Road Rally Can Lead You Astray

Road Rally Can Lead You Astray By Bob Eddy

Forty-four teams competed in the 6^th Annual Jeff Hannah Memorial Road Rally, beginning from Randolph’s Applied Research parking lot, Saturday.

To participate, each team had to arrive at the start between 10AM and noon, pay $5 per rider, have the odometer recorded, and choose a team name. In return, you are given a set of rules, a clue sheet, and a full afternoon of frustration and fun.

Our team name, "Hole in the Wall Camp," was a nod to Paul Newman, who died just last week. This was boldly written by organizers in white ‘used car lot’ pricing paint on our back window, along with our number, "40."

The Rally Rules give a rich hint of what is in store:

Have fun! Drive safe! This is not a timed event – only mileage counts.

All intersections that are not labeled: drive, no exit, private, no outlets, lane, or dead end have a clue!

We occasionally put in . . . comments to help along the way.

If you get lost you can open the envelope and just head to the party – but . . . you are automatically disqualified.

What should you bring on a rally? Well, time isn’t a factor, which is another way of saying, "This is going to take awhile!" (I’m told that Sherri McPhetres and others stay in the game, even if it means showing up hours after sundown.)

Mileage is critical, however, and it’s important to fuel up, and get all your provisions squared away before departure. I brought detailed Vermont road maps, a compass, and a sleeping bag. all deemed ‘not necessary’ by my team captain, David Atkinson.

Stopping at M&M for gas gave us a chance to clean the windows and pick up necessities . . . like cashews, chips, and beverages. Tewksbury’s Store provided the essential roast beef sandwiches and a bag of chocolate covered vanilla drops. We proceeded to the start confident nothing had been left out.

This event is designed to take you to some of central Vermont’s most picturesque and isolated landscape, and then get you more lost than you’ve ever been in your life. A warm-up is provided with the first few clues, designed to build false confidence, before you leave the Village and hit the ‘back roads.’

The clue ‘No view for you!’ told us not to turn onto Fairview Street, and ‘no sugaring either’ warned us off Maple, as we proceeded north into Randolph village on South Pleasant. ‘Not the low road’ was our directive to swing left onto Highland Avenue, while ‘Gold!’ warned us to turn right onto Prospect Avenue. The next clue was tougher. It said, ‘Keep the bench in your rear view mirror.’ Bearing left, however, did keep the porch furniture of a corner home in our mirror all the way to the ‘T’ stop at the end of the avenue, where ‘go democrat,’ seemed to say, ‘turn left.’ This impulse would’ve taken us downtown, and we’d seen cars with team names on Main Street earlier. Closer inspection revealed an ‘Obama 2008’ sign to the right, however, and that, fortunately, led the correct way.

Two great clues were ‘high dive’ for Pearl Street and, much later, ‘I’ll be back’ for Arnold Road in Bethel (Arnold Schwarzenegger . . . get it?)

As long as your guesses are good ones, the going is easy. With a brief head scratch over ‘fly the coop,’ as our vehicle paused next to Kermit Labounty’s and another team in Bethel, however, we arrived at the first check point without incident.

Make one mistake on a clue, however, through faulty logic or simply not seeing a road, and your clue sequence becomes a nightmare. This is why, when we should have been up near a Randolph Center Farm for the clue, ‘blade runner,’ referencing a windmill, we were instead down at Greenwoods Farm Machinery. We saw the snowmobile sleds (blade runners for sure) stacked up out back and tore off toward Tunbridge.

Two miles further on, the clue ‘touchdown!’ seemed perfect for all the hogs (pigskins) was saw at the Whalen Farm. By the time we were helping Gary Mullen get his truck freed up from a hay-wagon, blocking Monarch Hill in Tunbridge, we were at least 10 miles and 20 clues out of whack.

Somewhere there on that beautiful hill in the middle of Tunbridge, David and I were finally ‘clued in’ to the essence of this grand rally. We’d struggled and laughed, visited with farmers, shared great conversation, and sandwiches on a great fall day in the heart of the state we love.

Opening the "party clue" on our limp back to Randolph, we discovered we were just half a mile from the post rally party. Showing up to hand in our paperwork, we saw a gathering where everyone was a winner among a sea of smiling faces.

For the Record

This rally is a modern version of the ‘Randolph Road Rally,’ begun in the 1970s by the Randolph Jaycees. This year’s rally was won by Rob and Lynn Niebling, competing for the first time after coordinating the Jeff Hannah Memorial Road Rally for its first five years. The rally benefits the American Diabetes Association, and was put together this year by Jim Dagnon, with the help of Debbie French, Tracy Silloway, Lynford Henry, and Eric Ellis