CraigRegs
Well-known member
DaJuice did a great job outlining his rally strategy here. I'll try to shed some light on my planning and ride because as 'Juice said, he's learned a lot from previous rally posters....I'm not sure you'll get that much from THIS one, but what the hey....
My goal from the beginning was simple: This was my first rally. All I wanted to do was finish. No DNF. (Oh, and to not embarass myself by dropping the bike, forgetting to close a saddlebag, or some similar brain-fart-type action.) So my routing would leave plenty of cushion time. I would plan a ride, ride my plan and be in the bar before anyone else.
We received the bonii location from RallyMaster Rick (RMR) several days prior to the event. I printed out the bonus listing and located all the bonii on a paper map with a highlighter. I knew enough to ignore the obvious red herring (Aerostitch in Duluth for 4000 pts) and just looked over the map to see if an obvious route appeared. None did. So I began assessing bonus points and thought about a southern route to pick up the fuel bonus for fuel stops in WI, MN, IL and IA. Plus I could grab the Hiway 61 South collection of bonii for even more points. I used to live in Dubuque, so I'd be familiar with that area and could navigate by memory to some of the bonii. However, it seemed there was a lot of empty space void of bonii. And besides, I used to live in Dubuque. I knew the area well and part of the reason for going to CFO was to ride new roads. So I looked elsewhere.
RMR also provided a bonus for collecting a series of bonii on Hiway 61 North. These seemed more evenly spaced, perhaps lower points individually, but I could snag more. So I began plotting a route in MapSource that ran up the MN side of the river to snag the 61 North bonus and back down the WI side to pick up more bonii. Here's what I ended up with:
After connecting the dots in MapSource, it calculated 5 hours of travel time for 15 bonii--plus an extra 450 pt bonus at Lark's toy museum, as you'll see later. Figuring 10 min per stop plus two fuel stops (MN & WI), that's just about 8 hours - the full length of the rally. I figured I could ride a bit faster than MapSource estimated, so I also put together a loop in LaCrosse of 3 other bonii to collect at the end of the ride if I found myself ahead of schedule. Routes downloaded to the Zumo, I headed for CFO.
Here are (somehwat) better shots of the lower and upper parts of my loop:
SAT AM:
Up for breakfast before the riders meeting at 7 where RMR handed out the EXTRA list of bonii. I looked it over. 1000 easy pts for keeping your license in a sealed envelope. Several others that looked tempting, but I stuck to my plan and didn't think about blowing it up and starting over. At 8, the skies opened up, the lightning flashed and all but two rallier headed for the roads. I and one other relaxed under the canopy of the hotel, unwilling to risk being human lightning rods just to gain a few points. I left at about 8:15 with the rain still coming, but the thunder having subsided somewhat and headed for my first 245 points, Culvert man...a tall metal object on top of a hill. In a thunderstorm. I had to make a mental note of time and mileage and ride a few miles to the shelter of a gas station canopy so I could record them out of the rain.
Next up were two bonii close together in Winona, then further up river to the grave of Richard Dorer. This one was 7 miles down a twisty gravel road. Did I mention it had been raining? After checking that one off, I had to return the same 7 miles to the pavement. Not that big of a deal...you can't live in Iowa without riding SOME gravel.
Lark Toy Museum was next: 450 pts for identifying critters on the carousel...and 450 MORE for getting a photo of yourself in ATGATT on the carousel. I persuaded the befuddled teen at the fudge counter to let me climb on board and she snapped one for the RallyMeister:
By now the rain had subsided so I stripped off the rain gear and headed for two more closely grouped bonii, the treehouse and Whistle Stop Cafe. During the storms a branch had fallen across the road to the tree house, and I clipped it as I rode around. When I got to the Whistle stop, I noticed I'd been dragging a good sized branch in my kickstand since then. All I needed from the Cafe was the soft-drink name on the sign, but RMR's instructions recommended trying the cheeseburger and fries, so I went in and ordered. I figured there might be super-secret bonus points involved, but forgot to claim them even if there were. Damn good burger, though.
