How to run your first rally?

[TomMcD]

New to documented LD riding, but experienced long distance driver in both a personal and professional capacity. No oil, tire or seat questions here as my answers are every bit as wrong as yours.

The requirements for completing a SS1000 and other certifiable rides are well laid out on the IBA site, as are the resources available from experienced members with just a little work with Google. That, along with dozens of accounts of YouTube give many, many views of "what it's like" to make the entry level ride.

What I have not seen, (even with repeated attempts at the search feature here) is a beginners guide on what to expect when signing up for your first rally. How to approach it, required gear, nice to have gear, what's not really needed, and what expectations to bring. An idea of how the event flows, from arriving, to registration, departure, strategies and then return, scoring, wrapping up and an after action review.

It seems that there would be certain commonalities with an 8 hour event, all the way up to the "Big Show" but my knowledge is in the awkward "I don't know what I don't know." place that makes it challenging to ask the right questions.

 

[lakota]

http://rallythevoid.org/pb/wp_73fe8609/wp_73fe8609.html
although the void is no more this may get you started and enable to start asking specifics. My first rally was the Void and this was my introduction. I don’t know of ant real rally primer. My knowledge of rallies came from questioning the “pros” and trial and error.
And thre are no wrong questions.

 

[nudihjn]

Greg Rice has a lot of info on his website…

http://www.gregrice.com/rallys/rallys.html

 

[bikerbill]

Justin Long of Long Riders Radio did a podcast episode about riding your first rally. https://www.longridersradio.com/podcast/35-rallying-101

 

[EricV]

You're over thinking it a little. The best way to learn is to do. Don't worry too much about what you don't know. Every rally is different. There are commonalities, but w/o having the rally pack in hand, you won't have all the info you need.

Sign up for a rally and you'll get info on the basics of what you need for the event or are expected to have a handle on. If you don't understand something on the rally website or in the material you're give when you sign up, ask the rally staff about it. You won't be the first one to ask the question.

Once you have a rally plan/route, your focus on a rally is the next bonus. Every rally is a little different. Short rallies of 8-12 hours give you little chance to recover from a mistake during the rally. 24-36 hour rallies give you enough time to overcome a mistake, re-plan and continue while still having a shot at doing well. Multi-day events are a different animal with the requirements of having a sleep rhythm that you can repeat and function well doing while riding and planning, etc.

Regardless of how good your planned route seems before the rally, it may only last a short time before you realize it's not going to plan. At that point you need to re-plan and continue on. The best plans have bench marks for you to identify if you're on plan or not so you can decide if you need to re-plan. Ideally you expect that you may do better or worse than your original plan. AND that you have bonus locations already identified that are more optimal to drop if you're behind schedule, or ones identified to add if you're ahead of schedule.

You need a bike. Depending on the rally, you may need paper maps or a GPS. Some riders really like the 'big view' a paper map gives over just having the GPS. I always have both. Options are good. For non-multi day rallies it's pretty easy to have paper maps of the states you're going to be riding in. AAA are my preference, but I'm also a member. Get them ahead of time since you can only order a limited number of maps online if the store is not located in your area. (My closest one is ~100 miles, so not convenient, but not impossible either, except when it closed to the public because of covid issues.

Some rallies give you the info ahead of time and you can plan at home before the event. Other rallies give you the event the night before the rally or even on the clock and you have to plan there. If you are planning on site, you'll need a laptop, ideally with some tools to form routes and try different options to maximize your score before actually riding off at the start.

Some rallies require a Spot or In Reach satellite tracker or a Spotwalla link to be provided. Spotwalla allows cell phone apps. You need to make that choice and become familiar with creating a trip in Spotwalla for the event duration if this is the case.

Some people like to do a short rally first. Others just do a 24 hour rally first. Both are great. Each is different, but has similar formats overall. Pick one that works for your time and distance needs and sign up.

 

[Dave28117]

I have not done a rally yet. I wanted to get some "desk" experience with it though. I went to one of the sites from older rallies. there you can often find files to download. I did that with one and loaded into a spreadsheet. there's often word documents to print with info as well. I basically picked out a route and stopping points to try out. One reason was to understand how routing and planning compares to real-world riding. I figured that would give me a better idea of how to map out a real route when I do get around to doing a rally.

 

[EricV]

The basic outline is this: Find the big point bonuses. Plot a route to get the maximum points that you think you can ride in the time you have. That may be only one of the high point bonuses, or multiple. You will decide on what works there. Great, now where are the medium and low point bonuses on or close to that route? Add those in. Realize more stops equals more time. Were there only a few medium point bonuses on your pick? What about the other high point bonus routes? Did one have significantly greater Med/Low points potential that could offset the first pick you made?

