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View Full Version : Inaugural 2009 First Frost Rally hosted by SPDA



STeveD
10-27-2009, 12:46 PM
http://thezdmgroup.com/articles/FFNR_2009-copy.jpg

Sanctioned by Rally Sport Ontario. Held under the Canadian Association of Rally Sport General Competition Rules.


About Navigational Rally:

This driving event is on interesting roads in southern Ontario, designed for any street legal vehicle to pass safely. You will work as a two person team (navigator and driver) to interpret and follow a fun route. This rally was designed by two drivers, so expect the roads to be chosen for driver enjoyment!

You really need no specialized equipment for rally. A driver’s license, vehicle ownership in your name (or letter of permission), and valid insurance are required at registration. If you also bring a pen and a clipboard, you’ll be in great shape! Some people also like a calculator and digital watch for timing, and a GPS will help if you get lost. These latter items are not essential.

We will be running four classes to accommodate everyone: Expert, Intermediate, Novice, and Touring. Touring will have no navigational tricks, and will just be a beautiful, fun drive and a chance to see what rally is about.

If you want to enter Novice class and score in the Ontario Road Rally Cup Championship series, give these files a read. They are NOT necessary for the Touring Class, but if it’s your first Navigational rally, they’ll tell you what to expect:

http://kwrc.on.ca/events/snatr/Basic_Rallying.html

and the BASIC INSTRUCTIONS ONLY on this page:

http://www.torontoautosportclub.ca/articles/RallyMaster/index.html

TR_Tim
10-29-2009, 10:09 AM
Looks like a great event - I'm expecting to get the TR out for it (assuming I can find suitable tyres in my skinny sizes...)

Good luck in Perth at the weekend!

STeveD
10-29-2009, 10:18 AM
Thank you, Tim.

The reality is that we're running this just NW of Brampton on December 5th. I doubt that we'll see ANY snow near the start. The route MIGHT take you places where you could find a small amount of accumulation, but we generally have that comment in there for a worst case scenario, just to make sure they're not taking bald 7 year old All Seasons out there.

Aside from the possibiliity that your TR might not START near a whiff of snow, I wouldn't particularly be worried aobut the tires for a driver of your abilities. ;-)

STeveD
10-29-2009, 01:05 PM
A new person had some questions for me and I thought that I'd share the answers as a "FAQ":


Thank you again for your interest, Kevin! Everything I'm saying here is for the First Frost rally on December 5th.

1. The road conditions seem quite moderate and should be negotiable quite easily as long you have a set of Winter tires.

Yes. We're starting northwest of Brampton on December 5th, so I don't EXPECT any snow there. We are going to take you a fair distance away from there (possibly north) before bringing you back, so there's a chance you might find some snow on route. But even good condition all seasons with good tread depth should be more than fine. I'm more worried about the "lowest common denominator" showing up on four non-matching, bald, seven year old all season tires.

2. This sporting event seems to take place on public rural roads which means all traffic signals and traffic regulations still apply.

Very much so!! All of the average speeds are set below the speed limits by at least 5% on tarmac, 10% on gravel. (e.g.: 54 in a 60) If there is a particularly difficult combination of roads to go through, we've lowered the average speed even more. We ALWAYS tell people to drive within their limits, and I don't think that will be a problem for anyone.

If you DO have to drive slower or if you get lost and find your way back, you can take a "Time Allowance" at the next Checkpoint. I'll explain those the morning of the rally, but basically if you know you're about 10 minutes behind, ask for a 10 minute time allowance. Your first one carries no penalties, and you get it "free". We do this so that no one has to speed recklessly to make up time if they're stuck, caught behind a slow tractor for 5 km, etc.

3. We do not have to complete the entire course and we can drop out at any time during the course as long as we inform you.

Yes, if you need to stop early that's no problem, just call my cell phone and let me know! If you stop showing up at check points, we still keep them open as long as we can, waiting for you. If you've just gone home, we waste time having the CP crew out there. It causes real headaches for the organizers and CP volunteers.

From some of the comments of other people interested in the Touring class, I'm thinking of officially ending the "Touring" class after 4 hours (2 legs of the rally), and letting Novice, Intermediate and Expert continue on for the last leg. Any touring competitors who WANT to continue on for the third 2 hour leg can do so, but we'll hand out trophies after 4 hours (roughly 3:30 pm if the scoring goes well!!)

