Greetings from St. Malo, Manitoba, Canada
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
St. Malo Provincial Park – Lifetime Track #1,523
THE EVENT DAY 1-2 – “A NEW CANADIAN ICE TRACK PROVINCE” TRACKCHASING TOUR EDITOR’S NOTE #1 My website address has changed. My new site address is now: I changed to this domain name so that people I meet during my trackchasing public appearances might be able to remember the address better. My old domain name of www.ranlayracing.com will still get you to the right place for one more year. Please take note and use the new address. Thanks!! GREETINGS FROM ST. MALO, MANITOBA, CANADA TODAY’S HEADLINES Why Manitoba?…………..details in “The Objective”. There were six major logistical problems that proved problematic on this trip………………more in “The Trip”. I always meet interesting people on the airplane.…………..details in “The People”. THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED HAD YOU BEEN PAYING MORE ATTENTION IN SCHOOL THE BEST READERS IN RACING TAKE TIME TO CONTRIBUTE I’ve had a number of my long-time readers send along best wishes following our trip to Malta. Here’s a sampling of the feedback I’ve received. From Costa Rica: I enjoy again your histories about the trips and yours experiences,,, YOU ARE THE MAN.. jaja Congratulation for your trips. From California: Hope you’re doing well. It’s always so fun to read your exciting travel adventures, so I appreciate you keeping in touch with me. From Ohio: I enjoyed reading about your Malta trip. It reads like one of your best yet! Can’t wait to see your TV interview. Hope you can get it posted. Congratulations! From Pennsylvania: Enjoyed the Malta trackchasing report. I stayed up late last night watching classic Humphrey Bogart films just to get into the mood. Poor Miles Archer! Will the Falcons draft a running back in this year’s college draft? No, no, wait — that’s the Atlanta Falcons. I believe I ran Malta with the TQs in 1972. No, no, wait — that was Malta, NY. All this island-hopping has got me confused. The sleep deprivation alone has me bleary-eyed. Can’t wait for the next trip to Timbuktu! You’re not really going to Timbuktu, are you? THE OBJECTIVE, THE TRIP, THE PEOPLE…AND A WHOLE LOT MORE The Objective This was our anniversary AND Valentine’s Day. This weekend was an important one for Carol and me. Saturday was our 38th wedding anniversary and Sunday was Valentine’s Day. However, I left home very early Saturday morning and did not return until late Sunday night. Yes, I spent the better part of the weekend in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. “Randy, what gives with that? How can you get away with it”, a possibly henpecked reader might ask. It’s really rather simple. Carol and I long ago agreed that we would celebrate special occasions when we had the time. The actual day wasn’t that important to us. We just wanted to make sure that when we DID celebrate whatever the occasion was that we weren’t affected by conflicts or distractions. As an example, our company’s National Sales Meeting always started the Monday following Father’s Day. However, as a manager I had to be there a day early….always on Sunday. I don’t think I was home over Father’s Day for years. Sometimes business travel would take me away during family birthdays or anniversaries. Therefore, we celebrate when we can. Carol and I will be celebrating our anniversary at the end of this month with a very special trip. “O.K., Randy. I guess you’ve explained why you’re not home for your wedding anniversary AND Valentine’s Day. But please explain why you would travel all the way to the Canadian province of Manitoba in the middle of one of the snowiest winters on record,” the both empathetic and skeptical reader might reasonably ask. Why Manitoba? I came to Manitoba for just one reason. I was here to add to my geographical ice track total. Today I would add my 12th different state, province and/or individual country to my ice track racing resume. Here is where I’ve seen ice racing: Andorra Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada Ontario, Canada Quebec, Canada Maine Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire New York Wisconsin What is somewhat remarkable about going to all of these ice racing locations is the distance they are from sunny Southern California. British Columbia is the closest and it’s more than 1,000 miles from my home. All of those northeastern locations are nearly 3,000 miles from my driveway. Of course, Andorra is located in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. No other trackchaser