Written by Jon Lamkins

Event:  Witch Way to the Covered Bridge GTA

Rallymaster: Clyde Heckler

Date:  October 5, 2019

Saturday, October 5th was a beautiful fall day as 14 teams met at the Covered Bridge Inn in Brattleboro, VT for the inaugural running of Witch Way to the Covered Bridge (WWTCB). Conceived by Clyde Heckler, WWTCB would take the teams on a tour of 11 Covered Bridges in New Hampshire before finishing near the marina back in Brattleboro.  

While passing by or thru each Covered Bridge, teams needed to record the year it was built, its length, its entrance height, its weight limit, and the type of truss used in its construction.  At the finish, teams then answered ten questions regarding the bridge information. In addition to the 10 bridge questions, teams were presented with ‘Main Road Rule’ questions at 10 intersections along the route.  (There are 3 ‘main road rules’ with NER/SCCA’s road rally regulation: Put onto a road by name or number, black on yellow curve arrows, and protection by stop or yield sign. Please see the Rally Regs on line at www.ner.org if you’d like a more in depth explanation.) 

After a fun day of driving through the New Hampshire countryside, only one team answered all the Main Road questions correctly and only 2 teams answered all the Covered Bridge questions correctly, however, there was no overlap between the them.  

Overall and experienced class victory went to Mark DiCampo and Alison Lucier over Elizabeth and Chris Regan.  Laura and Nicholas Piscitello won Novice class. And Nicholas Williams and Mikayla Anson won first timers class.  

Thanks to Clyde for a great event!

WWTCB Results Page

What is a GTA Rally?

Competitors are given a map and a list of questions. The questions reference locations on the map. Competitors spend 30 – 60 minutes locating the question locations on the map then plotting the order to visit them in what they believe will be the shortest distance. They spend the next 8+ hours driving around locating the question answers. Scoring is based on miles traveled and penalties for wrong/omitted answers.

Final Results