BRESCIA,
ITALY
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2002
WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!! We came over the finish line at 1:00 a.m.
on Sunday morning, exhausted but ecstatic. We did every kilometer
of the race, obtained every required stamp on our time card, and
did every one of the ability trials, thirty-seven in all, which
are timed to the hundredth of a second. The tension toward the
finish line was nearly unbearable as all drivers hoped their cars
would hold out just a little longer. As you will see below, the
Suhrbiers added some high drama to the evening just forty-nine
kilometers from the finish line. We have used more than a lifetime
supply of adrenalin and cortisol in just the past two and one
half days. We woke up barely in time to make it to the awards
ceremony at 11:00 this morning, then to the splendid farewell
luncheon under a tent that was at least one hundred feet between
two hundred feet. The bouquets on the tables were magnificent,
the food divine, and there was the camaraderie that exists among
those who have just shared a difficult but exhilarating experience.
Everyone had a "war story" of some type to tell. Pictures
were taken, promises made to meet again, and then it was over.
So soon, but soooo many memories.
Back to Thursday, May 2
BRESCIA
ITALY
THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2002
17:15:00
WE ARE LITERALLY
ON OUR WAY. THE RAIN HAS STARTED AS WE KNEW THAT IT WOULD, BUT
WE ARE READY!!!!! WE ARE CAR 218 AND OUR STARTING TIME IS 21:27:20.
OUR CAR NUMBER IS 218. WE PASSED SCRUTINEERING ADMIRABLY. WE HAD
BEEN TOLD TO ARRIVE AROUND 6;30A.M. EVEN THOUGH NOTHING WOULD
START UNTIL 9;00. THE EARLY BIRDS WERE REWARDED WITH A COMFORTABLE
SPOT WITHIN THE CHECK-IN AREA AND WE HAD ALL THE PROPER PAPERWORK,
ETC. MINOR REPAIR TO THE EMERGENCY BRAKE CABLE AND WE ARE IN GREAT
CONDITION!!!! WE ARE HEADING FOR THE MONASTERY FOR THE OPENING
DINNER. WE ATTENDED A SPECIAL MASS IN THE HISTORIC DUOMO LAST
NIGHT AND THERE WAS A SPECIAL BLESSING FOR THE MILLE MIGLIA. KAREN
AND DALE AND MICHAEL AND LEE AND TUCKIE PRICE ARE HERE AT THE
HOTEL WITH US. THEY WILL BE AT THE STARTING LINE. WE WILL SEND
YOU MORE MESSAGES LATER. ARRIVERDECI!!!!!!! CIAO!!!!!!
OUR ARGENTINE
FRIEND CLAUDIO TOLD US ON SUNDAY THAT WE WERE NOT IN THE BEST
HANDS WITH THEM AS GUIDES ON THE HIGHWAY, BUT THAT THEY WERE THE
BEST HANDS AVAILABLE. THAT IS WHAT ED NOW HAS AS HIS NAVIGATOR.
HE IS HANDLING THE SILVERSTONE SUPERBLY. HE HAS SET ALL THE STOPWATCHES
FOR THE ABILITY TRIALS, SO NOW I HOPE I PRESS THE PROPER BUTTONS
AND COUNT DOWN PERFECTLY FOR HIM. WE HAVE BUTTERFLIES BUT WE ARE
READY!!!!!!!!!
Sure
enough, as we reached the Monastery about 6:30 p.m. for the opening
dinner, the heavens opened and the annual deluge of Mille Miglia
rain began. The wind blew, temperatures dropped, and an already
tense group of nearly eight hundred people scurried for cover.
The open courtyard which served as the parking lot was pure chaos
as drivers jockied for a parking place which would allow them
to leave on time to reach the starting line. The food itself became
an afterthought; too much on people's minds. The road books had
been given to us only at scrutineering, so there were many of
us navigators sitting under cover on a narrow concrete wall trying
to review the route and set the times for the ability trials,
all the while trying desperately not to let any of the paperwork
get wet. We were proud of one of our best purchases - good old
Westmarine still sells the large zippered vinyl "chart covers"
which we used on Moonshadow. We were to be grateful on a constant
basis for our possession of this 24 x 36 inch case.
As we headed down the hill toward the start line, the butterflies
were intense! When we were finally able to see the kleig lights
along the Viale Venezia and our familiar landmarks of the Chinese
restaurant, the automobile bookstore, and the gelateria, we knew
the moment had come. Ed drove up the ramp, the announcer, through
a loudspeaker which could be heard for blocks away, announced
Suhrbier-Suhrbier from the Estados Unidos , car number 218. Thousands
of people were lined along the street behind barriers. I was handed
a bouquet of flowers; at the very last moment we were able to
see Karen, Dale, Michael, and Tuckie and Lee Price and know that
they were right there cheering us on. Then the starter folded
down five fingers, one by one, and we started at exactly 21:27:20;
we drove down the ramp, and, at speeds frightening for the narrow
curving alleys on the way out of town, especially in the dark
and the downpour, we headed for Ferrara.
To see crowds of people, some standing under umbrellas and others
inside cars parked all along the various highways, all the way
from Brescia to Ferrara, until well after 2:00 in the morning,
shows the monumental interest among the Italian people for the
magic of the Mille Miglia, the race which Enzo Ferrari himself
has called the world's only travelling museum. The flashing blue
lights of the police motorcyle escorts which accompanied us out
of town were a welcome alternative to trying to read the street
signs and highway signs in the downpour, especially since my side
of the car had no windshield wiper. Montichiari, Guido, Volta
Mantovana, all passed by in a flash. By the time we reached Mantova,
we were overwhelmed by the size of the crowd. Again, in the "centro"
of town, the crowds waited, again with the kleig lights, an announcer,
and a loudspeaker. Unbelievable!! Several more circles through
towns, still in drenching rain, then the three "PCs",
short ability trials, timed to the hundredth of a second. By the
end of the third, there was elation inside Car 218. Our new Robic
timer was perfect! We had every hope we had "nailed"
the cords at exactly the right time or at least close. Then to
Ferrara, more crowds, cheers, and a parking lot in the center
of town. It was already 1:45 a.m., but we needed food, as dinner
at the monastery had been minimal. To our surprise, all of the
bars and restaurants in the center of town were still open, full
of people, and quite unlike the U.S.
We asked a man at the parking lot how we should find the Duchessina
Hotel, our abode for the night (at least for four hours). He informed
us that it was about 300 meters to the right, then 900 meters
straight ahead. Great - that is more than a kilometer, less than
a mile, but when you are tired, that sounds like a long walk to
a bed, especially carrying suitcases (at least they were small).
Off we went, then were directed by a policeman up a fairly dark
street. When we still didn't see the hotel, a passing bicyclist
directed us up another half block and pointed down a dark alley
to a door with lights above it. Hooray, we thought, here we are.
We rang the bell many times; finally, a fellow competitor in his
underwear and parka, answered the door and said we had to go another
block and a half to the main hotel to get our key, that this was
just the Duchessina annex. Off we went again, got the key, and
trudged back to the annex, where we found a perfectly decorated
room that was sized for munchkins. By then, at 2:40 a.m., we knew
that sleep was going to be dangerously minimal on this adventure.
We were in bed for just over three hours before our wakeup call.
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2002
We
managed to get a cab in the morning back to our car; we were over
an hour and a half early for our alloted time start, but our first
reaction was pure horror. All of the cars parked around us were
numbered from 260 well into the high 300s, with not even a little
aisle to escape. We could only hope that everyone else would come
in time for us to get out. At least the rain had stopped. Ed did
his usual morning checks on the car, and everything appeared in
perfect order. The tension grew as our start time approached and
there were still driverless cars all around. Finally, at a critical
stage, we were able to squeeze our way out after the drivers of
three cars to our front and left arrived "just in time".
One of the morning's sad sights: veteran competitor from the USA,
Jack Croul, in his magnificent Ferrari, had engaged Luciano Viaro,
Italy's best navigator, in Jack's latest attempt to realize his
dream of winning the Mille Miglia. When we had arrived in Ferrara,we
saw his lovely 1951 Ferrari 340 America parked outside the bar
where we bought our food. Mechanics were working on it, Luciano
and Jack were looking concerned, but we assumed it was a minor
problem which would be soon fixed. Jack's son Spencer and step-son
Tim were driving Jack's Fiat 8V Zagato, so the family trip was
special. Close to our starting time, we heard the grim news that
no competitor likes to hear, especially so soon into the race.
The car was "retired". That is, it could not be fixed,
and was out of the race. We felt true sympathy for this fine man
who has placed so highly in previous races and was in such a good
position to win this year!