4. The main puzzle to figure for the navigator is to anticipate when the next upcoming turn is given the last turn and distance between turns (hence the calculator, stopwatch and odometer readings)

Yes, this is for the Novice class or above. The instructions for Touring will have NO puzzles to figure out whatsoever. We will give Touring distances and street names, and it should be very easy to follow the route, and just enjoy the drive. You'll still stop at checkpoints and be scored for Touring class.

Questions:
1. Can the navigator and driver switch places at check points?

The rules don't allow this for scoring in the Championship in Novice, Intermediate or Expert. But we encourage you to do so if that's what it takes to finish the rally. (e.g.: Navigator struggles with notes.) Let us know at the end that you had to switch, and we'll still score you, but not list that score in the championship.

Anything goes for Touring Class though. We'll still calculate your timing scores. Whatever it takes for you to have fun!

2. What is in the "Oh Shoot" enveloppe?

If people entering Novice class find that the instructions are too difficult for them to figure out, the "Oh Shoot" envelope will have the Touring instructions in it which have NO PUZZLES OR TRICKS. That way, they don't get overly flustered, and still get to enjoy the rest of the route. If you enter Novice and DON'T open this envelope, you score in the championship in Novice. If you DO open it, we move you down to the Touring class scoring without any penalty.

3. Can you provide an example or sample of Novice Instructions?

The Novice note styles that you will encounter in First Frost are covered in the "BASIC INSTRUCTIONS" ONLY on this page. Don't look at Advanced Instructions!

TAC Basic Instruction Guides (http://www.torontoautosportclub.ca/articles/RallyMaster/index.html)

If you arrive at the start of registration (9:30am), we'll have a 20 minute session reviewing the all of the novice instruction styles you will see during the rally. It's still easier to have a look at the above link in advance though, and use the pre-rally session as reinforcement.

I've attached the instructions from last weekends rally that I finished in Novice class. Also available here:

Sample Novice Instructions (http://spda-online.ca/modules/newbb/dl_attachment.php?attachid=1256491119&post_id=38622)

You can see my notes on the pages written in pen or marker. You would get just the printed text portion and your navigator might make notes similar to mine. The CAS or speeds you see are for timing, which you don't need to worry about your first time out. My "tie togethers" of two notes is something that I do for an instruction that is <0.5km from the next one so I know I have to look quickly at the next instruction as well.

The difficulty level of these instructions would be considered "Easy Novice".

TR_Tim
10-30-2009, 11:46 AM
The TR might not start? :-o

I know it's 48 years old, but that's fighting talk! ;-)

(Actually, it's more likely that Perry or I will have trouble in those temperatures - even though the car does, at least, have a heater...)

But if it's sunny, we might have touques and no roof!

STeveD
10-30-2009, 05:21 PM
TR_Tim wrote:
The TR might not start? :-o I know it's 48 years old, but that's fighting talk! ;-)


I'm just trying to make sure that you come out and prove me wrong. ;-) I'll be mighty impressed if you run with the top down on December 5th!

BTW, with SPDA membership you get a corporate discount when you sign up for CAA towing service.

Cavemanrjc
10-30-2009, 06:49 PM
Hay, thats mean Steve. Its lasted 40+ years, a Sunday country drive should be no sweet ... well it is british (I think) so maybe bring some tools ;) it should make it home. I'd think. :)

Im hoping that Jenny and I will make it out.
In the Audi if I have my way :)

STeveD
10-30-2009, 07:34 PM
Cavemanrjc wrote:
Hay, thats mean Steve. Its lasted 40+ years, a Sunday country drive should be no sweet ... well it is british (I think) so maybe bring some tools ;) it should make it home. I'd think.

Hmm. We could add a prize to the rally. Either "Most cellphone photos of the TR with the bonnet up" or "Guess the amount of tools Tim had to use to finish the rally"...?

(Tim, I kid. I'm the one who blew up two engines in one month this year. AND I'm out of CAA tows until 2010!!)

TR_Tim
10-31-2009, 09:28 AM
No offence taken - if I'm stupid enough to go rallying in a car this old when everyone else is in a modern (read "reliable") car, then I have enough sense of humour for the jibes! But it must be working - only an act of God (or perhaps Lucas electrics) will keep us away now...

