Badger Burrow Tour Road Rally

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Registration and Schedule

This event will be turned on in the Richta Competitor App on Thursday May 4, after you have been sent your car number. The purpose of this is to allow use to make any unexpected last-minute changes might be required. You should download and activate this event in the Richta Competitor App before you arrive at the start to forestall any last-minute difficulties.

This rally starts at Panera Bread, Hatchery Hill Shopping Center, Fish Hatchery Rd & Cahill Main, Fitchburg Wisconsin. It finishes at The Thirsty Goat, 3040 Cahill Main, Fitchburg WI.

Check-In begins at 9:00 AM.

Contestants’ meeting at 10:40 AM.

 First Car leaves at 11:01 AM

The driver will be required to show a valid driver’s license at registration. Both driver and navigator must sign the SCCA waiver. Contestants under 18 years of age must present an SCCA minor release form signed by their parent or guardian. The rallymaster will provide this form on request. Once both crew members have signed the waiver, you will receive your set of Route Instructions.

There will be two breaks during the rally, in Albany WI, and Blanchardville WI.

The object of the rally is to follow the prescribed route and arrive at each control (checkpoint) exactly on time. Contestants will be scored 0.1 point per 0.1 second for early or late arrival at each control.

This event is conducted in accordance with the 2023 RoadRally Regulations (RRRs), as amended by these general instructions / appendices. A printed version of the RRRs is available from Amazon for $5.95 + shipping or they can be downloaded free of charge from the SCCA website www.scca.com. It is our belief that these General Instructions and any addenda tell you everything you need to know to run this event.

Conventions   

• Numbers after CZTs, etc. are indicated in minutes and seconds. (for example CZT 13:02:00 means
  1 o’clock 2 minutes, no seconds).
• Official Mileages are given to 0.001 mile at timing lines, restart points, and some other places.
• Checkpoints are noted in the CP/RESTART/CAST/PAUSE column of the Route instructions. Any time you are working on an instruction that does not indicate a CP, you are in a Free Zone.
• Any portion of the rally in a Free zone should be driven at a Safe and Prudent speed no higher than posted Speed Limits.

Course following

Please keep your headlamps on.

The course can be traversed at rally speeds with normal precautions and observing all normal traffic regulations and rules of the road.

Your ability to stay exactly on time will be the determining factor in winning the rally. 

 Official Mileage is reset to zero when the mileage is accompanied by the notation /0.000. Start the rally at the time shown in NRI 1 plus your car number in minutes. There is an odometer calibration check provided beginning at NRI 8.  The purpose of the odometer check is to allow you to compare your odometer to the rallymaster’s and make adjustments if necessary.

All mileages and speed changes associated with an intersection are taken/executed at one of the following in this order of precedence:
1. The Stop or Yield on your right that controls your rally car.
2. The backward facing stop sign or yield sign on your left that controls the road on which you depart the intersection. The exact point of measurement is where the front wheels of your car are at the slimmest view of this sign.
3. The apex or center of the intersection.

Route Instructions

The Route Instructions for the Rally are presented in a four column format as shown in the following Example:

The smaller blue numbers in parentheses represent the GPS coordinates of that location. These can be entered into most GPS units to direct you to this point if you are lost.

In the absence of an NRI at an Intersection, participants should follow the obvious main (principal) road as determined by road centerlines, curve arrows, backed up Stop or Yield signs, or straight as possible. For the purposes of this Rally, dead ends, cul de sacs, road ends do not exist and should not be followed unless instructed to do so.

Signs

A portion of a route instruction enclosed in quotes refers to a sign (“SIGN”).  The quoted text may be part or all of the sign, but additional words will not appear in between quoted text.  For example, if the route instruction refers to “NORTH VALLEY”, it could refer to NORTH VALLEY ROAD or OLD NORTH VALLEY.  It could not refer to NORTH HIDDEN VALLEY.

A graphic representation of a sign that represents whatever is being referenced (e.g. ). The reference will not be enclosed by quotation marks.

Breaks

Locations for gas, rest rooms, and snack breaks will be indicated in the Route Instructions.  If you are behind schedule at a break, we strongly suggest you shorten the break and get back on time here.

Timing

Timing for the rally is from the previous Car Zero Time (CZT) or Restart to that checkpoint. All checkpoints are noted in the route instructions.

Timing will be in hours, minutes, seconds, and tenths of seconds. The Competitor Richta GPS Checkpoint app records your arrival time at each control.

There are two types of restarts: The CZT restart is used only in NRI 1; it is a specified time of day (11:00) to which you add your car number in minutes to determine your proper restart. For example, if you are car #12 and the CZT is 11:00 am, your restart time would be 11:12 am. Your phone should ding as you approach the restart point and your restart time will be displayed on the screen.

