A Summer Solstice Rally primer

We are close to the end of May. The days are getting longer and in a few weeks we will reach the shortest night of the year. The Summer Solstice. That means it will be time for the Summer Solstice Rally. This year the solstice officially falls on Sunday June 21st. So the rally will start off Friday June 19th as the sun sets and end the next morning as the sun rises.

This is one of the great events of the Road Rally calendar in our region and I love to tell my friends all about what we doing and what the rally entails. They generally think we're crazy, driving around western Wisconsin in the dark, but I tend to take the view that stopping up all night for anything is a bit crazy.

I don't think it's the kind of event you'd want to do as your first attempt at a road rally. But I have several friends in the local rally community, novices who haven't participated in many rallies who are on the verge of entering but can't quite pluck up the courage to take the plunge yet. My advice to them is the old cliché.
"Come on in the waters lovely". So the basis for this post is a few of the questions I've been asked about this type of event  and my answers.

Don't you have trouble staying awake all night? In a word. No. The first time Lorrie and I competed in the Summer Solstice rally we were worried about that. To be nodding off at 2am down a quiet Wisconsin backroad and ending up in a ditch. So we packed a cooler full of Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew, a whole night's worth of caffeine. If memory serves me correctly, we only drank one can each over the entire event. The second year of the event I think we drank more water than anything else. The adrenaline of the event keeps you awake, we really had no problem whatsoever. Once the event is over however, that's another thing. The drive home can be hard work. A stop at Starbucks is pretty well compulsory. 

I'd be scared of hitting a deer. Yes, a deer did catch us a glancing blow last year at about 4:30am, taking our drivers door mirror off. But then again I've also hit a deer driving to work during the week. This is the Midwest countryside, there are deer all over. You will see plenty of them. But they only seem to be active in the dusk and dawn hours. Last year many of them, along with myriad other woodland creatures, lined the route to watch us go by. 

I'd be scared of getting lost. A natural worry. But for the most part the route instructions for the event are kept pretty simple. Getting through the night is challenge enough without having to throw any traps or convoluted instructions into the mix. If you do get badly off course, the G.I.s give GPS coordinates for the next meeting point. There is the slight chance that you may find yourself in an area of poor GPS coverage.

You've got an answer for everything. Aren't there any problems? Concentration can be a problem in the wee small hours. Both years so far, our concentration has lapsed for a moment around 1-2am. The first year we missed a couple of turns, and as a consequence missed a pair of timing controls. The second year, after we had passed the last control of the section we took a wrong turn, and though we were only two miles from the meet up point for the start of the next section we were some 15 minutes late getting there. How come we took so long? Well, by some slight chance we ended up in an area of poor GPS coverage... So we had to rely on some map reading and a sense of direction. 

Getting lost at night in the wilds of Wisconsin? Why would I want to do that? Because, quite honestly, it is fun. A lot of fun. We wouldn't miss it.

If I've allayed your fears over the event then you can register over at MotorsportReg here 

Membership Blues.

Here it is, my SCCA membership renewal notice. It arrived on Monday or Tuesday last week. I can't remember. I've not opened it yet. I don't know if I will.
Last year I was excited to renew my membership, hot on the heels of a couple of successful Rum Runner Rallies and some success in some TSD's.
How did I go from excitement to apathy in 12 months?
I've been trying to work that out myself. I think I've worked it out, and to paraphrase a line from the first Star Wars movie.
"We're not the members they're looking for."
The SCCA wants young single seat and sports car racers. Autocross, Solo and PDXers. You only have to read sports car magazine to realize that.
I'm a 52 year old journeyman road rallyist. There's nothing in Sports Car for me, except one token article a year.

The SCCA sanctions road rally, I should expect to read something relevant every month. If cyclekart hill climb was sanctioned by the SCCA I would expect to see something relevant there. It might not interest me but it would be good for the cyclekart hill climbers. It would make them feel part of the SCCA family. Right now as a road rallyist I don't feel a part of the SCCA family. Most months the magazine doesn't even make it into the house, it goes from mail box to the garbage with a cursory glance to check if there is anything of relevance to me. A membership level that covered one magazine a year would be fine in that instant, except the one token article might become quite boring, even patronizing after a year or two.