We left Ferrar in high spiritis, bound for Ravenna, San Marino,
many of our favorite spots in Italy. A good but hideously long
day awaits us; it will take hours to tell you about adequately.
Let us just say that our drive began in Ferrara at 7:14:20 a.m.
and ended at at our hotel in Rome at 2:05 a.m. the following morning.
You are not reading a typographical error. Stay tuned.............................
FRIDAY,
MAY 3, 2002 ( continued )
When we told
you to stay tuned, we had no idea that the delay would be quite
so long! .......Anyway, back to our second day of competition
in the Mille Miglia 2002.
Morning traffic out of Ferrara was heavier than we had expected.
Where were the police escorts? The truck drivers seemed singularly
unininterested in moving over slightly to allow us to pass. No
wonder the veteran competitors have told us that no one ever makes
every time control. We believe it. A nice pattern is developing
in the race. We come upon cars with numbers similar to ours on
a regular basis. Sylvia Oberti, our good friend from Oakland who
has driven by herself (as both pilotessa and navigatore) in more
than ten Mille Miglias in a row, is Number 221, so she starts
just more than a minute behind us. She is an accomplished driver
and fun to follow, as she usually passes us early on. She is not
only an accomplished driver, she is a fast driver. We will find
ourselves ahead of her or behind her throughout most of the race.
Her only accompaniment is her teddy bear Angelino. She raises
funds for an Italian children's hospital and for a summer camp
similar to the one which our Seattle VOHMC has had for so many
years. We spend a good portion of the morning admiring her driving.
Sylvia can find the smallest of holes to zip into the left lane,
safely but deftly. Her barchetta style Siata 750 sport is one
of the most beautiful cars in the race. Another of the interesting
cars which we see frequently is Car Number 215, a 1952 Ferrari
225S with a tremendous race history. The young German driver was
delightful and justifiably proud of his car which had once won
the Mille Miglia.
A welcome surprise awaited us in Ravenna, the first stop for a
stamp this morning. In this event, we do not have to get out of
the car to get the stamp. We simply drive past. When we were there
just two weeks earlier, the streets were virtually empty. The
wind was blowing hard and it was cold and rainy. The one way streets
were frustrating and traffic heavy. This time, bright sunshine
made the beauty of the historic buildings readily apparent. Inside,
some of Italy's finest mosaics are to be found. What a difference
to negotiate the narrow streets without worrying about "Do
Not Enter" signs or one-way arrows. The flashing blue lights
of the police escort and the sirens warning non-Mille drivers
are of great use to all of the navigators and the drivers as well.
So far we don't even have to watch for the red arrows which are
supposed to help keep us on the proper route. As we have told
you before, the experts say that if you find yourself on a road
without huge groups of people on both sides, you are definitely
on the wrong road. So far, the experts are correct. We cannot
believe people were still waiting to see the cars come through
town at 1:00 a.m. Now huge crowds are out shortly after 8:00 a.m.
Gambettola welcomed us, and we were actually early, so we waited
until 10:34:20, exactly 2 hours and 20 minutes after our start
time. If you forget the time and hand the stamp card over too
early, there are as many penalties as if you are late. These rallies
are good for concentration. Maybe even better for mental agility
than crossword puzzles, but definitely more expensive.
On we climbed, through gorgeous landscapes, until we entered the
Republic of San Marino, a small, independent Republic completely
surrounded by Italy. They have their own postage stamps and in
the past, their own currency, though they are undoubtedly using
Euros now. Less than twenty kilometers later, we reached Borgo
Maggiore, our next ability trial, this time 7.73 kilometers in
12 minutes twelve seconds. The wheel crossed the cord at the exact
instant I said "now", so we are fairly sure that we
"nailed" this time trial. By now, the morning was invigorating,
and the adrenalin rush noticeable. Up the the steep hill to the
"Centro Storico" of San Marino. We saw many of the shopkeepers
we have met on previous visits to San Marino. This time they were
on the streets in front of their shops, along with other residents
and many tourists, and there were lots of friendly waves and greetings
as we recognized each other. Often such recognitions are the result
of past road directions given in spite of language differences.
The Italians are alway ready to help and to converse! Because
of our previous visits to San Marino and all of the questions
we asked during those visits, today we felt like "natives"
who knew every road and would know exactly the streets to Mercatino
di Conca, the next stop. Surprise! All of the streets were blocked
off just for the Mille Miglia; the red circles that mean "do
not enter" became meaningless as the gendarmes waved us through
each intersection and around each narrow corner. Every single
street was lined with pedestrians so close that even a single
small turn of the wheel could have meant injury.Ed did a magnificent
job of negotiating the narrow streets and sharp turns but my heart
was in my mouth on a couple of them. By now, the sun was shining,
and the spirit of the rally was increasing every moment. It was
here that Ed first heeded the advice of Bruce Male, our Maserati
friend from Massachusetts: on the steep hills approaching the
center of towns, do not burn out your clutch waiting bumper to
bumper to try to get to the top of the hill. Simply wait at the
bottom until you see the car at the top begin to drive ahead,
than zoom to the top. Excellent advice. Survival of the car and
driver are more important than occasional honks and shouts from
the car in back of the person who is heeding Bruce's advice.
Our Robic timers were preset for the next six ability trials,
the end of the first of the trials being the beginning of the
second, the end of the second the beginning of the third ,and
so on. These multiple ability trials are the ones which will ultimately
determine the winners. We arrived at Montealtavelio ready and
willing. There we sat with about twenty other cars, wondering
why no one was able to go across the first cord. After about a
half hour, we were able to determine in our limited Italian that
the road ahead of us was closed because of an accident which involved
Mille Miglia cars. These are of course the most dreaded words
of the rally. There we sat for almost another hour. Then word
came that the 7.2 km, 12' 12" trial was being cancelled,
but the following five would go on as scheduled, and we were given
permission to continue. As far as we were able to understand,
there had been no injuries in the accident, and for that we were
all grateful, but the delay now put the timing for the rest of
the control stamps for the day and evening in jeopardy. The next
five ability trials were the following: .98km in 2'12", .11
km in 21", .11km in 25", .11km in 20", and .06km
in 12". These were the ones which really made me a believer
in Ed's Robic timers which were preset to each of the preceding
times. The timer moves automatically from the first preset time
to the next. It is only necessary to press one button once, but
it is imperative to push it only once. Even if we did not get
one of them to the hundredth of a second, I was able to count
down for him for the next one without confusion. We are feeling
as if we are a good team today. How to make up the lost time will
be the challenge.
The winding hillside roads from San Marino down to Urbino are
some of the finest driving roads in Italy. There is however, considerable
local traffic coming headon, so these are not protected roads
solely for the rally. The trucks seem even bigger when they approach
you as you sit in a Healey Silverstone with the navigator in the
left seat looking at the center line. We have devised a one word
warning if the car seems to be too near the center line: "CLOSE"
is used sparingly but convincingly.
Lunch was at the traditional large tent in Urbino, and although
we were hungry, our somewhat compulsive desire to make all the
time controls led us to "grab" some food, get fuel,
eat in the gas station while the fuel was going, then get our
required stamp and be on our way. As we drove away, we saw Rick
Anderson and Greg, Sylvia's mechanic, apparently working on her
car. We were worried that she had trouble, but we found later
that they were filling her tank with fuel so that she would not
even have to stop at gas stations. Such a good support team.
Then, just sixteen kilometers later, there were another six ability
trials in a row: 16.62km in 23'03", 4.4km in 6'19",.04km
in 8", .06km in 11",.02km in 5", and 27.97km in
42'42". The last one at San Giustino had to be carefully
calculated because the finish line cord for it was also the finish
line for the big time control of the day, the CO, which had to
be crossed exactly 6 hours and 35 minutes after our morning start
time. Of course, you do remember that Prince Machievelli was Italian.
Even though we skipped lunch and tried to make up as much time
as possible, the delay because of the accident caused us our first
real penalties, because we were late for the CO (as were all the
cars which had been delayed along with us). Such is the rally
life. "IF" we had been a lower number, we would have
been past the scene of the accident before the road was closed.
However.......on we go.
Sansepulcro is one of the more colorful stops of the entire Mille
Miglia. Locals are dressed in medieval costumes and stand in the
historic center of town, musicians play, and they hand out foodand
flowers to all of the competitors. All of the history of Italy
begins to be more and more apparent as we continue south . On
through Perugia, the home not only of the famous chocolate Baci
but the site of a famous University as well. Deruta, just seven
kilometers south and the home of our treasured de la Grazia dishes,
won't see us today. We are on our way to our favorite town in
this part of Italy: Assisi. The first sight of Saint Francis's
birthplace and home is awe-inspiring no matter how many times
one has visited it, but today, to approach behind the blue lights
of the motorcycle escort and to simply follow rather than read
street signs, allows us to revel in the magnificence of the architecture,
the timelessness of the town and all of its perfection, everything
about Assisi that is eternally spiritual. It is so hard to drive
straight through town without stopping. Ed has by now devised
an excellent technique if the pedestrians come too close to the
car or are walking away from us and seemingly unaware we are coming.
