2012 Cape Fear 1000

Cape Fear 1000

April 20-21, 2012

Another one is in the books. This was the 6^th consecutive Cape Fear rally that we have completed and of course each one is different in so many ways. From the very first one that we completed where we lost half our points for not following the very clear instructions, to this last one where everything fell into place seamlessly, each has been an adventure all it’s own.

WHAT IS THIS RALLY THING?

A competitive endurance rally is part scavenger hunt, part trivia quiz, part poker run, part marathon, and all done on a motorcycle. The goal is to have the most points at the end of the event. Points are acquired by visiting Bonus Locations and properly satisfying their requirements. Every Bonus Location gets an assigned point value; complete the requirements, get the points; Sounds easy, eh?

Bonus Locations and their assigned points values are determined by the Rallymasters; who then relay this information to the riders. Rallymasters often have a “theme” or some underlying connection among all of the Bonus Locations. For instance, in the 2008 Void the bulk of the Bonus Locations were golf themed and in 2007 it was a red-neck theme. Bonus Locations are sometimes selected because they are sentimental like the grave of a friend or relative, or purposeful like making a purchase from a rally sponsor. Other times, the location is selected because of where it is: a breathtaking overlook; down a long twisty section of mountain road; or a crowded beachfront boardwalk.

Not all Bonus Locations are created equally and it would be considered unusual if they all had the same value. A Location’s point assignment is based upon any one of several factors. Some of the variables that play into a bonus’ value could include its proximity to other bonii, condition/type of road access, and “ease of acquisition”. Rallymasters are not “normal” by any stretch; so you can count on twists and turns along the way.


The above description was shamelessly borrowed from The Void Rally!

ABOUT OUR MACHINE AND GEAR. 

If you are familiar with our exploits, you may want to skip the few paragraphs as it simply describes what these “rally things” are all about. In it’s simplest terms, a motorcycle endurance rally is a scavenger hunt on steroids that is run against the clock over distances that friends call insane. First there is the machine! We ride a 2004 Honda Goldwing that just turned over 133,000 miles. Farkeling is the term used to describe all the extras that we add to our trusty steeds. Ours has been farkled with everything the endurance motorcyclist needs for a long safe ride. Lighting is key to being able to run through the darkness on roads that often are not optimal. Our bike is outfitted with a set of High Intensity Discharge auxiliary lights that really do turn night into day. They will illuminate a road sign over 1 mile ahead of us. For those inconsiderate drivers who fail to dim their headlights, getting flashed by these immediately gets their lights dimmed - it has yet to fail! We also have 2 additional sets of lights for both close in illumination and for daytime visibility.

Comfort is important since we are often in the saddle for 18-24 hours at a time.  Our seat is custom made to our measurements and lets us sit in comfort without squirming for hours on end.  We both have insulated cups to stay hydrated.  Additional footpegs allow seating positions to vary letting you stretch your legs.  Heated jackets and gloves mean that the temperature isn’t a factor.  If it gets cold, we simply turn up the thermostat and stay toasty warm.  We are advocates of the term ATGATT which translates to “all the gear, all the time”.  Full face coverage helmets, jackets and pants with armor in the critical places which additionally are waterproof which negates the need to carry rain gear.  Gloves that will protect the hands in the event of a spill and boots with additional ankle and shin protection round out the gear.  When it is hot, we open the vents on the jackets to allow cooling airflow and of course when cold we just zip up and turn up the thermostat.  

Additional refinements include an auxiliary fuel cell that allows us to carry 4 extra gallons of gas extending our non-stop range to a bit over 350 miles.  Suspension work done by the leader in motorcycle suspensions - Traxxion Dynamics - smooth out the bumps and dramatically improve the handling characteristics of the motorcycle.  

Navigation is handled by 3 separate GPS systems, one of which is piped into the audio system so you can hear the voice commands.  The primary GPS also displays NEXRAD radar so you can have weather information at your fingertips.  The secondary GPS handles statistics for us - miles traveled, average speeds both moving and overall, and serves as a backup for navigation.  The third system is operated by the passenger and is the sanity check when the primary seems to want to take you around the world to get to a point just ahead!  Rarely do all three agree on which way to go, so we just follow the majority rule system.  

XM satellite radio rounds out the entertainment so we are never without a station to listen to.  A radar detector is also piped into the audio system to alert us to those small town cops that run speed traps.  We do not speed excessively since that just isn’t safe, but in 133,000 miles that detector has saved our bacon many times from the cop who sits just past the speed limit sign going into small towns!  A satellite tracking system keeps a bread crumb trail for us so we can see where we have been, allows others to follow along on the trip, and is tied into the GEOS Search and Rescue Center so if there is an unfortunate incident, emergency responders know exactly where we are at the touch of a single button.  Roadside breakdowns are also handled with the push of a single button, getting a tow on the way in the event of flat tires or other mechanical issues.

It is often joked that the purchase of the motorcycle is the smallest expense.  I agree with this theory and have never really tried to total the cost of gear and farkles since we really don’t want to know.

ON TO THE DETAILS OF THE RALLY!

The start this year was in Paris, TN.   Other groups were starting from Jamestown, NY and Arcadia, FL all converging on Wilmington, NC.  Rally books were to be delivered at 5:00 PM CST Wednesday April 18th and the process of inputting bonus locations should have begun.  After a quick look at the rally book, it was immediately apparent that something was amiss since there were so many high point bonus locations near the start.  Further investigation revealed other bonus locations that just didn’t make sense - ie, The Everglades in Florida - from Paris, TN????.  It was determined that somehow our rally book had gotten mixed up so we now had to wait until a corrected version could be sent.  Finally around 8:00 PM the corrected version arrived.   After inputting all bonus locations, reading all the possible options, Barbara and I selected a fairly conservative route that would take us across Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and back into North Carolina.  We planned to take full advantage of an extended rest bonus - 6 hours this year - and some high point time restricted bonus locations near the end of the rally.  Our planned route looked like this:

We left headed to Paris early Thursday morning stopping in Jackson, TN for lunch with an old friend from almost 30 years ago. After arrival in Paris, we chatted with old friends and had supper and adult beverages at a nearby eatery.  

