Doc1647545523 Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) Last weekend, October 9-11, three teams from Columbus Racing competed in the Ohio Valley Rally, which took place from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, along Michigan's western lakeshore, and finished at Kil-Kare Raceway. Many of you have read my previous threads on the Rally North America events and over 30 CR members have participated in the rallies since the 2010 Route 66 Rally. In fact, Scott Spielman (Spieldawg on CR) is the co-founder of Rally North America. Their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RallyNorthAmerica I had long-time friend (I was formerly his housefather ) Charlie Copp, a retired Marine Colonel as my co-pilot for Team Bentley. The other Teams were Mike (Aesthetic Influx on CR) driving his 2010 Audi A5 with his Dad as co-pilot, and Brian (Coaster on CR) in his 2015 Mustang GT. The rally is a timed event, done scavenger hunt style, designed to put you on a route over the best roads of the area, seeing interesting sites off the beaten path. We didn't have podium finishes this time, but Brian won an award -- I'll let him explain that. My photography skills are substandard, and I hope that Brian and Mike will add their photos and their commentary to this thread. Day 1, lining up against my arch rival Chris Harper in his 2015 Corvette Z06 in Mackinaw City at the starting line at the shore of Lake Huron: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/day%20one%20line%20up%20center%20column_zpshitibwyz.jpg It's really quite a nice car, and although I got a big jump on him off the line at Kil-Kare at the end of the rally, I ended up getting spanked, as he ran a mid-11 to the Bentley's 13.7. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/bent%20amp%20corvette%20day%201_zpsvijwm26a.jpg About 50 teams competed, and staging is done according to how much money you raised for the charity, which in the Ohio Valley Rally is always the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/06_zpswdkh0gqn.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/07_zpssvlhxmal.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/19_zpsaxuof06w.jpg Our first checkpoint required us to cross the Mackinac Bridge and find Castle Rock, a 200 foot limestone sea stack which was formed as the surrounding land eroded into post-glacial Lake Algonquin, which was higher than Lake Huron. The Rock might have been used as a lookout by Native Americans in the area. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/16_zpstyqrsrps.jpg Edited October 18, 2015 by Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) We were then sent off to look for a lighthouse and learned that many of Michigan's lighthouses were nearly-identical; trying to match the photos we were given proved difficult for some teams. I think this one was at Charlevoix: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/14_zpsshf5qz68.jpg We were routed along the "Tunnel of Trees" on M119. I don't have my own photos, but this gives you an idea: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/5760ca5bcf256e6f6b34847c0c454fff_zpsmogrixhl.jpg It is mostly dense tree canopy along Lake Michigan, with the occasional but breathtaking break in the trees: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/13_zpst9i5ugfu.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/05_zps2eu2pxpu.jpg We stopped our little caravan to enjoy the views. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/10_zps5moxmcny.jpg We picked up a team or two along the way to help with navigation. Meeting new folks is one of the perks of rallies like this one. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/102_4462_zpseengs406.jpg Edited October 19, 2015 by Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) Stopping at another checkpoint along the Lake, Brian informed us that he had been driving for some miles in limp mode, with a MAF signal problem. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/03_zpsdg6ygnju.jpg After some field diagnostics, he decided to head to the day's finish in Muskegon and he arranged for parts to be driven from Ohio. He can tell the rest of the story. Some lighthouse, somewhere, I can't keep them all straight: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/15_zpsvgbfgkev.jpg Our start for Day 2 was in Muskegon, Michigan. We stayed in a downtown hotel the night before and used the city center as our starting line: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/08_zpsyibmivw4.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/17_zpsacwmyjev.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/11_zps155hnfdr.jpg The Bentley proudly wore the JET AUTO GROUP decal, as CR sponsor Jordan (2highpsi) again gave generously to sponsor Team Bentley, as did CR sponsor Wheel Medic http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/01_zpsqdl03ama.jpg Edited October 18, 2015 by Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc1647545523 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) On Day 2 we searched Michigan and Ohio for lunar landing modules, moon rocks, and the elusive Dover Mail Truck made by the Hudson Motor Car Company in 1929. Brian's stang was back to 100%, and the Bentley and Audi continued to run fine. We rolled into Kil-Kare for a few hours of track rental. Our weather had been perfect the whole time and it was 78 degrees at the track, with excellent track prep. http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/12_zps2vaaeasl.