The last time any of us tried anything really silly was 2019, when Cal and Meg decided to try their hand on the National Stages.

Gord and I had plans to take another shot in 2020.

In March 2020, that changed, and we all know the script.


With things free gain, and the world returning to normal, it was time to take a shot. And what a shot.

No one can seem to remember the last time we had 5 ARMS based teams take on RBC. Even Pidge. Tomorrow we will change that.

Pearce/Sleigh
Conrad/Dine
VanDaalen/Fennel
VanDaalen/Grandmaison
deStetcher/Swann

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The stages proper are Saturday/Sunday for the 45th running of Rallye Baie Des Chaleur. Max entries for logistic reasons is 50. They have 49, oh baby!!

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Early in the year folks started talking about making the trek. And some new folks too.

Like many activities, sometimes you reach critical mass. At best a couple cars make the trip every few years, but this year, it would be different.

With the vote to add RBDC to the ARMS Championship, that makes it even tastier for those chasing championship points.

Alan deStetcher had a really good year at Rally X this time around, securing the championship. With Mals Rotary still in need of triangles that spin, he made the offer to jump in the Co-Drivers seat. It's something he's done before, so not a shock, and his experience would be valuable to anyone who is exposing themselves to a bigger National event.

Gord and I were in. Why not, we were overdue. We didn't plan too many major upgrades to the car, but did spend a bunch of time making sure things were up to snuff.
Any upgrades we had planned would get a good shakedown at Lookoff, so that would be reassuring when the time came.

Jon Conrad hinted he could be convinced, but just decided which car to bring. His 22B replica being almost ready for exposure.... Tim took little convincing.

Cal and Meg made the required arrangements, and threw there name in the hat, and last up, Blu and Heidi who had been running together the last few years in local Sprint events, decided it was time to get their proverbial feet wet.

The list had been made...

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Looking forward to the next chapter ….

So who was there? Well besides the large entry we also had huge assistance. As one needs when your going to drag a Region worth of cars to an out of province event. Service Crews are essential in Rally......

Car# 30

Jonathan "Hammerdown" Conrad.
Tim "The Noteman" Dine

Bruce "The Professional" Beverage.
Clay "The Apprentice" Ford

Car# 31

Cal "MrSubaru" VanDaalen.
Meg "Rallydancer" Grandmaison

Sasha "TheShredder" Brideau
Random Bassist from the Right Swipes (Andrew)
Brian "TheSocialite" Partridge

Car# 32

Ian "Thewheelman" Pearce
Gordon "NoteMaster" Sleigh

James "Wrenchminion" Whitman
Sonia "RallyGazelle" Meadows
Jordan "FluidTechnician" Sleigh

Car# 38

Blu "Don'tlift" VanDaalen
Heidi "ThePupil" Fennel

Steve
Kevin "TheWrench" O'Reilly
Carol and Nancy, the "Logistics Engineers"

Car# 40

Allen "CalmN'Collected" de Stetcher
Mal "RealeauxTriangle" Swann


Also in town was Daphne "MadamSteward" Sleigh.

Early on in the planning Daphne had been recruited by CARS to be a Steward of the event. This ment that while we enjoy her company, we had to maintain a professional interaction during the event proper. We weren't breaking any rules of course, but we reduced our interactions to simple head nods..... Much like an equestrian rider paying complements to the judge at a Dressage Competition.


To be cont'

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Our plan would see a departure of Thursday AM. We so many folks going, we concluded it would be harder to keep the whole convoy together at one time than normal.

Team 30, 38 and 40 left Stewiacke at 0900hrs. Some members of #31 departed later, and Team 32, who was slow out of the gate and had stops to make, hit the road later than that.

Aulac would be the first stop. Home of Coffee and Fuel, which seems to be the lifeblood of such adventures. Some members had been advised to avoid neon coloured energy drinks.....

PuppyMonkeyBaby.......

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

With our 375k km WRX feeling a bit under the weather, and us not having the free time to give it the love it needed, we elected to find something else for Recce.

We would bring into action a lovely 2011 Impreza from it's daily driver duties. We had the wheels and tires, but you do really want a skid plate for Recce.

An evening at the International House of Subaru would bolt up one we had in the garage.

It's all about a team effort, and even your rival will help you prep and lend parts.....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Ahem:

A time was set, and being good rallyists, some of us missed it.

We kept our group chat operating, and those little signal markers could show the collectives progress. Good way to keep tabs, but also creepy we concede.

We preform the ceremonial Pita Consumption in Miramichi.

Into le Belle Province at around 1700hrs. It was at this point that we got a hint we might have an issue.....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

With almost the entry cap reached, space had become an issue in the Service Park.

This year the park would be at the Village Arena.

Apparently the Village Arena was not designed with hosting 50 Rallycars in mind.

