Monday, June 4, 2012


ED'S LAST RESORT
A 12 HOUR MOTORCYCLE ENDURANCE RALLY

"Where the hell is Surrency, Georgia?" Always the response when I told people I was doing my first 12 hour motorcycle endurance rally. My neighbor and riding mate, Scott, stayed true to form with the same response when I asked him if he wanted to join in. The follow up question by many was, " what is an endurance rally?" A fair question, as this is a cult sport followed even by only a few in the motorcycle community, and virtually unknown outside of two wheel circles. Not two days later, Scott came back with an affirmative, Ruth gave her blessing, and the plan was set in motion.

SO, WHAT IS  A MOTORCYCLE ENDURANCE RALLY?
Moto endurance rallies are a test of rider and machine against the clock. This is a thinking riders contest. Speed is not a factor - in fact, it is openly discouraged. Strategy, time management and map routing are the key players in this game. Points, not number of miles ridden, determines the winner. These rallies start at 10 hour time limits, all the way up to the mother of all rallies - the Ironbutt Rally held every other year by the Ironbutt Association - 11,000 miles in 11 days! Yes, that is 1000 miles per day!
Rallies lasting under 24 hours are considered entry level. Ed's Last Resort Rally fit the bill perfectly as Scott and I are rally rookies.

HOW IT WORKS
The night before the rally a riders meeting is held where we are given our rally packs. This pack contains all the instructions and information needed about bonus point locations throughout the rally riding area. Our rally area was the entire state of Georgia. After a briefing by the Rally Master (affectionately known as the Rally Bastard - more on that later), riders are then left to their own devices to plot out their bonus locations and routes to get to them on mapping software and then download to GPS. The goal is to amass as many points as possible and to lose as little points as possible (yes, you can lose points) within the 12 hour time limit.


 This is Mac. He is not the Rally Bastard, but just as importantly
he is the Rally Mascot and campground tour guide.
The Rally Master scouts out and determines the bonus locations, then assigns points to them based on distance from rally headquarters and difficulty finding the location. The closer to rally headquarters and/or the easier a location is to find, the less points that location is awarded - and vice versa. Sometimes you are led on a wild goose chase for a location. Some bonus locations are far from rally headquarters and worth huge points, but can you make it back within the time limit? The Rally Master puts this all together - and sometimes you just want to cuss him out when you get back. Hence the "affectionate" moniker - Rally Bastard. Other obstacles are put in place, and points may be given or taken away. The riders scoring sheet is scored by the rally scorekeepers when they return to rally headquarters. I guess you can liken this sport to a combination of orienteering, scavenger hunt and geo-caching. Great fun!
FRIDAY MAY 18 - NEW MOON IN AIKEN, PISSY RAIN, SURRENCY - 280 MILES
Friday morning, Scott and I are fired up and ready to roll down our street. Bikes  loaded with camping gear
and the appropriate morning libation revving my human engine, we anxiously wait while Ruth performs her photography duties.

MyST...The beaST



Scott's Street Glide




" Screw it. Let's stay home"

???

Ruth says "say BEAGLE!"

Bob's ready......................


Scott's ready..........................

Finally, off we go! "Let's get the hell out of Simpsonville!" Our adventure into the world of motorcycle endurance rallies begins!
Hey wait! Roo's got my camera!
We are greeted on the road with partly to mostly cloudy skies. Our planned first stop is Aiken, SC to eat lunch at the New Moon Cafe. As we head south, the skies turned more mostly than partly cloudy. Just south of Laurens, SC at a spot in the road called Cold Point, it started pissing rain. Time to stop and don the rain gear, as it would turn out to be raining on and off all day.
Arriving in Aiken, we dine at the New Moon Cafe, a fantastic little place Ruth & I "discovered" years ago, and have been making twice annual pilgrimmages to since. Decidedley "hip" or "hippie" in atmosphere and politically liberal in a town of the ultra-conservative persuasion, The New Moon Cafe does a booming business here. Apparently the Aiken locals are willing to leave their politics at the door in order to enjoy good food and great coffee.


Good food, great coffee, fantastic people watching!