Start time was from 9:50 to 10:10 EST with a deadline to the finish 29 hours later.  We made a couple of stops early that morning and finally found a gas station with receipts that met the starting criteria.  Receipts have to show the location (Paris, TN) and have an accurate time stamp.  Shortly after 10:00 EST we were on our way.  It was over 200 miles to the first bonus location so we settled in for the ride.  It was a game of leapfrog with other riders who were headed the same way.  Glorious weather that would stay with us for the duration!

Hodgenville, KY was the first stop to take a photo of a statute of Abraham Lincoln.  We arrived at 13:09 221 miles from the start.  We are still bunched up so lots of other activity. 

Bonus location # 2 was in Harrodsburg, KY for a photo of the monument commemorating the Bataan Death March.  The 192nd Tank Battalion was comprised of mostly men from the Harrodsburg area.  They were captured in the Battle of the Bataan Peninsula and were part of the Battan Death March.  The monument honors both the survivors and those who did not survive the march.  Arrival time is 14:20 298 miles total so far.  Probably 10 or so folks all trying to take a picture at the same time made this stop interesting. 

Bonus # 3 was the grave of LT Carl Dodd in Lily, KY.  LT Dodd was a a Medal of Honor winner from the Korean War.  Arrival time 14:53 381 miles total.   The crowd has thinnned now.  Only 2 other couples at this one.  Barbara had to roll around on the ground in order to get the grave marker, our rally flag, and her smiling face in the picture.   

Off to Bonus # 4 in Pound, KY!  We had to find a Highway Historical Marker honoring Gary Powers, the U-2 spy plane pilot shot down over Russia in 1960.  These sometimes are hard to see so we had to do a little backtracking to finally locate the monument.  Time is now 18:20 and we are at 504 miles.  We are all alone now!

Now the fun really begins.  Darkness has started to settle in, we are winding our way through western Virginia headed for Rugby and the Rugby Baptist Church.  There isn’t much level ground in this part of the state and the church parking lot was no exception.  We had a hard time figuring out how to park the bike!  Problem was finally resolved, a photo of the nicely illuminated sign was captured and it’s off again.  Time is 20:44 total mileage to this point is 625 miles.  Nobody out here right now but us!

On to the Blue Ridge Parkway in search of the Jumpinoff Rock Overlook.  If you have ever been on the Blue Ridge you know that it is nothing but ups and downs, curve after curve, and lots of wildlife!  It’s dark but luckily this time of night traffic is almost non-existent so the big lights stayed on!  We found the overlook at 21:25, took a photo, and off again.  Mileage is now at 653.  Another couple of riders pulled in as we were leaving.  

The plan was to stay on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the next bonus - the Blue Ridge Chapel.  We soon encountered a detour sign and had to leave the parkway and pick our way towards the next bonus.  Let’s just say roads were not optimal for night time motorcycle riding.  It may have been a bit of selective sight….but I didn’t see a single deer the whole night.  Others had much different experiences!  

We’ve been weaving in and out of Virginia and NC for a while finally getting back on the Blue Ridge in search of the Blue Ridge Chapel.  The GPS has taken us down a couple of short dirt roads - certainly not our favorite in the dark!  We snag the bonus at 22:40 total miles 690.  It took us over 1 hour and 35 minutes to travel the 37 miles between bonuses so that should give you an idea of the fun roads we were traveling in the dark.  Another not so level parking lot had to be dealt with and as we were pulling out, another couple of riders were arriving.  At least we weren’t alone out there - not the same riders who were at Jumpinoff Point.  

Now it’s time to head towards Greensboro, NC where we planned to stop for the night and take that long rest bonus.  First, we had to get down the dirt road that took us to the goat trail down off the mountain.  Loads of fun and luckily the interstate wasn’t far off.  

We pulled into Greensboro right after midnight and started to search for a room.  There was some event happening in town and most hotels were full.  We snagged a room at a Red Roof Inn for the exorbitantly high price of $80.00.  We cruised through the drive-through at McDonalds to get a receipt to start our rest period.  Rest bonus started at 00:14 and at a little after 6am we enjoyed a tasty McDonald’s breakfast to end our rest bonus at 06:28.  This was big points!  We are at 791 miles.  

The next bonus is a timed odometer check that didn’t start until 9:00 AM.  We got off at the exit and somehow missed the rest area sitting between lanes of the interstate.  Turning around we got checked in for the odometer check.  The rules were to obey all traffic laws, signals, speed limits, etc while negotiating the 19 mile odometer check.  All riders times were averaged and if you were within a certain window you scored the maximum points.  The rider had to be standing beside the bike with helmet and gloves off to start.    Since we were 2-up, Barbara was already seated and ready to roll.  Somehow I fumbled around getting my helmet on which probably was a good thing since it took just a little extra time.  We did score the maximum points for this bonus!

The next bonus we had planned wasn’t available until 12:00.  We got to Woogie’s (what a name for a seafood restaurant) in Chocowinty, NC about 30 minutes early so we shared some fries and killed time until the clock struck 12.  The parking lot had lots of folks staring at watches waiting for the magic time to arrive.  Then it was bedlam on the way out!  Time is 12:01 mileage at this point is now at 1069 miles.

