Top Gear!

  
  A program on BBC TV last night brought back some neat
memories!
  The show is called "Top Gear" and, as the name suggests,
it's all about cars.
   There are two versions of this series. One American....and
one British. My wife and I prefer the British version. You
can't beat the English humor! And they drive on the "wrong
side of the road!"
    The episode we caught yesterday had the shows three
lead characters involved in a Sports Car Rally!
    And that's where my memories kicked in!  I used to
enter some of the rallies they used to run around here!
    They can be run several different ways.
    The kind I used to enter basically involved a driver and
a "navigator."
     You would get a set of instructions at the start that
included clues as to which way you should go. You, of
course, had to figure out those clues so you would end up
at the right place.
      Sometimes you were required to drive at a certain speed
(always within the legal limit) for a certain distance. There
would be Check Points here and there to check your speed.
      The only rally I actually won was in my 1963 Austin
Healey Sprite with my neighbor, Eric Moyer, as my
Navigator.
      I remember getting a ceramic mug as our prize.
      I'm not sure it was worth as much as we paid to enter
the event. But it was the prize and we did win.
      For a time it sat in the very center of the vehicle!
      I didn't break any records. But somewhere through the
years I did break the mug......or....somebody did!
      Years later my wife and I entered a rally in my MG
Midget.
      It was a neat rally that required you to follow a set
of directions that took you to various locations where
you had to answer questions.
      One, for instance, asked us what a certain man did for
a living. If you looked around carefully at that spot you
would have seen a sign for a guy who drilled wells.
      There was a time limit for making the rounds and
looking for the hints that provided the answers you needed.
       We were a great team. We drove the proper route,
solved the clues and answered all the questions!
       We were sure winners! Until we read the last
instruction! It  required us to return to a particular bar
where the club always met.
       Unfortunately for us we were not club members and
had no idea where the place was!  And there were no clues!
       By the time we found it we were the last ones in the
parking lot!
       Well, you win some and your lose some!
        If only we drank more!
        Hope you've got a clue where you're going and that all
 your NEWS is good.