At The Crossroads
September 30, 2007
Lynn Beckmann - Rallyemaster, Assisted by Tom Marciniak and Brian
Beckmann
Rallye Epilogue by Michael Brooks
The Epilog by Lynn
It was a beautiful Autumn morning as ten competitors lined up to begin the Sept. 30th rallye, At The Crossroads. The Special Instruction of the day was that crossroads having different names on opposite sides of the intersection were deemed invalid, and no turns were to be made there.
The first trap came early, at inst. #3, where rallyeists were told “L after “T””. Since “T” was in quotation marks, it was necessary to turn left at the T intersection itself, having passed a sign with a large “T” on it. Rallyeists who chose to go as straight as possible at this “lazy” T, and then turn left “after” the T, were off course. After this came two more traps, a “straight-as-possible” trap, and a trap designed to entice rallyeists to go L at a forced left, a no-no. Brian and Lynn Beckmann were there to greet rallyeists at the end of Leg 1 with pretzels and lollipops.
Another tricky trap came later, in Leg 3, where the instruction read “BR away from Rt. 521; PU Rt. 633.” A sign with an arrow pointing to the left for Rt. 521, and also an arrow pointing straight ahead for Rt. 633, was encountered right before the intersection. After executing the BR at this intersection, it was necessary for rallyeists to continue past the FOPP to turn R onto Lakeview Dr. (the next instruction), in order to PU Rt. 633, since PU must be at the identifying sign. Those on course found a second OPP to go R onto Lakeview Dr. ½ mile later.
Soon afterward came the first of the invalid crossroads, as defined in the Special Instruction. Having been told to FWL, most rallyeists were unaware of an invalid crossroad where Rt. 633 made a 90 degree turn to the right. When they followed Rt. 633, now off course, they encountered Lynn, and a 200-point penalty. Leg 5 had two more “invalid crossroad” traps, and rallyeists had a chance to drive on some beautiful scenic roads in Fredon Twp.
The rallye finish was at Smokey Joe’s, a restaurant on Lake Lackawanna, where we all sat out on the deck, had some good food, and enjoyed the rest of the sunny afternoon.