Scoring at Treeline ‘06
Last Saturday Kris and I headed up once again to the Treeline Rally in West Covina/Monrovia, CA. Since we were not competing in the event, we volunteered to help out. Though we were both part of the “Scoring Team,” we were split up - Kris was sent out to the stages while I stayed at the hotel getting the computer and radio equipment set up. The rally was delayed quite a while by a non-rally-related traffic accident on the transit to the stages, as the two-lane mountain road was completely stopped and blocked to let medical personal through. I felt for the competitors - this weekend was by far the hottest I have ever seen. It was at least 102 degrees (F) where I was, and it was reported that where Kris was up in the stages it was nearly 122. And yes - it was hot for ALL of us, but I can only imagine how much hotter it must have been INSIDE the rally cars, with the windows rolled up, everyone in full multi-layer nomex (ie, non- “breathing” material) racesuits. Even with coolsuits, which utilize a cooler full of ice in the trunk, it must have been unbearable. I’m sure all the ice was melted before the competitors even got to the stages. Those competitors who actually had air conditioning in their car (and left it in during the rally build!) - I’m not sure there even were any - might have been ok. But it was still unbearable. The whole day showed how much rally is an endurance sport - and not for the weak of heart.
Well, after a very long wait, Kris finally called in with the scores from the first two stages. Only about 2/3 of the cars that started even made it through the second stage. Most of them suffered either from major suspension damage (struts busting through), or the car overheating. Some competitors themselves suffered from overheating - which has lead to a discussion on where to get cool suits. Go to rallynotes, and do a search. Kris made a great post about where we got all of OUR stuff, for about $400 less than the “rally cool suit” set up.
MOST of those cars made it back to service, where I took their stage 3 scores and road points. After service was over, I headed out to the rally finish to collect the final scores. This was the best part of my day - a fellow co-driver (awesome John Dillon) let me borrow his car - an Audi TT Quattro roadster (read = convertible!). I was a *bit* nervous about driving a standard again (it’s been quite a while!), but honored to be offered such an excellent ride! Once out on the road, I had absolutely no problems because the car practically drove itself. I didn’t get to enjoy having the top down since it was soooo hot out, and when I left the sun was still beating down hard. It was definately a lot harder to drive a car that was brand new to me, and to a place I’ve never been before - all I have to say is thank goodness I’m used to being a navigator.
Once at the rally finish, I wasn’t sure where to set up. I found a ham radio operator that unfortunately wasn’t very helpful. I asked where I should park, and all he said was, “Rally cars are going to be coming through here.” Well, duh, I know that - that’s the whole reason I am up here! He had no information on where I should set up the finish control clock, and although he’d been there all day, when I asked where exactly the cars would be coming, his answer was the same. I’m so glad that the people in the “0″ car had been recruited to help me. Once they showed up, I knew exactly where the cars would be coming, and got the clock set up. Then we set ourselves up - sprayed down with some insect repellent, got the pens and clipboards ready, and waited - although not long. After about four cars showed up, I called in the final stage scores on the pay phone across the road. I didn’t have to stay long as there were only NINE cars that finished the rally! I felt so bad for everyone who was stuck on the stages. There’s no easy way to get a trailer in, and definately not many places you can turn around.
Once done with calling in scores, I packed everything up. I took my time figuring the car out - for some reason I could not find the light switch! The sun had finally set, so I decided to put the top down and wrap my hair up in a scarf. The drive down was fabulous! I absolutely loved driving the car - which is great, but I didn’t like the car itself. For some crazy reason the designers decided to made every “feature” piece out of METAL, which is not a good thing if the car is sitting in the sun all day. The inside of the steering wheel, the shifter, the button atop the handbrake, the vents, and most importantly, the door handles! When I first got in the car to drive up to the rally finish, I practically burned my hand trying to get the door open! The other unfortunate part was that because I am somewhat short, I always have to have the seat quite far forward in a standard to be able to push the clutch down all the way. This usually results in me being WAY too close to the steering wheel, and/or my right leg too close to the brake/throttle pedals, which results in a foot-cramp at the end of any drive lasting longer then 30 minutes or so.
The day was fun. I really enjoyed learning about yet another aspect of rally besides what we’ve already done (timing and competing). The heat was awful, and the worst part is all the bug bites I received in about an hour’s timespan (I have FIFTEEN in one spot on my right thigh!). The car drive was supurb, and the dinner was fun too. Kris and I both met some great new contacts, which hopefully will help us much in our rally future. Yay!
