TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) Rally

 

 

 

Day: Friday, May 21st

 

Time: 10:00am to 2:00pm

 

Location: Stop sign in front of the Wildwood Grill at Fontana Village

 

What Is A TSD Rally?

A TSD (time-speed-distance) rally consists of a set of instructions specifying a route to travel, and a speed at which to travel. A team, consisting of a driver and a navigator, attempts to travel the specified route at exactly the specified speeds. A TSD rally is not a race. Traveling too fast results in penalties as does traveling too slowly and no rally will ever require you to drive in a reckless or illegal fashion. Arriving too early at a checkpoint hurts your score, as does arriving too late. You are scored on how closely to the correct time you arrive. The rally route generally takes you over lightly traveled rural roads in the scenic countryside.  Rallies are generally around 100 miles long and take about three hours to complete.

There will be multiple route for the ZDayZ TSD, so do not follow the car in front of you, they may have a different route. There is a course time for each route, for each second you arrive late of the course time you loose 1 point, for each second you arrive early of the course time you loose 2 points

The most important part of a rally it to have fun! We are not giving away a million dollars to the winner, so don't stress out, if you get lost, you still have just as good a chance to win as anyone. I will bet money that everyone gets lost, so don't get frustrated. I have designed the routes, not to get you lost intentionally but to force you to see other roads that are so over looked and missed.

So to quote Douglas Addams, "Don't Panic!"

 


The Basics of Rallying

 There are four basic parts to rallying:

  • Starting
  • Course following
  • Speed calculations
  • Understanding rally rules.
The Start
 At registration, each team is supplied with instructions defining the rally route and any regulations specific to the rally. Both team members should read everything carefully and ask questions. The organizer and others are very willing to provide explanations. However, if you ask questions specifically about the rally, the organizer may choose to answer with only ``yes'', ``no'', or ``does not occur''. It is helpful to register early to give yourselves ample time to read the instructions and make sure that you understand everything.

Driving the Rally
At the start, you will be given a written set of instructions. These are referred to as Route Instructions. These instructions define the route and speeds the organizer wants you to follow. A typical instruction will tell you what direction to go and when to apply the instruction.

For example:
25.  Right at T.
   [This means turn right when you reach an intersection that looks roughly like a T as you approach it from the base.]
26.  Left at STOP.
   [This means turn left when you encounter a stop sign along your route of travel.]
27.  Straight at "stop".
   [This means go straight when you see a sign that has the word "stop" written on it. This could be a stop sign, a bus stop sign, a sign that says "Stop at Joe's", etc.]
28.  1.63 Left.
   [This means go left when you have gone 1.63 miles from the last instruction.]

The route instructions must be executed in ascending numerical order. Read all the route instructions at the start to insure the routes are printed in numeric order. More importantly, one instruction must be completely executed before the next instruction can be started.

Words that are quoted refer to signs. A sign may be quoted in its entirety, or only partially, but quoted words should be obvious. Capitalization and punctuation may be different than on the sign, but the spelling must be identical. Landmarks can be located anywhere on the rally route. It is extremely important to read instructions precisely.

For instance,
5. Left at STOP.
may mean something different than
5. Left at "stop"'.

The first refers to a stop sign that requires the rally car to stop. The second refers to any sign that includes the word "stop" including stop signs. Similarly,

6. Left after Smith Rd.
may mean something different than
6. Left after "Smith Rd."

The first indicates that you should turn left after passing Smith Rd. The second requires you to make the first left after a sign that says "Smith Rd." This may cause you to turn on Smith Rd. if the sign appears before the road at the intersection.

A route instruction may be referenced to an official mileage, noted in the left margin next to the instruction (see instruction #28.) These instructions must be executed within a tenth of a mile of the given mileage. Do not execute this instruction before you reach the mileage. If you are fairly confident that you have reached the mileage, but you cannot make the turn (e.g. you are not at an intersection) you are probably off course. You should retrace your steps looking for mistakes (see the section later in this article on off-course excursions).