One more bonus stop in Kinston, NC honoring the CSS Neusse, a confederate Ironclad ship that ran aground on it‘s first mission and was soon scuttled to prevent capture by Union forces.    Time is 12:54 mileage 1116.  Again, everyone is headed to the finish so it was busy at this spot.  

Nothing to do now but head to the finish line.  We had plenty of time so it was a fairly uneventful ride.  Our last bonus was to bring a cold six pack of your favorite beverage to the finish line and have the receipt for the purchase at scoring.  We stopped, I ran in grabbed a six pack, jumped back on the bike and headed in.  About 2 miles down the road I realized I had failed to get a receipt.  Much profanity in the helmet!!!!  We stopped again about 2 miles from the finish for another six pack, making sure I had the receipt this time.  

We rolled across the finish line at 2:33 with a whole 28 minutes to spare.  Total mileage by odometer was 1206.  The next step is scoring!

Scoring can be stressful!  After making sure everything is recorded, and all documents in hand you sit with the scorer who scrutinizes everything that you have done to ensure that the instructions were followed EXACTLY.  For example….if the bonus requirements are to take a picture of the front of a statue with a certain portion of the statue visible in the photo and your rally flag with rider number showing, then that’s what you have to do.  Even though a photo will clearly show that you are at the right spot, if the instructions aren’t followed exactly, you will not get credit for that bonus.  When you sit in front of the score, you better be sure you have everything because once scoring starts, you are scored with what you have with you.    We rarely lose points at the scoring table and this time everything went perfectly.  No lost points, full credit for each bonus, all requirements were met.  

We finished with 39,001 points which put us 10th  place!  In the shoulda, woulda, coulda category, we did bypass one bonus that would have changed our standing from 10th to 3rd.  We could have used up those extra minutes at the finish and while having fries!

We woke up Sunday morning to a pouring rain!  We slowly got packed and headed out which was fortunate since we only hit a couple of small bands of rain on the way home.  Riders leaving to the north endured torrential rain and storms……thank goodness we were headed south.  Barbara got to experience Pedro’s North of the Border at the South Carolina line for the first time.  This is the ultimate tourist trap! 

Our travels looked like this.  I didn't turn SPOT on for the ride up to Paris so you can fill in the blanks. 

My apologies for the lack of pictures.  We failed to copy our pictures before turning in our photo card at scoring.  We'll do better next time.  

The next adventure on the horizon kicks of May 8th when we head west to Nevada.  More on that one in the next installment!  And lots and lots of pictures are promised.  

Rick and Barbara

Florida Mountain 1000

For Cora's 18th birthday, I promised her a trip to Daytona and a chance to get certified by the Iron Butt Association by completing a Saddle Sore 1000.  For the uninitiated, that means riding a motorcycle over 1,000 miles in a 24 hour period.  Before the nay-sayers start with "that's impossible" or "that's unsafe", let's do a little math.  1000 miles in 24 hours means that you have to average 41.6 miles per hour over a 24 hour period.  Hardly a speeding contest, the key to success is simply keep the wheels rolling as much as possible at or below the speed limit.  So.....it's not impossible and certainly not unsafe. 

The annual Iron Butt Association (IBA) Spring gathering was in Jacksonville, FL and scheduled to coincide with the end of Daytona Bike Week.  Those who wanted to get their SS1000 certification could complete a planned ride on Thursday and have their certificates presented at an awards ceremony prior to the banquet. 

The plan was to leave Wednesday the March 14th and ride to Jacksonville, FL with our riding companions Benny Quimby and Don Leemhuis.  The Florida Mountain 1000 was scheduled to begin on Thursday morning at 5:30 AM.  Yeah, I know - mountains in Florida??  Well, the rallymaster for this little ride had found some interesting locations that somewhat followed a mountain theme.  More about them later. 

We left early Wednesday morning and headed to Jacksonville.  A stop in Prattville for breakfast then onward south following US Highway 82.  Mary Leemhuis, Don's wife had taken a spill the evening before and thought she had sprained a wrist.  Barbara took her to the doctor Wednesday morning and it turned out she had broken both wrists!  Don turned around in Eufaula and headed home to take care of her while Benny, Cori, and I headed on to Jacksonville.  We arrived without incident, checked in, had supper and soon headed to bed to be up and ready to go early Thursday morning. 

4 AM came quickly and we had the bike prepped and ready to roll at 5:00.  The hotel had a scrumptious breakfast buffet ready for all the riders so we ate our fill, had the mandatory riders meeting at 5:30 and were on the clock and on the road at 5:45.  The planned route was 1054 miles and my intention was to complete the ride and be back in about 18 hours.  We had to find and photograph 10 "mountain" bonus locations to document our ride and have a ending gas receipt in Jacksonville before 5:45 AM on Friday morning. 

Mountain 1 was the Mount Carrie Wayside located in the Osceola National Forest.  The wayside is approximately 147 feet above sea level - one of Florida's mountains obviously.  We quickly got our picture and we on our way to the next stop.  Rally experience pays off since we were in and out while many other riders milled about trying to figure out what to do and how to do it.  We are 62 miles into our ride at this point. 

Mountain 2 was the Mount Pleasant Cemetery at 312 feet above sea level.  This required a bit of a detour off the interstate down some scenic Florida roads.  Once again, we were in and out quickly.  There were a couple of possible monuments and and I know folks were taking pictures of the wrong one.  Since this really wasn't a competition, the error of their ways was pointed out.  It would be a shame not to finish a ride because you took the wrong picture!  212 miles into the trip now.

Cori has to be in all the pictures with our rally flag to prove she made the entire ride.  And on that note, let me proudly say she was the youngest co-rider to finish the ride!  So back to the interstate and onward to the next bonus.

