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BONUS EPISODE - Ah Trek It’s Yagi - Rebelle Rally
BONUS EPISODE - Ah Trek It’s Yagi - Rebelle Rally
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About this episode
Kathleen, known as Autrec It's Yagi, shares her firsthand experience competing in the Rebelle Rally, a challenging all-women off-road navigation event. She discusses the process of finding a navigator, preparing her Subaru Crosstrek with minimal modifications, and the emotional highs and lows of the rally. Kathleen highlights memorable moments like unexpected wildlife encounters and the camaraderie among participants. She reflects on the demanding daily driving hours, camping conditions, and the supportive community. The conversation offers insights into the rally’s unique challenges and the empowering spirit behind it.
Topics:
rebelle rally experience
subaru crosstrek modifications
navigator partnership
off-road navigation
rally preparation
emotional challenges
camping and logistics
wildlife encounters
women empowerment
rally community
Kathleen hops on the mic to share her experience at the Rebelle Rally, which was her first time competing. She shares information about driving, sleeping, emotions, and getting the blooper of the year award!
Links from the show, links to sponsors and discount partners, and ways to support the podcast:
Rebelle Rally
https://www.instagram.com/rebellerally/
Website
https://www.rebellerally.com/?playlist=66d89f6&video=e82a3aa
Ah Trek It’s Yagi
https://www.instagram.com/ah.trek.its.yagi/
Team Leave Em Wild / 211
https://www.instagram.com/leave.em_wild_team_211/
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Ford Bronco Sport
"to be the primary thing. There was a Bronco sports, um, of course a BMW. Uh, what else?"
Car
Honda Passport
"...hat else? There was a Honda Ridgeline and a Honda Passport. I think that was the other vehicles."
Car
Honda Ridgeline
"Uh, what else? There was a Honda Ridgeline and a Honda Passport. I think that was the other ..."
Car
Outback Subaru Wilderness
"...that we knew that was having car problems was the Subaru Wilderness. We knew she was having a few car problems"
Select text to request an explanation
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to another bonus episode.
This time, I have Kathleen, who goes by Autrec.
It's Yagi, and we are talking about the Rebell rally.
I wanted to get her on here to get her experience and insight and all the information I could
get out of her about her experience participating in the Rebell rally this year.
So it was really, really cool to see another Subaru join the Rebell rally this year, and
then somebody that I had actually met in person that I've had on the podcast, and
of course, one of three Subaru's that competed and participated in the Rebell rally.
So that all was really, really cool.
Kathleen was the driver, and Jordan Keith was her navigator, and they were both part
of Team Leave'em Wild, which was Team 211, and it was just really, really cool to see
how well that they did for Kathleen's first time driving.
But Jordan Keith has participated and competed in the Rebell rally before as a navigator.
But yeah, that's what this bonus episode is.
Just wanting to get Kathleen on here and talk about her experience.
So being that this is a bonus episode, let's just get right into it and hear from Kathleen
herself.
But yeah, let's talk about the Rebell rally.
Oh my gosh, that was crazy.
Yeah, and I want to go to the beginning and like, I guess go back to when you first started
even thinking about participating and joining and trying to get in.
Okay, at the very beginning, yeah, gosh, I was right after, well actually it was before
last year's, because I used to watch Carrie do it, and it was like, I could do that, that
looks really cool.
If she can do it in a Subaru, I can do this in a Subaru.
I mean, it looks pretty much the same as I drive around here, I can do this.
And I didn't do it the year before, and I was like, well, this is the 10th anniversary
coming up this year, plus I was turning 60 at the time that it was happening.
I was like, hey, I always do something crazy for my birthdays, so I was like, I'm
going to do the Rebell rally.
Yes, because you had your birthday during the Rebell rally.
I did.
The whole tent saying happy birthday to me, it was kind of embarrassing.
That's nice though.
I was not expecting that.
No, it was really, it was really nice.
It was just a nice way to celebrate.
So yeah, but I started doing that, just the biggest fear I had was trying
to find that perfect partner, you know, trying to get a navigator, somebody
that would just be willing just to navigate because I don't, not that I can't navigate.
I can navigate just fine, but I get car sick, really bad sitting there looking
at maps and not looking at the road.
So I just put that out there and Rebell was really nice in connecting me
with a whole bunch of people.
And then they put, I put my picture up on the Rebell site on Facebook and some
women responded then and I kind of did a little speed dating thing.
Ended up with my navigator and it took us a couple of months.
We just wanted to make sure that we were going to connect because
she lives way in Canada.
So we had to do a lot of zoom meetings like this, a lot of talking and
figuring out is this going to work?
And we pretty much had the same ideals and goals.
So I was like, okay, and she knew how to navigate.
She, she's actually trying to become a pilot.
So that really, yeah, I know it's like, if she can navigate in there or she
can definitely navigate on the ground.
So, and she had done it last year too.
Oh, that's it.
Yeah.
So she had at least one year under her belt, but so, yeah, it worked out.
And then we decided to pull the trigger and charged up our credit
cards and ready to go.
So you, but you, like in order to get in, like, how did you get in contact
with the rebel rally to say, Hey, I want to be a driver.
I'm looking for a navigator.
How did that whole process work?
Following, I'm on Facebook and stuff.
I just, I started following their group pages.
I follow a lot of groups.
Um, there's one called the, um, uh, rebel rally on prepping.
And they, I just put on there, um, with a picture of my car.
I said, I really want to do the rebel this year.
I need a navigator.
This is what you'll be writing in.
Cause I want them to know.
Obviously they're going to be writing a smaller car.
It's not a big four by four.
So I stuck that up there and I got some responses.
