(pictures courtesy of N. Hightower)
Rallymaster (and NWRC President) John Humphrey writes:
First, I would like to thank Mike Daily, our NWRC Vice President for all his help in measuring, pace assistance, scoring, and trophy making. Secondly, the world is an imperfect place, which brings us to rally night. I had a premonition the night before that there would be a ‘road closed’ on the rally. I attribute this to my Native American ancestry. I was so taken by this thought that I wanted to drive the course on Friday before the event but didn’t have the time due to other priorities. And, finding an impaled dead bat (most likely collected during our rally checkout) in the grille of my X3 at rally registration was confirmation of an imperfect night ahead.
My premonition was right as there was an emergency road closure for a bridge repair on SE 156th ST which was announced late Thursday 9/7 and effective Friday 8AM 9/8!! The Leg 1 Checkpoint was on that road. This forced us to throw Leg 1. Mike, on the fly, figured out how we could potentially save Leg 2, but several cars were already beyond the selected restart point. Hence, Leg 2 was thrown also!!
We did send out Broadcast Messages however at the end found out, that due to the differences in Android/iPhone functionality/behavior and the issue of gaps in cellular coverage for the variety of open vs. wooded vs. commercial areas we drove through, not everyone received the messages in a timely manner or at all.
I hope you were able to view all the wildlife that SE King County has to offer – a small posse of Elk (12?) between NRI 35 and 36 (258 AVE SE); a jogging coyote after NRI 56; and ‘observing raccoons’ watching us near NRI 69 and NRI 72!! Fortunately, the suicidal deer encountered on checkout just after NRI 56 were no shows!!
Anyway, despite the turn of bad luck for Legs 1 and 2, I hope you enjoyed the balance of the rally.
Greg Hightower is the Rally Master for October and I know he will have an entertaining rally for all of us!!
Again, thank you all for attending and understanding that life happens.
JRH III
