Ya...my thought after watching you two play paddy-cake for a few hundred miles is it's a different kind of rally for the big dogs...every second, every decision weighs heavily on the outcome.
Like any seriously competitive endeavor, once you get the physical acts of riding and collecting bonii sorted, then it becomes a mental game. There's a lot of luck involved here to be sure, but you have to be truly prepared to take advantage when the luck swings your way. It doesn't always do that, but when it does, it's magical.
Trust me, I've had just as many rides where everything was going absolutely perfectly, and then it all just went to hell in a matter of moments. And other rides where I just couldn't get into the groove, nothing seemed to work, and I was playing catch-up the entire rally just so I could hope to finish at all.
I had a conversation with a good friend who had just won his first rally, and he was surprised that it felt almost too easy. I assured him that it really wasn't easy, but that after years and tens of thousands of miles of practice he had just hit his sweet spot. And been damn lucky that everything had simply gone his way. Like I said, it doesn't always happen that way, but when it does . . .
I did learn a lot from watching y'all bag bonuses like pacman bags dots...super efficient with little wasted time...impressive, thanks.
Pacman. Nice. I'm gonna use that . . .
I was also schooled by Earls, Owen, Barnes, and the like. And they have been very helpful both on and off the clock, for which I'm grateful. There's nothing quite like pulling in to bag a bonus and watching someone pull up, grab the pic, log it, and get back on the road while you're still hunting for your camera and rider log. Once you see what can be done, then you just gotta figure out how
you can do it . . .
Keep in mind that we do this just for fun. Some folks are naturally more competitive than others, but still, it's just a game we play to amuse and challenge ourselves. I've had many post-rally conversations where riders of all skill levels sat around discussing what went right, what went wrong, and how they're gonna do better next time. And every one had a huge grin going at the time.
It doesn't matter if you're pushing for 1st or 31st place, if you're challenging yourself and riding the best ride that you can, then it's all good.