And then, um, Andrea, who's in charge of kind of connecting
everybody together, uh, she works for rebel.
She actually contacted me personally and actually gave me a whole list
of women that have been signed up for, you know, two, three
years trying to get in, you can sign up anytime.
I could sign up for next year right now as a driver.
And then maybe somebody might come in as a navigator later or something.
And then you get the money later and worry about all that stuff,
but that's how it started.
Let's just get in that connection.
And there's quite the list of navigators.
Actually they, they're always looking for drivers.
So navigators are pretty easy to find drivers.
Not quite so much cause not a lot of, if you're not a pro driver,
of course you're not given a car.
You have to use your own.
And there's not a lot of women that have those cars to do this kind of stuff.
So yeah, but you've got a really nice cross-track that's got some, uh,
some modifications on it.
Yeah, but it's so minimal.
That's the thing is, I mean, I'm not, I'm not Carrie.
I'm not Milton or any of those guys.
I haven't way overdone things.
I mean, it's just really simple iron man lift.
I did switch to, um, rally tech, control arms, toe arms,
and, um, trailing arms in the back cause I put a pretty good dent in, uh,
my trailing arm going over mosquito pass, not last summer, but the summer before
I finally decided I probably should replace that before I do anything.
It was a pretty big dump, but it was, it was still working.
But yeah, I mean, really, I'm skid plates.
Nothing outrageous on there.
There's not, you've seen it.
It's not that outrageous.
I mean, it looks cool cause I got cool graphics on it, but as far as
modifications, nothing really to start with, some sponsors came in like, uh,
baseline overland gave me the rack, the first rack for that generation.
Nice.
Um, that was really nice.
It was, it was a project.
It took us a couple of days cause it came undrilled.
So we had to figure out where to put the drill holes in here to make it
fit right on the car.
That was a little chore.
And then we sent him back the measurements, um, got that.
And then Orbus overland and sent me the wings to mount my water packs on.
So I didn't have to carry everything inside cause I was very fired.
Yeah.
You know, those little things came extra.
But I mean, basically it's a basic cross track.
It's just been lifted with some skid plates on it.
Yeah.
But it seems like that's, that's good for what you need out there.
You know, you don't need, I don't think you need anything.
Super crazy.
And you seem to have done pretty well with it.
Well, I've got a few years of driving under my belt.
So yeah, I've seen places you've gone.
Yeah.
I mean, it's, you do need to have the right car for certain situations,
but of course you do need some skills too.
Um, I don't, I want, I don't want to pat myself on the back too much,
but I've got, I've been driving since I was 15.
I'm 60 now.
So off-roading, it's, I've got a few years that I've been driving off-road
and no situations and nowhere I shouldn't and go.
Yeah.
And then I mean, that's, that's definitely helpful.
So, yeah.
So how long, yeah.
And so how long was it before, or so you, you ended up, you know,
trying to find a navigator and everything, but didn't you have to be
on a waiting list to find out that you were actually accepted into the
rebel rally?
How, how did that work?
Yeah.
So once we decided to actually sign up for the rebel, so I hadn't signed
up with it once I got the navigator.
So once we both decided that we were going to be a good team together,
that's when we decided to sign up and we each paid our half of the
registration and all that.
At that time, I guess last year was so popular that so many women had
just joined right up.
So we actually got put on a waiting list.
I think we were number seven right off the bat, which kind of surprised
us that we weren't closer to the top.
Wow.
Yeah.
We'd signed up in like the first part of December.
It's like, wow, that was crazy.
And so we were number seven, but by the end of March, we had gotten in.
So we moved up pretty fast, which was pretty exciting.
Cause we were, I was kind of worried at first cause, you know,
they tell you, it's like, well, you might not get into the last week.
And it's like, well, should we train?
Should we get sponsors?
How should we do this?
If we're not going to get into then.
So we just took it as we were in.
We're number seven, but that many people dropped out and actually a
couple more, even after we got on, we're able to get in as well.
So that's good.
Yeah.
I mean, things happen.
It's, you know, sicknesses, car doesn't work, whatever, all kinds of
crazy stuff will happen and people drop out.
So yeah.
And especially planning that far ahead and then you're waiting for
quite a while until you actually get there.
A lot can happen.
So it's good that it worked out for you.
Yeah.
Yeah, it did.
I mean, it gave me time to get sponsors to work on the car, make
sure that everything was working right.
And of course, I think it was, gosh, what was it?
It seemed like a couple of weeks before that's when things started
going weird with the car, like all the lights went off on it.
I mean, just, I said, everything that could go wrong, we're
wrong with the car, but we're like, okay, it's testing us right
now.
It's going to be ready for the rally, but it's putting this to
the test right now, just don't do this during the rally.
So yeah.
And when the rally came, the car did fine.
I, the only issue I had was, um, the rear sway bar, uh, which
I already knew the bolts were loose during the worst day of
the rally decided to come loose and it starts clanging
on us and I hear that clanging noise and it is
pouring and we are, I don't know if any, whoever watched it
could see all the mud on our cars.
You cannot see the color of our cars.
There was so much mud on there and it was raining and I was
trying to climb underneath that and trying to get the bolt.
I couldn't get it.
It was more frustrating than anything.
I finally jacked it up in the rain on this mud and felt
under there, couldn't find anything, started shaking
things around because I knew what it was, but it was so
muddy.
I just couldn't find anything.
Took off, hit a couple of bumps and knocked it loose.
I was like, yes, no more clanging.
Don't need this way more anyway.
So got back the mechanics.
Actually, we're able to find a couple of bolts and they
locked tight at everything in there.
So it shouldn't come loose again.
