Event Report - Rally of the Bay

My first time walking out of the forest! And though we were hugely disappointed that we didn't get to enjoy stages 8 and 9, there were still huge smiles! We had an absolute blast!

Prior to Stage 1, the service crew gave JW some motivational talks....basically tell him if he didn't pull out a blinder on Stage 1 it was all over. So he did just that! We had an amazing run and were just getting our teeth into stage 2 when we lost the brakes. We hobbled to the end of stage 2 losing quite a bit of time but were still confident about getting back amongst it. Stages 3 and 4 were a little tentative before some rhythm was found again on stage 5.

Night stages add a whole other fear factor for me sitting in the passsenger seat, and on completion of Stage 6 I said "Wow! That scared the **** out of me!! But in a good way!". So heading into Stage 7 I had the biggest smile on my face. After getting through that creek crossing I thought the worst of the stage was over, but just after the wooden bridge Jon told me we had 5 gears - all neutral - and our rally was over. Oh well, not for lack of trying! Congratulations to all of those who finished!

Thanks to our proficient service crew - Michael, Brady and Andrew with a bit of Ian Griffiths thrown in too. As well as your usual list of things to do you were tasked with fixing the brake line in the first service and then towing us out of stage 7. You guys are great.

A huge thanks for the organising team!! The rally was so relaxed, so organised and so much fun! Scott - the service park was a dream! Kate - the communication was excellent! All of the volunteers and controllies were fantastic, a huge thanks to them for being out in the dark. To the sponsors, thanks so much for your huge contribution. We hope it was worth your while and that you will be back again next year. We sure will!

Carolyn