Carl Decker's Rally Race Report

"The Wheels of Teal:"

"The first race you have fun.
The second race you go fast.
The third race you crash."

Sage words from the Race Director at the Novice Driver's meeting at my first Rally race two months ago. So far, I'm happy to say he's right. So far, I've only done two races.

This winter's off-season was well spent. When I wasn't skiing or having a beer at Deschutes, I was usually in the garage working on my new Rally Car project. Or sitting in front of the computer trying to track down a used Rally Car widget for less than a Metric Assload of money. Though I usually enjoy both of these activities, I must admit, it was feeling a lot like work there for a while.

Mountain bike broken. Using rallycar to race.

My muse was a sorry looking Teal (I like to call it blue) 1993 Subaru Impreza. With a 1.8 liter engine and front wheel drive, it was the antithesis of racey, but I could see the diamond (or maybe an agate) in the rough. Over the winter the car saw more TLC (and abuse) than it saw in it's first 14 years combined. New Engine. New brakes. New Transmission. Intercoms. Rally Computer. Flywheel. Clutch. Exhaust. Wheels. Tires. Lights... I even managed to get most of the faded Purple window tint off of the glass. Just as important as what went in was what went out. A weight weenie with a Cut-off wheel is a happy man indeed. There's a hundred pounds of well engineered but unnecessary Subaru crap in my yard now. And the Wheels of Teal were ready (?) for action!

The first race was in Washington and we had fun. It's funny how similar everything is to Mountain Bike racing. People check out each-other's tires and (in some cases stock) suspension and tell stories about where they blew a turn or "had a moment" behind the wheel on the last stage. Rally racers, like MTB guys, are friendly and supportive. You get dirty and you sleep well at night.

The driving was intense. The first stage was a trial by blowtorch. 100 MPH straightaways--even in a 125 Horsepower car-- over the roughest wettest shit I'd every driven fast on. This on a single lane road with high speed blind crests and lined everywhere--everywhere!-- with moist dark, healthy, terrifying TREES. After a few stages we found our groove and I stopped looking where I didn't want to go. At the end of the weekend, we were 3rd in Group 2. On the podium for our first race. None too shabby. And my service crew/Dad didn't have to fix anything. Great weekend.

Six weeks (and an Arizona National and Giant Team Camp and Sea Otter) later, my codriver, Jon and I were back for more at the Oregon Trail Prorally. Oregon Trail is one of seven National series races that determine the National Champion in all six rally classes. Every hot-shoe with a budget would be there and it would be interesting to compare my Wheels of Teal times against current National Champ, Travis Pastrana's. I was fortunate enough to fly down and watch him drive to 15th overall at the World Rally Championships in Mexico a few weeks earlier, so I knew what to expect: a proper routing.

On day one of the Three Day event, we lined up 56th of 76 cars. We were pretty excited to have moved up 20 spots after only one event. The cars were amazing, even including a Group B Audi (one of the most ferocious racecars of all time). The races--on and around PIR track-- were a good warm up with minimal danger and were great for the fans in attendance. We surprised ourselves with the fastest 2WD time of the day on the most technical stage, the SSS, or superspecial stage. The National Champion Group 2 and Group 5 guys were probably a bit surprised by the Wheels of Teal too.

Day Two was 70 miles of wet and wonderful gravel roads in the coastal mountains. With our first set (ever) of NEW rally tires, the car felt great and I became scarily comfortable with break-neck speeds on blind slippery roads. The timing people were really nice and kept saying "Great Job!" at the finish of the stages. We thought they were congratulating us on not crashing, as maybe 10% of the field had roof damage by the end of the day. At the end of the day we loaded up, got a burger and went to bed without seeing the results.

Day three dawned to dreary greyness (hey, it's Portland!) and we rolled to the car park. As we unloaded the W of T, another Bend racer came over and exclaimed "How did you do that?!" When I asked "What?" he showed me the results: I'd managed 3rd Overall in the Region (behind two sweet Subaru STI cars) and was the fastest 2WD car in the country! With the re-seed I was lined up for the day 19th with all the factory teams. Behind me was Burmeister: 3-time Group2 National Champion, in a Mazda backed 400 Horsepower Mazda3! Holy crap! The timing people weren't just being nice. Maybe they're surly and dour to most everyone else. Turns out we were flogging the shite out of the Wheels of Teal out there!

As the final day of racing progressed, I stopped looking for the Mazda in the rear view and drove some quick stages. Most of the time I'd lose on the climbs to the faster cars I could regain on the descents by driving loose and burning up my brakes (fun!). At the end of the day I had won the Regional Group 2 title and would have won the National Group 2 race and a stack of Benjamins if I'd payed the extra entry fee to be counted in the National scoring. Oops.

So that's what I've been doing between bike races this spring. Burning gas and kickin ass-- though I probably do have the most fuel efficient car at any of these rally races. Hopefully the cross-training aspect of all this continues to translate well to bike racing. I'm racing my Anthem in a Super-D at the Fontana National in about 4 hours. Naptime.

Thanks for reading,
Sorry for the long winded and belated update,

Carl M. Decker
Giant Professional Mountain Bike Team
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Reprinted with the permission of Carl Decker.