About this site

My name is Ian Holmes. A few years ago I discovered the branch of motor sport known as road rally. Along with my wife, Lorrie, we road rally our 2014 Ford Focus in regular road rallies and my 1976 MGB in classic road rallies. In 2015 I took over the co-drivers seat for local rally driver Dan Little. This blog describes my adventures in all forms of rallying.

Friday, March 21, 2014

I'll be lost without (my) Tulips

Disturbing news reached me earlier this week. "Tulip" the road book creator App for the iPad had disappeared from the Apple App Store. This news was further compounded by the fact that the website of the developer, Longhaul software had disappeared too. If this App is lost to Rallymasters it will be a sad day indeed. This was a very handy piece of kit. Simple to use, it made producing, and sharing Road Rally instructions an easy task. You could take your iPad out on a route recconaissance, plot the route and make edits as you went along. It was certainly invaluable during the Rum Runner Rallies development. 
There is other software out there for producing Rally Roadbooks. But nothing specifically for the iPad as far as I can see. It will be interesting to see if the App returns or a replacement appears. As the last time the IPad OS upgraded Tulip didn't function and had to be upgraded too. What will happen during the next major iOS upgrade? I may have to buy myself a new iPad so I can keep the old one with the old OS just so I can keep using Tulip.
Above: It was simplicity itself to produce a page like this using Tulip


Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Keeweenaw Winter Rally report.

My thanks go out to Jay Nemeth-Johannes, Navigator of the winning car at the Keeweenaw Winter Rallye for providing this write up on the day. There is no doubt that everyone had a good time.

On Friday afternoon, Jim Jurgenson and I packed up his WRX and headed out on the 5 hour drive north from Milwaukee up to Houghton, Michigan.  We were off to run the 19th Annual Keweenaw Winter Rally on March 15.  This was the second attempt because the original date of Feb 22 had been cancelled due to –cough-cough- too much winter.  Seven foot snowdrifts had blocked most of the course and rallymaster Scott Carlborn was forced to postpone the event.
The drive up was uneventful, except that there was a freezing rain when we reached the Upper Peninsula that made it difficult to keep the windshield clear.  Got a good night’s sleep and then met Clarence and Kate Westberg at Suomi’s for some Swedish pancakes.  Suomi’s is as much of a Houghton rally tradition as Cornish pasties and is highly recommended.  We all decided we were both running in unfamiliar territory, so we would enter the same class and compete against each other.  Clarence was experimenting with GPS measurements and the program he is developing.  We had the Timewise 798, but Jim was driving for the first time in 20 years and I am usually the driver.
Nine cars registered with 2 in equipped, 1 limited, 3 in stock and 3 novices.  Scott had a short rally school and explained the road conditions out there before we all headed off into the Michigan wilderness.  The odo check went smoothly and 9 cars gathered at the end point.  Clarence and Kate were up front doing lead car duty, and Jim and I were at the end, doubling as sweep.  Fortunately, Scott’s course was bulletproof and we were never called on to round up lost souls or pull anyone out of a ditch.
The roads were utterly fantastic.  2-4 inches of fresh snow lay on top of a packed base.  We seldom saw bare pavement, even on the county highways.  The skies were clear all day and the countryside sparkled with reflected sunlight.  The course took us through a lot of forested areas, where the trees came right up to the road.  There were a lot of curves and elevation changes, just what we were hoping for.  The CASTS were all around 40-50 MPH, and that led to some tail out drifts and a few near yumps.
One issue we ran into was that the fresh snow would pack into our wheel wells and turn into ice.  After a few hours, we had no suspension travel left and the ride became very rough.  The weather also had caused a lot of frost heaves to develop, making this a definite e ticket ride.  
The control workers were well trained and friendly.  Scott used stickers with out times and everything ran smoothly.   Locations were good, usually on straight sections where you could see the control ahead and adjust speed.  We stopped for a meal break in Kenton at a bar called Hoppys.  The entry fee included a chili lunch, and whomever was responsible really knew how to make a good chili.  It had a nice level of spice and a good mix of meat and beans.  We spent 45 minutes visiting with the other teams, and then back out feeling refreshed.
We picked up a few points here and there, trying to adjust our correction factor to the changing conditions, but mostly Jim and I were just learning how to work together.  As the event went into evening, a full moon rose.  Everyone was marveling at it while waiting out times.  The moon was bright enough that we didn’t bother to mount the driving lights, and usually didn’t even turn on the high beams.  We sailed through the evening section and even finished off the second last leg with a 0.
We arrived back at the hotel a bit after 9 and were told to order quickly, because the kitchen was going to close soon.  They had a nice shepherd’s pie on the menu, and the burger was also tasty.  Scott had scored off the logs, so results were ready very quickly.  Scott had arranged for several sponsors to provide door prizes and people got to select in inverse finish order.  There were some very nice prizes.  In addition, anyone wanting one could have an LSPR t-shirt.
When all was said and done, we managed to finish first overall, but it was a matter of chance that we beat Clarence and Kate.  Both of us were experimenting with teams and equipment and left lots of room for the other team to win.  More important was that everyone was all smiles at the end and talking about the wonderful roads and the quality event that Scott put together.  I look forward to running it again.

