Rat Race and Bay Area Trip

June 11-25 2010

This was C.J.'s eighth year of attendance at the Rat Race, a paragliding competition held at Woodrat Mountain in southern Oregon. She's the only competitor who can claim the distinction of having been to every Rat Race since it was started by Dixon White and Mike Hailey. This year she had a new (very new, having flown it only once) Golden3 and turned in her best performance yet. Naturally I had a bit of wing envy, but an extension of our trip to the Bay Area and Wally Anderson's Merlin Flight School would give me a chance to demo a new wing for myself. [Of course, the extension was billed as a family get-together with C.J.'s siblings Ginny and Bill.]

11 Jun, Fri - Packed and out by 1000, we stopped only for gas in Covington and a couple of rest stops and gas again in Eugene (much fewer gas stops when we aren't pulling the Aliner!). A traffic jam caused both by a raised bridge on the Columbia River and by an accident in the northbound (!) lanes slowed us down in the Portland area but we reached the Ruch, OR, Rat Race HQ by 1830. After registering we drove through the Applegate Valley and up Humbug Creek to the huge yurt that Barbara Summerhawk graciously lets us use when we are in the area. While the calendar said it was June, the temperatures were such that we spent considerable time trying to get the propane fireplace to work. (The pilot light would ignite but then would not stay on even though there seemed to be plenty of propane.) Chris Ammondsen joined us after we had prepared dinner (outside) and eaten (inside). We piled up the quilt and down comforter on the futon mattress and expected a chilly morning.

12 Jun, Sat - It was cold enough for fleece jackets, wind pants and hats when we got up but the sun warmed things up fairly early - good thing because the practice day pilots meeting (photo, left) was at 0930. By the time we got there at 0900, the parking lot was full (We later found out that there was plenty of room but people had blocked access to additional area) and we had to park near the entrance. There were a lot of first-timers at the meeting and there were lots of rules to go over by Nick Greece and Jeff Farrel who were standing in for Mike while he and Gail were at her son's graduation. We took the small bus to launch with our gear and there was another meeting. I launched about 1230 and, although I got up over 5K and crossed to Rabe's Ridge, I ended up in the LZ in 30 min having found only bubbles of lift. I lucked into a ride to launch with some Colorado pilots but then decided not to fly in midday conditions with the big gaggles. I helped spread wings on launch until all the competitors were off and drove a vehicle down to the LZ. The Civil van got me back to HQ where C.J. reached me on our usual ham frequency after she landed at Longsword. She had had a good day. Later I attended the briefing for us volunteers and then there was a baked potato w/toppings dinner including salads, and margaritas in a 5 gal cooler. C.J. helped clean up in the kitchen while I did my assigned garbage duties around HQ. When we got back to the yurt we stopped to see Terri Becker, Barbara's neighbor and "yurt manager". She didn't have any more luck than we did getting the fireplace to light. But the temperature seemed to be warmer than the previous night.

13 Jun, Sun - It wasn't quite as cold in the morning either. We got to HQ a bit earlier and snagged the same parking spot. Then there was a looong meeting in which Mike went over the same rules again plus assigned mentors and other stuff. The little bus appeared to be full so we took the big school bus instead, with thanks to Dave Norwood who put our wings in his truck for the trip to the top. I was going to take off before the launch window opened but I was a little late and ended up helping lay out wings on launch until 1400. When I launched I was thinking about trying to fly to the day's goal at Purcell up toward Applegate Lake. At first everything was working well, I got up, crossed to Rabe's and got up again to 5600'. Then I headed SE thinking I'd top up at Squires Peak but there was no lift to be had and I slowly slid down the west face of the ridge. If there had not been a few pockets of lift out in the valley I would not have made it to Longsword and a free glass of wine. Even better, while I was waiting C.J. called on 146.55 with the news that she had made goal! Finally back at HQ, C.J. checked in and I did my garbage thing. On the way to the yurt, the check engine light came on and the cruise light began blinking. Uh oh!

