Count me as somebody who enjoys slaloms, too.
That's as a driver.
As an administrator I still like slaloms but I detest "optional"
slaloms. Too often course workers fall asleep and miss when somebody goes
around one of the pylons. Plus, as a course worker, it takes rather intense
concentration to be sure each driver does every maneuver. That's why I
like gypsum/chalk lines on the ground. When somebody leaves the course,
EVERYBODY in the place knows it.
Last Sunday, arriving barely in the nick of time, I didn't get a
chance to walk the course before I drove my first run. (A fact statement,
not a whine.) Fortunately some kind soul had written the word "slalom" on
the ground just before the 8-cone deal began. That solved THAT problem. My
first run was marked as a DNF. (Now we're getting into whining.) Was that
because I supposedly missed a slalom cone? Or was it because I slid off the
end of a straight? For the latter I backed up, regained the course in
EXACTLY the same place I left--per the rules-- and continued.
In the end it didn't matter because on 2nd and 3rd runs I knew the
correct path and turned in better times.
It really helps if our course people know the rules.
--John Kelly
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