He downshifts, and the roar of the Silverstone engine reminds
them, safely, that they should pay attention. Plus, it sounds
exciting! This is one of those times when we question why the
time controls are of any importance to us at all, but on we go.
The crowds in Assisi are warm and there are many Mille Miglia
flags waving. The tour buses are stopped along the road, with
many of the occupants with faces pressed tight to the windows.
We say "Omatai", a word taught us years ago by a gracious
woman named Minerva from San Francisco who said that it is an
old word which one says as one leaves a place that he or she particularly
hopes to return to visit one day. Omatai to Assisi.
The magnificent hilltown of Spello is on our agenda, but just
at the left turn in the road to go up, there is a "Deviazione",
detour sign, police, and red MM arrows, so we turn right as directed
and continue through Spoleto to San Gemini, site of our next three
ability trials. If you are counting, these will get us up to fourteen
just for the day! These seem like duck soup: .06km in 9",
.13km in 18", and .16 km in 21". At least they are over
quickly, and again, we feel good about the timing. Of course,
since only the top eighty cars out of the 375 entries get any
points at all on each of the ability trials, we won't know if
our timing is good enough until we see the results after the event
is over. In the unlikely case that eighty cars went over the cord
exactly to the required hundredth of a second, we could be without
points if we were just a hundredth of a second early or late.
San Gemini marks the last ability trials of this second day of
the rally. By now, we are hardly paying attention to the weather
as it changes constantly. We will know how the weather was after
we review the photos. When it is cold, windy, or rainy, our Zero
Restriction goretex and our helmets protect us. When the weather
improves, you see us in our red baseball Mille Miglia hats and
sweaters. Changing clothes and storing things in the Silverstone
is hilarious. My short legs are an asset for the first time as
the area underneath my feet is full of gifts given to us in each
town, roadbooks, time card, water,whatever.
The day gets shorter as we reach Narni and Rignano Flaminio, and
head into Rome. We pass the hotel we stayed in just two weeks
ago for $ 33 a night and wave madly to those standing in front
of it. We had told them we would be coming back in the MM, but
we pass too quickly to recognize faces. It is late, it is dark,
and we are ready to reach Rome. In addition to the ability trials,
we have had to be sure to get the seven required "CT"
and "VT" stamps today which are the proof that we are
abiding by the assigned times and are following the correct route.
Just one more stamp tonight, on the Via Veneto in Rome. Little
did we think the first time we ever sat there for a cup of coffee
that we would be coming back to Rome in this style.
When we arrived in Rome, we were waved over to a special parking
lot, one for those of us with triangle stickers on our windshields
which identified us as going to the Summit Hotel. Those without
triangles, a much larger group, were in the parking lot next to
us, ready to go to the Jolly Midas Hotel to which they were assigned.
We breathed a sigh of relief that we were able to get out of the
car, walk around, and believe that we were actually going to get
some sleep. It was only 10:45 p.m. which meant that Ed had been
driving steadily for "only" fifteen hours, although
we had been up for more than seventeen hours. We were told by
an attendant that our police escort to our hotel would come in
fifteen minutes. Nearly an hour later, with the clock approaching
midnight, he promised we would be gone in less than five minutes,
and so we were. However, we were NOT on our way to the hotel.
Our police escort, or, more accurately, our police "escorts",
corralled about sixty of us in two or three lanes and took us
on a breathtaking but absolutely exhausting tour all around the
monuments of Rome. Although none of us will ever forget speeding
by the Coliseum and all of the treasures that are Rome, especially
lighted as if by magic, we will also not soon forget the rage
of the ordinary Roman drivers who were stopped dead in their tracks
by the police in order for all of us to go by. We did wonder why
thousands of Roman drivers were on the streets after midnight
in such huge numbers, but then this is Italy. When we finally
reached the Via Veneto, where we would receive the last stamp
of the day, we could not believe what was happening. Thousands
of tourists and Romans lined the famous boulevard, and because
the police escort would not let any of us move, we had ample time
to engage in conversation with several English-speaking tourists
who were eager to know all about the Mille Miglia. One especially
nice couple was from Minneapolis, so Ed had an immediate connection
there. Another young man from London had been on Tower Bridge
on May 1, 2000 when we left for Peking. As the police escort finally
let us move, we knew exactly what had happened. All of the good
planning of the triangles on the windshields had come to naught.
We were all herded into one huge group and, sure enough, taken
up the long hill to the Jolly Midas Hotel. By now, it was nearly
2:00 a.m. and exhaustion was setting in rapidly. None of the police
escorts could understand English and the few that could did not
know where the Summit Hotel was. We were eventually fortunate.
Maria Franchi was at a desk in the lobby of the Jolly Midas and
she had a colleague from Mercedes who escorted us back down the
hill and to our hotel. Nearly a half hour after we arrived, our
Mexico City friends and competitors in the 57 Pegasus finally
arrived at the Summit, carrying heavy luggage which they had to
carry while they walked down the hill from the Jolly. When was
the last time you had dinner at 2:30 a.m. The hotels had kept
the buffets open for us. Ed was so tired that he was served a
full dinner in bed by his navigator. He had now had less than
four hours sleep since we left Brescia on Thursday evening at
2127:20 (9:27:20 p.m.) and there were less than three hours until
Saturday morning's wake up call. Unbelievable and worthy of Ripley.
The Summit hotel in Rome had a parking place for us right at the
front door, which was the good news at the end of one of the longest
days of our lives, but certainly one of the most memorable. Out
of all the cars in the race, parked just next to us was our friend
Martin Swig's Fiat 1100 TV, being driven in the race by Bruce
Qvale of San Francisco with whom we would share a cab from Sunday's
award ceremonies to the farewell luncheon. We have seen Martin
only once on the race. He and John Lamm, the famed photographer,
are driving Martin's Alfa Romeo 1900 Super, but theyare #297,
so we have not seem them since dinner at the Monastery on Thursday
evening. The sight of more than forty or fifty fellow competitors
sitting in the dining room (which was down three flights of circular
marble stairs) having dinner at 2:30 a.m. and being able to laugh
in spite of some real anger over the late arrival and the difficulties
in finding the hotel makes us realize this is truly a hardy group.
When the young man who wrote the cover article in the May 2002
Smithsonian about last year's Mille Miglia says that our race
averages thirty miles an hour, he misses a big point. We may do
1000 miles in about 30 hours (math genius, huh) but parts are
nearing 90 miles an hour while many hours are spent just sitting
and waiting. Somehow, the "average" speed of this event
is truly meaningless. His article, however, is excellent. We met
and spoke with him several times along the way last year and have
been watching for his article. The cover picture of a small red
car driving past the Coliseum at night reminds us that we did
it this year in exactly the same way. Try to get the magazine.
It's great.
All in all, today was fantastic, even though I am worried about
the driver's ability to survive this lack of sleep. Somehow, the
rally organizers must not have read the article which equate the
danger of sleep deprivation on the road to that of too much alcohol.
Even with the lack of sleep, the adrenalin rush surpasses that
of anything we have ever done. We will remember each and every
town and the welcome of the Italians. They raise thumbs up when
they see our USA on our hood and our American flags next to our
names. When Ed started to put the letters on, I asked if he thought
it safe. He simply looked at me and said "Are you proud of
your country?" Enough said. Of course, we both are, and we
love the flags and the USA and so do the people along the way.
To sleep....perchance to dream? Probably not tonight. We can't
get our minds to stop thinking about this glorious experience.
Early start again tomorrow.........
Robert Frost is always with us on these rallies............"miles
to go before we sleep"
SATURDAY,
MAY 4, 2002
ROME TO BRESCIA
The power
of positive thinking was unable to overcome the agonizing atmosphere
of this morning's start. We knew that we were to have less than
four hours of sleep at best if we were to be on time for our start
time of 7:41:20 a.m. That was not to be. In addition to the adrenalin
overload, a major wind and rain storm began during the night which
brought rain in through the open bedroom window and blew several
things around. Even though we had covered the "cockpit"
with the vinyl tauna cover, we knew there would be leaks. Hard
to sleep.