I can ride ~500 miles in 8 hours while bonus hunting in a medium target rich environment. That's a fast average speed of ~62 mph. Most people will start out planning on a 50 mph average speed and see where that takes them. Always plan on things to drop or add if you are up or down on time and spots in your route plan where you should be making those decisions. While riding the rally, keep an eye on the prize, you can't win if you don't finish. Always have it in mind how far away from the finish you are and how long it's going to take you to get there. If you realize you're cutting it close and still riding AWAY from the finish, that's a gut check. Do you need to bail NOW and ride to the finish to avoid a DNF? Can you shorten that route and still pick up other, not planned for, bonuses to salvage your ride? How much time do you have to re-plan before you're screwed regardless? Sometimes a McD's and WiFi can save the day.

Sometimes, it's hoovering up the medium point bonuses and ignoring the high point bonuses that builds more points. And be very, very weary of any time restricted bonuses. They are often high point, and put you out of location for other bonuses. Pay attention to the bonus listings and requirements. Reading comprehension is a skill. Mark your bonus list you are doing with something, (color symbol, etc), to separate or denote Daylight Only, 24 Hr, Night Only and Time Restricted bonuses. Time restricted might just be business or park hours, which may be moot if your route puts you there in those hours, or may be a short window that pushes your route choice to ensure you get there for the bonus window.

Another aspect of rally riding is the FLAG. You need to be able to pull up, place the flag, take the picture, store the flag and be riding away in as quickly a pace as possible w/o forgetting any step and while making sure you got the bonus correctly. Some bonuses may be ride up, toss flag over windscreen, lean back and take picture, stow flag and ride off. Others may be a hike off the bike. Riders do things to make sure they don't leave the flag behind like put their bike key on the flag with a carabiner. You need to be able to secure the flag to things so it doesn't blow up in the wind right when you take the picture. Clips, carabiners & good quality duct tape are all part of that kit. Find a preferred method and location to secure your flag or placard to your bike for bonuses that require the bike in the picture. Try to use the same method every time. Even when the bike doesn't need to be in the picture, sometimes that's still the quickest and easiest method to get the picture.

 

[Dave28117]

@EricV from your "warnings", it sounds to me like the people who plan these things are just pure evil!

 

[bikerbill]

@EricV from your "warnings", it sounds to me like the people who plan these things are just pure evil!

Your point being?

Actually the first words I ever spoke to a rallymaster were "You're evil." He beamed as he replied "Thank You!".

I think being Evil is a required RM personality trait.

 

[paulcb]

First, I'm no rally expert, but I've done four so far, although none being the IBR. Here are the basics of how I setup and ride a rally, once I get the bonuses (electronic) and rally book. I'm a practicing mechanical engineer who likes data and spreadsheets, so I probably prepare more than most... some guys just dump the bonuses into their GPS and go, figuring it out as they go. I'm just not built that way.

1. Read Eric's posts above... he covers some important details.
2. Read the rally book several times, highlighting the important details. Read it again... often times the order of bonuses is critical.
3. Copy the bonuses into Bonii-Prep and set it up to color code and symbolize each one based upon point value, day/anytime, type, etc. Export ALL of them to a GPX file. If there are bonuses you're sure you won't get, i.e. Alaska or Key West, just delete those before exporting.
   • set aside some serious time to learn the basics of Bonii-prep and Basecamp. Many thanks to Charles Turner for creating Bonii-Prep.
4. Import the GPX file into Basecamp. It will now show me what the big picture looks like. Based upon the rally rules, i.e. combos, I can now start selecting bonuses and creating routes. I try to build multiple routes to see what kind of scoring I get with each one. I usually build one route per day, as I prefer to get a hotel and take advantage of the rest bonus, if available.
5. Once I get my route(s) setup, I go into each bonus and add in my start time and stop time of 5-10 mins for each bonus. I also add in my eating and rest times. Adjust route as necessary for time and desired destination for that day. It sucks to get the last bonus of the day, and have to ride an hour if you want a hotel, which might burn into your rest time bonus. It also sucks to have too many bonuses for the day.
6. After I finalize my routing, I export it from Basecamp into my Garmin GPS (XT and 396). I then double check the routes in my GPS to make sure they match Basecamp, since Basecamp is my control.
7. I make an easy to see list (big fonts) of the day's bonuses to put on my tank bag, with the time I should arrive at each one. That allows me to compare reality to plan, and adjust as necessary, i.e. skip a bonus to get back on time track, especially on the last day when headed for the barn. Had to do that in the 2020 Heart of Texas heading to the finish in College Station.
8. At each bonus, get the pic and electronically submit (usually email or an app), then record (manually write) onto the bonus record sheet.
9. Plan your ride, trust your plan, ride your plan.

Note that you can practice most of this on your own, i.e. before you ever sign up for a rally... just get a list of bonuses from a previous rally and practice with those. Also note that some rallys give you the bonuses days or weeks before the rally, some give them to you the morning you start, so it's best to be prepared to do this rather quickly if needed, i.e. an hour or two. For reference, I'm in the 36 hour Heart of Texas rally at the end of June April and we got our rally packs a couple weeks ago. I've already spent many hours reading, planning, setup and routing, and have both days finalized and routed.

