Well, it's 9:36 p.m. and we're somewhere in western WV. We'll be arriving at our next destination (Summit Point) after 1.am. It's been a long day.
The first day of competition was eventful - filled with lots of horribly embarrassing moments. It's a good thing that Team Fritsch has a good sense of humor. The first event was the wet skid pad, which I approached with some trepidation as I knew there could be a lot of hydroplaning. What a disaster! On the flip side, at least I didn't spin. The skid pad had water sprinklers at every conceivable angle. To avoid geysers of water in the front seat, I chose to run with the side curtains. Oh boy. As a result, I couldn't see the flag guy, who was supposed to tell me how many laps I was to run. As a result, I didn't run enough laps because I couldn't see him. You could ask: can't she count??? My brain was obviously not functioning as I forgot to turn on the windshield wipers until I was well into the first lap. Frantically searching for the wipers, I accidentally turned on my signal; it wasn't even on in the right direction! To make matters worse, I stopped at the pit out area -- not because I was supposed to. I paused because I was trying to figure out if I had done enough laps or not. As a result, the starter teased me about needing a GPS to get around the course. Could it get worse? Yes!!! Because the car is so unique and has garnered the most attention, the announcer decided to say at the beginning of my run... Now this is the car you've all been waiting for. Let's see what she can do! Abject humiliation.
Poor Larry. He RAN back to the pit area with all kinds of gear. He was worried and was afraid that I'd be sobbing. Nah... I was laughing so hard that tears were forming in my eyes. My motto: It can only go up from here!
And, it did go up. I partially redeemed myself at the autocross. I was at least 15 seconds behind the true racers and their super fast cars. However, the car and I were making happy tire squealing noises all around the track. I'm proud to say that the car and I were smooth. We're still trying to get to know each other, but I'm happy with the afternoon.
Tomorrow is Summit Point. One racer told me it was the most difficult of all of the courses. Of course, it was also his HOME course (Could he be a little biased?). He agreed to give me some pointers tomorrow, which will be exceedingly helpful and welcomed. It's our first real "track", and my co-driver and I are excited.
As always, thank you very much for your support. There are not many charities in the field, and no one is raising money for Parkinsons Disease. We're very proud to carry all of you with us.
Good night!
Larry and Josie
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Is anyone there? Are we the only ones following us?
We can safely say we have the coolest car here; not the fastest, but the coolest. While we haven't counted, we're fairly certain that we have won any picture-taking contest. This is great! We want to draw attention to Team Fox and Parkinsons research.
Tomorrow is the first day. I am very nervous; Larry is not. Why should he be nervous? He's not the one who will be behind the wheel and trying to push the car as fast as possible without spinning or crashing. He is very talented, however, checking the car's vital fluids and keeping it in pristine condition for all of the gawkers. I know he will be invaluable when I need to be "talked down" before an event. He will also keep me supplied with Diet Coke's, Dove chocolates, and neck massages. Seriously, I would not be able to do this event without Larry.
Tomorrow is the wet skid pad and autocross. I'm particularly nervous about the skid pad. Yes, it's safe. However, the car is light and doesn't handle well in the wet. Furthermore, there's this feeling from the other drivers of..."OK, let's see what she can do with that car". It will be very entertaining to the spectators if I spin (which is more likely than I care to admit). Keep your fingers crossed!
We lose our teammate, Sandy, tomorrow. She has friends and family obligations, but will meet up with us again at the finish. She will continue to be present to all as she is our blog queen. She will probably be updating the blog and the FB page more than I. We understand that the race is so grueling that if you are not driving, you are sleeping.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.
Josie, Larry, and Sandy
Tomorrow is the first day. I am very nervous; Larry is not. Why should he be nervous? He's not the one who will be behind the wheel and trying to push the car as fast as possible without spinning or crashing. He is very talented, however, checking the car's vital fluids and keeping it in pristine condition for all of the gawkers. I know he will be invaluable when I need to be "talked down" before an event. He will also keep me supplied with Diet Coke's, Dove chocolates, and neck massages. Seriously, I would not be able to do this event without Larry.
Tomorrow is the wet skid pad and autocross. I'm particularly nervous about the skid pad. Yes, it's safe. However, the car is light and doesn't handle well in the wet. Furthermore, there's this feeling from the other drivers of..."OK, let's see what she can do with that car". It will be very entertaining to the spectators if I spin (which is more likely than I care to admit). Keep your fingers crossed!
We lose our teammate, Sandy, tomorrow. She has friends and family obligations, but will meet up with us again at the finish. She will continue to be present to all as she is our blog queen. She will probably be updating the blog and the FB page more than I. We understand that the race is so grueling that if you are not driving, you are sleeping.
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.
Josie, Larry, and Sandy
Registration and Inspection
Good morning all!
Larry survived the night in his igloo (aka hotel room). He's still a little out of sorts about the ice-cold bathroom. I slept well in my room, but had to put on my fleece in the middle of the night. As much as Larry kids that this is the One Lap of Alaska tour, we are pleased to have the sun and warmer temperatures today.
Registration starts at 9:00 a.m. It is 9:30 a.m., and we're still getting ready. The veteran One Lappers with their very cool (and expensive cars) have already left. Should we be concerned?
More later!
Josie
Larry survived the night in his igloo (aka hotel room). He's still a little out of sorts about the ice-cold bathroom. I slept well in my room, but had to put on my fleece in the middle of the night. As much as Larry kids that this is the One Lap of Alaska tour, we are pleased to have the sun and warmer temperatures today.
