Floats my 'Boat!

[Ben Howell <bhowell@rainbow.rmii.com>]

 Well, here I am...back from the long weekend spent in Steamboat at the
Qclub winter driving event. I was told that I must make a full report this
year, so here we go:

  Weather man says, "sunny and 60's all weekend long". It just doesn't get
any better than this!!! How could we even ask for better weather? We
couldn't! The 3 hour drive (O.K., so it was more along the lines of 2 and
a quarter hours, but that's a whole other story) was taken at night
because of work, but the stars were shining and we had four Q's all in a
row heading up (It was a kodak moment!). We arrived and all reports from
the Friday drivers reveal that the track is REAL slick and the snow banks
are REAL hard. Past years, the snow banks have swallowed cars, but this
year they were bending sheet metal!!!!!!! 

  Saturday is the day that the newcomers get to run though the Bridgestone
course and thrash their cars instead! I chose to hit the slopes and get my
workout that way (thanks Steve!). It was a sunny day with scattered cloud
cover. What this means is that the snow gets soft when the sun is out and
then freezes when it goes behind the clouds. Make no mistake, this
actually happens and track conditions can change from lap to lap! This
also means that the snow banks are get a nice hard "shell" on them and are
even less for giving now! I know of at least one UrQ fender that was bent
up! :(

  Now it's Sunday and it's EVERYONE's turn to play! 28 drivers and 24 cars
make this day up and we couldn't be happier. We are all shaking hands and
hoping for the best by 9am and it's looking like the sun is going to be on
our side for the whole day (VERY nice for those of us without Blizzaks).
The sun came and went, but was never around for long enough to throughly
soften those nasty banks. It's the first time out for me this weekend and
wouldn't you know it......the bank eats my front licence plate and drivers
side turn signal. I'm just happy that I don't have my
UrQ!!! Turn signals are cheap compared to the $1500 UrQ front valance that
got eaten by the same bank! 

  Now all I can tell myself is that is going to be the last time that I
deposit parts around the track. It certainly wasn't the last time I
planted it, but I kept everything else attached. Now all I needed to do was
watch other people and get a grasp on the line. The 5kq's seem to have an
advantage, not sure why, but almost all of them were VERY hooked up. The
red 87' of Mr. Metcalf was VERY impressive! And as always, watching the
red 85' UrQ of Scotty Davis was a sight to behold. The 20v turbo motor
seemed to get all the power to the ground as if it defied the laws of
physics! It was a sight to behold! The long distance award goes to our
very own Chris Semple and Stott Hare! These guys were the hit of the
weekend, with their Supertrapped 84' 4kq. BTW, they also get the award for
the most exterior pieces lost, so it is imperitive that everyone gives
them a hard time when they return mid-week! :)     

  After lunch, the sun was REALLY out and it did an excellent job of
softing the track. I was running the Hakka 10's and in the soft stuff, the
were amazing!!! They could do no wrong. Both acceleration and braking in
the soft snow that skirts the track were "pavement like"!! Now I feel that
I am REALLY hooked up! front straight speeds rise from 40-45mph all the way
to around 55mph! What a feeling it is to speed down a snowy track, lined
with roof high banks at 55mph! It just can not be duplicated!

  Now, for the last 2 hours of the day, they decided to reverse the
direction on us! The sun has gone away and has no plans of returning, the
ice is now to a fine polish, and we have to learn an completely new
line. It was a full day, the clockwise direction just didn't do it for me
and I couldn't find the line to save me life. I gave up! It was time for
me to toss in the towel and be happy with the fact that this is the first
I have completed an event with out some sort of mechanical failure! YEAH!     

  The day was coming to a close, but you have never seen so many smiles in
one day than you have here! The was so much fun to be had, that there
wasn't enough people! I FULLY encourage other listers to come out for next
year. Colorado is pretty centrally located, so you can't be "too" far away
for this event! Even Scott was smiling WHILE he was swaping out his fuel
dis.!! Maybe not as much as when he was throwing snow on the spectators,
but I know that I saw a smile! 

  Thanks go out to Scott, Mike and Steve for the "closing
the place down" talk! I couldn't get enough and we need to do it again! 

 Dave, you must be insane! I still can't believe that you drove up to
Steamboat and then drove on the track with those snow banks!! You are
NUTS!!!! And I am sorry about the "toolbox mark". Bummer :(

  Chris and Stott: One word....Dedicated!!!!!!! :)

  Chris T.: You get the award for the biggest smile of the weekend! Your
face must have hurt. :) and to top it all off you were filming! Kudos my
friend.

  Ok, I have wasted enough of everyones time here. I hope to hear from
more participants and I hope to see even more of you next year. 

 See you all next year!!!

Laters, Ben
bhowell@rmii.com
Lakewood, CO
83' UrQ #346 PT2B
87' 4KCSQ (Now stereoless, licence plateless and ft. turnsignaless!)