The Kinda Grand Tour [FINALE]

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Wait, are you referring to my update, or someone else’s? I haven’t read anyone else’s yet and I’m not so sure about mine haha.

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Well yours kind of started this thing rolling downhill and now after some, uh, crotch exploration, some very vivid farts and now we’ve reached a kiss as well. So what’s next? :joy:

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A kiss? That was in someone else’s right?

I mean, we all get a bit gay when we’re drunk, wait, is anyone drunk yet?

Also vivid farts as a form of erotica, that’s really not my thing :joy:

Edit: now realise the kiss came from FrankNSTein. You can get to Brokeback! Woooooo!

6 Likes

Legend of Terms:

TBDC: Time Block Distance Covered. This is the amount of mileage covered during the current 2 hour period.
ODC: Overall Distance Covered. This is the total distance that the team has covered since Noon on Friday
MRL: Morale modifier
FTG: Fatigue Level
Notes: Any notes I have for your team during this time block. Including POI results, car issues, etc.

Sunday, 6am - 8am

Weather Conditions: 63 degrees. Sunny.

All vehicles are on US101 South or CA-1.

Upcoming POI (optional, let me know if you want to stop at them for rest/sightseeing): Any POI you can find/message me about between San Francisco, CA and San Diego, CA (bear in mind timing - It’s getting on toward evening, and various teams have fatigue setting in)

Next Waypoint(s): Half Moon Bay State Beach, Half Moon Bay, CA, El Capitan State Beach, CA.

VicVictory:
TBDC: 115 mi OD: 1259 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +1 Notes: None.

@Fayeding_Spray
TBDC: 119 mi OD: 1520 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +6 Notes: Waypoint Completed: El Capitan State Beach. Team is feeling fatigued.

@Madrias
TBDC: 51 mi OD: 1159 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +0 Notes: Waypoint completed: Half Moon Bay State Beach. Team has refueled in San Francisco.

@BobLoblaw
TBDC: 116 mi OD: 1381 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +1 Notes: Team has made their final projected fuel stop in Santa Maria.

@CriticalSet9849
TBDC: 0 mi OD: 848 mi MRL: +0 FTG: -0 Notes: Team is awake but idle (part has not arrived yet)

@BailsMackenzie
TBDC: 120 mi OD: 1357 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +2 Notes: None

@TheBobWiley
TBDC: 82 mi OD: 1609 mi MRL: -1 FTG: +4 Notes: Waypoint completed: Team has stopped for 1/2 hour at Santa Monica Pier. TEAM IS VERY FATIGUED.

@DeusExMackia
TBDC: 111 mi OD: 1269 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +1 Notes: None

@HighOctaneLove
TBDC: 93 mi OD: 1379 mi MRL: -5 FTG: +2 Notes: CRITICAL FAILURE. For safety reasons, the team has ended their run in Santa Maria, CA after both front rotors started grinding and the shuddering got terrifyingly bad. Overall morale at the end: +13 (very good)

@stm316
TBDC: 112 mi OD: 1391 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +2 Notes: Team has made their final projected fuel stop in Santa Maria. TEAM MORALE IS EXTREMELY HIGH.

@abg7
TBDC: 113 mi OD: 1330 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +1 Notes: None

@koolkei / @FrankNSTein
TBDC: 108 mi OD: 1451 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +3 Notes: Waypoint completed: El Capitan State Beach. Team has made projected final refueling stop in Santa maria. team is feeling slightly fatigued.

@Rk38
TBDC: 100 mi OD: 1521 mi MRL: -3 FTG: +10 Notes: TEAM IS EXHAUSTED.

@Nomade0013 / @ramthecowy
TBDC: 110 mi OD: 1511 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +6 Notes: Waypoint Completed: El Capitan State Beach. TEAM IS VERY FATIGUED.

@SkylineFTW97
TBDC: 112 mi OD: 1271 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +3 Notes: Waypoint Completed: Team is feeling fatigued.

Team Greasy Lightning

Team/Car info

Rick sketched some calculations on his notepad, occasionally glancing at the atlas in front of him.