14 Jun, Mon - C.J. got a lot of attention at the Pilots Meeting today for being the second-highest scoring woman (Mer was #1), for making goal for the first time at the Rat Race, for being the HG&PG Magazine editor-emeritus, and for presenting Mike and Gail with a handmade t-shirt quilt. Because it was overcast and almost drizzling, we didn't go to launch until 1100 or so. [I called Eastside Subaru to ask what was up with the check engine light. They said to give it a couple of days or several trips but get concerned if it starts blinking.] It was pretty chilly on launch what with the wind and lack of sunshine but it gradually cleared. Launch window was set to open at 1340 and I launched just before that. I found lift on the spine then lost it and had to fly out to the mid launch to find a good thermal. Near cloudbase at 5000' I flew to Rabe's but found no lift there and returned to land at the LZ (where 80% of the competitors ended up as well). I walked back to the HQ and hung out until C.J. called on our ham radio frequency from the LZ where she had landed after conditions became scary. I picked her up and we stayed around HQ until 1800 when we went back to the yurt for dinner. as soon as the sun went down it started getting cold again and we thought it might get even colder than the first night if there were no clouds.

15 Jun, Tue - Fiasco Winery, run by Dave Palmer, a longtime HG pilot and current president of the Rogue Valley club, provided a pancake and ham breakfast for the Rat Race at the winery. We had the Pilots Meeting also and loaded on to the shuttles there. Since the weather was predicted to get windy (as if yesterday hadn't been windy enough), an early launch time was set and all pilots had to land by 1530. I launched at 1140, climbed up on the spine and crossed to Burnt where I got under the clouds (This was the first time I remember seeing Mt. Shasta while flying at Woodrat) . After almost sinking out I got back to 5400' near the edge of the cloud and gave up any chance of returning to the LZ by turning north and following the day's task toward Jacksonville. Once I got over the town the lift quit and I had to pick out a place to land. No one seemed to be flying any flags so I picked the wrong direction but a good location, landing in a grassy park. A local retiree came over to talk and offered me a ride back to my car which was still at the winery. Whoo hoo! A good day for me since most competitors and wind techs did not make it out of the LZ. I picked up C.J. then went to the HQ for a while to check in and download tracklogs. we went back to the yurt to rest and clean up before dinner at Las Palmas in Jacksonville. Good dinner, friendly staff. Most of the competitors and volunteers attended, maybe because it was such a short day. Before the dinner C.J. and I attended Jeff Farrell's presentation on using the speed bar - even modern 1-2 wings now have a better glide when using speed between thermals, he said. On the way back to the yurt we stopped at HQ so I could empty the garbage cans. It was another cold night but still comfortable for sleeping.

16 Jun, Wed - It was cold enough for long underwear and I was glad to have it on the windy launch under mostly overcast skies. At the pilots meeting at HQ Mike reported that seven pilots had landed in a forbidden field at the foot of the Poormans waypoint. He then passed the hat to collect some money to buy something to placate the landowner; later we heard $418 had been donated. I launched at 1250 just before the launch window opened and had to go all the way out to mid launch before finding a thermal that took me to 5000'. I crossed to Rabe's and more lift there let me push in farther to the 2K cylinder around the RABPK turnpoint. Unfortunately there wasn't any more lift as I headed back out and I barely cleared Rabe's Ridge. I continued sinking until I thought I'd have to land on the hillside but just before the last chance I caught something and climbed 500 ft , enough to glide to the LZ and search for lift along the way. There wasn't any and I landed going toward the mountain. After getting a ride to HQ I decided to go into Medford and see about getting new tires, buy fruit, a camp stove lighter and deposit some checks. At Costco the tire salesman said I still had three to four thirty-seconds of tread and could probably get through the summer. But he strongly recommended that I get the 98H Performance tires when I did replace my tires, otherwise there would be no warranty. When I checked my mobile, I found a voice mail from C.J. that she had made goal at Donatos! Back at HQ I dumped the garbage and then googled "check engine light" - there were various opinion. Back at the yurt later I disconnected the battery overnight to wipe out the error code in the vehicle computer. If the light comes back on I'll have to consider finding a Subaru repair shop.

17 Jun, Thu - Today was warmer and the task committee called a fishbowl with a dogleg to goal at Donatos via Jville LZ. I launched at noon and didn't get up again until mid launch, crossed to Rabe's at 5K and slid back to the LZ. Fortunately, I got a low save at the soarable LZ and climbed to Burnt then across to Rabe's and thermalled out toward Flyair with the thought of going to Longsword. Instead I crossed back to mid and climbed to 6K and considered trying for Jville LZ. By the time I had reached Burnt I had sunk to ridgetop level so I turned around and landed in the LZ in switching winds. I waited at HQ until C.J. called from Longsword then drove out there and hung out for a while. Back at HQ we found out that a pilot, who we feared might be our friend Steve T, had sustained a back injury near Donatos. We went back to the yurt to clean up for the dinner at Fiasco catered by the Dewey Bridge Store - fried chicken, beans, salads and chocolate sheet cake. While we were eating a number of people flying the glassoff landed in the Fiasco fields in pretty strong west winds. Good news: the check engine light has not come back on since I reconnected the battery.

