I did not begin work on this rally until 13 days out. I began planning the day after John Li’s rally after a week in Australia and it appears I might have spent more time on the “thought experiment” that was: Right at T. Ugh. I feel like the picture at the end of this report.
Six teams participated in the Winter Blues Road Rally; about what I expected for a cold, windy Friday night in February. The Main Road Rule du jour was Right at T. At the first checkpoint we waited for the first car to come in. And we waited some more. And then some more. Gary finally called me for exceeding “oops” mileage, and then the calls came thick and fast. I had dark thoughts as we got everyone in and sent off for the second leg. Mercifully, the second leg survived my underthinking, but contained a nasty trap that everyone fell for but Jerry and Jonathon. The third leg was a DIY and a total wash. The 50+ mile event lasted just over 2 hours and we were lucky enough for the good folks at Pizza Hut in Gibson City to keep the hearth warm and the door open for us. (Footnote: you haven’t lived until you try to score a rally with one good leg and there are 12 angry rallyists pelting you with pizza crusts 😉 )
All classes were scored equally with a maximum of 500/leg. When all was said and done, Jerry and Jonathon were the overall winners and took SOP. Bob and John scored a victory in NAV and Paul and Kristy won the novice class. Thanks to GoogleMaps and the crude but useful GPS on my iPhone: I could not have done it this quickly without them (but maybe a little more error-free). Special thanks to Sandy Grable for cold driving and timing my rally; also for enduring my stubbornness, stupidity and chronic dyslexia.
Brian Grable, Rallymaster