There is the Road Rallye eNews newsletter that is starting to gather momentum. Which is fine, I quite like it. Some of this content though, like app and equipment reviews could be in Sports Car each month to make my membership worthwhile and halt the speedy trip of the magazine to the bin.

"What about the perks of membership?" I hear you say. "You might not need a discount on racing suits and other gear. But the membership includes discounts for hotel chains too."

True, and I've actually used the hotel discount. But that's no more than I'd get through other organizations. The hotel discount is a standard offering for a national club membership wether it be an association for model railroaders or motor racers. 

Back in March, the SCCA proudly announced a partnership with Garmin and that their new VIRB camera  would be the "official camera" of the SCCA. Cool, I thought. I was thinking about getting a GoPro camera anyway to shoot some in-car road rally footage to share with the readers of this blog. Perhaps I should get one of the VIRB's instead. 

So I posed the question, was there a deal for SCCA members to purchase one of these cameras? There was no reply to my question. Was there no deal or was I rude for asking? I've no idea. Fifteen to twenty percent, for example, off the price of one of these "official" cameras might have swayed my decision one way or the other. 

The only thing I get from the SCCA is the sanction for my Rum Runner rallies. But with the revival of the TCRC and the support of the Met Council of Motorsport clubs in the Twin Cities that is becoming less important. The Rum Runner would end up sanctioned by them. It's a decision I'm mulling over currently. Will the 2015 Rum Runner be an SCCA event or a TCRC one? 

Our membership for the SCCA is $90. TCRC is $30 for Lorrie and I together. It's simple mathematics really. 

Update: I opened the envelope the dues are $105, comprising of $85 to the SCCA and $20 to the Land O Lakes region for our family membership.

Crowdfund a Champion

I do like Rallying. If I'm honest, I secretly harbour a desire to sit in the navigators seat of a rally car calling the route instructions out to the driver as we negotiate forest tracks at high speeds.

"Seventy-five. Crest. One hundred. Easy right sharpens. Twenty. Hairpin left." As we speed to a fastest time on a stage. But what has that to do with anything? Well...

This pretty young lady is Louise Cook. Louise has a dream. That is to be the first Female World Rally Champion.
This isn't just an idle crazy dream, for Louise is actually quite good at Rallying. Scratch that, she's really very, very good at it.
In her first season in Rallying in the UK in 2010 she finished 10th in the National Championship and won the RC4 class. In her first season.
In 2011, She finished second overall in the Fiesta Sport Trophy in the UK and was female champion. That was her second season.
In 2012 she became the FIA WRC Production Car Cup Champion. The first female to win a non-female title. That would be in her third season, if you're counting.
Now Louise wants to compete in, and win the FIA World Rally Championship and be the first female to do that. Even competing in the WRC she would become the first woman since French legend Michele Mouton in 1982 to compete at the highest level in world Rallying.
But this takes money. Lots of money. Lots and lots of money.
Something Louise is well aware of. She has been promoting herself and her dream ceaselessly since then. Winning trophies and selling them, and then knocking on potential sponsors doors.
It's hard work. She's now turning to the "in thing" of crowdfunding so her fanbase and supporters can help her achieve her dream.
Over at her page at Idiegogo, she has outlined her dreams and plans and lined up some nice gifts for you should you decide to help her. You can spare twenty quid ( $31), can't you?
Her results so far would indicate that the dream is very achievable. You can help it become reality.
Louise will of course be over the moon when she wins the WRC for the first time. How good are you going to feel knowing you helped her?

Louise flying.

Coulee Classic plug

After the Spring Kick Off Rallye on Saturday a cheerful grey bearded fellow thrust some paper into my hand, uttering the phrase. "Take a flyer, take a flyer."

I was a little unsure as to what he meant. Did he want me to "go and take a running jump" (British, informal: a contemptuous expression of dismissal) or something else? 

Then I looked and saw that it was Ed Solstad. Rallymaster of the Coulee Classic, plugging his forthcoming event.

The Coulee Classic flyer. I highly recommend you go.

