Many of my regular readers already have a good grasp of the concept of Long Distance Motorcycle Rallies. For those who don’t cast your mind to lazy summer afternoons cruising in the car, top down or AC on and driving from location to location collecting bonus points, taking pictures or solving puzzles. After which you return to a congenial location, eat barbecue and drink beer while swapping road stories and telling the kids to go play.
Now imagine that scenario on a motorcycle.
The distance is not one hundred miles but two thousand miles, or more. The time allowed is sixty six hours thirty six minutes (66.6 hours), and the weather varies from one hundred degrees Fahrenheit and sunny, to sixty mile per hour wind and monsoon conditions. What you have is the BMRx version of the Scavenger Hunt. Oh, and to add to the fun you do not get the opportunity to plan your route until an hour before the start. Scoring the rally is in real time, and your friends, family and rivals can watch your ride unfold as it happens.
Mine looked like this:
Before we get to that though, each Rally is a journey that starts well before the actual event. This one is by invitation only, following an application process which, in my case, went smoothly. Add to that, the Big Money Rally has its own unique requirements for submitting bonuses to scoring, and that was a system I had to get used to well in advance. This rally is scored in real-time, with both participants and spectators able to follow riders on map like the one above, as well as seeing a constantly changing leaderboard.
For the sake of the rally, the country was divided into nine triangles, with compulsory bonuses at each apex. To qualify as a finisher, a rider had to visit each apex, for 200 points a piece, and satisfy two 4-hour Rest Bonuses for a minimum finishing total of 1000 points. Longer rest provided a few more points and we could then choose from about 300 supplementary bonuses valued at between 1.1 and 7.7 points to build a total.
In a rally like this you have to expect everyone to get at least the 1000 points, and the winner could come down to a fraction of a point. The base route for riding the triangles was around 2000 miles. You are really only competing with the riders in the same triangle as you, because you cannot equalize the opportunities between the triangles, however hard the Rally Master tries. They will be close, but not close enough to be equivalent.
I chose Triangle "H" simply because it had the most riders. It was a triangle with apexes in Arkansas, West Virginia and Georgia. What would be also new to me is rallying in the Eastern half of the country. Much of my experience to date has been West and South. I was to find out that West Virginia and Kentucky bore little relation to Nevada and Utah, and this impacts route planning. The planning aspect of rallying has the power to raise a rider through the ranks, or end their dreams, depending on how proficient you become. On this rally the bonus list was not released until one hour before the start of the ride, so most riders would be using at least some of the riding time available to produce a route. This "planning on the clock" is something I badly needed experience of, as I have to do some next year!
The evening before the rally saw me riding out to Mountain Home, Arkansas, my chosen start location. I would be getting the optional bonuses at 5.15am for a 6.15am start.
For a change I actually slept before this one, and I was ready when the email landed. Quick import of the .gpx file into BaseCamp and I was staring forlornly at 300 new bonuses worth from 1.1 to 7.7 points. Some swift work with the Select Tool, and most of them vanished, relevant as they were only to riders in the other triangles. The base route to ride Triangle "H" was around 1900 miles, and I set a limit of around 2500 miles for my total target. Normally I'd up that a bit in 66.6 Hours, but I wanted a solid ride that gave me a decent chance of bringing a plan home. There was some tough competition in this triangle, something I wanted and I expected a few to be more ambitious than I wanted for this event.
That doesn't mean I wasn't trying. I always try. If you beat me it is because you had a better plan and rode it. That said I was venturing into unknown territory, time-wise, and over ground I am not familiar with.
I took the Start photo at around 6.45am. I was pleased to see a couple of other riders, it meant I was in the right place at roughly the right time. It turns out they were the only riders I saw for the entirety of this event, and they were riding a different Triangle. Oh well!
Time to plug in the first bonus, and get on the road. It was 227 miles away, a low-point stop in Missouri. More new ground. That distance was to become a feature of this rally. More frequently the distances between stops are much less, 100 miles being fairly unusual, so 227 miles was novel and nowhere near the longest gap. I had a gap of 316 miles at one point and all there is to do is hunker down and ride it. It doesn't really matter what the gaps are when you know you have 2500 miles to cover. The miles are the miles, wherever you go and in whatever direction, but if feels a long way.