Mountain 3 was the Mount Carmel Methodist Church in Jay, Florida - elevation 99 feet - a real mountain. 371 miles into the ride!  

Now we had some nice backroads to ride on the way to Mountain 4.  We looped north in Alabama before heading back south to Britton Hill.  This is Florida's highest point at 345 feet above sea level.  A photo of the monument at that spot was required. 

We are now at the 432 mile point and it is approximately 1:30 PM.  We headed south through Defuniak Springs and hit I-10 once more.  It was a bit disheartening to hit the interstate and have the GPS announce that your next turn is in 212 miles and it is over 300 to the next bonus.  Nothing to do now but grin and bear it down I-10 and I-75.  We made it back through Tallahassee and Gainesville with no problem.  There was lots of police protection out on the interstate to make us feel safe! 

 If you have never experienced Florida interstates, they are some of the most boring roads in the country.  Nothing to see for miles and miles except the tunnel of trees you are riding through.  We had the radio going, Cori had her Ipod playing, and still boredom would take over.  Several times I felt the bang of Cori's helmet hitting the back of mine as she would doze off.  Luckily the driver wasn't having the same problem!

Mountain 5 was Mount Pedro Baptist Church near Ocala, Florida in the community of Micanopy.  In and out was the theme.  We noticed as the bonus location got further and further into the ride, the fewer riders we saw at each bonus.  You have no way of knowing whether you are at the front of the pack, or are starting to bring up the rear.  There were only 7 or so other bikes there when we arrived with a couple more showing up as we left. 

It is still daylight and around 6:30 PM. 

Mountain 6 was Sugar Loaf Mountain, the highest point on the peninsula of Florida at 312 feet.  We had also now entered the world of Florida Toll Roads.  We could have avoided the toll roads at the cost of additional miles and much more time so we elected to pay the piper.  Cori was in charge of our toll money and would have the correct change ready as we hit each toll booth. 

Again riders were milling about trying to figure out how to take their pictures.  We wasted no time.  It's around 8:00 PM and we are approximately 813 miles into the ride. 

Mountain 7 is the Mount Dora Lighthouse which is at the end of a jetty.  First we had to weave our way into the park, locate the lighthouse, then walk out to the jetty and try to figure out how to get a good picture.  We took a couple just to be sure!

Mountain 8 was simply a road sign that said "Mt Plymouth".  It was dark, the road was busy, and getting the photo was a little challenging.  We made it without getting run over.  Cars would slow and ask if everything was "OK" since there were all these folks in full motorcycle gear milling around. 

Mountain 9 is the highest point on the east coast of Florida at 83 feet.  The county landfill is actually higher, but the US Geological Service does not consider that to be a land mass.  Things are really thinning out now as there were only 2 other riders at this bonus when we arrived.  And we are finally out of the toll road system thank goodness!  I can't imagine paying to drive one of these roads - especially if you had to do it on a daily basis!  We are only 10 miles from Cape Canaveral. 

Almost done at this point!  We are 905 miles into the ride.  The time is 10:11 PM.  Now it is a fairly short run back up to Jacksonville and our last bonus.

Mountain 10 is New Switzerland, Florida.  We had to locate a historical marker which was almost completely concealed by bushes.  There was one rider when we arrived.  Now we really are wondering if we are way behind or out in front!

  

It took several tries in the dark to get a picture that was recognizable!  All that is needed now is to find a gas station in Jacksonville to get our ending receipt.  Most of the stations are closed since it is after midnight but we found one with pumps working and got a good receipt at 12:33 PM.

Total distance was 1069 miles by GPS.  The extra mileage from the planned route was a couple of go arounds and off and on the interstate for gas.  Total time:  18 hours 48 minutes.  Benny was waiting for us as we pulled into the parking lot at the Ramada.  It seemed we were one of the first back so I guess we had been running at the front of the pack.  We wasted little time at bonus locations and only took one long gas stop for a snack.  The rest of the time the wheels were rolling!

Cori was a real trooper and I will admit that I was impressed with her endurance.  I rarely had to wait on her to get her gear back on, she never complained once and never asked for a stop when it wasn't planned.  She really enjoyed searching for and finding the bonus locations. Now she wants to ride in one of the longer rallies.....but she will have to fight that one out with Barbara for the back seat!

We got checked in on Friday morning, got our ride verified, and Cori got her IBA number.  She is number 50,127.  When you think of the millions of motorcyclists that are out there, she is one of only 50,000 or so to have accomplished a certified IBA ride.  That's something to be pretty proud of I think.  I quite confident she is the only one in her senior class with an IBA certificate and she was the youngest on this ride.  She got a nice round of applause when we went to get our certificates. 

We spent part of Friday and Saturday checking out the sights in Daytona.  The crowds seemed to be off from previous years but it was the very end of Bike Week so the crowds may have come and gone.  Folks we talked to seemed to share our opinion that there were fewer attendees than in previous years. 

As always, there are some interesting sights to see while in Daytona.  Some pretty motorcycles, some not so pretty, and of course, people watching is always a favorite sport.  You can see all you wanted and much more that you probably don't want to ever see again.  Cori was a bit wide eyed at some of the sights!!

There were bikini babes!

There were not bikini babes!

Weird motorcycle people!

Lots and lots of people!

Rather strange nuns on a trike!

And some pretty custom jobs too!

After all the fun and games, we had to head home.  We pulled out of Jacksonville at 5:00AM and headed back to the house.  Another boring I-10 ride then up through Dothan, Troy, and Montgomery to the house. 

You can see the full tracking of where we rode at Spotwalla. 