We should have locked it in the first place, but that was
the only thing that went wrong with the car.
So that's great.
I know.
And with all the roads, the crazy stuff that we did is
yeah, I'm surprised.
Yeah.
I didn't hit the nose this time.
I didn't do anything with the nose.
The nose is awesome.
That's good.
Yeah.
Did you end up getting sponsored by Subaru?
Officially, they said that I found out later after the
rally because a lot of people got upset about this because
when they showed that Subaru's posted, they posted the
other two vehicles and said, this is who they're
sponsoring this year.
And people were like, why don't don't you have
our truck, it's jogging in there.
I took it as a sponsorship because they gave us
everything that we needed, but they referred to it as
funding us, which is fine because it didn't actually
give us a car, which was fine because I had my own.
So yeah.
And I mean, you were planning on using your own
car anyway, right?
Yeah.
I mean, that was the whole plan.
That's why it's built the way it is.
I want to do this stuff.
This, what was interesting is most of the roads that
we were on are very similar to what I drive anyway.
And a lot of them are much easier than what I
drive on anyway, which was really surprising.
For me, I was kind of shocked.
I was like, a lot of the areas we're going to, I was like,
oh, these are easier roads than what I drive on at home.
I, you know, it was cool.
So the car actually kind of got a break here and there.
There was some hard stuff that we did go through.
But no, it was, it was actually pretty much the same
stuff that I drive through anyway.
So it didn't really put it to that much of a test.
Yeah.
So basically you were pretty much prepared for it
with everything that you've been doing beforehand,
which is good because, you know, it, it made, it helped
you to be more successful during the Rebell rally and, you
know, get to where you were.
What place did you end up in with, in your class?
We ended up in fourth.
Um, we probably could have gotten second or third
if we hadn't screwed up so bad on like, I think it was
day six, day six that we screwed up on really bad.
We ended up doing what they call the Enduros.
We ended up doing one of those backwards.
We got misplaced up a valley and we're, this is not really
a race, but you are trying to beat the clock.
Um, so we have so much time to get between each one of
these checkpoints and, you know, you've got a couple hours.
Uh, we had gone up the wrong valley.
We couldn't figure out what was going on the day
before we had been playing in the rain and stuff.
So neither one of our brains were really functioning,
right?
And we ended up going the easiest route around.
So you pointed me to the easiest route at that point
and we ended up racing all the way around.
In fact, my husband said he was following me.
He's like, are they out there looking for UFOs or something?
Where are they going?
Cause they can see where we're going.
And they knew where all the checkpoints were.
It's like, that's not really fair because he knew
we were in the wrong valley.
So we actually went the wrong direction, ended up way
out and ended up doing this Enduro backwards.
We got that done, race back down, and then we missed
our next time by six minutes.
So we missed a half days worth of points that we
could have gotten.
And so that kind of threw us back down the line.
But we were in second place there for a couple of days.
It was pretty nice.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was nice.
It was, it was fun.
I didn't keep up with it like as much as I wanted to,
but yeah, it was really nice being able to see
the, all the posts on Instagram and where everybody was at.
So that was really cool.
And it's, you know, it's, of course, us being Subaru lovers,
we, you know, it was fun watching Kerry in the, you
know, the, the forester and then you in second place for a
while there.
And then the other factory team in the, um, wilderness
cross trek and doing well.
So, I mean, it was just cool seeing have, have, you
know, having three Subaru's in there.
It was, I mean, we were pretty much half the pack.
There was only seven cars in the X cross.
So Subaru pretty much dominated as far as how many
vehicles we had out there, which was nice.
Yeah.
And all of us were pretty well experienced drivers.
granted, I was going up against pro drivers with
the BMW and the other two Subaru's and stuff.
Those guys have an actual experience out doing this
with the time situations and stuff, which is a
little different for me.
Yeah.
So is the X cross just like, uh, all wheel drive?
How does a, how do they classify that?
Well, they put the X cross is all wheel drive, um, basically
you don't have, um, low gearing.
So like the four by fours and stuff, they all have
the low gears and everything else.
You can also do, apparently I was reading it, of
course, you can do a two wheel drive as well.
If you wanted to, I didn't know, know that
anybody's ever taken a two wheel drive out there.
It would be possible.
If you have the skills to do it, um, it'd be
really rough on the car, but all wheel drive seems
to be the primary thing.
There was a Bronco sports, um, of course a BMW.
Uh, what else?
There was a Honda Ridgeline and a Honda Passport.
I think that was the other vehicles.
Okay.
And then the three Subaru's.
So we're all all wheel drive.
So it was pretty even across the board as far as
that went.
Yeah.
So what was like, what was it like, uh, cause you
said that with your navigator, y'all were doing
zoom at first.
And then with her living in Canada, how did
y'all get seat time in before the rebel?
I mean, was she coming down and dry, riding
in with you?
That was, that was hard.
Um, cause I did, I did the dunes for a week in
the end of February.
That's the first time I've ever been on
big sand dunes.
So I did that, um, by myself down there at
Glamis, um, that was, that was crazy.
Um, those guys pushed me and my car well
beyond whatever I needed, which definitely
proved to me that the car could do
whatever I needed it to do.
Um, but she didn't make it to that.
I ended up going up to the Pacific Northwest.
And I met up with Carrie Milton and a
whole bunch of other super people up there.
And after that, I drove on up to Squamish
and spent a couple of days with her.
And that's when I actually first met her.
So she got to see how big the car was and
everything else.
Cause she, she had some requirements.
She wanted to bring her big tent, which
anybody who watched us know, we were the
big orange tent out there.
We're the only big orange tent out there.
So they always knew our tent and she
wanted to call it.