Results

Class A:
1st Jurgenson/Nemeth-Johannes 35 

              2nd Westberg/Westberg         40
Class B:
1st Mroz/Bialas            587
Class C
:1st Ayers/A. Johnston             198
             
2nd G. Johnston/Frydrych 454

             3rd Yarroch/Paulowich           657
Novice:
1st Shapton/Shapton         586

             2nd Wood/Wood         835

             3rd Vickery/Daughery         1143

Below: Some scenes on the Rally courtesy of the winning team of Jim Jurgenson and  Jay Nemeth-Johannes.




Above: Driver Jurgenson clears ice from the wheel wells of his car.




How I went from my first Road Rally to Rallymaster in 12 months. (part 1)

On September 28th 2013, I was stood at timing control one watching the first car arrive, and get timed on the first Rum Runner Road Rallye. I have to admit to feeling somewhat pleased with myself. After all. I had only been road rallying a year and here I was, my first road rally as Rallymaster. I glowed internally with pride for a few seconds and then got in my car and zipped off to check on the other control point workers.
It was, indeed, exactly 12 months to the day since my wife and I had competed in the Coulee Classic Road Rally, and we were immediately taken with the sport. I’ve always loved driving around, discovering new roads and new scenery, not knowing what was around the next corner. The family Sunday afternoon drive was a staple of growing up. I’m lucky that my wife, Lorrie also enjoys getting out and about enjoying the countryside. The fact that there is a type of motorsport out there where one can drive around on new roads not knowing what’s around the next corner was for me, too good to be true.
Everyone was so friendly and welcoming at that event, making us feel a part of the crowd that I quickly joined up with the Twin City Road Rally club, and attended the monthly meetings which were really just an excuse for a drink, good meal and a natter. Being in with the club we learned more about what to do and competed in a few more road rallies in the midwest. But for us, living North of Minneapolis it was never a short drive for us to get to an event. Ninety minutes was the shortest drive I think, more than two hours was regular. I started to figure that the only way to get an event that I would have a shorter drive to would be to put one on myself. I dropped this nugget into a TC Rally Club Facebook conversation one day and before I knew it the next rally club meeting was devoted to how to put on a road rally. Lorrie and I were the only others who turned up, so we got a lot of one-to-one advice. So much information was thrown at us it was just a blur at times. Much of this we’d pick up later as things progressed.
First thing was to join the SCCA, the governing body. You have to be an SCCA member to get the event sanctioned and insured, in case of any mishaps. So I sent in a family membership for Lorrie and I. 
“Why did you do that?” I was asked when I presented her with her membership card. I explained it was no more expensive as a family than for me as a single. Besides, if we were to put on a Road Rally it might be more advantageous for both of us to be members. You, dear reader, should note this apparent lack of enthusiasm with scenes I shall relate that occurred a few months down the road.
So, in my spare time I would go for drives around Princeton looking out potential rally roads and started to read old rallye books for ideas looking at how things were done in the olden days, what I’ve read in these books has definitely shaped how the Rum Runner series of events are developing. 
When I started out I had no idea what made a “good rally road”. We’ve driven on some wonderful scenic roads in Southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, along the Mississippi river and close by on the rallies we’ve taken part in. But there was nothing like that around Princeton. Then as I was driving round I began to realize that if I’m enjoying driving the section of road then surely rallye entrants would enjoy them too. Sure enough, interesting fun bits of road began to manifest themselves. Using iPad Apps like Google Earth and Pocket Earth along with RallyTracks on my iPhone plotting a Rallye route became quite easy, and I soon ended up with a course that I thought people might enjoy. 
Then it became time to get a second opinion. I took Lorrie out on the course to see what she thought. At this point we still only had no more than four rallies under our belts, but we knew what we liked.
As we cruised around the course Lorrie started to share her opinions and I began to realize that her seeming lack of interest of a few months previous had disappeared. 
“Your checkpoint needs to be over there, around that corner. They won’t be able to see it as they approach from here.” 
“This is good. They might not even see the turn down to the checkpoint.”
Someone was clearly enjoying this road rally lark more than they were letting on. 

