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Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin

By Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — The drag that old systems creates is maddening. Dangerous too. Forgetting that our system is old the Low and Slow team worked for several hours doing email and then rushed out of the hotel and into the desert with a 65-year-old automobile. The Hudson gets 13.5 miles a gallon. Her 15-gallon tank shouldn�t be topped off - it leaks and fills the car with the smell of gasoline. The tongue stings and the head hurts if too much fuel is pumped. Low and Slow had to return to the Green River after getting 20 miles out of town - maddening. Here Mrs. Martin joins Aileen Cho for lunch upon her return to Green River. Driving the old car builds up an appetite. Note: It was 90-plus degrees so her hood hat to be put in the shade. Fragile systems break. They�re dangerous to depend on - like a Hudson in the desert.

Photo by Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — Russ Taylor of Silver Spur Construction approached Low and Slow saying, This is a weird place isn�t it? Taylor dug Mrs. Martin and she his styling shades. Taylor explained, We�re replacing everything: drinking water lines, sewer lines and adding storm drains in a long-term job. Taylor believes the project is costing the town nearly $20 million across all four phases. This for a town of about 2,000 people. The town was spending so much money fixing up the old stuff. It was like throwing money into these ditches. He said of his job, It was exciting when I was young. Now its hard. But I keep on trucking.

Photo by Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — If it works don't fix it is the public's collective thinking. The nation�s vital systems - America�s infrastructure - is good enough. Americans tolerate congestion in the air and on the ground. Decaying public facilities rule mass transit. Our water system leak like the Hudson�s liquid clutch. Before ascending to the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass at over 11,000 feet, some old-car yoga was needed to add another four ounces of fluid to the leaky clutch. Every five miles she needs another four ounces. Time is lost to working around failing systems.

Photo by Aileen Cho

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — The Hudson�s 100 horsepower wasn�t enough. The 23-cu-in. flathead six was barely able pull Mrs. Martin�s robust 3,600 lb up I-70. Doing 20 miles per hour at one point Mrs. Martin climbed in the breakdown lane. Many of the countries around the world are improving their ports, heavy rail and communication systems - leaving us behind. In 10 years, the United States� world ranking in infrastructure dropped from No. 1 to No. 16 according to the World Economic Forum.

Photo by Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — The most beautiful stretch of road in the world - arguably - is Glenwood Canyon�s I-70. After summiting the Vail Pass, Mrs. Martin rolled down the Western Slope through the handsome Hanging Lake Tunnels and into Glenwood Canyon. Aillen Cho puts her foot in the raging Colorado River. Above her is I-70's eastbound lanes. Behind her are heavy rail lines. The Big Road opened as late as the 1990s.

Photo by Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — The Great Basin is bookended by Salt Lake City to the east and Reno to the west. Over the past week the Low and Slow tour rolled down the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains blasting into the Basin with plenty of water but short on gas. Here Mrs. Martin demands to return to Green River, Utah to top off her tank. Aileen calls out the mileage to the next gas station. The Hudson�s gas gauge is faulty - and the tank leaks when it�s topped off. America�s broken infrastructure.

Photo by Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — Strangely, the highest point of the U.S. Interstate System is underground. The Eisenhower Tunnel is at 11,000 ft and crosses below the Continental Divide. The thought of getting though it overshadowed the Low and Slow team while in Denver. On the other side of the divide was Jake Barnhard. The mountain man wanted to see Mrs. Martin�s flathead six. Luckily he asked. Unbeknown to us she had blown her lid. Notice the radiator cap at the lower left. Coolant covered the engine. Barnhard offered to check her oil. It's clean and its topped off just perfect, he complimented. I fly a 1947 plane around here. Your car reminds me of my old bird, he said, surprising Low and Slow.

Photo by Dan McNichol

Low and Slow: Across the Great Basin — Seeing history in the form of a ghostly Western town, the Hudson eased off US Route 6 and into Helper, Utah. The town is 111 miles from Salt Lake City and sits at the fork in the road that is US Routes 6 and 19. Low and Slow was met with a detour: roads torn asunder as crews were replacing the town�s water infrastructure. Helper, according to the out-of-town construction crew who heard hand-me-down stories from the townspeople, is named after the Helper Cars, small train engines that were stationed there back in the day to help heavy coal trains burdened with payloads so rich that they were incapable of summiting the nearby mountains.

Photo by Dan McNichol

The Great Basin is bookended by Salt Lake City to the east and Reno to the west. Over the past week the Low and Slow tour rolled down the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains blasting into the Basin with plenty of water but short on gas.

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