2011 LowCal250 and LC11 Rally

[sandiegoland]

Dear LowCal250 Past Participants, Sponsors, and Volunteers:

It is once again that time to line up our ride calendars for next year! The

8-hour LowCal250 Motorcycle Rally will be held on April 23, 2011, starting and

stopping at San Diego BMW Motorcycles.

Now just in case you can’t make the April 23rd date of the LowCal250… we are

going to flip the whole thing inside out and run it again as the 11-hour LC11

Rally, starting in Yuma AZ the following weekend, April 30, 2011.

Last year we had a lot of fun getting together before the rally to review some

basic route strategies. This year we want to ratchet that up a notch. On March

26, 2011 there will be a chance to kick some tires on some full-battle rally

bikes, hear a brief talk from a rider who has gone from 2008 LowCal250 Rally

novice to 2011 Iron Butt Rally entrant, and have a chance to ask questions from

a panel of rally veterans. On top of that, we’ll be raffling off an entry to the

2011 Utah 1088 Rally! Any rider who can be in Salt Lake City on June 24, 2011

and checks the box stating so on their LowCal250 entry form is eligible for the

drawing (a $250 value, donated by MERA).

For more information about the LowCal250 Rally (past and future), or to download

an entry, go to https://www.lowcal250.com. Our beneficiary is the Polycystic

Kidney Disease Foundation https://www.pkdcure.org/ and your rally entry is once

again is a 100% deductable donation to help researchers find a cure for this

genetic disease (if you would like to have an entry emailed to you, please reply

back to this email).

March 26, 2011 – PreRally Kick-off Gathering (San Diego, CA)

April 23, 2011 – LowCal250 Rally (San Diego, CA)

April 30, 2011 – LC11 Rally (Yuma, AZ)

Oh yea, we'll be hitting some of the locations in this film:

 

[doug5551]

Here in LowCal, even though it is the middle of February, Spring is in the air, and as there are no motorcycle rallies to run, we can still speculate about possible rally bonuses for future scheduled rallies.

This year, the LowCal 250 will have two options: an 8 hour traditional rally, and the new LC-11, which is an 11 hour rally starting out of Yuma. For more details, see this link to the new, awesome website on the new custom domain:

https://www.lowcal250.com/

As I was talking to my riding partner Chris Ogden the other night, we were trying to imagine what bonuses would be possible for the Yuma version. The first and most obvious possibility that leaped to my mind was the Center of the World, located in Felicity, California, just a few miles East of Yuma.

I had first heard of the Center of the World many years ago, when I was researching Art Cars on the internet. I found this neat website portal:

https://www.deuceofclubs.com/

Which lead to this website dedicated to an Art Car which was created by covering a 1962 Chevy Biscayne completely with album covers from Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream & Other Delights.

https://www.deuceofclubs.com/whip_it.htm

He blogged about the many various and crazy places he visited, including the Center of the Earth:

Please see this link, which describes the trip to the Center of the World, along with other notable future bonus to be used in the LowCal 250, such as the Desert Towers, and the Watts Towers, which would first be visited by Jerry White in the famous inaugural 2009 Yank The Weenie Rally:

Just click on "BEGIN" to start the slide show of the trip.

https://www.deuceofclubs.com/rv/cal2.htm

FYI: I have pre-run this bonus, I believe in 2008, which was a destination for Chris Lackey and Gary Currie, who were my very first riding partners and certainly deserve an award for their patience as I slowly developed into a competent rider

The Link to our pictures is:

https://www.pbase.com/gcdiver/center_of_the_world

Gary

FYI: This bonus was featured on the second leg of the Iron Butt 5000:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Felicity, CA 312 points Available 24 hours

Center of the World

N32 45.009 W114 45.906

Take a photo of either the Pyramid, the Eiffel Tower Spiral Staircase, or the Arm of God Sundial.

Within the pyramid is the self-proclaimed "official" center of the world. The spiral staircase is an original section removed from the Eiffel Tower for safety reasons. The sundial's arm is based on Michelangelo's Arm Of God painting in the Sistine Chapel. Access to the site is via a short gravel driveway. Along northern frontage road of I-8, 1/2 mile west of exit 164 (Sidewinder Rd)

Felicity will not show up on most maps. This area is in southeastern CA about 8 miles west of Yuma, AZ.

 

[McRide]

As we passed by, many, many times, my kids know the inside of the pyramid to be where 'they' do the upside-down bloodletting on the non-believers.

 

[sandiegoland]

I remain suspicious. Lisa and I went to the Center of the World over Thanksgiving, and according to my altimeter it was at almost 4000 miles away from the center. :blink:

 

[sandiegoland]

Extending a welcome to all of you to come out for our pre-Rally social at 6:00pm

on Saturday March 26, 2011 at San Diego BMW Motorcycles, headquarters for

April’s LowCal250 Rally.

We'll do some tire kickin', eat something tasty, and review the winning routes

for all the rallies to be run in 2011...

Oh, and most importantly, we will be raffling off an entry to the 2011 Utah

1088!

(Download this flyer at: https://lowcal250.com/2011/prerallysocial.pdf)

Please RSVP to me if you can :assassin:

 

[sandiegoland]

Just wanted y'all to know that we were out pre-running the sketchy stuff so you won't unexpectedly end up somewhere like this... unless that is what you are hoping for...

 

[doug5551]

So who else is going to be at either the LowCal 250 or the LC-11??

I have a rumour that TWO Darkside FJRs may be doing battle in the LC-11... :assassin:

 

[tcfjr]

I'm running in the LC11, and helping out a little with the LowCal 250.

Isn't Darkside #1 coming in for the LC11?

 

[Good2Go]

Good luck to all you LC250 and LC11 riders! I did the 250 last year and it was a blast. Not gonna make it this year, so will be looking forward to living vicariously through your reports.

 

[sandiegoland]

Good luck to all you LC250 and LC11 riders! I did the 250 last year and it was a blast. Not gonna make it this year, so will be looking forward to living vicariously through your reports.

All bikes rode well and returned safe... as a matter of fact I do believe an FJR was the highest scoring bike. It even beat the RM's theoretical optimum route. Unfortunately this weekend was the 8-hour rally (next weekend is the 11-hour out of Yuma), so after subtracting a 92 minute time penalty that position had to be adjusted to 2nd to last place. :glare: