The road to the Fray in Ferndale, at least for me, starts here, in the open valley of Northern California. Cruising along State Route 20, you are treated to some of the finest driving through rolling hills the state has to offer. Those hills are up ahead as Clear Lake is on the other side of that ridge.

As you drive by Clear Lake, you will transition onto US-101 North and continue through the Redwood Forest. The scenery is beautiful.

Upon nearing the coast and the tiny town of Ferndale, California you take Exit 691 and follow the somewhat hidden signs to the fairgrounds.

Once there, look for the building with "The Fray" on the front in bright yellow. You will be greeted heartily by everyone upon walking inside. Everyone very friendly as you will soon discover. But don't let that friendliness fool you, they are all very strong competitors and put it all out on the race track as soon as that power hits the rails.

Nine 6-lane tables await; each offering something very different. Some are made for handling while others are setup for speed. The tables are known simply by their table colors. The Black Track is a speed demon while Purple Track tests your ability to brake in time for the descent off the bridge section. The shortest tracks offer about 5 second lap times while the Blue Track is the longest at around 10 seconds. The fast tracks see time in the upper 6-second regions.

The Individual Event is held on Friday. After a good night's sleep, Saturday's Team Event starts promptly at 8AM with introductions. Here we are loading up at 7AM to go down to the Ferndale Fairgrounds.