Stage 4:
Coalscoop to Nehmenberg
Temperature at mid-day: 9°C
Night-time Low: 4°C
Weather Conditions: With few, scattered clouds, expect a lot of sunshine and minimal winds.
Camp Challenge: Fastest Time around the Evergreen Forest Circuit (Airfield)
Upon looking at the map in the morning, it’s obvious now as to why we detoured away from major cities to come to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. Instead of a straight, fast run from Hollenburg to Nehmenberg on Highway Route 1, we diverted to Coalscoop… So that we could drive the 1337 curves of the Serpent’s Spine forest road, through the Evergreen Forest.
Traffic enforcement seemed to be light, and traffic was almost nonexistent, which meant those who had sporty cars had something to look forward to. Everyone else, however, looked on in dread at the amount of turns they’d have to navigate. Those who didn’t have power steering looked particularly concerned.
The speed signs said 30 MPH / 50 km/h, but just about every curve had “suggested speed” signs of about half of that.
A certain lack of guardrails, combined with plenty of trees to tear up cars, offered plenty of reasons to reduce one’s speed for self preservation.
This was, as a result, a particularly grueling drive for everyone, making it almost an endurance event to deal with 1337 curves in 306 miles of road.
At the end, when we rolled into Nehmenberg, it was a well-deserved respite from sawing at the wheel. The capital city, 1.3 million people strong, with a couple of early high-rise buildings immediately visible, welcomed us and our tired arms as we rolled in. We were given space to set up in their campground at the outskirts of the city.
Next Stage Expected Conditions:
Road Speed: moderate
Road Condition: good
Traffic: high
Police: high
Results Here: SR2023 Stage 4 - Google Drive
Team Shift Happens
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Home Unit: 2:24.27
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Carry All: 2:09.64
Kasiya spent most of the 11-and-a-half Earth hour journey swearing while Rukari hot-miked the radio, broadcasting the huge, heavily-armored werewolf’s thoughts about this particular road to everyone in range. Takaraya had no issues other than learning just how much foul language Kasiya had learned in such a short time. While both rigs had feather-light power steering, he knew that Kasiya’s complaints were more about how often he had to spin the wheel courtesy of the huge number of curves in this road.
VS Mobil Generator AB
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Robert: N/A
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Regina: 1:46.42
With everything going to plan, including a 4 hour scheduled stop for Val to get a few hours of rest and spend an hour figuring out some currency details, it was a smooth scenic voyage on some well-maintained mountain track.
Team M.A.D.
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Walkenhorst: 1:53.39
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Sakura: 1:45.40
Despite traveling as two separate cars again, it seemed there was an unspoken agreement to stick together again. The only difficulty experienced on the trip was passing a couple slower-moving HD-GV units dragging huge trailers. Well, unless the radio was tuned to the same frequency as Shift Happens was using… Then the other difficulty would be listening to Kasiya’s cursing tirade and the complaints about “drivers not giving him any space” as well.
Team Sinesian Rejects
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Imbe: 1:36.69
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Itan: 1:37.66
Ianis floors it to leave camp and travels at a great rate of speed, though nowhere near flat out. The other three take off in the Frankencar at a more normal pace. When the Itan inevitably ended up pulled over for a warning, TJ blared the horn as he passed by… Only to be pulled over three turns later by the same cop who had dealt with Ianis. Thankfully, only warnings today, no tickets, and no jail time.
Team Not-So-Slow
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Schnell: 1:36.64
The winding, twisting Serpent’s Spine road called to you to push the car hard. Unfortunately, the siren’s call of a fast drive on a scenic winding drivers’ road ended up sounding a lot like police sirens. A ticket later (for crossing into the oncoming lane), the Schnell was back on the move.