18 Jun, Fri - This was the first day that a task was called to the west (Bald Hill back to Donatos). I launched in normal conditions at 1200 and left the small gaggle to get out front under some clouds. Unfortunately there was no lift beneath them and my line to the microwave tower on Rabe's did not hit any lift either. I turned back to the LZ and my GPS indicated a ground speed of 58 kph. When I turned into the wind at the east side of the LZ my speed dropped to less than 1 kph. Oops! I used the speed bar to creep into the field and then it took quite a while to get down from 200 ft. I used the D-lines to douse the wing when I touched the ground but it wasn't all that windy at ground level. Other wind techs reported the conditions (plus a tree landing above the Rottweiler field) back to Mike at launch and the day was put on hold, then the turnpoint was changed from Bald to Isabelle, then the task was canceled. I got a ride back to HQ with Robyn Orr and the Bay Area pilot wind techs and waited for C.J. to get down. We hung out at HQ for the rest of the day and ate dinner there to contribute to the Hunter scholarship fund. We got back to the yurt around 1830 and saw a turkey on the way. The check engine light remained off.

19 Jun, Sat - Mike had a "volunteer appreciation day" at the meeting in the morning. We all got a bottle of Fiasco claret and a Starbucks card. Being a volunteer is already a good deal and Gail had made it even sweeter this year by comping us for the two Rat Race dinner parties. Clouds lifted and broke as we got to launch. The task was the same as on Friday (Isabelle to Donatos). I launched at 1207, got low a couple of times and climbed back in big thermals both times. Then I crossed to Rabe's high and pushed up the ridge above 5000', deciding I'd turn back at 4500 - it was upwind to the 3K cylinder around MT_ISA and I couldn't reach it (Pilots that did later reported having to try five times before finally getting inside the cylinder.) I headed back but found enough lift to maintain and caught a good thermal over China Gulch to 6K. I thought about flying the rest of the course but by the time I reached Burnt I was below the ridgetop. Trying for Longsword I overflew the Hunter LZ and ran into big sink. I had to turn back to the LZ but, as usual in the afternoon, it was soarable and I climbed out enough to easily make Longsword. The west wind had picked up in the valley and there was a tandem landing at the same time, but it's a big, clean field and I had no problem. As soon as I got packed up I caught a ride with Robyn and some of the Bay Area pilots back to HQ. C.J. called later to say she had landed in Forest Creek Canyon and I drove out there to pick her up. Back at HQ there were drinks and snacks and then the Awards Dinner. I helped serve the lasagna, of which there was not enough so the portions kept getting smaller. There was also other pasta, salads (one made of greens from Gail's garden), and garlic bread. Raven made a bunch of decorated cupcakes for dessert. Outside there was a new refrigerated beer keg, and a cooler each of margaritas and Rat Race rum punch. The awards ceremony (photo, left, C.J. and the other women top finishers) was fairly low key this year - maybe it was too cold to throw people in the pool or maybe they weren't drunk enough to tackle big Jack Brown, the Open class, Masters class,and Region One winner. After I emptied garbage one last time we headed back to the yurt around 2230.

20 Jan, Sun - Since we didn't have to get to a pilots meeting, we scrambled up some eggs for breakfast, then packed, cleaned the yurt and hit the road (not much later than 0915). The Costco in Redding did not have a gas station so we went all the way to Williams and arrived with the tank just about empty. At the Soaring Center we ran into Bill, C.J.'s brother, right away and then Ginny. After Bill and Ginny did a tandem sailplane flight without finding much lift, C.J. and Ginny went up and managed to soar around for an hour. Meanwhile I went to get gas thinking that the Pilot station with relatively low-priced gas was just south of Williams. After driving ten miles I realized that it must be just south of Dunnigan, instead. Oh well, the gas really was a lot cheaper than at the stations in Williams. When I got back to the gliderport, Ginny had organized a barbecue dinner for us and the crew. Wally arrived just in time to get some dinner. Afterward we had ice cream, fresh fruit and whipped cream in Bills house. C.J. and I slept in the bunkhouse where it was a bit warm but cooled off enough for a quilt or down comforter by morning.