Oh, and I do like the prize for "guess the number of tools used" ;-)

STeveD
11-12-2009, 08:49 AM

_sjd
11-12-2009, 10:10 AM

STeveD
11-12-2009, 10:31 AM

TR_Tim
11-15-2009, 10:56 AM
Ok, the TR will be in - you should get a registration from us via RSO.

Must remember to check the oil-burning stove is working so that we can brew some tea on route...

nitrowsb
11-15-2009, 11:20 PM
I need a Navigator so who wants to come with? Anyone who enjoys long drives and won't get sick. All expenses paid! :-D

Let me know,

Trung

nitrowsb
11-25-2009, 11:11 PM
I might have found someone to tag along with me...can you put me down as a competitor Steve?

thanks,

trung

STeveD
11-26-2009, 12:34 AM
Will do, Trung!

Cavemanrjc
11-28-2009, 11:04 PM
So as it stands the wife and I will be there. We put the snow tires on today and are getting new new wiper blades this week. I think I can make it through a day in the car with the wife?

STeveD
11-29-2009, 12:34 AM
Bruce and Jane have a great philosophy:

"What's said in the car, stays in the car."

They always come in to the restaurant at the end laughing and smiling, but I always wanted to drop a tape recorder in there....

STeveD
11-30-2009, 01:16 AM
Prepare your own directions to First Frost Link. (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=44.091053,-80.139041&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=17&sll=44.090691,-80.138966&sspn=0.007205,0.012885&layer=t&doflg=ptk&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17`)

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=s_d&amp;saddr=&amp;daddr=44.091053,-80.139041&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;mra=mi&amp;mrsp=0&amp;sz=17&amp;sll=4 4.090691,-80.138966&amp;sspn=0.007205,0.012885&amp;doflg=ptk&amp;ie=UTF8 &amp;ll=44.090691,-80.138966&amp;spn=0.007205,0.012885&amp;t=h&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=embed&amp;saddr=&amp;daddr=44.091053,-80.139041&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;mra=mi&amp;mrsp=0&amp;sz=17&amp;sll=4 4.090691,-80.138966&amp;sspn=0.007205,0.012885&amp;doflg=ptk&amp;ie=UTF8 &amp;ll=44.090691,-80.138966&amp;spn=0.007205,0.012885&amp;t=h" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

TR_Tim
12-01-2009, 12:16 PM
I hope that entries are coming on nicely - got any other 40+ year old cars that I can play with? I'll see if I can start work on some other brave souls for next year who want to stop polishing their classics for a while and get into the action...

Winter tyres won't be with me by the weekend (not so easy to get hold of in my sizes) so I'll have to wait until January Jaunt to give them a whirl. Still, the forecast looks ok for my standard, skinny tyres although I'm not sure it's good enough to get the top down.

Looking forward to it - I must go and run a spanner check later this week ;-)

See you in the lanes!!

STeveD
12-01-2009, 03:53 PM
Thanks Tim! I got your registration, BTW.

Yes, registrations are looking to be in the 30 ballpark from everyone I've talked to! So far, nothing older than a 91, but I have my hopes out for you in the "classic" division. :-)

Cavemanrjc
12-01-2009, 08:49 PM
Steve, did Jenny send you a registration form?
Will there be forms at the event?
My printers busted again :(
Thanks

TrevorH
12-01-2009, 11:27 PM
There will be forms at the event for anyone who needs to do on site registration. Better if we at least receive at least an e-mail ahead of time though (We know you're coming Caveman)

nitrowsb
12-02-2009, 11:32 PM
Do entrants need to be part of a CASC-OR club?

We are entering in the Touring class but can we have a copy of both the Touring and Novice notes to compare afterwards?


Thanks

STeveD
12-03-2009, 08:08 AM
That's not a problem, Trung.

No, you don't have to be part of a CASC-OR club. To score for the year in the Novice, Intermediate or Expert Ontario Road Rally Cup Championships, you have to be a member of an RSO (not CASC-OR) affiliated clubs.

The year is over after our event, so there's no way to form a season; so joining tust for our rally is not a good motivation. 2010 starts on January 16th though!