The Coulee Classic is a great run. Our first ever rally some three years ago was the Coulee Classic. Other commitments have meant that we haven't been able to attend the past two years, so I really do hope we can attend this time.
The scenery down in Wisconsin Coulee country is quite beautiful, the easy to follow instructions do make it a great rally for the beginner. You should probably go. You will have a great time.

Spring Kick off Rallye

Saturday May 16th was the date of the "Spring Kick off". The unofficial start to the classic car driving season in Minnesota and is marked with a great classic car show in the city of Osseo in the NW suburbs of the Twin Cities. 

The TCRC were charged with putting on a road rallye for those who attended the show to round off their day. A fun drive in the countryside, in your classic car with a modicum of competition what could be better?

There were between 70 and 100 cars at the show. I don’t know how many we expected to partake in the event. Between a dozen and 20 perhaps? 

In the end we were a little disappointed that only 6 cars turned up at the start. Three classics, a Porsche, a Citroen 2CV and a 1934 Ford Coupe, (American I know, but it sure looked good on the rallye). Then we had three modern cars. All to our great surprise, (and a little amusement) were Fiat 500’s.  

A couple of the entrants were new to Rallye, a couple were novices, and the last two teams were long time rallyists who hadn’t been seen out in the roads for the longest time.

Why didn’t we get more? I don’t know. Some of the folks I talked to at the show were just not interested, preferring to just have leisurely drives on their own, or with their chosen car club. To be honest though the weather forecast was not overly promising with threats of strong thunderstorms from about 2pm. Indeed, many of the car show entrants started to leave before then. I myself didn’t take my MGB along because of the forecast and the fact I am in dire need of replacing the soft top.

Still, as an advert for an allergy medication currently running on TV in the Twin Cities metro says. 

“Six is better than one”.

I was looking forward to working a control on this event and was given control one with Ben Wedge. The sylvan setting belies the fact that Co. 81(a busy suburban highway) was less than 100 yards to the left in the picture below.

Control One.

Being close to the start and only six cars running, our task was quickly done with the minimum of fuss. We did have two cars arrive out of order, which would affect the final standings as it turned out. we still had to deal with one person checking out what we were doing on a quiet country road stopping cars every minute. With only one control to work I headed over to the final control at the finish point to get pictures of the cars as they arrived.

Car 1. Erin & David Vrieze Daniels.

Car 2. Bill Heptig and Lorrie Bjorgan.

Car 3. Ed Solstad & Marisa Riviere.

Car 4. Michael Barone & Lise Schmidt.

Car 5. Scott and Kaitlyn Lebakken.

Car 6. Cyndi and Larry Walter.

With that we all retired inside to hand out prizes and relax.

With only six cars and 4 control points scoring was easy and quickly done. Which must've been good for the newbies as it's the scoring that I always find daunting after a long rallye.

Final results.

So, a comfortable win for the Frieze Daniels in modern, and a win for the '34 Ford Coupe of the Lebakkens in the classic class, though you can also see that aside from one high score coming out of place at control one the 2CV of Barone and Schmidt could have done very well. That really does prove that you can road rally in any car, be it a custom car or classic French "umbrella on four wheels".

Erin & David Vrieze Daniels were pleased with their 1st place.

A big thank you goes out to Dave Fuss, our Rallymaster for planning the event and the crew of control point workers, except me, it's rather self serving to thank myself.

In closing, lower numbers than we hoped for in entries, but everyone had a good time. We hope for more entries in next years event. After all, the Superbowl wasn't one of Americas largest television events straight away, now was it?