The objective of the bonuses in this event was a "Word Match". We had exact words and/or phrases to match when we arrived at a location. The words were expected to be very prominent in the photo, and the Rally Placard and bike must be visible too. Given the limitations of the App and the phone camera, this could be quite tricky and some careful placement will be seen throughout this report. Fortunately, I got the hang of it but may choose a different method next time, especially for tricky night shots where I want more control of the camera than the App allows.
Right ... we are off to find "Stan the Tire Man", and he is lurking somewhere in Illinois.
Stan was easy to find. Indeed, Stan was everywhere when I arrived and I had a choice of at least three different shots. The one above worked well for 3.3 points. It's a sod of a long way to ride for 3.3 points, but who's counting! The letters at the bottom of the pictures are inserted by the App. Among other things, they include a time-stamp.
Having paid my respects to Stan, RIvers End was next, and that was one state over in Indiana.
River's End sounds glamorous, but when I got there it was a neighborhood. Note the craftily placed motorcycle, not that there was anywhere else to put it. I was just hoping the local Neighborhood Watch group were either asleep or at least un-armed. If anyone is wondering, Bitchy, Whiney and Messy are the kids who were following me on my satellite tracking link, and the BMRx Scoreboard. It was a 5.5 point neighborhood, so I was happy.
With Indiana out of the way it was time to dip down into Kentucky.
This was the first one where I had to get right down under the bike to get the shot. Mindful of the need to get the words clear and big in the picture, the problem was that they were twenty feet up a wall. With no zoom available, the only answer was to lie down, and look up. It worked. I'm sure the BBQ was good too, but I wasn't ready to stop for food. I was around 600 miles in at this point.
The next two bonuses were about seventy miles away, in Kentucky, and I would be getting there in the dark for at least one of them. As it turned out, both were night shots with the Faith Baptist Church in full blackness. No street lights, no moon, no stars, no nuttin'. I made a mistake here by completing these two in reverse order. It wasted both time and mileage. Not much of either but it was an amateur error.
On my way to the Faith Baptist Church all I could hear was "Dueling Banjos" playing in my head. To say there are parts of this country that are downright creepy would be to somewhat understate the case. On a sunny afternoon I am confident this portion of the ride would be extremely pleasant, but it was not sunny, and it was ... ahem ... interesting. The church itself was up a 30 foot bank, but the word match was where I could ride right up to it and with 16000 lumens out of the front of the bike, the picture was easy. A scary lady hollered at me wanting to know what I was doing. I was not tempted to answer facetiously.
Sometime before I arrived, the honeyed tones of Ms Garmin had instructed me to ride 1.5 miles, and board ferry. I swear, I looked at the gps and actually said out-loud, "What did you just say?" "Board freakin' ferry!!!" Not only that, but a handy little boat icon popped up on the screen. Sigh. Well I rode the 1.5 miles just for the hell of it, down a narrow twisty road to the Kentucky River, where there was indeed a ferry. A ferry that had quit for the day one hour earlier. Stuff like this can drive you nuts. It was about fourteen miles around this obstacle. I am well-known for riding impossible dirt-roads (for an FJR), but river crossings without a bridge I draw the line at.
I was at the Menifee County Courthouse a little behind my plan. A few things made this okay. First, my plan had me leaving forty five minutes earlier than I did, and I had already been to the Baptist Church. The roads in this part of the country are much slower than I expected, and tomorrow that would get worse. At this point I am 750 miles into the ride.
I am about ready to take the Rest Stop. Given the additional eight points available for the full six hours, that was the plan. I wanted to time this stop so that I maximized daylight, so I needed to be stopped by midnight.
At 11.30 pm I found a handy Rest Area somewhere in West Virginia, and settled down for a few hours sleep.
I was almost asleep when a state employee yelled "You can't sleep there!". Immediately followed by "Do I have to call the cops to have you moved?" Well that went downhill fast!
We had a conversation where I may have told him to quit with the threats, and ask nicely. I moved to the sidewalk which made him happy. Realizing that he might have gone a bit over the top, he was extremely friendly and chatty when I woke up four hours later. I am pretty well equipped for sleeping out next to the bike. It's cheap, I can check in and out fast, and I sleep well. Motels have their place, but I don't always need one. Supper was a granola bar and water. I completely forgot I was carrying everything I need to make a hot meal.
