Rallying Without the Risk

In the mid 70's, a lot of factors conspired to discourage rallying among my circle of friends including the gas crisis and my friends were starting families. We continued competing in the Cape Codders Courageous well into the 90's. It's still run today and we keep promising that we'll enter each year. But the demands of home, work, and family... well, maybe next year.

However, not all rallies involve a lot of time, money and travel:

One would think that to compete in a rally, you at least need a car but for 41 years (as I write this) The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre has been "the original coast-to-coast, border-to-border, nationwide, transcontinental rallye that can be run without leaving your kitchen table." It is a map rally where you trace the route on an atlas (supplied) and answer questions to prove that you followed the route properly. For more information, go to http://home.earthlink.net/~oldmaltese/index.html.

Computer games have simulated just about every sport including rallying. Several rally games are on the market with real world drivers involved in the development and whose names are part of the game title such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns. On some games, Internet play is possible complete with annual championships.