On through the night.

Coming up on Friday June 20th is one of the most unique events on the Midwest Road Rally calendar. The Summer Solstice Road Rally out of Baldwin, WI. What makes this so unique is it takes place in the hours of darkness on the shortest night of the year (or as near as the Rallymaster can get). An all night rally.
Speaking from last years experience I can tell you that this is an event not to be missed. The Rally is a mix of Tulip instructions and map based course plotting with route checks along the way to prove that you followed the correct course. In the event that you get lost there are pick up points along the way to get you back on course. You will find it advantageous to use a GPS of some description.
Some of you less experienced and beginner road rally crews may well be concerned about staying awake all night. Last year my wife and I felt the same and we carried a cooler with us containing several cans of caffeinated beverages in it. But really they weren't needed. For during the event we were concentrating so hard that we didn't notice any tiredness. However, we did miss a couple of turns that may well have been down to a lack of concentration due to being awake in the "wee small hours".
This is a very unique event and one you should do.
You can enter over at MotorportReg using the link here
I hope we'll see you there.

Waterloo Rally Report.

Iowa (noun). A place people pass through when they are going elsewhere.  

This is certainly what we were thinking as we set out to take part in the Waterloo Rally out of Davenport, Iowa. 

The start point, being a good four hours from home, meant that we drove down to La Crosse, WI the night before to be nearer to the start. This gave us plenty of time to think about what might be ahead of us as we drove down there. Reports of the Mississippi River being just above flood level in La Crosse conjured up images of flooded Rally roads in my mind. This was not to be the case.

Dorchester, Iowa, the start point, is a small town. A very small town. A couple of dozen houses, two bars and a church. Re-inforcing the image stated in the opening sentence that there is nothing much in Iowa. In fact, as we drove into the town, we passed the Wings bar, where registration was and didn't notice it. 

Wings is a great place. As traditional and small town Ma and Pa a place as you can find anywhere, with good food to boot, their burgers were complimented by everyone.

The now legendary "Wings" bar.

When we arrived all the "usual suspects" were there. The social aspect of rallies is something we like it's always nice to see the same friendly faces always pleased to see you. For me, it was also really nice to "meet" Jay Nemeth Johannes properly. As you know, Jay has contributed a couple of Rally reports to the blog. We've exchanged many a comment on Facebook but not actually shook hands and said "Hello". 

A few other entrants drifted in as start time approached and 2pm a small field of five cars, two in Limited class along with ourselves and two novices in stock, were heading out on the Rally. 

So to the roads. We had heard tales that the roads were good out there. It quickly became apparent that this was a severe understatement. The roads were excellent. Wide strips of limestone gravel winding their way along wide river valleys, adjacent to lively trout streams, (as a matter of fact we came across so many trout fishermen out and about I think "trout fisherman" would have been an acceptable delay reason). The strips of gravel would then rise away from the valley floor up steep slopes, running along a ridge, before dropping back down into another valley.

A panoramic view of the start of CZ2

The course was compact, we came back to the start point in Dorchester twice before returning there to finish. Waukon, the other break point was only 14 miles from Dorchester as the crow flies so you can gauge that the area covered was very compact indeed.

The sun was shining as we set out, and we were feeling good about the day, our DNF at the Escape to Wisconsin a few weeks ago, was well and truly forgotten and as these roads opened out in front of us we were pretty quickly in awe of the countryside. 

Too much in awe perhaps, for as we approached the start of CZ1 we didn't count the 45mph signs by the road side. CZ1 started at the second sign. We missed the first one, counting the actual second one as the first. So we drifted off down the road looking for the second sign which, of course, we never found and ended up getting into the timing control almost one minute early. Perhaps that minute had already put us out of the running even in a small class of three. 

We quickly put that behind us and carried on. The wonderful day helping us forget that cock up. By the  time we reached the first rest stop we were very happy again.

First break point and a chance to chat and compare experiences.

Break points are a good chance to get together and share stories to find out how everyone else is running. Even more so in a rally with such a small field for all the entrants can gather together. The old hands can quibble and moan about some irregularity or something, while at the same time offering words of advice to the less experienced and the first timers.

First break done with, we headed out again and the great roads and scenery just kept coming. We started to string together, what we thought was a respectable string of scores. Twenties and Thirties when you're being scored to the hundredth of a minute was quite acceptable to us. At one point we even posted a 7 so we really started to feel good about ourselves.  

