|
The Wishbone Alley Gazette
December, 1997 Rainier Auto Sports Club
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕRally News
TdF: Living on the edge. We supposedly have months to get these PRO-Rallys
together, so placing the final timers within minutes of FCO isn't supposed to
happen. But then, we're not supposed to reroute stages to avoid dog sled runs
either.
Yeah, the rally cars showed up and seemed to have a good time. The
workers had their own "event". Here are the stories I have in my notes:
Paul & Peggy Appel came over from Wenatchee, just for Saturday's rally.
I plopped them down in the deep woods, they blocked a road and watched rally
cars fly by. Paul's a HAM, so I'd sure like to get them back.
Kirk Simons blocked a side road, then went home to bed with a 100°
fever.
Sam Bryan and crew ran a black Quattro Coupe on Saturday, then came
back as spectators on Sunday when the head gasket blew. We roped them into
about three tasks, including Flying Finish.
Ed Millman and Nick blocked the sometimes-busy mainline to Spider Lake.
Fortunately, the only "visitors" he had went back into the forest without too
much reluctance.
Ginger Clark, who usually gets her kicks in the #26 Lotus Elan (e-
mail address: elan26@h...) at racetracks, worked ATC on Saturday, seeing
the wide-eyed navigators as they time in. On Sunday, she got to see the even-
wider eyes as they finished the 20 mile stage.
Mike and Gretchen Jones worked at the "starting end" both days.
Gretchen's friend from work, Cathy Haggerty, missed the look on Mike's face as
he saw his abundance of helpers come and go (i.e. drafted) to work other
areas.
Visions of carnage and horror came to mind when one of the timbers at a
railroad crossing got loose. The heavy wood was 12 inches wide. If it got
loose there could be either a big gap in the "road", or a big piece of wood
for the rallyists to bump into. Ron Barker got to it and things looked grim
until he spied some old timbers, complete with 18 inch spikes. He pound
bers into place. Just in time
to run the stage, too.
The Stage Captain stayed out of the way, so the stages went remarkably
well . In an effort to get the stage "over with", Gretchen was bewildered to
watch frantic arm waving to coax the last few rallyists to time in early.
What no one else knew was that there was brush cutter mid-way through the
stage, with only bannerguard keeping him off the roads! He'd watched a few
rallys and knew what was going on- not worth posting a road guard. But IF
there was a big gap in the field, he might get the wrong impression. After
all, he did have to get his branches out of the woods before dark. He had a
permit, same as us.
Roy Ward was at the far west end of the route, blocking the mainline.
Festooned with bannerguard, his presence was still important. The only visitor
that got close was a game official, who wagged his finger and left.
We needed those HAMs. Three pickups drove into the stage, since we
didn't have it properly "blocked" yet. Ed Millman and his son Nick were a
scant 3 miles away, blocking the access road to Spider Lake. We had a
"problem" when the trucks never passed him.! There wasn't time to chase up the
three sideroads to find them. Rod Chelgren and Tom Palidar were detailed down
to the roads to be road blocks.
Speaking of "drafting workers", we even stole from support crews on
Sunday. In between runs on Saturday, Nolte got a new spare at the Shelton Les
Schwab store. Quick, fast service. The same fellow was part of John
Forespring's crew on Sunday. When a brush picker's Mazda PU was parked in a
hot area, we drafted him to "sit on" the PU. Fortunately, the owner came back
and exited the stage before the stage was run.
Angus Proud and Mitch Watt went to their location, watched the rally
cars go by, then wandered up their road to see what was up there. They got to
meet a "brush picker", who explained that Simpson plants White Pines to
protect the firs until they get up to size. Then the pines are harvested. And
those b
ers can make up to $400 a day!
When it's all over, the stage has to be torn down. Darin Hansen and his
brother filled the RX7 until it looked like someone would have to ride on the
roof. They took the smart way out and quit collecting the miles of bannerguard
that had been strung up over the last few weeks.