The Message from Brian and Cal ahead of us: "When you guys getting here? Things are.... a bit tight....."

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Now we've never been cramped for room at Rallye BDC. Industrial sites, Car dealerships have all worked well to provide lots of space for everyone to operate.

This would not be the case this time around.

Blu and Cal are setup around a curve, Alan and Mal have manged to get their enclosed on a bit of grass with door access.

Jon, Tim and ourselves would take of residence on a half grass, half dirt low spot.

Rally being what it is, we even played Tetris with a fellow Honda competitor for their Enclosed, and our service space. They offered up their trailer as a BBQ space if needed. Good people.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

The 2023 edition of the event would present some new to us stages.

One feature we all liked was the ability to conduct the Regional Stages slightly later in the morning. After a long haul an 0630hr Recce Meeting is not anyones favourite activity.

0900hrs Found us sitting on the side of a gorgeous road, quiet trees, not so quiet Mosquitoes, and a babbling brook. Soon after we would be joined by other competitors. Some we knew, some we did not.

A Recce timetable was provided. While the roads are open, the organizers do their best to keep things to minimum disruptions for any locals.


Never eat a sweet danish during Recce. It was this sort of activity that caused 2 of our pages to stick together in the Recce Book.

The resulting navigation error, places us some 20km away from where we needed to be, and the associated time lost.

This would give us only one pass of La Coulee. Not Optimal.

As we have learned in rallying, sometimes how you respond and deal with situations contributes to the outcome. We endeavor to remain calm and try and move passed the mistake.

The rest of the day flowed nicely. Notes made, we return to a Service Space that is all setup and ready to Party. Thanks Team!

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Back in Service we fine tune some setup items on the Car, mount lights for the Ceremonial Start, and generally try and relax.

Active codriver Leah Brisset is proceeding through the Paddock with a jar of Gummies on offer.

It's our first meeting, and I am suspicious that perhaps the Gummies are Medicinal and this is a ploy to lower the level of competition amongst our segment of the field. She is codriving for Roderik Jones this weekend, in an effort that truly defines the spirit of Grass Roots Rallying. A Mazda 3 Rallycar does fit with the "ZoomZoom" Moto of the manufacturer. A Spec Miata might be more common, but the fun level discussion is open.

Gummie Purity tested, we carryon with prep and a need to find food.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

It's become a staple of Recce Day to dine at the Fin Gourmet. It's a good meal in a fixture of New Richmond.

Back to the park, we suit up. The new service location makes the transit to City Hall quick and we are shown to our spot in the order.

Mal indulges in the now customary Quebec Poutine.
The crowd is solid this year, fans and teams alike. The vibe is good.

The light is starting to dim, and it's time to present ourselves....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Driving over a podium to 1000 fans is not something that I think any of us get used to at our level. It's one of the magic elements of Rallying in Quebec that makes it that much more fun.

Having a longer entry list this year, they don't push us to get out of the car and speak. I also have to wonder if my broken French and Matt Ketchums comments about the "Biblitech" a few years back have influenced those decisions.

It will be Blu and Heidi's first roll across the start platform, and they are soaking it in.

A quick jaunt back to Service, tuck things in for the night. Tomorrow is going to be the day.

First on the agenda in the AM will be tech inspection. The car goes through Tech with the Service Crew, and then is Parc Ferme, so you cannot touch it.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

The crew is up and at it early.

Our service time is on the order of 0730hrs, and we have a 20min run into town from our accommodation.

Everyone likes there car setup slightly differently, and given my longer leg length, James has taken issue with my position.

Sonia seems a better fit, and is nominated to drive the car to inspection. She concludes it's a "Fun" car. Agreed.


Everyone from the Atlantic contingent makes it though Service. This is Victory number 1. Bringing a car to a National Event that does not pass tech, does not win you prizes.

As the countdown gets to 15min before Car 0, we are allowed into Parc Ferme. Get the suit on, get some more fluid into you, and mentally prepare yourself.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

The first stage of the day is a shorter Spectator Stage.

Located just 3km from the Main Roadway in New Richmond, it's a race/motorcross facility with a number of access roads. One unique feature is the elevation climb is incorporated into some of the roads.

This allows a large climb from road level, a somewhat dramatic entry into the oval, several cone fabricated chicanes, use of an access road, and a large downhill into a substantial jump. Almost like a Rallycross Level II.

Cal and Meg would set the 4th fastest time on this stage. Right in front of Levic and L'estage, in a full on ex WRC Mini. There will be no living with him after this.....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Blu and Heidi would not fair quite as well as their team mates....

On the entry to the big spectator area after the climb, the car cuts out.... dead in the water.

They would get it running again, a small wiring issue of all things... but it will cost them 4 min. Very unfortunate.