So I was like, I gave her a choice, a
cot or a chair, cause that's all on top
of the car.
So she narrowed it down to that and she
got to look at the car.
She got to ride in it, get a feel for it.
And then, um, we did do a training
together.
I'm trying to think when was it?
It was like two weeks before the rally.
We had one last students training and
she actually came down for that.
That was three days in, uh, Sand Mountain
outside of Reno.
And we did do some training in the
dunes there.
So we, that's about the only seat
time we got other than that.
I usually had somebody else sitting with
me, like we did some local stuff
here around St. George.
We had a group of women come in
here and we did a little training for
one weekend and I just had somebody
else sit with me.
Okay, that's good.
I mean, it's good that y'all were able
to get some seat time together.
You know, it's, uh, difficult when you
live in different countries.
You know what I mean?
It is.
And it was, it was actually difficult
during the training because once we
got into it, it was a totally different
vibe.
We, we actually think better once we
got to the rally.
Yeah.
And when we were not, because before
we weren't, we didn't have those
expectations, so we weren't really
thinking about it.
But once we got to the rally, we
synced really well.
I mean, she knew her stuff.
There was a lot of times she was
getting so close to Bull's eyes.
I was like, I think she's good.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah.
So, like watching Carrie do it for the
past few years and then kind of, you
know, knowing what you knew about
the Rebel rally just from following
it, how did it, how did the reality
for you compare it to like everything
that you saw, especially like when
you first got there?
Yeah.
It was, it was, I don't know, how
do I want to describe it, is, is
kind of like organized chaos.
I'm not used to, I'm used to driving
out there, but not being under a
time crunch or any of this other
stuff and everything that was
happening, because I'm kind of,
I'm an introvert.
I don't like being around people
that much.
So, next thing I know, I'm
throwing in this crowd of women.
Now I've got to perform and
with them and do other things.
And it was, it was a little
nerve-wracking at first.
I think the emotions was probably
the hardest part of the whole
thing was you're on these highs
one minute and literally the next
second something happens and
you're on a major low.
And you go from laughing to tears
to being angry all within
10 minutes.
It was crazy.
That was probably the hardest part.
And I think that's why I'm so
worn out this week.
Emotionally, it is draining
because it just happens.
Everything happens so fast.
You don't have time to really
process it because you got to
keep going.
Yeah.
So how long, how long is like
the actual time that you're
driving any one day?
Like what's the shortest day
and what's the longest day?
Or is it all the same?
All of them were given about 10
hours and each one's break
broke up over different sections
as far as what sections he's
got us going to like the day
that it rained.
Half of us were sent on one
side of the highway up into the
mountains for six hours.
She gave us six hours up there
to do different things.
And of course, you have
different times between
East checkpoint.
And then on the other side,
you had four hours.
And then once you got done
over there, you switch over
to the other side or whatever.
And yeah, it's usually
lasted about 10 hours a day.
I mean, it could last
longer if you really get lost.
Yeah.
But we we usually got ours done
within 10 hours, sometimes a
little bit shorter.
But and is that 10 hours of
seat time of actually driving?
Yes. Wow.
So then you get a break
to go pee when you when you find
a checkpoint.
OK, that's good.
And that's when you grab food
and water. Usually I had my I
actually had camelbacks.
I had one with electrolytes
and one with water behind my
seat. So I had hoses coming
around. So I wouldn't have to
because I usually had to have
both hands on the steering
wheel.
And yeah, and she always had
food at her feet.
And then we had a cooler in the
back. So in the chance
I got to get out, I'd jump out
and grab a cold drink or a
sandwich or something.
And away we go.
How long are you at the
checkpoints, usually?
Literally maybe
a minute or two.
You're usually already planned
for the next one.
By the time you get to that
one, you're planned for the
next one.
The black diamonds don't have
any flags or poles.
Those were the hardest ones.
And so we would have to.
One day we were actually known
as the ones going backwards all
the time because I'm constantly
she wants me to reverse, she
wants me to turn around, do
this and that.
So I was constantly going the
wrong way, trying to find
specifically where she wanted
me, because we try to get as
close as we can to
where we wanted to be before
we could click.
So it was it was fun.
And then like how many
checkpoints do you have
each day?
It seemed like we averaged around
twenty one, twenty two.
Oh, OK.
Yeah, they're spread out.
And I mean, there's some days
like when we had to transition
from base camp one to base camp
two, you know, those are long
transitions.
Because we started like outside
of Mammoth.
Closer to Tonopah
for base camp one.
But then we had
a marathon day where you go and
camp out by ourselves.
We went north of Tonopah and
camped up there in the mountains.
That was really cool.
In a town called Benton, I think
it was. It was really cool as a
ghost town up there.
I got to go back up there.
But that was that was
the most interesting to me as
I was going to these places.
I'm mentally going.
OK, I got to come back here.
I got to come back here.
So I have time to look at
this.
But then we came
all the way from there and
came all the way down.
Gosh, where were we by Ridgecrest?
Was base camp two.
So that transition, she's got us
going cross country to get down
there while they're hauling
all the stuff down.
So, you know, it takes a while to
get that many checkpoints.
We're running around all over the
place out there.
Yeah. And how many
how many nights were you camping
outside and because were you
sleeping at base camp one
or base camp two some nights?
We slept there, but we had to
sleep in our own tents.
We had our little tent city set
up. Gotcha.
So this year she actually had
us.
Let's see how many times do we
have to pack up like six times?
It was a lot of times.
It was almost almost every night.
There was only a couple nights
where we didn't actually have to
pack up our tents
because we had marathon days,
which is where we camp out.
