Sari on the news

Hey all - did you see Sari on the 6 o'clock news last night. CTV sent a crew down here to talk about cougars, so they interviewed Sari (insert joke here.... ba dump bump)

Seriously though - a cougar with two "kittens" (whatever you call baby cougars) was spotted in our area (a couple of times). The school where Sari works is just two blocks from there so they had to make sure the kids all had rides home, got home safely etc. In the process of doing the story, the reporters heard about that so they came to interview the principal, but she was busy - the vice principal did not want to do it, so they sent Sari.

It was a good choice. She did a really good job! It was cool. People from all over the province have been writing saying "Hey we saw you on the news".

I said it is one of the only times that a Pippus has been on the news without handcuffs being involved! :)

Good job Sari!

Enduro (video 3)

Enduro 2010 (Video 2)

Enduro 2010 (video number 1)

Here is just a taste of what it was like - I will post more later. Muddy track + 60 mph + turns = fun (or something like that)......

Enduro race 2010

Some pictures from my adventure yesterday. Video and more pics in the days to come....

Race results

A quick update on my race today..... I completed about 71 laps of the 103 or so that the eventual winner got done before the 1 1/2 time limit. I was doing well until I t-boned a guy that got spun out by another guy.... that punched a hole in my radiator, but that was not the end of my race. In the end it was the transmission that quit - so my day was done a little early.

Once we got it home we assessed the damage.... Valerie is a little worse for wear - the steering is a little off due to the frame being bent some.... but at least I did not roll my car like the one guy who did and had to be taken to hospital on a stretcher.

I got hit so hard that the gear shift does not move any more (something is bent... stuck in drive mostly)..... I banged my left elbow, left knee (somehow) and my neck is sore from my head hitting the steering wheel when I t-boned that other guy. I was off the track a couple of times (over the top of the corner b/c I went in too fast and could not get it turned).... I only spun out once and that is when someone hit me from behind (almost every corner someone was spinning out so I felt good about the fact that I kept it going straight the whole day).... my visor was so covered with mud that I could barely see - the inside of the car is caked with mud.... it was bizarre!

You would be going through a corner at 40 or 50 mph between two cars - one high and one low - so you are trying hard not to slide into one of them.... wrenching the steering wheel back and forth to keep going straight - then, as you get on the straightaway you look up and there are three cars spinning out and blocking the road..... dodge them - almost lose control - someone hits you from behind - mud gets shot off the tire of the guy in front of you and hits you in the head covering your visor so you can see even less - then you are in the next corner with a guy on your left and right - bounce through the corner - etc, etc.....

So - would I do it again? Maybe. If my brother so some one else I know puts a car in - maybe (I think I can resurrect Valerie). On the the other hand, it was a lot of work (like 40+ hours getting ready) for an hour of fun (and a wrecked car in my garage now). So we will see. Definitely not tomorrow though.

So all in all - living my dream was fun! My car was as fast as anyone at times (once the track was dry) and best of all I had a lot of help and a lot of family and friends hanging around. A bunch of people from church came to watch. A bunch of people from the speedway gave me things, hauled the car out there, made exceptions so that I could show up late (I had to be in church until just a 1/2 hour before the race started - they wanted us out there 2 hours ahead of time at least)..... nice to have so many family members helping out..... it was just great! Thanks to anyone who helped in any way to make this happened. An experience that I am glad I had - a dream come true. Pictures and video to follow later in the week.

Freezing at the football game and other things

At noon yesterday my buddy Matt called and asked if I wanted to go to the Rider game with him (he had free tickets from the radio station), so I went. What a good game.... made even better b/c we were in the old "University section" (for those who don't know - section 28 used to be cheap tickets for university kids - but they got too rowdy in there - drinking, swearing, drugs, etc - so they split it up). Well, the official title is gone, but it is still the "Uni section" (That sounds like a medical procedure doesn't it?)