Day two was going to be a lot of riding for not many points. I was riding through some slow mountains, many hundreds of miles of them during this day. The FJR doesn't much like this kind of road. They are slow, technical and tough. My first ambition was the furthest point of the triangle in Elkins, WV. Anyone watching the scoreboard today was going to see Steve slip way down the rankings, at least until that evening when I hoped to hit a cluster of four decent bonuses in North Carolina. I also wanted to push on today to reduce the miles required on day three, and maybe grab a couple of extra bonuses, time allowing.
I made the corner at 9.30 am. It was the YMCA building in Elkins, WV. 200 points gained and now for 233 miles to the National Bank, Blacksburg, Virginia. Another one where I had to lie on the ground, amid thousands of people leaving a college football game.
Then another 276 miles to Bear Lake Reserve
This bonus was almost a complete disaster. Bike placement was difficult and I made the critical error of riding the bike onto grass, straight at that sign. The mistake was that I very nearly couldn't get it out again. With grass and gravel underfoot, a bike weighing upwards of seven hindred pounds is very difficult to push backwards. I know this, and still I do it. I managed to put the beast in a better position and got the above shot. It was 7.00 pm and I was close to another three bonuses that I was trying to get in daylight. Wasn't going to happen.
Twenty five miles away was the Joel Queen Gallery. I made this one in daylight and, now fully enjoying the art of "picture taking the BMR way", rode the bike across grass to get it right underneath that billboard. Word match was good and I enjoyed that one.
Twelve miles down the road was a diner I needed a picture of, and eleven miles further an Elementary School ... Take that, Scoreboard :)
That second image was difficult. Easy enough in the daytime, but at night it proved very tricky. I matched the words and got out of Dodge ... well, Robbinsville but you know what I mean.
Blue Ridge, GA hits the second triangle corner. The corners are picture matches, rather than word matches, in case anyone was wondering. I was there at 10.15 pm Eastern, and was feeling very happy with the progress for the day.
This day had been one of the very best of my motorcycling career to date. When I left the Rest Area I rode through the Great Smokey Mountains as I sat and watched the sun rise through the mist, burning it off and lighting up the hills in colors that painters only dream of capturing.
As the sun went down I was in the Blue Ridge Mountains and was treated to that process in reverse. It really doesn't get much better than that. You have to be there, and the only way that happens is if you are prepared to sit on a motorcycle long enough to experience it.
Having bagged the corner it was now time to calculate. It was too early to stop for the night. To do so would have me back on the road with hours of darkness ahead. The complication was that the next bonus was 196 miles away, or about three hours or so. I was in good time so I set out towards the bonus. I really didn't want to get there in the dark as I had zero idea how difficult the picture would be, and the roads in to that location were not the best. In the end I was pleased I waited until morning because Ms Garmin had more tricks to play.
In the end I stopped the clock at 11.45 pm Eastern, at a motel in Villa Rica, GA. I wanted a bed and a shower and I had six hours to get both. The nice lady gave me a hefty discount on the Days Inn price, so I was happy.
Six hours later I was back on the bike and heading for a word match "←Ashland Goodwater". I had 850 miles to go but still hoping to add 150 miles and grab two extra bonuses. It didn't happen and I was okay with that, the reasons will become clear.
I had a break riding through a State Park in Alabama. The speed limit was 55 mph. The road was clear, dry and empty so I was cruising at maybe 65 mph. Suddenly the SUV coming towards me lit up like a Christmas tree decorated in red and blue. The cop was telling me to slow down and we both waved as we passed each other ... phew!
When I arrived at the next bonus I couldn't find the word match. I rode past the location and turned in the road. Ah! there it is. It's a road sign. I had been wondering about that arrow!
I haven't mentioned pain yet. Well there was lots of it. Burning across my shoulders, elderly hips and knees not enjoying the abuse. The burning I can, and do, ignore. The aching hips are more difficult. A few "on-bike" exercises help but it's a problem at times. Advil helps. I can ride through the pain so it only rates a brief mention.
I was expecting the next bonus to be easy. It was a mere twenty miles away along okay and deserted roads. Ms Garmin had other ideas. She instructed me, ever so politely, to turn right and drive ten miles. Yeah, like that's going to happen. The dirt road it wanted me to drive along was horrible and I wasn't playing. Fortunately, the Garmin Montana was set at a wider view and I could see better roads that would take me right there. For the next ten miles the GPS tried to send me down every unmade county road I passed, and I ignored them all. This is an issue of mapping, and the info contained in the Navteq map set. I have set an avoidance for "Unmade Roads" and the only way that could be happening is if they are wrongly classified by the map.
