[RallySnake]

(Part 2)

We wound down Caliente Bodfish, then Bear Mountain Road towards Bakersfield. We stopped at a Standoff overlooking the whole valley below and took two more compass bearings for checkpoints 5 and 6. Now, most contestants in the rally don’t have to do this. But when you take on the challenge of Expert Class, you have to take on a much higher difficulty level. We had to find signs along the route before each checkpoint to make concentration more difficult, too. Joe doesn’t want anyone to get bored during the rally and this added just enough complexity to keep it interesting.

Our plotted course on 5 took us right to the checkpoint and we drove around the block to hit it from the correct direction and get another zero. Checkpoint 6 wasn’t so easy. The plotted line cut diagonally across five North/South roads. So, we had to drive a zig zag pattern to cover each road it crossed. We were running out of time as we approached the last one and then, there it was, but it was north of us! This was a big problem because we had to enter it going southbound. So, we ran a couple of miles up to the freeway, sprinted two miles up the freeway, hung a quick exit on Sandrini and then a quick right onto Adobe. Our hearts were racing as we ran down the road and crossed the timing hose exactly on time for another zero and a total score of 6. It was a very exciting finish!

We were all directed to the Don Perico Restaurant in the little town of Grapevine for results. It was fun to compare notes with the other contestants about the events of the rally. It was great to see old friends and make some new ones, too. Joe wrapped up the event with a little story of each car’s accomplishments and handed out very nice trophies.

As we drove home over the Grapevine, we reflected on what an outstanding event it had been. We were given just enough information to find each checkpoint. We were given just enough time to get to each location with very little waiting time. The dedicated workers had their clocks set exactly right at every control and we had no uphill creeps. The weather was warm and sunny all day and the event was exactly the right length, 6 checkpoints in 6 hours. We visited places so beautiful that I want to take the family back to. It was a perfect rally!

Look for the next one in August at the link above.

Paul