With that, we had a rallye. Now it was time to start organizing properly. Organising properly means paperwork.
But let's leave that for another day...

Friday, March 14, 2014

This weekends fun and games

The road rally circuit moves on to Houghton, Michigan for the Keeweenaw Winter Rally. Postponed from two weeks ago due to heavy snow. There's still a lot of the white stuff about to make the event fun. It's a days drive for us out to the UP of Michigan so we're passing this year, being unable to get the day off work. Maybe next.
I'll look forward to seeing pictures.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Lucas Flamethrower Volunteer duty

The Lucas Flamethrower, at 19 runnings of this event, is one of the longest running, if not the longest running, road rallies in the Midwest. People keep coming back year after year to enjoy the roads around Red Wing, MN.
We would have liked to have run it, but the annual recommendation is to run with snow tyres and driving lights, none of which are fitted to the Scion. So we decided to volunteer to work control points. It would be good to get a view of how someone else runs a rally. We might learn something to incorporate into the organisation of the Rum Runners.
When Rallymaster Ed arrived at the registration point, his first words were. 
“I’ve left the rally route instructions for the competitors at home. Not to worry. I’ll sort something out.”
Ed’s 19 years of putting on this event clearly meant he had no problem dealing with any unexpected issues that may arise. So we weren't bothered. After we had signed, and received  all our papers and received our clocks and checkpoint signs we could head out to the first of our three checkpoint locations.
Setting up a checkpoint is simplicity itself. Place the checkpoint sign and viewing mirror at the designated point by the roadside and retire a safe distance away as in the photo and await the arrival of the cars.
There you sit with checkpoint clock in hand and when a car passes the checkpoint you stop the clock, make a note of the time and hand it to the navigator of the car. 
“How do you know when the car has reached the checkpoint?” I hear you ask. “You’re a couple of hundred feet away from the sign.” 
Simple. You know that mirror by the side of the checkpoint sign? You look in that for “the flash”. Watching for the flash or blink is best described in the attached photo sequence below.
Some competitors are cheerful as you hand them their timing slip. They thank you for volunteering (always nice for a worker to hear) and may even pass a cheery comment before they briskly head on their way. Others will be less cheery either because they had a delay on the way or the time you’ve recorded for them doesn't agree with what they have. These people are experts they know what time they did. Some will accept what you told them. Some will pass a comment.
The locations of the checkpoints had been worked out well and we had no problems with traveling between our assigned locations. As a Rallymaster, this is something I’m always concerned about in my events and I always err on the low side for checkpoints so the workers will have plenty of time to travel between them and not be rushed in setting up. I was happy that Ed thought much the same as I in this regard.
When night comes things change. Sighting the car as it passes the marker board is different for a start. Instead of looking for a blink from the tyre in the mirror you’re looking for a flash from the lights of the car. Seeing the checkpoint board is made easier by shining a flashlight at it, made all the easier in the winter by being able to stick the flash light in a snow pile so it shines on the sign perfectly. 
Car headlights can certainly cause a problem in the dark too. Many entrants are very considerate and will dip their headlights so you can see as they approach but some others are not so thoughtful. When a car comes at you with its headlights on full beam as well as 4 driving lights full on it can blind you momentarily making it very difficult to see the exact moment when the car reaches the checkpoint board. You can take precautions agains be blinded by headlights but I don’t think there’s anything you can do agains a full barrage of driving lights.
For us the whole thing was pretty uneventful. My wife did loose a contact lens just after we arrived at our second checkpoint assignation, which meant that we swapped duties as I was the only one who could see when the cars passed the checkpoint board.
There are many different tales told of unusual happenings for control point workers. Being quizzed by law enforcement is a very common tale, (just think about it for a moment, two people sat in a car on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. It just asks to be investigated), and when a Sheriffs car passed by us at our final checkpoint, we thought we were in for some questioning. But no. He just drove on by. After everything we’d heard, I have to confess to being a tad disappointed. We even had our explanation worked out and everything. Perhaps after 19 years of this event checkpoint workers parked on a dark road in the middle of nowhere was nothing new to him.
There’s nothing too taxing in being a control point worker. Just be organized and everything should be easy. It was an interesting experience. There’s no doubt we would rather compete but it was nice to get a look at another rallye from the inside.
Big thanks to Ed Solstad for putting the event on.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Coming up