Scoring the seven was a little cause for concern for me as going around some S bends uphill on the gravel we slid about a bit out of control. Nothing serious, but I'm still a little nervy about driving on gravel as it is. So that moment made our hearts race a little. 

Back on the course something unusual happened. We started posting some twos and threes! Communications were working better between us and I was getting better at keeping the average speed even. We started to feel good about our finish.

More great Road Rally scenery.

As we returned to the Wings bar for the final time we had mixed feelings, sadness that this short (110 miles) rally was over, but also a tad excited that we might actually have done quite well.  Scoring though, it has to be said is not our strong point and however well we thought we had done, this all could go up in smoke if we'd done our maths wrong. 

Well as it turns out we did do our maths wrong, but luckily it didn't affect the outcome and we ended up 1st in class S. Quite the turn around from the DNF of our previous event. A certain navigator was seen grinning like a Cheshire Cat as the results unfolded. She was grinning even more when she received her prize T-shirt.

Our winners T-shirts

Class win notwithstanding, this is an excellent road rally, and a huge thanks has to go out to Rallymaster Mike Thompson for putting the event on and also to Fred Rosevear and Jay Nemeth Johannes for working the controls. Dates are already being sounded out for another running over these roads later in the year. If you live within 5 hours of the start point and can spare a weekend away in the name of Road Rally I would seriously recommend that you turn up for that one.

So, what did we learn from this Rallye? Obviously, we learned that coming first is pretty cool. But more than that our faux pas at the very start taught us the importance of concentration and observation right from the outset. For if we had seen that first 45mph sign and counted properly we might have scored better on that leg and increased that small gap in points between first and second.

Badger Burrow report.

Due to work commitments we were unable to attend the Badger Burrow Rally out of Madison, Wisconsin recently. So once again I turn the blog over to Jay Nemeth Johannes for his description of the days events. Thanks Jay.

After a long, hard winter, we were definitely ready for spring.  The problem was, spring was refusing to emerge.  Rallys got postponed, and then run as winter events.  We were getting nervous as May 3 approached because we had no backup plan.  This was going to run as a spring event.  Fortunately, the sun finally emerged, and Saturday turned out to be a perfect day, with scattered clouds and highs in the 60’s.

Seventeen cars gathered at Dunn’s Imports in Middleton WI, ranging from New Camaros to a 1973 Plymouth Duster.  BMWs outnumbered Subarus for once.  While we waited the start, contestants admired the selection of exotic cars and Moto Guzzi motorcycles in the shop.  Jason Dunn provided a continental breakfast to help folks get in the mood.  After a short rally school, teams were off at 11 AM on their 7 hour journey.

Hosts and contestants Jason and Beth Dunn.

Rallymaster Fred Rosevear provided a 200 mile course that wound through the driftless area west of Madison.  The roads are narrow and follow the terrain up and down through the many small canyons.  Nothing is straight.  The event had longer transit zones, followed by short timed ‘stages’.  The timed sections, usually a couple of miles, were chosen to be the twistiest roads available.  The speeds were set from 38-45 MPH and teams needed to be alert to maintain them.  Controls were placed around curves and over crests.

Approaching Control 3.

We are working to establish a local program here in Milwaukee Region, and have started building a loyal group of regulars.  When we decided to make this a national, our main concern was encouraging that group to run.  We decided against telling the locals that this was a national, and writing the event with the locals in mind.  The only advertising we did that was aimed at the national crowd was the SCCA calendar listing and a single posting on the national road rally mailing list.  All of our promotion on social media and to the car clubs emphasized that this was a driver’s event with an emphasis on brisk driving on the roads you wish you had time to find for yourself.  It worked.  12 of the 17 cars were from the region, most of them entering in the novice class.

Dan and Alieca Bailey showing great enthusiasm

I ran as sweep car, and we solved a few problems.  A blown tire, a carsick navigator, but nothing major.  Fred’s course was rock solid.  CZTs after every control kept the rally running on time, and everyone arrived at the finish line just before 6 PM as promised.  

S Class winners Dave and Rich Bireta prove you can get good results with a GPS and Apps.

People really seemed to enjoy the event and there were many stories of the great roads and cool exploits during the day.  We awarded trophy “kits” consisting of a Lego car (complete with little man holding a trophy) on a mat containing the place award.

An example of one of the "LEGO" trophies.

Thanks for the write up Jay and I love those Lego trophies. I'm jealous. I want one.