2015 Mazda Adventure Rally Day 1 Conclusion

The first day of the 2015 Mazda Adventure Rally was no walk in the park. Well, at one point, it literally was a walk in the park. But it really was full of challenges – here’s how it went down.

We left you with very little information in our intro post. That’s because all we knew was that we were heading to Vancouver to drive new Mazdas around British Columbia in order to earn some points in unique challenges and win some money for our charity, Camp Sunshine.

However, even as we arrived at the airport, there were some worries. Not only were the other teams in the rally acting all serious (there was some real vulgar trash-talk being slung around the terminal) but my co-driver Mike Schlee was feeling a bit under the weather. Nursing a week-long cold, I wasn’t sure if Mike was trying to psych out the other drivers, or if he was actually ill. He’d be a headache to face off against in a poker game. Fortunately, he’s an ace behind the wheel and that’s all I need him to be.

After a long flight where Mike rested and I worried, we landed in Vancouver and came to our first challenge: finding our car. Mazda handed us our keys, and pointed us in the direction of the parking garage, where we spread out and looked for the right ride we would be using for our adventure. Sure enough, a bright red 2016 Mazda CX-3 blinked its headlights at us and it was branded withAutoGuide.com‘s logo and our names. The CX-3 is a gorgeous ride and can navigate through crowded parking lots with ease, like the one at the Vancouver airport. Our ride is ready and the rally is ON.

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