 It
is not like this adventure is beating us down at this point. But
San Antonio is hot and running around in the heat on some very congested
near north highways is less than a good time.
Today, not up particularly early
in that there was no formal meetings. We made a couple of more trips
to Wal-Mart to get little odds and ends, including shoelaces, of all things.
No esoteric use for the shoelaces, my shoes needed them.  But
the interesting thing is that a lot of the other old racers are also over
at Wal-Mart getting coolers, and water and drinks and car polish and such.
We were there also to get a couple of Bungee cords so we could take the
long pin out of the hood and remove the side panels. The Bungee cord was
to hold the top of the hood in place. Works great but now we hear
that we may be penalized if we do that, so we will have to check that out
tomorrow.  We
know it improves airflow and we didn't have any overheating problems today
on our practice, but since we don't have the ability to compare with the
sides on, we are not sure of the benefit. OK. That is enough
about that.
Early this afternoon, John and I
drove out to a 15 mile test strip they had measured with their rally computers
and ran our car against that standard. On a couple of the miles we
were right on and on a couple we were up to a second slow or a second fast.
Those errors we have to attribute to driver or navigator errors and we
have judged that the speedometer is right on the money. So we are
ready to go racing tomorrow in our first trial…The Trophy Run. It
starts after our morning meetings and lasts for a couple of hours.
I will let you know tomorrow night how we have done.
 I
have scattered some car pictures through this text. They don't relate
to the text specifically, but here is some info on them. The picture
on top is a Checkoslovakian car…a 1947 Tatra. It has a rear engine
and wonderful fin in the back and is a very pretty gray. The owners
drove it from Tennessee. They are their own support team.
The next pic is of a WWII vintage
1943 Ford Jeep. I think the driver and navigator are ex WWII soldiers.
It will be a rough ride, but they have done it before. Then there
is the 1929 Model A Ford Sppedway Racer. There are a few early Ford
open wheel racers . They are all open cars. We had the opportunity
of buying one when we were looking for a car. We quickly remembered
how old we were and decided right then that whatever we got, it was going
to be a car with a top. Yes, we are afraid of rain and direct sun.
Some people enter and run this race
on a shoestring and some do a lot better. The Tatra I pictured above
has no support except for the folks driving the car. The Roush Racing
Team is big and sponsors a bunch of cars. They come to the race with
luxury support as evidenced by their bus and trailer, above, and that's
only part of it.
So here are a couple of more pictures
I took this afternoon of cars in the hotel lot. I am especially fond
of the Triumph TR3 in the middle. I had a 1959 the same color and
same top and interior. I loved that car. More later.
  
Post script: We just got back
from an evening at the San Antonio River Walk. Had a great rib dinner
and enjoyed the walk. I was reminded by Peggy this afternoon not
to miss the Alamo. I didn't.
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