21 Jun, Mon - Ginny provided us with a nice scramble for breakfast and we looked at weather - windy already at the gliderport and forecast windy at upper levels - not good for our planned itinerary of flying Wally's demo Mistral 6 at Potato Hill. So we hung out at the airport until about 1100 and then followed Wally down I-5 and on to the the east Bay where the wind was kicking up lots of whitecaps. However when we reached the coast at Pacifica, the wind was much less strong, but quite south. Still, it looked good enough to carry our gear to "Jungle", a launch above "Walkers" located in a narrow crease in the unstable hillside with ice plant above and tall bushes and trees below. (photo left, above - Wally and G at The Dump) When Max, an Australian, launched and began soaring, Wally suggested I go next. It took me three tries to get off because I kept losing the brake toggles (stiffer than the ones on my Dragon2). But finally I launched and climbed out in ridge lift. Since we had seen some high wind, I was careful to stay below the top of the cliffs and didn't go around the corner where the slopes faced more west. I landed when the fourth pilot launched into what seemed to me a pretty narrow lift band and C.J. brought the lunch she had made out to "Tomcat" launch. We followed Wally back along the coast route to the Golden Gate Bridge, thus avoiding much of the rush hour traffic. Ginny had finished what she was doing at the gliderport and had gotten home not long before us.

22 Jun, Tues - Ginny had to go to work early and, since the weather was lousy, we hung around the house until around 1400 when we went with Wally to Pacifica again. We had our wings with us but Wally was in business mode: delivering a wing and reserve to a student. After rigging the speed bar and packing the reserve Wally gave the student an intro tour of "The Dump". Clearly we had made the right choice because no one was flying (except one guy at "Cheetah"). It was foggy, and 30 deg. colder at the coast than at San Anselmo. On the way home we stopped to pick up a Papa Murphy pizza, some salad makings and ice cream at Bon Air in Corte Maders and got home just before Ginny.

23 Jun, Wed - The plan for breakfast was to meet Ginny and C.J.'s cousin Scott at Dipsea Cafe in Corte Madera. On the way there in Ginny's Forester, we got rear-ended by a Volvo. No one was hurt and surprisingly Ginny's vehicle was not damaged and the other car had only a damaged headlight or turn signal. Breakfast was good and the cafe was a Marin-original with a decor that harkened back to when the county was primarily farmland. We stopped at AAA on the way back and then headed home to get ready to go to Mt. Diablo at 1300. We met Bob Clem, the site coordinator, at the LZ (1000' MSL) around 1430, checked it out, and drove to the Junction Ranger Station to sign in. From there we drove to Juniper Campground which is about two miles from the summit. The launch is right there (2850' MSL) so we filled out forms and signed waivers and got our helmet stickers (good indefinitely). Bob launched first and had a pretty short flight to the LZ. I took off next (1610)(photo left - G' and new Mistral6) and worked spotty lift but couldn't maintain or climb. As I was approaching the LZ over Poker Table Flat, I caught the first good thermal so far and was able to climb almost back to launch . C.J. came out to join me(photo left - C.J. launching new Golden3) and Wally launched. I didn't hang onto the thermal and had to head back out to the LZ where it was a bit difficult to get down. But landing on the sloping, grassy ridge wasn't too hard even without a usable wind streamer. C.J. landed pretty soon after me and then Wally. When Ginny got back from taking Bob to his car at the campground, we drove to San Anselmo to a great little Thai restaurant, Lanna Thai. Back at Wally's I did some car packing and got cleaned up in preparation for leaving on Thursday.

24 Jun, Thu - Ginny cooked another egg-and-veggie scramble before she had to take off for work. We cleaned up a little, finished packing the car, and said goodbye to Wally, who found a Swing T-shirt for C.J. We left shortly after 0900 and stopped for gas at Costco Vacaville. Then we pretty much drove straight through to Medford with one stop to view Shasta Lake with its unusually high water at Turntable Bay(photo, left). After a couple more rest stops and a disappointing drive through Yreka in search of a DQ, we reached Medford and got gas at Costco and some groceries (and a very berry sundae). After a stop for fresh strawberries on the way to Ruch, we drove out to the yurt for the night.

25 Jun, Fri - We ate breakfast in Barbara's cabin which was still warm from yesterday's heat. After stopping to chat with Teri, we drove to Rat Race HQ to pick up Meredyth's first place trophies for 2009 and 2010. We took the Old Stage Road from Jacksonville to I-5 as directed by "Sheila", the GPS. Gas in Wilsonville at Costco then through some slightly slow traffic in Portland. We ran into really slow traffic from the Nisqually River to Fort Lewis as a result of a fatal accident near Bridgeport Ave. Costco Covington provided us with a rotisserie chicken for dinner and then we were home by 1910. Another adventure successfully concluded!