“Where do you think we stand?” Fuzz asked, his focus otherwise borne toward the road ahead.

“I don’t know. We haven’t seen any other cars since last night. I can only hope we’re ahead of the mass that were at that hotel in San Francisco.”

“If so, we’re doing well,” Jen added.

Rick nodded slowly. “Still just want to finish this thing. You hear that noise?”

His teammates listened intently.

“Give it a little gas, Fuzz.”

Just a couple seconds after the additional power was applied, the Ardent let out a soft, high pitched whine from somewhere in front of them.

“Only under gas?” Fuzz asked.

“That’s the only time I hear it,” Rick confirmed.

“Transmission, most likely. Possibly flex plate.”

“If you break the car, it’s your fault,”’ Jen needled.

“Shut it! You’re the one who broke the last car!”

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Team: Clutch Droppers

Day 3: 4-6am

As we pulled back onto the highway, leaving the golden glow of Denny’s behind us, there was scramble for the aux cable. Ryan was behind the wheel for the next stretch of the journey, and Bob and Jason were fighting over the aux cable, the fatigue of driving through the night was getting to them, making them highly irritable.

Bob: You had music control while you were driving and Ryan doesn’t want to scroll through songs while driving, so it’s my turn!

Jason: No way, you have had control for most of the journey, I want a fair share of the music time!

Ryan: Both of you, shut the hell up and put something on!

Bob and Jason: I’m trying!

Ryan pulls the aux cable from the radio and flips back to FM. Suddenly, the piercing shrill of a morning radio host comes over the speakers at much too high volume. We tuned in at the end of some joke and a cacophony of sound was assaulting our ears. Similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij4t51QlTXk#t=1m15s

Bob: Oh god, now I remember why I don’t listen to the radio in the morning, turn it off, for the love of humanity!

Ryan: This is on you guys, you brought this on yourselves.

Jason: I would rather listen to nothing than trash talk radio.

Ryan began flipping through the stations in search of something at least palatable, when we heard the sentence all radio listeners dream of, 1 hour commercial free rock block! We were saved. Amazingly, after the hour of rock had ended, a few channels up we found another station starting an hour of metal with no commercials. Today was a good day. We made it to 6am with almost no other fights, however, Bob and Jason were still fuming over their inability to control the music.


Day 3: 6-8am

Just before 6am the trio were cruising along the Pacific Coast Highway enjoying the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean ass the sun started to rise. We were passing through Malibu, discussing Malibu’s Most Wanted, a great movie, when the first attack hit us. We were holy unprepared and the intensity of it shook us to out very cores. The devastation the attack wrought on our noses and minds would scare us for days to come. Few would have survived such an attack, but we were lucky and had all the windows down.

Ryan: Excuse me, the food just hit my intestines…

Bob: This is worse than that other team, why is your gas you just like mustard gas mixed with paint stripper??? HOW?!?!

Jason: Oh my god, we have to get out of this car, we are going to die in here. A single spark will blow this car to pieces right now!

Ryan: Oops, excuse me… again.

A fresh wave of searing pain rolled over the occupants of the car, Ryan was barely able to keep his eyes open, from the burning.

Bob: With his head completely out of the window O SHIT, do you guys realize where we are?? GTA V BOYS! Plus a bunch of great movies. The California Incline is coming up, and the Santa Monica Pier, we have to stop!

Jason: We have to stop anyway, to air out the car. I think the carpet is starting to curl and the paint is coming off…

BBUUUUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPP

Ryan: O man, that was a bad one… Here’s the turn off for the pier.

Before the car had come to a complete stop in the parking lot for the Santa Monica Pier, Bob and Jason jumped out and began running down the pier, attempting to escape the deadly fumes trapped in the old car. Ryan left all the doors open sat on the hood eating some jerky while Bob and Jason took pictures. He popped a couple of anti-gas pills and a couple anti-diarrheals, just in case. A half-hour later and Ryan’s gas had subsided. Bob and Jason hung the last of the air fresheners, Bob checked the oil again, and every piled back in the car.

Bob: It’s 138 miles to Coranado Beach, we got a (nearly) full tank of gas, half a case of energy shots, it’s dark out, and we are wearing sunglasses…

Jason: Hit it.

Ryan punched the gas sending up a plume of tire smoke, which smelled better than he did a little bit ago, as the car made its way out of the lot and back towards the “1”. As the trio headed down the road, Jason decided to call his girlfriend a bit early today to ensure he did not forget to call her after the excitement of the race’s end.

Jason: Hey babe, I know I am calling a bit earlier today, just wanted to let you know that it looks like I won’t be getting this job. We discussed the responsibilities and roles I would have and they are looking for someone with a bit more experience… Yeah, I know it sucks…

Jason: Yeah, I know… Yeah… I know… Yeah… I will probably be home in another day or two, I saw a few job postings while I was here that I want to check out. Yeah, I’ll let you know when I’m coming back. I miss you too, see you in a few days.

Jason: I think she is still buying it, I should be in the clear.

Bob: She knows, she’s going to rip you a new one when we get back. Just you wait and see.

The trio settled in for the totally-for-sure-this-time-guys, last leg of the journey.


Sorry if it seems I stole the farting elements from Strop, but my friend IRL really does have absolutely heinous gas that we have joked about to him.

Morale: +15 (Ryan had a gas attack)
Fatigue: +23 (Still no sleep)

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Farting, it’s a real, common thing, unlike what those lady amazons from Gazorpazorp would like to think :joy:

(Even more real when you think you have to sit with a group of people on an intense 2 day road trip where you rarely leave the car and everybody produces anywhere between half and three quarters of a liter of expressible flatulence a day. In Kai’s case he’s especially unlucky to have a horse for a travelling companion, you know what horse guts are like.)

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Team Mountain Pass

Sunday, day two, 4 - 8am

Team Mountain Pass

At first I thought the brakes were cold, since we left the hotel at 3AM this morning. The grinding and shuddering didn’t seem too bad considering the pace we were making but the brakes steadily got worse as continued on. Finally, in an orgasm of screeching, shuddering defiance, the front calipers seized solid, leaving us stranded and requiring a towtruck… Just my luck, I barely get a run and the car dies on me! At least the car didn’t burst into flames or anything…

Distance travelled: 222 miles
Total distance travelled: 1376 miles
Morale: -5 (+12 total) Another day, another dead Bogliq… Maybe we should run a Saminda next time?
Fatigue: +3 (+4 total) So fresh, so young, so frustrated; we were robbed of victory!!!

Epilogue

Tuesday, after the Grand Tour

Kyle here. I’m not surprised how things ended, since I’d forgotten to do the front brakes in the rush to prepare for the Grand Tour. Other than a pair of front calipers and brake pads, the Bogliq will require just general maintenance to be ready for the LeMons 24hr’s next month. I’m annoyed that we didn’t win but it was one wild ride while it lasted! I will have to keep my eye out for something cheap yet practical to stash away for next time…

Thanks @VicVictory for hosting this event, looking forward to what you have planned next! :sunglasses:

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Team BAGS

Brian’s notes for this leg:

Still nothing untoward as we make our way towards El Capitan, west of Santa Barbara. The sunrise is truly a wonderful thing to behold, and merely seeing it gives us renewed hope. Gary is starting to hear rumors that a bright blue sedan has ground to a halt after a brake failure. Truly a depressing sight for all involved; once we pass it, we will realize the full extent of their plight. This makes our continued survival up to this point seem all the more miraculous. More significantly, though, quite a lot of teams are once again suffering from fatigue - a side-effect of countless prolonged stints at the wheel. We are now considering a more aggressive strategy as the morning progresses… But will it be worth it? At any rate, the scenery in this part of California is even better than anything we’ve come across on our journey south, although we were hardly expecting it to be as good as this.

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TEAM OUTRIDERS

Luigi: Uh oh, looks like Marc is going to be pissed.

Blake: Why is that?

Luigi: Look at all those Hispanics hanging around.

Marc: Why would that piss me off?

Luigi: Your whole issue with immigrants.

Marc: I don’t have an issue with immigrants, I don’t even have an issue with Italians for that matter. I just have an issue with you.

