The Void - Fredericksburg, VA

[Hello Kitty]

Registration is open for The Void! The event has changed slightly from recent years. Yet another hotel has been taken over by Liberty University for student housing.

First of all, the event will be based in Fredericksburg, VA this time.

Second, the 24 hour will now start on Saturday morning, finish on Sunday in Fredericksburg. 10 hour will run on Sunday. Banquet will then be Sunday night.

Full details at rallythevoid.org

I think the registration link on the web page is not working correctly. If you want to go ahead and register:

https://rides.jasonjonas.com/regRequest.php?id=283 will get you where you need to be.

I just looked at the rider list, which includes bike - not very many Yamahas on that list... But loads of BMWs. Y'all gonna stand for that?

Go sign up!

 

[dcarver]

LOL, Kitty be Jonesing for a rally every since spectating the big show...

 

[Hello Kitty]

Maaaayyyybeeeee.......

The first running of The Void was my very first rally. I work the event now, but it's still a lot of fun!

You'd think I rode the rally as exhausted I am. I hardly know what to do with myself now that it's over... Time to focus on The Void to fill the void

 

[playinatwork]

I am considering this as my first rally. Is this a good one for beginners?

 

[Hello Kitty]

YES! Definitely. If you really want to start small, there's a 10 hour version that starts and ends in Fredericksburg - I think the start is around 6AM, but the correct info is on the web site under 'schedule.' If you want to take a slightly bigger bite, the '24 hour' version (in quotes because it's usually a bit more than 24 hours, but there's a rest bonus) is loads of fun too. Regardless of the length of the rest bonus, you can stop as long as you like. There's no minimum miles or points, so no stress over not finishing on those things. Just start correctly and be to the finish on time and you've done it! But I hope you'll challenge yourself just a little bit. I'm happy to answer general questions about rallying, so feel free to ask!

My very first rally was the first running of The Void and I've been there every year since. For personal reasons, I don't ride in very many rallies anymore, but I do work them, including The Void - Scott (RallyMaster) is one of my very favorite people, it'll be great, sign up!

 

[flars]

"I am considering this as my first rally. Is this a good one for beginners?" A 10 or 12 hour rally would be a better introduction to this affliction since they don't involve riding at night, but there is nothing wrong with the 24-32 hour beasts for newcomers. The nice thing about the long rallies is there is more opportunity to change your route (i.e. 'bail') if you find yourself over-extended. And, you will get the bonus locations ahead of time so you can do all your planning in the comfort of home with a cold adult beverage with your partner by your side urging you to turn the damn computer off and go to bed. Plus you have time to actually 'look' for bonuses during the longer rallies. In a 10-12 hour rally, if you spend more than a couple of minutes trying to find something, you can find yourself running out of time in a hurry.

Scott and his cohort, Gary, are two of my favorite people (Kitty being my most favoritest person in the whole wide world), and they put on a great rally.

Also, the Digital Scavenger Hunt 10 hour rally runs in November out of Dade City/Brooksville.

 

[playinatwork]

Maybe it's because I don't know any better but the riding is not the part that worries me. The routing and programming are what intimidate me. I have a Garmin Nuvi on the bike but I rarely trust it. I've entered a route once but that didn't turn out too well. I knew the roads and the gps recommendations sucked. I've looked at Streets and Trips and Basecamp and couldn't get much past the homescreens. I ran the BMR rally and found flaws in my routing every time I rode. Logging the miles and saddletime seem to be the easy part to me. I ride with the motto "If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough." I've gotten tougher over the years it seems. Again, it's probably what I don't know that will hurt me. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[BkerChuck]

My 2 cents. My wife and I just did our first rally in May, the Mason Dixon 20/20 and LOVED it! There's really no reason to be intimidated. Everyone we met went out of their way to be helpful. I installed Streets and Trips on my PC about 2 months in advance of the rally and just spent some time playing with it. Print out the bonus list from one leg of the IBR and play around with it now. That way you'll become familiar with it well in advance of your actual need. I only bought my Garmin Nuvi 2 months before the rally and installed it about 1 month in advance. Just be sure to set your road avoidances if you want to stay off the goat paths! If you haven't already done so, consider some auxilliary lighting. I went with the Denali D2Ds mounted to my front fender bolts and put an LED headlight in the wife's Harley. We ride together, seperate bikes, and use the Sena headsets to communicate. If you're concerned about going alone, try to get a friend to go with you. We like to do things as a couple and find it better to have someone there just in case something would go wrong. Several of the folks we met ride as teams in case of emergency. Keep in mind also the only person you're really competing against is yourself. We're in the process of signing up for the Void now. I sent my emails in last night. We're going to start from Pottstown,PA. I see by your sig line you've already got an IBA number so the ride shouldn't bother you.I say go for it and I hope to meet you in Fredricksburg!