Registration starts at 9:00 a.m. It is 9:30 a.m., and we're still getting ready. The veteran One Lappers with their very cool (and expensive cars) have already left. Should we be concerned?
More later!
Josie
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Arrived safely in South Bend, IN
Hi all!
We arrived in South Bend, IN a couple of hours ago. It was an 11 hour jaunt from Mpls - primarily because of a late start, rain, and the afternoon rush hour in Chicago.
We are all smiles now... now that we've eaten and consumed an alchoholic beverage. The day didn't start out so well.
The day began with Josie taking the wrong turn out of her driveway. Then, she took another wrong turn! Sandy, our chase vehicle, was understandably concerned. We shared her concern when she disappeared from view only 5 miles from the house. With 2 GPSs and 3 cell phones, you'd think we could manage to get out of the state.
With jaunty smiles and good-natured laughter, we continued on our journey. The rain was an irritant as the hotrod had SEVERAL leaks. Since there was a significant gap in the co-driver's side curtain (soft window), Larry had to prop a large BODY pillow between himself and the gap. Josie endured with a towel draped over her lap and water dripping down her arm. Larry tried to keep the cockpit dry when he wasn't trying to stop the gale-force wind and surf from crashing through the passenger door.
The car has received a lot of attention as you can well guess. Countless photos have been taken. However, we only received 2 comments of "what is that?!?" - probably because we were speeding down the highway with limited stops. Some of our fellow One Lappers have already commented on the car's "unique" design. More comments are sure to come tomorrow.
We're about ready to turn in. Sandy and Larry think their room is cold. I need to remind the readers that they are from New Mexico. I think the room is rather warm... of course I'm from the frozen tundra. I think we're going to have to shop for a down parka for Larry tomorrow. We probably won't hit 70s and 80s until we get to South Carolina.
A few quotes before we sign off:
Larry: I'm never, ever, EVER going through downtown Chicago again!!!
Sandy: It was an adventure just getting to the start.
Josie: Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow... can someone please get this song out of my head?!?
Good night!
Josie, Larry, and Sandy
We arrived in South Bend, IN a couple of hours ago. It was an 11 hour jaunt from Mpls - primarily because of a late start, rain, and the afternoon rush hour in Chicago.
We are all smiles now... now that we've eaten and consumed an alchoholic beverage. The day didn't start out so well.
The day began with Josie taking the wrong turn out of her driveway. Then, she took another wrong turn! Sandy, our chase vehicle, was understandably concerned. We shared her concern when she disappeared from view only 5 miles from the house. With 2 GPSs and 3 cell phones, you'd think we could manage to get out of the state.
With jaunty smiles and good-natured laughter, we continued on our journey. The rain was an irritant as the hotrod had SEVERAL leaks. Since there was a significant gap in the co-driver's side curtain (soft window), Larry had to prop a large BODY pillow between himself and the gap. Josie endured with a towel draped over her lap and water dripping down her arm. Larry tried to keep the cockpit dry when he wasn't trying to stop the gale-force wind and surf from crashing through the passenger door.
The car has received a lot of attention as you can well guess. Countless photos have been taken. However, we only received 2 comments of "what is that?!?" - probably because we were speeding down the highway with limited stops. Some of our fellow One Lappers have already commented on the car's "unique" design. More comments are sure to come tomorrow.
We're about ready to turn in. Sandy and Larry think their room is cold. I need to remind the readers that they are from New Mexico. I think the room is rather warm... of course I'm from the frozen tundra. I think we're going to have to shop for a down parka for Larry tomorrow. We probably won't hit 70s and 80s until we get to South Carolina.
A few quotes before we sign off:
Larry: I'm never, ever, EVER going through downtown Chicago again!!!
Sandy: It was an adventure just getting to the start.
Josie: Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow... can someone please get this song out of my head?!?
Good night!
Josie, Larry, and Sandy
Gone Racing!
Hopefully our speed in getting on the road to South Bend is not indicative of our performance in the race :)
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thank you Sandy!
Many thanks to Sandly Clover for setting up our blog! Now we'll be able to update you on Facebook, Twitter and the Blog.
Co-driver Larry and I leave in two days. There's still so much to do. We have to change the oil in the car, mount the spare wheel, fix our license plate holder (at the moment we're running with no plates), pick up our newly repaired side curtain, and pack, pack, pack. My mind is spinning.
We do, however, have our theme song. My students at the U of MN identified our song. We will be rolling into the pits blasting "Black and Yellow" (can't think of the artist at the moment). With our tricked out stereo system to include a subwoofer and very LARGE speakers, everyone will know that we have come to race.
Will post more soon!
Josie
Co-driver Larry and I leave in two days. There's still so much to do. We have to change the oil in the car, mount the spare wheel, fix our license plate holder (at the moment we're running with no plates), pick up our newly repaired side curtain, and pack, pack, pack. My mind is spinning.
We do, however, have our theme song. My students at the U of MN identified our song. We will be rolling into the pits blasting "Black and Yellow" (can't think of the artist at the moment). With our tricked out stereo system to include a subwoofer and very LARGE speakers, everyone will know that we have come to race.
Will post more soon!
Josie
Let's find a cure for Parkinsons Disease today!
Please join the Fritsch Family to Put the Brakes on Parkinsons Disease! We are just 4 days from the start of our event on April 30th, and we are still short of our $25K goal. But we have an angel in our midst, Angel Kathy, and she will match all donations up to a total of $5K until the end of the event, May 7th.
To donate, just go to Put the Brakes on Parkinsons's Team Fox Page
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