" Dude. Where's the food?"
The rest of the trip south was pleasant and uneventful. Rain stayed light and intermittent. The further south we traveled, the longer and straighter the roads became. Entering Georgia, we took the Augusta (yes, that Augusta, for you golf afficionados) by-pass, then a straight shot down for three hours to Rally Headquarters: Ed's Last Resort in Surrency, GA.

ED'S LAST RESORT; SURRENCY, GA.
Surrency is on the map, but I had to look it up in the city locator as just scanning the S.E. Georgia area did not help. A little dot at a crossroads had Surrency printed next to it - located approximately 50-60 miles SW of Savannah and 90 miles from the Florida state line. Ed's Last Resort is a beautiful little place owned by Ed Tillman, tucked away amongst Georgia pines in the middle of no where. Really. A vacation home and campground for family and friends, Ed opens up his property every May to motorcyclists exclusively for this rally. A former motorcyclist and genuinely nice guy - Ed proved to be the perfect host for this event.

I knew in advance that the entrance to Ed's resort was a dirt road. Those of you who read this blog or ride with me know my disdain for dirt. Hmmmm....... The closer we got to Rally Headquarters, the more nervous I was getting, and I was in the lead, so I couldn't go to plan B if Scott went in first and bogged down. So, it was all me baby. Finally, one last right turn and there it was - Georgia red clay! Suck it up! Front wheel, rear wheel, I'm on it and the ST is still rolling. A little throttle boost in second gear and off I go. Ha! It's hardpack! But thank god it wasn't raining. Wet red clay? No way.
Three quarters of a mile in and here we are at Rally Headquarters. We made it to Surrency! Check in, set up camp, eat some supper, then the riders meeting and rally preperation. We're pumped and can't wait for the morning. Let the rally begin!


Ed's Last Resort

Scott got his tent up before me!!!

Here's Mac again. Just turned his head as I snapped the shot.


Nestled in the piney woods of south Georgia



SATURDAY - MAY 19 - RALLY DAY
It was an early rise today. Didn't get much sleep anyway, the excitement was too high. Time enough to freshen up, eat a quick, but nourishing campsite breakfast, then gear up and get ready to "stage" the bikes. Staging the bikes is basically sending the riders off one at a time with approximately 10 to 15 seconds between. This is to prevent any bottlenecks when leaving Rally Headquarters onto the dirt road. The bikes are lined up on either side of the grass entrance way, and the Rally Bastard walks down the middle and points to each rider, signaling his turn to proceed. Riders have the option of waiving their start when the Rally Bastard approaches, then must wait until the remaining bikes have left Rally Headquarters. Scott and I opted to wait. It's 7 AM, bikes are staged, engines are fired up, and everyone anxiously awaits the pointy finger of the Rally Bastard!


The staging area. Scott & I are in a row of bikes directly
opposite, from where I took this shot.



The start is official. The riders are off!


It's going to be a long day!
 Thankfully, Scott had the foresight to bring his car GPS unit on this trip. We both came to the conclusion that finding these bonus locations without GPS would have been very difficult, if not impossible. Even though street addresses were given, without detailed city street maps, there was no way to find them. For example, our first bonus location was a historic marker on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Had I been alone, sans GPS, I probably would have blown right by it and been none the wiser for miles. Frustrating to say the least. But the GPS unit put us within 30-50ft and we found it with ease. So, I think a GPS unit is in this low-tech boy's future, as I am really hooked on these rallies. Following are pictures of some of the bonus locations we visited, with commentary:


This is the causeway to St. Simon's Island, GA. I've never been here before so I am excited to finally get to see what everyone I know who vacations here is talking about. St. Simon's is a stones throw to Amelia Island, FL, where Ruth & I visit frequently, so we never even thought about going to St. Simon's. Besides, who thinks about going to a Georgia beach for vacation?



Our bonus location on Saint Simon's



The old Coast Guard Station on Saint Simon's - now a museum


Taking a break on Saint Simon's Island

Saint Simon's is beautiful, but very crowded and seemingly hectic.. I'll stick with Amelia Island's laid back, Jimmy Buffet styled attitude.
Back on the bikes and over the causeway we fly to another bonus location.



