This was our first rally design. We wanted a lower Westchester rally and being Halloween, we wanted some good tricks. We won't tell you what they were - but the hints are read and understand the generals! We did have one car find all 40 signs. There were 3 off course signs. One got blown backwards pretty early on - too bad because it was a good off course sign.
Done correctly, this rally went through the Westchester Airport, White Plains, Greenburg, skirted along the Yonkers border (we heard that a few of you got lost in Yonkers), the Rivertowns, Tarrytown, Pleasantville, and Mt. Kisco millwood,. Done incorrectly, who knows where it would take you. We made sure there were pretty roads, nice big houses, the Rockefeller estate and the Chagall stain-glass window at Pontanico and the reservoir lakes (my personal favorites) in Tarrytown. With Gary's help we edited down the number of stoplights and minimized time on major thoroughfares. We had some fun taking you across parkways and tricking you with parking lots and entrances to businesses and schools.
Big thanks to all those who helped us, especially Gary and Frank who ran the rally a number of times, which really helped to minimize mistakes. After talking with almost 30 cars that finishes, we found no mistakes with the directions, - confusion yes, but mistakes no. Frank helped us put up the signs. Gary and Debbie handled registrations, insurance, and dash plaques. Marguerite and Val gave us signs and moral support.
A total of 41 Cars started the rally under increased security at Kenicso Dam. We waited a bit after all had left, chatted with the police, got some dinner and then started the vigil at the checkpoint. There were some sneaky tricks on this rally and we suspected that everyone would fall for at least one or two - and most did. Luckily the first car into the checkpoint was car number 1, arriving nearly 5 minutes early. That let us know that the rally worked. The next car arrived about 20 minutes later, we had a moment or two wondering if car 1 was a fluke. There was quite a span till the next arrived. At that point, cars started rolling in, most but not all were late. No one complained about mistakes in the directions. We decided it was a good rally. A number of experienced rally drivers noted "really different roads, challenging but cool." Still a novice team not only finished but won the husband/wife trophy too! Several other teams who had never actually finished a rally did this time.
The total distance of the rally was 58.4 miles and the running time was 2 hours 23 minutes and 30 seconds. 26 cars finished before the checkpoint closed. We had a few more sheets turned in at Applebee's. 11 people gave up completely and never arrived at the restaurant. Others called in say they went directly home.
We will be having the Turkey Tour on November 17. We are always looking for more people to be involved in producing events, both autocross and rallies, if you are interested in becoming a member or helping out, drop Jesse an e-mail at: jesse@vgallery.com.
See you soon.