More from Alex:
DAY 3: Telluride — Aspen — Boulder July 25th
Team Polizei was so exhausted from the prior day's drive that we fell asleep by 10PM. This gave us sufficient rest to rise at 6AM, refuel and refit, ready to depart in the pole position. Unfortunately, our longtime convoy allies Dennis & Michael Collins' Black Ferrari 550 had an electrical problem and remained stuck at the start line. Since Team Polizei's CB radio antenna had such dreadfully short range, the loss of the Collins Bros. 20+ mile CB range would be a great loss.
The weather forecast warned of mist and rain — something that would slow the supercars comprising the greatest threat to Team Poliziei's place in the Hall of Legendary Rally Heroes. We set a blistering pace through the mountains Northeast towards Aspen, with only Richard & Marek's Aston Martin DB9 in pursuit. Despite their superior handling, the Polizei CL600's 800+ horsepower guaranteed our mastery in the long straights as we descended into flatter terrain.
Police scanner traffic warned of significant traps as we entered the region of Montrose, Colorado. Luckily, Team Polizei and the DB9 passed the traps without incident, whereas a terrible massacre befell the Bullrunners who attempted to follow us at high speed. The local Police captured Dennis Rodman, English Celebrity James Hewitt, and countless others whilst Team Polizei attempted to drive on through tears of laughter and prideful joy.
We made a right turn in the town of Delta, where yet another trio of local police cruisers awaited at the primary intersection — they seemed amazed that we were so far ahead of the main pack being brutalized by their fellow law enforcement 7 miles south of us.
A traffic-school crushing attack on speed law was then mounted as we bent the laws of physics and projected tire lifespan on the way toward Hotchkiss. A long clean run was made as far as Carbondale, where Police scanner traffic warned of additional police coverage. Again the scanner proved its usefulness, and we proceeded to run at 100+mph through the mountain roads towards Aspen, the DB9 in hot pursuit.
Although we were running at 8/10ths on damp roads, we were suddenly surprised by an astoundingly unsafe high-speed pass by Ryan Dunn & James Hewitt in the Silver Lincoln Navigator. Team Polizei and the DB9 attempted to catch up and pass, but we all agreed via CB that doing so would be unsafe. We waited until several long straights appeared to make our move, but Dunn insisted on testing the Navigator's suspension limits by passing us on several blind turns. Team Polizei ultimately pulled ahead on the slow Canyon Roads in the Aspen vicinity, and the DB9 kindly allowed us to take the lead.
A local Police SUV pulled out and tailed us for nearly 10 miles on the final stretch, slowing our pace to a near-time-travel-backward 34mph. As soon as the SUV turned off, Dunn attempted to pass once again, but the DB9 blocked them and we arrived at the Aspen checkpoint in 1-2 position. Richard, Marek and I proceeded to give Dunn a dressing down, ate in record time and set off toward Boulder, our final destination of the day.
Team Polizei then made two decisions that cost us 1st place for the day. We gambled that the CL600's fuel range estimation was accurate and we could make the final checkpoint without refueling. Alas, several 140+mph runs on I-70 East cost us tremendous fuel, and we found ourselves running low near Aspen. Our Garmin 2650 calculated a route to the nearest gas station, which turned out to be closed. The next one was two miles off the I-70, and the locals refused to let us jump the cue without a fight. Again we were passed by multiple Bullrunners who'd been smart enough to refuel closer to the Interstate.
We refueled and continued East, attempted the Route 6 NE Mountain shortcut into Boulder, and found it closed. The JATO Lamborghini passed us in the opposite direction and flashed. We then decided to gamble it all by taking the tiny Mountain shortcut North via Route 119, which cuts into Boulder 2 blocks from the checkpoint, hoping that the other Bullrunners would get caught in traffic. We chose poorly. 40 minutes of beautiful but slow roads brought us into the checkpoint in 5th place.
Team Polizei would not make that mistake again.
DAY 3 Results
Aspen
1st Place: Team Polizei — Alex Roy & Alli Joseph
2nd Place: Aston DB9 — Richard X & Marek X
3rd Place: UnknownBoulder
1st Place: Aston DB9 — Richard X & Marek X
2nd Place: Unknown
3rd Place: Unknown
Related:
Alex Roy s Bullrun 2005 Wrap-up, Day 1, Day 2