Guy Johnson and Chris Mackie
The Johnson/Mackie duo comprising Team Cotes du Rhone are truly urban
and in a way, truly challenged. With one half of the team residing in DC
and one in Chicago, they are always at home yet always out of their element.
Like us, they consistently throw curveballs. Interview by Brian Flatgard.
Why the team name Cotes du Rhone?
[Guy]: I'll have to defer to Chris for this one. He's the Somalian of the
team. All I know is "Cotes du Rhone" sounds a little classier than "Team PBR"...not
that there's anything wrong with PBR.
[Chris]: First, I am not from Somalia. We are Team Cotes du Rhone because
we like to brew but, as Guy is getting at, we thought it would be advantageous
to put an upscale spin on this though, granted, Cotes du Rhone is one of the
lower priced Rhones. Perhaps we should upgrade--at least to "Team Gigondas"?
How do you know each other?
[Chris]: We date back to high school in Illinois (Edwardsville class of
'81). We also share wives.
[Guy]: Though it's true we attended the same high school and graduated from
the same class, just for the record, Chris and I have never "dated".
Chris lives in DC, Guy lives in Chicago. How's that work?
[Chris]: Creates no problems. Guy does his running thing in Chicago; I do
my soccer thing in DC; then we come together for the Urban Challenge.
[Guy]: Relative to our inability to solve checkpoints quickly, living in
separate cities has had no discernable negative impact on our Urban Challenge
performances. The only drawback is that one of us must fly to the other's
city in order to compete; however at least we get a chance to visit one another
['s wives].
Anything in your athletic/academic/psychological backgrounds that predisposed
you to Urban Challenge?
[Chris and Guy]: Outside of storied high school and college athletic careers,
multiple advanced degrees, and an unmatched drive and zest for competition,
we can't really think of anything.
You were seconds away from beating Jeff and Jake at Urban Challenge's first
national semifinals. Thoughts on that?
[Guy]: Ahhh, that's a funny story. The short answer is that they simply
outran us. The longer story is that as Chris and I boarded the bus to the
final CP, we saw another team (Jeff and Jake) already sitting on the bus.
As far as we all knew, we were the only two teams from the lead pack to have
had made the bus back downtown to the final CP and finish line. We sat down
and asked them what CP they were heading to. They confidently stated, "The
last one." They then asked us the same question. [As Chris and I had already
schemed while waiting for the bus to arrive] we lied, and told them we had
two more CPs to go. Our thought was that they would be less inclined to race
us off the bus and on to the finish line, if they believed that they were
one CP ahead of us. At the bus stop we all took off for the last CP. As we
approached the last CP they kept saying, "Guys, you're heading to the wrong
CP...This is the *last* CP...Not the one you're looking for." We did our best
to feign stupidity, and took our camera out to quickly take a picture. All
the while, Jeff and Jake were reminding us that if we took our picture in
front of this CP, we'd get disqualified. We ignored them and took our photo
anyway. It was at that moment one of them asked, "Wait a minute, are you guys
bullshitting us?" At that, we looked at them and replied, "Maybe." Then we
took off running for the finish line. I remember looking back and seeing them
frantically snapping a photo of themselves, and thinking that we had a little
bit of a jump on them and that we could possibly finish first. Unfortunately,
they ultimately proved faster than we were, and beat us across the finish
in mere seconds. Because it was the semi-finals, and because our two teams
finished 1st- and 2nd-place respectively, no one really minded our shenanigans
or the outcome. We all laugh about it now.
[Chris]: We decided to let Jeff and Jake take us down the home stretch as
part of our strategy. We did not want to finish the semi-finals in first-place
and then have the other teams gunning for us in the finals. Our plan backfired
at the start of the finals, however, as our map did not stretch West to California
and consequently we got lost in the neighborhood, home of the first four checkpoints
(what was that? we didn't realize we were competing in the "SubUrban Challenge.")
Most comical Urban Challenge moment?
[Chris and Guy]: During the 2002 DC Urban Challenge, we arrived back at
the finish line ahead of the pack, but still needing the final checkpoint,
Hathaways, which had thoroughly stumped us. At the finish line Kevin yelled
at us and told us to get back out on the course and find the final CP, as
no teams had yet finished the race. Our ground crew tried to send us out (incorrectly)
to a lawyer's office in Maryland, however we happened across a passer-by who
knew the store, Hathaways, and sent us in the correct direction. We found
the store and had our picture taken, but by the time we made it back to the
finish line we had to settle for second place.
The 1994 Coudelet du Beaucastel, Cotes du Rhone has been described
as "silky
and perfectly maturing." Which one of you is silky, and which one is perfectly
maturing?
[Chris]: We had more in mind the 1996 Chapoutier Cotes du Rhone Villages
Rasteau, described by Robert Parker as displaying, among other things, "spicy
fruit and fresh acidity." Chris is freshly acidic and Guy is the spicy fruit.
Parker goes on to note that the wine is "vigourous and has quite good length." This
description seems to apply to us as well.
[Guy]: Well put, Chris.
Please describe any highlights/lowlights your 2003 New Orleans experience?
[Guy]: For me, the highlight of the New Orleans experience occurred while
on stage, post-race at the infamous Cat's Meow karaoke bar on Bourbon Street
at 3:00AM, after having drank 15 Hurricanes throughout the course of the evening,
standing half-naked (from the waist down), wearing a pink tutu, singing the
Urban Challenge theme song alongside Kevin McCarthy. The lowlight was waking
up the morning after and realizing I had lost my tutu.
[Chris]: Highlight: The gumbo at the Acme Oyster Bar. Lowlight: Our decision
that we could run the 5-mile Magazine Street leg faster than we could bus
it.
Favorite Arctic/Antarctic explorer?
[Chris and Guy]: Finally an easy one: famed Arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton,
who once asked David Lloyd George for fund-raising advice. Honored by the
request, Lloyd George introduced him to a certain millionaire of his acquaintance.
Some time later, Lloyd George asked Shackleton how the meeting had gone. "Very
well indeed," the explorer replied, "your friend was most charming and considerate.
He offered me ten thousand pounds for my expenses, provided I would take you
along with me to the Pole. And he promised me one million pounds if I were
to leave you there by mistake." [Sources: P. Mahony, Barbed Wit and Malicious
Humor]
What kind of trivia do you answer most correctly?
[Guy]: We achieve the highest percentage of correct answers on the ones
we copy from the teams sitting next to us.
[Chris]: We tend to do better on the easier questions.
Best move you've made in Urban Challenge?
[Chris and Guy]: We have to keep this one confidential but, if you want
a hint, we call it the "Tonya Harding" maneuver.
Your team name anagrams appropriately to "Counted Heros" as well as "Hooter
Dunces." Continuing the anagram tip, what are your feelings of "Unescorted
ho" versus "Uncorseted ho?"
[Chris]: Wow—those are really good. I have good feelings about both
of these concepts.
[Guy]: Are we back in New Orleans?
Last words?
[Chris]: The Urban Challenge staff does a fantastic job creating an activity
that many different kinds of people can enjoy. Thanks for the great work--we
are proud to have been associated with the race from the early stages.
[Guy]: Look for us in New Orleans for the 2004 Urban Challenge Finals. I’m
not sure where the Finals will be held this year, but look for us in New Orleans.
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