Emma and I participated in the 6th Annual Driving for Kids vintage British car charity endurance run through the Colorado mountains and back country last month in our golden beige 1967 Austin Healey 3000. The charity drive supports chronically ill children and their families for a free week of camping at Roundup River Ranch. The ranch is part of the global community of SeriousFun medical specialty camps for kids, founded by Paul Newman.
The weather was wonderful for driving our little British sports cars in the Colorado mountains with sunny skies and temperatures ranging from the low 40s in the mornings and mountain passes to the mid-70s in the afternoons and high plains. Over the four days, we traveled about 900 miles. There were 14 cars participating. One of the teams was Steve and Sue Moore. Steve is a senior partner at BSB Design. Steve has been a member of the Shindig Rover team for four years. This year, he and his wife were able to join us with their own team, “S’Mores”.
Half of the teams departed from Denver and half from Colorado Springs. After a rendezvous in Buena Vista, we headed for Gunnison for our lunch stop. After lunch, we traveled to Telluride via the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Montrose, covering 380 miles of back country roads. The second day of the event was spent at the Telluride Autumn Classic car show. Our fourteen cars were on display as part of the British Concours. I must say, our cars showed very well even though we did not have a chance to clean the cars after our prior day of touring. On the third day, we headed for South Folk through Dolores, Hesperus for lunch, and Pagosa Springs, covering 215 miles of beautiful Colorado mountain and high plains scenery. Monday, the fourth day, we closed the loop returning home via Alamosa, Walsenburg, Silver Cliff, Florence, Colorado Springs and Sedalia. I have attached a copy of the 2021 Driving for Kids Route Book so you can follow our jaunt through Colorado.
For the Austin Healey’s maiden voyage, it was fairly uneventful. The brake light failed on the first day. On the third day, as we left Telluride, the speedometer/odometer stopped working, so I had to use the tachometer or buddy system to judge my speed. On the last day, the car starting missing with no power. It looked like this was going to be a major issue, however, it ended up being fairly simple. The rotor was contacting a wire for the new electronic ignition, causing a short. Once resolved. the car ran great, cruising between 75 and 95 mph on the open high plains back roads.
Emma and I want to thank all of our Shindig Rover team members for your generosity and support over the last six years of the Driving for Kids events. You have made a difference in the lives of a lot of critically ill kids and their families. Every year, our team has led in donations. Over the six years, Shindig Rover team donations totaled $176,000 or an average of almost $30,000 a year. This year, the Shindig Rover team consisted of 42 donors with a total of $28,000. Your Shindig Rover team represented over 44% of the $63,500 total donations raised by this year’s Driving for Kids event. We are humbled by your support and the outpouring of donations each of you made for the kids to spend a week of camping at the ranch. Over the last six years, we have made camp available for over 70 kids and their families.
A collection of photos from the event can be found here: builderpartnerships.com/articles/2021-driving-for-kids-event-photos