Hello Kitty
Well-known member
I didn't see a thread on the CF yet...
Well, it's done. Very full house and excellent event, as always.
Jim invited riders to mentor someone for this years event. I decided it was time to pop my husband's rally cherry. He's been to probably 10-15 finish banquets, including 3 for the IBR, but has never run a rally.
We decided to do to the 10 hour version. Rally packs went out to riders on Wednesday evening. A route was planned that I thought would be pleasant enough, but also yield at least respectable points. Well, that went out the window Friday night when Jim threw us a curve ball. There would be a MANDATORY odo check between 9AM and noon that was nowhere near our planned route... There was also a Time-Distance Challenge that was optional, but as I saw it, you were foolish to not do it, all you could do was gain points. The Challenge was riding the odo check starting from standing next to your bike, ignition off, helmet and gloves removed. At 'go' you don your helment and gloves and then ride the odo check. After all riders who decided to participate have completed, the average time was calculated. If you were within some amount of the average, you got full points (7500). If you were faster or slower, you lost points. Losing less points for being slower. Oy. Gotta plan all over again.
I really didn't feel like planning again. So I decided to look at it as two legs. On that would be about 3 hours, the second to be about 6.5. I just threw something together and went to bed.
I wish I had looked at it closer. We wound up on the interstate just about all day. Oh, and there was a mileage cap, losing points for going over. Since we were on the interstate a good part of the day, we went over, even though we got in nearly an hour early! Only by a couple miles. According to my GPS (which I reset at the start) we were just under, but I know with the rounding and such from the odo check, this is possible. Don't really care about those few points, they didn't matter anyway.
I think Walt enjoyed the rally, seeing new places and maybe filing a couple away to return to someday. Honestly, this is how we plan our trips. Places I've gone during a rally that I want to see more of, or fun roads or just a place I want him to see as well. He's talking about doing The Void 10 hour this fall. He wants to be more involved in planning and probably ride on his own this time. Awesome!
Oh, so the results. Well, he beat me. He was just about dead nuts average on the time distance thing and got the full points. I was slow (got stopped for two full red lights and kept the speed about 3-5 under the speed limit) Seems the riders who kept it right at the speed limit and didn't get caught at more than half a light cycle hit the average. We came in 10th and 11th out of 24 registered to start in our group. Not sure how many actually started, I know one didn't (leaking final drive on a R1200RTP LOL)
The weather was great for the rally, but there was news of nastiness coming. I decided to hit the road after the banquet ended at 10PM. Walt wasn't throwing his leg over for any reason. So off I went with a plan to get at least 3 hours knocked out that night. Right about that point, it started raining. It's now 1AM, I'm tired and it's raining pretty good. So I got off the interstate at an exit announcing a motel. Only the motel had a handwritten 'no vacancy' sign on the door and it was locked. Shucks. Next exit. Motel 6. Got a room. The clerk directed me to where the room was and I rode over.
The lot was pretty crowded. I could see some spots way on the far side of the (very dark) lot and one up near the building, a few rooms down from mine. I start to pull in and realize there is a bike in the spot. It was pulled all the way in and to the far right of the spot. A Harley. Just then, the motel room door opened and these two biker looking dudes are looking at me. I asked "Hey, is this your bike?" No answer. I say it again. "That's a sissy bike" Ummm.... what? mine or the Harley, I'm thinking. So I said, "Oh. Well, I was just wondering if the owner would mind sharing the space with me." "Well you'd have to ask [unintelligable]" About that time, a third guy walks to the door from inside the room and then turns back to the room. That's when I saw the patch. Uh oh. I wasn't going to get back on the road, I really didn't have many viable options here. I'm staying.
So I say, "No problem, I'll just move it to another space." and start backing out of the spot. Then he says, "I'm just fucking with you, you're fine right there. Come on and have a few beers with us." Uh, not a chance, I'm thinking. Feeling ever so grateful for my little clock. Quick decision time. What will be the least likely to cause trouble?? Leave the bike. More invitations for beers and partying. I politely declined and said that I really needed to get some sleep. They promised to keep an eye on my bike for me. Or steal it, I'm thinking. Or me, for that matter. Of course, my room was just a handful down from theirs and they know which one I just went into. Took me a little bit to chill enough to fall asleep. I thought for sure the phone was going to ring or a knock would be coming at the door. Or something. Or my bike would be gone in the morning. I was so thankful it was raining and they stayed under the little protection and didn't come over to look at the bike and see all the crap I had on it.
It all worked out. Bike was there, apparently untouched, in the morning. Thankfully.
I got on the road about 5:30, that's when I decided my best window would be for the weather. Well, actually, I thought 4AM, but wanted a little more sleep, and honestly, thought they could easily still be up at 4.
20/20 hindsight and all, I should have just left and gone down the road. Screw the $50 for the motel. I'm grateful nothing happened, but I think I should have done things a little differently. If it were a restaurant or something, I would have walked out without thinking twice. But I'd been up 21 hours at this point, hadn't gotten great sleep for a few nights in a row, done a rally and it was dark, cold and raining. Getting back on the road wasn't on my list of options at the time. It's a sort of rural area, but there's exits within 5 miles of each other, most with some sort of services. I wouldn't have had to go very far.