Luigi: Hardy har har!

Blake: How are we doing on fuel?

Marc: She’s going down. We’ve probably got about fifty miles left.

Blake: Okay, let’s take a look here…

Luigi: Santa Maria is thirty nine miles ahead, that looks like a good place we can stop.

Blake: Looks good to me.

Marc: Okay, Santa Maria it is.

(Our heroes stop for fuel in Santa Maria, on their way out they spot something blue)

Marc: Hey, isn’t that the team with the Bogliq?

Blake: Looks like it, their four ways are on.

Marc: Guess they can’t catch a break, poor bastards.

Blake: At least they’re not on fire this time.

Luigi: I don’t understand.

Blake: On the Roulette Runner challenge, we came across them, their car caught on fire due to some rather poor wiring design.

Luigi: My uncle used to own one of those back in the old country. I forget which model it was. I do know the mechanic at the dealership had to have a phone to his ear while working on the car, with someone from Bogliq HQ on the other end explaining the wiring to him.

Marc: Yeesh! That’s some kind of Balkan company isn’t it?

Blake: Somewhere Eastern, I know that.

Luigi: Well, this is a cheap car challenge, these things do happen.

Blake: I know, but it’s still kind of heartbreaking.

(With that Marc cautiously looks at all the gauges, thankfully nothing is amiss)

5 Likes

Team Twin-Snail

Previous Stage


“Breakfast’s over, get in the car!” Luke called at exactly 7:00:00 AM, making his way out of the hotel and to the car.

Amy and Scott took it seriously, stuffed the last bites of their eggs, bacon, and toast into their mouths, then made a run for it, getting into the car as Luke turned the key. Linda, on the other hand, was doing her usual thing, taking an eternity because she could.

Suddenly, a piercing blare shattered the silence as Luke leaned on the air horns. A few seconds later, another blast from the tri-tone truck horns, followed by Linda getting glared at by the receptionist, and Linda was making her way, slowly, to the doors.

A deafening blare echoed across the hotel as Luke, fed up with waiting, hit the train horn as Linda was getting near the door of the hotel.

“Really, Luke?” Linda grumbled. “I was enjoying breakfast.” she mumbled as she got into the car.

Luke didn’t even bother responding, instead slamming the car into reverse, hurtling out of the parking space and almost colliding with an SUV in the process, then slamming it into drive and lighting up the driver’s side tire on the way out of the parking lot.

“7:13 AM. Thirteen minutes behind already because you were ‘enjoying breakfast’ while we’re second-to-last on the grid.” Luke said.

“We could skip the POI stop and cannonball to the finish line.” Linda suggested.

“We could also stop at the side of the road and get rid of some dead weight.” Amy retorted. Scott burst into nearly uncontrolled laughter, just because of the fact that Linda had walked right into that one.

“Really!?” Linda whined, glaring at Amy and Scott.

“Well, we would’ve gotten out of the parking lot at 6:30 if you hadn’t insisted on breakfast. Could’ve been making miles instead of sitting on our asses waiting for eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes.” Luke said. “Could have gotten an extra… 20 miles or so already. More if I decided to put my foot to the floor.”

Scott looked at the GPS, then to Luke and asked, “Well, Luke, can you floor it? We’re really far behind.”

“We need fuel, but once we have it, then yes, I’ll set the throttle to 100% and we’ll go as fast as we can before either the car falls apart, we reach Bishop Peak, or we get pulled over for speeding.”

They jumped the curb at the gas station in San Francisco, coming to a screeching stop at a pump, where fuel was dealt with as fast as possible.

Once the gas was paid for, and they were on the road, Luke put his foot to the floor, sending their old and heavy Minerva Midnight screaming down the road, a midnight-purple missile aimed to make up time.


Aftermath:

Car Condition: Still running fine.

Team Condition: In-a-fuckin-hurry-get-out-of-our-fuckin-way!

MRL +17 (+1) - On the move!
FTG +3 (No Change) - We’re really far behind, let’s get moving!

