As with the last two Saturday rallies, we stayed home and watched on the Richta Rallymaster map as teams progressed along the rally route in real time. We also monitored the Richta Rallymaster app scoreboard, watching as teams pulled into the lead or slipped behind after a bad leg score.
This rally contained a few more challenges than the first two in this season’s Saturday Rally Series. But the penalties for these planned off course excursions were small - under 30 seconds. This rally included 11 pauses to manage, not counting the ones you weren’t supposed to execute, which explains the title “Taking Time to PAUSE”.
Most notable is first overall and first SOP Car #10 Curt Thompson and Pat Biggar with their total score of 56, under a minute penalty over three hours and 17 legs of rally. Congratulations, Curt and Pat! Tell us how you did it - what’s your strategy for such precise SOP driving?
Another excellent performance from second overall and first Unlimited Car #30 Bob Morseburg and Cheri Eddy with 72. They were in first place until the very last leg, which added 28 to their score. What happened, Bob?
Winner of the Novice class was Car #5 Brian and Jamie Anderson with 184. They got 10 single-digit leg scores including a zero. Congratulations!
Edmund Frank and Jo Su finished first in the GPS class with 252. Congratulations! We hope to see more folks running in this class over time.
May Rally Results
We received some nice comments after the rally:
“Thank you for a great rally this morning.”
“Nice job on the rally. We really liked the rally and luckily only had some light rain on the early part. Thanks for your work on everything and the communication ahead of time was really great. Pre-event notes were great. Post-event communication timing was really great.”
“My son and I really enjoyed the rally. We had a great time reading the directions and learning what the different terms meant. We have seen the error of our ways and will be working on getting better. Looking forward for the next one.“
“We had a great time and improved over last time. Two zeros!! Several single-digit scores. We maxed one leg. My navigator didn't realize that the "R" without mileage or street name just means take the next possible right (in this case after going 1.5 miles). And then I had to stop for him to barf so we maxed that one. Dramamine next time. Super happy with our results on the other legs. Can still improve a lot, too. Thanks again!“
“Excellent Rally. Not too hard. Had some "interesting" features/challenges. The app works like a charm. Really wanted to see it in action and WOW. Fantastic. Are all the Saturday rallies using the app? Cya again if yes. “
To read more please check the June Geargrinders News Release.
YANKED ON YANKTON
April 18, 2020
By Monte and Victoria Saager
Promoted as an opportunity to get out and go for a fun drive in the country, while maintaining social distancing, the April 18 Saturday event was Cascade’s second TSsD (Time Speed social Distance) road rally. “You stay in your car; we’ll stay in ours.”
Actually we stayed home. We managed registration and check-in online. All timing and scoring was done by the Richta GPS Checkpoints app, so there were no manned checkpoints. We monitored each car’s progress using real time data from the GPS app, which adds a whole new level of rallymaster fun. First we get to drive around the countryside on roads less traveled, developing the rally course. Then we get to watch on a map as rally teams progress along those same roads in real time. Amazing.
Seventeen teams ran the rally - matching a record set in April 2019 of 17 cars at a Saturday rally. Eight of Saturday’s teams had never run a Cascade rally before. We hope this great new bunch of Cascade ralliers will enjoy the game of road rally and want to come back and do it again and again.
SCCA National Road Rally Lifetime Points Holder Bob Morseburg drove down from Seattle Saturday morning to run the rally with his navigator, Cheri Eddy. We are honored they ran the rally (even though we didn’t see them).
And there were winners.
Congratulations to first overall and first Unlimited Bob Morseburg and Cheri Eddy, running as Car #30 after driving to the start from Seattle on the morning of the rally. Nicely done!
Two veteran rally teams tied for second overall and first SOP, Bill and Kelly Ferber and Marcus Gattman and Kerrie Steffenson. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to fourth overall and first Novice Brian and Jamie Anderson. This team is moving up fast in this their first season of road rally. They are the team to watch.
Congratulations to Andrew and Coralee Brewer for finishing first in the GPS class. The GPS class was introduced last season in the Equipped category of road rally competition classes. This class allows the use of GPS-sourced odometers. Few competitors have entered this class to date. Congratulations to the Brewers!
April Rally Results
With the current lack of face-to-face contact with ralliers, and with so many new folks, we received several questions and comments via email and text. Rather than respond individually, they are presented here. The questions offer a chance to teach some rally, so have your Road Rally Rules handy.
• Will we see you [the rallymasters] at all today?
Answer: We are with you in spirit and we'll be watching your progress on our rally map. But we're not there. We've done our part. Now it's your turn.
• We [made a wrong turn] but we didn't turn around right away [so] we were max late at [the next] PC … and thought we needed to make up time... so we went a little fast and ended up [max] early at the next PC. Is it true that once we saw we were late to the PC that we should have just continued following the route instructions (and CAST speeds) to the next PC?
Answer: Yes. “Your arrival time [at a passage control] is the start time for your next leg, so you should continue rallying on time.” (RRR 1.3) As soon as you pass a passage control, you should consider yourself on time and keep rallying on time, regardless of whether you were late or early on the just-completed leg. Each leg is scored independently. You can’t make up time in the next leg. Which begs two more points:
o “Contestants must obey all traffic laws and drive in a safe manner throughout the event.” (RRR 1.6) At no time should you exceed posted speeds during a road rally. Rally speeds (CASTs) are set below posted speeds to allow for occasional slowing required for curves, intersections, traffic, etc.
o “If you are delayed along the rally route for any reason, submit a time allowance…do not speed to try to make up the lost time.” (RRR 1.5)
Here’s how to use a Time Allowance in a case like this.