Opal
12-03-2009, 08:33 AM
Looks like it's going to be mud-time!
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/caon0621

STeveD
12-03-2009, 09:23 AM
Bring your camera for "victory mud" photos!!

Trevor and I drove it yesterday and road condition is very good. They've repaired a few of the mild potholes, even, in preparation for winter There was a touch of snow and a bit of ice on the route in some shadowed forested areas, but nothing to worry about, really.

nitrowsb
12-03-2009, 07:13 PM
Steve! I will be driving the Sti that was and still is prepped for the track and except for the snow tires, will the car get hurt?


Trung

STeveD
12-03-2009, 07:57 PM
No, not at all. Your skinny butt might be a bit sore, but the car will be fine. ;-)

I'd hesitate to be out there on 20" rims with 35 profile tires, but standard STi setup is fine. Ground clearance won't be a problem.

Just make sure the air pressure is at least 30psi in 17" or 18" wheels and you should be fine.

... oh, what am I thinking. Can someone please loan Trung a tire pressure gauge before the event?

TrevorH
12-05-2009, 10:56 PM
Thanks to everyone who came out to compete today, and to all our volunteers who helped out.

Scoring is ongoing, and we will have the results posted as soon as possible.

Navigator
12-06-2009, 12:05 AM
Thanks to Trevor and Steve for taking on this massive project. The work they put into this event was incredible.

To the Novice teams that didnt find all the check points, dont be discouraged these type of events take a few tries before you really understand them. If there is enough interest we can run a TSD Rally School sometime soon.

TR_Tim
12-06-2009, 09:41 AM
Thanks to Trevor, Steve and all the marshalls and volunteers that came out.

It was certainly a tricky one - lots of complications for the navigators and the weather played havoc with the TR without winter tyres. There were sections where we just couldn't reach the average speed due to too much wheel-spin, but we certainly had plenty of sideways action and a lot of fun.

Well, until the first ditch.

I have to thank the guys in the Subaru who pulled us out - that's what rallying spirit is all about!! We decided to press on and get back into leg two.

Well, until the second ditch...and the broken steering arm..............

Still, winter tyres will finally be here from Holland this week, so we'll fix the steering, put on the new boots and go testing to see if we really CAN make the TR rally worthy in a Canadian winter.

BTW - if anyone has photos of us in the ditch(es), I'd love to get a copy.

Cheers!

madgen
12-06-2009, 01:20 PM
Well, since neither Steve nor Trev (as organizers) can give a proper narrative of what it was like to be a participant in this rally, I'll give it a shot...

It was a lovely day driving up to Primrose for the inaugural First Frost Rally, the first nav rally hosted by our club (Go SPDA!) and the final rally of the 2009 ORRC season. Opal and I were tied for first place in the Novice Navigator championship going into this rally and whoever won first place here would win the championship outright. However, if neither of us finished in first, then we would remain tied and become co-champions. That situation had already happened to Trevor and Steve, who finish 2009 as Novice Driver co-champions. Since Opal and I had both lost our regular drivers we were each using drivers who had never participated in a rally before, so the odds were even. In my case, Bruce, a friend and coworker of Trev and I, decided to risk his '04 STi and give it a shot as my driver. We had done a small practice run a week before up near Mosport just to familiarize Bruce with driver/navigator communication during a rally but he essentially went into this one cold.

As we neared Primrose, it was looking like the First Frost Rally would live up to its name as we saw a light dusting of frost everywhere as we travelled along Hwy. 89 to the Super Burger. When we arrived, registration was packed! I believe over 30 teams participated in all categories, the most of any ORRC rally this season. It was good to see such a large turnout and, hopefully, some of those teams have now caught the rally bug and will be active in 2010. Knowing that this was a nav rally that was designed by two drivers, however, I made sure to take my Gravol beforehand. ;-)

After the usual pre-rally briefings Bruce and I headed off as car #7 onto the first of three legs in this rally. The first section was the standard odo check and it passed without incident. The second section of Leg A turned out to be a long-winded narrative describing how they designed this section, including roads not taken. These type of instructions are what I like to call "low signal-to-noise" instructions, so I dug out my highlighter to note only the critical information and discard the red herrings. At 3.69km we encounter our first checkpoint. This was Bruce's first real CP since we weren't able to practice that procedure the previous week. It was also one of the rare CPs I managed to zero as the road conditions for the whole rally turned out to have some real icy sections so maintaining CAS was going to be tricky. Towards the end of this section we encountered CP A2 and we were already running at 0.6 late by my reckoning. (I think it had something to do with the "very steep and twisty downhill sections" noted in the instructions.) Anyway, off we go... oops another CP! Yep, CP A3 was only 30 seconds ahead and because we didn't quite take off quickly enough we ended up arriving 0.2 late. Finally, we finished this section.