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Team Bamford

6am-8am

The big red boat was making decent time across Santa Cruz as they headed into road racer territory, Ken was in his element here, having spent a fair amount of time traveling around between Monterey Historics and Los Angeles.

“You know the real long beach is only just down the road” Ken said, leaning into the front.

Jason smiled, remembering the disappointment of almost driving to the wrong Long Beach two days prior.

“Do you reckon we could stop by there for a bit?”

“Maybe on the way back” butted in Phil “We do have an event to finish”

The talking continued, with Ken sharing some memories of his various trips around America and the weekend when he tried to get his F5000 down to the real Long Beach and arriving in time for the race to start.

Phil countered with the trip the team had to deliver the Bamford to the start line, having to cross the United States border since the closest airfreight terminal was Vancouver and their telling of a heroic story to two separate customs officials that saw them get the Bamford across the border, on the condition that they didn’t drive it.

Ken smiled, he had a feeling that a lot of the cars in this challenge were also illegal and going by some of the rumors floating around with the fate of some of the cars involved, it seemed a pretty common trend that the retirees were doing all sorts of stuff to get rid of their cars, or at least remove any evidence that they owned them.

This concerned Ken, Phil was obviously in love with the boat of a Bamford and it concerned him that if anything happened to the car and they had to ditch it, that Phil would stick by the car and end up in prison for his troubles.


They were on a quiet stretch of road now, somewhere close to Salinas when Phil began shifting in his seat.

“I have to piss, can we pull over?”

Jason pondered for a moment…

“Yes, but be quick about it”

Jason was trying to find a place to pull over when he heard a “Done!” from the back, accompanied with the sound of a car door slamming.

“Did you just piss out of a moving car?”

“And I didn’t even get wet” smirked Phil

Ken hadn’t even noticed, he was too busying watching the world go by, until he heard the door slam and saw Phil still kneeling on the seat, zipping his fly up.

“You do some seriously f****ed up stuff” muttered Ken

“I know” replied Phil “It’s almost like I’m emotionally damaged from my attempted murder and revisiting it in such detail over the last few days in the company of friends has broken me internally and I’m resorting to acting out because it’s the only way I can deal with stress.”

“That sounds like a pretty good reason” replied Ken “Also, you got your shirt caught in your fly”

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Team Mr Hankey.
Saturday 10PM-Sunday 2AM… various rustling sounds and the occasional incomprehensible muttered word.

Sunday 2 AM
Wookiee’s watch beeps… and because it’s on the table next to him, he picks it up and throws it at Bill.
Bill: OW!
Wookiee: Oh, sorry, didn’t see you there.

3:00
The team is packed and in the car.
Wookiee turned the key, and Mr Hankey coughed to life.
Wookiee: Yeah! My turn.
Toni: Then let’s go! Look, those other cars are long gone!
Toni was smart enough to reverse into the parking bay, making exit much easier. Wookiee drove Mr Hankey sedately to the street, then… drove at the speed limit.

4 Likes

Legend of Terms:

TBDC: Time Block Distance Covered. This is the amount of mileage covered during the current 2 hour period.
ODC: Overall Distance Covered. This is the total distance that the team has covered since Noon on Friday
MRL: Morale modifier
FTG: Fatigue Level
Notes: Any notes I have for your team during this time block. Including POI results, car issues, etc.

Sunday, 8am - 10am

Weather Conditions: 70 degrees. Sunny.

All vehicles are on US101 South or CA-1.

POI breaks no longer available (unless already submitted)

Next Waypoint(s): Half Moon Bay State Beach, Half Moon Bay, CA, El Capitan State Beach, CA.

VicVictory:
TBDC: 116 mi OD: 1490 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +2 Notes: Waypoint Completed: El Capitan State Beach. Team has made their final fuel stop in Santa Maria.

@Fayeding_Spray
TBDC: 123 mi OD: 1643 mi MRL: -2 FTG: +7 Notes: Waypoint Completed: El Capitan State Beach. TEAM IS VERY FATIGUED.

@Madrias
TBDC: 122 mi OD: 1281 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +1 Notes: None.