The Ambassadors
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Ivera: 1:32.99
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Mayland: 1:40.57
The decision to split up here meant that the crew in the Ivera had no major issues beyond a speeding ticket, while the crew in the Mayland had a real bad time. There was, after all, a loud pop from under the hood, and an awful lot of steam. Then the engine got hot and had to be shut off. The lower radiator hose split, spilling coolant everywhere. With no water up here, a decision was made: Put the car in neutral and let it coast downhill, soapbox derby style. It was slow progress, but eventually, the car rolled most of the way down the twisting, winding Serpent’s Spine by the power of gravity alone. It was just a matter of pushing the heavy Ambassador into camp, replacing the hose, and then refilling the coolant before starting the engine and properly parking the car.
The Knockouts
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, 1325 Facelift: 1:21.6
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Papillona: 1:46.66
You would think that Kate would learn to temper her speed. After running over a spike strip and destroying all four tires, she was caught by the police. This time, however, instead of looking around like she was going to run, she put her hands up on the window glass and went willingly. As a result, they didn’t bring out the big scary Dyre from the huge police wagon parked behind the car she ended up inside. Octavia, on the other hand, enjoyed a very scenic cruise on a road she found to be somewhat fun to drive, even if her pace was a little under the speed limit.
Team Mravolinski-Chitco
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Saguaro: 1:49.03
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Kontir: 1:56.78
After the hell of the previous two stages, fate seems to have given the two vehicles here a small break. With the Kontir leaning wildly around every corner courtesy of the camper shell, it’s at least an exciting drive.
Team HETS
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Franklin: 1:25.70
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, FM VanGo: 1:48.64
Between a speeding ticket in the VanGo and two old ladies wanting to take all the pictures, this was a very slow stage.
Team Flaming Gallahs
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Priscilla II: 2:21.72
It’s slow yet steady progress in the party bus. No tickets, no tire troubles, engine running fine, everything is as it should be… Except for a slight chance of catching a load of cursing on the radio, and a lot of curves to take in a very-well-decorated bus.
Team Friendship! 
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Bazard: 2:00.31
It’s hard to say what the two cars think of the winding road. It’s clear that it’d be a great road to drive on in a sportier vehicle.
Team Hillbilly Rollers
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, IP Rugger: 1:46.37
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Sanju: 2:04.40
Things didn’t go so well today. The Rugger’s engine started making an awful banging sound. Janne recognized it immediately - that was a rod knock. The decision was made to stop now, at the side of the road, and do a field-repair before the rod got tired of knocking and made a window in the block. After all, they had the spare parts. Unfortunately, Janne’s inability to consider the amount of time the repair would take meant that they spent nearly one full Earth day with the engine torn apart on the side of the road. Thankfully, a bit of that time was spent getting some sleep in to keep sharp, because once the engine rebuild was complete, they rolled into camp basically just in time to eat breakfast and start the next stage.
Team Sane Insanity
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, KKR S2: 1:37.42
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Roadmaster: 2:03.75
It’s all fun and games until someone fries the tires while drifting and then has to reduce speed severely due to driving on completely bald tires. Meanwhile, the minivan ends up with a warning for driving into the oncoming lanes.
Faolan Industries
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Aether 52 H: 1:35.77
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Aether 11/2: 1:32.41
It seems that the bad luck continues for the Faolan Industries team. The speeding ticket was bad enough. A sharp rock causes mayhem for the 11/2 when it slashes one of the suspension lines, spraying fluid across both lanes and causing a noticeable drop in ride height. After a reasonably quick (for what they were dealing with) fix, however, a trip had to be made back up to Coalscoop to get enough mineral oil to refill and repressurize the system, then back to the stricken car to actually complete the repair. Thankfully, the repair held fluid, and once the car was back up to driving height, the dynamic duo continued on their way… But not before tossing some sand over their spill to keep other drivers safe.
Team Taciturn
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Mara: 1:53.93
After agreeing to drive more carefully and keep their car in their lane, the two aliens make another quick run.
Team ReUnity
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Ursula: 1:29.79
With the engine’s bellowed roar echoing off of the mountain and through the woods, and judicious use of shortcuts no one else would dare take, the little crossover escapes the cops once again.
