It always seems that CVC people have more fun than others, and that was the case on September 11, 2004, when a select group of CVCers gathered at an obscure commuter parking lot in Danbury – more about that “obscure” part later – for the start of Where 2?, a rally loosely connected to the next day’s ‘02Fest 2004. We set everyone up with a brief odometer check leg to make sure we were all working with the same kind of miles, then cut everyone loose to find their as many as they liked of 45 different locations in or near Litchfield County. The mission was to accumulate points for answering multiple choice questions about each location while minimizing the number of miles traveled. Contestants scored 100 hundred points for each correct answer, lost 100 for each incorrect answer, and incurred an increasingly burdensome penalty for each mile driven. Miles up to 25 were free; the next 25 miles cost a point per mile, then 5 points, 10, 20 and finally a whopping 40 points per mile after 125 miles traveled. Contestants were to decide for themselves how many locations to visit and in what order. As the results ultimately proved, strategy was critical to success.
Frankly, not everyone cared about success. One 2002 driver showed up with neither a working odometer nor a navigator. Fortunately, the driver had already decided he was going out to enjoy the tour with two friends, also solo Bimmerheads, and none of them really intended to keep score anyway. How did they do? Beats me, we never saw them again. I assume they had fun, since the day was marked with delightful weather, and the rally questions brought contestants on some delightful roads.
Just how much did strategy matter? Consider, if you will, the scores of Sheri & Charlie Bender and of Dave & Nancy Scofield. Sheri and Charlie visited 24 sites and got 22 correct answers, the highest of the day. Dave and Nancy visited 20 sites and got all 20 correct. (Only the Scofields and Hal & Diane Zeidman (17 correct) got no incorrect answers.) But the Scofields collected their answers while traveling a mere 92.9 official miles, the lowest mileage of the day, while the Benders were racking up 151.7 miles, the highest of the day (except perhaps for our three wandering Bimmerheads, who may still be out there for all I know). The Benders finished with a trophy – for Down & Dirty Dead Last But Finished – while the Scofields walked off with first place overall.
So where did people go? After the odo check, which ended in Sandy Hook, the winning car visited the Glebe House and the Curtis Inn in Woodbury, the Old Bethlem Museum in Bethlehem (yup, “ Bethlem”), Haight Vineyard in Litchfield (where the wine barrel holds 1952 gallons), Stillwater Pond in Torrington (where no internal combustion engines are allowed), the Pleasant Valley Drive-In and the exceedingly beautiful American Legion State Forest, both located in Barkhamsted, and lovely downtown Riverton, where they found the Old Hartford-Albany Stage Route. They continued on to Olde Newgate Coon Club and a long zigzaggy fence in Norfolk, the Beckley Furnace in East Canaan, Lime Rock, which is home to the White Hollow Vineyard and the Paradise vintage sports car showroom (where the Jag in the window is still white). Finally, they visited the Wheeler Clock Tower in Sharon, and the Kent Iron Furnace. Somehow they also found the Wyantenock State Forest in Warren. Forty of the 45 potential rally locations received a visit from a CVC member during Where 2?.
So what was obscure about the starting location of the rally? Sadly, even pathetically, your rallymaster and (very) humble reporter could not find it. Co-rallymasters jerri and Willy Wiley and a flock of contestants waited graciously for me to get the location sorted out, and the rally started a little (OK, a lot) late. I have several excuses, which I will reserve for another article. Luckily for me, I also had the instructions, so no one could start without me. Thanks to jerri & Willy for your patience, to Nancie and Frank Giacalone for checking the event and to Roger and Jackie Chartier for their fine collection of trophies for the winners.
Where 2? Rally Results:
Driver
Navigator |
Correct
Answers |
Wrong
Answers |
Official
Miles |
Final Score |
Position
(*Trophy) |
Dave Scofield
Nancy Scofield |
20 |
0 |
92.9 |
1671 |
*1 st Overall |
Rick Kearney
Steve Kearney |
22 |
1 |
126.7 |
1172 |
*2nd Overall
*1 st 2002 |
Rudy Basztura
Cheryl Basztura |
17 |
1 |
110.0 |
1000 |
*3 rd Overall |
Hal Zeidman
Diane Zeidman |
17 |
0 |
115.7 |
986 |
4 th Overall |
Larry Clarino
Pam Clarino |
14 |
2 |
99.0 |
810 |
5 th Overall |
Allen Heller
Steve Heller |
12 |
1 |
93.9 |
761 |
6 th Overall |
Sheri Bender
Charlie Bender |
24 |
2 |
151.7 |
232 |
*DDDLBF |
Todd Halleck |
none |
none |
|
|
DNF
(but apparently had fun) |
Jay Halleck |
none |
none |
|
|
Ditto |
Chris Cody |
none |
none |
|
|
Ditto |
