Starlite WarmUp Rallyemaster Critique for 1997

Starlite WarmUp '97
Rallyemaster's Critique of the Course
This event was run Saturday, November, 15, 1997

LEG ONE - Foothill

I’m sure you will all agree that this was a very straightforward and traditional style leg. After leaving the parking lot you headed North on Storke Rd. from Start and onto South Hwy 101 all the way to California 126 East in Ventura. Proceed on Hwy 126 to the WELLS RD. exit. Take WELLS RD. North to FOOTHILL RD. and head East into the Standoff. From the Standoff, the water tank shown in the photograph which was next to the Inmarker was easily visible, putting it between BRIGGS RD. and CUMMINGS RD. It’s then a simple matter of a short hop East to BRIGGS RD., South on BRIGGS and then West on SANTA PAULA and into the Inmarker.

LEG TWO - Bardsdale Maze

Leg two is where it starts to get real interesting, especially for the Expert class. Out of Inmarker One, you turn left at CUMMINGS RD., left again on TELEGRAPH RD. to get to BRIGGS RD. and head East on CA HWY 126. In Santa Paula, the Experts had a decision to make. Could they pick up Course Control A before Standoff 2 & 4, and which way to go from there to the Standoff?

First, note that the detail map for Leg 2 & 4 shows each block is only 1/4 mile long, and laid out in a regular grid, indicating the area should be pretty flat. That means you should easily be able to see from one intersection to the next. Inmarkers 2 & 4 could only block two roads, but there are several routes in from the south. Also, SO. MOUNTAIN RD. and LOS ANGELES AVE. are specifically not listed as possible Inmarker locations.

The preferred route for Experts, then, was to exit CA HWY 126 at the CA HWY 150 exit, navigating around to 12th St. (the top end of SO. MOUNTAIN RD.), South to Course Control A and then East on SO. MOUNTAIN RD. At SAN CAYETANO RD., pause and look North for an Inmarker (none). You could then keep on going to HUENEME and repeat this and even to SESPE ST., as you could still turn around at the intersection of S. SESPE ST. Preferably, though, you would go up SAN CAYETANO ST. to LOS ANGELES AVE. Now East, and because you were not yet between Standoff and Inmarker you could pause at intersections to take a peek. Here you could probably note the light from Inmarker 2 at the intersection of SESPE ST. and PASADENA AVE. Now you know where one of the Inmarkers are!

Continue east on LOS ANGELES AVE., at the intersection with SANTA PAULA ST. pause again and take a look. You are rewarded with seeing Inmarker 4 already set up, and the worker car had his parking lights on. That places the second Inmarker. You can now safely head east to VENTURA ST., then North to BARDSDALE AVE. and into the Standoff to see which of the two Inmarkers you found is Checkpoint 2, and which is Checkpoint 4 for later.

As it turns out, this was such a no-confidence inspiring route that most Experts (except those who ran checkout) didn’t take SOUTH MOUNTAIN RD. into the area, instead opting to U-turn at Course Control A and rejoin the route Regulars took into the Standoff, taking Hwy 126 all the way to Hwy 23, then South to BARDSDALE AVE. This caused Experts to be VERY tight on time on leg 2.

On the way to the Standoff, everyone should have noticed an Inmarker set up on SANTA PAULA ST., and the flashing light at the intersection.

Once at Standoff, you find out that the Inmarker on SANTA PAULA ST. is Inmarker 4. With the light for Inmarker 2 at what appears to be the intersection of SESPE ST. and PASADENA AVE, the actual Inmarker could be on either of those roads, within 500 feet of the intersection (the flashing light). Loop safely around danger by heading counter-clockwise around SESPE ST., LOS ANGELES AVE. and VENTURA ST. North on VENTURA ST., to turn West on PASADENA AVE. At the intersection of PASADENA AVE. and SANTA PAULA ST., note that there is no Inmarker in sight in front of you, putting it on SESPE ST. You can now take SANTA PAULA ST. North to RIVERSIDE AVE., to take that West to SESPE ST. and into Inmarker 2.

LEG THREE - Price Rd.