Ho hum ... we made the next location in decent time.
Of all the pictures, this was the most difficult to get. It seemed easy enough on the approach, but the low angle of the sun and the fact that I could only take it from one direction caused problems.
It was effectively 6:15 am. I had only four more bonuses on my plan and the end was in sight. That said, those bonuses were each around one hundred miles apart with a further two hundred mile ride in to the finish, so I was not done yet and there was still the option of a couple of extras. I was on time to go get them if everything continued as we were going. That didn't happen because later that day the weather was going to intervene.
Egan's Bar was next up. Of all the bonuses in all the world, why did this one have to walk into my Rally. It wasn't good. It is a bar right next to the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!), and if the Tide wasn't rolling, the traffic was. I double-parked the bike as close as I could, then proceeded to merrily stop the traffic to get this:
There is just enough of the bike in that picture to prove it was there ... and I wasn't hanging around. The scorers thought I had done enough!
Three to go, let's crank out the miles.
The word match was "Church Mathiston". Don't be fooled by the Mathiston Church across the road, it doesn't match! Moving on to Shaw, MS, and the post office there.
By now I was concerned that the weather app was showing some nasty storms, and the sky was confirming them. As I approached Shaw I stopped to zip up all the vents in my riding suit, which is all I need to do to keep everything out. Nothing on the bike needs attention, I have worked hard to make sure everything I use is waterproof. Still, it didn't look good at all.
I reached the bonus with barely a raindrop landing. Grabbed the picture and left heading for a word match "Pine Bluff School" in Arkansas.
On the run north to Pine Bluff things took a determined turn for the worse. I hadn't been paying attention to the scoreboard. Although I could have seen it while riding I didn't bother. I was riding my plan and it didn't much matter what others were doing as I was locked in to riding the plan. Better my time is spent riding safely than worrying about others. Jodie, however, was watching the scoreboard.
We talk quite a bit on the phone, and she was telling me that I was running second. Adding in the two extra bonuses might push me into first place, but neither of us had any idea how the current leader (and subsequent winner) Don Stadtler was doing.
At this point I had little option but to ride through the super-cells that I could see in front of me. Neither were showing any warning polygons on the radar, so I figured I'd survive. It's at times like this I am very grateful for the car tire I have fitted on the rear, and the general competence of the Yamaha FJR1300. The tire clears much more water than a motorcycle rear tire, and retains more braking and traction on wet surfaces.
When the rain hit, it hit very hard. Crosswinds from the left gusting to probably 50 mph, and a wall of water I could hardly see through. Get the bike as far left as possible and allow it to drift right when the wind hits. Slow down! We made it through that one and as soon as we were clear, the wind died and the road was dry. As I approached and rode through the next one it was simply a matter of rinse and repeat.
As I was approaching my final listed bonus I realized that even the two extra bonuses would not be enough to catch Don in the standings, and time had slipped during the horrible weather of the afternoon. The extras might still have been possible but it would mean an additional one hundred miles, in the dark, with pop-up storms all over the state. I wasn't going to get first place and I just hoped I had done enough to secure second. I never expect to win these events, an expectation that usually comes to pass, but I always expect to do my best. Part of that is my own determination, and part of it is to pay respect to my competition. They deserve my best effort too.
The final bonus on my route wasn't a school, as I was expecting, but the administration offices of a school district. Easy photo in warm and sunny conditions.
I had made my decision. I was still 194 miles from closing my triangle back in Mountain Home. It would be dark soon and the road up was anything but easy. Arkansas has some fabulous riding, but it does not have any straight roads!
I called emailed RenoJohn (Rally Master) and let him know I was now riding to finish and wouldn't be claiming any more bonuses. There was still some tough riding ahead, on top of the 2300 miles already covered and I still wanted to ride home that night for work on Monday (another 230 miles).
The ride back to Mountain Home was fairly slow and uneventful. Something happens when you stop the clock. In this case I was still rallying, but I had also mentally checked out as I had plenty of time to make my finish and nothing to do but get there.