When we left
the hotel with only minimal instructions on how to get down to
the start line over a kilometer away, it was raining so hard that
visibility was nil. We went through a flooded street at the bottom
of the hill which threatend to take out our brakes, and would
have drenched us except for our great Goretex. Actually, the Zero
Restriction Company should use us in their ad campaigns. Anyway,
when we reached the Agip gas station where the starting line table
was, we found ourselves on the public road, hemmed in by three
lanes of fellow competitors with numbers far higher than ours,
but even if they had wanted to move to allow us to go in front
of them, they had no place to go. In addition, the weather was
so gruesome that apparently no one was in the mood to even try
to allow a lower number to get to the starting desk. So, for the
first time ever in our rally "career", we were late
for our start time. Combined with the lack of sleep, the frustration
of finding the start line, and the general atmosphere of the morning,
the emotional high of yesterday and the day before vanished completely,
although, fortunately, temporarily. It was almost impossibe to
read the roadbook through the plastic chartcover because the rain
was coming down so hard, and the wind was blowing so hard that
the lack of windows in the car was really interesting. We were,
however, more fortunate than our fellow competitor who had dropped
his roadbook, time card, etc. in the road. Luckily, we were able
to retrieve it for him and return it to Costantino Franchi at
the first stop. Anyone who loses the time card is disqualifed
as a finisher.
My side of the windshield had no wiper and Ed's tiny one was nearly
useless in the downpour. To add to the moment, there were no police
escorts or red arrows to follow. The Roadbook said that in 1.8
km we would find the "entrata Grande Raccordo Anulare".
When we were at 1.8 km, we realized the translation of that was
the Autostrada. Great! In the worst downpour of the trip, we were
now on a freeway laden with early morning traffic in Rome with
the biggest trucks yet. The next instruction was that at 55.7
km we would go past Sutri. The only problem was that we were not
sure we were on the correct highway- no arrows or police yet.
It is a lonely feeling in such miserable weather when it is so
foggy you can't see any other rally cars in front or behind you.
Finally we passed one of the cars which had broken down just a
few kilometers after the start. Our sympathy for them was accompanied
by a great relief that we were probably on the correct road. Our
first time control was to be in Ronciglione, which we knew was
on the way to Viterbo. We were to be there in one hour twenty
minutes from our scheduled start time, but that would be impossible.
It would have been easy to get out the map and check some of the
exits we were passing if the weather had been good; in this ghastly
downpour, just getting the map out and trying to get it in the
plastic case was impossible, especially since the navigator did
not dare distract the driver who was already being sorely tested
to keep the car in the lane and to keep traction on the impossibly
wet highway. Just as the navigator said that if all else failed,
we would take the Viterbo exit when we saw it, the happy sight
of police "guarding" the correct exit to Viterbo and
flagging us in the correct direction allowed us to breathe a huge
sigh of relief and be somewhat comfortable for the first time
today.
Ronciglione was a welcome stop. The small coffee shop had great
coffee and croissants, and we were able to fill our thermos. When
Ed sat down to have his coffee and to set the Robic timer for
the next six ability trials, we had the great shock of the morning.
His black driving gloves had become so wet that the dye had made
his hands pure black. His trip to the washroom proved futile.
His hands were as black as before. ( My mother and dad never once
warned me that one morning could be like this)
We were cold, late, and trying to find humor in all of this, but
we were wondering what would be next. By now, less than two hours
after our start time, we had seen at least ten cars disabled along
the side of the road. Disconcerting, to say the least. The coffee
did warm us up, the people in the town were wonderful, and at
last, some cars with higher numbers realized they should be polite,
and allowed us to go ahead to get the required stamp in Piazza
V. Emanuele. We will remember Boris Becker in his silver Mercedes
Gull-wing as a gentleman as well as a tennis hero. He was the
first to note our lower number and wave us around him. He is unbelievably
popular in Italy. The crowds cheer for him whenever he drives
by.
Here we go again on the ability trials, this time another six
in a row in which the finish line of the first is the starting
line of the second, and so forth. This time the timers are set
for more complicated runs: 4.74km in 5'55", .02km in 6",
.04km in 7",.07km in 13", .08km in 15:, and 6.36km in
7'47". Again, the weather makes the whole process more difficult
as we usually have a nifty system whereby Ed can glance down at
the roadbook to see the seconds in large red numbers, alongside
which I have put the number of feet for the short distances (our
brains still process feet better than percent of kilometers. This
time my carefully prepared list of decimal percentages of kilometers
transferred to feet was impossible to get out of the bag in the
rain, so out came the calculator again. The rain was coming down
hard enough that he could not see through the plastic cover, so
he had to rely on my voice trying to shout over the wind and through
the leather flaps of his helmet. Actually, as we write this after
the fact, the humor of the whole morning becomes a tiny bit apparent,
but at the time it did not. Fortunately, the rain began to let
up a bit, and by the time we did the ability trials, we could
at least see the cords across the road.
By the time we reached Viterbo, the red arrows and the police
at various intersections brought back the familiar "navigational
aids". We have discovered a new twist today. Perhaps because
of the weather, the locals lining the streets are backing up along
the fences, posts, etc. where the red arrows are, probably to
avoid being splashed by water as we speed by. At intersections
where there are no police, the red arrows are actually being hidden
by the people who are there to greet us. Viterbo has some astoundingly
beautiful old buildings. At least when there are police escorts,
we can appreciate the beauty of the historic centers of these
towns and cities.
As we leave Viterbo and head to Radicofani, we can remember last
year's Mille Miglia when we had the comfort of a new Alfa 156
Diesel and the big press sticker on our car which allowed us to
follow the competitor's route. Then the sunshine was blazing,
all the drivers and navigators were in short sleeved shirts. This
year, we are in the open car just hoping to stay somewhat dry.
When we stop for gas, Ed finds that a few minutes with his jacket
unzipped has left him with a thoroughly soaked shirt, so during
the fueling, he manages to get out his overnight bag, retrieve
a dry shirt and change clothes. The proprietor of the gas station
and his wife were gracious and apologetic for the weather! They
were shaking their heads over these crazy Americans in an open
car, but we found that the top really doesn't do much good anyway,
so we are determined to tough it out with no top no matter what
the weather is like.
Finally, we head up the steep, steep hill which leads to Radicofani,
a hilltop town which is mentioned in nearly every book as one
of the most beautiful of all Italian villages. We are picking
up time, and are able to obtain our stamp here without any wait.
Again, we are able to go fairly quickly to the beginning of the
line because of our smaller number. We have also had three more
ability trials along the way: 3.64km in 5'5", .04km in 9"
and .03 in 10". Ed is really getting good at these.
With the weather improving, we begin to relax and enjoy the scenery,
and our optimism returns. Suddenly, in the "Centro Storico"
of Pienza, amidst huge crowds on both sides so close to the car
that we could reach out and touch them, and with with beautiful
buildings all around, a shocking sight of a desk with a RED sign
(meaning the start of the next abilitiy trial). But where was
the yellow warning sign??? There is always a yellow warning sign
100 meters before the start. That is where we wait until we are
ready to begin our twenty second countdown which we find best
to reach the start line exactly at the right moment. This is the
"yellow" area where one must not stop the car or there
are three hundred penalty points. Here we are, never having seen
the yellow warning sign (must have been hidden by the spectators),
and now must cross the starting line which the navigator "knew"
was still supposed to be six kilometers away. We had no choice
but to improvise and begin the 14'14" countdown for the next
9.9km, using only the Mille Miglia watch Ed gave me for Christmas,
since not only were the Robic timers in a dry spot and impossible
to retrieve instantly, but our Digitech Mistral master clock and
back up countdown timer was inoperable because during the storm
and confusion of the morning start, the battery had fallen out
and was under the driver's foot. The improvisations which went
on from Pienza through San Quirico D'Orcia and Podere S. Giuseppe
and Torrenieri could be a skit on the funniest home videos if
we had had our video camera with us. Actually, what could have
been a true disaster ended up fairly well. After the shock of
the unexpected start line, we had time to get our act together
during the 14'14" of the first trial. Then in quick succession,
we had to do 3.83 km in 5'55", ..09 in 17", . .05km
in 10", .05 in 12" and 2.86 km in 4"44". In
the spirit of true honesty, I must admit that the driver wished
aloud several times that his navigator could learn to program
his Robic timers quickly and properly while en route, but since
that didn't happen quickly enough, he managed to do it himself
while waiting to go across the finish line of the first ability
trial. That is the one beauty of the ability trials. Rather than
doing an average speed for the whole time on the longer runs,
such as the 14'14", we have learned to go as fast as possible
to the yellow warning sign that is just 100 meters from the finish
line. Then one can wait until 20 seconds before the time to cross
the red finish line, and there is no worry of any last minute
delay on the road. That time was particularly valuable this time.
Ordinarily, all of our timers are set before we leave in the morning.
Our late arrival in Rome last night and our late departure this
morning left us unprepared, but we still managed to improvise
pretty well. In a way, it made the day more interesting (my warped
sense of humor at work).