And this is where I had my first mental lapse as a navigator. We were supposed to pause 48 seconds and I forgot to do so, thus we ended up at the next CP 0.5 early. D'oh! Section three in this leg was a variant of a giant tulip except that the roads were twisted out of shape and not necessarily to scale. After my glitch at CP A4, I think we hit CP A5 only 0.1 late. Okay, no worries, in spite of the road conditions we seem to be doing okay and we make it out of the section without incident.

Onto section 4 of this leg, a straight line diagram. Simple right? Riiiiight. At 2.89 km in we hit CP A6. I figure that we were running about 30-40 seconds off so we take our first TA for 0.5 and manage to score 0.1. After here, things go horribly horribly wrong. The straight line diagram doesn't have many distance cues so the first one I have is at 5.88km which is a drop left. We arrive at 5.88 km in the middle of a long road with no obvious side roads for at least a km in either direction. Uh, oh. Where did we mess up? I dig out the EOS map to see if I can plot our course on it. I figure that spending a few minutes here and taking a TA if needed would be worth it even though I know it would cost us a 0.5 penalty. Huh, the road drops don't want to match up with the EOS map? Noooooooooo! :-o For the very first time in my 2-1/2 years of nav rallying I am thoroughly lost. I call No Joy and we proceed straight to EOS (and EOL) at Mylar & Loretta's Restaurant in Singhampton. When we arrive, I find out that in abandoning this section I missed CP A7 completely. :banghead:

Okay, clear your mind, Ted, don't worry about it, let's start Leg B fresh and get back into the game mentally. Section one here is simple road counting, not a problem. We leave the restaurant turning right onto Hwy. 124. At 2.76km the road count is 2 and we're at a four-way, so that means go straight. At 6.47, the road count is 6, but there is no intersection or junction at that distance. Uh, oh. Okay, I've still got a decent TA budget and we're close enough to the start of section, let's just roll back to the beginning and try again. Turn right onto Hwy. 124, got it. Straight at 2.76, no problem. 6.47... ugh. Still no road. It also looks like we aren't the only team having this problem as we see several other teams driving up and down 124 trying to figure out what is going on. Looking at the EOS map seems to indicate that we are heading in a direction that would take us off map, not good. Okay, one more reset and let's really read the instructions carefully this time.

As stated in the routebook: "Start Leg B facing North on Osprey Clearview Town line, turning right onto Hwy 124 (at the stop sign just north of Mylar and Loretta's". D'oh! It turns out that Hwy 124 in North-South coming into Singhampton but then turns right and becomes East-West right by the restaurant. We were leaving the parking lot going east, onto the N-S part of 124, so turning right made sense. What we should've done, however, was head North first to where 124 turns East! :banghead: After sorting out that mess, the road counts make sense. Oh well, there goes at least 30 minutes, and I'll end up blowing the rest of my TA budget in a vain attempt to mitigate the damage. We finally make it to CP B1, and Bruce told me that the CP crew did a double-take when he requested an 18.5 TA. :-o All in vain, as near as I can tell, because if my math is right, even with that TA we were still over 20 minutes late. I'm still fuzzy on max late penalties so, in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have used any TA there. Ah, well... We make it to CP B2 at 0.7 late.

The second section of Leg B was titled "aixelsyD eramthgiN". If you read the words right-to-left it becomes "Dyslexia Nightmare" as all the instructions were written in that format. Once I sussed that out, interpreting the instructions for this section was straightforward. Because of the road conditions, however, we were having difficulty maintaining CAS we ended up with +0.4, +0.2 and +0.6 for the 3 CPs in this section. The final section in leg B was simple out-of-order tulips. CP B6 was early in the section and we score 0.3 late. Luckily, I manage to zero out CP B7 and we finish the leg in Singhampton.