The link is:  http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=42674f5f2510c7da9

The next adventure is the upcoming Cape Fear Rally which starts April 20th. 



The Big Money Rally

Rally season normally doesn’t kick off until April but this year we had an alternative known as the Big Money Rally.  Nope, no money is involved other than entry fees, but it gave us the chance to so some riding during the winter months and see some places we normally wouldn’t have chosen.

The concept is pretty simple.  Rally starts January 12 and ends May 12.  The Rallymaster – thank you Reno John – created a self paced rally with virtually unlimited choices of places to go and see.   Each little red flag on the map is a post office.  All you had to do is ride and find the bonus, snap a picture of your motorcycle, the bonus location, and your rally placard and send it to the Rallymaster on the spot with your smart phone.  Additionally you could find a National Park, a Shriner’s Hospital, a road sign that says “summit”, or cross an international border.  Easy enough huh?  That covers bonus listing # 1.  There will be future listings – who knows what those might be. 

Each little red flag is a post office, most of them in pretty rural locations.  Post offices are worth two points each, national parks are three points, summit signs are three points, Shriner’s Hospitals are 3 points and international borders are worth 15 points.  You have to achieve 120 points to be considered a finisher.  There are some other oddball bonus locations that you can throw into the mix also. 

Doing a little basic math quickly lets you figure out you have to find and properly document 60 post offices to be a finisher.  Of course, as with all rally scenarios, reading comprehension of the rules and adherence to the rules is crucial to a successful finish.  We have always taken pride in the fact that we have never (one exception In my first rally), left points on the table at scoring.  We might not ride the best route or make it to a bonus on time, but we have always properly documented our bonuses.  Well, this time we have screwed up our perfect record!

First….reading comprehension.  You have to read the instructions and be able to follow them!  First page of the bonus listing said: 



Pretty simple isn’t it?  I took off the morning of January 12^th eager to start the rally and capture the first two bonus locations.  Moundville and Boligee post offices.  I failed to comprehend the start time of noon – Reno time – and submitted my first two bonuses early.  Oh well, it wasn’t a bad short ride – just wasn’t worth any points. 

The rest of the points gathering was broken down into 8 excursions.  The plan was to catch the close ones first, and then continue to venture out further from home.  Loop # 1 was north of home up through Berry to Muscle Shoals then over towards Arab and back home.  Pretty nice loop that was 376 miles and captured 8 post offices.  Woohoo!  16 points down!

Barbara and I took off on a westward loop through Mississippi repeating Moundville and Boligee then to scenic spots like Scooba, Kosciusko, and Sturgis, MS.  Note….the one gas station open in Sturgis does not have a rest room.  Pretty critical when you gotta go.  Oh well, let’s just say there are definite benefits to being male!  7 post offices and 14 more points. A little 335 mile day.   Kosciusko did have a nice looking post office. 

Big points was the object of the next ride.  I was overdue for service of my Traxxion suspension on the motorcycle, so planned a 3 day ride that would allow me to maximize points, get my service done, and see some really pretty countryside. The plan was to leave early on Wednesday the 15th of February, rack up points, service on the 16^th and more points, and finish a big loop back home on the 17^th.  

I took off right at daylight on the 15^th and hit my first stop Brierfield, AL.  Now all of the post offices have GPS coordinates and addresses and I will admit that most are pretty accurate.  Note MOST!  Brierfield wasn’t where it was supposed to be and it took some back tracking and asking the locals where was the post office – of course you get directions like….go past the restaurant and fire department then look to your right. 





If you blinked you would miss it.  Short Rant follows.  No wonder the USPS is broke.  Here is Brierfield which you can tell is a really big operation.  Gotta pay a postmaster and employees, maintain the building, etc, etc, etc.  4 ½ miles away is Montevallo with a nice big building.  Why aren’t these consolidated? There are many other examples like this throughout the country.  Sorry Mrs.  Jones, you have to go another 4 miles to buy your stamps, mail your letter, or spend the morning gossiping with the little old lady who is the postmaster.  

The ride continued hitting scenic places like Ragland, AL.  Just after leaving Ragland, I happened to glance down at my voltmeter and realized that my alternator was no longer alternating and making electricity.  Having been stranded back in May in Del Rio, TX with an alternator failure, I really didn’t want to repeat that experience so I beat feet for the nearest easily found location – a Pilot gas station near the interstate.  A call to Barbara with instructions to gather the right tools, my spare alternator from the shop, drive from Tuscaloosa to the Pilot, pull the bad alternator out, put the new one in resulted in 3 hours of sitting in the parking lot twiddling my thumbs.  We did have the chance to watch two 18 wheelers run into each other – one leaving the parking lot, the other just didn’t stop and ran right into the other.  Go figure!

Alternator repaired – I have become a pro at replacing alternators on the Goldwing – back on the road.  The delay would cost me 4 planned stops but I managed to catch my last one of the day in Adairsville, GA before heading to the motel for the night in Woodstock, GA .

Another example of a fine rural post office was Muscadine, AL.  I think my living room was bigger than this place which wasn’t easy to find. 

Thursday morning brought rain and service at Traxxion in Woodstock.  They got me in and out in about 4 hours and I was on the road again headed through the rain into north Georgia.  Beautiful backroads and spitting rain made the remainder of the day.  I never found two of my planned post offices – Sautee Nacoochee, GA and Suches, GA.  Sautee Nacoochee wasn’t where the GPS said , no locals to ask so I headed on to Helen.  Suches wasn’t where the GPS said either and there wasn’t a soul in sight.    Stopping at an intersection where the post office was supposed to be I through I heard the faint sound of a banjo and a guitar dueling.  Rather than risk a “Deliverance” moment, I zipped on down the road. 