has seen ice racing in more than six countries, provinces and/or states. I likely won’t ever see more ice tracks than anyone else will. However, it will take a very motivated trackchaser to see ice racing in more countries, provinces and states than I have. Actually, I don’t think I’m done adding to these totals for 2010. This statement will keep my fellow competitors wondering for some time. The Trip SATURDAY Even the best laid plans of mice and men can get screwed up. I spend a lot of time planning my trips. I want the logistics to go smoothly. I want to manage my expenses in a responsible way. I just don’t want to deal with “problems”. You can understand that. However, today was a day of problems. Nevertheless, when lemons fall from the sky, you have better get some lemonade out of the experience or you’ll have a bad day. Here is a summary of why today did not go well. #1 – Airline schedule problems. I had three departure time choices today leaving from LAX. I could leave at 6:45 a.m., 8:00 a.m. or 12 noon. The lazy part of my body said, “Let’s go at 12 noon”. However, if I did that I would have only one option in Minneapolis to connect to Winnipeg. If I missed that connection then I would miss Sunday’s race. The two earlier departures would give me TWO flight options from Minneapolis to Winnipeg. There was no real advantage to go on the 6:45 a.m. departure over the 8 a.m. flight. That is why I decided to leave LAX at 8 o’clock. I set my alarm clock for 5:15 a.m. and went to sleep. However, nature called at about 4:30 a.m. Being an ardent “multi-tasker” after answering “nature’s call,” I checked my iPhone to see if the flights were still on time. Yes, the 6:45 a.m. flight was departing on time. However, my preferred flight at 8 a.m. was delayed my more than two hours. Change of plans!! It was 4:35 a.m. when I developed the new plan. I live 65 miles from the Los Angeles International Airport. NOW my best flight choice was the 6:45 a.m. flight. However, I had to hurry. Unbelievably, I was backing out of my driveway at exactly 4:41 a.m. Yes, six minutes after I learned my preferred flight option was a “no go” I was headed to the airport! I should have been an EMT. I made the flight with about ten minutes to spare! #2 – Airline baggage problems. Everyone knows that when I fly standby I get on the plane last. Sometimes when that happens, there is no more overhead storage space left on the plane. In these situations, the airline requires me to “gate check” my luggage. On a “regional jet”, I simply retrieve my luggage planeside when the flight is complete. However, on a larger jet my bag is taken away as checked luggage. I have to get my belongings at the airport’s baggage claim area then. Today I was flying from Los Angeles to Minneapolis to Winnipeg on a large jet. When I began to board the plane, I was told I would have to check my larger carryon bag. Where should I have them check my bag to: Minneapolis or Winnipeg? If I chose Minneapolis, I might not have time to leave security to get the bag and then re-enter airport security in time to make the flight to Winnipeg. On the other hand, if I checked the bag to Winnipeg and didn’t make my standby connection from Minneapolis to Winnipeg that would be a problem. I would be in the Twin Cities and my bag would be in Canada! This is why I am paid the “big bucks” to make decisions like this. I had 30 seconds to “manage the situation”. It was entirely possible I wouldn’t see my carryon bag again on this trip. With that in mind, I stuffed as much “stuff” into the sleeves of my UCLA blue and gold ski jacket as I could. First, I went for a pair of dress slacks and a collared shirt. One of my airline partners requires that I wear these clothes when I fly on their planes. I didn’t expect to use this airline on this trip, but then you never know. I also grabbed both a pair of socks and a pair of underwear. Then I went for the bottoms of my long underwear. The wind chill temperature near Winnipeg was forecast to be -10 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow afternoon. I made sure I had the electrical cord for my GPS unit. Finally, I grabbed my deodorant, hairbrush and toothbrush. Now, if I never saw my checked bag again I could comfortably exist for a day or two. #3 – More Airline baggage problems. You guessed it. When I landed in Winnipeg, there was no checked bag for me. Boy was I glad I had grabbed as much as I could from that missing bag back at LAX. I had no idea if or when I would see my missing bag. As it turned out, I never did get my bag while I was in