Teddy Bear 17
December 2, 2007
Peter Schneider - Rallyemaster, John & Marge Groot - Rallye Advisors
Rallye Epilogue by John Groot & Pete Schneider
The weather report was troubling early on December 2 - snow. There were numerous accidents on the interstates and more snow and wintry mix were forecast for later in the day. The proposed Rallye ran through hilly areas of Morris & Hunterdon Counties and the roads are rural. Pete drove those sections before 9am. The roads he reported were either plowed and salted or passable with care. It was on. We posted that news on the WEB and returned phone and e-mail messages, then headed to the Start; a new one for us, Stu Lasser's Subaru Dealer on Route 46 in Mount Olive. We hoped for a good turnout because the entry 'fee' is a stuffed animal to be given to the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program. The weather limited the turnout to just 17 cars.
Peter has been Rallyemaster for the Teddy Bear Series for time out of mind except last year while he was working in Australia. Nevertheless, the same successful format has been used every year. The route is made up of 'Legs', that is sections between CHECKPOINTs at which you record your mileage. Each Leg except one used for the odometer factor correction may have route-following traps. It has always been the designed so that at the end of each Leg, everyone is back on course but with a mileage error if they fell for the trap. In the Teddy Bear Series, photos are often used to either cause the trap or bring the teams back on course.
In this Rallye, the first Leg was the OD Correction Leg and there were no traps. The only trap in the second Leg was based on a Delta Mileage. You were instructed to go 4.8 miles and make a R (right turn) immediately after a black and yellow crossroad sign. The first sign turned up in 2.4 miles and those teams who didn't check the mileage turned incorrectly and got a small mileage penalty but missed a manned passage control. There was a sign and a turn at the 4.8 mileage point. The trap in the 3rd Leg was based on an instruction calling for a L on Foxhill Rd. You encountered Fox Hill Rd. first and if you turned you came back on course with a 30 point penalty. The General Instructions explain that the road names must be exact.
The trap in the next Leg was based on a picture of a crossroad sign. The picture showed a sign with a ding and small trees behind it. The first crossroad sign had no ding and the background was different. The penalty was 400 points if you turned at the first sign. The Generals also explain that the Rallye is run on through paved public roads unless otherwise specified and because of that, the teams who were traveling on dirt at this point came upon an intersection at which the intersecting road was paved and should have turned onto pavement. The penalty: 17 points.
The picture of a hitching post should have caused the teams to go L but if missed, the route self-corrected with an error of 100 points. One picture was so easy, a photo of a Camp Bernie sign, the actual sign matched in every detail except, it was on the left and SOL wasn't specified - penalty: 140 points. Two more photos and two more traps based on those photos finished out the day. The total mileage was just under 75 miles.
The Rallye ended at the Teddy Bear Traditional ending spot, the Long Valley Brew Pub in the middle of Long Valley. Everyone finished and appeared to enjoy the food and beverages, as well as the comraderie of the other Rallyeists, although there were some groans as Peter explained the traps. The placings are presented below. Our thanks to everyone.
Click to expand picture
We'll identify the contestants pictured above as we can
Bottom row - Mr. P.Ola Bear being held by Mike Pender and to the right Judy
Pender, then ... & ... then Rallyemaster, Peter Schneider