These were the kind of roads that greeted us as we headed to the Georgia Interior. Long, straight, two lane tarmac that had me singing in my helmet to keep from getting the dreaded boredom head nods. This road leads to Traders Hill, formerly known as Fort Alert, our next bonus location.





Not much going on in downtown Waycross, GA. As a matter of fact, it looked like another one of those downtown urban areas that everyone left for the burbs. This was a Saturday, and the place looked like a ghost town. Our mission was to find the "Doughboy" statue and record the inscription. For those of you who may be history challenged, "doughboy" was the nickname given to soldiers who fought in WWI.


Doughboy statue




Inscription on the Doughboy statue - erected November, 1935
  Our next bonus point location was a WWII Flight Training school. We found it with ease, but we just missed being able to tour the school by a few minutes. We met Eda, the museum curator as she was locking up the building. A spritely woman, probably in her late 60's, who was very passionate and knowledgeable about the history of this flight school, and willing to share it with anyone who would listen. Yes, she wouldn't shut up. We had to find the year the school was founded. Scott tried to get the info from her, but she kept giving us historical info on everything but. Finally, Scott saw it posted above the door. We recorded it and quickly said our goodbyes to Eda, as she was still talking. Love to see people passionate about what they do.


Now, it was crunch time. We had to ditch our plans to visit our last two bonus locations, as we would not have made it back to Rally Headquartes by the cutoff. Two "gimmee" bonus stops left: buy a postcard, which we could not find, believe it or not; and buy a six pack of your favorite beverage. We had 60 miles to go back to Rally Headquarters with about an hour and a half to go before the cutoff. So, we fired up the bikes and beat feet, stopping briefly to pickup our six packs, then hauling ass back to Surrency. Pulling into Ed's Last Resort, we made it with 15 minutes to spare. Twelve hours, 406 miles, road food, and I was toast.


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.



Riders coming back in after a very long day in the saddle


After check-in and scoring, we got cleaned up and ready for the BBQ dinner and awards ceremony. Man, that shower felt so good! A large BBQ dinner with all the fixins' awaited us along with a huge ice tub full of cold beer. Talking with the other riders about their experiences on the roads of Georgia was fantastic. Some of the stories were hilarious! After dinner, everyone gathered round the Rally Bastard as the awards ceremony got under way


These were the very cool trophies awarded to the top three finishers overall, and the top rookie. A nice piece of hardware to bring home after a long day in the saddle.


The chow line


The "live" music



Top Rally Rookies of 2012 - her co-rider is standing to the left.
They rode two-up on a Honda Goldwing.
Directly behind the young lady in yellow is Jim, the Rally Bastard

Overall winner for 2012 being handed his trophy and congratulated
by Donna, the Rally Bastard's wife and co-director of this rally.
This was a fantastic experience, and one I definitely plan to repeat by participation in a few other rallies, as well as this one, in the future. Organization was excellent, and the people............ what can I say about this segment of the motorcycling community other than they were fantastic. Friendly to the last one, super helpful to each other and us rookies. This is a tight knit crowd who run into each other at rallies all over the country, yet welcome newbies like me and Scott into the fold. These are men and women who have quite a list of credentials in the long distance motorcycling community, yet no ego's were on display here, no poseurs.......these people were the genuine article. I was duly impressed.

SUNDAY, MAY 20 - HOMEWARD BOUND - 280 MILES

After the awards and rubbing elbows with the long distance elite, I was barely able to stand up. I said goodnight to all and turned in. As I am walking back to my tent, I take note that I'm not the only one who is feeling the effects of a long day. Even though he wasn't astride a motorbike, he still expended a lot of energy performing his very special duties


Good night Mac

 
Sunday morning dawned a beautiful, sunny day. Eating breakfast, packing up our campsite, we then said our thank you's and goodbyes to those left in the campground, with the promise to be back next year as contendah's! Scott and I mounted up, fired up our machine's, and retraced our route back home to our respective fam's. Great weekend, great event, great company. We'll be back.

Info:
Ironbutt Association: http://www.iba.com/

END

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