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/102_4511_zpsjw3xyivv.jpg On my run against the Z06, I think I surprised Chris with a .4 second reaction time and a fast 60', but my 3 ton luxo-barge couldn't run its best time in that temp and I ended up looking at the ugly tail end of that vette by the end of the track. The group had a great time, and there was no waiting to run. I believe this little fellow even gave it a try: http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/18_zpsix6io1qx.jpg In the end, we raised over $30,000 for the Epilepsy Foundation, with this year's total raised by Rally North America over $154,000. The next rally will be The Big Sky Rally, July 10-15, from Billings, Montana to Portland Oregon. I hope we can get some of our CR veteran teams back together to make a good showing for that. Carpe viam! http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/02_zpssoeydo8t.jpg http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af208/trentrbrts/2015%20OVR/102_4479_zps70rncrmg.jpg Edited October 19, 2015 by Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I started the day before the rally with a little cruise around the UP: http://i.imgur.com/kfbdAeRl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/vJ1pqyhl.jpg Great view from my hotel room the night before the rally, along the pier to the left is the starting line for day one. http://i.imgur.com/FZKrzgFl.jpg Checkpoint #1 took up north across the bridge. http://i.imgur.com/nAlEG9Zl.jpg Lots of fall colors along the way: http://i.imgur.com/7ylUS1ll.jpg Our little group just before my car broke: http://i.imgur.com/Fpv060El.jpg http://i.imgur.com/9gjQtgsl.jpg http://i.imgur.com/95ac7p1l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/S8rtviXl.jpg As we left that pulloff my dash lit up and the car went into limp mode. Everything was normal on the gauges and it still ran mostly ok, idle was rough. I tried restarting the car when we stopped at a light. I just kept rolling to the next checkpoint so I could pull out the code reader and figure out what was going on. Got to the next checkpoint and figured out my aftermarket MAF on my intake kit had failed. Tore the whole intake out in the lighthouse parking lot to double check all the connections. Couldn't get signal out of it so that ended my day, I limped the car towards the hotel. What won my team the Hard Luck award is that I had problems but made it to the finish line which is a requirement. One team grenaded a clutch and another dropped a driveshaft on the freeway, neither one made it to Kilkare. So the only way to fix my car was to find an entire factory airbox and intake which no one was going to have in stock at 3pm on Saturday. My wife dropped everything at a moments notice and grabbed my factory setup out of the garage and hopped in the car with the dog to make the 6 hour drive from Circleville to Muskegon to meet me at the hotel. Swapped the intake out and did an idle relearn and I was back in business for day two. http://i.imgur.com/FcrSzYnl.jpg Our group got separated right from the start and we all had different goals so I ran solo. Didn't take too many pictures. Got to Kilkare and I made a bunch of passes at 13.1 with all my crap in the trunk and way too much gas on my crappy all-seasons. http://i.imgur.com/0yYRT1sl.jpg We raised over $25,000 for the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio and had a ton of fun doing it. http://i.imgur.com/szAkXdsl.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versluis Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Awesome photos. Northern Michigan in the fall is absolutely beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleguy Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Absolutely beautiful photos and weather. Congrats on having a ton of fun for a good cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Great pictures and hats off to everyone who participated! Sorry to hear of your issues Brian, kudos to a supportive wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aesthetic_Influx Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Great photos guys. We had such an awesome time on the rally, and it was definitely way more enjoyable having some experienced people to roll with as well. Doc, Brian — thanks again for letting us tag along! Some of my photos from the rally (don't mind the somewhat-duplicate moments from above): To Be Continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aesthetic_Influx Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 And the rest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShowHBK Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 Great photos! Looks like you all had fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Borgen Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 superb photos thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2highpsi Posted October 20, 2015 Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 All the pics are awesome! The JET sticker looks sweet on the Bentley You are a class act Doc, and I'm more than happy to help for a good cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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