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It was a Saturday morning, I was enjoying my kibbles, and my humans had their coffee. Talk moved to what was happening, and it was mentioned The Snake Charmer Road Rally was today, this got me excited. A chance to see old friends, meet new ones and spend the day riding in the car, one of my favorite pass times. 

We picked Dave up early and joined the rest of the rallyists at Anchorage Audi. A great meeting place, with coffee, donuts, and new cars, and who doesn't like the smell of new cars! After a relaxed time, where I received a number of pats, pets, and scratches from new friends, it was surprising to me there were none of our old rallying partners. It was time to get ready to rally. The time before the start was laidback, and it seemed to happen at a slower pace than usual. We didn’t synchronize timers, organize clipboards, and the like, to ensure we were out at the exact time. Instead, it was a friendly conversation with the rallymaster leading up to our start. The object of the rally was to find where pictures were taken by referencing odometer readings along a course to Portage Glacier and back. There was no Odometer check, so how could we correct our cars odometer to the rallymasters? The directions were simple and seemed to lack any challenge. What could become of a rally that started like this? 

Waiting for the start, we identified our first photo and put it in the envelope. The mileage for the picture locations were really more mileage windows, of about two miles, rather than exact locations, guess we didn’t need an odometer check and the ensuing calculations. The drive to Portage was pleasant, and it was interesting finding specific locations along a stretch of road we had driven so many times over the years. Turning off the Seward Hwy there was some confusion about the odometer readings, causing a discussion about what the rallymaster was talking about, but it was easy to see where he intended us to go, so we pressed on regardless, identifying the picture locations.

Leaving the Visitor Center, we found the odometer reset point and started the drive back to Anchorage. It was a surprisingly quiet, comfortable ride. The directions were plain and there were no arguments among the humans. We were tasked with finding more photo locations, based on the mileage gates, and again there were mileage errors, ie. the mileage for O’Malley exit was on the southside of Potter Marsh, but we knew the exit we were looking for, so we pressed on, finding the end point correctly. The rally ended at Culmination Motorsport , a vintage Porsche restoration center. The owners were gracious with cold drinks and snacks, or if you wanted something more substantial, the bakery next-door was very good.

After a tour of the facilities and scoring, we were third; it was time to head back to the valley. During the drive, the conversation started out negatively. As a rally, the morning was mostly a waste of time. It was more like a social gathering you would expect from a ‘run.' Where auto enthusiasts gather, drive somewhere, to enjoy the comradery of like-minded people. However, the tone changed as my humans talked. They noticed that the participants today were like those who attended the end of the year rally in December. It was mostly humans who spent the afternoon in a car by themselves running around cones. Never did understand that, they wouldn’t let me ride along, so what’s the use. 

The experience in December took these loners and added a second human to their car. Even though the instructions were simple, it introduced a new concept, spending time with not only your car but a driving partner. And where instructions were in written form rather than orange cones. It introduced checkpoints, where you arrived at the designated point, received your poker chips, and became the checkpoint crew until the next car arrived — several new concepts for the novice rallyist. Today's rally, where most of the attendees were of the cone persuasion, introduced new concepts while continuing the need to work with a navigator, creating a partnership while touring with your vehicle. References to specific distances made it necessary to think about where you were, not just drive in circles. There were two sections that used the new phrase ‘CAST,' requiring you to drive at a specific speed to find a location at the end of a precise amount of time. The odometer errors in the instructions needed the team to work together to find a solution. Maybe this new rally steward was dumb like a fox, bringing the coneheads into rallying slowly, teaching them some of the new vocabularies needed, getting them to work with a partner in their cars, and still have fun. After nearly two years without much of a rally program in Alaska, I am developing a feeling of guarded optimization that the region is on the right road. Developing a program and bringing new participants into the sport through an educational process.

The current schedule has another gimmick rally, a hound and hair event in the valley in May. It is followed by a return to the ‘Bear Paw' festival with a full TSD rally in July. A fall rally weekend, rallying to a destination spending the night and rallying home the next day, could be a great leaf peeper event. Then wrapping up the year with the second ‘Year-ender’ in December.

The SCCA RoadRally competition season is based on a calendar year – January to December. As promised, RReNews publishes the standings for the SCCA National Road Rally Championships from Bruce Gezon , Points Keeper. Click here to view the SCCA Manufacturer Championship standings.

We want to thank Bruce for being faithful to RReNews and for providing the Standings so timely each month!

Road Rally eNews, produced in association with the Sports Car Club of America, since 2013