| The Sunday Club Chronicles | ||
Sunday, March 19, 20064x4 Off-Roading Race in Pampanga Let me first explain the mechanics of the race from how I understand it. Each team consists of 3 cars; each car has one driver and one spotter (navigator). All teams are given a time limit to finish the race. There will be a 5 (or is it 10) minute gap before the next team is sent in to go through the track. To win, all three cars in the team must finish the track. Even if one car finishes the track but two get stuck and reach the time limit, that means the team did not finish the race.  So all along, this whole family has been thinking it's like one of those F1 races, only on 4x4. It's actually not a race race. It's really a strategy thing to go through all those hills, mud, water, hell, you name it. And their cars are so cool. Imagine modified Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, Tonkas, and various Suzukis. So anyway, this year, the race was at Gugu Creek, Bacolor, Pampanga under the stiflingly dreadful heat of the sun, amidst lahar country. It was supposed to be a two-day event, except that the track was impossible to do on the first day. Sadly, the second day wasn't any better. Nobody finished it except for the Governor's team who donated the prize and went through it last.  On to the better part of it, accommodations were pretty ok by Pebbles and Caren standards. We stayed at Hotel Gracelane where we came to find that the bathrooms were not bad, the aircon was cold, and the breakfast was delicious. Not bad at all! Out of the hotel, Ate Pebs and I spent our time drinking C2 and holding ice under the tent of Kuya Nicky's team, The Delta Recon Vitara Club of the Philippines. Kuya Nicky proved to be a superb driver. And I have a new found respect for his white Samurai. You should've seen it easily go up the hill when the Land Cruiser almost slid, and you should've seen it pull the Tonka. Talk about hard core!   
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