We had two of those and then
base camp the way she had it
set up that we did these
loops and we come back and then
we'd have to grab our stuff and
go back out again the next
night and stay out there.
And then the next time we
transitioned down.
So it was a lot of camping
outside. OK, yeah.
So who is she when you say she
had us doing this?
Emily, Emily Miller, she's the
one that actually founded this
whole thing.
OK, so she's the one that
she's in charge.
She's she's a she's a big, big
dog up there and she's
organized this whole thing for
10 years.
It's an absolutely amazing thing.
She wanted women to be empowered
by getting out there
and doing this crazy stuff
and give them the courage to
when they get done.
It's like, hey, I can do stuff
and a lot of women come out of
this going, hey, I can do
stuff.
Yeah, I don't have to get around.
Yeah, no, that's good.
So what was what was your
like?
You talk about the emotions were
really high and all over the
place. So what was it like
the first day when you started
and then the last day when
you're like, this is over now.
We can have this big banquet
and everything.
Well, we started off really good
because it was mostly payment and
we were just doing what they
call an en route enduro.
So we were just following the
symbols, no times anything
just to get to our campsite.
And it was between Mammoth and
Tonopah and we'd already
I've driven those roads a
million times. So I kind of knew
where we were going. It was really
easy.
We consider that prologue that was
day zero.
We're in a good mood.
Everything was good. Nice sunny day
got to our campsite.
I was like, oh, this is really
cool.
Then we had a lot of ups and
downs in between by the last
day. We were so loopy.
I think we were just giggling
at every stupid thing that we were
doing because it was just getting
so ridiculous.
Some of the things are like,
we took off on the enduro, forgot
to set the territory up at zero
and now we're off on time.
And then this Bronco shows up out
of nowhere. We're like, well, now
we don't know what time we are.
We don't know if we're behind
or ahead because we don't know
where they're supposed to be
because they let us go a minute
apart.
We shouldn't be on top of each
other. And this Bronco comes
out of nowhere. We're like, are
we fast or are we slow?
We didn't know how fast we were
going because we messed up.
We just started laughing at that
point. I was like, what can you
do? I mean, we were so tired
and loopy at that point.
It's like, we just want to see
base camp.
Yeah. The finish line.
What was your sleeping
arrangement like every night
for you personally?
Both of us slept in the same
tent. She had a cot.
I just slept on the floor.
I have a four inch
memory foam, inflatable
mattress and just a regular
sleeping bag, nice and easy.
I slept like a rock.
I honestly didn't I thought
for sure I'd be having stressful
dreams nightmares every night
about what's going to happen
because I overthink everything.
But I actually didn't have any
dreams until
the night that I got back, I
was I was laying in bed
with my husband and I woke up
and I was all curled up in a
ball.
But in my dream,
I was actually holding my helmet
on, hanging out.
OK, now the nightmares are coming.
So for the last week,
I've been dreaming about just
driving in the gravel and
anything that could possibly go
wrong, that didn't go wrong.
So yeah, I'm overthinking it
now that it's over.
It's like, oh, my gosh.
Yeah. Well, it's good that you
slept well.
And how many like from the time
that you would like have to
set up to go to sleep
and then you would have to get
up like how many hours did you
have typically for that?
It depended on the night.
Sometimes it would be only like
four, depending on what we had to
do, anywhere from four to seven
hours.
Yeah. By the time we got done
eating, because you get in,
you want to eat right away.
If you're lucky, you can squeeze
in a shower.
And then if we had maps to do
or I had to set up camp or
whatever that went on.
And sometimes we didn't get to
bed until between 10
and midnight. Sometimes we were
able to get to bed at eight o'clock.
So it just depends.
But we always got up between four
and four thirty to get ready
for the next day.
Yeah.
And when did you like what time
did you which I'll usually take
off for the next
checkpoints in that day?
It was different times every day,
but we managed to get usually
about mid-pack.
So that was kind of nice.
It gave us a few more minutes
to plot on the maps.
So we usually left around seven
thirty a.m.
OK, was usually I mean there was
one time we had to leave a little
bit earlier. I think it was like
seven ten was the earliest we
left. And then the latest was
like seven fifty.
But most of the time we left
around seven thirty we were
because you have a drawing
every night to what you're
going to be leaving the next
morning. And that kind of gave
you an idea of what you could
do in the morning because she
would get all the maps in
the morning and then that would
give her how much time she'd
be able to plot and how far
as you could do whatever.
Now are each of the like the
X Cross class cars
doing different routes than
the other ones or is everybody
doing the same thing just going
at different times?
How does that work?
It was kind of interesting.
There was a lot of four by
fours where we went.
I think there was only
actually a couple of routes
that were specifically for the
four by fours and she had the
X Cross going around.
But she always gave the X
Cross the option, you know,
just she just let us know
in the morning when she did
her morning speech saying OK,
these are the routes.
It's a four by four route.
It may have ledges if it has
ledges obviously X Cross
isn't going to want to do that.
I think there was only one day
that she mentioned ledges all
the rest of time.
We kind of were hanging with
the four by fours.
Oh, that's good.
That's good.
Yeah, I mean, it was kind of
nice because we actually teamed
up with a couple of them.
We'd see them every now and
then just ask them for help
or anything that we needed
because they had more
experience than we did.
So we'd ask them for some
help and they had no problem
helping us.
They're not in the same class
so we weren't competing against
them because they could they
could help us.
But yeah, that's good.
It was nice.
Yeah, it was nice.
And what was the last day
like for you when you have
like I guess when you come in
and you finish everything
but then it's like the
following day that you have
the banquet, correct?
Or is it the same?
No, it's the following day.
OK.
