OT Rally Justy! WOOHOO!

[Mr. Pockets]

Originally posted by wasions


YAY! Go easy on her (I know you will) and she'll love it.

Hey, Steve, I'll ask you since you've done these before: what do I need to bring? I know that the organizers will give us a quick crash course on the basics, what else do I need to bring along? I planned on a couple flashlights (it runs until 9PM), a calculator and a stopwatch. Anything else?

[wasions]

Originally posted by Mr. Pockets


Hey, Steve, I'll ask you since you've done these before: what do I need to bring? I know that the organizers will give us a quick crash course on the basics, what else do I need to bring along? I planned on a couple flashlights (it runs until 9PM), a calculator and a stopwatch. Anything else?

First off, forget anything I said about 'sign on right' or 'Aristotle'. If those or any other 'special instructions' apply, they will be clearly (yeah, right) explained at the driver's meeting or in the definitions. Main Road Rules will most likely apply, but they can come in any order, which will be specified, and it's basically something you just have to learn. A flashlight, or better yet, a booklight will certainly be helpful. The flashlight might be used in the event of an outdoor emergency, but you won't want the distraction inside the car. By all means, bring a clipboard. It's been awhile, but when we participated, electronic calculators were a no-no. You may use a slide rule, and there are places, or at least were, that sell special TSD slide rules. A stopwatch would be okay, but for your first rally, I wouldn't recommend it. Bring one at your own disgression. Go to have fun and learn.

My best recommendation would be to use your watch to plan when to leave the odometer check. Then, just try to keep your average speed by the 'seat of the pants' method. Sharon and I actually got quite good at that, many times beating the prepared cars, and twice taking enough points during the season to win the local year-end trophy.

Amber will have her hands full. Keep that in mind when you get frustrated. (You will get frustrated.) Make sure you both use the terms 'right', 'left', 'correct', and 'wrong' in the proper way. Quote signs exactly. Have Amber note your tripmeter and your odometer readings on the instruction sheet. Eventually, she'll be glad she did. If you forget to zero your tripmeter - don't worry about it. Just have fun. Amber will want to repeat the next instruction over and over again. Let her. If you remember the next instruction after she reads it the first time, that's great, but don't trust yourself to do it everytime. Chances are, you'll be asking her to repeat fairly often anyway, so don't go off on her if she does it too often. (Speaking from experience, here. )

Go with the flow. There is nothing the least bit serious about running your first rally. I would guess that 50% of first timers don't even finish, due to getting lost. Plan on getting lost. If you don't, that's great. If you do, you've just learned something important, and it's great fun making up time. (At least it would be if you were in the SVX. ) And I can't stress this enough: Have fun! Rallies have both saved and ruined marriages. It's up to you.

Good luck!