Funny thing about writing rallies… the things I lose sleep over how to write clearly, no one ever mentions as an issue and things that I didn’t even consider… people manage to get messed up on. In this case, the ‘Right after “EAST”’ instruction that takes you off the Saw Mill Parkway and onto Route 35… at least 2 teams ended up on 684 (which doesn’t exist per the generals and drivers meeting). I feel bad for this since, as I was reminded, you can’t correct it until the next exit so you are 30 minutes off right from the start. I should have been more clear on this instruction and added a ‘not 684’ helper, sorry. It was a fairly long rally that threaded the NY/CT border around the Wilton, South Salem, Pound Ridge area. The houses along the route were pretty amazing and the Christmas lights were beautiful as well. If you get a chance… for practice, take the instructions on a weekend afternoon and run through the route… it is good practice for next years rallies and it will be fun seeing the houses and roads along the way.
Since we had 3 rallies this year, the rally championship was up for grabs to club members. There were 3 teams that were able to reasonably win the end of year trophy, one was the Turkey Tour rallymasters whose points were locked in for the year. The other two were Dani/Christine and Novice Meeting Mike. Both teams needed a 1st or 2nd place. Well… both teams did great on this rally. And, although they saw the off course Turkey, their great timing (52 seconds late) and eagle eyes (only missed 3 signs) won the rally for Dani and Christine. Mike finished a respectable (but I am sure a disappointing) 2nd. The 3rd place team Ken and Dave, were 3 seconds off the actual time… a pretty impressive feat. The 3 top teams were within 71 points so it wouldn’t have taken much to change the results completely.
The actual distance was 67 miles and the actual time was 2 hours 50 minutes 22 seconds. Slightly different than what we indicated at the finish, but either way, it wouldn’t have affected the results. We posted 42 signs along the way… some hard… some not so bad, all of them were recovered (but were rather soggy after the rain and fog). There was 1 off course sign at the very end… we posted a sign on the fence in front of Target in Mt Kisco after the rally started… so if you added it to the beginning too, figuring that you missed it at the start, it was off course.
This was a good year for our rallies, it makes me happy that we had 3 events and the trophy would be awarded. I would have liked more novices to have finished the Turkey Tour but with the fog and long route many of them packed it in early. I hope you don’t get discouraged and you come back… it takes time to get in the rally mindset and once you get going it is very satisfying to finish and and then start to do well, persistence pays off. If there is any interest in a novice rally walk-through before the Bunny Run… please let me know. I have walked through how to read and execute rally instructions with others before and without the pressure of it being a rally-night, it can be very helpful. Send me an email at jesse (@) wscc.org if you think that might get your team to the next level.
A lot of people stepped up this year to produce 3 rallies this year… Don, Mark, Ken, and Dave, thank you for planning 2 other rallies this year. There is a lot of history behind the Turkey Tour and we continued the tradition, but the tradition of the rally trophy is equally important and without your dedication and effort the trophy wouldn’t have been presented. Of course, thanks to Diane and Emmy for doing registration, it is awesome that you stepped up when Debbi and Gary moved south, it is these invaluable contributions that make rallymaster's lives much easier. It may go unnoticed by some, but for the rallymasters we couldn’t produce the event without you. Mike as always, thank you for the Novice Meetings, we seem to be getting more new people and getting them into the rally mindset is something that you do well and in an entertaining way. From a personal perspective, Ken, thanks also helping pick up the signs the day after the event. I know that Barbara is immensely grateful. Equally important, thank you to all the rallyists that came out to some or all of our events this year. It is very rewarding to get feedback from everyone about our rallys and I truly hope that you come back to enjoy an activity that can be so much fun.
As always, I would encourage people to take the instructions from this, or one of the other 2 rallies and run through them again for practice. It is beneficial in many ways… practice with the instructions and learning the rallymaster mindset, as well as seeing the beautiful roads and houses that we had the pleasure of passing.
On behalf of the club, the board members, and the other rallymasters, we wish you all a wonderful holiday (whichever one you celebrate), and a happy, healthy New Year! We look forward to seeing everyone in the spring for the 2024 Bunny Run Rally.
Jesse and Barbara