So the night that we come in,
we actually
this is the first year, I guess,
that family was actually family
and friends were actually able
to be at the finish line,
which was really cool.
Oh, yeah, our husbands
were actually there and they
had science for us and stuff.
And that was that was
emotional right there.
Total breakdown.
I was like, and you weren't
you didn't know that, right?
Somebody that we know.
And did y'all not know that?
Did y'all that?
Oh, yeah, we knew.
Oh, OK.
They were going to be there.
It was just anticipation
of them being there and they had
nice signs for us and everything.
And they were there at the finish
line and we got to see them
as we're coming in.
And it takes time to go in
because you get your pictures
taken as you're going across
and and goofing around.
So it took a few minutes
as we're coming in.
But then they would
they had to leave because
we everybody went into the tent
and we had our own little party
that night to celebrate
everything and everything
that went on and all that stuff
because we we kind of had
let's see, we got the blooper
of the year our team did.
What was that?
I'll tell you.
OK, that story, that was a good one.
I get they had it.
She handed out three bloopers
and we got the blooper of this year
and then she handed out past ones
and this year.
What we did was like I mentioned,
we did the Enduro backwards.
So what we were doing is I was
following you get sheets
with these little pictures on them
of like the road goes
across the ditch kind of thing.
And so I was backtracking
trying to find where we needed to start.
So I'm going up the road
and I'd stop and I'm like, OK,
which way do I need to turn?
I'm looking at the paper
and then I start seeing dirty
four by fours coming.
I was like, oh, we got to go that way
because I know that all of ours are dirty
and nobody can read the numbers.
So follow them.
You know, they're coming this way.
Let's go back that way.
And we did that for like three corners.
And then we went up to the dirt section.
We I'm sitting there waiting.
I was like, oh, gosh,
I don't see him coming.
We got like six minutes to get this.
What are we going to do?
And then all of a sudden we see him coming.
So I took off and they were coming.
A bunch of them were coming down
and then the media vehicle was coming down.
Well, we didn't want to get caught doing whatever.
I we were doing anything bad,
but she goes, we don't have her helmets on
and you have to have your helmet on the dirt.
She takes the map and throws it in front of my face.
And I'm going the wrong way
at 70 kilometers per hour.
I'm like, oh my gosh.
So yeah, we immediately throw our helmets
on as quick as we could and then went on up and did that.
But yeah, we got the blooper of the year for that one
because I don't know what people were seeing.
They probably saw the map go fly in front of my face.
It's funny.
Yeah, that was that was a good story there.
But we made it to the green.
So we made it to that one.
We just didn't make it to the second half.
So that's good.
Yeah, our six minutes cost us on that.
Well, going back the other way,
because we had to stop and get gas and things on the way.
So just we just weren't able to catch up with it.
Yeah, it was unfortunate.
So what was that little party like
that you all had at the end of it?
It was just that we just sat around
and just basically our stories of things that happened.
And she just told different stories
from past rebells and things that happened.
It was just it was nice.
Nice couple of hours just to chill and relax.
And then the next day was just they had like games
and stuff for everybody.
What else did they do?
They had like kayaking
because it was right on the Colorado River.
So they had some kayaking paddle board.
And then they had the awards.
They actually gave out the
announced the awards.
They didn't give them out until that evening.
But they announced who came in
first, second, third for each class.
They did that.
And that was the first time
y'all were everybody was hearing
what place they were in, correct?
No, we actually knew the night before.
Oh, OK, OK, gotcha.
Yeah, they had posted it up on the board for us.
So I think it was like 643 that night.
They had the official scores.
And we knew that we were in fourth place at that point.
So what was that anticipation like, you know, knowing that
or like waiting to see what place you were in
and then finding out you were in fourth?
We knew we were probably in fourth.
We were hoping that maybe somebody had messed up
because the only way that we were going to jump up
at that point is if somebody above us had messed up
or their car broke down.
And the only person that we knew
that was having car problems was the Subaru Wilderness.
We knew she was having a few car problems
or radiator head leaks and or brakes were having problems.
But she managed to still kick butt.
So she came in third, I think, just above us.
Nice, nice.
Yeah, so that was the only thing.
So besides the games and other things
and the kayaking and paddleboarding, like what was the
because you all had like a big dinner at the end of it, too.
That was a gala. Yeah, we everybody dresses up
however you want to, whatever you feel comfortable in.
Some people wear gowns and tuxedos
and and some people just wear some nice pants
and a shirt, which is basically what I did and my husband did.
And then they have a really nice dinner that they serve us all.
And they do the actual announcements
of all the winning categories up on the stage.
And that was really nice.
Joe was there from Subaru.
He was all that was nice.
Yeah, he was there.
He brought us all flowers.
That was really nice of him.
Yeah, he's a good guy.
He is a really good guy.
I like him a lot. Yeah.
Well, good.
So what is like your biggest takeaway
from the rebel rally?
Gosh, that's a good question.
I don't know because there was so many things going on.
Like I said, I wasn't able to absorb everything.
I was concentrating on driving so much.
It was.
It was just the emotional roller coaster that really got to me.
But we had one moment that was just really, really special.
It was with the second day, second or third day.
We were up in the mines north of Tonapa.
And we'd gotten misplaced a little bit.
But then we did find the road.
And even my navigator was like, she's like,
gosh, you're like, you're like a tracker or something.
You know where these roads are.
I'm like, this is not really much of a road, but it was washed out.
So we're we're driving it.
And we'd gotten about halfway down and she goes, OK,
I think the black's out here, but we couldn't find it anywhere.
Exactly where we needed to be.
But she kind of wanted me to turn around and go back.
I said, I'm not driving back up that it was really bad.