Out of Inmarker 2, head South on SESPE ST., turning West on PASADENA AVE., and taking the forced left to SAN CAYETANO ST. all the way to SOUTH MOUNTAIN RD. You could stay on SESPE ST. and pass through the Standoff intersection (the actual Standoff sign was on Bardsdale Ave.) on your way out of the maze, but the traffic at the intersection would be a concern.

Once on South Mountain, find and turn South on BALCOM CYN. RD. Experts had to pick up a look-back letter for Course Control B, which was the same one for last year’s Starlite. We might as well use a control sign if it’s already up, eh?. Watch out, if we use it again we just might change the letter.

Up and over Baclom Canyon to BRADLEY RD. and to HWY 118. West on HWY 118 to PRICE RD. and into the Standoff. Now, is the light is straight ahead, or even slightly to the West? You should have reached the Standoff with about 10 minutes to go. That leaves you with either a lot of time to creep off or a long loop. Since Rallyemasters don’t normally give you extra time, the long loop is more likely. So, North out of the Standoff to the intersection and a Stop sign. You are permitted a brief stop so as not to break the law. While "stopped" you can look right and see the Inmarker. Your move is to turn left away from the Inmarker and head West on LA LOMA AVE. to WALNUT AVE., South to HWY 118, East to AGGEN RD., North to LA LOMA RD. and into the Inmarker from the correct direction. One team (who shall remain nameless) turned right and proceeded through the Inmarker backwards. Oooops!

LEG FOUR - Bardsdale Maze Revisited

After entering Inmarker 3 correctly you proceed straight (don’t turn left on Price and go through Standoff backwards!) take the now familiar WALNUT AVE. to HWY 118, heading East this time all the way to GRIMES CYN. RD. Then a short hop North to BROADWAY RD., then East to the intersection with HWY 23 to pick up Course Control C. North on HWY 23 to BARDSDALE AVE. and West to SANTA PAULA ST. to Inmarker 4. There was no need to return to the Standoff as you had already been there on Leg 2. Novices could have taken Balcom Cyn again, but HWY 23 was such a nice road I thought the rest of you would like the excursion.

LEG FIVE - Ojai Valley

Out of Inmarker 4, the best route is really SO. MOUNTAIN RD. To make sure most cars went that way I had Regular class pick up Course Control C at SO. MOUNTAIN RD. and SO. MTN. (LEMON) that experts picked up earlier. At the west end SO. MOUNTAIN RD. turns into 12TH ST. in Santa Paula. Turn left on TELEGRAPH RD. and then North on HWY 150 through Santa Paula. I’m sure we will all agree that Hwy 150 would be much more fun if the fastest speed limit was more than 45. Ahhhh . . . progress.

Your next stop was at the Ojai Valley overlook for Standoff 5. If sighting of the flashing light wasn’t clear enough, you would probably want to play it safe by taking REEVES RD. to MCNELL RD. on your way to THACHER RD. (misspelled in the routes). Then West on THACHER RD. Of course, you would not find the Inmarker there and would have to continue to CARNE RD. and then FORDYCE RD. and the Inmarker about half mile down FORDYCE.

LEG SIX - It's Right Here

Continue on FORDYCE RD. to GRAND AVE., turning a quick left-right combination to get on GORHAM RD. If you took GRAND AVE. West, you went into the Ojai back streets, but that wasn’t much slower than following HWY 150 all the way through.

From Ojai it was a matter of staying on HWY 150 and winding through the mountains to end up at Standoff 6 just east of Carpinteria. Here you see the flashing light right on top of the Standoff workers car (Dave Corbello working Standoff was instructed to say "Its right here!"). Based on our General Instructions, the Inmarker must be within 500 feet. I was working the Inmarker on that night, and looking out the passenger window of the Inmarker car, I could see Dave & the Standoff below. HWY 192 was the only road close enough to qualify.

After leaving Standoff, you continue down HWY 150 to US HWY 101 entering the freeway Northbound. Get off at the exit 1.8 miles later - CARPINTERIA AVE. and head North, then East on HWY 192 back toward Ojai and on into the Inmarker. After entering the Inmarker you then turned right on Hwy 150 again, went back through the Standoff and on to the Finish at Nick’s Steak House on old Santa Clause Lane.

I hope you liked Nick’s Steak House as a finish spot. It worked out quite well from an organizational point of view and we might just use them again.

Keith Horton
Rallyemaster