Last stop of the day was Cherry Log, GA.  Another example of a rural post office in the middle of nowhere!



Day three was gonna be a long day through GA, TN, and back down through north Alabama to home.   13 post offices and one National Park!  I saw scenic spots such as  Ducktown, Turtletown, Ocoee, Sequatchie, Chickamauga, Higdon, Flat Rock, Mentone, Valley Head, Fyffe, and Centre.  I made it home right before dark.

With a finish in sight, we planned another long ride back into GA.  Barbara, Benny Quimby and I took off at daylight with a planned 550 mile loop.  First stop was Rockford, AL.  Failure to follow the rally instructions got me here!  You have to have the post office, rally placard and motorcycle visible in your photo.  Notice anything missing?

When riding by myself, I always stick the rally placard somewhere on the bike and take the picture.  When you have a holder it is easy to forget the motorcycle.  No points for this one. 

Anyway, we continued on through to Horseshoe Bend National Park, Loachapoka (I have no idea how to pronounce it), into Georgia to Pine Mountain, Warm Springs, Forsythe (another failure!)

No motorcycle in the picture....another duhhhh moment!

Senoia and Newnan GA were our last stops.  Then it was a long interstate run home.  We made it back home around 8 PM.  I was excited since I figured I had 123 points – more than enough to finish.  Sadly, the two that didn’t count left me at 119 points – one point from being declared a finisher. 

The only choice now is back to Rockford to re-take the picture.  I did and made sure everything was where it was supposed to be. 

The highlighted routes are the ones we rode to get to all the bonus locations.

Summary:  Estimated mileage to hit the finisher level – 2,642.  Eight days of riding, two national parks, one admin bonus (5 points for printing my own placard) , 55 post offices in four states.  Temperatures ranged from a low of 34 to a high of 71.  One dead alternator and finished off a set of tires.  Although I have reached finisher level, I’ll continue to gather points as they are available.  We’ve got a ride next month to the IBA Pizza Party in Jacksonville, FL where we will ride in the Florida Mountain 1000 and then in April it’s time for the Cape Fear rally.  I’m sure we will find some more post offices somewhere along the way!

Rick and Barbara Bailey

Rider # 51

 

Riding the Ozarks

We had the opportunity to spend a few days exploring the Ozarks last weekend and I will make the statement that the roads that we encountered were simply motorcycling nirvana!  This was a boys only weekend riding with my trusty traveling companions Don Leemhuis and Benny Quimby.

We launched at 6:00 AM on Thursday with the temperature hovering around 38 degrees.  No problem, just plug in the liner and gloves and stay toasty warm.  One of the missions on this weekend's ride was scouting bonus locations for an unnamed rally that will occur in 2012.  It was fun to be on the selection side rather than the hunt and find it side of rally bonus locations. 

This was to be backroads all the way so we headed north through Tupelo, MS and Memphis, TN to do some bonus scouting.  A shame I can't disclose the locations of the boni, but they will be fun to find!

Temperatures warmed quickly so we stopped to shed the heated gear and enjoy the sunshine.  We headed west out of Memphis with a stop in Searcy, AR at Sunrise Honda to do some window shopping.  I purchased my ST 1300 from they several years back and was impressed with their service then and again over the weekend.  Lots of pretty shiny things to look at and their staff is knowledgeable and friendly.  The dealership is well stocked with Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzukis. 

Southeastern Arkansas is flat as a pancake and totally agricultural.  Lots of cotton fields and rice paddies. 

We left Searcy and followed Hwy 16 and things started to improve.  Well maintained roads as we started to climb into the Ozarks.  We followed 16 into Mountain View and beyond before hitting US 62 in Yellville, then 62 into Harrison which was our base of operations for the weekend.  Excellent curvy roads, light traffic, and great scenery all the way into Harrison. 

A quick dinner and check-in ended a great 500 mile day. 

Friday we had no particular destination in mind so we just headed south out of Harrison on AR 43 towards Ponca.  It was a cold morning with frost covering the bike covers!  We had what we though was plenty of gas to make it to Ponca where we planned to fill up and take a break.  Ponca was just a wide spot with no recognizable gas station.  Note to self:  Never leave a big town without a full tank of gas!  A bit south of Ponca we started playing with the GPS to find fuel and nothing close popped up.....the nearest station was 43 miles away!  My low fuel light had popped on and immediately went into gas conservation mode thinking I could stretch that last gallon enough......slower speeds, coasting downhills, etc.  Problem was the GPS continued to attempt to route us down dirt goat trails that I had no intention venturing down with 3 Wingabagos!  Each reroute put us further from gas!  By now Benny and Don's lights were on and we were thinking of alternate plans that included stopping and begging a gallon of gas from one of the few homesteads we passed.  In the area of Nail, AR (which does not show up on a map) we stumbled onto a little general store that had pumps.  Luckily, they had gas....rather pricey gas....but we would have paid more!  I put 6.2 gallons into a 6.5 gallon tank.  Never would have made it! 

Old style pumps....they just come on and you pay when you are done.  You have to tell the folks inside how much you pumped!  Nice to see some folks are still trusting!

Scenery was just gorgeous. 

Colors were beginning to appear so so those who see colors!

Fine looking fellow!

The Wingabagos!

We just rode and looked.  We did not encounter a bad road all day and just enjoyed a day of riding without a particular destination. 

The Ozarks don't compare to the Rockies when it comes to elevation but you will spend the vast majority of your time going up or down as you go into the narrow valleys and immediately back up onto the ridges.  Our ears were constantly attempting to adjust to the pressure changes!

