On May 23rd, the SCCA-NNJR presented this year’s version of Second Hand Roads, a 65-mile Time-Speed-Distance RoadRally which utilized the Richta Smartphone GPS checkpoint timing/scoring application.
Second Hand Roads is an event initially conducted by the Raritan Valley Sports Car Club (RVSCC), a club operated in Central New Jersey since the early 60s. “Back in the Day,” there were over a dozen rally clubs conducting events in the area, hosting both TSD, Gimmick rallies, and the all-night New Jersey Monte TSD Map Rally, which was always run in the dead of winter on a moonless night. How things have changed. These clubs included Triumph Sports Car Club, Greater Rockaway Sports Car Club (Grass), Mustang Club of North Jersey (later rebranded as Motorsports Club of North Jersey), MG Car Club, Corvette Club, and in the ’70s, the Z-Club.
The idea behind Second Hand Roads, hosted by RVSCC, was to provide the club an excuse to recycle leftover trophies from prior events and use an old set of rally instructions for the route layout, refreshed for current road conditions and signage.
Working with that theme, over four years ago, SCCA-NNJR and RVSCC got together to resurrect the event. Closed staffed Timing Controls did the first couple of years scoring, a set of two teams worked two controls each which allowed a total of four timed locations along a 65-mile route. The events had a short break at a County Park, giving contestants a chance to socialize and provide the control teams time to move from their first control location (after timing 30+ cars) to their second location to leap-frog the rally teams.
Promoted as a Novice rally for beginners, the route instructions were easy to follow, with mileage given at every turn. Official Times were also shown in the Route Instructions. Official Time, also known as “Key Times” or “Car Zero Times” (CZT), is the mathematical/calculated time for Car Zero to pass a specific location. Since cars start the rally “one minute” apart from each restart location, all a contestant needs to do, is add their car number to the “Key Time” provided to get their perfect time at that location. Route Instructions had a special column to the right of the instructions for a contestant to write their time at each instruction.
The rally was divided into three sections. The first provided the exact mileage and “Key Time” to each Timing Control. The second section provided the mileage to each Timing Control, yet not the “Key Time,” and the third section hid the Timing Controls along the route, so the teams needed to “stay on time, all the time” to get a good score at those locations.
In the past two years, Second Hand Roads switched from staffed Timing Controls to the Richta Smartphone GPS checkpoint timing/scoring application, allowing dozens of Timing Locations on a 65-mile route. The Richta App utilizes GPS technology via two apps, a Rallymaster app, and a Contestants app. The Rallymaster app uses Longitude and Latitude (provided by the Global Position System) to place control locations. The Rallymaster then, after calculating the perfect arrival time at that location (Key Time), enters the “Leg Time” into the Rallymaster app, and after validating the data of all the Timed Controls and Start/Restart location in the app, the timing portion of the event is ready to go.
Contestants utilize a second app, Richta-Competitor, available as a free download for Apple or Android smartphones (and tablets). Using their car number provided by the event organizer, they load the event on their device; the app downloads a “hidden” file to the contestants’ device that includes the Longitude and Latitude and Official Time of each location tagged in the Rallymaster App. As the Contestant drives by the location, utilizing the written route instructions, their app pings and provides instant feedback of their score at that location and a running total for the event. Other features of the app include the fact that the Rallymaster can track each car’s location along the route, and the “Richta Cloud” keeps track of everyone’s leg scores for easy download at the end of the event. The Rallymaster doesn’t have to do the math at the end of the event for trophy presentations. The Rallymaster no longer has to worry about staffing Control Locations and providing instructions to the Control Worker to get from Timing Control to Timing Control (which were, in a sense, several mini-rallies).
The 2021 rally route started at Subaru 46 in Hackettstown, had an 11 miles odometer leg ending in Allamuchy, NJ, (the township’s name comes from the Native American word “Allamachetey,” meaning “place within the hills”) utilizing some of the same roads as the 2020 event but in a different configuration. We drove the entire length of Shades of Death Road, up Jenny Jump Mountain, and then used the narrow twisty roads on the west side of Jenny Jump State Park before heading into Johnsonburg, which originated as an important stagecoach stop. An east-west route carried mail from Dover, New Jersey to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and a north-south route carried mail from Albany, New York, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both routes crossed at right angles at this location, so a post office and tavern were built, and the tavern became an important meeting place, with elections and caucuses held there. Teams then headed for a 30-minute break for ice cream in Blairstown, NJ, at the world-famous Blairstown Diner.
Blairstown is home to the Blairstown Academy, founded in 1848, now a $65,000+ per year Boarding school for grades 9 – 12, which even has an 18-hole golf course. The Academy was featured in the original version of Friday the 13th, which introduced Kevin Bacon to the movie-going public, and Jason Voorhees, who terrorized the ill-fated camp counselors at Camp Crystal Lake, was filmed in Hardwick, New Jersey. The setting for Camp Crystal Lake was Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco, the private property owned by the Northern New Jersey Boys Scout Council, and is only open to the public on official tour dates.
After visiting downtown Blairstown, the route doubled back north on Route 94 to the Paulinskill River Valley, featuring great narrow and twisty paved roads with elevation changes not seen in other parts of the state. The day ended at Mattar’s Bistro in Allamuchy, less than 7 miles from the start at Subaru 46. The 28 teams participating in the event utilized the restaurant’s outdoor patio space for a social distance gathering for a late lunch and awards.
The Northern New Jersey Region would like to thank the following members for their help with Second Hand Roads: Pat and Eric Sjogren for conducting the initial pre-check of the rally route. Satish Gopalkrishnan and Savera D’Souze for confirming the TSD Calculations and being the Official SCCA Safety Stewards, as well as assisting at the start and end of the Odometer Leg as Novice advisors. Special thanks from the Region and the Rallymaster to Joanne Schneider for Registration, countless pre-checks of the route, and helping at the finish; her only reward was several lunches at the old-fashioned dinner in Blairstown.
SCCA-NNJR’s next event will be a navigational mileage-based rally on August 22nd – the Back to School Road Rally.
