On April 23, 2006 a national tragedy occurred. Larry and Theresa
failed to retain the Lucas Cup.
On a dark and drizzly day, the titans of the LBC world came out to do
battle in the Annual Spring MG Vs Triumph Rallye. The Rallye was
postponed from it's initial 9 AM start time to 11AM. This kept most
of the cars out of the early morning wet. We gathered at the
Harleysville WalMart and took off about noon after a brief Driver/
Navigator meeting. Reg Kennedy and Bill Hixson planed the Rallye
based on a Miata tour. The initial turn was right onto 113. Well the
Miata tour took off out of the 113 entrance to the parking lot and
there was no turn. Oh well, everyone figured it out. Then we were off
into the back country surrounding Harleysville from there towards the
Delaware. We crossed 309 headed east about an hour into the rallye,
most of the clues were reasonable and challenging. It began to
drizzle and got real close to rain. We pressed on, one team dropped
out and a lot of tops went up, but not all, and not ours.
Now the first part of the tragedy occurred. Whilst pulling over to
let traffic pass us, I got up next to a muddy slope along the right
side of the road. As I pulled back out, I heard a powerful pop. Yep,
you guessed it, FLAT TIRE. I have a spare, but is in a shed in
Pottstown. I have not carried it in about 10 years. Now I pay the
price in the middle of defending the Lucas Cup. I grabbed the can of
Fix-A-Flat out of the boot and hook it up, HMMMM Spray coming out of
the side of the tire. Out of a three inch gash in the side of the
tire!! Theresa and I figured our run was over. Then Dave Hutchinson
and ??? from the DVT club pulled over to see what was up. Dave was
asking what was up, Mark and Lynn stopped and I am trying to call to
get help. Mass confusion ensued. Dave grabbed his cell and called
Rick at Ragtops and Roadsters (about 3 miles away). Yep, Rick has a
Midget wheel, Yes there is a tire on it, yes it holds air, and better
yet, YES he will bring it over!! So less than 30 minutes after
destroying a perfectly good and no longer made Michelin, we were back
in the chase on a snow tire ;-)
So we continued on towards the east as the weather began to get
warmer, then cooler, then warmer. Soon we were on Rt 32 S headed for
the last clues and the end of the Rallye. Can you Guess?? Reg planned
it, where do we end?? At that good old English Pub, the Ship Inn,
Milford, NJ. We turned in our sheets and parked and soon headed in
for food, beverage and results. This is where the second tragedy of
the day occurred. As Reg announced the results Theresa and I came in
Third. We wanted to be the first to win back to back Spring and Fall
Rallyes. Well, we'll start over in the Fall (Sorry Dave ;-). Then
Second was announced and the third tragedy of the day occurred. On
their second rallye, Kristi and Lambert Liebel got Second place. My
daughter and hubby beat us, king and queen rallists!! And finally the
fourth tragedy occurred. The Triumphs won the Lucas Cup!! Ken Baker
and his Navigator won first place and the Lucas Cup.
Congratulations to Ken and the DVT. And to Kristi and Lambert. And
thanks go to Reg and Bill for setting up such a fun rallye over some
great roads. And a special thanks to Dave Hutchinson and??? and Rick
from Ragtops to come to our rescue. BTW the last thing I heard Dave
say to Rick while on the phone was "I can't believe I am stopping to
help my arch-nemesis"
One more thing. As of today the Triumphs have 10 palques on the Lucas
Cup and the MG's have 10. It is filled up. The plan is to add another
layer and get another 20 years out of it!!
Larry
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