This weekend, I will be attending the Lucas Flamethrower Rallye run out of Red Wing, Minnesota. Not as an entrant though. My wife and I will be checkpoint workers. Though I am Rallymaster of the Rum Runner series of Rallies I've never been a volunteer. My wife has had good experience as a timer and though I know how to use the timing clocks, I've never been a control point worker. I'm looking forward to it. In a region like Minnesota it's important to "spread the love around" so to speak, by both working rallies and running in them. It's sad when a Rallye has to be cancelled or modified because of a lack of entrants or control point workers.
So next week you can expect a rally report on the event and a piece about volunteering too.
See you then.

Time, Speed, Distance. What it's all about.

We've established that the way to do well in a road rally is to score as few points as possible, and the way to achieve that is to be on time at the checkpoints. So just how does one go about being on time at the checkpoints time after time?
It all comes down to three little words. Time, Speed, and Distance or T,S,D.
Road Rallies can also be known as TSD rallies to emphasize the importance of these elements.
When you register at your road rally event, you will be given a set of instructions to follow the route of the rally. The instructions can vary from plain and simple written/pictoral instructions, called Tulips (that's a subject for another day) to some more complicated map plotting. What is common to all instructions is being able to work with two of the factors to produce the third. For example, if you know that the next junction to turn at is a mile away and you have 2 minutes to get there, it plain and simply obvious that you need to average 30 mph to reach the turn. This is the basic building block of road rallying. If you reach your marks on time, be they a road junction, landmark or checkpoint, then you'll be doing fine.
To do this consistently you need a system, and there are almost as many systems as there are Rally-ists. Many first timers, ourselves included, work it all out as they go along, doing the calculations as needed, and reading the times off a stopwatch. This is known as "seat of the pants" or SOP. Very experienced rally-ists can be as accurate using SOP methods as less experience competitors using expensive equipment. One of the most comprehensive systems out there was developed by Minnesota Rallyist Gary Starr and can be downloaded here.
 Don't trust your maths to give you accurate distance/time calculations? Then there are Rally Tables, (like this simplified version here),  available to purchase that have the calculations all done for you. Using the simple example linked to you can see that at 36 mph (on the left hand side) it will take 1.66666 minutes to travel one mile, five minutes to travel three miles etc;. Bought tables are much more comprehensive and can take some time to work with before the Rallye starts to work everything out.
Still daunted by all this? Then move into the 21st century and use your Smartphone, there are many Apps on the market to help the aspiring Rallyist that we can discuss later to help you. The Apps, of course, are limited by the GPS technology in the Smartphone. Not accurate enough for you? Not enough technology for you? Then you can get really serious and move up to expensive distance sensors running off the wheels or very hi-tec GPS measuring devices for greater accuracy. But all that is for another day.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Rallye on the internet.

There's plenty of good stuff about road rally out there on the internet. Some sites which inspired me to start blogging about our own road rally exploits. Links are always a good thing to share. Beginners will get something from them all. Experienced road rallyists, please feel free to suggest others.
In my opinion the premiere blog on the internet concerning road rally is Steve Mckelvies blog. Steve is long time road rally navigator with a great interest in Rallying. I've learned a lot from this site.
Dirty cones and checkpoints. This is another site that is very interesting and well written at the beginner level. Sadly the blog ceased having any new material back in October 2012. That fact spurred me on to have a go at this blog. New material notwithstanding the blog is still out there and is still good, relevant read.
Come Road Rally with us is a site covering road rally in the USA. Here you can find many upcoming road rallies listed, with details on where and how to enter. While you're on the site you should sign up for the enewsletter while you're there, to receive even more information.
The SCCA. The Sports car club of America. The sports' governing body, hence a lot of information to be found here. A stop here will help you find out which region you are based in with contact details.
Northumberland Borders Rally. Super website out of the U.K. Lots of hints, tips, and rallying information to be found here. The European nations are, as a rule, way ahead of the US in the world of road rally. So this makes for interesting reading.
Easylarity. Another UK based site. Easylarity is a newcomer based concept and I have adopted some of the Easylarity principles into my Rum Runner Rallies. No-one seems to mind them, so they must be OK.
This is a good start on links for the beginner. I have all these bookmarked in my favourites. There is plenty of useful information to be had there.