We start Leg C the same way that Leg B was supposed to start. After our fiasco in Leg B, we didn't screw up the beginning this time. ;-) As Bruce hands me the routebook, he also gives me a folded 2-foot-by-3-foot piece of paper. The first section is titled "Colossal Tulip". Yep, the route was on that big folded sheet of paper. It turns out to be a plot-the-shortest-distance-given-contstraints section so I have to plot it on the big map, awkward within the relatively cramped confines of a car. I hit upon the idea of replotting the course on the EOS map, however, so that I can re-fold the big map and put it away. Problem solved. We end up scoring the 4 CPs in this section as +0.1, +0.4, -0.1 and +0.3.

Section 2 has all the instructions written in Inuktitut. Yes, Inuktitut. Trev & Steve must've had a devil of a time trying to find a font that contained that alphabet so that they could print out these instructions. They provided a translation sheet, of course, and it was interesting to note that there were about 3 ways of saying "turn left" but there was no way to say "turn right" so they ended up with saying "not left". In spite of the unusual character set, it was just a substitution problem and reminded me a bit of Rita's old Monster Code from the Infinite Monkeys Rally in previous years. I decoded it fairly quickly and we hit CP C5 0.2 late and CP C6 0.1 late.

Now onto the final section of the rally. This one was, arguably, the toughest one as a navigator as, instead of distances, they gave relative times between instructions. You needed to take the times, factor in your CAS and determine the distance. My calculator got a good workout on this section, but we seemed to be doing all right as all the instructions made sense at the distances I computed. We arrive at CP C8 near the end of this section. Wait a second, checkpoint C8? What happened to CP C7?! I frantically go over my notes to see if I missed anything and can't figure it out. Ugh. :-? Oh, well, another missed CP, meh. We finish up at the Super Burger where the rally started and then discover that there was no CP7. Whew! My joy was short-lived, however, as I realize I messed up the final time-in because I over-analyzed the final calculation, thought I saw a trick, and it turned out that there was no trick: We had to add one minute to our time-in for each time we went through an intersection with traffic lights during the whole rally. We only did so twice at the very beginning and very end of the rally near the Super Burger. However, both times (this is me overthinking the problem) we didn't proceed straight through the lights but instead made a turn at the lights so I figured that that was the trick and we shouldn't add anything. Well, Trev told me later that entering the intersection, even to turn, counts as "going through", thus I should've added two minutes to my in-time. :banghead: Thus, it was my final D'oh! of the rally.

I found out to my dismay that Opal had dropped out after Leg A. I was kinda bummed about that as I believed that she would've enjoyed some of puzzles in the other legs but, given the disaster that I had in straight line section in that leg, I can sympathize with her decision.

I sit down to enjoy a wonderfully delicious cheeseburger and onion rings at the Super Burger while we waited for the rally results to be posted. And waited. And waited...

And the winnner was... well, I don't know really. They were still tallying the results when I left a couple of hours later. In fairness, this was their first rally to organize and, between the length of the rally and the sheer number of competitors, that resulted in a lot of data entry and number crunching to determine the results. I don't envy them the task.

All in all, I had a fun time, in spite of the challenges I had in some of the sections. My stomach even behaved as we didn't have to make any stops for some Quality Barf Time. :-P

I'd like to thank Trevor and Steve for organizing this rally, as well as all to all the checkpoint crews, SPDA members and volunteers who helped out to make the 1st annual FFR a success. Hats off to you guys! :cheer:

Mind you, I must now plot my revenge against Trevor for putting me through this Hell... :strangle: :-D

AleXT
12-06-2009, 02:31 PM
Huge thanks to all the organizers, this was our first nav rally and we had a blast! We were in the grey Forester XT with the all seasons on it, I know, real smart :). Btw, I got some crappy cellphone pics

Alex

miatagirl77
12-06-2009, 06:03 PM
A big thanks to Steve and Trevor for organizing this rally!

My first volunteer job at a nav rally and I had tons of fun.

Great job to Steve, Trevor, the rest of the volunteers and of course, all the participants. Hope to see all of you out there next year!