Hypothetically, you’re driving at CAST. The mileage for the next NRI comes up and the reference you’re looking for isn’t there. You keep driving along at CAST until you finally decide that you’ve taken a wrong turn. At that point, you note the time and your trip mileage, you u-turn and drive at CAST back to the point where you know you’re back on course. Note the time and mileage. Calculate how long it took you drive back to the course at CAST, double that amount of time and enter a Time Allowance (TA+) in the Richta Competitor app equal to or greater than the amount of time you lost. Wait out any extra time, then continue following the NRIs at CAST. Calculate how many extra miles you drove and add that to the mileages for upcoming NRIs until the next mileage reset.
Here’s how to enter a Time Allowance in the Richta Competitor app
We also received a number of nice compliments. For example:
We had a blast. We loved the rally app. Instructions were easy to follow and we appreciated NOT getting lost. It's no fun to be so tricked that you're hopelessly lost.
To read more please check the May Geargrinders News Release.
ZING GOES THE STRINGS OF MY HEART
Saturday, March 21, 2020
By Monte and Victoria Saager
The March Saturday event was the first-ever TSsD (Time Speed social Distance) road rally. Recognizing that we’re in a coronavirus emergency, the entire event experience was designed to eliminate contact with other humans outside of your own car. The rally was promoted as an opportunity to get out and go for a fun drive in the country, while maintaining social distancing.
Online registration was required. Day-of-event on-site registration was not available. (We stayed home.) All check-in procedures and transmitting of route instructions occurred via email.
Teams timed themselves out from the start location and followed the instructions through the route. All timing was done using a GPS app, so there were no manned checkpoints.
The rallymasters used data from the GPS app to monitor each car’s progress through the rally and to monitor the scoreboard. (We sat at the kitchen table, following along on our laptops.)
At the mid-rally scenic break at Bald Peak State Park, total scores up to that point were emailed to the teams. They had a chance during this break to order take-out from the Cruise In Country Diner where the rally route ended.
The rally route included some simple rally traps. A misspelled sign offered an opportunity to incorrectly pause 30 seconds (how do you spell NEUGEBAUER). An ONTO trap elicited another 30-second penalty. What do you do when told to change your speed for 0.5 mile? You go back to the previous speed after the half mile - or not for more penalty points. A note told you to pause 30 seconds at a sign reading “CEMETARY”. Who knew there was actually a sign like that on the route.
Congratulations to first Unlimited and first overall Paul Eklund and Yulia Smolyensky. First SOP and second overall was Bill Ferber and Simon Levear. Robert Paxman and Will Pollard finished first GPS and third overall. First Novice was Ben and Kyle Overton. Congratulations to all the teams! And a big thank you to Brandon Harer and Ben Bradley for checking out the rally.
|
Car # |
Driver / Navigator |
Class |
Leg 3 |
Leg 4 |
Leg 5 |
Leg 6 |
Leg 7 |
Leg 8 |
Leg 10 |
Leg 11 |
Leg 12 |
Leg 13 |
Leg 14 |
Leg 15 |
Leg 16 |
Total |
|
14 |
Paul Eklund / Yulia Smolyanski |
UNL |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
17 |
|
9 |
Bill Ferber / Simon Levear |
SOP |
7 |
2 |
14 |
11 |
3 |
21 |
36 |
14 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
1 |
19 |
142 |
|
1 |
Robert Paxman / Will Pollard |
GPS |
19 |
38 |
9 |
5 |
37 |
10 |
51 |
4 |
0 |
16 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
198 |
|
4 |
John Franklin / Anthony Campbell |
UNL |
21 |
29 |
15 |
1 |
5 |
56 |
6 |
39 |
5 |
6 |
35 |
15 |
22 |
255 |
|
7 |
Ben Overton / Kyle Overton |
NOV |
22 |
31 |
7 |
3 |
68 |
105 |
25 |
11 |
4 |
4 |
33 |
2 |
12 |
327 |
|
10 |
Torm Kelsey-Green / Kasey Klaus |
SOP |
21 |
44 |
18 |
35 |
48 |
64 |
8 |
38 |
1 |
1 |
29 |
21 |
16 |
344 |
|
12 |
Mike Glass / Leon Rivera |
SOP |
14 |
5 |
20 |
120 |
81 |
46 |
6 |
11 |
3 |
2 |
57 |
9 |
12 |
386 |
|
11 |
Jeff Manier / Alisia L. Manier |
NOV |
3 |
5 |
20 |
42 |
120 |
20 |
120 |
55 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
410 |
|
3 |
Kris Franca / Rich Franca |
NOV |
47 |
45 |
10 |
12 |
50 |
43 |
51 |
81 |
14 |
4 |
82 |
13 |
24 |
476 |
|
8 |
Annie Thompson / Bill Thompson |
SOP |
0 |
24 |
13 |
2 |
76 |
120 |
120 |
92 |
5 |
5 |
17 |
4 |
14 |
492 |
|
5 |
Brian Anderson / Jamie Anderson |
NOV |
0 |
33 |
45 |
73 |
9 |
120 |
37 |
27 |
9 |
10 |
120 |
14 |
35 |
532 |
PAST ROAD RALLY SEASONS
ADDRESS
PO Box 4304
Portland, OR
97208-4304
CONTACTS
rally@cascadesportscarclub.org