MCNJ Results 2002

Last year's results are still available

Twenty-four teams gathered at the Saturn Dealer on Ridgedale Avenue in Morristown with Teddy Bears in hand, for our Annual Teddy Bear event. Entry is free except that you must bring a bear for the Marine Corp - Toys for Tots program. Peter Schneider is well-known for this event and includes photographic clues as part of the format. This year he also provided a short TSD leg with separate awards

Write up and results will be posted soon

The rest of the results will be posted as soon as possible

Never Stop Wining - Oct 27
Rallyemaster - John & Marge Groot
Rallye Advisor - Peter Schneider

New Jersey is well known for great restaurants and ,believe it or not, some reasonably good wines. 20 teams decided to take the tour of 4 of the wineries and 6 of the Restaurants. The weather couldn't have cooperated any better and the fall foliage was at it's zenith. The Rallye went south to Harter Road off Route 287 for the OD check. Questions required the Rallyeists to identify the next instruction number after they spotted the scene shown in the pictures of wineries and restaurants.

The first trap came up almost immediately - L at 2nd SIG. Of course, a SIG is defined as an intersection of through, paved, public roads and the first light was at the entrance to an office park. Since that was not a SIG, it should not have been counted and the correct turn was at Maple Avenue not at Tempe Wick Rd.. Unfortunately, that error was expensive; 2 miles (200 Points) and 2 missed questions -Pierre's Bistro and The Grain House.

The next trap was a simple one. ETR through Bernardsville but since ETR is defined as a portion of the Route in which no answers to questions will be found, so the answer to Q1 (The Bernardsville Inn) was ?. The next trap involved L FOPP after traffic light. A traffic light is the physical light, not an intersection (SIG). The correct brought the teams past the Perrier bear and to Peter & JoAnn Schneider at the first Passage Control. The next trap was based on ONTO. L onto 533, then ETR 0.9 mile, then CHECKPOINT at RIP "GREENHOUSES". The only thing that cancels an onto is the first action of the next numbered instruction. 533 turned just after the CHECKPOINT and the correct route was to turn with it. The same trap was used on Harlingen Rd. L on Harlingen Rd. and R at T. This time if you failed to stay onto, you missed the first winery, LaFollette. Now we entered an area that MCNJ rarely uses; the roads near Zion between Routes 206 and 202, south of Flemington. This area is still very 'country'. Here the contestants encountered a trap that only one Novice and one Intermediate did correctly. R FOPP after a crossroad intersection. The word intersection tells us that these must be valid Rallye roads but the first one was not. The road on the left was dirt. The correct execution brought you to a control with Marge & John Groot and pretzel sticks. Several more restaurants and wineries dotted the remaining route along with a few more self-correcting traps.

The Rallye ended at The Sunset Inn in Clinton and everyone finished. As the cars arrived, they were treated to a view of hot air balloons overhead, colors vivid against the clear blue autumn sky.
Thanks to all the folks that participated and especially to Marge, Peter, JoAnn, Tom and Mike who worked the event.

August Anguish - August 25
Rallyemaster - Ken Eicher
Rallye Advisor - John Groot

MCNJ Charter Member brough nostalgia to the August Rallye, reintroducing ODOTs (optional direction of travel) that were used 30 years ago. At ODOT intersection a Rallyist has the option of taking any available Rallye route (other than U-turns). If the chosen route was correct, a confirmation clue or the next instruction is found within 3 tenths of a mile. Although it adds an element of chance, the Rallye also included traps to test skill as well. Questions played a big part in our early Rallyes and Ken gave us 32 to ponder on.

Twenty-one cars started from the Burger King on Route 23. Almost half thecars were first-timers. The first trap was found in Pompton Lakes on the way to Oakland - R to avoid Dead End. please click to see the trap on out Rallye Tips page. There was no intersection at the first dead end. The correct execution was at the 2nd dead end. A quick run over Skyline Drive brought us to Conklintown Road and a question nailed to a telephone pole (the heading of the Rallye indicated that no answers would be found on telephone poles and the correct answer was ?.

Ken then showed the contestants the meaning of the third Route Following Priority several times during the event. The first was at the intersection of Magee and Stonetown Road. What made it tricky was the fact that the correct route wad down a hill which made it easy to miss. A panic pack was available for those who got confused but only two teams used them. Later in the Rallye a gas station coupled with a S as Possible caught a few teams. Click here to see a Rallye Tip on this trap.

The OD Leg brought us down near Upper Greenwood Lake to Route 23 and Sussex County. The Rallye ended at the Pit Stop in Landing, NJ on Lake Hopatcong. Most of the teams finished. The scores were high as you will see, probably because of the ODOTS .The results are posted below.

Pictures of the August Event will be published soon.

Pictures from the July Rallye

June 2002

 The route then took us into western Morris County on Split Rock Road. A S as possible trap worked well on Split Rock. Click here to check the S as possible tip covering this trap. Questions were used to tell the Rallyemaster which traps people fell for. Check the Questions tip covering questions. We headed toward Boonton and came to another S as possible trap while traveling on (onto) Powerville Rd. This time however, there was a Powerville street sign and correct execution was Priority 2. An interesting trap was based on spelling. R on Meriden Rd. The first street sign indicated that it was Meridan Rd. so it was not the road we wanted. We continued for a long way but sure enough we came to Meriden Rd., the correct execution.

A long OD check brought us to Bergen County and to several more clever route following traps. Nevertheless, everyone completed the event. As you can see, except for the First Place Experts, the Alperts, good scores are not automatically the province of Experts. Experts often read too much into the instructions (yes, that's me).