9:00 am: Today the University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project goes international for the first time over the course of a race when we enter Canada. We are currently cruising the sunny road of Highway 75 and anticipate an arrival into Fargo at 10:00 am. We look forward to seeing all our friends and family. After Fargo we make a run for the border and hopefully will make Winnipeg tonight.
The team made it to Winnipeg Thursday evening and were the first to arrive to a great crowd and lots of press. Zac Kahly began the day driving Borealis III from Ortonville, MN to Fargo, ND. The weather in Ortonville was exquisite, showing all the other teams why we love our great state of Minnesota. We passed M.I.T.'s camping spot, as they were getting ready to put their car on the road. Showing true Minnesota hospitality, an Ortonville farmer opened up his property for M.I.T. to camp on as well as providing some morsels for the team to eat.
After two hours the University of Minnesota arrived in Fargo with M.I.T. about ten minutes behind. Completing the thirty minutes required stopping time at the checkpoint, the team rolled out as Michigan rolled in. John Wanner was now driving the car as the team prepared for a long leg to Winnipeg.
The team crossed the border into Canada in the town of Pembina. With our own lane reserved at customs, the team got through pretty quick, too quick for the cameramen. The border agent stood at the window of the lead van telling the team that she had no more questions but had to stand there just for the cameras.
Once in Canada, the highway had flashing signs that read "Use caution for slow moving solar vehicles." As Borealis III sped by at 100 km/h we kept our eyes out for these rumored slow moving vehicles.
Borealis III was the first car to arrive at the Winnipeg stage stop, followed closely behind by M.I.T. and then Michigan. The team is so glad to be in Winnipeg for now we have two solid days and three nights to charge the car's batteries with the sun and to charge our own batteries with some much needed sleep. Up until today, the team has seen every sunrise and sunset for the past 10 days.
Great job Team! I am loving the race blog. It's the next best thing to being in the Chase Van. This is making out to be a very unproductive work week, with me checking the GPS map every 10 minutes. Ski-U-Mah!
Posted by: Tom | July 21, 2005 at 09:43 AM
Rube!
Posted by: aaron | July 21, 2005 at 10:04 AM
I am in the same boat as Tommy Harkman. All I can think about is how much BorealisIII is kicking the competition and making me want to quit my job and be on the so la ka team! You guys are doing great. You are the envy of the solar car world. No matter how you finish I think I'll say that this is best car the U has made and by far the prettiest!
Posted by: MikeyJ | July 21, 2005 at 10:13 AM
Thanks for the Rube Cred. Judging by the number of hits and comments, there must be lot of us Arm-Chair Solar Car racers out there.
Posted by: Tom | July 21, 2005 at 10:28 AM
You guys are just jealous because I've been watching a solar car race online... all day.
Posted by: Nick S. | July 21, 2005 at 10:37 AM
Its all about being pretty.
Honestly though I agree Mike. I wish I could have made the unvailing as the car looks and is performing very impressively.
Posted by: Aaron | July 21, 2005 at 10:40 AM
This is a great way to honor the death of Scotty, James Doohan, of Star Trek!...or not...by dedicating this race to him! jk
You guys are cruising like nobody's business! Keep it up the rest of the day! I wish the team had a chase van cam, that would be kick arse! This GPS updated Mapquest picture just isn't fulfilling my addiction to solar car racing!
Posted by: Jason Halpern | July 21, 2005 at 10:58 AM
Looks like they can reach Winnipeg by 6:30pm MN time if they average 40 mph. Burn them batteries down to nothin'!!!
Posted by: Aaron | July 21, 2005 at 11:19 AM
ASC 2003 in review--
Delwiche/Sinykin: Hey Chris, what's the strategy for today?
Fisher: Go Faster!
Posted by: Jason Halpern | July 21, 2005 at 12:21 PM
So do any of the vans smell like rotting food or the A/C smell like fish yet?
Posted by: Ditch Witch | July 21, 2005 at 12:22 PM
I remember the lead van being very stressful, or maybe that was due to all the navigating we were doing. Did B3 bring along a scout vehicle?
Posted by: Josh Sinykin | July 21, 2005 at 12:32 PM
I went to lunch just as you guys were leaving Fargo...
I came back and you were in Grand Forks.
Awesome!
Keep it up.
Posted by: Dylan Ebner | July 21, 2005 at 12:54 PM
I want one of the spiffy new stickers: http://160.94.140.26/store.htm
mostly so I can walk around with it stuck to my forehead on the final day of the race...
Posted by: Laurie | July 21, 2005 at 01:19 PM
Is the lead growing a bit????
Posted by: Brad Schulz | July 21, 2005 at 01:25 PM
I think it might just be the Grand Forks effect. It looked like they were losing ground to Michigan when MN hit Grand Forks, and now that they're both past GF the lead is back to where it was before that.
Posted by: Laurie | July 21, 2005 at 01:28 PM
I think there was an erroneous time or location for Michigan, unless they just went 92mph for a 10 minute span after sitting still for 10 minutes.
Posted by: Nick | July 21, 2005 at 01:29 PM
You're right Josh, being in lead van having to navigate and setting the speed pace for the solar car driver was stressful. At least I wouldn't want to trade my seat as lead van/ official Ditch Witch driver with Aaron Norton who had to squeeze in on the same lead van bench with the observer and Dr. Starr. That bench gets really small really quick with three people on it...
Ok, well since Chase van's A/C didn't smell like fish (which we think might have been actually a bunch of dead bugs), maybe I would change spots with Aaron.
Posted by: Jason | July 21, 2005 at 02:14 PM
I was too worried about the route to notice the bugs. Should we call Canada and tell them to be prepared for a old guy and 18 kids and wicked looking solar car?
Posted by: Josh Sinykin | July 21, 2005 at 02:18 PM
If the Canadian crossing is anything like last year, they'll be ready. The bigger problem will be keeping them from taking too many photos and holding us up.
I like this:
Borealis II - 1st Solar Powered Int'l crossing.
Borealis III - 1st NASC Car accross the border.
Just don't have any problems in the next 15 mintues ;-).
Posted by: Travis Lee | July 21, 2005 at 02:30 PM
It looks as if they are at the border.
Way to go Minnesota!!
Hopefully the Customs people won't want to search the car. They did that to my brother once. Took out the seats and everything.
Then, they didn't put the car back together.
If I remember correctly, Matt Tilstra got some kind of a strip search going to Australia becuase he was carring a bunch of power trackers.
Posted by: Dylan Ebner | July 21, 2005 at 02:32 PM
According to Michigan's Blog (insert grain of salt here :) ) NASC officials have changed the original regulations and now the time crossing the border is not counted. This should normalize any unfair border hold-ups.
Posted by: Nick | July 21, 2005 at 02:33 PM
Well, it looks like they didn't get held up long at the border. On to Winnipeg.
Posted by: Laur | July 21, 2005 at 02:45 PM
Man there seems to be allot of alumni posting here. The addiction to solar car just doesn't seem to die!
Posted by: wayne | July 21, 2005 at 02:58 PM
Man, I feel like I am in the lead van with them and I can only take bathroom breaks at the pit stops. Keep it going Minnesota!
Posted by: Josh Sinykin | July 21, 2005 at 03:01 PM
Heh, well it's not like I have a choice about watching the race; too many people know I was on the team once and pester me constantly for informed commentary. It's worse now that I'm back at the U for a while getting a PhD.
Posted by: Laurie | July 21, 2005 at 03:08 PM