All other restarts are Flying Start truncate restarts.  These allow you to restart whenever you are ready. When you are ready to start the next leg, drive up to and stop at the restart point as specified in the Route Instructions. Once you have set up and are ready to go, leave that point at the top of the next minute or at the next half minute. Approximately 0.1 mile beyond that restart point is a trigger point that will cause your Richta Competitor app to ding and display your restart time. The Richta app takes note of the exact time that you passed the trigger point and then truncates that time to the previous whole minute or half minute. It is your responsibility to make sure that you use the restart time as displayed in the Richta app. That is the restart time that will be used to compute your score. If the restart time in the app varies from the time you had planned, you must adjust to the restart time in the app.

Some checkpoints are Time Checks.  Your Richta competitor app will ding, and your time will display. Time Checks are not scored. They are to allow you to adjust your clock if needed, and to reassure you that you are in the right place.

Emergency speeds and signs

If an emergency situation occurs, you will be instructed by a worker along the road at a checkpoint sign. There will be a form that the team must initial to show you have received the instructions. There is also a slim possibility that an emergency sign may need to be placed if something changes on the rally day. These signs will be written on colored plastic dinner plates and put up in an obvious place (most often the support of a Stop sign).  An emergency sign will be identified by the letters SCCA.

Three markings have special meanings as follows:

I - Ignore the road or sign.

NRI <number> - Execute the instruction associated with this number here.

Special Instruction - Just do whatever the sign says.

Scoring and penalties

Final scores for the rally will be posted at the end point.

Time Allowances

Unforeseen events can happen on a Rally. Local traffic slows you, or you get lost. Whatever the reason, we want you to drive safely. Therefore, we encourage you to request a time allowance (TA) for any reason.

Glossary

The following terms are defined for this rally:

Miscellaneous

A sweep car may be available behind the last car of the rally to provide assistance. If you get lost or decide to drop out, please contact Fred Rosevear at (608) 886-8035.

APPENDIX C
GPS CONTROLS, TIME ALLOWANCES,

AND THE RICHTA GPS COMPETITOR APP1

Because all timing controls will be GPS controls, contestants must run the Richta GPS Competitor App on a device that has a cellular data connection enabled during the rally. Contestants may not run the Competitor App on a Wi-Fi only device, nor may they run with their device in Airplane Mode.

TIME ALLOWANCES

If you are delayed along the rally route for any reason, you may submit a Time Allowance without penalty. Hence, if you are delayed due to road blockage, slow traffic, getting lost, a nature call, or any other reason, do not try to make up the lost time. Submit a Time Allowance by pressing the TA+ button on the Richta app. The first press creates a 10-second Time Allowance. The second press creates a 20-second Time Allowance. The third press creates a 30-second Time Allowance. Each additional press adds 1 minute to your Time Allowance up to a maximum of 19 minutes 30 seconds.

Pressing the TA- button will remove time from your Time Allowance by the same increments.

Your Time Allowance will persist until the next restart point. At the restart point, it will reset to zero. It is your responsibility to pay attention to the Time Allowance. Be sure that what it shows is what you want. If you are delayed, you must submit a Time Allowance before you arrive at the next control. Once you arrive at a control, it is too late to submit a Time Allowance for the leg just ended.

There is no penalty for doing so, however, Richta limits you to 19:30 per leg.

1 With many, many thanks to Jim Crittenden and Jim Heine

THE RICHTA COMPETITOR APP

Loading the Richta GPS Checkpoint App on an Android Smartphone

Contestants that compete with an Android smartphone will need to be running Android version 5.0 or above on their phone. To check this, go to Settings/About Phone and scroll down to see the Android version. Go to the Google Play Store on your phone and search for “Competitor Richta.” Download this free app to your phone.

Once downloaded, open the app. If you get a message saying “App requires location permission,” you’ll need to grant permission for the app to use location information from your phone. To do this, go to Settings/Apps/Competitor. Grant the permissions it requires (location). Open the app. You’ll be asked to select an event. Choose the event you are preparing to run. You’ll then be asked to enter the Event Password, which will be provided in the General Instructions. You’ll then be asked for a car number and a password. Enter the car number you’ve been assigned. Create a password for yourself and enter it. Press “Save.” Now add driver and navigator information. Then press “Add”. Finally, confirm in the lower right corner that you have version 1.23.

Confirm also that there is a number in the GPS Accuracy field. You may have to take your phone outdoors and wait several minutes for the GPS to compute your location. 3.0 meters is a typical GPS accuracy on Android phones. If you do not have a number for GPS Accuracy, the app is not receiving any GPS locations. Check to be sure your location service is turned on and that you have granted the app permission to use the location service.

