25 ROADS AUGUST UPDATE

Treasurer & Member, Trevor & Sonia Ross

25 Roads for 25 Years Challenge – August Update

September is the last month of the 25 Roads for 25 Years Challenge and participation has been ramping up. Several teams look like they’re getting close to joining Teams Gosse and gary987 in completing all 25 roads. Some, like Teams Dempsey and Mayne Maniacs, have been steadily making headway since April. Others have appeared from out of nowhere, like Team Old Victorians who went from 0 to 18 drives in one (huge) email. Perhaps there are few teams out there that haven’t reported all their drives yet?

We’d appreciate any new teams register by September 15 to be included in our prize planning. The Gold River Charity Drive on September 18 is a good opportunity to knock Road 21 off your list, as well as “Mining in the Park” (Road 24: Westmin Mine Road). The September 26 TSD Rally route hasn’t been released yet, but who knows, maybe it will cover some of the roads like the July rally did. Complete rules and instructions for the Challenge can be found on the VIRPCA website (under Events, 25 Roads Challenge) and in the Driving Log you received in the mail. You can also check on standings by clicking on the “RESULTS” button at the bottom of the 25 Roads Challenge page to see which roads have been driven the most, and “Team Statistics” to see which teams have been out driving. Click on a road or a team’s name for stories and photos.

Sonia and I have been putting a few kilometres in and only have two drives left. Our most recent journey, with two other teams, was an overnight trip to Port Hardy, where we completed “Long Way Up” (Road 22: Port Hardy); “Alice in Wonderland” (Road 23: Port Alice); “Northern Sights” (Road 25: North Island) and “Fjord Foray” (Road 21: Gold River). We are always awestruck by how beautiful the northern area and western inlets of Vancouver Island are – rugged, remote, peaceful, and friendly. Port Alice and Coal Harbour were new to us and after talking to the museum staff in Coal Harbour (a must-do), I wish I had a Baja kit on the 911 to be able to do even more exploring. We came back with lots of great stories and memories. The twisties on these routes are truly meant to experience in a Porsche.

One road update – I noticed that construction of the roundabout on Memorial Avenue and Island Highway 19A in Qualicum Beach has lengthened the stretch of road that is torn up in that area. Be prepared for a bit of dust and gravel (or make plans to bypass it).

As always, be sure to check out the VIRPCA Facebook page and #virpca25roads on Instagram for photos and stories.

Good luck, stay safe and see you out there. Trevor

Team: Old Red, Older Blue 25Roads@virpca.org

Below is Stuart Macleod’s Cayman during his BIG 25 Roads journey (see over)

Editor-Stuart Macleod’s 25 Roads Facebook entry which makes interesting reading:- Relative to my usual posts - the last one of which was on May 29 - this one is kinda epic. 8 days, 2,643 km, 15 challenge roads, One rest day, One track day, Seven Shell stops, and one Chevron!, Zero car washes Needless to say, too many highlights and photos to jam into a single FB post. In lieu, here are my headline memories, plus links to the videos created with the Relive app (much still to learn with Relive). Headlines Crossing paths multiple times with the Hagerty Island Adventure at the top of the Island. Such an amazing variety of cars, with drivers to match! Life-altering drives to Coal Harbour, Port Alice and Gold River. By life-altering, I mean I will alter my life so as to drive these again. Standing on the brakes to avoid a mama & baby bear sauntering across the road out of Telegraph Cove … I hear others spotted similar in the area! Enjoying the entire road up to the Mount Washington ski area, especially the legit switchback right near the top. Overcast and a shower or two up near the Ports, but otherwise just fabulous driving weather the entire trip. Off-roading on Denman Island, exploring back roads in lieu of a trip over to Hornby… the ticket for which the BC Ferries agent at Buckley Bay would not sell me because they were already over-subscribed for return ferries from Hornby… by noon, on a weekday! People are well and truly scratching that travel itch. Kennedy Lake road construction on the trip to Ucluelet/Tofino… was exactly as fraught as expected. Can't recommend enough a close reading of the closure schedule, but there's going to be an element of luck depending on how much traffic is involved, and when. Ucluelet and Tofino were both packed, as were all the campsites and resorts in between. The silver lining… if you get a stretch of open road, the non-construction segments between Port Alberni and the coast are sublime. Relive videos (Porscher readers, please click on the links to ‘relive’ Stuart’s drives!) Day 1 - Roads 17 and 10... with a twist https://www.relive.cc/view/vPv4yAk2e3O Day 2 - Ports and Harbours and Coves... Oh my! https://www.relive.cc/view/vr63ywJmy8v Day 3 - Gold River and The 3 C's https://www.relive.cc/view/vZqNYL1PmG6 Day 5 - Mt Washington & Denman Island https://www.relive.cc/view/v7O9DJWBALv Day 7 - Alberni Ucluelet Tofino https://www.relive.cc/view/vJOK24onZ5v Day 8 - Nanaimo Loops https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqor5PQRy6 … and so concludes for me the "25 Roads for 25 Years Challenge". This is a great idea for this strange year. Thank you, again, to the folks who spent their time organizing and managing the event. Stuart

Editor—Try the Relive app as Stuart did, to record and share your drives.

25 Roads team standings (as of Aug 25th)

Gosse gary987 Old Red, Older Blue auf Achse sein Old Victorians Dempsey Mayne Maniac Pastry Patrol Cayman Islanders Bidibodi Bidibu Island Mike 911 StuMac Skeeles Scooters 25 2,040 41 25 2,021 41 23 2,179 39 19 1,657 33 18 1,536 31 18 1,302 23 15 1,347 22 12 922 18 12 746 15 11 704 17 11 659 13 10 893 24 10 787 11

C.O.V.I.D. Shrek&Fiona 10 747 15 10 739 15

PJ996 9 565 11

JoeJoy BOXSTERGAL 7 662 13 7 614 12

Mick

7 548 11 Bradious 7 414 8 Grey Haired Gear Heads 7 409 8 Porscher Head Ed 6 362 7 Kalahari Cruiser 6 336 7 911moji 6 312 6 The Red Baron and The Baroness 4 436 9 Lexi 4 386 8 Tyro 4 340 7 2LaneHighway 3 179 4 Blue Bird Bliss 3 178 4 Niki 3 160 4 Black Blue Turbo Trio 3 160 3 Steve and Laura 3 146 3 No Name 2 2 181 4 Topdown 2 142 3 No Name 3 1 114 2 Blackfox 1 82 2 No Name 1 82 2 Wild West 1 63 1 Moto48 1 46 1 No Name 4 1 45 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 Page 20