Next stop was in Red Wing at Memorial Park (625 pts) then across the river and back southward. Maiden Rock was next and I noticed I was running well ahead of schedule. At the next bonus, the Laura Ingalls Wilder wayside, I saw an historical marker: the sheet we received at breakfast said we could get 100 points for every HM photo with our rally towel. Click. 100 extra! As I was running ahead, I started to keep my eyes out for more roadside HM's. It was after leaving the wayside I saw three other ralliers coming from the other direction.
Further downriver I snagged the bonii at the Buena Vista Park and The Rock in the House, plus another HM. At Rock in the House, I got the name off the toolbox out front as directed, then dropped in a dollar and went inside to see what this was about. Kinda freaky. The house is a time capsule. You look around and feel like you've barged into someone's home while they're away, only it's 1967. There's one door marked "Please open and come in". What you expect to be a back bedroom is instead a bedroom-sized hunk of limestone where a bedroom used to be. Seems this pebble sheared off the cliff, plummeted down the bluff, crushed this one room and left the rest of the house pretty much unscathed. Pure Americana. Definitely worth a buck. Thanks for the tip, Rick.
Back on the bike, another HM further down the road and across the river to try to find the Yamaha dealer in Winona for an oil filter for RMR and more points. But I input the address incorrectly. Fortunately, I wrote down the phone #, so I called, figured out they were on WEST 2nd, not EAST 2nd. This was the last stop on the route and I still had over 90 minutes til the end of the rally!
With plenty of time, I rode my route through LaCrosse, picking up points at Rudy's Drive-in, the brewery and Hiawatha's statue. Gas beside the hotel for my WI gas bonus, then I checked in as the first rider back about 3:35p.
By now it was hot and muggy so I showered and began organizing photos and receipts for scoring. Next-to-last out, first in, a burger stop, a walk through a kitschy tourist trap...I knew I left lots of points out there...but at least I finished! That night when RMR announced scores, I was more than pleased with not only finishing, but placing 2nd in the class!
It was great fun...I've probably gone on too long....but I'll be back next year!
Craig
My goal from the beginning was simple: This was my first rally. All I wanted to do was finish. No DNF. (Oh, and to not embarass myself by dropping the bike, forgetting to close a saddlebag, or some similar brain-fart-type action.) So my routing would leave plenty of cushion time. I would plan a ride, ride my plan and be in the bar before anyone else.
We received the bonii location from RallyMaster Rick (RMR) several days prior to the event. I printed out the bonus listing and located all the bonii on a paper map with a highlighter. I knew enough to ignore the obvious red herring (Aerostitch in Duluth for 4000 pts) and just looked over the map to see if an obvious route appeared. None did. So I began assessing bonus points and thought about a southern route to pick up the fuel bonus for fuel stops in WI, MN, IL and IA. Plus I could grab the Hiway 61 South collection of bonii for even more points. I used to live in Dubuque, so I'd be familiar with that area and could navigate by memory to some of the bonii. However, it seemed there was a lot of empty space void of bonii. And besides, I used to live in Dubuque. I knew the area well and part of the reason for going to CFO was to ride new roads. So I looked elsewhere.
RMR also provided a bonus for collecting a series of bonii on Hiway 61 North. These seemed more evenly spaced, perhaps lower points individually, but I could snag more. So I began plotting a route in MapSource that ran up the MN side of the river to snag the 61 North bonus and back down the WI side to pick up more bonii. Here's what I ended up with:
After connecting the dots in MapSource, it calculated 5 hours of travel time for 15 bonii--plus an extra 450 pt bonus at Lark's toy museum, as you'll see later. Figuring 10 min per stop plus two fuel stops (MN & WI), that's just about 8 hours - the full length of the rally. I figured I could ride a bit faster than MapSource estimated, so I also put together a loop in LaCrosse of 3 other bonii to collect at the end of the ride if I found myself ahead of schedule. Routes downloaded to the Zumo, I headed for CFO.