Nuwan
12-06-2009, 08:20 PM
Steve and Trevor really have outdone themselves with this event!!! Great work guys, there is a ton of logistical and organizational work that goes in behind the scenes for this type of event. They even managed to make the worker info easy enough for most 'coneheads' to understand :p

There was a huge turnout, probably one of the best attended navigational rallies this year (36 cars entered) with a huge number of first timers and novices. Several teams got lost on Leg B with Steve's insanely tricky notes but everyone was smiles on Leg C when they got into the groove.

Had a great time running CP #5 with Jonas, great work everyone!

Napping
12-07-2009, 10:15 AM
As my first post here, I also would like to thank organizers for this event. It was my first rally event and me and Chris (my navigator) had a lot of fun, even though we got so lost on leg A that we didn't even make to leg B and had to go straight to leg C lol.

we were in Green/Grey Legacy.

TrevorH
12-07-2009, 10:19 AM
Wow! What a crazy day. I'm really in awe of all the other event organizers out there who make their events run so flawlessly smooth.

Being the first Navigational Rally event we've hosted, we had more than a few snags today. Some with errors in the instructions, some instructions that were too difficult for Novice class (and Expert class), and we were overwhelmed at the end of rally in trying to get all the scores in. We've learned a lot today, and we'll be better prepared for next year.

The cold snap between our pre-run and the rally day made a lot of the roads icy, and there were more than a few treacherous sections that helped a few competitors find their way to the ditch. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

Amongst the competitors, the one thing that really impressed me, was the number of Novice crews who came out for the first time, had problems but didn't open the "touring" package. With the Leg A route instruction errors, and the weather, the novices faced a much tougher rally than we intended. That's really toughing it out, and I'm happy to see how many of you stuck with it to the end. Well done.

Leg A section 2 had a confusing instruction to turn right onto 25th Side Road. This road is also known as County Road 21. Different maps , GPS devices, and event the road signage along it's length will show alternate naming, and it's one of the problems we missed. The odo check was problematic in that there were several roads named 3rd line within a short distance of each other. The straight line diagram had issues with roads on maps that didn't actually exist, roads that weren't on maps that did exist (the road at 5.88). These weren't intended to be tricks for anyone, but unfortunately this caused a lot of problems in the Novice class Leg A.

In Leg B, we had some issues with Reid's Hill Road. Originally we had intended for everyone to be up the hill before the front cars arrived to head back down. We didn't account for the larger than expected turnout of competitors, and combined with the slippery conditions and late running teams, Reid's Hill had oncoming rally traffic that it shouldn't have.

Leg C thankfully ran fairly smooth, with only one incident near checkpoint 6 with a BMW unable to climb the slippery hill. More than a few people weren't running winter tires, and this may have polished up the road before they arrived. Winter tires are a wise investment folks. Don't believe that nonsense about all season tires being great year round. There was an issue with the ET at the end of Leg C, where I had the wrong ET listed. It should have been 11.63 minutes (11:37), not 11:63 (which some took as a trick to mean 12:03). This ends up within the same minute, and since the end of leg is timed to the minute it shouldn't affect the scores.

I owe a big thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their weekend, their sanity, and even their Birthday party in one case. We really appreciate your help all day. Everyone found their check points on time and in exactly the right position.

Thanks to our friends and experienced competitors for their understanding and assistance for this event. Thanks to Paul Henshall for Stewarding the event, your calming influence and helping me through the beginner class. Thanks to Robert Roaldi for steering us clear of the really crazy things we might have done, and to Brooke Jacobs for Green Crewing our event.

Special thanks to ORRC Novice Navigator Champions Ted (my usual navigator), and Opal (Steve's navigator) for not flattening our tires before heading home.

Trev

STeveD
12-07-2009, 10:33 AM
Special thanks to ORRC Novice Navigator Champions Ted (my usual navigator), and Opal (Steve's navigator) for not flattening our tires before heading home.


I am thoroughly convinced that the only reason my tires weren't flat was that Opal still needed them to drive home on. ;-)

To all our volunteers: Thank you. I was serious when I said that YOU are the face of rally to all of the new novices, and most all of the competitors went away wanting to do it again. That's thanks to you.

To all of our competiors: A flash freeze Friday night was out of our control. But as Trevor mentioned, a couple of oversights made things tougher for you folks than it should have been. It wasn't unprecedented, but it wasn't what we intended either. Our sincere apologies for that.

