Cascade’s 58th anniversary running of the Ghouls Gambol Road Rally on Saturday, Oct. 26, was a fun drive on scenic country roads, through autumn-colored countryside. Twenty teams entered; five Season Ticket holders took the day off, so fifteen teams ran the rally.
About the rally
Rallymasters Kerrie and Marcus Gattman developed a 100-mile route that started at Milwaukie Lowe’s and ended at the Whalen Oaks Farm Pumpkin Patch a bit over three hours later. The odometer calibration transit traveled north on Interstate 205 across the Columbia River, then east on Hwy 14 to Washougal. The rally route continued east into beautiful Skamania County before turning west back into Clark County to the break at Fern Prairie. After the break, the course skirted the rural communities of Hockinson, Venersborg, and Heisson to arrive in Woodland. A final 2.5-mile transit ended the route at The Patch.
Challenges
This rally promised some treats and perhaps a trick or two. The rallymasters distributed Halloween candy to participants at the start, so treats were furnished. The rally included just one planned challenge. And one unplanned challenge.
Let’s start with the unplanned challenge. While the rally program chairs were traveling to the ending location to set up scoring, we got a call from Car #1. There was an overturned vehicle blocking the rally route prior to Checkpoint 8. Traffic was blocked. We sent out a broadcast message in the GPS checkpoints app, letting folks know there was a crash on the course and advising that a Time Allowance could be claimed for the delay. Not much later, we received word that the blockage was removed and traffic was moving freely along the route. Since the impact on competitors was quite variable, we decided to discard Leg 8.
The one planned challenge involved these instructions:
3.45 68. R at STOP ONTO 119TH.
69. S at "YIELD". PAUSE 30 seconds. ITIS.
6.82 70. L at STOP on MUNCH.
You encounter a yield sign at this intersection (pictured). You notice a back-facing stop sign on the road ahead. There is no back-facing stop sign on the road coming from the right. So the main road at this intersection appears to go right. If so, you could execute NRI 69 to go straight at this intersection.
However, you correctly remember that you are ONTO 119TH which is the road ahead at this intersection, and since ONTO is a higher MRD (main road determinant) than protection (back facing stop signs), the main road actually goes straight here, so you can’t use the ITIS NRI here because it goes the same way as the main road. So you go straight to stay on the main road, without using the ITIS. Since you never do come to an opportunity to use NRI 69 prior to NRI 70, you correctly skip the ITIS instruction and its 30-second penalty pause on Leg 18.
If this intersection looks familiar it’s because it was featured in the July rally, where the main road did go right at this intersection. Rally is such fun!
What the Rallymasters said
We enjoyed writing another fun drive. We wish the weather had been better to see the views we got to see! Glad all that ran had a good time and didn't toss me in a grave 6 feet under! Looking forward to next season.
Huge thank you to The Patch at Whalen Oaks Farm here in Woodland, WA! Thank you so much for working with us on short notice. You were nothing short of amazing. Great setup with food, farm, and FUN! Kim and Matt, you went out of your way to accommodate us, and we appreciate that.
Monte and Victoria, we are always happy to help grow our part of the club and make sure Cascade is represented well. You guys go above and beyond for all of us in the rally group. Kerrie and I would like to say THANK YOU! I think the rest of the Geargrinders can agree you guys are the reason we all still get to come play the game that takes you places!
--Kerrie and Marcus Gattman, 2024 Ghouls Gambol Rallymasters
Congratulations to the top rally finishers
First overall and first in the Equipped Category with 29 points -- Bob Morseburg and Cheri Eddy
Second overall and first in the SOP Class with 56 points -- Alexander Castaneda and Eric Hanson
Third overall and second SOP with 133 points -- David and JoAnn Gattman
Tied for third SOP with 166 points -- Joel and Aksel Bristol and Torm Kelsey-Green and Kasey Klaus
Tied with a score of 192 -- Marinus and Renee Damm finishing second in Equipped and Bill and Kelly Ferber finishing fourth SOP
Third Equipped -- Robert Paxman and Chris Lane
First in the Novice class -- Attis (Anthony) Tran and Abigail Partlow*
Second Novice -- Chris and Karyn Williams
Third Novice -- Aaron Bucci and Tracy Fasser*
*First-time Cascade rally competitors
And congratulations to the decorated car contest winners:
Car #1 with David and JoAnn Gattman – Ghostbusters
Car #3 with Bill and Kelly Ferber – Peanuts Great Pumpkin
Car #6 with Attis (Anthony) Tran and Abigail Partlow – 666
Car #15 with Aaron Bucci and Tracy Fasser – Pizza delivery
The top rally finishers and decorated car winners were awarded commemorative refrigerator magnets and, of course, candy bars. The taste of victory is always sweet. Congratulations to all!
Thank you to the rallymasters – Kerrie and Marcus Gattman. And thank you to the backseat navigator on our checkout crew – Kat Iverson.
Read the complete story here
View the Final Results
ADDRESS
PO Box 4304
Portland, OR
97208-4304
CONTACTS
rally@cascadesportscarclub.org