* The last rally of the British Columbia series, the Midnite Rally, drew
seven entrants. They all finished. A nice touch was having the much-traveled
motorhome parked at strategic locations with munchies and coffee for the
rallyists.
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕTour de Forest By Cristy Breazeale
"Look Jim, there's another event out here. I wonder what what NWSDA
is?'
We were about to find out in a big way.
At the October RASC meeting , we weren't even sure that this rally
would happen. We'd lost roads through miscues, dropped balls, and whatever
else can go wrong; then it looked like we were about to have "Plan B" pulled
out from under our feet. lt was a prety chaotic meeting. We had folks on one
side who were sure that we could pull it off, and others (more experienced)
saying "Are you NUTS? We've got 3 weeks to do 3 months worth of work!" Many
phone calls, a few hurried meetngs, and a lot of hours (nay, days) of work
later, it was "Tour d'Forest Rally Weekend" and it was going to happen.
Saturday was fairly uneventful; Jim and I ran the Finish Control. We
had more workers than we could use (when does THAT happen?) so we had plenty
of time and helpers on hand to train newcomers in the fine art of timing and
"crowd control".
But Sunday was a different story altogether.
Simpson had issued permits to two different groups for the same weekend:
the SCCA and the NWSDA. For those of us who didn't figure it out during the
day, we learned when we pulled into our hotel that night and saw dog sleds
with wheels that NWSDA was NW Sled Dog Ass'n.
Sometimes when two different groups have permits for the same weekend
they choose the same roads, or end up crossing paths in some ho
supposed to work Stop
Control in the the same location both days and thought about just driving out
there on Sunday without checking in. But knowing how Mark Nolte worries, we
decided to stop and let him know that we were on our way. It's a good thing
we did. 'Hold on, everything's changed."
WHAT?
"It all fell apart ovenight. We lost part of our stage to the dog sleds,
but only for the first run. So we need to set up the Finish twice: first at
California Road , then roll it all up, move to the original spot, and set it
up again. And you won't have a lot of time to do it in."
OK. No problem. We cooled our heels -literally- and waited for Nolte
to lead us to the California Road location. When he did, he told us where
John Nispel wanted to set it up, then showed us where HE wanted it shortened
and set up. OK, you're the Stage Captain.
Nispel came by after we had it all set up, jumped out ot his truck
tearing his hair and uttering sounds of distress. "Yeah, I know, but that''s
where Nolte TOLD us to put it. "
"But....."
"You got radio, call him." A few minutes after Nispel left, Nolte came
back, leapt out of his truck and did a pretty fair imitation of Nispel even
though he hadn't been there to see the original.
"But that's where you told us to put it. Move it? The first car starts
in 10 minutes! We can move the signs, we can move the people, we can move
cars, but the land line will take too long. Relax! We know this is the
mainline, and they'll be flyng; we know this is a short shutdown (really
short), but we have faith in our fellow rallyists. They'll be able to stop."
We had conveniently forgotten to take a couple things into account.
One of them being that nearly the entire field runs a larger engine than we
have in our Rally Lite Rabbit. The other was mechanical failure, which Rui
Brazil aptly demonstrated just a few moments later as he flew through Stop
Control sideways with his brakes locked up and on fire, nearly hitting the
truck that N
ad instructed us to park partially blocking the road.
(Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time... )
You know, I was just a bit jumpy after that . . Although the rest of
the day was a breeze. We got it all picked up, moved down the road, and set
up again; even had time for sandwiches.
But no workers. I knew we were spread thin, but we needed at least
one more worker. We could do it alone, but it would be hectic. Fortunately,
Nolte came through with two volunteers, as well as our missing headset (OK, we
were in a mild panic about that).
We left the Little Creek Casino before the awards, as did most of the
workers, I guess. Nobody at the November meeting knew who won. When quizzed
"Who won?", Jay Kingsley replied "The Seahawks!"
