Bernie's Tourblog

I got the answer today to a question that has been on my mind. Would the Birkin run in a heavy rainstorm? It does!

We got to Moab, UT early so we could go to Arches National Park. Stunning scenery. On the way back to the hotel, the skies opened up. I had left my helmet at the hotel, so I was driving with goggles. The rain hitting my head and face felt like needle pricks, but the little car swam happily through the deluge and got me back to the hotel!

On to Page, AZ tomorrow.....

Wow. We did 380 miles yesterday, including 4 mountain passes. The highest was Slugmullion, at over 11,500 feet. The aspens are turning fall colors, and the bright yellow leaves are just stunning. Mitch's yellow Birkin ahead of me putting up a cloud of yellow aspen leaves as it zips down the road is quite a sight.

Although I hesitate to put this in writing, the Birkin is running flawlessly. Some of the folks with carburators are having some trouble with the altitude though. One of the English cars had a rock fly into the engine compartment and damage a casting causing an oil leak. They were picked up by one of the chase trucks, and they will get a replacement part off of the engine that was damaged by the oil plug falling out a few days ago.

Yesterday it was in the 40's when we left Durango. But I stayed warm using a light jacket, my rain suit top over it, my helmet with the neck cover Pam made for me and a pair of racing gloves. The neck cover velcro's onto the bottom edge of my helmet and extends down under my coat. Very toasty, thanks Pam!

Today is our off day in Vail. The Lebens invited me to go on a guided off-road tour and I am really looking forward to it. I'll post some pics tonight. I have uploaded some more pics to the share site. The parking lot is at the hotel in Durango. We are parked in the basement of the hotel here in Vail.

Hi all - I just placed the still photos that I have taken at http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/I.jsp?c=9ufzvw1.90722gh&x=0&y=-xbepaz

I haven't done any editing - they are right from the camera. Off now for a sight seeing trip around Durango!

Here is a short video clip from the in-car camera. This is a stretch of road approaching Ruidoso. It was great fun! The clip is about 5 megs, and is pretty compressed....

http://mysite.verizon.net/bclong7/ruidos01.wmv

You may have to right click on the link and save the file before you play it.....

Hi all - sorry I haven't updated in the last few days but there has been so much going on. The Birkin is performing very well. It hasn't missed a beat, and on checking the oil and water found that it hadn't used any of either. Anyhoo:

The trip from Austin to Midland was hot! We stopped in San Angelo and had a nice break at a reception set up for us at the Art Museum. There were a few cars there from a local Corvette Club. A couple of folks from Verizon stopped by to say hi and we had a nice visit. With me in the picture are Ronnie Willmann, Lucie Adams, and a friend of Lucie's whose name I have to admit I've forgotten. Lucie, if you read this post a comment with her name for me please!

After one night in Midland, we struck out for Ruidoso. About 25 miles into the trip, my friend Dick Brink pulled up next to me at a traffic light, as his car had starting putting out large volumes of white smoke from the tailpipe! There was a Ford dealer a block away (Dick's car has the same type of Ford motor my car has, but it makes almost 100hp more!). So, we called the support truck to make sure they didn't pass him by, and Dick headed for the Ford dealer. The rest of us took off. It turned out to be bad fuel! Dick said it smelled more like kerosene than gasoline. A quick flush of the fuel tank and a fresh set of spark plugs and he was on his way! Dick said that not a lick of work got done in the shop other than the work on his car. The mechanics had never seen anything quite like it!

We drove through miles of oil fields. It was hot and smelly. We came across 5 or 6 Se7ens at the side of the road and they waved us by. At the next fuel stop we met them and got the story. One of the fellows had run over a big cast iron valve handle, and it had punctured the oil pan! Would you believe it, they had a spare with them! They installed the new one at the side of the road and took off again! So we hooked up with them for the rest of the trip. As we were running through some nice twisty roads, I suddenly felt the Birkin start to slip out from under me in a right hand turn. At first I thought maybe I had a flat, but then I noticed the streak of oil on the road. It turns out that when they changed the oil pan, nobody thought to check the drain plug. Sadly, it fell out and this time it did the engine in. So we all stopped and called the support truck. Since we were in the middle of nowhere, they decided to use a tow rope to pull the stricken Caterham to the next town. We all met up there and after sufficient commiserations left a couple of folks behind to wait for the support truck.

But the story has a happy ending. They also had a spare engine in the support truck! So the next day while in Ruidoso, they found a cooperative auto shop and swapped engines! Talk about being prepared.....

More to come......

