RASC May 2001 WAG

Rainier Auto Sports Club

The Wishbone Alley Gazette

May, 2001

Rally News

Highway cleanup, by Sue Calvert

Sunday, April 22, I drove down to the Thurston County Shops. Arrived at 9:45a.m. By 10:05 no one else had showed up. I was about to bag it when John (?) showed up, then another fellow whose name I don't remember but he's from Shelton and just recently started co-driving. Then came John Forespring. He called John Nispel, who had forgotten, as did Frank Hamilton. Eventually they showed up and we went to work.

We were about 3/4 mi. into it when the rain, which was not supposed to be there per all forecasts, began. We were too far along to go back to cars for raingear, so we slogged it out. But the guys said it was the cleanest they'd seen it yet, and we were done by 1:30 p.m. We did pizza and departed. My jeans and the top of my sox were still wet when I got home.

Oregon Trail (April 7-8), by Mark Nolte

On Saturday afternoon, I went to a Tillamook store and bought some rubber boots. It was that kind of weekend.

The workers were pretty much in the dark; even the Ham packets didn't yield too much about what was going on. Fortunately, Diane Duran, our Captain, had worked her way into the inner sanctum and knew what was happening, where, and when. She led us into the woods and the second stage

I was midpoint Ham, and decided it was an exciting spot when the first car, a Hyundai, came by completely out of shape. The next cars weren't quite as exciting, more or less holding to the graded part of the road.

Then the Finish inquired when the cars had come by. A few minutes later, I got that sinking feeling- the cars were overdue.

Finish Ham reports car in the creek, "stop the Stage." The Sweep rig came past a few minutes later and reported the rally car upside down in the creek, crew OK.

Diane had to decide whether to run the Stage, since the car was off the road, or cancel it. After some discussion, the stage was scrubbed, the rally cars sent elsewhere. The creek had to be kept clean. Diane made the decision without any contact (as near as I can tell) with the rest of the organization.

Our next stage wasn't until evening, so we wandered off. Dave Folker and Jay Shukla went to find rally action; the rest of us went to town. I got to visit the cheese factory, where the ice cream tasted good despite the similarity of the ice cream temperature to the prevailing weather conditions.

Our evening stage went well, only 6 miles long.

Other things happened on Sunday, but we only had the last stage, a proper spectator stage around the huge blimp hanger. It was dull, but not boring, and a fitting finish.

Raindrop (April 29th), by Mark Nolte

Raindrop turned out to be a splendid little rally, 4 hours and133 miles. 30 cars (and 17 novices!) made things interesting.

The publicity effort was blessed on many fronts. Ed Millman devoted his considerable skills to create a useful flyer, then printed it, in color. He later passed out a few at the MG rally. Eric and Steve ran the BMW rally, and passed out flyers, then had a chance to talk about it at the Finish. Eric also posted some "invites" on the WWW. Tom Palidar, the powerhouse behind the NWRC publicity machine, made sure the NWRC "regulars" knew about it. Various people claim to have passed out flyers at the Friday Niters.

We had enough workers, populating 17 locations. Steve Willey and Eric Horst took time out their busy weekday schedules to go on their own checkout, then used this inside info to get to 3 CP's each. Eric brought his wife, Diane, to see what this was all about. The Simons & Jones did the checkout, offering some useful ideas and catching one confusing error.

Gretchen Jones took the Registration operation under her wing; educating the novices probably didn't make things go smoothly. She and Mike made it to two CP's.

Rod Johnson and Roy Ward (with Sherry) appeared on schedule, then joined Jarvis Owens where they had a quiet look at the maps to figure out what I had done to them. Roy later commented that "anywhere on the other side of the mountains" was more familiar than this area, 1 1/2 hours from home.

Ed Millman showed up without any kids, alone. I wasn't too worried about him finding his checkpoints, since I've done worse things to him over the years.

Jarvis and Alison Owens just got back from Arizona, but volunteered to help. They were fortunate enough to have time to visit the Tenino Museum, "A real find", says Alison.