I made it to Mountain Home in good time. Jodie told me that I was going to have to ride through appalling weather that was just then clearing Tulsa, if I wanted to get home that night. Good sense won out and I stayed the night in the motel I had started from, followed by a slow and pleasant ride home the following morning.
The route through the Ozarks isn't difficult, but the roads are very dark and twisty. As I rode back something happened that is worth re-telling here:
I want to offer up a few words to the car driver I followed for about 40 miles on Sunday night.
I was riding in the Ozarks, Arkansas, heading for the location that would be the end of my ride in the BMRx Rally. The weather was clear although I had ridden through two fierce storms earlier that day. Now I was tired and feeling it. The road isn't bad, but it is fairly narrow, somewhat twisty, and very dark.
In a situation like this, other vehicles can be an absolute Godsend to motorcyclists. Despite my awesome lights we do not have the view afforded many car drivers. Added to that we do not have the lateral stability and cannot afford to get a corner wrong. In a car you just steer a bit harder and if the tires squeal then you take heed next time. If we do that we run out of road and crash.
So "rabbits" serve two very useful purposes. If they are driving fast and you want to follow, they make a much bigger radar target for the cop sitting behind the bridge pillar. More importantly, they can act as a second set of eyes for a motorcycle rider. If I am following you at a sensible distance I can see the corner well in advance. I can see your line through it and prepare accordingly. You are adding to my security, and my family's peace of mind, just by being there, and I am very grateful you chose that moment to drive that particular road.
That said, there have been a couple of occasions where the car driver clearly became a bit nervous, and that happened on Sunday.
I knew he/she wasn't happy, so when we approached a turn I signalled very early, trying to tell them that I had my route planned regardless of which way the car was going. Sure enough, the car indicated and went the other way. Just at that moment I spotted a gas station and decided to stop. As I pulled in I saw the car loop back and proceed in the direction I was going.
I am very sorry I caused that driver discomfort, but here is the thing.
He made my life easier. He made my ride safer. He helped me home to my loved ones and if I could have bought him a drink, I would have. I had over 100 miles to ride on that road, and he made 40 of them easier.
I just want car and truck drivers to understand that there are times when their sheer presence is actually helpful, and I, for one, am grateful.
In bad weather this is even more pertinent. We lose much of our visibility. We cannot see through the spray thrown up by trucks and SUVs. At those times, slowing some and following a suitable vehicle is both our eyes and our early warning system. The gap we leave to the vehicle in front is also a safety margin, so I beg others not to pass, drop into the gap and reduce that margin, especially on wet roads. Doing that increases the danger to us and doesn't get you home any more quickly.
I guess being followed at night, for many miles, by a motorcycle, can be a little worrying. To be fair to me there wasn't really anywhere else to go, but I get it.
So sorry about that, and thank you for being there.
Here is something I posted prior to writing this report:
So I just finished the BMRx. Much credit goes to RenoJohn and his staff for giving us this opportunity.
I plan on writing a Report on this one. I finished 2nd (dammit) in the most populous Triangle, something I am very pleased about. Congrats to Don Stadtler who finished 1st, and to all the others who doubtless have wonderful stories to tell.
But here is something I'd like to share in advance ...
I hear about "Toughest Riders", good riders, great riders, etc ad infinitum.
Well I am none of those things. I have a confession to make here. I am really not a very good rider. I never have been despite 40-odd years riding. Oh, I'm competent, and careful, you have to learn something in all those years. Before I tried my hand at LD Riding I was scared of night-riding. I can't go round corners very fast. I know my bike can, but I get nervous. I hate wet roads, see previous sentence, but "competent" is about as high as it goes.
I don't ride fast. If I get to 7 or 8 "over", I am terrified that the State Department will refuse to extend my Green Card, besides which I'm a guest, and it's rude.
Success at LD Riding seems not to require whizzy cornering skills, although I'm sure they help, nor extremely fast riding, although that might help too. More it is a balance between competence on two wheels, good planning skills and the development of routines to the point not where you get them right, but to where you can't get them wrong.
Throw in a stubborn determination, refusal to give in to pain, and just sheer bloodymindedness and you have a guy who will usually do quite well.
What I'm saying here is that you can do it, and I'm proof of that, if nothing else.
If you have never rallied ... go ahead, you may surprise yourself.