Loading the Richta GPS Checkpoints App on an Apple Smartphone

Go to the Apple App Store on your Apple smartphone and search for “Competitor Richta Checkpoint.” Download the app. There is no cost to you for this app. Open the app. Choose the event you are preparing to run. You’ll then be asked to enter the event password, which will be provided at Registration. Enter the car number that you have been assigned. Create a password for yourself and enter it. Press “Done.” Press “Continue.” Press “Submit Info.” Confirm in the lower right corner that you have version 1.23.

Confirm that there is a number in the GPS Accuracy field. You may have to take your phone outdoors and wait several minutes for the GPS to compute your location. 5 meters is a typical GPS accuracy on Apple phones. If you do not have a number for GPS Accuracy, the app is not receiving any GPS locations. Check to ensure your location service is turned on and that you have granted the app permission to use the location service.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE RICHTA APP FOR ALL PHONES

The Richta Competitor App, like all GPS apps, uses a lot of battery power. Keep your phone plugged in and charging during the rally; otherwise, you may run out of battery power. If you have previously run a rally using the Richta Competitor App, you still must go to the appropriate app store and update your Competitor App.

Also:

• Do not run the Competitor App using the same car number on two devices during the rally.

• Be sure that you have enabled roaming on your phone.
  Do not run any other apps on the device that is running the Richta Competitor during the rally. If you are planning to use another app during the rally, do that on a different device.
• Do not run the Competitor App in Airplane Mode during the rally.
• Except on a backup device, do not run the Competitor App on a Wi-Fi-only device during the rally.
• If you want to run the app on a second phone as a backup, do so by registering the second phone with a car number that is your assigned car number plus 100. This backup phone can be used to report your arrival time at a control in the event the Competitor App on your primary phone fails to trigger at a control. A backup phone cannot be used to argue that it gave you a better score than your primary phone.
• Keep an eye on your device to ensure that the Richta app is still running and appears on your device’s screen. If your device reverts to its home screen, then the Richta app may not sense your arrival at a control.
• If the app should stop during the rally, pull off the road in a safe location, reopen the app and then continue to rally. Take a Time Allowance if necessary. The app will remember all of your arrival times and scoring information and will simply pick up where it left off. Just be sure that you don’t pass a checkpoint or a restart point while the app is not running.

If the phone that is running the Richta Competitor App is paired via Bluetooth with your car’s media system, this may cause the app to not make any sound at each restart and timing control. While the phone will correctly record your arrival time, it is disconcerting to not hear the chime that announces your arrival. You have several options:

1. Turn off your phone’s Bluetooth. This is the recommended procedure if you’re not using an external GPS receiver such as the Dual SkyPro.
2. Turn off your car’s Bluetooth.
3. Allow your phone and your car to pair via Bluetooth. Turn on your car’s media

system (what we used to call the radio), select your phone as the “Source” and the chime will play over your car’s speakers. This can be helpful if someone in the car is hard of hearing.

The Richta Competitor App has a Sound Check button. Press this button and confirm that you hear the chime.

Always keep an eye on your device to make sure that the Richta Competitor App is running and is on your device’s screen. If your device reverts to its home screen, then the Richta app may not sense your arrival at a checkpoint.

After the 1st rally’s scores become final, you must unregister it from the Competitor App on your smartphone and then register for the next rally. You unregister on an Android phone by pressing the word “Unregister” in the lower left corner. You unregister on an Apple device by pressing “Settings,” and then pressing “Unregister Device.”

RALLY CLOCK TIME AND THE RICHTA COMPETITOR APP

The Richta Competitor App displays a Rally Clock. If you are running this app on an Android phone, do not be concerned about any discrepancy between the Rally Clock and official time (WWV). The Richta Competitor App on Android phones uses the time contained in each GPS location message to compute your arrival time at checkpoints. The rally clock is very close to that GPS time, but any discrepancy will not affect your recorded arrival times.

On an iOS (Apple) device, the Richta Competitor App does use Rally Clock time to compute your arrival time at checkpoints. Therefore, if you are using an Apple device, you should compare the Richta Rally Clock time to WWV. If you are not satisfied with any discrepancy between these two, you can adjust the Rally Clock. Touch “Settings” in the lower left corner. You will see four gray buttons that allow you to create a custom offset that will adjust the Rally Clock.

The Apple iOS operating system does not allow the Richta app to read the timestamp in the GPS location message (like the Android operating system does). The only time available to the Richta app on Apple devices is the device clock itself.