Canada. They delivered it to my home in San Clemente a day after I got back! #4 – Rental car gas rip-off. After I filled out my missing bag report in the Winnipeg airport, I went to get my rental car. Of course, the car was parked outside in the 10 degree temps of Winnipeg. I walked a good distance, with not enough winter clothing to protect me, to get the car. While I was warming it up, I noticed the gas tank wasn’t full. That meant I would have to make the long outdoor walk back to the indoor rental car desk to lodge a complaint. I was successful in this endeavor. The rental car agent gave me a $10 Canadian credit for the missing fuel. Then I made my third long distance walk back to the car. #5 – My worst Priceline.com hotel ever. I get excellent values on luxury hotels with Priceline.com. However, Priceline doesn’t seem to work as well in foreign countries. Yes, Canada is a “foreign” country. I think of it as “Minnesota lite” (no disrespect to my Canadian friends) but some people actually think of Canada as a foreign country. Priceline found me a 2-star hotel in Winnipeg. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in anything below a 3-star Priceline hotel. I ended up in downtown Winnipeg at the Marlborough Hotel. This place might have been a good lodging idea in the 1960s (maybe the 40s?) but this is today. The hotel is located in semi-bad part of town; it’s old, rundown and was somewhat expensive by Priceline standards. To top it off I had to pay to park my car. Where was a Motel 6 when I needed one? By the way, there are no Motel 6 properties in the entire province of Manitoba. #6 – My last problem of the day. By the time I got to my room, it was dark. I was both cold, tired and hungry. I passed on the opportunity to see the Winnipeg Moose play the Toronto Marlies in minor league hockey just a few blocks from my hotel. The neighborhood didn’t look like walking to a hockey game or a restaurant would be a good idea. I asked the desk clerk about food deliveries to the hotel. Yes, restaurants did deliver. I selected “Ken’s Restaurant” a Chinese place near the hotel. I gave them a call to place my order. I was looking to get some shrimp fried rice and a Diet Coke. My total came to about $12 Canadian. However, they had a $15 minimum. What else could I add? How about some wonton soup for $6.75. All of that added up to $23.56 Canadian including the delivery charge. All I wanted was some fried rice and something to drink and I was paying nearly $25 bucks to get it! Then the guy wondered why I didn’t tip him when he knocked on my door to give me my food. What do I conclude from all of this? Despite the amount of planning I pour into these trips, not everything is going to go well every time. I wanted it too. However but it just doesn’t and can’t turn out well all time. Yes, trackchasing reminds me of golf. Normally, when I realize I have no options to change the situation I just smile. If I have any options to improve my situation I don’t give up until the clock runs out or I get things fixed. The above problems simply “come with the territory”. SUNDAY Still no bag! When I awoke, I had hoped my checked bag had been delivered to the hotel by the airline. Nope! I would have to go with what I had stuffed in the sleeves of my ski jacket when I boarded the flight at LAX. As luck would have it, I would not see that bag until I was already back home in San Clemente. But the breakfast room was worth the visit. I would classify the Marlborough Hotel as well past its prime….well past. However, my breakfast location was a highlight of the trip. The hotel was built in 1914. It was unusual that they offered a free hot breakfast with each rented room. Most downtown hotels don’t do such a thing in North America. The room I ate in looked like a church cathedral. It had 30 foot ceilings. The place was ornately decorated with several hanging lantern lights. My breakfast of ham and eggs was delicious. The breakfast might have saved me from giving the Marlborough Hotel a really terrible review. From breakfast, it was a simple 50-mile drive down to the small town of St. Malo where the ice races were being held. I’ll tell you more about that in the “Race Review” section. The rental car was a great value. Following the racing, it was back to the airport. I was very impressed with my little Volvo. I was able to rent a brand new Volvo C30 coupe. The car was powered by an unusual five-cylinder engine. It even had automatically retracting side mirrors. That’s unusual for a budget minded car. I couldn’t argue with the rental price of just $20 U.S. per day either. This was a great deal. The flight back was brutal. My flight back from Winnipeg to Minneapolis to Los Angeles was for the most part brutal. Winnipeg has a brand new airport opening in September, 2010. They need it. The old one needs to be replaced. I did get a first class seat to Minneapolis. At that point, my good luck changed. I was placed in a middle seat for the more than four-hour flight from the Twin Cities to Los Angeles. We didn’t take off for an hour while our plane waited in line to be de-iced. A snowstorm was settling in over MSP so I guess we were lucky to leave at all. Considering this was the last flight of the night, if that plane had not gone I would have had to find shelter somewhere in Minneapolis. Many folks think there is some glamour in the travel I do. Sometimes there is. On other occasions when I’m on the last flight of the night in a middle seat in coach, it is far from glamorous. I’m not complainin’ just explainin’. I was home in time to give Trackchasing’s First Mother a big smooch while it was still Valentine’s Day. The People SATURDAY I always enjoy talking to my seatmates. From time to time I have some interesting conversations with people I meet on planes. Today I met a friendly fellow seated next to me on my way from Minneapolis to Winnipeg. My new friend was a Ford auto dealer from Winnipeg. He was returning from a dealer convention in Florida. We seemed to have a lot in common. We were both active financial investors. Each of us had traveled to and played some of the world’s best golf courses. However, we did part ways when it came to the idea of “buying and maintaining automobiles”. Even when we have different opinions. For lack of a better way of saying it, I think auto dealers exist to “rip off their consumers”. They might say they are in business to make a profit. However, my friend, an auto dealer, felt that it was important for a car buyer to develop a “relationship” with his local auto dealer. I couldn’t disagree more. I felt that “relationship” was another word for having to “buy your friends”. I told him how I buy my new cars. In a nutshell, here’s how it works. I’ll go to a local dealer to test drive a car and do some “touching and feeling” with no intention whatsoever of buying a car from that dealer. Then I will return to my office and search the internet for the invoice cost of the vehicle I want. This takes about an hour. Then I use the “net” to discover all of the car dealers in Southern California who sell the car I want. My most recent purchases have been from Lexus. There are about 15 Lexus dealers in SoCal. I will both fax and email the dealers with an offer to sell me a car at or below invoice cost. I’ve done this several times. EVERY time I received quotes at or near invoice in a matter of minutes. When I find a dealer who has the car I want at the price I want, I make a phone call to confirm the details. Then I drive over and pick up the car in a matter of minutes. It really IS that simple. I don’t want to pay a ‘little more’. My dealer friend thought it would be better to “pay a little more” to get the car from a nearby dealer. He felt a dealer who sold me the car would give me better treatment than if I had purchased the car elsewhere. That has not been my experience. I have never bought a car from the dealer nearest to our home. However, I ALWAYS take the car in for warranty service at the dealer nearest my home. Note, I said “warranty” service. I have never received any resistance from my neighborhood dealer despite having purchased the car elsewhere. My seatmate and I disagreed on another aspect of working with a car dealer. There is one main reason I never take my car to a dealer for service unless it is warranty work. Car dealers are just too expensive with their maintenance charges. I have a reliable “tire guy and mechanic” who has done all of the maintenance on our cars for more than 15 years. No, it wouldn’t! My auto dealer friend kept saying, “Wouldn’t it be better to spend an extra thousand dollars or so if you had too to buy your car from your nearest dealer rather than drive 50 miles to get a car somewhere else?” Not to me! I’ll drive 50 miles EVERY day to save a thousand dollars. Often, I save much more than that with my methods. Then he tried to lay a “guilt trip” on by implying an outside shop couldn’t do the work as well as the dealership. I’ve never had a problem with this and I NEVER take my car to a dealer for anything that isn’t covered by the warranty. I am not a terrorist! We exchanged ideas on this subject for several