WET DLRA EVENT

[JackD]

The local time here is 0500 PST
About 15min ago. the report from Rod Hadfield at the salt in Australia was the salt was impassable.
 From the edge and out 150 mtrs it was just sludge and a rod could be pushed into it for about 2 ft. with very little effort.
They will have another meeting in about 8 hours to decide the schedule.
It does not look very promising.

[dwarner]

Thats tough, two years in a row.

DW

[Carl Johansson]

Man, Doug Odem packed up his streamliner and sent it over -  what a shame.  how long does it take to dry out and be useable?

Carl Johansson

[Freud]

Maybe they can go to SLC and tour the Tabernacle.
There's no crying in LSR.
FREUD

[joea]

Carl, its what ya make it...........

logistically it can be tougher out there..

for Odom it is tens of thousands of dollars to get a vehicle
near the salt from here, and many thousands more to get yourself
near their salt.........

its so much more remote there......they have many folks
enroute.......that wont likely get to know the status of the
meet until they are thousands of miles from home.......and
those are the folks enroute from locations on that vast mostly
desolate continent.......turk, odom others are tens of thousands
away

the means of commo are much more limited there than US.....

their (aussie) spirit is something to behold and they will
adapt as able with lack of whining largely unknown here
in the states.......

they are largely content to be away from the wives and
or share comraderie with cold ones.....

wish I was there to share in it.........

Joe

[Lynchy]

There is a meeting this morning (09:00 Lake time) out at the lake to determine if the event is to go ahead. It sounds as though there will be no heavy vehicle access out onto the lake and I believe that there is but one suitable access point. Comms are pretty tough out to the salt as the nearest (and only) phone is at the shearers camp about 10 kilometres away.

Info will be passed onto the DLRA website this morning advising a go / no go and will no doubt get posted here as well. I was due to fly out tomorrow morning but will await further news.

It is a tough situation, the lake was under a reported metre of water as of 5 weeks ago and looked to have dried up. There were numerous reports from flyovers and from the local sheepstation that the lake had dried up but it seems that the edges were still wet. Apparently the middle section of the lake is better but you'd have to wonder how traction would be given last year was drier and traction was still ordinary in places...

their (aussie) spirit is something to behold and they will
adapt as able with lack of whining largely unknown here
in the states.......

We are a pretty optimistic bunch and given the location of our lake and trouble taken to get there we would all like to think it can still go ahead. If it doesn't, I'm sure some other type of racing will occur at the bar...

Stay tuned.

Lynchy

[Lynchy]

Well, It's officially off in Australia this year due to inability to get onto the salt....

[Glen]

That's a real bummer for all. We were rained out two years in a row  at Bonneville and it's a long wait for the next event. Better luck next year.
Glen

[Dr Goggles]

Arrrrrrghhhhhg............................we sweated down to fighting weight we've done the warm-up , towel about the shoulders and we've been shown all the pictures of things we hate( Donny Osmond , Olivia Newton John , kustom Choppers, front wheel drive,fraction control , ....now the meets off , OFF??? , yep OFF!!! Last night we did the quickest prep and paint you've ever seen and it's looks good enough to eat( that's "grouse" in our parlance).........day and night we've been at it ..........Dontcha all know how it is??? this morning I'm laying stuff out ,getting the tool sets complete ,checking spares .Then the news came through.

THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN AND SALT LAKE RACERS ARE OFT LAID TO MUSH.

So we're having a beer . It's all part of what makes it great , the lows make the highs greater ,sniff, we'll all be , sniff , stronger , sniff in the , sniff , end .

[DON NOBLE]

I have been in touch with those at the lake , this morning , and yep as stated above , the 2007 event has been cancelled . Access to the lake is impossible . Permission was given to build an access road onto the lake ( there is machinery nearby to do this ) , however the surface to race on is still too wet to use . Sorry to all those that have put in all the effort .
Don Noble

[JackD]

Well DR., the BEER to treat the sniffles is probably the best medicine for now but be sure to stand on the inside and pee on the outside.
It looks like a wet year for everybody.

[Lynchy]

......and so our thoughts turn to 2008 and the questions are asked
- will Don be taking a new V8 powered shopping trolley?
- will the Shaguar be making it's debut alongside the bellytank of brothers Goggle, Hedgash and Grump?
- is Australia's big drought really coming to an end and will the rains come to Brisbane / Sydney / Melbourne?
- Will any of our American cousins risk it??

Lynchy 

[Reverend Hedgash]

Thanks Jack,

a few beers indeed. It is only 1.18pm and quite a few have slipped away.

The best description I guess is losing a grand final in the closing minutes. What could have been, but there is always next year.

We have been in contact with others who have left earlier and still on the road (There is no contact on the Lake). They have travelled thousands of kilometres to hear the news. One, travelling with his father in law, turned back last year due to the early report of flooding.What must he be thinking now? Do I go on? Or do I turn back? Our engine man Colonel Grump (aka Graham Hadlee) who also scrutineers the bikes would be there now with his father...

One crew, (Pete Quick) are thinking of going to Uluru (Ayres Rock) and camp and dwell... These are serious distanceswe are talking! Australiais just under the size of the U.S!

We are in Sunshine. A town named after the Sunshine Wheat Harvester manufacturer who has fame for helping introduce better working conditions in Australia.

It is raining.

I have informed the good lady Hedgash to stop packing the truck, she too is shocked. Now she has to put up with another year of rookie building.

What really irks me is the car was ready. A few minor glitches to be fixed on the salt but we were there.

I guess I should be writing on our build site but here is where the thread is.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

My beer is empty, must go.

Thanks all.

Reverend Hedgash.

[Freud]

DLRA FOLKS.............I am sorry, sorry for all of you.
I certainly understand. Disappointment is the same on any continent.
I have made it to the salt on a Saturday night with the meet to start on Sunday and the rains started. The event was rained out. I only traveled 900 miles but the anticipation is the same. Anticipation builds with time, not distance. We have had seasons where we knew before the meet that it wouldn't happen. It's all a heart break. One broken heart is as bad as another.
Your drive home is just more dust and dirt roads than ours.
A spilled beer is the same here or over there. Be a pal.Give your buddy the straw and let him suck it up off the floor.
If the credit card can stand it, COME ON OVER. We may have a dry one and if we don't we'll give you a straw.
FREUD

[hawkwind]

I just arrived back home ,at least I was informed before I arrived at the lake , My material losses were small compaired to many and especially our US visitors  : .
Freud is correct dissapointment is universal ,but as we say there is always next year ,but right now that sounds a little hollow ,anyone got a fresh credit card they are not using 
Gary