On to Siena. Again, there is a big lunch stop at Buonconvento,
where we will obtain our next stamp. Have we mentioned that if
you miss even one stamp, you get no points at all and are listed
as NC, non-classified. That would be an unforgivable error in
Car 218. You should see the stamp card by now. In spite of efforts
to keep it dry, just passing it from the car to the attendant
with the stamp has resulted in wet spots, but all of the required
stamps are there. The metal clipboard on which we have placed
the stampcard has been a godsend. It is impossible to lose, even
among all the other pieces of paper and maps in the car. Again,
we opt to skip lunch and to eat the Nature Power Bars which Karen
brought with her from Seattle for us. We are determined to pick
up the rest of our lost time and to reach the big CO in Siena
exactly 6 hours after our assigned start time. We know that we
must be there at 13:42:20. If we can average 48 miles an hour,
we can make it. Each truck that is big and slow and each interminable
stoplight seem to be against us. At least the weather has improved.
We have replaced the battery in the Mistral and know that we must
have time to get to the desk to reset it to the official time
at least a few minutes before we are to cross the line. Perhaps
we have neglected to mention that there is one more slightly diabolical
item on this event. The official time clock which is at the start
would seem to be enough to set our own clock for the day. No,
there are sometimes slight variations from locale to locale, so
the navigator must get to the desk to make sure the car's clock
is to the second the same as the official clock. Hooray, hooray,
we are there in plenty of time to reset the clock and to approach
the red cord in a relaxed, confident manner. We have made up all
of our lost time already today. The sun is shining in more ways
than one. We believe we went over that red cord at exactly the
right second!
The Piazza del Campo in Siena is one of the great public squares
in Italy. In July, the famous Palio finds the horses there, but
in May, thousands of locals and tourists gather to hear the roar
of engines as the Mille Miglia passes through once again. By now,
the woes of the morning are behind us and the enjoyment has returned,
as well as the sense of wonder that we are actually a part of
this! Frosting on the cake; as we await our turn to obtain the
next stamp, our good friends Roberto and Rita,who live in Rome
and who drove the London to Peking with us, suddenly approach
our car in Siena with their usual broad smiles. We last saw them
in Bariloche in Argentina when they were on the Inca Trail and
we were on the 1000 Millas Sport. We did not have time to stop
to visit with them, and we are disappointed. We hope to meet up
with them again soon.
From Siena, we are in familiar territory. We have driven the roads
of Chianti in Tuscany often enough that we feel completely at
home Nevertheless, we find that the speed during the Mille Miglia
increased on this section, sometimes to the danger point. Again,
huge crowds await, even though the weather is again cool, blustery,
with intermittent showers. We look for Carlos and Christina Alhadeff,
who said they would be on the left side of the road, but we are
later than they thought we would be, and if they are there, we
miss them, even though we thought we saw them and Ed pulled a
brilliant U-turn back to a couple who resembled them so much that
we thought they were Carlos and Christina until they approached
our car and we realized they were completely confused as to why
we came back to see them. At least we tried!
When we left Siena, we decided that we would get fuel just outside
of Firenze before we start up Futa Pass. We have been careful
about refueling on all of days of using the Silverstone, because
even though Maurizio said that the tank holds 50 to 60 litres
and the range of the car is 250 km on one tank, we have been conservative
in our calculations and have stopped well before it was necessary.
We have passed Castellina in Chianti, Greve, all of our favorite
towns, and we reach Impruneta, the small village where we stopped
for coffee on our first trip to Chianti with Nissim and Ketty
Alhadeff. As we head north out of town up a steep hill, waving
to the hundreds of people lining the narrow street, the car gasps
and dies. Ed says we are out of gas, I say that is impossible,
we have more than a half a tank left. Nevertheless, we ARE out
of gas. Some considerate locals tell us there is a gas station
back into town three hundred meters Ed coasts back down the hill
and across the highway into a driveway in order to make the U-turn).
Both of us hope that a speeding Ferrari or Maserati doesn't come
up the hill rght now. The same group of five locals gives us a
big push start and after some Keystone cop differences in directions
from a couple more locals in the center of town , we finally coast
into a gas station that is actually open at 2:00 in the afternoon,
when most are closed for lunch for two or three hours. Sure enough,
we take only 16 litres, so we had more than half a tank left.
We try to analyze what could be happening, but at least we are
on our way again. Could have been much worse if we hadn't been
so close to a station. We did miss seeing the World War !! cemetery
which we have been told is a "must see". Next time...
Our entrance to Florence was fabulous. We came from the south
on a road lined with lovely mansions and parklike grounds. The
pace and feel of the city is extraordinary. One can feel the presence
of the Renaissance even now, nearly five hundred years later.
The history of the city goes back further than that, but the genius
of that time is somewhat unparalleled in history. The Florentines
are justifiably proud of their culture and their city. Again,
the police escorts and blocked streets are phenomenal. We drove
right past the Duomo and over the bridge just next to the Ponte
Vecchio, so we were able to get good photos. We are able to get
our stamp here without waiting. There are some advantages to slight
delays. We are also learning why many of the USA competitors make
the decision early on the skip all of ability trials and the stamp
checks and just enjoy driving the Mille Miglia. We made the mutual
decision to go for it all, and we are sticking to our goal no
matter what.
You may think you have read of the difficult parts of the trip
today. Just wait. We are about to go through Futa Pass. We should
also have gone through Radicosa Pass which is the portion where
the huge snowbanks always line the highway, but Radicosa is closed
due to a mudslide so again we have a detour which takes us the
long way around. Again, there are few red arrows along the route
here. The temperatures have dropped considerably and as we head
up Futa, the rain turns to what looks like snow to me as it hits
Ed's black jacket. The roads are twisted and slippery and the
curves sharp and often unmarked. There is a huge amount of traffic
coming toward us on this portion. It is now that the driver can
see other navigators with long arms putting the helmets on their
drivers as the rain increases. I do my best, but trying to put
it on and keep the leather flaps over the ears and get it on the
driver's head is difficult. Again, a little delayed humor now
that we are safely thrugh with the event. It is on this portion
of the drive that we see some of the most beautiful scenery we
have ever seen in Italy. Monghidoro is a splendid, isolated little
town with story-book views. The "Panoramic" highway
to Bologna is spectacular, but I doubt that Ed could tell you
one thing about it. The road was so dangerous that he dared not
even glimpse the deep valleys and picturesque towns with quaint
old buildings. It was at this point that I said a silent prayer
to God, that "Thy will be done"... but please don't
take us now and please let us finish the race safely. Not long
after, while still in the white-knuckle curves, suddenly the rain
stopped, the skies cleared, and there was an absolutely perfect,
large rainbow clear across the sky. I thought one of two things:
either God was saying we would finish safely, OR, He was saying
that there is a heaven. One way or another, that rainbow did seem
a symbol.
Leaving nothing to chance, we filled up with fuel on our way into
Bologna. Traffic was heavy, and we suddenly found ourselves driving
like veteran MM competitors, heading into the left lane, barging
behind other MM cars, and at least making progress through the
center of town. By the time we reached the desk for our stamp,
we were questioning our sanity but we were enjoying the excitement!
On to Modena, center of the Ferrari production, again with huge
crowds, and the stadium where we would do the final three ability
trials. This time, the timers were properly set boom, boom, boom:
.04km in 8", .14km in 19", and .07km in 10". These
could be enjoyable. Here it is that we run across our friend Bruce
Male and his son Andrew who are from Massachusetts and who share
our belief that one should do the time controls and get all the
stamps and "do it right". Bruce's other son Jason and
his friend Damien are in Bruce's other Maserati but we have not
seen them since Thursday evening. Bruce has been competing in
the MM for ten years, so he is a veteran. (Flash forward: during
the Awards ceremony on Sunday morning, Bruce will be sitting next
to us when cell phone rings and he leaves to go across the street
to meet his sons to purchase the photos of the race. As he leaves,
he asks me to go up to the stage to get his award when his name
is called. Thinking he is joking, I agree to to it. Minutes later,
the first place of the USA drivers name is called. It is Bruce
and Andrew Male. Somehow, it does not seem appropriate to bound
up to the stage to pick up his award, so later at lunch we will
be teased by Bruce at length). Anyway, he was a deserving winner.
Joe Tomasetti had joking introduced Bruce at the gathering of
the Americans in Soragna as the American who consistently manages
to score in the top two hundred overall. That seemed less funny
when one looks at the overall standings and finds few if any Americans
above that position.
