BLOG POST: ANNA VIA ALLEN, TEXAS; OCTOBER 18 & 19, 2020
Our first TSD road rally (and the road trip that got us there)
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: STEVE HOLLOWAY
UPDATED JUNE 12, 2021. First, the why. Why a road rally? It may seem obvious but, really, it was subtle. It all started with being a big fan of car restoration shows. Especially shows with projects by Chip Foose (Overhaulin’) and Aaron Kaufmann (Fast N’ Loud).
In one series of Fast N’ Loud episodes, Aaron Kaufmann builds then buys and races a ’63 Falcon in the 100th running of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb.
I could just feel the passion Kaufmann was experiencing at every turn of the project, from building a car he had always imagined to how emotionally invested he was in the competition. Talking himself and/or the car (couldn’t tell which) through it, “Go, Go, Go. You can make this. Go. Go.” And then there was the car itself. It all really captured my imagination. And, it really stuck with me.
I started looking for some level of competition I could participate in without having to build a specialty car or risk life, limb and the car to finish.
The first event I found was a GTA (Game, Tour and Adventure) Rally. Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), GTA Rallies have no target average speed or checkpoint arrival times. Scoring is usually based on your ability to answer questions about signs and landmarks you see out on the course. Signs and landmarks that confirm you drove the entire course.
The GTA Rally was fun but I was looking for something that included more competitive elements.
Have you ever watched a pro-level road rally?
I’m talking cars equipped with roll cages and fire suppression systems, the navigator yelling into a helmet com-system telling the driver where to accelerate, brake and prep to turn through roads that include dirt and gravel sections.
Then, in the middle of sliding through a turn, a car breaks loose and rolls over.
While I’ve watched broadcasts of rallies and wondered what driving at that level would be like, I’ve never even remotely imagined participating in an event.
So let’s recap. I was looking for something with limited physical risk that is still competitively exciting.
That’s when I read about TSD (time, speed, distance) rallies.
TSD rallies are perfect for any driver in any car
Also sanctioned by the SCCA, a TSD Rally is driven on open roads, at or below the posted speed limit, no helmets required.
When I say they are perfect for any driver in any car, I’m being literal.
The event we entered had a 1981 Datsun 280zx, a 2010 Lotus Evora and a 2003 Chevrolet Corvette lined up with a 2017 Volvo S90, a 2014 Toyota RAV4 and a 1994 Accura Integra. A 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 and a Subara WRX waiting alongside a 2017 Ford F250!
Coupes, convertibles, sedans, SUVs and pickups all out, competing together.
Participants are given easy to follow, detailed directions with distances, speeds and exact times from checkpoint to checkpoint throughout the course.
This Touring Rally requires a navigator and a driver. The emphasis is on precision, staying on-time and arriving at each checkpoint as close to the exact allocated time as you can.
The driver/navigator team that logs the overall time closest to the total target allocated times is the first place finisher.
These are local events organized by volunteer enthusiasts who are trained to organize and put on an event and who love having fun out on the road.
We found our first TSD rally on the SCCA web site.
Our event included a Zoom Orientation Rally School given about a week before the Rally.
Our School Rally Master was a veteran of TSD rallies and she was the Rally Master that set up the course and prepared the course documents. She spent about an hour going over the rules, the course and the phone app we would use to track our time.
The Rally School included question and answer segments that were great for first-time entrants, giving us the chance to learn what we would need to know out on the 80 or so mile course.
Not that we got it exactly right (we didn’t) but the mistakes we made weren’t catastrophic and what we learned will translate to better times in our next Rally.
Cars started every 6 minutes so we knew the cars that started before us and who was lined up after us. Out on the road, we would lose then catch up to one or two cars that were close to us time wise. There was one that we watched miss a turn and didn’t see them again. Maybe they took a DNF (Did Not Finish).
If you’ve watched road rallies on television with in-car cameras, you may have seen the navigator timing each segment with a stop-watch (a special skill set all by itself). Our rally was tracked and timed automatically by GPS using Richta’s Competitor rally app on our iPhone. We had a little learning curve here but, if you decide to try a TSD Rally, that curve should only be your first event.
Our compliments go out to the Rally Master who setup the course. I realize this is her “neighborhood” and that helped but, still, all the country roads she found and the course she put together created an exceptionally competitive experience.
ROAD TRIP TIP: How to Find Interesting, Off the Beaten Path Back Roads
As a side note, even with today’s GPS/mapping apps for directions environment, our Rally Master used paper maps to create her turn-by-turn course instructions. Map apps tend to look for the easiest/fastest route. They make finding the roads she used difficult to impossible. I know because when we retraced Route 66 from Arizona to Texas and, later, when we retraced the old Bankhead Highway, we had to use paper maps.
Looking back, I think we actually had more fun because of our mistakes since a missed turn meant first catching the error then back tracking and “racing” (still below the speed limit) to catch up on every turn and every straight away. It added that sense of urgency that is at the heart of every racing event.
The Rally was run with Covid-19 considerations in mind. Since we had been emailed and printed all of the documents and course directions before the event, we only had one contact, when one of the Rally Organizers stopped by the car to get our signed waivers that had to be completed the day of the event.
We did have an optional gathering after the event to hear the finish results. We were outside and sufficiently separated.
RALLY STYLES: Which One is Right for You?
There are four Rally Styles sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) that don’t require helmets or special vehicles to enter:
Touring Rally. A Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) Rally, like the one we participated in, is a Touring Rally. A TSD Rally requires a driver and a navigator. It’s driven on open roads at or below the speed limit. The emphasis is to stay on time arriving at each check point at the exact set time. These events use easy to follow, checkpoint to checkpoint route instructions with set speeds and arrival times.
Course Rally. Course Rallies include the average speed and checkpoint to checkpoint time targets of TSD Rallies but they also include specific General Instructions regarding observing and recording signs and landmarks.
GTA Rally. Named for the “Game, Tour and Adventure” elements of these events, GTA Rallies have no target average speed or checkpoint arrival time. Scoring is usually based on your ability to answer questions about signs and landmarks you see out on the course. We’ve also participated in one of these events.
Treks. The least structured of all rally events, Treks are based on a non-competitive, convoy style format with participants following a lead car. The lead car driver knows the route and there is typically a sweep car running the last position in the group (invaluable if your convoy includes any vintage vehicle entrants that could, potentially develop problems on the road). It’s like a road trip with friends! We see a lot of vehicle specific trek style rallies like this around Canyon Lake. The Mustang or the BMW club will start early and retrace River Road out to the Devil’s Backbone. 40 or 50 Mustangs flying by. It’s an unforgettable site.
The Road Trip That Got Us There: Anna via Allen, Texas
Planning this trip started with a search for hotels in Anna, Texas, the start/finish of the Rally. The closest accommodations that came up were in Allen, just 21 miles south of Anna and 25 miles north of downtown Dallas.
I’ve written about when it makes sense to stay in newer, corporate style hotels (La Quinta, Holiday Inn Express, etc.) before. If we’re arriving late and leaving early, these are perfect candidates. They’re reasonably priced, clean, well-staffed and have a breakfast bar the next morning for some coffee, juice and a bagel or fruit before you head out.
We’ve never had a problem with the newer, hotel style locations so make sure to look for that.
The element of chance is one of the great things about a road trip. For the Anna Road Rally, chance is how we made our latest find in this category, a find that we can’t say enough about, tru by Hilton. Well thought out, clean, organized, great staff, completely decontaminated between stays and contactless/keyless entry with the Hilton app.
tru by Hilton has a comfortable common area, spotless shower and vanity areas, plus clever solutions to hanging storage, suit case access and in-room refrigerator.
After we finished our Rally, we headed south to downtown Dallas for dinner at Crushcraft.
Featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, this busy Thai restaurant serves wok-fired noodles and rice dishes.
We had OG Phat Thai noodles with chicken, egg, tofu, thin rice noodle, bean sprouts, chives, radish, red onions, toasted peanut topping, bean sprout and red cabbage garnish, delicious!
After dinner, it was back to the hotel.
The next morning we found the Eggsquisite Café for breakfast in Allen. Their biscuits and sausage gravy with eggs are exceptional, the perfect start to a road trip home.
SCCA Sports Car Club of America Road Rally Events, tru by Hilton 1553 N Central Expressway, Allen, Texas, Crushcraft Thai Eats 2800 Routh St #150, Dallas, Texas, Eggsquisite 1314 W McDermott Dr #170, Allen, Texas.
NEW! WE’VE ADDED EXTERNAL LINKS TO HELP GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. Look for the External Links (above) added to the hotels, restaurants and destinations we’ve visited making it easier to research and plan your next trip.
CATEGORIES: Road Trip; Restaurants; Destinations; Hotels and Accommodations.
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