Here are (somehwat) better shots of the lower and upper parts of my loop:
SAT AM:
Up for breakfast before the riders meeting at 7 where RMR handed out the EXTRA list of bonii. I looked it over. 1000 easy pts for keeping your license in a sealed envelope. Several others that looked tempting, but I stuck to my plan and didn't think about blowing it up and starting over. At 8, the skies opened up, the lightning flashed and all but two rallier headed for the roads. I and one other relaxed under the canopy of the hotel, unwilling to risk being human lightning rods just to gain a few points. I left at about 8:15 with the rain still coming, but the thunder having subsided somewhat and headed for my first 245 points, Culvert man...a tall metal object on top of a hill. In a thunderstorm. I had to make a mental note of time and mileage and ride a few miles to the shelter of a gas station canopy so I could record them out of the rain.
Next up were two bonii close together in Winona, then further up river to the grave of Richard Dorer. This one was 7 miles down a twisty gravel road. Did I mention it had been raining? After checking that one off, I had to return the same 7 miles to the pavement. Not that big of a deal...you can't live in Iowa without riding SOME gravel.
Lark Toy Museum was next: 450 pts for identifying critters on the carousel...and 450 MORE for getting a photo of yourself in ATGATT on the carousel. I persuaded the befuddled teen at the fudge counter to let me climb on board and she snapped one for the RallyMeister:
By now the rain had subsided so I stripped off the rain gear and headed for two more closely grouped bonii, the treehouse and Whistle Stop Cafe. During the storms a branch had fallen across the road to the tree house, and I clipped it as I rode around. When I got to the Whistle stop, I noticed I'd been dragging a good sized branch in my kickstand since then. All I needed from the Cafe was the soft-drink name on the sign, but RMR's instructions recommended trying the cheeseburger and fries, so I went in and ordered. I figured there might be super-secret bonus points involved, but forgot to claim them even if there were. Damn good burger, though.
Next stop was in Red Wing at Memorial Park (625 pts) then across the river and back southward. Maiden Rock was next and I noticed I was running well ahead of schedule. At the next bonus, the Laura Ingalls Wilder wayside, I saw an historical marker: the sheet we received at breakfast said we could get 100 points for every HM photo with our rally towel. Click. 100 extra! As I was running ahead, I started to keep my eyes out for more roadside HM's. It was after leaving the wayside I saw three other ralliers coming from the other direction.
Further downriver I snagged the bonii at the Buena Vista Park and The Rock in the House, plus another HM. At Rock in the House, I got the name off the toolbox out front as directed, then dropped in a dollar and went inside to see what this was about. Kinda freaky. The house is a time capsule. You look around and feel like you've barged into someone's home while they're away, only it's 1967. There's one door marked "Please open and come in". What you expect to be a back bedroom is instead a bedroom-sized hunk of limestone where a bedroom used to be. Seems this pebble sheared off the cliff, plummeted down the bluff, crushed this one room and left the rest of the house pretty much unscathed. Pure Americana. Definitely worth a buck. Thanks for the tip, Rick.
Back on the bike, another HM further down the road and across the river to try to find the Yamaha dealer in Winona for an oil filter for RMR and more points. But I input the address incorrectly. Fortunately, I wrote down the phone #, so I called, figured out they were on WEST 2nd, not EAST 2nd. This was the last stop on the route and I still had over 90 minutes til the end of the rally!
With plenty of time, I rode my route through LaCrosse, picking up points at Rudy's Drive-in, the brewery and Hiawatha's statue. Gas beside the hotel for my WI gas bonus, then I checked in as the first rider back about 3:35p.
By now it was hot and muggy so I showered and began organizing photos and receipts for scoring. Next-to-last out, first in, a burger stop, a walk through a kitschy tourist trap...I knew I left lots of points out there...but at least I finished! That night when RMR announced scores, I was more than pleased with not only finishing, but placing 2nd in the class!
It was great fun...I've probably gone on too long....but I'll be back next year!
Craig
These things are like crack :dribble: He he He!!