@BobLoblaw
TBDC: 119 mi OD: 1500 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +2 Notes: Waypoint Completed: El Capitan State Beach. TEAM MORALE VERY HIGH.

@CriticalSet9849
TBDC: 90 mi OD: 938 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +0 Notes: Part is in, the parts store employee was “bribed” to install it, and team is on their way.

@BailsMackenzie
TBDC: 115 mi OD: 1472 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +3 Notes: Waypoint completed: El Capitan State Beach. Team has made their final refueling stop in Santa Maria.

@TheBobWiley
TBDC: 84 mi OD: 1693 mi MRL: +10 (WINNING!) FTG: +5 Notes: Team has crossed the finish line, shorltly before 9:30 AM.

@DeusExMackia
TBDC: 110 mi OD: 1379 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +2 Notes: Team has made their final refueling stop in Santa Maria.

@stm316
TBDC: 104 mi OD: 1495 mi MRL: -4 FTG: +3 Notes: Team was pulled over by CHP and cited for speeding.

@abg7
TBDC: 114 mi OD: 1445 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +2 Notes: None

@koolkei / @FrankNSTein
TBDC: 112 mi OD: 1563 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +4 Notes: Team is feeling fatigued.

@Rk38
TBDC: 103 mi OD: 1624 mi MRL: -3 FTG: +12 Notes: TEAM IS DANGEROUSLY EXHAUSTED.

@Nomade0013 / @ramthecowy
TBDC: 118 mi OD: 1629 mi MRL: -2 FTG: +7 Notes: TEAM IS VERY FATIGUED.

@SkylineFTW97
TBDC: 89 mi OD: 1360 mi MRL: -5 FTG: +5 Notes: CRITICAL FAILURE: Clutch has given up the ghost.

Team Greasy Lightning

Team/Car info

(Will post RP later)

7 Likes

btw I may have missed this in early posts, but I keep looking and can’t find it.

Where is our destination? LA?

Coronado Beach, San Diego, CA.

1 Like

Team Twin-Snail

Previous Stage


With the team so far behind, Luke buried his foot in the firewall, bringing the Minerva’s full force back into play again. The 3.6 liter DOHC V6 snarled angrily like a wildcat in a room full of rocking chairs, catapulting the car towards ever-dizzying speeds.

“70.” Luke said, counting out the speed as Linda watched the scenery whizz by at an unusually rapid pace. “80. 90. 95. 100.” he continued, the car’s snarl picking up as fourth gear was held for pure acceleration. “105. 110. 115.”

Amy watched as the steering wheel kept shuddering in Luke’s hands, the vibrations through the driveline causing the whole car to shake.

“120.” Luke counted, as the vibrations started getting worse.

A violent clatter and bang resounded through the back of the car, and some of the vibrations subsided, while others were made worse. “The fuck was that?” Scott asked, seeming nervous.

“Wheel weight. Vibration shook it loose. Was imbalanced anyway.” Luke said, his foot still pinned to the firewall. “125. High oil pressure light just flickered. 127. Light’s ignited, steady. RPM is at 5800. 130. Off the end of the gauge. Gear change… Now.”

The car lurched as Luke forced the transmission to 5th gear, the car now traveling at its top speed of 136 MPH. They went screaming past several other motorists, their Minerva just a dark purple dot in most people’s mirrors before roaring past, barely recognizable as a sedan by most people who got passed.

Luke piled on the brakes as a bright orange Storm Shadow moved to pass another car, having checked and seen the Minerva almost a mile away. The tires screeched as he made every effort not to drive up the back of the very expensive thousand-horsepower super sedan, hauling the car down to a mere 80 miles per hour and joining the Shadow in the pass.

“Maybe a bit more… Sane pace is called for.” Linda said after a few moments. “After all, we don’t need to go crashing through the Pearly Gates or the Halls of Valhalla in our dark purple shitbox.”

“At least, if we’re going to go crashing through the Pearly Gates, make sure we’re going backwards first.” Scott said, getting a laugh from all of them.

“Nah, you’ve got it all wrong. Gotta go through 'em doing at least a hundred, on the roof.” Amy said, continuing the joke.