 

[Justin]

Like I told you before, I think you'll do fine . There's always going to be routing issues, particularly when riding in areas where you don't know the roads intimately. Over time you learn to compensate for mistakes your GPS makes. And, as the poster above said, there will be people to help you along the way. Shoot me an email if you want to get on the horn and chit chat about routing

 

[Hello Kitty]

I had NO CLUE what I was doing on my first few rallies. I didn't even have a GPS for my first 4 or so. I just got out there and did it. Used DeLormes Atlas books to find stuff, got lost here and there, but had fun always.

Just do it. There's no way to learn without actually doing it. All the instruction in the world isn't as good as just getting out there. As someone else mentioned, pull one leg of the IBR rally book down and work with that. For entertainment purposes, I highly recommend on of the 2009 legs (or all of them) - that was an AWESOME rally book!

All that said, you're welcome to ask questions here on the FJR forum (maybe we could have a thread for general rally questions?) or shoot me a pm. I'm up for helping people get into the game. It really is fun. Unless of course, you're a weenie or a cry baby. Then, please don't pm me!

 

[BkerChuck]

+1 on what Hello Kitty and Justin have posted. Wife and I had never ridden those kind of miles before at one shot. Accept that as a rookie you shouldn't expect to win. We routed very conservatively for our first attempt. With Streets and Trips you could enter a stop time at each bonus location. I gave us 30 minutes for each stop with 10 extra every other stop to allow for fuel stops. The Void also features a mandatory rest stop of 3 hours I believe. I allotted 5 hours for us. I had no delusions of winning. I set our goals as first to just complete a rally and second to get a score. No DNF's! Out of 49 registered riders we finished 34 and 35. For more competitive types this may not be good enough but we're damn proud of what we did! Most of our friends were blown away that we even did it. As some others have stated feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to discuss anything that you may need help with. I figure this will be a great rally to try. Early October weather is still nice. Not too hot or likely too cold. Chances of rain? Be prepared. Hope to see your name on the riders list! Let us know!

 

[Hello Kitty]

Ha! Mild weather my ***! Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's not. One year, when we were still using polaroids, it never got above freezing for the entire rally. YOU try developing polaroid film when it's 20 degrees. All these riders at the "Welcome to Virginia" sign on I-64 at the WV/VA border trying desperately to see if their photo was good. I was pulling my jacket open a little and trying to put it in there with the heat, but not rub it against anything that would mess the photo up. Didn't work very well. Another year, it was blazing hot. But most years, it's in between and not too hot, not too cold

I may be just forgetting the bad, but I don't recall Cape Fear type rain ever during The Void, though in 2012, I do recall the ride home after the rally was cold and wet. Luckily, I had Lou along and was very comfy in the truck

 

[playinatwork]

Well I thought I would offer an update. I am in. #72. The rally master has indicated he will be deducting points for grammer and punctuation. im' in trOubLe.

 

[BkerChuck]

My rider number is #109 and the wife is #110. We're starting in Pottstown,PA. Look forward to meeting you at the banquet. Good luck and have a safe ride.

 

[BkerChuck]

I hereby renounce my previous post regarding weather. Around my area we've had more than 7 inches of rain in past 24 hours. Some roads are closed and schools are having early dismissal to be sure they can get the students home. I still have to ride up to Pottstown tonight in this ****!

 

[Hello Kitty]

Yeah... Weather wasn't ideal this time for some riders. Oh well, part of the game.

It was nice to see everyone and have Lou along for the ride.

Results here https://rallythevoid.org/pb/wp_d0300bba/wp_d0300bba.html

I am a *****. Just ask anyone who sat down across the table from me.

 

[101stpathfinder]

OK, there has to be some kind of story behind the -2437 score (?)

 

[playinatwork]

I rode to 1944 points worth of boni and scored 1294. I hit a skunk and an ATM machine swallowed my check card. No tickets or crashes and made it back to Jacksonville by 4pm yesterday.

 

[BkerChuck]

Wife and I ended up 9th and 10th out of the Pottstown starters. She beat me by 1 point becaue her gas pump screwed up at the end of our rest bonus. Pump wouldn't take her card so she had to go inside and pay cash. With that happening her receipt was 3 minutes later than mine which gave her 1 extra point for taking a longer rest bonus! We dropped 2 boni at the end Sunday because of the rain. We could probably have gotten the first one worth 31 points, RBW, but were concerned about being late to the finish and not having enough time to do our rally books before the 2 o'clock mark. We covered 975 miles on the rally but mileage to Pottstown and then home on Monday was 1215. Pretty happy with our results for only our second rally. Proud of her for doing this on her Harley Super Glide!