The Rally Before The Rally: The Road to Rebelle

Welcome back, friends! Last time, I shared all the fun and exciting moments leading up to my FIRST REBELLE EVER. Honestly, I still get that same rush of joy when I think about crossing the finish line. It's a feeling of pure empowerment that's hard to describe. But if you're here, it means you're invested in my story. So, let’s dive into the rest of our ROOKIE year prep and adventure as we made our way to Mammoth Lakes, CA.

The Rally Before the Rally

If I remember correctly, I promised to tell you about our rally before the rally. And wow, what an adventure it was! Mom and I often wonder who was looking out for us during our 2025 rookie year debut. It felt like a roller coaster ride. So, let’s take a moment to reminisce about the month leading up to the Rebelle. Every high, every low, every frustration, and every fear brought us—The Nor'Easters—to the 2025 Rebelle Rally Start Line.

September: A Whirlwind Month

September was a whirlwind! So much happened in such a short time. Now, reflecting back, I wish I had documented everything better. Our main concern was making sure our third teammate, "Salty," was ready to go. We had a new chassis that we drove back and forth to Virginia in one day to pick up. We also sent some parts off to get rebuilt. What was supposed to be a couple of days turned into a week, then two. We prayed we’d have everything back in time to ship it. Spoiler alert: we didn’t.

I was also trying to finalize our decals or a wrap for the truck. It felt like everything was falling apart while simultaneously coming together.

Packages and Preparations

While we were constantly visiting our "Rover Doctor," packages started arriving daily. We received all the required items and unexpected swag from Rebelle and their sponsors, plus a few we scrambled to find in the weeks leading up to the event. As the end of the month approached, we worried we wouldn’t have everything ready in time and might have to drop out.

But things turned around! We went through our checklist of items to pack. Then we packed the truck and repacked it a few times until we thought it was finally road and rally-ready. Or so we thought.

The Journey Begins

The first week of October arrived. Our family had just returned from an eventful weekend at ROAV's annual Mid-Atlantic Rally (which I’ll call MAR from now on). It felt like a celebratory send-off. Miraculously, the Saturday before we had to be in California, Mom and I were running through our lists, making sure we were ready. We packed the truck one last time, said our farewells, and hopped in.

As we prepared to drive coast to coast, I got to take the first nap. But then Mom tapped me on the shoulder in a calm yet terrified voice.

"Hey Syd, I’m gonna need you to wake up. I’ve completely lost my steering."

"Whoa. WOAHHHH!" was my startled response. I looked out the windshield and saw we were drifting toward an embankment. Mom, calm yet terrified, braked as best she could and got us safely stopped. We had gone 90 miles, and I had been asleep for maybe an hour.

Trouble on the Road

It was 1:30 AM when we crawled under Salty. The control arm had completely disconnected from the front passenger tire. Thankfully, we had service, so we called AAA. The rest of that night is a blur, but I remember a truck pulling up with safety lights, telling us to take a nap until the tow truck arrived. When the tow truck finally came, I went back to sleep, not knowing what time we got dropped off at the Rover Doctor's front gate.

Around 7 AM, we were abruptly woken up—not by our Rover Doctor, but by his wonderful assistant banging on our window. "Why aren’t you halfway to California yet?" After a quick diagnosis and a few hours of wrenching, we snagged some spare parts (which we ended up using!) and hit the road again.

Reevaluating Our Plans

We lost over half a day of travel time, so we had to reevaluate our plans. Originally, we wanted to break the trip into two legs to surprise my dad and brothers in Denver. We managed to stick to that plan, but unfortunately, we had to cut our time together shorter than we would have liked.

Once back on the road, the trip to Denver went smoothly. We even connected with a representative from GlueTread while driving through Kansas, thanks to an ambassador we met at MAR! I arrived at my childhood home, rang the bell, and watched my dad’s face change from confusion to shock to joy as he came around the corner. I timed it perfectly because one of my brothers was also there, allowing me to catch up with both of them before Mom and I made a quick pit stop to see my other brother.

Navigational Mishaps

Somewhere in the middle of Nevada, we got turned around and missed the turnoff to a gas station. Rookie navigator mistake number one! I didn’t check the map or backtrack to figure out where we were. So, we called AAA again for fuel. Our little road trip angel was looking out for us because someone was already heading our way to help another stranded motorist. What could have been another disaster turned into just a delay of an hour or two. We got directions for gas in Tonopah and made the final stretch into Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Arrival at Mammoth Lakes

Driving into the resort and seeing my fellow competitors, along with the colorful trucks and vibrant energy, was the breath of fresh air we needed. Even though we were almost a full day behind schedule, we arrived the day before tech inspection. The first thing we did was check into our room, unpack a few essentials, and RELAX.

The next 12 hours were filled with hitting the hot tub, going through our checklists again, exploring the resort, and grabbing a bite to eat. I was finally meeting some of my fellow competitors for the first time!

The Calm Before the Storm

I can’t speak for both of us, but I went to bed feeling relaxed yet exhausted, excited yet nervous, anxious, terrified, and uncertain about what the next 10 days would hold. Little did we know how much would happen during each stage. It felt like every day had its own adventure.

So, we finally made it to the start line! All we had to do was pick up our paperwork, swag, and complete the administrative stuff. Then, it was time for tech inspection and our first-ever Rebelle prologue stage. Easy peasy... or was it? You’ll have to tune in to my next blog to find out how we managed to get on EVERYONE's radar.

Thanks for being here!