This is our team entry into the BA2BE (Big Apple 2 Big Easy) Rally, 2007. Feel free to join to see our progress, add comments or suggestions etc.
- Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
Marcella
Adrienne
Too Fiesty Racing Team
Join- Name:
- Too Fiesty Racing Team
- Category:
- Just for Fun - Totally Random
- Description:
- This is our team entry into the BA2BE (Big Apple 2 Big Easy) Rally, 2007. Feel free to join to see our progress, add comments or suggestions etc.
- Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
- News:
- Unleash the Hurricane and the Hand Grenade – The BABE Arrives on Bourbon Street, Monday 28 May, 2007, New Orleans, LA
Day 5
Well a full rundown of yesterday’s festivities is in order. We should clarify after talking to a few people last night that the BABE is not quite as easy as we first thought, its just that we’re that good! There were a couple of teams that made the finish line in rental cars, having to abandon theirs along the way.
Yesterdays drive was nothing really to speak of, a straight shot down the 59 from Gadsden to New Orleans. Once we finished yesterday was when things got interesting. The last part of the puzzle for us was getting rid of the car and we were a little worried about how it was going to work out. We were cursing for not getting organised earlier when we heard a lot of people had setup Ebay auctions for their vehicles. Turns out we did good though. I posted Fiesty 1 up on Craigslist at about 4:30 and by 9:00 she was sold for $300 bucks, making us a $10 profit after deducting the cost of the paint job. It was sad to see her go, but we hope she’s gone to a good home as a first car for a local high schooler. We gave him the Mr-T sun shield to help maintain the image.
The presentations were at the hotel and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. The winning team on points was Rusty Dung Beetle but the most prestigious prize, for the worst beater went to Rickety Van with their piece of shit Volkswagen Kombi. It was pretty much a forgone conclusion I would say, with them arriving last every night and spending between 12 and 16 hours a day on route due to breakdowns and a max speed well below the 60-80 MPH that everyone else was getting.
Last night ended up being a bit of a bender (surprisingly). Got to bed around 4 after partying it up on Bourbon Street all night. We’ll spend today and tomorrow having a bit of a look around New Orleans and we should be back in San Diego tomorrow night. All in all a great trip.
Done and Done - The BABE is a Little Slut, Sunday 27 May, 2007, New Orleans, LA
Day 4
And by that I mean she gave it up way too easy. A full rundown will have to wait till tomorrow cause right now we're going to get drunk!
Tale of the Tail of the Dragon, Saturday 26 May, 2007, Gadsden AL
Day 3
Today was a little tough thanks to Dave’s childhood friend Dean, who took us out for a night on the town in Asheville which ended at 4 am with me passing out on the couch and needing to be at the start by 9. Fiesty 1 developed a new noise yesterday which we were going to check out this morning, however the late night meant we had to postpone the repairs. This was not a great move as today included a drive through the “Tail of the Dragon” which is a famous mountain road with switchbacks every 50 metres or so. It was loads of fun screaming through the turns in the Festy, but when we started to smell burning rubber we eased up to discover that undercover of the hole in the muffler, the noise from yesterday had gotten seriously worse and we had to nurse the car through the rest of the turns. We drove the last 200 or so miles at regular speed and it seems to have settled down but time permitting tomorrow, we will take a closer look. The current thought is that the CV boot is split and the joint has dried out, so it could be a simple fix. We’ll know more tomorrow, and its entirely possible we’ll just push on without doing anything and hope to make it across the line.
Elvis Is Everywhere Man, Friday 25 May, 2007, Asheville NC
Day 2
Day two was a little easier to begin with but turned into a bit of a marathon. Today was Elvis day so we were kitted out in our finest gear, me as “Jailhouse Rock Elvis” and Dave as “Bubba Ho Tep Elvis”. Quite amusing and we spent the day going around collecting photos or ourselves with random people on the street.
We were lucky not to run out of gas and only because we nursed the car along for an hour or so on empty looking for Gas. This cost us a lot of time on what was already going to be a long day. Things were going swimmingly until we accidentally pissed off a nut job from New Jersey who proceeded to pursue us along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina at high speed. We finally managed lose him after about a 20 minute chase for which Fiesty 1 was not suitably powered. We also found out that since the parkway is in a National Forest, speeding there is a federal offence so we were very lucky not to have trouble with the law.
We decided to take a little short cut which ended up being a super windy road down the side of the mountains, which we were forced to take at speed because were beginning to come down with some severe cabin fever. The end result was that we toasted the brake fluid and had some serious smoke coming up from the front callipers.
