As evening approached, the intrepid Alfa squadron converged on the hotel bar, where we reflected on what we might expect to unfold on the following day while sipping our various preferred beverages. Then nine of us headed out for dinner to a nearby Italian restaurant, which turned out to be quite good. These nine comprised Mark Ziburis (the guy who arranged AONE’s involvement in the rally), Bud Brickman (who schlepped his GTV all the way from Albany), Joe Fenstermaker (who was to be Bud’s copilot), and the rally teams of Kevin & Diane Murphy, Gene & Judy Durso, and Dave & Vi Pratt.

Then it was back to the hotel, where Bud invited us to see his incredibly huge suite. Turns out that, for reasons unbeknownst to him, he was given a free upgrade to his opulent digs, which included a balcony overlooking the cavernous swimming pool area, where we all tippled and chatted for a while before calling it a night.

The next morning, we awoke to dark skies, steady rain, strong winds, and cold temperatures. Indeed, this was to be our lot for the rest of the day. Undaunted, we went downstairs and picked up our rally instructions. Here’s the way it worked: Cape Codders Courageous is a "minimum distance" rally. We were given a list of twenty clues to the whereabouts of things we were to discover along the way, such as "Near the entrance to Great Pond a flagpole was erected in            to honor                          ". The clues were not in any kind of order, so before heading out we had to identify where each answer might be found on a map, and then plot a route that would get us to all of the places while traversing the least possible distance.

First, though, we were sent on a ten-mile loop ending back at the hotel, which allowed the scorers to calibrate our odometers to correct for that type of error. We then went in to breakfast, over which we studied our maps and planned our itinerary. In the lobby, we ran into Stacy Edinburg, another AONE member who, along with her friend Jackie, had gotten up very early to drive down to the Cape to participate. After some hobnobbing with them and more route planning, it was off on the rally!

Despite the fact that this was an individual-car rally and collaboration wasn’t allowed, we quickly found ourselves running into other rallyists along the route. In fact, true to AONE rallying tradition, we passed two Alfas headed in the opposite direction before we even got to the first waypoint. Before long, we encountered a beige Berlina that didn’t look familiar, and it turned out to be Mark Patterson, a Cape Cod resident and yet another AONE member who was taking part in the rally.

So the day was spent all over Cape Cod finding obscure locations using obscure clues, most of which involved climbing out of our cars in the rain to read plaques, statues, and signs. In between, we got to drive our Alfas and enjoy the endearing demisting, windshield-wiping, door- and top-sealing, and heating capabilities of our cherished chariots. This must be said, though: Of all of the roughly 40 cars participating in the Sports Car Club of America rally, we Alfa types were the only ones to run it in freakin’ sports cars! All the rest of them did the rally in their climate-controlled late-model SUVs, Mercedes, Fords, Audis, etc. Made us feel downright righteous…

About six hours, 150-200 miles, and two inches of rain later, we started trickling back to the hotel, which also served as the final checkpoint where we turned in our score sheets and had our odometers read. Then it was a beeline for the hotel’s central heating, and some of us took advantage of the hot tub and heated indoor pool to take some of the chill off. The remaining chill was removed a little later, when we joined the other rally participants for cocktails in the large function room that had been set up for us.

This was followed by a nice buffet-style banquet (alas, nothing Italian). Dinner was a jovial affair, in large part because we got to rehash the rally, compare notes, dispute some of the answers, and curse the rallymasters. (Good-naturedly, of course—rallymasters expect to get cursed.) In one corner, the SCCA had set up a big board with photos of all of the landmarks we were to have found and answers to all of the questions—a nice touch.

Finally, it came time for the announcement of the rally winners. Incredibly, the team scoring the highest number of points was none other than Dave & Vi Pratt! And the next two highest scores were posted by Teams Murphy and Durso! A clean sweep! Unfortunately, what the rally scorers were looking for was the lowest number of points, and they called the prize that the Pratts went home with the "Dead Last Award". Well, better luck next year (assuming they invite us back).

As promised, we’d also had trophies prepared for the best Alfa finishers in the Cape Codders Courageous rally. (For various reasons, the Dead Last Award winner was ineligible.) These trophies went to (TA-DAHHH!!!!!!) Stacy Edinburg in first place (See? It was worth the trip!), Mark Ziburis in second (without benefit of a copilot, no less!), and the multigenerational team of Bud Brickman and Joe Fenstermaker in third.