I said, we're just going to keep rolling downhill.
And all these horses, there's probably over a hundred of them out there
were way down away from us.
And I don't know if it's because the way we were moving or rolling
because we weren't really driving fast, we're just kind of rolling.
All of a sudden they broke off in their herds
and we're running on both sides of us.
They got in front of us and it was just crazy.
They were running all around us.
And one one guy even stopped in front of us with his two mayors
and like he was standing off against the Subaru like,
don't you mess with my marriage kind of thing?
I was I've never seen horses do that.
Usually they run away from you.
But we're like, where are the camera guys when this stuff is going on?
This is a Subaru commercial right here.
All these were running around.
This is like this is crazy.
We're just like she was trying to catch it with the GoPro.
And we're like, we'll enjoy this moment because this was really cool.
That was probably one of our favorite moments right there.
That reminds me when you were describing that of like Jurassic Park
when they're driving in the Jeep and all the dinosaurs run next to them.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, it was very much like that, except for we had horses.
Yeah, we're just we're I don't know what was attracting them,
but they were literally running at the car.
And I was like, this is crazy.
Why are they running to us?
And even the antelope later we were down there.
There are some prong horns that came and they were running towards the car.
I'm like, I have never seen animals act this way.
I was like, I don't know, maybe the car smells good or something.
But they're all running towards us for some reason.
They just thought it was a really cool looking car.
Maybe they saw the goat on the side.
It just confused me. I don't know.
Yeah. So I guess, you know, to wrap this up,
what would you want to say to like anybody who might be considering this?
And is this something that you would want to do again?
Um, anybody who's considering it, I would definitely do it.
I mean, just take the plunge.
I know it's expensive, but definitely take the plunge and just enjoy every moment.
Don't go in there with any expectations of winning, losing, whatever.
Just go in with the idea of having fun, which is what we did.
We were not expecting to get up into second place like we did for those two days.
That just totally shocked us.
We did a lot better than we thought we did.
Now looking back is like, I think we could do even better.
And yeah, Joe and I have been talking.
We'll see how it goes. I might do it again next year. We'll see.
That's good. It's out there.
Yeah. I mean, even if you decided not to do it again,
I'm sure that's probably one of the best experiences of your life,
getting, you know, being able to do that and participate.
And even though I know you said that you're an introvert
and it's kind of a little nerve wracking to be around a bunch of people,
but I'm sure that through the days and everything,
it was maybe a little bit easier, but just being around so many other women
doing this, I'm sure it was pretty awesome, too.
The driving part for the 10 hours was probably the easiest part for me
to believe it or not, because I drive a lot anyway.
I just I love driving all those places.
And even on that really rainy day, I kept asking myself
because, I mean, the roads were in flash flood conditions
and I'm like driving down a river basically and going,
what the heck am I?
If this was normal driving, I would not be out here.
So, you know, I was challenging myself on that one.
I was like, my normal self would say, what are you doing?
Why are you driving in this conditions?
But I was like, oh, there's people out here.
We'll be safe.
I mean, we'll just not get ourselves in trouble.
We'll be fine.
So, yeah, that's good.
Yeah. I mean, it was again, it was cool to see three Subaru's air.
You and I had been messaging back and forth.
And you were telling me early on that you were considering doing it.
And then you told me that you were waiting in line.
And then you told me that, you know, it officially happened and everything.
So those are really cool getting to see some of this stuff
that was going on and sharing that with me.
So I appreciate that.
That was fun.
Well, yeah. And then we got to hang out at Overland Expo a couple of times.
So that was cool, too. I really like that.
That was fun for me.
Yeah, I mean, Overland Expo was great because it gives everybody a chance
to meet new people and then see people that might be in their area
that they haven't met before.
And, you know, for me and Milton and Kerry and all the other people
that got had an opportunity to travel around to the different locations.
You know, we got to meet so many people.
And that was that was really, really fun.
And, you know, yeah.
And that's why I do what I do.
Because, I mean, everybody knows that I travel all over the place out here.
And that's what I do is I just advertise, hey, I'm going to be here.
Who wants to meet up?
And next thing you know, I'm part of this group down there
and I'm part of this group up there and I'm over there.
And it was just really cool.
And the cool thing was is even at Overland Expo,
I think it was specific Northwest, I had to do,
I was part of the Overland Expo there.
Yeah.
I had to do like a little speech or whatever demonstration
that's what it was for the car.
And she warned us ahead of time.
She goes, you know, you probably aren't going to get anybody.
But just hang around the car in case there's any questions.
And, you know, I was like, yeah, nobody's going to show up all.
I'm parked in between these huge earth roamers,
this little tiny car.
And all these huge earth roamers all around me.
I was like, OK, nobody's going to pay attention
to a little Subaru sitting here.
So I came down the ladder and I've got a picnic table
full of people wanting to know about the car.
And I was like, this is so cool.
The funny thing was is one of the guys
he was really interested was a young guy
about the camping setup and everything.
His mom was actually in the Rebel Rally.
And she was parked two cars in front of me.
She was racing Bronco.
Yeah.
And he showed up in Mammoth and he came over and talked to me
and was introducing me to his mom and everything else
and said, this is a car and all this other stuff.
And then I had another one of my followers drive up from Bishop
and she came up to take pictures of the car.
And I mean, you just, you find people.
You just, you guys got to experience that a little bit.
What I experience all the time when I'm traveling around
is really cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's, I mean, it's good that you are able to travel
around like that and meet different people
and see the places you see.
And obviously, you know, with all the driving that you said,
it was kind of already prepared you for the Rebel Rally,
and which is nice because I'm, you know,
I'm sure there's people that aren't as prepared as far
as like having as much seat time as you do
in similar situations.
