Hi, I just enjoyed the gimmick Spring Rally organized by my NJ chapter (amazing event!) and was just wondering if you guys knew of any similar event to take place in the Tri-state area?
Be careful what you wish for. . . The rally game is a broad topic. In its simplest form, it's a scenic tour with some sort of game added to the drive; I suppose license-plate bingo could be considered some sort of a car rally. In the U.S., there are three broad classifications of rally: gimmick rallies include the sort of thing mentioned here, spot-the-reference tours, poker runs, and on and on. At Oktoberfest, we call this the "fun rally." Time-Speed-Distance rallies involve calculation of the correct time of arrival at any or all points of the rally route. Straightforward TSD rallies are called touring rallies; like a gimmick rally, a touring rally should be a pleasant drive, to which is added a math exercise. This sort of thing is the Oktoberfest TSD rally. Other TSD rallies may be divided into course-following rallies, which require you to apply a set of priorities to determine which way to proceed at intersections, and trap rallies, which are (sometimes intricate) puzzles. Because we tend to be uncomfortable in unfamiliar stressful situations, beginners hate trap rallies---but course-following rallies are the ones that get you lost. Years ago, clubs put on rallies designed by rallymasters eager to trap other rallymasters, and the rest of us were lost in the crossfire. Gradually, people stopped showing up for events guaranteed to make them suffer and feel foolish, and rallymasters were either cast out of the tribe or simply got old and wandered off; few chapters have anybody left who could lay out and run a successful TSD event. More's the pity, I say; it's a great way to play with your car, and it rewards those with a competitive lobe.
Yup. Nothing makes a day in a car more pleasant than the stress of being in the right place at the right time down to the hundredth of a minute!
Fun rallies are well.. fun indeed, you don't really need to know anything to do one (I'm a prime example) Now though, I'd like to try my hand at a TSD rally NOT a trap rally- I've heard terrible stories... haha
We've got a rally for you. . . . . . but it's a little distant! The San Diego Chapter will run Uncle Kenny's Mountain Do in June. It's a straightforward touring rally. That means it's a TSD rally. . . but the smart ones who say, "To hell with the math!" can ignore all the "rally" part and just enjoy a terrific drive. Plus it ends at BMW South County for a barbecue, so how bad could it be? Some years ago I began to look forward to trap rallies, perhaps for the same reason I'm addicted to the New York Times crossword puzzle. Over the years, friends in the rally game and I have exchanged favorite traps. Some are dumb and some are fiendish! One of my favorites: We had a stretch of frontage road with a speed limit of 45. Rallyists approached the frontage road at a CAST---that is, their assigned average speed (Change or Commence Average Speed To)---of 20 mph. On the frontage road, they got the instruction, "Divide your CAST by 1/2." So what speed where they going on the frontage road? That's right: 40 mph. But the ones who did not remember how to divide by fractions were going 10. It was a delightful experience. . .
There used to be a Road Rally in the Cumberland, MD area. http://www.nationalroadrally.com Don't know if they still hold them there. Unfortunately when a person very active in rallying in the area past away [in the DC area], so did rallying.
There is a Rally on June 4th in Wellsboro Pennsylvania. http://www.rally-america.com/events/2011/STPR/
Do not be confused by our biking brethren who hold their rallies all year round. By 'rally', they mean a weekend of camping with other BMW riders. Nothin' competitive about it at all unless there's a "Best Chili" contest. Imagine my surprise the first time I showed up with a navigator instead of a tent ...