Friday, Sept 16

Went on a Hill Country Tour today with some local sports car enthusiasts. Of course, we all payed strict attention to all applicable traffic laws. It was a bit hot, but overall a very entertaining trip. We finished the day off with a great BBQ dinner at a place called the Salt Lick. It is so entertaining to drive down the road and see a couple of Sevens at a traffic light, a couple more at a Wal-Mart parking lot etc. What a hoot!

Thursday, Sept 15 - I'm really going!

Well, I actually left on the big Tour at about 9am Thursday morning! It was so cool out, that I went and got a long sleeve flanel shirt! A goodbye hug from Pam and the boys, and a nice farewell from Mike, and I was on my way! I met my friend Dick Brink at his place in Arlington, and we headed for Austin. We didn't get rained on, but there were a few places where it had just stopped raining so the cars got a little dirty. We were the first Sevens to arrive in Austin. The hotel dedicated the bottom floor of the hotel parking lot to our cars, and by the evening, there were over 55 Sevens down there!! What a sight! There were 3 of the folks from overseas who had trouble with the heat and had to be picked up by the chase vehicles.

We walked to an Irish pub for dinner.

I just looked through the pictures of the car from last Tuesday. Can it really be the same car?

Whew. Mike Brown spent his morning with me helping install the boot liner (a fiberglass tub that makes up the lining of the trunk) and the roll bar that he repainted. I spent the rest of the day installing the 3rd brake light, the bullet camera and seat belts I got from Dick Brink, I made some adapters to fit the new tonneau that doesn't line up with the snaps on my car, etc. Except for the fact that there is no passenger seat (it has a hole burnt in it), you really can't tell that 48 hours ago, the car was in flames.

So tomorrow, off to Austin!!!

Thanks again to all my friends!

There is a very important detail that I have neglected to mention. When the fire started on Tuesday afternoon, 9 year old Chandler Ostrike was playing in her front yard across the street. Her quick action telling her mom what she saw truly saved the day. I discovered on disassembling the car that the fuel filler hose was very close to burning through. Another 30 seconds, and this story might have a very different outcome. Chandler's quick thinking very surely saved our home from burning down. She is our hero!!!

The Remarkable Power of Friends

Well, today was just amazing. Tim White yanked the boot liner out of his under-construction Birkin and gave it to me, to be replaced by one shipped to me by MSI Motorsport in Vacaville. Even better, he gave me the boot cover that had no snaps installed in it so I could fit it to my car! Yes, that is a picture of the same car taken tonight! I drove it to Rob and Rosie Roy's house tonite and between them and my dear wife Pam we installed the new boot cover. They did a great job - it looks as good as the old one did. Dick Brink of Texas Motorworks had the fuel system parts I needed, and loaned me a set of seat belts and an tonneau cover. My good neighbor Mike Brown brought the roll bar back today all painted and pretty. The cleanup job that Mike and his wife Jackie, and Jeff and Laurie Oestrike did mostly in the dark last night, held up very well in the light of day this morning. I was supposed to be the hotel laison for the first night of the Tour but Mitch Leben jumped in and is handling that for me. And through all of this my dear wife Pam has worked and worked to help get the car back together in addition to all the other things she does. She is simply the greatest.

Brian Anderson has a house full of Ultralite owners and they all offered to come up from Lancaster early this morning and fix my car. But at that point in time I didn't have the parts I needed nor did I know if I could get them. It is about a 120 mile round trip for them so it seemed kind of risky. Knowing Brian, though, I have no doubt that he could have made the parts I needed if I couldn't have gotten them......

Carlos Fenny offered parts off of his under-construction Birkin.

I am so grateful for what my friends have done for me! Thanks all!!!!

So, tomorrow I need to finish installing the fiberglass boot liner, and do some shopping to replace my rain suit and a few tools that were toasted. But there is a very good chance that I will be able to leave on Friday morning to join the Tour in Austin! I think I'll sleep a lot better tonight than I did last night.....

Oh, and the 40 Sevens coming from England for the tour should be unloaded from the containers by now and waiting in Houston for their owners to arrive. The plane from London lands at around 2pm tomorrow......

Tuesday 5pm. I tried out a new bullet cam in the Birkin, and apparently the 10 cell nicad pack that powers it decided to commit hari kari in the boot (trunk) of the car just after I went in the house. One of my neighbors saw the flames and pounded on the front door. Luckily, I was able to put the fire out without damage to anybody or to the house. My neighbors really came through for us. They helped clean and strip the car working till well after dark. And the car should be back on the road in a day or two. I think I can find all the critical parts today. Needless to say the start of the Tour will be delayed by a day or two....