We take it easy. It's 1 minute 45sec roughly, but enough trees on the soft turns that it can take you out. As Clarke Paynter once told me: "You can't win it on the Specator Stage.... but many have lost it..." Sound advice.

With the urban stuff done, we head to the wilds of logging territory....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Next up is Roubidoux.

This stage was my first introduction to some of the more wide open areas on Quebec Roads. Fast, open, wide... and then they drop you into an ATV trail. Keeps the average speed down, and causes you to be technical, while saving the power for the wider sections.

It's an interesting mix, with some corners still muddy from earlier rain. Almost like black ice under a shade tree, but dirtier......

We will have to keep our heads about us.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

The flying finish is quick... top of 4th type stuff, lots of sustained high RPM.

There is a very short transit to the next stage, this is quite convenient. It is on this transit section, waiting for the next time control that we get our first downer of the event.

Roadside is Cal and Meg, hood up. Jon and Tim are next to them talking through the window.
We join the conversation, but there is nothing good to be said. The high speeds on Robidoux have claimed Cal's engine.

As we move up to our time in on the Control, he tries to start it. The noises are quite conclusionary. A mechanical hodgepodge of disarray... Meg walks the card into the next time control, just incase, but they won't make the start line. As good as Cal might be with a Subaru, roadside rod bearing changes are contraindicated.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

La Coulee is next up.

With our one pass on this, and the technical nature of it, we are not confident to be polite.

Despite our apprehension, we seem to do ok, and the notes work decently. It would be nice to harness whatever mindset we were in at this point in Recce, for future use, when your brain starts to go soft. It's a generally accepted that Recce day is mentally tiring, and then Rally Day is Physically so.... We'd tend to agree.

By the end of this stage the sky is dark, and it's time for a good Gaspe Rain Storm. Mother Nature does those well here.
The roads to the next service are solid well used logging roads, so not major issue there, but the rain...

It's 42km for this transit, a fair bit.... and my feet are getting wet. When you remove interior from a car and leave access to things, you also allow the environment in..... and in it has come.

By the time we transit to SS4, same as SS1 Spectator, the rain is gone, but it's done it's deed. The RPM circuit is now half much, half drying clay. It's an entertaining battle of not sliding into a tree, and yet trying to be brisk where there might be grip. We do not find amusement in this game.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

On the downhill run out of the RPM spectator area there is a hairpin, with a large jump at the end.

Our neighbours from the Service Park have decided to send it on the jump. Their car did not enjoy this. They are roadside, 70m from the time control, with tow rope out.
It's a split second decision to stop and let them hook on.... at this point I'm not even sure if we're violating a rule, but we just want to be good neighbours...

We roll into our time control, their Codriver, already out of the car runs there card in, and undoes the tow rope. We are not sure if we are good people, or people who just sunk themselves. Time will tell perhaps, but the Honda team is happy.

It is now back to service.

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

It's always a mind adjustment when you get back on a smoothish road compared to a stage. Your self doubt and concern starts to play up...

Was the steering wheel that far off? What's that noise? Is that right rear shock hitting on the mounts?

Back into the park. The final block into service we meet the lead cars heading back out from there Service break. It's a 30min break, but with 49 entrants, some are gone before we even arrive....

James and Sonia tear into the car. We feel like things are ok, but we will check any number of things that are the usual problem areas.

We are fairly good about maintenance, anything that should not move gets Loctite, anything you wish to continue to move gets Anti Seize. It's a this juncture that our Rallygazelle began an intimate relationship with something Never Seized........ "WTF is this stuff!!!!" It was not a budding romance, it did not flourish.....

We safely move ourselves forward, and get some food into us. Turns out wrestling a car in mud uses Calories....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."

Alan and Mal are pitted on the far side of FAST Racing. This makes it hard to keep in touch with them to check in.
It does however give them close proximity to all of FR's tooling and personnel. We remain at ease that Sasha and Co would do everything in there power to ensure they stay running.

Jon and Tim are in. We've not had much time to Catch up with Bruce. We used to chat a fair bit back in the Rallycross days, but life gets busy. Jon having Clay about is a wise move as well. No slouch around a set of wrenches. Most items are shaken, wheels removed, bolts checked, fluids confirmed. Anything known to come loose gets reviewed.

Jordan has been busy on their task list as well. The onboard fluid and snack bar supplies are refreshed for the next loop.

We shall take fuel on the way out of service. The morning loop has used a reasonable amount....

_________________
"Nos Ludos Intra Vehicula"

"That is on the floor..... in fifth..... 6500????..." -Buffum to Smith (140mph+, Rallye Charlevoix.....)

"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS????"

"Great, now we're gonna get frikken' yelled at....."
"Let the record show that the evening degenerated at 2022hrs..... Duly noted..."