Team Spy Kids
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Reekayns: 2:06.68
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Mocabey: 1:35.21
“You don’t have to run faster than the Dyre, you just have to outrun your friend.” Such is the case for the Reekayns, which escaped and made it to the camp without any trouble. The Mocabey, on the other hand? Its crew was hauled out and handcuffed, an officer barely restraining a huge, 11-foot-tall werewolf who clearly looked excited about the chance to chase people through the forest. Guess it was a bad time for the engine to stall thanks to a bad fuel pump.
Team J3
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Tiharris: 1:21.06
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Rhien: 1:31.77
Both cars hit the same rock, both cars got the same nasty gash on their oil pan, and as a result, became two more soap-box derby racers to make it into camp. Thankfully, the team was able to sleep in camp with the clocks still technically running, until Jayde woke up, was able to repair their oil pans, and the cars were started in time to start Stage 5.
Team Aeromad
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Juggernaut: 2:16.89
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Torrento: 1:28.88
Other than the driver of the Juggernaut getting a polite bit of advice to keep it in the lane, and three pit stops for the fuel thirsty Torrento, it was a mostly uneventful journey.
@Tzuyu_main & @FallingComet
Team Black Rabbit Disavowed
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Seikatsu: 1:50.21
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Dauer (Camp Challenge Winner) : 1:18.89
Fast, but under the radar, leads to a quick time if you’re lucky. Getting the fastest lap in the camp challenge also feels pretty good.
Sheriff Scott’s Posse
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Warren: 1:26.03
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Bowie: 1:44.70
Both cars get a ticket, one for speeding, the other for driving in the oncoming lane around a corner, trying to pass the first car. Otherwise, it’s an uneventful scenic ride.
Team “486”
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Viera: 1:19.73
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Kleinbus: 1:24.89
No problems other than hearing sirens for the better part of 2 and a half hours before the police gave up on chasing you.
Team Magdelena
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Baumhauer: 1:33.53
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Hinode: 1:42.50
While the Hinode got a quick warning for speeding, it was the slower-moving Baumhauer that got the ticket. Lesson learned - Don’t pass cars on the shoulder.
Team Machinas Con Passione
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Blue Wonder: 1:37.79
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Faenza: 1:22.70
Both vehicles, despite traveling at different speeds, have relatively uneventful trips.
Cunning Stunts
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, VHT: 1:42.66
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Contra: 1:30.78
Another team out for a pleasant drive - at least in the Contra UTE. The VHT “Sand Hopper” was not as fun to wrestle through 1337 curves.
Team Till D End
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, JMX Linx: 1:37.03
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Avantii: 1:47.37
The Linx was a bit of an anchor on this trip. Between the warning for crossing into the oncoming lane, followed by what could best be described as “an engine explosion,” it’s a slow overall time. The Avantii was used to tow the stricken car into camp, where Kivenaal helped repair it once the team had torn it completely down. Then it had to be put back together again, and before it went back in the car, the need for food and sleep took priority. Thankfully, getting the engine back in the car and started up meant that the timer stopped for Stage 4, with only a bit of time remaining before Stage 5 started.
Basedworks
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, RV: 1:44.86
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, MCMOTD: 1:25.33
Having slowed down previously to avoid as much aggressive attention from the police, the MCMOTD makes it into camp without any issues. The RV is only a couple hours behind.
Team Gunship
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Haapala: 1:32.45
Between getting a ticket for speeding, and spending an awful lot of time driving slow thanks to the ass-tastic road-holding capability of the chunky offroad tires you put on it, it’s a slow trip for the open-cockpit sporty car. It really didn’t help your speed much when you hit a patch of oil and spent several minutes spinning tires.
4 Dicks in a Truck
Evergreen Forest Circuit Time, Centurion: 1:52.30
Things were going well until the cops pulled you over and gave you a ticket for crossing into the oncoming lane. It would’ve been a warning, but someone just had to argue that they didn’t cross into the lane. The cop’s response? “You damn near ran that half of your truck over my hood.”