As darkness falls, we head toward Reggio Emilia, region of the
famous parmesan cheeses and to Parma, home of the famous Parma
Ham. So that there could be no margin for error, we stopped for
fuel again in Parma so that we would have a full tank of fuel
in which to do the final sixty miles of the race. Both towns require
stamps,as this is the area where competitors are tempted to "cut",
that is, to take the straight roads back to the finish line and
to skip the small town ceremonies. In fact, during the final 177
km of the race, just about 106 miles, there will be five stamps
required for those who wish to be classified as "finishers".
Roncole Verdi, the great composer's birthplace, gives each of
us a unique gift as we go through town and are announced, one
by one, by loudspeaker. The CD of Verdi music will always remind
us of this generous town. We have been given flowers, ice cream,
water, sandwiches, cookies, candy, posters, too many to list.
What generous people!! It is near Parma that we see our Argentine
friend Daniel Claramunt is his beautiful old Fiat Balilla. Its
1935 birthdate belies its speed and good handling.
On to Cremona, such a beautiful welcome for us. The whole center
of town was closed to all traffic except MM competitors. We were
in line with Jim Feldman, an Oregonian who is justifiably proud
of his 1957 AC ACE Bristol Zagato. This is his first Mille Miglia,
but his navigator Dick McClure of California, has done it several
times. Jim is noted for his fairly outrageious sense of humor,
and is also a very decent guy. Ed could not resist teasing him
as we drove past him that his "Chevrolet" was doing
okay in the race. There are only thirty-three entries from the
USA this year. Just three are from the state of Washington. In
addition to the Suhrbiers, John Shirley and his son are Car #316.
Their 1956 Ferrari 290 MM has done the Mille Miglia before. Also
John McCaw is in Car # 372, another Ferrari, but this one a 1957Ferrari
250 TestaRossa. Because of their high numbers, we have not been
at any of the stops along the route together, but at least the
State of Washington is represented. We have not seen Sylvia for
several hours. We were right in front of her in Bologna, but we
have not seen her since. We have also not seen the gorgeous Nardi-Danese
driven by owner Ball and navigator DeLuna, but we know they are
still in the race. Their car is one of the most distinctive in
the entire race, and the restoration job is splendid. We were
with the DeLunas on last year's California Mille. Great couple!
As we wait our turn to be announced, we have time to wonder where
our friends are in the race and if they are all still in it. We
did see Car 176, a beautiful blue Healey Silverstone driven by
Mr. Masuda, who is head of the Japanese Mille and who has stayed
at the Novotel in Brescia both last year and this year. He is
a true gentleman, and we hope to do his event in Japan in 2003.
Here again we were announced; by now, the spectators knew how
long a day we had all endured, and the usual greetings were replaced
by loud "BRAVOs" and we were really touched. As we left
Cremona about 11:20 p.m., we called Karen in Brescia to tell her
that we would be at the finish line within forty minutes or so,
as there were less than forty-nine kilometers to go. At this point,
we were on Cloud Nine. We had a police motorcycle with a blue
light in front of our caravan of about tight MM competitor cars;
there was another police van with a blue light behind us. We were
being led in the correct route to the finish line and our final
stamp! We were again beginning to relax and enjoy this final leg,
proud of ourselves, tired but exhilarated, and then, suddenly,
that dreaded sputter and the awful realization the car was stopping.
Again, we were obviously out of fuel although we had gone less
than fifty miles since filling the tank. This was the worst possible
scenario. We looked at each other in disbelief that this could
happen so close to the finish. Then Ed's usual cool ability in
a crisis took over. He looped around and down the highway and
coasted back toward the gas station where we had seen the light
of one lonely pump which meant that even if the station were closed,
one pump should be "aperto" or open. Again, three cars
of Italians stopped and asked if they could help. It is strange
how language barriers disappear when someone needs help and another
wants to help. All things are possible. Again, we were given a
push start which enabled us to get close enough to the gas station
where we then traded places, this time I was in the driver's seat
with my right leg out the open door trying to help Ed who was
pushing the car from the rear while I was steering. It was nearly
midnight, there were no other MM competitors nearby, and we knew
that even if we could call for help on our cell phone, chances
were almost nil that anyone could bring us fuel in time to reach
the finish line. We were on our own. I put the money in the machine
and then found to our dismay that the only open pump was not Pump
One which it usually is, but Pump Four which was clear around
the other concrete pillars and pumps. Again, we pushed the car
to the pump. We owe eternal gratitude to a bartender and Thai
Restaurant owner near Poncarale. The first day we drove the Silverstone,
we tried to get gas by putting cash into the machine to get gas.
We pushed all the proper buttons, but It would not work. I ran
in to ask for help; when he heard that I had put forty dollars
in the machine and could not get fuel, he left his customers to
come outside and teach us the valuable lesson which would ultimately
allow us to finsih the Mille Miglia: In Italy, you cannot take
the nozzle out of the pump until after you have pushed ALL of
the proper buttons. Then and only then will the fuel begin flowing.
You can put the nozzle and then it may work if you are lucky.If
he had not taught us this two weeks ago, we would have sat in
that deserted gas station outside Cremona in frustration beyond
belief. Again, the tank took only a few litres before it was filled.
At this point, Ed realized the fuel pump was failing, and could
not work unless the weight of a full tank of fuel aided it.
At this point, we had fuel and were on our way again, but we had
a huge decision to make. We entered the roundabout where just
forty minutes before, there had been huge crowds and many competitor
cars to follow. Now, we had fewer spectators and could not make
them understand our question as to the proper direction to take,
and there were no police or red arrows. One sign said BRESCIA,
49 km., but that would not necessarily be the required route to
the finish line. We could be safe and get back that way, but we
could not face missing the assigned route and the last stamp!
So we went in a couple of more circles, found a policeman who
waved us off the road. We sighed in relief, then roared with laughter
when we found that he had directed us back into Cremona and into
the central "announcement" area. There were still many
cars in line, but we had no interest in being announced again
or receiving any more presents. We just wanted to get back to
the finish line. We again followed the arrows that we could see,
and were again on the highway, knowing we would need to see some
other competitor cars to be sure we were correct. In the meantime,
we had noticed that at least three of the Italians in cars which
had stopped to help us into the gas station had been on their
cell phones. Suddenly, as we drove on a deserted, dark highway
which we hoped was leading us to Pontevico and Manerbio (highway
numbers for three kilometers were not visible), a policeman with
a blue light flashing came up along my side of the car and said
Are You Having Problems". I answered with just one word:
Yes. Our fuel pump might go at any minute and we were exhausted..
Without delay, he went in front of us, waved to us to follow him
and, with the police motorcycle in front of us and a Police Van
with a blue light in back of us, we enjoyed a private police escort
all the way back to Brescia. We were joined by other competitor
cars toward the end of the 49 kilometers, but we will always remember
our private police escort which had to have been courtesy of the
cell phone calls made by those good Italians.
By the time we waited for the announcements and negotiated the
haystackst in the town centers in Manerbio, we found ourselves
being routed on and off of our "45bis", the highway
we used nearly every day and the one we would have taken had we
decided to rely on our own way back, but we would have missed
several of the offshoots from that highway and would certainly
have missed the convoluted approach into Brescia. We saw streets
that we had never seen before in all of our days in Brescia, but
then, finally, we were on the Viale Venezia, just blocks from
the finish line. The excitement was not quite over. We had seen
several cars broken down along the road between Cremona and Brescia.
It seemed unjust that they could stop running so close to the
finish, but we could have been one of them if not for the good
luck of being so close to a gas statin. Then, while we waited
in line, the car in front of us died. We had our engine off, trying
to conserve the fuel pump and the fuel.Ed had been pushing it
as necessary to keep our place in line and was doing just fine
as I steered. When the car in front of us died completely, suddenly
about twenty cars went around and in front of us. Now there would
be a longer wait, as each car is announced as it crosses the line.
Then suddenly, the power went off and all of the kleig lights
disappeared at the finish line. The gremlins were out in full
force this evening. We were told later that as Costantino Franchi,
the head honcho of the Mille Miglia, arrived at the finish line
and was announced, the heavens opened with a deluge of rain. At
least we arrived without rain, and we drove across the finish
line without incident. We finally had our last stamp!! Most important
to us, WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!
We arrived back at the hotel about 1:30 a.m. Karen, Dale, and
Michael took videos of us, Ed with his still black hands, tired
but exuberant. The hotel restaurant stayed open until after 2:30
a.m. with a good buffet. We have never eaten at such ridiculous
hours, but we were grateful for their good food and their willingness
to deliver room service at that hour! A large part of the Japanese
contingent was also there for a late repast. Well, this has been
more than most of you probably want to know about our adventure,
but we will probably enjoy reading it ourselves in about twenty
years, and it is then that the details will remind us of the time
we were a truly mutually supportive team in one of the most extraordinary
events of our lives.
p.s. For those of you who won't read the big details of Sunday
May 5 and Monday, May 6, we should just mention that we did not
wake up until 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning. We were practically brain
dead, but did manage to make it to the Award Ceremonies on time.
