April 14, 1999

Car club trains for rallies

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Left at 'T' CAST 30. Right 1st opp. Second opp acute left.
      Cryptic is the name of the game during a road rally, with coded directions sending the driver-navigator teams on a merry journey. Not actually a race, a road rally is an accuracy contest where teams work to complete the course in the specified time and number of miles.
      To decode the above directions, the navigator would have the driver turn left at the 'T' intersection and maintain an average driving speed to 30 mph, turn right at the first public road (opportunity) and make an acute left at the second public road. Sounds easy enough but out on the road, where the road rally master has devised some sneaky directions and confusing turns, it is easy to wind up off course. A little backtracking is par for the course and adds to the fun and challenge of the rally.
      "Doing a road rally is a very fun day," said Dale Cobb, a member of the Twin Bay British Car Club who has run in road rallies for nearly 40 years. "You spend some time in your car and enjoy it, it's a neat way to have fun."
      The Twin Bay British Car Club held a road rally training seminar last Tuesday evening at the Elks Club to help its members learn to decipher the directions the rally master gives. As the rally master for the club's rally second annual spring road rally slated for Saturday, May 16, Cobb gave members a list of terms, recommended equipment and pre-race preparations and exercises to calculate time, distance and turning opportunities.
      "Rallies are set up in such a way to make you think and follow directions," said Cobb, who has been planning road rallies for the past 25 years. "If you assume something or take it for granted, you may never find the end. You have to pay attention, depending on how sneaky the rally master is."
      During this rally, up to 60 teams will wind their way around rural Grand Traverse county, stopping at numerous check points along the way to record their time and mileage. The rally starts at the Outback Steakhouse on U.S. 31 South and will end at an undisclosed location, found only by completing the rally. Teams will take approximately four hours to complete the 100-mile course.
      "Ours is a beginning main road rally, you just need a calculator and a watch," said Cobb, who has been planning and checking the route for six weeks. "Road rallies can be sophisticated with computers and fractions of a second determining the score."
      You don't need a British car to join this road rally, organizers said, anyone is welcome. But the majority of the participants will be club members who are long-time British car aficionados, driving their pampered babies and hoping they stay together long enough to complete the course.
      "British cars are notorious for oil leaks and breakdowns," said Harold Brunk of Cadillac, a club member who has been restoring his MG Midget for five years and recently drove it on an 1,800-mile trip. "They are a blast to drive, made to go down narrow, curvy roads. I drive it every day I can."
      Despite the breakdowns, British car owners are a loyal breed who nurse their cars along through the years, leaving a trail of parts and oil behind them. Their beauty and maneuverability make up for any engineering shortcomings.
      "I'm a car guy, I like all old cars, especially British ones," said Lee Johnson of Elmwood Township, owner of a sports car business in Traverse City called Mechanical Specialty. "We drive our Jaguar like a regular car, we've been to New York and back in it."
      However, not all 'regular' cars would be given the special treatment Lee gives his, noted his wife Kathye.
      "We never leave it outside, it's never dirty and he dusts it even before leaving the garage," Kathye said. "It's not an expensive car, but it turns heads."