I have been to three other game this year and have sat in sections where the fan cheering ranged from some yelling to simply polite "golf clapping". There was no golf clapping in the Uni section..... they were cheering and high-fiving when the Jumbo-tron first lit up..... they cheered for TSN reporter Sara Orleski..... they about killed one another jumping for those sponge footballs that they shoot into the crowd... not to mention when the security guards started throwing bags of Old Dutch chips into the crowd (I have never seen that done in any other section - maybe they feed them in hopes that it will soak up some of the alcohol that is in the before they drive home... I am not sure - but we had a feast..... "Duuuuuuddddeeeee.... have some chips, man!!!!!") :)

We never even got close to our seats. When we got to our row there were 23 people standing in an area of 10 seats.... not sure where they should have been but they all were there.... we could see our seats but never got there... we just crowded in with the rest of them. That ended up being good though b/c it was "0" degrees last night (seriously - with a wind that made it like -10), so needless to say the body heat sharing that was going on was welcome. We did not sit down for 3 1/2 hours..... first, we had no seats (as noted above), secondly everyone else was standing and there would be no hope of seeing and thirdly the seats that were behind us were filled with girls standing on them (One of whom kept grabbing my head and shoulders and shaking me every time something good happened.... she apologized profusely for it each time but.........).

Every time something good happened you had to high five everyone within 2 sections and 20 rows of you...... there was a guy in a "Gumby" suit in front of me (don't ask) who snuck a bottle of whiskey in..... it was crazy! People coming and going all through the section all game long (It was like being in a kennel with a bunch a puppies..... jumping and crawling all over each other).... it was bizarre!

I am not endorsing all that went on in there, but in a game that went back and forth (and where everyone was "cheering" at Henry Burris), it was a fun place to be.

Good thing I am still 23 years old.... I would have been out of place otherwise! :)


In other news, we are doing the last few things on "Valerie" today (a little more painting, filling gas tanks, etc). My mom, step dad and brother are coming down today for the race tomorrow. I will post "before" and "after" pictures of the car and give an update when I can.....

Valerie's Transformation

So Valerie (my Enduro car) continues to improve in many ways. For example....

- She does not have mice in her any more (that is always nice)

- Her gas tank is not all clogged up with disintegrating foam any more

- The gas lines are all cleaned out

- The carburetor is on

- Best of all, she runs (I even took her for a little test spin)

- And now the paint job has begun (thanks to the help of Sari, the girls, Joel and Shane)

More pics to come as we put the second coat on her, put lettering on etc.

Shady and me cleaning out the fuel tank on Tuesday night

Old decals off

Family stuff

So everyone is doing well.... not too much to report. School is going well for all - everyone is starting to get settled into a routine, etc. We had a really nice day in Minot on Labour Day Monday. The girls shopped and I wandered around with them - but it was nice anyway! :)

Just a short note to say "Things are good!"

Every Dream Starts Somewhere...

These are definitely the "Before" pictures... (well - they are the "before" pictures for MY project - they are obviously the "after" pictures of a couple of really rough previous races).... I think her name is "Valerie"..... (she seems like a Valerie to me.... but I will get back to you on that)



Now I know that she may not look like much, but she has everything you want in a good Enduro car (An Eduro race is just what it sounds like - an "Endurance race"... 150 laps or an hour and a half whichever comes first. Bumping and running into others is not just something that happens - it is encouraged)

1. She was cheap (Actually free - a lady that I know from the race track just gave it to me - can you imagine???)

2. She is a big heavy boat (Something very desirable in an Enduro car because they wet the track down a lot to keep speeds down - so you need a good "mudder")

3. She has really good tires - almost new - and two brand new ones to come.

4. A rebuilt carb

5. The rear end is welded so you have both back wheels pushing equally (posi-traction)

6. Did I mention it was free?????

I just hauled her out of patch of weeds about six miles out of town today (thanks Dennis for your help).... so the project begins. Step 1: Get it to run. Step 2: Pound out some of the dents. Step three: Cool paint job (any suggestions?). Step 4: Kick butt in the race (actually my big goal is just to be able to drive it back onto the trailer at the end of the race).

Progress reports and pictures to follow in coming days.