MCNJ Results 2010

Epilog: Gotcha Covered Rallye 

On May 2, 2010 the Motorsport Club of North Jersey presented its first rallye of the season, a 75 mile trap rallye called Gotcha Covered. The rallye took teams through seven old covered bridges in New Jersey and Bucks County Pennsylvania. The rallye roads were chosen for their spectacular scenery, and many were narrow and twisted their way through the woods and along streams. Nineteen teams participated including 6 expert teams, 4 intermediate teams and 9 novice teams.

The rallye started in the Flemington, NJ Burger King and ended in the Ship Inn in Milford, NJ. There were eight legs, and most contained traps designed to draw unwary teams off the official measured course and them bring them back without knowing they had ever been off-course. Teams who wandered off-course accumulated 100 penalty points for each mile they were either less than or more than the official mileage. There were also eight questions that had to be answered; incorrect answers cost teams between 25 and 100 penalty points depending on the difficulty of the question or the whims of the rallyemasters. This epilog will take you through some of the key traps and tricks.  

Leg #1 Odometer Leg

No traps, just a straightforward 10 mile run down Route 202 towards Pennsylvania 

Leg #2 Saluting the Sergeant

This leg took teams through the Sergeant Greene covered bridge, the only such bridge that still exists in New Jersey.  This leg had a very hard “straight-ahead” trap and two tough questions. Teams traveling north on Route 29 along the Delaware River had their hands full; they were simultaneously looking for a large carved wooden eagle, a ratty railroad crossing sign, and either a “GRAFTON RD” sign or a sign directing them to Frenchtown. The first thing that most teams saw, however, was a large checkpoint sign with Peter Schneider directing them to stop. What all but three teams failed to notice was that Peter was distracting them away from seeing the ratty railroad crossing sign that was parallel to the road and not more than 50 feet before they reached Peter.  

Teams continued until Route 29 made a sharp 15 mph right turn immediately followed by a left.  Less than half the teams failed to notice that they should have automatically abandoned Route 29 after the right because a tiny road provided a straighter path ahead.  

Leg #3 Let’s Go Gallivansandting

This leg was supposed to take teams through the Van Sandt Covered Bridge, but due to a non-rallye car accident local police blocked some teams from continuing on the rallye route. Many cell phone conversations later everyone was back on course, but this leg could not be scored and had to be thrown out. Nevertheless, teams still had an opportunity to answer a 100 point question correctly but only one did (and for the wrong reason). The question was:

This question seemed easy, but it actually was a very hard trap. The sign was easy to see, it was on the left and it came almost immediately after a stop sign. It was also clear the farm specialized in horses. However, the correct answer was “?”  According to the general instructions a STOP is an “intersection” controlled by a conventional octagonal sign that requires you to stop. However, because this STOP did not have at least two valid directions of travel it was not an “intersection” and since the “WEST END FARM” sign was not seen almost immediately after a STOP it should not have been seen.  

Leg #4 Two for the Road

This leg took teams through two covered bridges—the Cabin Run Covered Bridge and the Loux Covered Bridge. There were two traps on this leg. One came at an instruction:  L at SOL “SUGAN RD” onto Cuttalossa Rd (unpaved).  The first “SUGAN RD” sign teams saw was incorrect because it did not lead to Cuttalossa Rd. Teams who turned here added 100 penalty points before they figured it out and got back on course. The second (and correct) “SUGAN RD” sign was just 100 feet ahead of the first one. The next trap was at an either/or instruction:

The “HOFFMAN’S CORNER” sign was seen first but it was actually two signs on the same pole which meant it was not a continuous surface and therefore it was not the correct sign. If you made the wrong turn (as almost all teams did) you drove 1.1 extra miles and added 110 penalty points to your score.           

Leg #5 Frankly, My Dear . . .

This leg took teams through the Frankenfield covered bridge. The trap on this leg was based on the special follow instruction which was defined by the route instructions. A follow instruction is identical to an onto instruction except that in order to complete a follow instruction you must make at least one action you otherwise would not have made if it were not a follow instruction. The key instruction was:  

Teams made the L on Municipal Rd and the L at FOPP but only seven teams realized they hadn’t yet completed the follow instruction when they came to an intersection that matched the first half of the next numbered route instruction which was:  

Since teams had not yet made at least one turn they otherwise would not have made if it weren’t for the “follow” instruction, they had not yet completed the follow instruction and should not have been be looking to execute the next numbered route instruction. To do this correctly, you had to first realize that the L at FOPP did not cancel the “follow” instruction.  Then in order to complete the follow instruction you had to turn right at the S to “follow” Municipal Rd. If you did this incorrectly it added more than a mile to your route and 120 penalty points to your score.  

Leg #6 Everyone Loves A Winna

This leg took teams through the Erwinna covered bridge. The trap on this leg was an easy straight-ahead with a twist. Teams were told to make a R at T on to Headquarters Rd. Note that they were not told to make a R at T onto Headquarters Rd. The instruction

“on to” is not the same as “onto”, therefore when teams came to the straight-ahead some believed they were onto Headquarters Rd and ignored the straighter road to remain onto Headquarters Rd. Teams who did that traveled a little over a mile less than they should have and missed the horse statue question which cost them a total of 130 penalty points.  

Leg #7 You’ve Got To Be Kidding!!!

This leg took some teams through the Uhlerstown covered bridge. The trap on this leg was also based on an either/or instruction:

Teams saw both signs before they saw either turn, but they saw the “ROARING ROCKS RD” sign first. However the first opportunity to turn was the R on Jugtown Hill Rd.  In an either/or instruction it is the first action that counts and not the first sign you see. Cars that correctly turned on Uhlerstown Rd went down an impossibly steep and narrow (but passable) road before reaching the Uhlerstown Covered Bridge. Cars that incorrectly waited until they could turn on Jugtown Hill Rd went down a beautiful road with an unusual one lane bridge, but missed the covered bridge.  The difference in mileage between the on-course and off course loops was only about 0.2 miles but the off-course teams ended up at the wrong checkpoint location and as a result traveled 1.1 miles less in the last leg, costing them a total of 130 penalty points.  

Leg #8 Ship is Inn

The last leg was very short and took teams to the finish at the Ship Inn. After reaching the checkpoint, teams had to answer a 100 point question after yet another either/or instruction: