Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Review of Fred's Rally

The last Rally of the GSCC was very well executed by rally master Fred Hollinger.

Robert and I won first place by getting all the traps right except the last one.

Robert and I had switched seat s for this event with him driving and me navigating. My time keeping skills are not as good as his as was shown by our scores. Marty and Tom who got second, beat us at time keeping, but we got more traps right which is what a trap rally is about anyway.

Fred started us off with a pause at a sign that was on a truck. Since signs on vehicles did not exist, that one did not count. We still got a poor score on that leg because we failed to set out computer clock correctly.

Later Fred gave us an instruction to turn at a road sign. The sign was obvious, however since the road ahead was a dead end, the sign was not at an intersection so we had to wait until later to execute the instruction.

He hit us with a lettered instruction follow in the middle of a control. If you did not pay attention you would start the leg at the wrong out marker. We almost fell for that one as we were rushing to make our out time. We had to start the leg late and make up the time. Luckily there were some pauses later one that allowed us to catch up.

Fred got us on the last leg of the day on a trap he set up two years ago. For the last two years, we have gone into a checkpoint in front of his house based on the road existing as defined in the generals. This year he misquoted the sign and we were supposed to take the long loop. We did it like we have the last couple of years which was wrong this year.

Good Job Fred!

Sunday, September 17, 2006

GCSS Rally Announcement

Georgia Sports car club rally September 17

Annie Chandler and Leather Stockings

Registration begins at 9:00 AM in the Target parking lot on West Park Place just south of US 78 (Stone Mountain Freeway Exit 9). First car off at 10:00 AM. The rally is about 75 miles and should take less than 3 1/2 hours including a mid-rally break. The rally will end at the rallymaster's house, about 2 1/2 miles from the start. Food and beverages will be provided. Usually the pool is still warm enough for swimming in mid September.

This is a relatively easy trap rally. Mostly numbered route instructions with a few lettered route instructions. A description of the traps is provided in the Generals. ALL TRAPS ARE FAIL-SAFED.

Rally Master is Fred Hollinger

Hope to see you there.

Friday, September 08, 2006

What signs exist and what signs do not exist

Know what roads and signs exist and what roads and signs do not exist


Note that in the definitions, he specifies that words painted on vehicles do not exist. So if a company has used a huge semi truck as a billboard, that sign does not exist because it is on a vehicle.

Some businesses use signs in or on vehicles to get around city ordnances the same way.

So if you have a lettered instruction that says pause two minutes at "rally" and you pass Rally Trucking but their sign is on a truck, don't pause.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Spelling

Spelling

Spelling traps are one of the oldest tricks used by rally masters. They are still used today because they work.

For example Annie Chandler Rd is not the same as Anny Chandler Rd or Anne Chandler Rd. County road departments are not always consistent in how the spell road names. Especially across county lines. Also, some business names can have spelling different from their sound.

In order to best prepare your team for this type of trap, before the rally, assign who will read the sign and who will read the route instruction when spelling is questioned. This way you can both quickly read the letters and compare the routes to the sign to see if it is the one referenced.

Just be sure you know which partner has which role before you begin. It will match every time if you are both reading the sign or both reading the route instructions. Ask Robert how I know that.

At and On is At

At and On is At

For an example of a trap based on this concept: Assume you are traveling along Rally Road. While on Rally Road, you are also AT Rally Road. So you can do the instruction "right at Rally Road" on any existing sideroad. You would actually execute this instruction at the first existing sideroad off of Rally Road.

A Course Following Action can only be performed at an Intersection

A Course Following Action can only be performed at an Intersection

An example of a trap based on this concept would be arriving at what looks like a T intersection with Rally Rd. However, the road to the left is marked "Dead End." Based on the definitions, the road to the left does not exist. So there is only one way to leave the intersection - the road to the right. This point ion the orad is no longer an intersection as defined. You could not execute the instruction "Right at Rally Road" at this location. You would have to proceed to the next side road right that exists and execute the instruction there.


Which leads to the next concept....

Fred's Rally generals

The General instructions for the upcoming GSCC rally are posted here.

He has listed some of the traps that may be found in his rally. Most of us will still fall for one or more.

I will explain some possibilities in posts leading up to the rally.