ENTRY 01 — THE BUILD

Garage, fluorescent lights, a hi-vis that says MEKANIKER as if that would help. Gold letters go on the door. Somebody paints DOMINIATON. Somebody else does not stop them. Three gold wheels sit on the floor like a very expensive still life. Orange beacon on the roof. Swedish flag on the tail. Comic bubble on the glass. We are, at this moment, unstoppable.

[photo: HQ]

ENTRY 02 — THE ROAD GOES NORTH

Sundown, packed snow, yellow fog lamps lit because it looks like we mean it. One of us in the sheepskin and the hat, holding the door, taking in a sky that is doing a lot. The Picasso hums the way a Picasso hums. LAN 10C, start 3071, chevrons into the weather.

[photo: low sun]

ENTRY 03 — BONNET THEOLOGY

At some point the Picasso asks to be opened. We do not argue with a Picasso. Sheepskin coat folds itself into the engine bay. Ice-blue LEDs come on, which does not fix anything and fixes everything. Carbage sticker on the wing: Winter Edition, Sweden & Norway. Whatever was wrong is now either fine or a problem for later. Later is a river.

[photo: service]

ENTRY 04 — THE PRETTY BIT

A road cut into a valley. Half-frozen river, a small waterfall showing off, spruce all the way up the hill. We park like tourists because we are tourists with a start number. Guardrail full of snow. For a minute the Picasso is a viewing platform with fog lamps.

[photo: valley]

ENTRY 05 — THE DITCH (SPORTING)

Forest road. Packed snow. A Picasso, 30 centimetres to the right of the ideal line, which in this case was “the road”. Door open. Sheepskin standing in the snow like a marshal who caused the incident. The rest of the run does the honourable thing and stops to watch. Someone in a yellow jacket. Someone with a camera. Steam in the trees. We wave. They wave. This is, technically, networking.

[photo: habitat]

ENTRY 06 — NIGHT OF THE GREEN SUN

Later, the world turns green. People standing out on the snow around a saucer of rock (or a very lost spaceship). Stars. Silence, except whatever a Picasso sounds like when it is trying to stay in character. We do not know if this was aurora, a laser, or the universe congratulating us for still being in the event. We took the picture anyway.

[photo: mothership]

ENTRY 07 — THE ARCH

Indoor light. Yellow inflatable Carbage run arch. Two medals. Two ushankas. Two thumbs. We sit on the Picasso because that is what you do when an MPV has agreed to finish a winter rally. Gold wheels still gold. Lettering still missing an N. Dignity still optional, and declined.

[photo: finish]