The Spotwalla link for the entire trip is:


 http://spotwalla.com/embed.php?id=3c0f4ea86e87ec945&width=600&height=600&scale=on&zoom=default&refresh=no

Saturday was simply more of the same.  We did manage to hit the highest point in Arkansas, Mount Magazine at 2,753 feet.   Beautiful lodge with some amazing scenery that is definitely worthy of a repeat visit. 

The view from the patio at the lodge. 

We captured a couple of new national park stamps also on our visit.....Buffalo River and Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. 

We rode the free ferry across Bull Shoals Lake.

Lots of motorcycles!  Most day cruising but the two in the forefront of the picture were from Chicago!

Another day of motorcycling nirvana. 

Unfortunately, we had to head home Sunday morning.  Forecast was for rain along the way and they weren't wrong.  We headed due south to pick up the interstate outside of Little Rock and found the rain!  It never rained hard but certainly enough to make the day wet and chilly at 55 degrees. 

We detoured through West Mississippi scouting bonus locations and chased the rain off and on until pulling back into the garage around 7PM Sunday night. 

If you have the chance, I highly recommend exploring the Ozarks of north Arkansas and southern Missouri.  Don't overplan it because you won't find any bad roads. 

The Void 6 - Chasing Ghosts and Water Towers

Doing the rally thing is always fun for any number of reasons. Take this last weekend’s adventures as an example. First, absolutely glorious weather from a high of 80 to a low of 45 with clear skies and an almost full moon. I have to declare failure on the Rallymaster’s part because they normally, through some weird connection, are able to dial in some really nasty weather. For once, I’m glad they failed. Second, not a single mechanical issue from the trusty Gold Wing. Third, some really interesting bonus possibilities. And last but not least, the chance to see old friends and make some new ones.
The Void 6 this year had a rather ghostly theme. The bulk of the bonus locations had something to do with some haunting, haint, ghost, grave, or some other form of supernatural activity with a goodly helping of water towers thrown in to round out the mix. A sample bonus location looked something like this:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bonus ID: 018 Available: Daylight Points 333
Windsor Hotel 125 W Lamar St Americus GA
Legend says that the ghost of a little girl, the daughter of a former housekeeper, runs laughing at night. Both the housekeeper and the little girl lived at the hotel and were pushed down the elevator shaft if the early 1900s. Looking east down Lamar St, take a picture of the Windsor Hotel at the corner of Lamar and Jackson Streets with the water tower visible in the background.
Follow US-280 east bound into Americus to hotel on your right. If you come in from the east, turn left on Jackson St to Lamar St.
To claim this bonus you must fill in the following information:
Day_______________ Time ___________________ Odometer___________________
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And this is what a properly completed bonus photo looks like:

Back to the beginning!

We started from Albany, GA with a start time of between 0850 and 0910 AM. Any later than 0910 AM penalty points started to build - not the way you want to start a rally. You had to be at the finish line in Lynchburg, VA no more than 29 hours from your start time. Start times are verified by a gas receipt. As a good rallyist will always do, you check to make sure the receipt at the pump has all the required information such as date, time, location (it must say Albany), etc. We pulled up to the pump and did just that and out came a perfectly good receipt. Needing to start as late as possible within the window, we sat and waited chatting with other folks doing the same thing. I started pumping gas at 9:07 and after a quick splash of gas waited for the receipt WHICH DID NOT COME OUT OF THE DAMN PUMP! Rushing into the station to get the clerk to print one, I waited for what seemed and eternity before finally getting a duplicate receipt which read exactly 0910! Whew, one crisis averted and we hadn’t even started yet.

So, starting time is 0910.…odometer reading is 118291.

Off to the Holland Tire Company in Sumner, GA where the ghost of a man killed while running from the FBI is often seen. A quick picture of some signs and we’re off and running. Time: 0941 Odometer 118318.

The Windsor Hotel in Americus was next which you’ve already seen. Time: 1048 Odometer 118384.

First mistake was made next. I know…awful early to be screwing up. In discussions earlier with a fellow rallyist who shall remain unnamed but his initials are DC and he rides a Kawasaki….we opted to head off our planned route for a higher scoring bonus. We had done some on the fly calculations which showed little difference so off we went. Mistake # 1. Anyway….we headed north to Monroe, Ga for a picture between water towers. Time 1341 - Odometer 118553.

Off to Augusta, Ga for a photo of The Pillar. As the story goes, this 8’ tall pillar is said to be the remains of the old slave market from years ago. Scheduled to be removed several times for development, on each occasion, the person who was supposed to remove it died unexpectedly. It is said that a slave put a curse on the pillar to which he was tied as he was being sold. It really is rather unimposing and out of place and is unmarked. Time 1602 Odometer 118687.

The Longstreet Theater in Columbia, SC was used as a military hospital during the Civil War. It has long been rumored that the morgue was housed in the basement in a room that is now serves as the “Green Room” for the theater. On the campus of the University of SC, many tales of strange sightings and sounds, especially late at night have some theater students refusing to be in the building after dark alone and institute a buddy system. Time: 1722 Odometer 118763. 9 hours into the rally and we’ve already logged 472 miles. The fellow sitting on the steps was a couple of buckets short of a full load and I never understood a word he said while we were trying to take a picture.

 

Droomgoole Castle

Read all about it here:

http://gradschool.unc.edu/programs/weiss/interesting_place/history/castle.html


Time is now 2145 Odometer 119006. This is a pretty spiffy area with very nice older stately homes and McMansions. While tromping around looking for the cross we were supposed to find, the owner of the McMansion next door came out to see what all the activity was about. A very nice gentleman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Daddy Warbucks was really interested in what we were doing and had to share some tales of his own youthful scavenger hunts “back in the day”! We finally were able to escape after a lot longer than we wanted to stay. Look closely and you can see the cross on the ground. Daddy Warbucks told us it was from the old church that used to sit where his house is now!