minutes always in a friendly, informative and respectful manner. Then my newfound friend looked at me and said, “You’re a terrorist! That’s right you’re a terrorist to the automobile industry. We wouldn’t want you to visit our dealership. We couldn’t make a penny off you”. Folks, that’s the way I want it. I don’t want to have a “relationship” with any business partner that requires me to pay more for something simply because I have a “relationship” or “friendship” to protect. Yes, with anyone outside of my family or close friends, I really don’t mind being as ruthless as necessary. Everyone can define “ruthless” in whatever way they need too. SUNDAY B.S. walks and money talks. Over time, I have met some very unusual people on airplanes. I’ve met famous people and folks from all walks of life. Tonight, I sat next to George. I couldn’t tell how much of his tall tales were pure B.S. and what was true. George lived in Winnipeg. He told me he was 70 years old. George was headed for a vacation in Sydney, Australia. Never in my life have I sat next to someone who could talk non-stop like this man could. He told me he had become a millionaire by age 34 and was in the “hotel business”. He went on to tell me everywhere he traveled in the world. From time to time, he took me through the various ladies who had been in his life. He offered up pictures of several to support his tales. His current girlfriend is 30 years old and from the looks of her picture quite attractive. Vitamin B and currency straddles. What was interesting about George was that he was so knowledgeable about so many topics. He knew the exchange rate of most foreign currencies. He was familiar with just about every place in the world that I knew anything about. George was up to speed on investing. He also implored me to look into vitamin B capsules as a way to beat both jet lag and hangovers. George admitted to having “five doubles” at the Delta Airlines club before he got on the plane. Maybe that is why he had the need to talk so much. I sensed he might be even older than his stated 70 years. I’ve always been taught to respectful of folks older than me. Maybe that’s why I listened to him talk so long. I guess I was interested in his point of view on so many subjects as well. Fortunately, after hearing my friend talk for the better part of two hours, I begged off and used my Bose noise-canceling headphones and a reclining seat to get a nap in. When the plane landed, George bid me farewell and headed for his flight to Australia. He would be flying for nearly 20 hours to get there. He assured me that he would be “walking the beach” all morning after he landed because of his vitamin B medicine. Good luck George, I hope you have fun. RACE REVIEW I came here for one reason and it was worth it. I was coming up to Manitoba, Canada this weekend for one reason. I wanted to be able to say I had seen ice racing in a place where no other trackchaser had ever seen hard water racing. They only race a few races each year on ice. One fellow I ran into told me their entire season was canceled because of lack of ice in 2009. The neighboring province of Saskatchewan has canceled ice racing this year because of lack of interest. I was lucky to come across a man named Hamish Donaldson during my internet preplanning stage. Hamish runs the ice races up here. I don’t recall anyone being so prompt at answering my questions as he was. He gave me all the details I needed to find the track and understand what was going on today. There was plenty of ice and almost too much snow. Today they would be racing on the lake at the St. Malo Provincial Park. Winnipeg’s temperatures had been well below freezing every day for more than a month. There was plenty of ice. There was also a good deal of snow on the lake. For ice racing, the snow needs to be plowed exposing the lake’s frozen surface. I’ve seen ice race events canceled when there was too much snow on the lake. Today’s course was about one mile long. It was a road course with wide sweeping turns. I arrived just as the cars were completing practice. As I drove into the paddock area, it didn’t take me long to find Hamish. He looked at my bright blue and gold UCLA jacket and said, “If you need it, we’ll get you into a jacket that will keep you warm”. I guess he could tell this was not my native climate! While I was in the paddock area, I introduced myself to a fellow named “Al”. He told me there was no need for an introduction. He had already heard about my impending visit from the head man, Hamish. Al mentioned that the group sometimes races