Local resident represents Valley well in off-road rally
El Centro —ight grueling days of off-roading through harsh conditions was a dream come true for Amy Volmer.
Volmer, a 41-year-old local resident, recently competed in the women’s Rebelle Rally off-road race and accomplished much more than crossing the finish line.
Volmer entered with a goal of representing the Imperial Valley in the race, which ran from Oct. 12 to Oct. 20, and featured teams of women from around the world.
With only two years of off-road experience, she was able to finish in 20th place out of the 36 teams.
“These ladies were from places like New York, Tennessee, New Orleans and other countries and have been off-roading for twenty years. For the first time around, I think we did really well,” stated Volmer. For her first time competing in the Rally, Volmer performed better than she expected and, more importantly, satisfied her desire to represent the Valley.
The Rally, which was recognized as the first women’s off-road navigation rally raid in the United States, had a distance of approximately 1,242 miles. The navigation race began at Lake Tahoe, ended at the Glamis Dunes and wrapped up with an Awards Gala in San Diego on Oct. 21.
The 41-year-old driver also felt it was important to compete on behalf of the local community as the course for the race itself ran through the Valley.
“It was a great feeling because we ended in Glamis. When we stopped here, a lot of the ladies said they wanted to come back. It was a really cool experience representing our area,” recalled Volmer, who returned to her Imperial home from the event on Monday.
No technology was allowed during the race. Teams of two, consisting of a driver and navigator, had only a map and to locate each checkpoint through longitude and latitude points given. For emergency purposes, each vehicle was equipped with a tracking device and each team was given a satellite phone that contacted only the organization hosting the race.
“Other than that, nada. No GPS or no cell phones,” described Volmer, who teamed up with her friend Robyn Garrison, a Poway resident, to race under the name Team Fireworks 161.
Volmer and Robyn finished with an overall score of 1,000 points, while the first place team totaled 1,177. Points were earned through locating checkpoints, which were each worth anywhere between six to 25 points.
Days during the rally usually began at 5 a.m. for Volmer, which an average of 12 to 13 hours of driving each day. Teams would then set up camp at designated points at about 8 p.m. Though the long days were exhausting, Volmer explained the hardest part of the race was the lack of communication with the outside world.
“After day three or four, I was really starting to miss my kids. It was really hard to not have any communication with them whatsoever. That was probably the hardest part, not being able to text them for anything, even just to say good night,” remembered Volmer.
A $20,000 out-of-pocket cost to compete was also required from the Valley resident, who was able to meet that amount thanks to her local sponsors Enzo Holdings, Off Road Warehouse, Imperial Ag., Total Industries, Inc. in Imperial, Graffik Industries in Brawley, Jim and Penny Eppenger, Jeff Eppenger, Marlene Suarez, Jason Chappelear, Hoxie and Andrea Smith, Kathy Ball and Dirk Reschly.
Despite the demanding circumstances surrounding the Rally, Volmer believes all her effort was worth the experience.
“I’d race it again in a heartbeat,” expressed the local driver.
While Volmer may not have had a lengthy history behind the wheel as most of her competitors, her experience in mechanical work set her apart.
Though she didn’t experience any issues with her vehicle, Volmer gladly stopped to help any other teams that needed help along the way.
“I wound up fixing and repairing anyone else that was having trouble, I was more than happy to do that. It slowed me down a little bit and even though I came in twentieth, it was a really cool feeling to help those ladies out,” said Volmer, who learned how to modify and repair vehicles after becoming a part of the San Diego Jeep Club two years ago.
Prior to joining the club, Volmer’s 2007 Jeep Wrangler was not doing much more other than taking up space in her garage. Volmer enjoyed the act of driving itself, but had no interest or experience in off-road.
It wasn’t until a friend convinced her to eventually join the Jeep Club, that she would put her vehicle to use — and in turn, discovered a passion she never expected to find.
At the time of her first journey with the club in January 2016, she didn’t even know how to turn on the 4x4 on her Jeep.
Since then, her love and experience in off-roading has grown.
“After hanging out with them, I loved it and I just got kind of addicted after that,” said Volmer on her experience with the Jeep Club.
The Imperial resident has also made some major modifications to her Wrangler since then, such as adding a front sway bar, WRAN Zion Winch, crusher flares and adjustable shocks, among others.
For the Rebelle Rally specifically, Volmer added two Maxtraxs on her vehicle’s tire carrier and mounted a Krazy Beaver Shovel to her roof’s rack.
Volmer assured that if the opportunity to compete in the Rally came again next year, she would definitely do it all over again.