We had originally planned a group bonus worth a bunch of points “Group N” which required a series of bonus locations in a specific order. It was going to be close from the start and here is where our earlier poor judgement ruined that plan.

Somewhere around Gretna, VA enroute to the Avenel House the GPS popped up and the voice in my head said turn right in 1 mile. Thinking we were on the right path, we made the mistake of blindly following “the bitch”. As I made the turn, I noted that the road was called Climax Road. Anti-Climax is more like it. After a couple of miles, it degenerated into a paved goat trail that was not marked or lined, narrow, rough, full of sharp turns and 90 and 180 degree switchbacks, not a single house or light in sight. 14 more miles to the next turn and without a safe place to turn around we went. Slowly, very slowly we went as fog engulfed us! 25 mph was pushing it as we commented about our bleached bones being found years into the future! This mistake cost us more time we didn’t have.

The Avenel House in Bedford, VA was to be the start of our Group N. There was a total mileage cap for the rally of 1421 miles. When we did the math upon arrival, we realized we would be over the mileage cap by too many miles to suffer a 50 point penalty for each mile. We also were too late to start Group N without really being in danger of being declared Did Not Finish (DNF) by missing the 29 hour deadline. So…..the time is now 0058 (12:58 AM), Odometer is at 119139 (848 miles) and we haven’t started our mandatory rest bonus yet.

We elected to ride back to Lynchburg to the finish and complete the odometer check which would double bonuses afterwards. With instructions that were sketchy at best, we took off only to hit the fog again. Oh and I should mention my failure to properly prepare since we didn’t have a single flashlight that would work, Barbara is trying to read the instructions on this tiny sheet of paper in the dark and with the fog, you couldn’t see a turn until you were right on it. About halfway through, we just told the GPS to take us back…..which luckily matched the route we were trying to read in the dark. We made it back with the right mileage - sheer luck!

2:28 AM……odometer check is complete. We normally spend our rest bonus in a motel somewhere on the route to get some quality sleep. Like Joseph and Mary trying to find a room at the inn in Bethlehem, the only place available for us was something that closely resembled the manger……one of the conference rooms at the motel. Sleeping bodies littered the floor and filled the chairs in the hall. We managed to find a spot and stretched out thinking we would sleep for our mandatory 3 hour rest break. Those sleeping bodies were all tired rallyist like us and the snoring that some of these folks were emanating had to closely resemble the animals of the stable in Bethlehem! Such a symphony of animalistic sounds….had I the foresight, I would have turned the recorder on the phone on just to prove my point. The most vicious of the snorers was on his stomach and I'm sure when he woke up he had carpet fibers in his mouth.  We slept fitfully as the temperature in the room dropped to meat locker conditions waking each time someone would get up and leave. Thankfully one of the more vicious snoring machines departed fairly early. As we dressed to leave, I noticed a fellow rallyist crawling out from under one of the tables covered completely in a tablecloth…..rather weird sight at 6:00 AM!  He later related it was quite cozy and the only place he could find when it was time to rest. 

A quick search of available bonus locations that would keep us within the mileage cap and score some very badly needed points was conducted and we were off Fredricksburg, VA to get our rally book stamped and signed at Morton’s BMW, a big supporter of the long distance riding fraternity. We wish we had the time to look at all the pretty motorcycles, but the clock was running and we were off.

We both badly needed food so a quick stop at a Waffle House filled our empty stomachs. As anyone who is a Waffle House regular knows, there are some pretty interesting folks who not only work there, but frequent them. Our waitress well may have been either an escapee from a local mental institution or rode a short yellow bus when younger, but she was efficient……talkative but efficient. I asked where Milford, VA was and got a funny look and a comment that sounded much like she had never been out of whatever county we were were in. This lady was 50ish I would guess……hard to tell with folks whose elevators fail to reach the top floor.

Milford, VA was the next stop for a picture of the Caroline County Water Tower. Not haunted, just a water tower!

Time: 10:33 AM Odometer 119355.

Back to the finish line was now the goal. We had mistakenly bypassed a bonus on the way to Morton’s worth a substantial number of points…..another error in planning and judgement.
On the way back we snagged our last bonus worth a whopping 66 points. The Winton Country Club where people have reported seeing thing and hearing strange noises. Some have reported coming down the steps and seeing a woman’s reflection in the window. We got the required photo and headed on in.

 

We hit the finish line with around 30 minutes to spare and under the mileage cap!

Scoring was relatively painless as we have finally worked out a good system of recordkeeping on the road and it was just a matter of transferring that information into our rally book. 9,263 points and we had no way of knowing how poorly we had done until the final announcement at the banquet.

We had showers and a badly needed nap before the 7:30 banquet. Food was plentiful and as always everyone was hungry. Results were announced and lo and behold our very poorly executed plan was worth a 5^th place finish…..our best yet! Had we followed one of the basic tenents of rallying……plan your ride and ride your plan we would have done much better. Lessons are always learned though and each time we do this we get more efficient at routing and executing.

Rather than just blast home, we took the scenic route to Helen, GA for the night. A very enjoyable ride to Helen with great roads and scenery through the Blue Ridge mountains and especially through the Pisgah National Forest. Add a good German schnitzel dinner with a big ole German Hefe Weissen beer and the day was complete.

Home was a slog through the Atlanta traffic in spitting rain. Safe and sound back in the garage at 1:00 PM with another fun filled weekend in the books. We rode a bit over 2,000 miles Thursday through Monday and enjoyed almost every mile!

Rally season is over until Cape Fear kicks off next April. Stay tuned!