We did not have a chance to visit with our friend Enzo Ragni who
had been kind enough to come to our hotel lobby to say hello to
us. We needed every minute just to dress presentably. The dirt
which had rolled off us when we showered upon our arrival the
night before had been even worse than in China. But there we were
Sunday morning, clean and neat. We shared a cab with Karen and
Dale and Michael, no navigating this morning, and a lovely young
woman who turned out to be the head of marketing for Mercedes
in Italy. She was delightful!!
The rain started again just before we all needed cabs to the get
to the farewell luncheon, but we were lucky to share a cab with
the Qvales from San Francisco. The sun came out for the luncheon,
which is detailed in Sunday's entry.
Onf final note here, on Monday morning when we went down to the
garage to get the car, it would not start!!!!!! Thank goodness
it was thirty-three hours after we crossed the finish line that
exhaustion hit the Silverstone!
BRESCIA,
ITALY
SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2002
WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!! We came over the finish line at 1:00 a.m.
on Sunday morning, exhausted but ecstatic. We did every kilometer
of the race, obtained every required stamp on our time card, and
did every one of the ability trials, thirty-seven in all, which
are timed to the hundredth of a second. The tension toward the
finish line was nearly unbearable as all drivers hoped their cars
would hold out just a little longer. As you will see below, the
Suhrbiers added some high drama to the evening just forty-nine
kilometers from the finish line. We have used more than a lifetime
supply of adrenalin and cortisol in just the past two and one
half days. We woke up barely in time to make it to the awards
ceremony at 11:00 this morning, then to the splendid farewell
luncheon under a tent that was at least one hundred feet between
two hundred feet. The bouquets on the tables were magnificent,
the food divine, and there was the camaraderie that exists among
those who have just shared a difficult but exhilarating experience.
Everyone had a "war story" of some type to tell. Pictures
were taken, promises made to meet again, and then it was over.
So soon, but soooo many memories.
PREQUEL:
BRESCIA, ITALY
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2002
This is the
"............and Beyond......" of our new home page.
In just two days, we will be in Brescia for "scrutineering"
of our 1950 Healey Silverstone which we will be driving in the
Mille Miglia 2002!!
Does the term
"scrutineering" sound familiar to you?? It was just
two years ago almost to the day that we were in London for the
"scrutineering" of our Mercedes before our Tower Bridge
departure on the London to Peking 2000. Here we go again!!!! Beginning
at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, over 370 cars will gather in
Piazza Vittoria to check in, be "scrutinized" for proper
authentic equipment, and the driver/navigator teams will be given
the road books and other competitor information. Then the excitement
will build throughout the day!
Our two year
effort to be accepted as competitors in the Mille Miglia was rewarded
with a brief but welcome letter of acceptance from the organizing
committee in Brescia, Italy, which we received on February 5,
2002. Since then, we have been preparing and practicing and packing
for the event. Now we are just two days away from the start of
the race! As the map and schedule show, we will drive one thousand
miles (mille miglia) in just two and half days. We leave on Thursday
evening, May 2. The first car is scheduled to depart at 8:15 p.m.
Our departure time is 21:27;20, or 9:27:20 p.m. The drive to Ferrara,
our Thursday evening destination, will take over three hours,
so there will be little time for sleep! We have been told that
no matter how late we arrive, there will be huge crowds to greet
us in the Centro Storica, the center of town. We have also been
told that we park in the public square for the night. Some will
be fortunate to have hotel rooms right in town; the rest will
take cabs as far as thirty minutes away. If we had a closed car,
I think you might find the Suhrbiers sleeping in the car; somehow
the Silverstone does not seem quite appropriate for that. Of course,
as all you who have visited Italy have undoubtedly discovered,
they like late dinners in this part of the world. Even so, pasta
after midnight will seem strange - no desert early bird specials
here!
The pomp and
circumstance of the start of the Mille Miglia goes well beyond
our departure from Tower Bridge. Although it was thrilling to
be waved off by Sir Stirling Moss, we simply drove away on May
1, 2000.. On May 2, 2002, at the start of the Mille Miglia, each
car, in numerical order, drives up a ramp, is announced over loud
speaker under hundreds of kleig lights, and then drives off the
ramp and follows the red arrows out of town. The ramp is the original
ramp used in the first Mille Miglia in 1927.The roar of engines
can be heard throughout the entire city, and the streets will
be lined with thousands of people. This is the most historic of
sports car race/rallies, held every year from 1927 through 1957,
then born again and run every year from 1982 through 2002. Thus
this is the 20th anniversary of the Mille Miglia. The only cars
eligible for the Mille Miglia are those which raced in the original
between 1927 and 1957. Our 1950 Healey Silverstone is well suited
for the race. It was entered in 1950, driven by its designer Don
Healey, and has been successful throughout the years. Last year,
an identical Silverstone was the winner of the entire Mille Miglia,
and our car (driven by someone else) was eighth overall! The pressure
is on, although some later detailed entries while we are underway
will explain the vagaries of timing in the Mille Miglia. We have
been told by many experienced drivers that we would be far better
off if the driver were Eduardo Surbieri!! Since the ability trials
are timed to the hundredth of a second, there is not a lot of
margin for error, but we will be trying!
This is truly
an international event! Approximately 370 cars are accepted; there
are almost 900 entries from countries all over the world. As you
might expect, there are many Italians accepted, some in old daily
drivers such as small Fiats. Then there are the museum quality
cars from Mercedes and BMW, and then the rarest of the early special
racing cars. If a car has been in the actual original Mille Miglia,
that car will be more likely to be accepted. Sometimes it depends
on how many of a certain car apply in one year.
The weather
reports of are of special interest to us this week. The Healey
Silverstone, as the picture clearly shows, is not only an open
car, but a VERY open car with no side windows at all. Brescia
is noted for good weather at this time of year. It is also known
as the city where, even if the whole day has been sunny, the rain
will appear just in time for the start of the race. Last year
when we did the route of the Mille Miglia as "Media",
( a whole separate web entry) , we listened to people all day
long, walking in the sunshiine, all predicting that it would be
raining by 8 p.m. Sure enough, as if on cue, the downpour began
about a half hour before the scheduled departure of the first
car! A deluge would be a better definition. Some of the older
cars actually have holes in the floor to let the water out! Staying
dry is essential - ours is definitely waterproof Goretex. Ed tested
it in California by hosing me down for ten minutes as I stood
by the swimming pool, dressed from head to toe in black raingear.
Not a drop reached my inner clothing, so we are prepared. In addition,
we have racing helmets and goggles, just in case.
Speaking of
the start of the race, in general, the number of departure is
closely associated with the age of the car. The prvilege of the
number 1,2,3, and sometimes even 4 and 5 are kept for the "OM"
automobiles which won the original Mille Miglia and were manufactured
in the early 20th century right in Brescia. There is a lot of
local sentiment when the OMs drive up the ramp. They are followed
by old Bugattis, Alfa Romeos, Mercedes, Aston Martins, etc. By
the time the numbers reach the 300's, there are many hot "new"
cars of the early Fifties, Ferraris, Maseratis, and later Mercedes,
including the always popular Gullwings.
In the days
of the original Mille Miglia, from 1927 to 1957, the winner was
determined by the car which finished first and therefore fastest.
When Sir Stirling Moss won in his famous Mercedes, he averaged
over 97 miles per hour for the entire race. In 1957, there were
several deaths and the race was cancelled for almost thirty years.
Now it is not an outright speed race. All of the Mille Miglia
is on public roads, and the "carbinieri), the local police,
are determined that speed limits will be enforced. Therefore,
the race is determined by timed stages, which means that there
are penalties for arriving too early at given checkpoints as well
as arriving too late. One must cross some critical time controls
at specific times, for example, six hours, forty minutes, and
three seconds after one's start time. The actual clock time is
therefore determined by the navigator who counts down the final
twenty seconds for the driver because there are 300 penalty points
if one stops the car between the yellow cord which is 100 meters
from the time control and the red cord itself which must be crossed
to the exact second. If this sounds confusing, add the regularity
"PMP" portions of the event, during which you must maintain
an average speed for a certain number of kilometers and during
which there are usually hidden cameras to check if you are staying
at the assigned speed. Then there are the diabolical "ability
trials, the PC's, which are timed to the hundredth of a second.
There are sometimes several in a row, in which the finish line
of the first section is also the beginning of the next one. The
driver has to know exactly when the tire crosses the start cord
so that the navigator can start the stop watch. The list of penalties
and the restrictions on earning points have made many of the drivers,
especially the Americans, decide that their goal will be simply
to enjoy the route, the celebration, and the chance to finish.
