When Peter Schneider casually asked me if I would like to put up the next Second Hand Roads rally last year, I did not envisage the time and energy it would take to do one. Despite rallying for over a decade in India and the US, I hadn’t thought much about the design of any particular rally beyond interesting routes and challenging controls. And now here I was, spending hours planning a route that competitors would pass by in the blink of an eye! Any given weekend from January through March, you could spot my Red Volkswagen GTI meandering down the backcountry roads of northwestern New Jersey, testing loops, the direction of approach, fun yet safe speeds to run, where best to set checkpoints, etc.
The Northern New Jersey Region held its annual Second Hand Roads on April 24th. The rally saw 28 cars complete the 70-mile course in 3.5 hours.
It was a novice-friendly Tour that attracted many first-timers like in previous years. Almost everyone ran SOP, and to help keep the cars on time, every numbered route instruction had mileage and car zero time disclosed.
All checkpoints were labeled “CP” and fell between NRIs. CPs were accompanied by the sign, mileage, and car zero time at the rally’s start. As the rally progressed, we reduced the amount of information on a CP, and the last quarter disclosed only the number of CPs in a section.
The rally ran experience-based classes: Intermediate, Expert, and Seat-of-Pants. David and Douglas Sain won Intermediate with 404 points and John and Marina Bleimaier, Expert with 366. But the toast of the rally were the novices who took top honours. While Dully Flores / Dully Flores Jr (323 points), Ken Creary / Lauren States (298 points), and Chuk Hognell / Alexandra Johnson (294 points) turned in impressive scores, the top honours went to first-timers, Lawrence and Henry Friedman. They scored an astonishing 159 points over 49 timed controls.
Savera D’Souza and I co-wrote the rally, yet the bulk of support was from Peter and his team of usuals: Pat and Eric Jorgen pre-checked, Joanne Schneider did Registration, and Bob Shore helped novices at the start, answering their questions. As the Rally Chair, Peter coordinated start and end locations, and registration, dealt with the SCCA office and organized awards. And staying true to the rally’s name – Second Hand Roads, Savera and I borrowed roads heavily from Peter’s past rallies! We thoroughly enjoyed working on the rally and hope to be back next year.
Here are the leg-by-leg scores for those that enjoy the details:
