Rallyemaster's Critique of the Course
This event was run December, 12, 13, 14,
1997
Theme for the event
This years Starlite started out with two simple themes: 1) Drive all the way from Santa Barbara to Vegas using absolutely no freeways and 2) have Inmarkers "far and away" from the Standoffs. This almost necessitated a visit to Death Valley, which was fine since Starlite hasn’t been there since 1987.
The first draft of the rallye did just that. Course controls and a checkpoint in the Carpenteria foothills steered you away from Hwy 101, a double checkpoint combination in the Bakersfield area eliminated Hwy 99 from the preferred route, and a leg set up in Death Valley itself had the Inmarker over forty miles (line of sight) away from the Standoff! Unfortunately all that zigzagging around made for a rally running over fourteen hours with a dozen legs.
Now I know for some of you that sounds great, but for most contestants that would have been too much of a good thing. Crewing twelve legs would have been nearly impossible also, as it turned out (what’s happening to the volunteer spirit?) In the end we were forced to prune things back a bit while keeping all the best roads.
The result, we hope, was a very enjoyable event for drivers but still with plenty of stuff to keep you navigators busy. The leg-by-leg description of how we expected you to do things follows. If you still have questions after reading this, please feel free to ask one of us.
Leg One - Cuyama Valley
Drivers got a good warm-up on highways 150 and 33 on the way to Standoff on this leg. At Standoff, navigators got a chance to use their compass and/or "rallye sense" to determine that the flashing light was a long way off and almost due north. At start our vague description of the Inmarker location left a lot of roads as possibilities. The instruction about entering "heading towards Lake of the Woods" likely had some of you betting on Lockwood Valley Rd., unless you checked out how much time you had for Leg 2.
The flashing light (set up on a hilltop about a mile and half from the Inmarker) should have left no doubt about it being on Cerro Noroeste near Klipstein Canyon. The Inmarker was just west of Klipstein Canyon, which you should have turned left onto after visiting the timing car, to get back to Hwy 33. Experts could also have gone through the Inmarker backwards after receiving their in time and gone straight back to Hwy 33 and north from there on to Checkpoint 2.
Leg Two - Bakersfield
After leg 1 you were probably expecting Inmarker 2 to be on the other side of the valley from the Standoff. In the flat San Joaquin Valley, though, it can be tough to see more than a few miles across the farm fields. So the Inmarker was on the 0.3 mile section of Millux Rd. that looks more like just a jog in the north-south Wible Rd. You might not have noticed this at start, but the direction of the flashing light should have eliminated any of the other possible roads once at Standoff.
The expert course control at Millux and Hill Rd. required them to calculate (after leaving Inmarker 1) that there wasn’t enough time for Inmarker 2 to be on the western section of Millux Rd. With that calculation done, they proved to themselves that it was safe (and necessary) to get Course Control C on the way to Standoff 2. Regulars had to pick up Course Control B to balance their time, while Novices had a few extra minutes at Standoff.
I first saw the section of road that Inmarker 2 was on when scouting for Starlite ’94. At that time it was named "Mocal Rd." or so said the street signs and Thomas Bros. Map. About a year later I found myself running an ITN rallye in the same area, and sure enough there was an Inmarker described as being on Millux Rd. I "knew" that little jog in Wible Rd. wasn’t Millux, so we never thought about looking for the Inmarker there. Of course, that’s where it was and we MAXed the leg. The road had been officially renamed within the last year… (outdated) local knowledge strikes again!
Unfortunately this leg had to be shut down by me when I arrived at the Standoff. On the way to Standoff there was lots of the very thick "tule fog" that the San Joaquin Valley is famous for. Due to forced reduced speeds it was clear that it was impossible for contestants to complete the leg in the time allotted and still drive safely for road conditions. When cars arrived at Standoff they were advised that the leg was closed and to proceed immediately on to Leg Three. At Standoff Three, again due to more tule fog, we added 10 minutes to the official True Times for Inmarkers 3 and 4, and reduced the Breakfast Break from 50 minutes to 40 minutes. This provided additional time due to the fog for the affected checkpoints, and allowed the portion of the event after the Breakfast Break to get back on track True Time-wise.
Leg Three - Glennville
With a snack and gas break behind you in Bakersfield, it was time to leave the straight roads again. Granite Rd. and Hwy 155 have been used on Starlite only once before, on Starlite ’85, and on a few ITN rallies in the past and are some of my favorite roads in these parts. As on Leg 1, U.S.G.S. topographic maps were used to "scout" the Standoff / Inmarker combination before we ever left Santa Barbara. Once on location we found the excellent line-of-sight spots for the Standoff and Inmarker almost immediately. The setup for all legs should be so easy!
Arriving at Standoff, it should have been clear that the Inmarker was up and off to the east. Greenhorn Summit, labeled on the maps, told you the maximum distance to the Inmarker. It was in fact a few miles west of the summit.
At start we expected many of you to focus your attention on the loops near Glennville. Experts, especially, did you zero in on the 0.1 mile stretch of Hwy 155 between Jack Ranch Rd. and Pascoe Rd?
Leg Four - Brown Rd.
This leg was meant to be an easy one once you got to the Standoff on Brown Rd. You could eliminate Pearson Rd. and Sterling Rd. with one glance at the flashing light straight down the road from the Standoff. Just hop back in your car and drive off to an easy zero, hopefully carrying that good feeling all the way to breakfast in Lone Pine.
On this rally experts were allowed to U-turn after passing through any Inmarker in the correct direction first. This is where they needed to remember that, because they needed the extra time it would give them (everyone else had to continue south on Brown Rd. down to Hwy 395) to pick up Course Control F on the way to breakfast. More on Course Control F later.
Did you notice the big blue warehouse-like buildings on the east side of Hwy 395 in Olancha, on the way to breakfast? This is where Crystal Geyser water is bottled, although they don’t have any signs advertising the fact.
Leg Five - Lone Pine
Lone Pine is a great little town at the foot of the Sierras due east of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states at 14,494 feet. Prosperity in the 1800s and early part of this century came from mining, ranching and agriculture. The town was nearly destroyed in 1872 by a tremendous earthquake centered in the Mammoth Lakes region. The middle of this century brought lean times in these parts. Recently, some measure of prosperity has returned due to Lone Pine’s convenient location along Hwy 395. Summer months bring European tourists on their way from Yosemite to Death Valley and many hikers and backpackers headed for the Sierras. The Lone Pine Time Trials, a slalom held at an abandoned WWII era B-25 training base north of town, attracts enthusiasts from around the state each May. In the winter Lone Pine is a favorite rest stop for skiers on their way to the slopes at Mammoth.
We hope you appreciated the picturesque location of the Breakfast Control/Standoff 5 at the head of the Tuttle Creek Canyon. The stream next to the road here runs year round and is always icy cold. The light at the Inmarker should have let you rule out any roads except Hwy 136. If fact, working out the time allotted to get from Inmarker 5 to Inmarker 6, you could be pretty sure that Inmarker 5 had to be on Hwy 136. As you found, it was just a stones throw west of Standoff 6. We hope nobody tried to visit Standoff 6 on the way to breakfast. After all, we didn’t tell you that this section of road was safe.
Leg Six - Owens Dry Lake
For Novices and Regulars this should have been easy enough. Just drive toward the flashing light, which put it far to the southeast on Hwy 190. Based on the time you had for leg 7, it couldn’t have been on Hwy 136 or on Hwy 190 west of its intersection with Hwy 136. There would be no way to get to it in time if it were on Hwy 136 heading back towards the Standoff. You could rule out Hwy 190 heading southwest because it would require doing a big loop around the Owens Lake Bed after leaving the Inmarker which wouldn’t have left enough time to do Leg 7 by a big margin.
For Experts this is where you needed to do some serious thinking. The nagging problem was when to get Course Control F on Dolomite Loop Rd.: On the way to breakfast, or between Standoff 6 and Inmarker 6? Leaving Inmarker 4 (if you turned around) you should have noted that you now had about 10 or 12 minutes more than Novice & Regular Contestants to get to breakfast. This should have tipped you off that something was up and made you ask the question: "Why do we have extra time?". Just about enough time to go get Course Control F if you knew Hwy 136 between Hwy 395 and Dolomite Loop Rd was safe. But, we didn’t tell you that it was. Could it be a trap? There was no trap, but you did have to do some "what if" calculations to figure out that there was no Inmarker on this section of Hwy 136 and that it was safe to go get Course Control F on the way to breakfast.
The logic goes like this: Say Inmarker 5 is on Hwy 136 somewhere west of Dolomite Loop Rd. If this true, then you must pick up Course Control F sometime between Inmarker 5 and Inmarker 6. The route would include (at least) all of Hwy 136 from its westernmost intersection with Dolomite Loop Rd. to the intersection with Hwy 190 and 4.4 miles on Dolomite Loop Rd. to go over to Course Control F and back. With optimistic estimates of a 65MPH speed limit on Hwy 136 and 55MPH on Dolomite Loop Rd., this would require a little over 17 minutes of driving time. Add in 1 minute to exit Inmarker 5 and 2 minutes at Standoff 6 and the total is over 20 minutes. The leg time is only 18.2 minutes. From this you must conclude that Course Control F has to be picked up on the way to breakfast and therefore Hwy 136 must be safe from Hwy 395 to Dolomite Loop Rd. In fact, with the delta to Inmarker 5 from the Breakfast Control, even at start you could reasonably nail down Inmarker 5’s location to the half-mile section of Hwy 136 west of Standoff 6.
Leg Seven - Panamint Valley
If you were there at the right time, we hope you enjoyed the view of the sunrise over Panamint Valley from Father Crowley point. At start the possibility of the Inmarker being on Panamint Valley Rd. should have been seen as a long shot, except maybe for experts who could U-turn after Inmarkers. Once at Standoff, the light or picture showing the Inmarker way off on the other side of the valley at nearly the same elevation as the Standoff should have left no doubt that it was on Hwy 190. Knowing the approximate elevation of the Inmarker would also help you figure the distance to the Inmarker.
Leg Eight - Pahrump
It was a long way through Death Valley over to Standoff 8, we know. We just didn’t have enough crews to set up another Inmarker here. Furthermore, we would have had to get a permit to have the Standoff and Inmarker within Park Boundaries, and for that they would have cheerfully charged us $20 per car. We hope the good roads and "desolation scenery" in Death Valley kept your interest. We came up with the "guess the true time" control at Death Valley Junction in order to give the navigators something to do on this transit. Course Control G was in Death Valley Junction, on Hwy 127, just south of (about 30 feet) its intersection with Hwy 190.
The preferred route to Standoff 8 from Death Valley Junction was actually via State Line Rd. northeast out of Death Valley Junction. State Line Rd. then became Ash Meadow Rd., which led you into Pahrump from the northwest, then down into Standoff 8 from the east. The route was about 10 miles (5 minutes) shorter than going through Shoshone, but we expected most cars to take this more obvious route through Shoshone. On such a long leg in wasn’t critical which route you took. Those of you with thirsty cars could have gotten some gas in Shoshone or on Bell Vista Rd. on the north side of Pahrump, depending on which route you took.
At Standoff, the photos allowed you to eliminate the roads on the north side of Pahrump, leaving only Thousandaire Blvd., and Kellogg Rd. to search. We didn’t expect you to be able to tell which of these two roads the Inmarker was on, but time was ample to search both.
Leg Nine - Warm Springs
Not much to be said here. Hope everyone had fun cheering their friends on as they tried to "zero" the last hose. Our thanks go out to the Las Vegas DWP for laying out a seemingly pointless rectangle of asphalt around their water plant.
This particular leg was deleted from scoring because not all contestants received the proper information from the Standoff crew.
Once again we thank everyone for their participation and look forward to seeing you on Starlite ’98!