“Well, I don’t know about going through backwards or upside down, but I do know that one was close. A more tempered pace, perhaps, at least until we’re out of this damned traffic. Then we’ll uncork the 3.6 and see if we can make up some time.” Luke said.

“Leave it to Luke to pull a stunt like that. Listen, I’m in no great hurry to meet the Grim Reaper. Plus, someone else already crossed the finish line.” Linda said.

Luke lifted off the gas almost imperceptibly, although the effect it had on the car was noticed by the tailgating truck driver behind them as they got honked at. Luke didn’t even bother to return the blast this time, seeming lightly demoralized.

“At least the last time… We weren’t too far behind. Now, we’ll be lucky to make it without being considered ‘lost in transit.’ Lucky if there’s any food left or any party still going once we make it. All this hard driving, and it’s for nothing. Two days of hard driving, two major stops, one still remaining, but… We’ve lost. Why bother speeding at this point?” Luke said, still shedding speed as they settled back down to flow-of-traffic speeds.

“Oh, cheer up, Luke. Surely you’ve found some excitement out here?” Amy said, trying to raise Luke’s spirit a little, mostly in hopes that he’d find some hidden desire to go fast again.

“Not really. Just a lot of driving. A lot of highway miles in a car that probably shouldn’t be running at this point. Almost 3300 miles since we started our journey in Chicago, cannonballed 32 hours to get to the starting line, and now it’s nearing the end of the journey.” Luke said.

“Well, the old saying used to be, ‘it’s not about the destination, the journey’s the important bit,’ or something similar to that. Surely something’s been exciting, or fun, or noteworthy for you?” Linda said, realizing that Luke’s lack of excitement might be a direct result of his lack of participation in events.

“No. Not really. Most of it’s been driving the car, or fixing the car, or planning on fixing the car, finding a hotel. A talk with Martin from Team Southend-or-Bust, but that’s the closest thing to noteworthy in this event.” Luke said.

“Well, we’ve got to fix that.” Scott said. “We need to do something for Luke, because without him, we’d be stuck back in Storm Automotive HQ, working on some race car or another, or putting an interior in the latest concept car, or completing yet another business transaction. And he’d still be up there, on the 37th floor, trying to decide what the next major sales trend will be.”

Luke continued on at the speed limit for the rest of the stage, despite the team trying to convince him to open the throttles wide and continue at their once-rapid pace.


Aftermath:

Car Condition: Running well enough, despite losing a wheel weight.

Team Condition: 3/4 okay. 1/4 demoralized.

MRL: +17 (No Change) Partially demoralized, but got to see a limited-edition Shadow on the street.
FTG: +4 (+1) Near Death Experiences are scary.

7 Likes

I’ll have to type up my RP tomorrow, I have a whole “thing” I have been planning since the start, regardless of whether I won or not. However, now I have to incorporate some more stuff since I won. (Damn, those final rest stops just barely kept my tiredness in check and just barely ahead of the trailing teams. I won’t lie, I was worried about the final leg.) Congrats to everyone that participated and a huge shoutout to @VicVictory for an exceptional challenge.

4 Likes

Team BAGS

Brian’s notes for this leg:

En route to the finish line in Coronado, we have opted not to stop at any points of interest - we are simply too close to our final destination anyway, nor do we need to adopt a more aggressive strategy (even though, in theory, we still can). Our fatigue levels are still minimal, but the same can’t be said for some of the other teams. Amy has heard a rumor that one team has already made it to Coronado ahead of us. We have mixed feelings about this - we haven’t won, but on the other hand, we will most likely finish, which was our aim for this journey. Alarmingly, Gary has told us of another rumor that a bright red van has broken down several hundred miles behind us. It goes to show how important it is to choose a highly well-maintained car for this long trip south…

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#Team ‘Southend or Bust’
Original Post - Previous Post

The story so far: It’s been smooth going for the past few hours as they saunter down the Californian coast, and the need for fuel has presented an excellent chance to get some extra breakfast…

“Santa Maria then, eh?” said James as turned off the engine. “This just sounds like a generic Californian town”.
“Yeah, the kinda one those crappy American dramas like The OC are set in” replied Martin.
“The OC?” asked James.
“The OC. Some show about rich teenagers living in California that was on years ago. My older sister was addicted to it” said Martin, remembering the time she gave him a bloody nose just because he switched off the TV.
“Sheesh” said James, opening the fuel filler cap, “Glad I missed that one”.