And, but, you know, I'm sure it's a great experience
for everybody and learn a lot doing it.
All I can say is make sure you have comfortable seats.
My seats are actually you've got,
I made my navigator get the same thing I had
because I have like foam pad for my lumbar
and seat pads on the bottom.
And I actually have a bag full of tennis balls and stuff
because sometimes your hip bones start hurting
and things like that.
And you start moving the ball
and you're sitting there massaging while you're driving.
I do that even when I'm driving up to Salt Lake and stuff.
So it's just, yeah.
Little tips, that's good.
Little tips, little tips.
If you're going to drive long distances,
make sure you have all that cool stuff.
Tennis balls and lumbar sport.
Yeah, that's good.
Well, thank you for taking the time to chat about it.
I'd been wanting to,
I mean, I've been wanting to talk to you about it
since you first told me about it
because I wanted to talk to you about it afterwards.
You know?
I know it's been,
well, our schedules have been really crazy, both of us.
Yeah.
Well, my schedule opened up some, so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It'll get better.
Yeah, no, I'm not worried about it.
But, you know, I'm thankful for the time
that I have right now
and I'm, you know, making good use of it.
So I'm not.
Definitely, yeah.
Always utilize any time that you have
because it's, once it's gone, it's gone.
Absolutely, yeah.
Well, thanks again.
And I hope that you continue to be able to rest after that
and maybe the nightmares will subside.
I hope so.
I mean, I'm already,
I'm heading to Ogden Wednesday for five days.
I'm coming back for a week and a half
and then we're gonna go to Patagonia for three weeks.
And then coming back and yeah,
it's just one trip after another.
I don't rest very much.
I'm hoping to get to the East Coast next year.
I mean, a lot of the guys out there
want me to come out that way.
And like, I really want to.
Me too.
It's just a long drive.
Yeah, I would definitely fly out there,
but yeah, I have people like,
oh, you gotta come out here
to Wicked Big Meat and Boxer Fest and.
Yeah, well for you, you get to do the interview part.
They actually wanna see my car.
They don't really wanna see me.
So I gotta drive the car.
Well, people wanna see my car.
People wanna see my car too,
but it's just, it would be,
I'm up there in mileage and I don't know that I would.
I trust it to make it.
I just, I don't know that I would want to drive.
You were here at the same mileage, aren't we?
I mean, I'm at 139.
I'm at 137.
Yeah.
And it's a, we've both got 21s, right?
20, you gotta drive one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I trust mine to do that.
Yeah, I would too.
I'm not saying I don't trust it.
I just don't know that I wanna drive that far.
Well, that's the thing is I want to,
you gotta make a trip out of it.
Yeah, of course.
I've lived on the East Coast.
I know some routes to take.
It'll take me about four or five days to get there.
Yeah, and I, I would.
A lot of driving.
Yeah, I would wanna be able to take the time to do that.
And I mean, that's kind of what I'm trying to set up
for myself moving forward is having more time
to go out to events.
Because I mean, it'd be like next year
for like Flagstaff and Colorado,
I would love to drive out there because it's,
you know, I could get there in a couple of days
and make a nice trip out of it.
So we'll see.
Oh yeah, I could fill you all over Colorado.
Oh yeah.
Or even up here.
Yeah.
That's the only couple hours for me, so.
Nice.
Yeah.
Well, enjoy the rest of your day.
And thanks again.
All right, you too.
All right, we'll talk to you later.
Okay, Rob.
All right.
Bye.
Bye.
Hello again, everybody.
Thank you so much for taking the time
to listen to this bonus episode with Kathleen.
If you're not doing so, go give her a follow on Instagram.
It's aw, Trek, it's Yagi.
And of course, go follow the Rebell rally
because that's a big deal.
That's what this was about.
And that is a huge, huge part of her life now.
And I'm really glad that she was able to participate
and she was had, and she had this experience.
And maybe we'll see her back there again next year.
That would, that would be really cool.
And it'd be really cool to see her
in a factory team car next year as well.
I'm sure you've seen me posting about it,
but if you haven't done so already,
please go give my YouTube channel a follow.
I would, or subscribe to the channel.
I would really, really greatly appreciate it.
It's just Subi and you.
It's not Subi and you podcast.
So I've had it for quite a while,
but never really did anything with it.
And now that I have extra time,
I really wanna start putting together some content
and start building it.
So, and I'm really looking forward
to seeing where it's gonna go.
I have an idea of things that I wanna do,
but you never know where life takes you.
You never know where your creations take you.
So I'm excited to see that.
And again, if you're able to help support the podcast,
you can go to the link tree in my bio
and I believe it's the maybe the second or third link down
and it's support the podcast via Patreon.
That really, really helps to keep the podcast going
and it would keep me going right now.
So if you have already subscribed to the YouTube channel,
thank you so much.
If you have signed up to be a patron,
I really, really appreciate it.
Thank you all so much.
This community is absolutely amazing
and I'm so glad to be a part of it.
And I look forward to creating more content for everybody
and seeing where this podcast goes too.
So hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.
Hope you all have a great Halloween
and enjoy your weekend.
Be sure, I believe it's this weekend
that we need to set our clocks back.
So be sure to pay attention to that
and just have a good weekend.
Have fun out there, get lots of candy
and be sure to brush your teeth.
So anyway, thank you all so much.
Really appreciate it.
Lastly, before I go, be sure to go check out
DirtSuby's podcast with my buddy, Ben.
He's been doing a great job with his podcast as well.
So I would appreciate a follow and so would he.
Thank you all so much.
Much Suby love.
Raph.
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