2004 Dryad/Shitepoke Club Rally

I was asked to volunteer at the '04 Dryad ClubRally by some rally friends of mine. This was my first time working an event since the previous year's fateful OTPR. This time my job was to help work at the Arrival Time Control - this being the stop just before the actual stage start. It was fun as I was able to talk to each competitor and check their time cards in, as well as offer them any last minute advice about the stage. I didn't have my HAM radio yet, but sure wished I did. The high point was having a chance to drive the stage to deliver hamburgers to hungry workers down-stage. This was also a great opportunity to see what the competitors were bringing to a "small" ClubRally. I saw all sorts of cars - and since our stage was run twice, I could see first hand the damage and problems they encountered during the event. Only a few cars were knocked out of the event early, and all seemed to be having a great time.

2004 No Alibi

I didn't have a navigator lined up for this one, so I volunteered to work the event as a checkpoint worker. This was my first working a TSD event, and therefore my first time as checkpoint. I got my worker's route book and took off ahead of the rally by about 30 minutes and drove the event until I got to my prescribed location. I did the same on both days which worked well. Working the event was also fun and interesting. Fun because I got a lot of great roads to myself, and interesting to see how much work goes into running and designing a TSD. My worker routebooks were amazing - with special notes on how to shortcut the rally to make it to the next checkpoint ahead of the competitors. On top of that - the roads were amazing and the weather was excellent. Our overnight stop was in Clarkston, and we had some great roads on SE Washington. It was a bit tricky reading the notes on the passenger seat and operating the Odo myself, but I think I learned a lot too so it was well worth it.