Seb had got out of the car too, but had remained quiet. His eyes had caught something.
“Seb?” said Martin, wondering what he was so focused on. “Seb, hello?”. Martin looked in the direction Seb was looking.
“Ohhh” Martin said, smirking. “Hey, James, I think Seb’s just seen a very pretty lady”.
James looked over from staring at the pump, and chuckled. Seb had spotted a woman with long brown hair in a flower-pattern bardot filling up a light blue Honda S2000.
“Dude, shut up” said Seb, blushing.
“I bet you can’t go over there and flirt with her whilst talking about her car” stated James, with Martin smiling in agreement.
“Er…uh…Well” said Seb, his eyes flicking between the girl and the guys.
“Go on, you know you want to” said Martin.

Seb walked over, casually, checking out her car.
“Pre-facelift or after?” began Seb, trying to start the conversation on the topic of cars. She has to be petrolhead, surely. She drives an S2000! he thought to himself.
“Huh?” the lady turned around, a little surprised. “Oh, the car?”
“Oh gosh yes, yes” said Seb, fumbling a little.
“Ha” she said awkwardly. “It’s a 2006 model, so yeah it’s the updated one”
Holy shit thought Seb. She knows about this kind of stuff. She knows!
“Nice” Seb complimented. “Gorgeous colour too. I take it you’re someone who likes driving then?”
She smiled and put the petrol nozzle back onto the pump. “I am”.
“Thought that might be the case” replied Seb, smiling also. “I mean this is a proper drivers car”.
“Oh absolutely” she replied. “It’s seriously quick, and so much fun with the roof down”.

Martin and James were watching patiently. “Things seems to be going rather well” said Martin, doing his best to not appear to be staring.

Seb and the lady, who he’d found out was called Naomi, were still talking about the car.
“Nah, it’s kinda funny, I’m a stereotype California girl who does girly things, but people always seem to be surprised when I say I love cars” Naomi said.
“Well, I’m not surprised if you’re driving around in something like this” Seb replied having relaxed a little. That all changed very suddenly however.
“So then, did your friends dare you to come over and chat me up?” she said, unflinching.
“Er, er” - Seb stalled.
“Cause it’s real cute, you know” said Naomi, very sarcastically.

“No no, wait” - Seb desperately tried to regain control - “I…I, I saw you filling up your car and just thought you looked really beautiful and I really liked your car and then my friends said I should go over to you”.
“Huh” said Naomi, a little unsure.
“Seriously, I think you look gorgeous and I was actually gonna come over and say hi anyway” said Seb. He seemed to have saved himself.
Naomi looked at him, thinking. “You’re not from around here, are you?” she said.
“No, certainly not” said Seb, smiling awkwardly.
“Mexico?” - Naomi thought that would be the case given he had a Spanish accent.
“Wait, no, I’m from Spain” said Seb. “Though I’m actually at university in the UK currently with those two” he said, looking back to Martin and James (who definitely weren’t staring).

“Oh gosh, sorry about that!” said Naomi, hoping the apology would be enough. “What are you lot doing out here in a…er…” - Naomi looked past Seb to try and work out what car he was in - “…an orange Erin something or other?”.
“Ha, long story” said Seb. “We’re on this Gumball rally kinda thing, it’s a bit less crazy, but we’re driving from Seattle to San Diego in second hand crap buckets basically”.
“San Diego you say?” asked Naomi, her mood changing.
“Yeah, hopefully by tonight with any luck…”

.

“So she might try and meet you there?” asked James. They were back on the road, and naturally the guys were keen to know how it went.
“Yeah, she added me on Facebook. Said she was going to drive down there later today. Obviously she can go a bit faster than us so…”
“Nice job man” replied James.
“Next time though guys” said Seb, “please don’t stare like that when I’m trying to flirt”.

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