What do rally racers do when they're not racing? We think about rally racing of course! ;-) All joking aside, I liken the downtime between events as the time between recording of albums for rock bands. We're all doing our side projects, getting our, "space," from each other and the studio(er, shop), and generally trying to catch up on the life stuff we miss out on when racing. :-)

This is also kind of a silly season for us. We contemplate what we're going to do for the rest of the season. Budgets are discussed(we have none), events contemplated(Mexico sounds awesome this year!), and then try and set some goals.

We've won the Open Class regional championship in the East two years in a row, Overall Champions in the East in 2008 and second in the Regional Rally Championship two years in a row. What else do we need to do? Not much. What do we want to do? Same thing every crew does-we want to go faster! :-)

With the economy in the hopper, our attendance at many events in 2009 is in doubt. We'll likely find events that are close or events that offer good value for the dollars spent. In other words, we're going to try and be fiscally responsible. As racers, this goes against every instinct in our beings. We'd prefer to hock the kids and a few non-vital organs for one more trip down the special stage! ;-)

In other news, I'm pulling my friend Dave Mirra in the upcoming Olympus Rally. After his great showing in Missouri recently, look for some speed. With Derek Ringer in the right seat, he's got one of the best mentor's in the business. :-)

I'm continuing on my middle-aged fitness quest. Continuing visits to the gym and Karate. I recently tested in the dojo and advanced one belt level. The Grand Master of our system is coming from Okinawa in a couple of months, so we're all training very hard to perform well for him and represent our dojo in the best way that we can.

The weather is nearly(he said hopefully) ready to allow a little road cycling. Went for a short ride the other day with my friend Scott(also my trainer), as we were trying to calibrate our new iBike power meters. Hoping to have some good data to see how the season is progressing.

On a more somber note, one of the folks that has had a somewhat crucial relationship with the team over many years has recently passed. Dana Walls was one of my contacts in the parts department of Quirk Subaru here in Bangor. I would come in with intake manifold under my arm looking to match a gasket or bring in some Japanese spec part and he would find the replacement. He learned pretty quickly not to ask what year the car was or what the VIN # was! ;-) He always tolerated my odd requests with aplomb, no matter how many good customers I was holding up behind me. His smile will be missed, and I know that I'll be looking for him to roll out from behind the parts shelves on his stool when I visit for some time to come. :-(

http://legacy.com/bangornews/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=125513833