I think the ride home produced far more adrenline than the rally did!
Well, it's done. Very full house and excellent event, as always.
Jim invited riders to mentor someone for this years event. I decided it was time to pop my husband's rally cherry. He's been to probably 10-15 finish banquets, including 3 for the IBR, but has never run a rally.
We decided to do to the 10 hour version. Rally packs went out to riders on Wednesday evening. A route was planned that I thought would be pleasant enough, but also yield at least respectable points. Well, that went out the window Friday night when Jim threw us a curve ball. There would be a MANDATORY odo check between 9AM and noon that was nowhere near our planned route... There was also a Time-Distance Challenge that was optional, but as I saw it, you were foolish to not do it, all you could do was gain points. The Challenge was riding the odo check starting from standing next to your bike, ignition off, helmet and gloves removed. At 'go' you don your helment and gloves and then ride the odo check. After all riders who decided to participate have completed, the average time was calculated. If you were within some amount of the average, you got full points (7500). If you were faster or slower, you lost points. Losing less points for being slower. Oy. Gotta plan all over again.
I really didn't feel like planning again. So I decided to look at it as two legs. On that would be about 3 hours, the second to be about 6.5. I just threw something together and went to bed.
I wish I had looked at it closer. We wound up on the interstate just about all day. Oh, and there was a mileage cap, losing points for going over. Since we were on the interstate a good part of the day, we went over, even though we got in nearly an hour early! Only by a couple miles. According to my GPS (which I reset at the start) we were just under, but I know with the rounding and such from the odo check, this is possible. Don't really care about those few points, they didn't matter anyway.
I think Walt enjoyed the rally, seeing new places and maybe filing a couple away to return to someday. Honestly, this is how we plan our trips. Places I've gone during a rally that I want to see more of, or fun roads or just a place I want him to see as well. He's talking about doing The Void 10 hour this fall. He wants to be more involved in planning and probably ride on his own this time. Awesome!
Oh, so the results. Well, he beat me. He was just about dead nuts average on the time distance thing and got the full points. I was slow (got stopped for two full red lights and kept the speed about 3-5 under the speed limit) Seems the riders who kept it right at the speed limit and didn't get caught at more than half a light cycle hit the average. We came in 10th and 11th out of 24 registered to start in our group. Not sure how many actually started, I know one didn't (leaking final drive on a R1200RTP LOL)
The weather was great for the rally, but there was news of nastiness coming. I decided to hit the road after the banquet ended at 10PM. Walt wasn't throwing his leg over for any reason. So off I went with a plan to get at least 3 hours knocked out that night. Right about that point, it started raining. It's now 1AM, I'm tired and it's raining pretty good. So I got off the interstate at an exit announcing a motel. Only the motel had a handwritten 'no vacancy' sign on the door and it was locked. Shucks. Next exit. Motel 6. Got a room. The clerk directed me to where the room was and I rode over.
The lot was pretty crowded. I could see some spots way on the far side of the (very dark) lot and one up near the building, a few rooms down from mine. I start to pull in and realize there is a bike in the spot. It was pulled all the way in and to the far right of the spot. A Harley. Just then, the motel room door opened and these two biker looking dudes are looking at me. I asked "Hey, is this your bike?" No answer. I say it again. "That's a sissy bike" Ummm.... what? mine or the Harley, I'm thinking. So I said, "Oh. Well, I was just wondering if the owner would mind sharing the space with me." "Well you'd have to ask [unintelligable]" About that time, a third guy walks to the door from inside the room and then turns back to the room. That's when I saw the patch. Uh oh. I wasn't going to get back on the road, I really didn't have many viable options here. I'm staying.
So I say, "No problem, I'll just move it to another space." and start backing out of the spot. Then he says, "I'm just fucking with you, you're fine right there. Come on and have a few beers with us." Uh, not a chance, I'm thinking. Feeling ever so grateful for my little clock. Quick decision time. What will be the least likely to cause trouble?? Leave the bike. More invitations for beers and partying. I politely declined and said that I really needed to get some sleep. They promised to keep an eye on my bike for me. Or steal it, I'm thinking. Or me, for that matter. Of course, my room was just a handful down from theirs and they know which one I just went into. Took me a little bit to chill enough to fall asleep. I thought for sure the phone was going to ring or a knock would be coming at the door. Or something. Or my bike would be gone in the morning. I was so thankful it was raining and they stayed under the little protection and didn't come over to look at the bike and see all the crap I had on it.
It all worked out. Bike was there, apparently untouched, in the morning. Thankfully.
I got on the road about 5:30, that's when I decided my best window would be for the weather. Well, actually, I thought 4AM, but wanted a little more sleep, and honestly, thought they could easily still be up at 4.
20/20 hindsight and all, I should have just left and gone down the road. Screw the $50 for the motel. I'm grateful nothing happened, but I think I should have done things a little differently. If it were a restaurant or something, I would have walked out without thinking twice. But I'd been up 21 hours at this point, hadn't gotten great sleep for a few nights in a row, done a rally and it was dark, cold and raining. Getting back on the road wasn't on my list of options at the time. It's a sort of rural area, but there's exits within 5 miles of each other, most with some sort of services. I wouldn't have had to go very far.
I think the ride home produced far more adrenline than the rally did!
