[oot]

I been assigned to plan a road/lake rally. Has anyone ever done one in the past. Any suggestions?

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by oot

I been assigned to plan a road/lake rally. Has anyone ever done one in the past. Any suggestions?

I was never an organizer of a road rally, but was in one back in the late 80's and have a fair perspective and a little knowledge of what went into the preparation for the event. Along with my wife and friends we formed a 4 person team. I was the driver Carl rode shot gun and served as spotter and navigator. The wives rode in the backseat and were the co-navigators. Here are some thoughts on the various elements of the race along with some examples of the various tasks that that were required to achieve the successful execution of the race:

Rules had to be written in advance and a considerable amount of time needs to be put in to lay out a route and run through the completed route a few times to insure the accuracy of all instructions. When laying out a route safety should be the first consideration. The route should as much as possible be layed out on roads that have little traffic. Prohibit consumption of alcohol by driver... no alcohol drinks at all in vehicle even better with immediate disqualification for violation of this rule.

A starting point, break for lunch point and finish point needs to be established. The meeting location should be given to each contestant in case they get lost and don't find their way naturally through the instructions. Those instructions can be put into a sealed envelope or other suitable container with instructions on the outside that say something similar to "DO NOT OPEN THIS (container) EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS. If you have not reached the lunch break location by (?) time or get lost, open this container and then proceed immediately and directly to the location indicated herein."

We had two phases for the race we were in. One in the AM where we were given directions by distance and turns. For example, each vehicle was started according to a scheduled start time... much like how golfers are started on golf courses, and each vehicle having i.e., a 5-15 minute delay following the last team(s) start - or otherwise depending on circumstances or needs. Start times should be scheduled and distributed in advance so last departing teams don't need to get there too soon! Here's some particulars:

• Instruction #1 was to take a right out of the parking lot - proceed 1.5 miles - take a left - proceed .5 miles and find the object identified by this clue: "ARNOLD". The contestants then had to find the object that contained the clue's word. In this case, by correctly followed directions they should have stopped by a cemetery where the name of "ARNOLD" was on one of the gravestones that was visible from the road. They then write down the answer in space provided in the instruction sheet then proceed forward with instruction #2 followed by the remaining clues until they reach the lunch break point.
• Some other examples of clues were:
  • Pygmalion > butterfly decorations on a home or a stand alone garage at the end of a driveway...
  • 1922 > date of original construction on a short bridge...
  • Farm equipment > Sign on a business (no equipment displayed) that indicates they sell the equipment. (this can be a little tricky and fun as they might first be looking for an actual tractor or other actual equipment in a nearby field)...
  • Rusty > A rusty inoperable junk car sitting in a yard or field.
  • or other clue/answer combos found while running route setup.

For each correct answer the team will score a point or points and an extra bonus point on correct answers that have more difficult questions to answer.

After the lunch break, all contestants head out at the same time with an end of race time when they should then and immediately head to the finish point.

• Similar to the morning leg, distance turn instructions can be given but with no puzzles to solve like during the first half.
• For this leg you'll need paired volunteers to man as many individual checkpoints as you have volunteers to cover with the expected times of arrivals for each check point and reasonable point penalties for being early or late.
• Also points can be given for each station successfully reached and facing in right direction upon reaching it.
• As stated no puzzles, but that means no list of puzzles to solve. However, surprise questions at a check point is another matter. Even surprise tasks are not out of the question either. i.e. The driver is given instruction to move their vehicle forward say 11 inches for example and done by using their visual judgement only, then being penalized a point for every inch they miss the point by or some similar reward/penalty method established.
• You could also include giving a question at a given point to count the number of telephone poles or some other recognizable repetitive objects until they reach the next check point. (providing the distance is reasonable and there are any poles or other objects)

Just a few other things that should be considered... should you get insurance to cover any possible incidents? Should you inform any law enforcement agencies where and when your race route ventures within their jurisdiction? Provide lunch, beverages or BYO, Have a banquet in the evening and awards ceremony?

Good luck with planning and I hope this helped a little.

BTW, our team won first prize in that race we were in back in the 80's. Don't remember how many teams entered, but I'm pretty sure it was at least 15 to 20 or possibly even more.

[kittygilchrist]

I hate road rallies, but nobody asked me. Everywhere I go it's like a road rally...don't know where I am, or where I'm going or how to get there, and the motor's running and the gas is low and where's a station?

[Golfingnut]

I have done several long distance motorcycle tours from weekend to 7 day tours. What are your concerns? I will say they are a big pain in the butt, but I do have good memories from several of them.

[kittygilchrist]

the rally I did was one in which you show up and get directions that you are no t familiar with winding around small rural towns to end up not far from where you started. My boyfriend and I put 800 miles on my car in probably one county, mostly lost....around Inverness...
my previous post meant that I feel like I'm still doing a rally for dummies when I get around in TV.