Rally Club Rallye

I hope you have read the previous post on how great I think Rally Club meetings are. Well on May 12th, Rally Club went to new heights of fun and enjoyment when we actually ran a short Rallye as a part of the proceedings!
In an effort to introduce more people to road rally the TCRC have been toting their services around to possibly help local classic car clubs put on a road rallye for their members. The Intermarque organization in the Twins Cities asked if we could organize a rally for them to round off their "Spring Kick off" celebrations. (Intermarque is the organization of all the European car clubs in the Twin Cities and the Spring Kick off event is meant to signify the start of the driving season for all the classic car clubs.)
A Road Rallye for classic car clubs? What a great idea! The TCRC were very excited at the thought, and long time TCRC member Dave Fuss very quickly had a short route worked out to give people a taster for road rallye. With the date of the Spring Kick off coming up on May 16th we decided to incorporate running a pre-check with this months Rally club meeting.
We all met up near the start point in downtown Osseo, MN where Dave handed out the route instructions, generals, and scorecards. Which was a surprise to us, we weren't just going to pre check the route and mileages, we were going to get timed and scored as well. Just like a regular tour Rallye. We decided that as there was no serious competition involved we'd mix things up a bit and have Lorrie drive and I'd navigate, a reversal of our usual roles.
As we came straight from work we drove in our usual car our Ford Focus but Louis Hardin and Priya Bansal turned up in their Fiat (This was planned to be a rallye for classic cars remember).

The Fiat of Hardin and Bansal 

The Rallye route was only 35 miles or so, which meant that at times the route instructions came thick and fast which added to the fun for us. Maths has never been my strong point, so to have to quickly work out how many seconds up or down we were and read the next instruction was quite hard work. In fact at control 2 we were so far ahead of schedule due to my bad maths that we waited out of sight of the control point for some 50 seconds to try and come in on time, even then we still came in 12 seconds early!
Despite the short distance the route was a lot of fun. Rallymaster Fuss had found some great roads in this tiny quadrant of the NW Twin Cities metro, and in an all too short hour we were at the finish point for an analysis, a short Rally Club meeting, food and beer.

We all had a great time and would like to do something similar again. Our unanimous decision was that this was a great course, one that we thought beginners would have some fun with. 

Did they have fun on the day of the event? Well, you'll just have to wait until I post my Rallye report to find out.

Rally Club

I've written before about the great camaraderie amongst my fellow Twin Cities Rally Club members, and the great fun we have at events and the Rally Club meetings. 

The TCRC has been around since the 1970's and was just one of the auto groups in the Minneapolis metropolitan area putting on Road Rallies. The University of Minnesota and 3M were just two places that had active road rally programs. But students left the University, people left their jobs, left the area and soon it was just the TCRC which gradually evolved into the social club it had become with rallies being sanctioned by the SCCA.

Recently the TCRC has reappeared on the scene to become more than a social club. Disquiet over the amount of money paid to the SCCA and perceived lack of return for what a person pays out, (next to no coverage in Sports Car magazine is a prime example). The TCRC has reached out to the Metropolitan Council of Auto Clubs to put on road rallies under their auspices. A move that has been welcomed by the "Met Council".

But I digress a bit. 

The meetings take place on the second Tuesday of the month, most frequently at a Green Mill Pizza restaurant in the SW Twin Cities, we've tried other places but keep coming back here. We've been there often enough to be members of the loyalty program and the "beer club". We aways get the same waitress, and she is quite capable of competing with the jolly, good-natured badinage that goes on amongst us.  Attendance generally runs to about a dozen folks, and this number can rise quite steeply in the summer months. In the past, evenings had been full of jolly banter about varied subjects like great rallies of the past. What are the SCCA doing for us? Even questions on how to use that old, old piece of rally gear you found on eBay. We've discussed and been shown how to use Rallye Tables as well as Stevens Wheels. 

But now we are once again an "official" club we have proper club business to discuss and have to a have a short formal meeting before getting back to the socializing. New members are always welcomed into our midst. I well remember the first time Lorrie and I went to a meeting. We were both definitely a little nervous about meeting all these people but clearly those worries were unfounded. Our group is a great mix of people of all ages and backgrounds and interests in motorsport.  Road racers and stage rallyists come along and join in the fun.

If a newbie turns up advice is freely given on how to take part in varying types of rallies that might be coming up, some people even actually turn up to the events! his is good, it means that they weren't to overwhelmed by the explanations of CAST's, the difference between "ONTO" and "ON" and myriad  Rallye terms. 

The meeting in full swing

Clarence Westberg explaining map reading for an upcoming
Rallye to new members Larry and Cindy Walter

Rally Club meetings are an essential part of being a member of the club, and if your local group of Road Rallyists doesn't meet up like this you probably should.