Chalk One Up for Too Fiesty Racing, Thursday 24 May, 2007, Harrisonburg VA
Day 1
Wow, what a day. After some early tribulations, we made it to the start line in time, although we didn’t have much time to spare. Today we drove about 400 miles; the car was running strong so we decided to take the scenic route which was well worth it. We drove through the Shenandoah National Forest in Virginia. The highlight of the day was seeing a black bear quite close to the road as we drove the last section of it at dusk. The A-Team Festiva is totally bad ass and Mr T is one bad ass mother fucker, if you don’t believe me check out the pictures. Some of the competition will be hard to beat though. We are definitely out of the running for the worst beater, but there is plenty of competition in that race, we’re going to get pictures of the competition tomorrow morning. I think almost everyone made it tonight, although its midnight now and 1 team is still on the way in.
Tomorrow its Elvis day, yee ha. I think we have a pretty good chance of taking home the honours tomorrow bt we’ll have to see in the morning. Daves is busy putting the tennis balls on his walker in preparation for tomorrow. Check back soon to see how we did.
<ELVIS>Thank you, thank you very much <\ELVIS>
New York, We’ve Arrived!, Tuesday 22 May, 2007, New York City, NY
Day -2
All went well today, gave the car a bit of a scrub, an Italian tune up and a fresh tank of gas and the problems from yesterday are a thing of the past. Idling beautifully and even managed a couple of burnouts (tire squeaks is probably a more accurate description). Made it to the airport to pick up Dave ontime and had loads of fun driving in downtown NY. Too much fun maybe – we nearly blew up the horn. Tomorrow we have to get down to business getting Fiesty 1 into race trim. Stay tuned, we should have some pics tomorrow.
What A Sweet Ride, Monday 21 May, 2007, Chicopee MA
Day -3
I arrived late last night into Hartford CT, Jumped in a hire car and found a hotel in Springfield. Set an alarm which successfully woke me up for about 5 seconds, basically long enough to turn it off and go back to sleep. Got a call from the front desk around 11:15 asking me if I was staying an extra day since I hadn’t checked out yet. Got up bolted out the door and went to see the car. Alternator was OK, so just cleaned it up and put it back on (hooray). Next stop, insurance, BIG PROBLEM, can’t get Mass Insurance without a Mass License, can’t get Mass Registration without Mass Insurance… dun dun dun.
Fortunately for TFR (Too Fiesty Racing) the current owner of the car let me insure and register the car in his name (Phil you’re a champ). So Fiesty 1 now has rego and insurance. I drove about 15 miles tonight and no major problems, idling a little rough and I think the timings off, but had it up to 70 MPH and it goes like a little champ. Down to New York tomorrow, yikes.
The BABE Begins; Kind Of, Sunday 20 May, 2007, From the Skies over Oklahoma
Day -4
Today is a travel day to Chicopee where Fiesty 1 sits, awaiting some minor mods before being driven down to NY. All plans are now in place, and barring any major mechanical issues we’ll be at the start line on Thursday. Tomorrow will be a busy day, taking care of a dodgy alternator and getting the rego and insurance sorted out. Stay tuned – updates will be more frequent now we are inside 5 days to go.
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS: Monday 14 May, 2007, San Diego
With less than a week until I board the plane for Massacheusetts to pick up Fiesty 1 the countdown is well and truly on. Flights have been booked, accomodation is largely sorted, and we are just about finished with pre-departure preparations. All that remains is to get the car decked out in racing trim and arrive at the start line on time a week from Thursday. We will be providing updates during the rally so stay tuned. We will also be taking video footage for a short film of the BABE and Too Fiesty Racing teams Fiesty 1 entry.
16 DAYS TO START: Tuesday 8 May, 2007, San Diego
Much has happened since the last update. Dave is currently sitting next to me having just had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. At best he'll be able to sit for an hour at a time, at worst he's out of the rally. Lets all hope for the best.
With just over 2 weeks to go there is still a lot of work to be done. Most likely it will be the day before before anything is done though. We have also just been notified of the day 2 challenge (for details check baberally.com) and planning is under way.
ANNOUNCEMENT - TOO FIESTY RACING REVEALS RACE TRIM: Thursday, 14 March, 2007, San Diego
Too Fiesty Racing has today posted on the BABE Rally website, information regarding the teams entry into the competition. This includes a team portrait, vehicle information including an artists interpretation of the car in race trim.
NOTHING NEW: Monday, 5 March, 2007, San Diego
Nothing much to report but figured I'd add an update. We have been looking into the legalities of getting Fiesty 1 on the road and I think we may have it sorted. Time to start looking at flights!
TEAM CHANGES: Wednesday, 24 January, 2007, San Diego
Due to external pressure original team member Tim Gattie has been forced to withdraw from the Too Fiesty Racing Team entry in this years BABE.
Stepping in as his replacement will be Dave Rossing. Congratulations Dave!
THE STORY SO FAR:
We have purchased a car - a silver 1988 Ford Festiva, and paid our entry and been assigned a team number #22.