in Winnipeg. He explained that it could be very expensive just to plow the track, often times as much as $1,000 for a racing weekend. He said the club looks for towns to sponsor the racing group at the local lake of whatever town that’s willing to host these racers. This group only races a few times each winter. They’ve got another race scheduled for the end of this month at a different location. I wouldn’t be suing anybody. After I signed a release saying I wouldn’t sue anybody if my Volvo C30 fell through the ice or if I fell through the ice or if I got run over by anything racing on the ice, Hamish told me, “You’ve been to enough racing, you can go anywhere you want, just stay a safe distance back”. No matter how many races one has been too, that’s good advice. Rather that walk from one point to the next in the frigid temperatures, I used my car to get to the best viewing points. Considering the wind was blowing at about 30 M.P.H. that was a good strategy. The racing on this course allowed the cars to get up some good speeds. All of the cars raced in the same race. There were 12-14 in the starting grid. The track allowed plenty of room to pass. Since there was much snow on the track itself and I don’t think they were using studs, the “ice dust” was minimal. That meant folks could see the cars racing around the entire track. These drivers could drive. I was impressed with the speeds these drivers achieved. There was a good deal of side by side racing. It was fun to see several of the drivers putting their cars “sideways” through the turns. These guys raced hard and put on a good show despite the cold conditions. I tried to get several pictures of each car racing today. I’ve found that the drivers like that. I hope all the members of the Winnipeg Sports Car Club ice racing group likes what they see. This wasn’t my most convenient trip ever. It wasn’t terribly convenient to come to Winnipeg on the day of my 38th wedding anniversary or to watch the race with Carol at home on Valentine’s Day. Heck, the Daytona 500 was on TV today was well. Not to worry, I’ll watch it on a recorded basis and cut out the commercials. I was still nursing a major cold I had acquired in Malta. That trip had ended just four days before I needed to leave for Winnipeg. As luck would have it, I would be leaving on another major foreign trip just four days after getting back from Winnipeg. This is a busy life, but it’s all optional. I guess I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t find it so interesting, challenging and satisfying. PROVINCE COMPARISONS Manitoba This was my third lifetime track to see in the Canadian province of Manitoba. I’ve seen racing on a dirt oval, an asphalt road course and now an ice racetrack. My records show I still have five ovals (only one races on a regularly scheduled basis) and two ice tracks still to see. I must admit I haven’t done much Manitoba “trackchasing research” recently so this information is likely out of date. Coming Soon – Randy Lewis Racing Exclusive Features! Trackchasing politics revealed….they’re about ready to kill each other. Is there a conspiracy in place regarding some trackchasers international track credits? Thanks for reading about my trackchasing, Randy Lewis Alberta’s #1 Trackchaser It’s not for me to judge whether a person is whining for a good reason. My job is simply to listen to it or not. TRAVEL DETAILS AIRPLANE Los Angeles, CA (LAX) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP), – 1,535 miles Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – Winnipeg, Manitoba (YWG) – 394 miles RENTAL CAR #1 Winnipeg International Airport – trip begins St. Malo, Manitoba – 51 miles Winnipeg International Airport – 108 miles – trip ends AIRPLANE Winnipeg, Manitoba (YWG) – Minneapolis, MN (MSP) – 394 miles Minneapolis, MN (MSP), – Los Angeles, CA (LAX) –1,535 miles Total Air miles – 3,858 (4 flights) Total Rental Car miles – 108 (1 rental car) Total miles traveled on this trip – 3,966 miles TRACK ADMSSION PRICES: St. Malo Provincial Park Ice Track – Free Total racetrack admissions for the trip – Nada COMPARISONS LIFETIME NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY UPDATE Lifetime NGD results for the period ending December 31, 2009 will be posted soon. LIFETIME TRACKCHASER COMPARISONS There are no trackchasers currently within 200 tracks of my lifetime total. Official end of Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report Click on the link below to see how the day went ice trackchasing in St. Malo: My first ever trackchasing day on ice in Manitoba! 