Pete Shelton called from his Mom's place on Tuesday. After hearing about the woes of his "new" house (new walls, wiring, floors, bathroom..did I miss anything?) I insisted that he spend the rally working on the house. He had "handled" the trophies, after all.

Kirk and Terry Simons had the challenging job of "sweeping". This is usually just a matter of picking up the scores at each CP. As it was, Kirk spent some time explaining "rallying" to a few wayward teams, watching cars pass after he had shut down the CP, and wondering how we were going to get the scoring done when very few of the crews had filled in the "score" column on the CP logs.

The rally itself went pretty much as expected; the Critiques reflected a happy group. My second worst problem (Vince solved the first one by arranging the Start location) was finding potty stops. The various city parks didn't come through for me, but I was thinking about it.

The poor Novices got a 4-minute spiel on how to get out of the parking lot, but not a lot else. Somebody else is going to have to handle that in the future. Nothing teaches like doin' it, but a little attention to making life easier on the CP crews is needed!

We tried some new things- the Web Site Registration should have yielded a few more partially filed-in registration forms. Going from nothing to where we got was a monumental undertaking- many thanks to Steve Willey and Eric Horst. We may have a "thing" here with the student-made trophies. Using the large NWRC magnetic door numbers is environmentally responsible, and we didn't have to worry about cleaning up the parking lot.

Scoring was the low point; just about everything conspired against success, including crews too busy to fill in their logs.

So the day petered out, long after the pizzas were finished. I didn't get to thank the workers.

No Alibi (June 2-3)

A month away, plans are getting settled. It'll be fun. A featured stop on Saturday is at Summer Falls, which you wouldn't find even if you were planning to go to places off-the-beaten-path. It's also the lunch break.

Sunday's rally is aimed at a 3pm finish in Wenatchee.

And in between… those glorious vistas and lovely roads.

Shitepoke/ Dryad Quest (June 9/10)

Last year's rallys were pretty good, so the 2001 version will be a rehash. RASC has been asked to raise a stage crew- call Nolte at (425) 226-3155 if you want to join the Pro-Rally action.

The Simpson roads, west of Shelton, didn't suffer too much this winter.

Trivia

Jarvis got a Laser detector after a motorcycle trooper "clocked" him. Rather than travel in tandem with a big rig, he had surged forward to clear the truck- at about 73 mph.
www.rainierautosports.com. - Eric and Steve have been tweaking it, adding links and good historical pictures. Mike McKamey offered some of the pictures, which date back to the 70's.
Kirk Simon's passed his Ham test; he answers to KD7NAD.
Went to Stongard, (1485 130th NE, Bellevue) for some headlight protection for my WRX. The kit includes the foglights, too. Mentioned I'd done a part with the Alcan rally and got a discount! They also offer a full "bra" coverage (many pieces of clear "plastic") for a little over $300. -Nolte

For Sale

Ed Millman got a '97 Taurus, wants to sell the '91 white Taurus wagon. 150K mi. $2000 (206) 361-7389
Mike Jones still has the collection of parts in his garage that could make somebody a dandy Fire Arrow. Make an offer. (425) 823-8329
'87 Audi 4000 Quattro needs a home. It's gold, with 4 new tires and 140,000 miles. Runs great, got 27.5 mpg on a recent trip. Has the usual Audi gremlins (electrics and door latches), fair body & paint, and a pretty good interior. Not perfect, but you won't find a better one for $1500! (Or I can fix it up and charge you more...). Call Jerry at (206) 227-6343 or (425) 823-6343.
Subaru wheels and tires: 15" rims don't fit over WRX brakes! Hakka H1 studs on 4 (gold) American Racing wheels. Only one season left on 3 tires, one nearly new: $650
Four 195/65 Hakka 10's de-studded (with only TRNT on them) on silver Leagacy wheels. These are taller than stock by an inch, I got 'em for gravel rallys. Tires are toughest street tires I could find. mnolte@qwest.net

RASC Calendar

• Call the NWRC Hotline (206) 256-9627 for latest info on Puget Sound TSD events.

