Friday, February 23, 2007

Oregon Competition Update

I just had a nice long chat with Gail Haley, organizer of the Rat Race. She is very pleased to see so much interest in their events from the Hawaii crew, returning veterans and first-timers alike. She is super nice and easy to talk to, and I definitely recommend that you contact her if you have any questions.

Headquarters

Gail and her husband and co-organizer Mike have bought a place in Ruch near the Woodrat LZ and they are moving there right now. Their house will be the new competition HQ and she is looking forward to a better arrangement all around because of it.

She says for the nationals, the fairgrounds will be the comp HQ area, and people will also be camping and parking their RVs at the fairgrounds.

Logistics

The logistics are still up in the air for most of the Hawaii pilots. Brazilian Ray is aiming for the lowest budget option, which means flying to Oakland Thursady night on the red eye and driving 6 hours to the Rat Race, and camping, for a total trip cost as low as $500 (excluding meals) depending on how the car is split up. Reaper and Motorhead will also be camping.

On the other hand, Don is considering staying in the same Medford motel many of us enjoyed last year for $40 a night (for two people). That's not much more expensive than camping and you get a real bed and a nice hot shower. But it is 30 minutes away, and it's in a grim area of town. Seattle Ray and Quentin are going for the pricier motel in scenic Jacksonville, 10 minutes from the race HQ, and home of restaurants including those for the two official post-race dinners - I may end up trying to stay in Jacksonville too if I can find a halfway reasonable rate, and Bob is likely to do the same. Also Bob and I are probably going to fly directly to Medford like we did last year - on a day flight, not a red eye, arriving Saturday afternoon if possible. It's more expensive that way, but I think I'll be a bit less burnt out when I get there.

T-Shirt

I think we should create another Hawaii Rat Race T-Shirt this year. We had a lot of fun last year and we got a lot of positive feedback from folks over there. Last year I think Bob bought the shirts and never ended up making the money back. This year let's see if we can spare him that burden. Is anyone interested in submitting designs? We could have a little contest here if people want to try that. If so, let's try to get our designs in as soon as possible. Personally I'm inclined to use the same (or similar) monkey logo and motto on the front, and something new on the back. Maybe Bob still has last year's screen? I wouldn't mind printing a few more of last year's version anyway if it's not too much trouble.

Registration

Gail says the comp web site will have an improved pilot listing soon - their poor web programmer is having a tonsilectomy right now but he should be back at the helm soon. In the meantime Gail predicts most of the Hawaii crew who signed up on the first day should be confirmed without having to wait for the lottery. Keep checking the current listing on the website (click here) to see if your name shows as confirmed - she thinks by tonight the initial confirmations should be complete.

We have 13 Hawaii pilots (or expatriates) registered for the Rat Race:

1. Bob (confirmed)
2. John Ivey (former Big Island pilot - confirmed)
3. Alex
4. Brazilian Ray
5. Sandy
6. Jetflap
7. Greg
8. Suicide Pete
9. Frank
10. Quentin
11. Ray Van Cleave
12. Scrappy
13. Nick

Plus free flyers and volunteers:

1. Don
2. Motorhead Paul
3. Reaper
4. Jiah
5. Cheree

And we have seven signed up for the Nationals:

1. Bob
2. John Ivey
3. Alex
4. Brazilian Ray
5. Fireman Dave
6. Quentin
7. Ray Van Cleave

Plus free flyers and volunteers:

1. Don
2. Reaper
3. Motorhead Paul

5 comments:

Bob said...

Where's DOUG????

Suicide said...

Hey!!!! I signed-up for Rat Race!!!! and I expect to volunteer for the Nationals

Did Gail say that I wasn't accepted? WTH?

Suicide said...

OK . . . that will teach me to READ the article before I post a comment. :-O

I hope I get confirmed soon

Alex said...

News flash: all of last year's Rat Racers are now confirmed: Bob, Alex, Brazilian Ray, Sandy, Jetflap, Greg and Suicide. The five first-timers (Frank, Quentin, Ray Van Cleave, Scrappy and Nick) are still unconfirmed. Last year, everyone who registered the first day (Feb 15) got in, but it took a while to get confirmed. I think this year it will be the same story. They're going to hold spots for top-ranked comp pilots and international pilots for 30 days, and after that they'll divvy up the remaining spots in order by registration date. Gail said they'd be posting a pilot list soon that will make the waitlisting order and status clear, like they did last year. Stay tuned!

sandy said...

For anyone who was thinking of staying at the Hummingbird B&B -- this is the one that Gail emailed about, but it's already booked for the last weekend --
they also permit camping on the their property at $8/night, with (shared) use of the full bath in the art studio
see this page
So you could stay in comfort most of the week, then move outdoors later (or perhaps stay outdoors all week).
It's about the same distance away as Jacksonville.