After we put the expert teams through more hell than the novices, they and the intermediate teams from other clubs chipped in at the end of the rally to try to manually calculate the scores. That's why Trevor and I enjoy being part of the unique rally community.

Scores will be available shortly. Just doing the web page and drafting the Email.

AndrewR
12-07-2009, 01:30 PM
"How hard could it be?"

Well, the day started off poorly by oversleeping - someone had decided to turn off the regular alarm clock, so we awoke and had to rush to get out the door, doing all the usual chores, walking dogs, and on the road by the time that registration started, but we live 2 hrs from the start.

Once on the highway, I could not find the power adapter for the GPS, which was right there earlier. Emptying the glove box, ashtray cubby and armrest areas did no good. We pulled over to double check and pull everything out again. Without the power adapter for the GPS, there was no point in continuing. Luckily the Navigator was keeping the power adapter warm on her seat, and unlike the princess, did not know.

We raced along the 401/400/89 to pull in just as registration was closing. Pencilled ourselves into the run sheets, and waited.

I grabbed a copy of the instructions for novice that were kindly supplied, so that we could review before we set off. My navigator took a cursory glance at them and said, we did all of this.

Our time to go came, and we got the magic envelope. Hopped in the car, warmed up the gps, and set off. Got to the stake at the end of the parking lot, zero'd the GPS and at the prescribed time left.

This was the last time that everything went well.

First instruction was to turn left at the lights, my navigator said turn right. "Right" I said, everyone else turned left. The light was green, there was other traffic, I panicked and turned left.

Right I said....... Can you double check honey? .. oh... left, ok..

It basically went downhill from there, our gps odometer did not seem to match the odo check - ok, add .2, and we made the first 3 checkpoints, even after going over the famed 25 side road, deciding that we should turn around back to the 25 side road, noticing that the odometer should have matched with a farmers driveway, checking the 25 side road again, not seeing the proper road name on the sign, so u-turning again to go back the wrong way again.

We pretty much got lost after every checkpoint, and even after pleading with the navigator many times to open the "touring" notes, she kept with the Clarkson "how hard could it be?"

After driving through the Creemore X-Mas parade - we have pictures - and continuing on 10 additional Kilometers, I decided that enough was enough - time for EOS.

Plotted the EOS into the GPS and it said 30 minutes away!!! 30 minutes!!!

We did the drive of disgust where neither was talking to each other for a while, for fear of sharp objects getting lodged where they were not supposed to be.

Met up with Stephen, he did seem relieved to see us arrive, no helicopter search party required.

After it was determined that the navigator was determined to try again, with the novice instructions, I suggested we went home instead. I thought for the good of my marriage, a peaceful drive home was the right thing to do.

On the positive side, the drive back home was very scenic, sunny for the most part, and blissfully quiet, as the navigator resumed her usual position of sleeping passenger.


We were able to get my daughter to her x-mas dinner, and see a movie instead!

Next time touring only.

Thanks Organizers for putting on such a good event.

prelude99
12-07-2009, 03:08 PM
Thanks to Stephen and Trevor (and all organizers and CP timers) for organizing this event. Our team had a blast! The notes and road conditions were trickier than I originally thought, but it was still challenging and fun!

We were car #28 in a silver Suzuki Aerio.

fuzzy
12-09-2009, 09:51 AM
Great event guys!

We saw some deer making their way across the road in front of our checkpoint.

Never had competitors arrive at a checkpoint from the wrong direction, first time for everything :)

justincdn
12-09-2009, 06:22 PM
Yeah, thanks to Stephen and Trevor; good job to everybody who made this possible.... The rally seemed to run flawlessly. And about getting the checkpoint after doing a 3, possibly 5 point turn ....... Hey, as long as we hit the checkpoint, we were happy ;) lol. We both look forward to next year's rallies, and will enter as many as possible.

Thanks again, see ya next year.

STeveD
12-09-2009, 07:27 PM
Results are up! If you want to join a casual rally school, we'll spend a couple of hours at a restaurant near Pearson Airport on January 9th 2009 to talk with teams about how to work together in the car, and the typical tricks organizers will pull on you.

Here is the website for the rally summary:

First Frost Rally Website (http://www.thezdmgroup.com/articles/ffr2009/ffr2009.htm)


(Ooops! If you checked that too soon, I actually had the file in the wrong sub-directory. Sorry! Check again.)