Indy Adventure Contest Winner: #2

Last week, we introduced our first photo/essay contest asking for your best Indiana Jones moment, and we were delighted with the variety of results. Entry No. 2 comes from Lola Akinmade of Virginia, who is the proud new owner of the Indiana Jones DVD box set.

Spiked wheels crunching through snow was the only sound we heard for miles. I find myself riding in an archaic Ford, adventuring through arctic Sweden on our date with a frozen lake. The manual gear shift was a metal rod sticking out between both seats. The steering wheel had no protective leather cover.

“You’ll be fine,” my intrepid driver assured me, seconds before a potentially harrowing head-on collision with a snowmobile that magically appeared. The passengers sped off, unfazed.

The trees parted, revealing an enormous field of white snow which belied the lake underneath. There were eight guys waiting when we arrived, spanning three generations. Hands in pockets, standing silently, their faces were as icy as our surroundings. Only “Hej”s and nods were exchanged.They’d come with their makeshift race cars — banged up Volvos and beaten down Saabs.

I studied our competition. They stood frozen against the landscape like ice sculptures. This was their rally; a way of passing time in chilly winters. Stepping into the car, I fumbled with my seatbelt. Grabbing the bar above my window for support, I said a little prayer. My prayer turned into a rapidly increasing screech as he hit the accelerator. Only modest “woo-hoos” escaped my fearless driver compared to my belly wrenching screams of sheer terror as we sped around the crude ice track at speeds upwards of 100 kilometers per hour.

Pouring out of the car on wobbly feet, I couldn’t distinguish the victors from the losers. No extravagant displays of emotions or gallant screams of victory. There was a silent code in the air. One that mandated that absolute thrill be experienced only behind the wheel of a race car.

Read writer Lola Akinmade's full dispatch of Arctic ice racing at Vagabondish.