SCCA Oregon Region brings national road rally to the Northwest with the Rose City Challenge on May 19 and 20. Saturday's course event (trick-and-trap TSD) explores Washington County's premier rally roads.

Sunday's Barlow Trail touring rally shows off the vistas of the Columbia River Gorge. For more information, http://www.leftrightonline.com/Challenge2001/index.html

Cascade Sport Car Club's June Friday Nighter (June 1) includes some laps around PIR for those who think it might be fun to take the rally to the race track. For more information, http://www.cascadescc.com/rally.html

Those who enjoyed Raindrop will want to put September 22 on their calendar. CSCC's Mountains to the Sea ends on the Long Beach Peninsula and includes two days of fun. On Saturday, rally from Portland to the beach. Then Sunday morning, explore the Peninsula on a fun gimmick rally, followed by a "driver's challenge" at the Long Beach Go-Cart Track.

For more information about Oregon rallies, contact Victoria Saager at 503-844-6664 orvictoria@saagervision.com. See you at the rallies!

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5/11 – Friday Niter by ORCA, Bellevue, WA
5/19 (SCCA Nat’l TSD) Beaver Cleaver (Course) Portland, OR
5/20 (SCCA Nat’l TSD) Barlow Trail, (Tour) Portland, OR
5/19-20 - Big Horn stage (Alberta)
5/26-27 - Rocky Mtn stage (Alberta)
6/2-3 No Alibi TSD by RASC
6/9-10 - Shitepoke/Dryad Quest (ClubRally)
6/16/17 - Mt. Trails stage, B.C.
6/23 -(SCCA Nat’l TSD) Cast In Stone,(Tour) Michigan
6/24 - Litter Clean-up (MP 99-101)
7/13 – Friday Niter by NWRC, Bellevue, WA
8/4-5 - ORV Rally Sprints (ClubRally)
8/10 – Friday Niter by ORCA, Bellevue, WA
8/18, (SCCA Nat’l TSD) Dawn To Dust, (Tour), Silverthorn, CO
8/18, (SCCA Nat’l TSD) TBA, (tour) Silverthorn, CO
9/7-8 - Olympus Performance Rally weekend- 2Club rallys and Wild West National.
9/14- Friday Niter by RASC
9/15-16 – Pacific Forest stage, B.C.
10/6 – Nite on Bald Mountain (TSD) by ORCA
10/5-6 - Prescott Forest (PRORally)
10/12 – Friday Niter by ORCA, Bellevue, WA
10/27 – Ghoul’s Gambol (TSD)
10/28 - Litter Clean-up (MP 99-101)
11/ 3-4 – Totem TSD (B.C.)

Rainier Auto Sports Club will meet this coming Monday, May 14, 2001, at 7:30 PM at CoCo's in Bellevue, (520 112th Ave., between the "NE 8" and "NE 4th" Exits of 405 on the west side of the Hwy.) We have a meeting room set aside in the back. Monthly meetings are the second Monday of each month. Past Members, visitors, and spectators are welcomed.

2001 Board Members:
President: Kirk Simons- 425-806-1741; Vice-President: Gretchen Jones (425) 823-8329 Secretary: Pete Shelton- 206-365-4173; Treasurer: Ed Millman (206)361-7389
Members at Large: Terry Simons (425)806-1741, Eric Horst (206)363-9752

The Wishbone Alley Gazette is published for the members and friends of Rainier Auto Sports Club. Subscription price is $10 per year.
The editor is Mark Nolte, ph. 425-226-3155. Contributions and paid/unpaid ad eagerly received at
2108 NE 12Th. St., Renton, WA 98056 or e-mail: mnolte@qwest.net
Rainier Auto Sports Club, P.O. Box 852, Kirkland, WA 98134