We share those goals, but there is that desire to compete that
has us both determined to at least try to be competitive!
We have just
returned to Brescia from the "Warm Up 2002", a gathering
of American Mille Miglia entrants held every year just before
the start of the Mille Miglia. The event is organized by Guiseppe
Tomasetti (Joe Thomas??), an American attorney now living in Parma,
Italy. He is a veteran competitor, and plans the events perfectly
and makes sure everyone gets to know each other and feels more
comfortable by the time the actual race begins. We were comfortably
ensconced in an old villa, The Locanda del Lupo, now a four star
Italian hotel and gourmet restaurant in the center of the sleepy
village of Soragna between Parma and Brescia. For those of you
with a detailed map of Italy, you will find Soragna just south
and a little east of Bussetto. For those of you with a map showing
only big cities, look south of Cremona and north of Parma. This
is the region of Parma ham and Parmesan Reggio Emilia cheese and
surely not the region of low cholesterol! There are fine restaurants
throughout the region; locals call the area the food belly of
Italy.
You may have
been expecting daily journals since we arrived in Italy, but discipline
in Italy is hard to come by!! So we will work backward from the
just completed gathering of Americans. Last night we all went
from Soragna to nearby Fontanella, to Hosteria Ivan, a small,
almost nondescript wine bar and restaurant in another sleepy village.
Surprise, surprise, inside were copies of articles from magazines
all over Europe and an October 2001 article by R.W. Apple from
the New York Times, all raving about the wines and foods served
by Ivan and his wife. Local cheeses, fried polenta, parma ham
and the local, tender, "culatella", followed by pasta
and a special duck marinated for three days and cooked almost
like Peking duck, followed by divine hand-made desserts. At this
rate, no one will be able to fit in his race car!
The West Coast
is well represented in the Mille Miglia this year: Washington,
Oregon, California, all present and accounted for. From the mid-west,
Indiana, Michigan, and moving east, New York, Connecticut, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In addition,. a wonderful young couple
from Mexico City who will also be driving in their first Mille
Miglia Those are just the people present for the warmup. Others
from around the United States will join us in Brescia on Thursday
morning, but we will be greatly outnumbered by European entries,
especially the Italians.
We have had
a great time with our friend Daniel Claramunt and his Argentine
compatriots and with Maurizio Colpani of the Brescia Auto Racing
Team and his wife Miriam. Claudio Scalise, from Buenos Aires,
had just come to Italy after a trip to Vancouver, B.C. and to
Whistler. He is the current Argentine champion. On Sunday, we
joined them for a day of driving our cars on small back roads
from Brescia to Manerbio and then to other small villages all
over the region toward Mantova. We stopped for lunch in the magical
village of Borghetto, where the Roman ruins and castle on the
hill seem straight out of a fairy tale. The river, complete with
gentle waterfalls, is so clear that we could see the fish swimming
as we stood on the ancient bridge. We stopped for coffee in a
small cafe with an outdoor patio with a railing shaped like the
prow on the bow of a ship. As we sat there, we felt as if we were
really "Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon".
After lunch, we had the real treat of the day. We had a group
of five classic cars in our group: a splendid Fiat Balilla, a
BMW 328, an Aston Martin Lemans, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider
just like ours, and, of course, us in the Healey Silverstone.
We were following our leader, Maurizio; we drove through a small
town, Volta Mantovana, entered a large wrought iron gate without
knowing where we were going, and found ourselves in the estate
of one of the nicest young families we have ever met. Francesca,
our hostess, greeted us warmly in perfect English, and introduced
us first to her sons, Luis Ricardo, a three year old who is already
a "car guy" and Frederico, seven, who has a fine. strong,
soccer kick already, then to her handsome husband, and finally
to their houseguest , a seven year old orphan from Chernobyl who
comes to visit them for a month each year when he comes from Russia
to Italy for treatment of problems resulting from the nuclear
disaster years ago. The gardens, the villa, the wine cellar, the
views from the house and from the terraces, all are perfect. We
felt we could move in forever. Then we were treated to a tour
of the family cheese factory. They produce Grana Padano cheese,
a delicious hard cheese, in a state of the art factory just three
kilometers from their house. They also raise pigs at the cheese
factory, and the wine cellar at their home includes many pieces
of salami hanging from the ceiling which has been produced from
their own pigs. Underneath the house is a garage to end all garages.
High ceilings, etc. etc etc, and of course the beautiful maroon
Lancia Aurelia B 24 Spider which they will be driving in the Mille
Miglia. The fringe benefits of this rally life are sometimes overwhelming.
The camaraderie of the afternoon will remain with us always.
The pace of
life in the small villages of northern Italy is enviable. People
walk, ride bicycles, stroll along the narrow cobblestone streets.
The images of CNN and the BBC and network television seem to come
from another planet. Even in the larger cities, one must get used
to the fact that nearly everything is closed from noon until three
or four in the afternoon. Restaurants open for dinner at 7 or
7:30. Holidays are taken seriously. Last week was liberation day,
celebrating the end of World War II. Even the grocery stores were
closed. The cities emptied out and the highways were jammed. We
drove up to Sirmione on Lake Garda on Saturday, usually one of
our favorite spots at the end of a long, narrow peninsula. After
nearly an hour of bumper to bumper traffic on the three kilometer
long road which leads to the center of town and the castle and
moat and wonderful shops and restaurants, we gave up and turned
around and came back to Brescia without ever reaching our favorite
spots. Otherwise, we might still be there.
Another highlight
of our stay in Brescia was last Thursday evening. Our friend Enzo
Ragni and his wife Elena, who took us to the Rotary Dinner here
in Brescia last year and who were so gracious to us, were again
the perfect hosts to us on Thursday. Enzo picked us up here at
the Novotel and took us to the San Guilia Musuem where his wife
Elena is one of the directors and where she has organized the
current exhibit of art by Vincente Foppa, a 15th century artist
who is one of Italy's greatest. We toured the musem which itself
is an incredible piece of history, part of an old convent of Benedictine
nuns. The Roman ruins which have been excavated and which are
viewed as one tours the museum will be the subject of a future
website "update". We toured until the museum closed
for the evening and will go back before we return to the United
States. The evening ended with a formal dinner, just the four
of us in the old Castello Malvezzi, on the top of a hill in Brescia
with one of the best wine cellars in Italy and impeccable service.
Enzo and Elena are delightful company and we will see them again
before we go home.
This is one
of those long website entries. You were warned that we have been
having too much fun and working too hard to keep up with this
every day. Now you as well as we are paying the price for the
delays. In our spare time, we decided that it would be a good
idea to do a trial run of the Mille Miglia, so after we recovered
from jet lag at our reliable Villa Malpensa near the Milan airport,
we drove to Brescia in our Passat station wagon which is a great
rental choice for the Italian roads. We left Brescia on Thursday
evening, April 18. and drove past Ferrara to Ravenna, a lovely
old town which has some of the finest mosaic art in Italy. We
stayed the night at the Hotel Diana, which would have been a charming
and comfortable hotel had we not shared the room with thousands
of small black ants which detracted from the atmosphere.
Then on the
road again on Friday, April 19, doing the "Blue Roads"
which are the historic state highways, in this case, the Via Emilia,
SS9, south to Gambetolla, the Republic of San Marino, Urbino,
Urbania, Arezzo, Perugia, Spoleto, and all the small towns you
see on the route map. We had planned to stay overnight in the
oldest hotel in Rome, the Albergo del Sole, which faces the Pantheon.
After circling several times because the traffic was so ghastly
on Friday evening, we finally found the proper piazza, only to
find that we would have to park our car on a public street blocks
away and take in all of our luggage or leave it in the car!!!
The driver made an executive decision that we were on our way!
We headed north and found a small family hotel on the Via Flaminia
and crashed into bed. We know we will be tired when we reach Rome
in the actual Mille Miglia. Saturday morning we drove the route
through Chianti to all of our favorite places and then went through
Futa pass, our first venture through the famed pass which is the
FUTA of Martin Swig's license plate on his Alfa Romeo in California.
We were not able to go over Radicosa Pass because there had been
a landslide and the police turned us back. We did however turn
around fairly easily and continued on to Bologna, Parma, etc.
We were fortunate in finding the small road which passes through
Soragna, Bussetto, and Roncole Verdi (where the famous opera composer
was born), so we are almost positive this road will be the one
covered with the red arrows of our Mille Miglia.
Back to reality
and continuing preparation of the car. A few last minute details
are being attended to and we will be on our way.
More later.
CIAO!!!!!!!!!!!!