The route instructions will also contain non-course-directing instructions. The most common of these specify speed changes (CAST instructions) and pauses. These will be described later, but for now, note that all non-course-directing instructions should be executed when their minimum conditions are met; if you are told to CAST 40 at "Smith", change your speed at the sign, not at the next intersection.

Off-Course Excursions
Even experienced rallyists occasionally find themselves off-course. For first time rallyists this may be their steady state. Not to worry! Once you realize that you are off-course, you should simply retrace your steps until you find your mistake or reach a point that you know is on-course.
How do you know that you are lost? Here are some hints:

  • You get to an intersection for which no course following action or route instruction is applicable.
  • You pass the mileage attached to an instruction without being able to execute the instruction.
  • You drive beyond a maximum mileage (if specified).
Do not get too discouraged when you get lost. This is normal for beginners and novices and even experts on occasion. As you run more rallies, you will become more familiar with the rules and will do better.

Speeds & Timing
So far, I have only explained how to follow the rally route. To get good scores you also need to drive at the correct speeds. Speeds are usually specified in the route instructions with the CAST instruction (commence/continue/change average speed), but may also be specified on checkpoint slips. A CAST instruction simply tells you to start driving at a new speed. For example,

33.  CAST 35 at "Yield".
  [This means that you should Change Average Speed to 35 when you pass a yield sign.]
Another common timing instruction is Pause. The Pause instruction tells you to stop for a specified amount of time.
34. Pause 0.50 minutes at each "No Parking" in the next 1.0 miles.
  [This means that you should stop 30 seconds at each no parking sign in the next mile. There may be zero, one, or more such signs.]

An important point missed by many first time rallyists, the time between two route instructions is calculated by measuring the distance and multiplying by the given speed factor. In other words, the given speed continues through stop signs, through traffic, and through corners. If you are traveling at 40 mph and encounter a stop sign, you can lose up to 30 seconds slowing down, coming to a stop, and reaccelerating back to 40 mph. This could make you 20 seconds late. There are several methods you can use to stay on time. First, by looking ahead you can speed up before getting to a stop sign. Or, drive faster than 40 mph for a short while after leaving the stop sign. Or keep track of the amount of time you have been slowed and reduce any future Pause instructions. (The organizer will generally place a Pause after a particular stretch of road where stop signs or signals may slow your progress). Another method used by many rallyists is to simply drive about 10% faster than the given speed.
The most important part of rallying, however, is staying on course. Points add up very rapidly if you fail to follow the course-directing instructions properly.

The End
The rally will start and end at Fontana Village. So no matter how lost you may get, or even if you give up and just drive around, as long as you can find you way back to Fontana Village, you'll be fine. Trophies are given out based upon the best time per rally route. Once the dust settles after ZDayZ we will post all of the drivers' times here on our web site, for bragging rights or poking fun at your friends.

Why Rally?
We have tried to lead you through what to expect at the start of a rally, how to follow the course at the correct speeds and what to do at checkpoints. There has been some basic information for beginners and some information of a more technical nature for the novice or expert rallyist.

But, we have not yet asked (or answered) the question Why Rally? We think there are really two answers based upon the expectations of the participant. The answer for the casual participant is rallying allows you to drive your Datsun/Nissan/Infiniti (DNI) over some great back roads that you may otherwise never have a chance to see. This is akin to a Sunday drive in the country joining with many of your DNI friends (or friends to be) and enjoying the driving experience. This often leads to the second answer which is the participant can be a competitive individual who not only enjoys driving, but also competing. Rallying can be very much like a puzzle. It is the participants' responsibility to read and know the rules and to explicitly apply those rules with each instruction given on the rally. This can be incredibly challenging and wonderfully rewarding for those who have mastered the art of rallying. It is easy to rally; it is difficult to run a rally well. There are two basic rules for running a rally well: one, learn the rules and two, practice, practice, practice.

Landmark vs. Sign
In the route instructions, a word in quotes refers to a sign. Generally a sign is on the right (or overhead). A landmark is an object that is not quoted and can be either on the right or left. To use a landmark, it must be defined within the Rally Rules or identified by a sign. A typical trap would be a turn based upon passing a landmark with the sign identifying the landmark appearing before the object. Do not turn until after you have passed the landmark.