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕClub News
November Meeting highlights: We have a few dollars in the bank, but
Nor'Wester bills are outstanding. Some discussion of road use fees, and
somebody from RASC is going to have to attend the SCCA Rallygroup meetings.
The new Board was elected, and a quick Board Meeting yielded the 1998
Officers: President: Pete Shelton; VP: Jay Kingsley; Treasurer: Terry Simons;
Secretary: Rod Chelgren; Membership: Mike Jones; Member-at-large: Cristy
Breazeale
(Now you know whom to pay your dues to- ed)
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕRoster Update
Peter Linde has a new phone number, which only yields voice
mail:(206)610-4088. I think it then goes straight to his pager. And he has a
cell phone. (Welcome to the wired age....)
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕTrivia
*Watch those printouts: You've heard of the "Year 2000" problem with
computers: only the last 2 digits of a date are looked-at by the computer, and
2000 looks the same as 1900 to the computer. In the process of reprogramming
the computers, some other things can creep in. Its happening now, so you have
something to look forward to for the next 2 years!
*John Nispel is getting a home computer, and may join the Internet group.
*Of the dish TV systems, the Echostar "Dish" doesn't include "Speedvision" in
its roster. "Speedvision" has been includ
, including
the Safari and some US events.
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕFor Sale
*42 foot cigarette boat, sleeps 5. Twin 454's, many extras. $130,000, Obo Call
Black Hole Racing, 206-935-8312.
*89 Mazda 323 GTX, 134K, never raced or autocrossed. Loaded: A/C, sunroof,
fancy factory seats, rear washer, split back seat. Real spare, no space saver.
Includes studded Ultragips on mags, comes with 7 fresh F32 Goodyears. $4100,
Mark Nolte 425-226-3155, (Fax 425-226-1469)
*Jackelope Rally Lite Rabbit, Class winner, ready to rally with a ton
o'spares. $2850, OBO. Call Black Hole Racing 206-935-8312
*Aiwa Sound System, 1 year old. Roy Ward, 425-869-3836
*'86 Chevy Celebrity, 200+K, replaced by a Suburban. John Nispel 360-357-3207
^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^Õ^ÕCalender
NWRC Hotline: (206) 277-4351
*Apple Country Div-PRO? Roy has made some contacts in Wenatchee. Folks who are
interested in having a PRO-Rally. Our lower-Olympic Penninsula roads are
getting worn out and too-familiar. Time to look for a new venue. It takes
roughly 2 1/2 hours to get there from Seattle.
*The NWRC scheduling meeting is on Friday, December 12.
The SCCA-NWR rally Workers Party is the Saturday of Superbowl weekend,
whatever that is. Planning is, uh, er, in progress. Volunteers needed.
Feb. 7/8 Thunderbird Rally, B.C.
Feb 14/15. Doo Wop I & II
**Satch has announced the Lost Patrol date(s): Depart Quesnel, B.C. Feb 20,
1998. Finish is February 27. Subaru has stepped in with some cars (4?) and
maybe money.
March 29 Raindrop TSD (editor's pick...)
Sept. 12-13 POR (Michigan) (Gene's pick)
Sept. 19-20 Evergreen State 1000 (Return to the Okanogan, where the apples
are fresh)
*(SCCA National PRO-Rally Schedule
Feb. 27-28 Sno*Drift (Atlanta, MI)
Mar. 14-15 Doo-Wop III &IV (Olympia ,WA) (60%)
April 18-19 Wild West (Olympia, WA)
May 8-9 Rim of the World (Palmdale, CA)
June 5-6 Susquehannock Trail (Wellesboro, PA)
July 31-Aug 1 Maine Forest (Rumford,ME)
Aug 28-29 Ojibwe Forest (Bemidji, MN)
Oct 2-3 Prescott Forest (Prescott, AZ)
Oct. 23-24 Lake Superior (Houghton, MI)
-
lley Gazette is published monthly for members and friends of
Rainier Auto Sports Club. Editor is Mark Nolte. |
