There is the plan, and then there is what happens!
While working with Jerry White, an SCCA Texas Region member, on his article for the Sweetheart Ride Road Rally, I shared that I had not yet completed my road rally with the Checkpoint – Richta GPS app. He joked and said he would set up a walking rally for me to show my husband the “ease of the app,” sharing that he had thought of setting this up for teams, given the ease of an address on google maps providing GPS coordinates, prior to them showing up at their first event.
My adventure went like this—
Email from Jerry:
Hi Cheryl, here is a set of instructions for the walking (or driving) Competitor app test.
1. Download and install (or uninstall and reinstall) the Competitor app.
2. Make sure location and Wi-Fi or mobile data are turned on.
3. Open the app and let it use your location and files.
4. Look for “JW Test Rally” in the list of rallies, choose it, and sign in using JWrallye as the password.
5. Use any number as your temporary “just for the test” car number. You don’t need to assign a password or fill in anything else for it, but you may if you wish.
6. Turn off Wi-Fi and mobile data at this point so that you will be able to keep repeating the test either on the current device or on additional devices. Remember that the app only needs location service to do the checkpoints. Wi-Fi or mobile data are used to report the results back to the cloud, so turning them off for this test eliminates the possibility of that reporting. If the reporting occurs, the app will bring back the previously recorded checkpoints from the cloud the next time you sign into the test rally. If that happens and you want to repeat the test, text the message “Please reset car “x” for the JW Test Rally” to my mobile. When you get a text back saying it has been reset, repeat steps 1 through 6 before proceeding.
7. Walk out your front door and head for the street. Near where you reach the road, your device’s screen will display checkpoint information and speak to you.
8. Stop and wait for the restart time given in the checkpoint information line, then walk on until the app speaks again.
9. Your “score” for checkpoint will be based on one (1) minute of “ideal” walking time from your “Restart” time.
10. After the Sweetheart Ride Road Rally, your location information (and any automatically uploaded checkpoint data not previously deleted) will be removed from the cloud.
Let me know by text or email how it goes. Thanks. Jerry
So, Billy and I bundled up and headed out the back gate, iPhone loaded with the Checkpoint – Richta GPS, the JW Test Rally, and…here, you can see how it went!
From Jerry, I got this reply: Cheryl, your cheeks looked rosy! Nice day for a walk. I especially liked the crunch crunch sound of the footsteps on the snow and the walking commentary. Great job on the 15 points. Maybe I should set the time for the leg as 45 seconds. I too was 15 early on my 200-foot trip between checkpoints 25 and 26. Thanks a million for being such a good test team. Jerry
From Rich Bireta, I got this reply: Very entertaining. Tip: Tap on the accuracy number and the app will show and update your lat/long in real-time.
The SCCA Texas Region has (as have other sanctioning bodies across North America) developed creative ideas to use the Richta GPS family of apps. Look for a Q&A piece between Jerry White and the RReNews Clan in an upcoming edition. And should you have found a unique way to utilize apps technology, drop us a line and share it with fellow rallyists!