Of course, things can change during the course of a rally, and you may have to re-route, so bring your computer with you. There are dozens of details that are different for each person, and each rally, so the best way to learn is to do. Just sign up and do an 8 or 36 hour rally and see how it goes, not worrying how you'll finish. Paul Tong often runs a rally clinic before some of his rallys where you run a mini-rally one afternoon to learn the basics. Give it a try, they're lots of fun and you'll meet some good people!

 

[RobG4]

Read the info here, find a 10 hour rally, and go do it. Doesn’t matter if you win or come in last. It’s some of the most fun you’ll have on a motorcycle. You get to see things you normally wouldn’t, meet good people, and find another way to spend your money.

I found Cruiseman’s Garage on YouTube to be a helpful Basecamp resource.

 

[BigLew55]

Another great place to start are the organized rides like those at the annual Jacksonville and Big as Texas events. The ss1k/BBG rides offer you an opportunity to collect photo bonus locations on a clock without having to worry about points. It also offers an opportunity to hang out and converse with riders who have a wide range of rally experience, and approaches. Sometimes at these events, they'll have informative seminars on subjects like how to convert rally files into a route.

 

[EricV]

@EricV from your "warnings", it sounds to me like the people who plan these things are just pure evil!

Some RMs work harder at it than others. There is a segment that believes it's the RM against the riders. Most RMs want everyone to have a good time, find challenge in the event and planning, and enjoy the riding and things they see. You will see amazing things you would otherwise never have seen by doing endurance rallies.

Paul makes some great points. Some old sayings in the rally crowd:

The bonus isn't done until you've recorded the paperwork.

Read the bonus, grab the bonus, re-read the bonus to make sure you did it right.

Don't pass known gas for unknown gas...

Every rally format is a little different. As paulcb mentions, some use bonus submissions via email or text and give you feedback in real time. Some just accept the bonus submission that way and you back it up at scoring to ensure you didn't have any that got lost in the wind. One rally I rode in, my first 5 or so bonuses went fine, then my email provider limited and parked the rest of my bonus photos until the following day. It was a 12 hour rally. Thankfully, I had those pictures to show at scoring so still got the points. I discovered if I used a different email everything would be ok, but too late for that rally. (I use gmail most of the time, but have a comcast email that I rarely use too)

There are all kinds of famous bonus listings from past rallies that give you examples of how a RM might want to penalize riders for not double checking what they are supposed to do. Take a picture of the giant bat on the side of the building. A couple of blocks from each other are a giant baseball bat and a giant animal bat on the sides of buildings. People see the first one and grab that photo. Sometimes it's the wrong one.

You go to a bonus and there is a sign for the dam at that location. It's a big sign. It details how much water goes over the dam every minute and many other details. The question you have to answer for the bonus is how much water goes over the dam every hour. You're working it out on your calculator on the phone when another rider rides up, glances at the sign, writes something down and rides away w/o ever getting off the bike. If you're smart, you read the entire sign before you start trying to figure out the answer, (because it was at the bottom of the sign). If you did the math from the top of the sign, you got the wrong answer.

Be careful of how far you go off your main route for out and back side bonuses. That can eat up a lot of time. Time you aren't getting any closer to the finish.

Edit - I don't currently rally. I'm out of the loop and there are many here with current rally experience. Many rallies are now 100% electronic w/o any paper bonus listing. Most lessons still apply, but there are a host of new lessons with electronic data management too.

 

[kerrizor]

For reference, I'm in the 36 hour Heart of Texas rally at the end of June and we got our rally packs a couple weeks ago.

April, you mean?

 

[paulcb]

April, you mean?

Yes, I'm in HoT end of April, but my mind was on the LDX at the end of June, which I'm also in. Thanks Kerri.

 

[keithu]

Lots of great advice here. Do sign up for a rally! You will have a blast.

Once you're signed up, the #1 thing is to read the rules, many times. If you want to have fun and achieve your personal goals, you need to be an expert on the rally's rules ahead of time. Heartbreak often stems from missing some important point in the rules.

I do think it's more technically challenging these days. 20+ years ago you could show up with your motorcycle, some maps, and a pen and do well. Nowadays it's pretty important in most rallies to know how to use a GPS and routing software. Practice creating routes and loading them in a GPS before the rally.

Also, read the rules.

 

[LeMaitre]

Started a thread a couple of years ago for similar reasons. https://forum.ironbutt.org/index.php?threads/rally-bonus-101.3677/

There are several links to great resources for developing a strategy that works for you.

Good Luck,

-Mark

 

[TomMcD]

Thanks to everyone for the input. This certainly has good information, and hopefully others can get some useful information in the future.

I've been digging thorough the recommendations and spending some quality time with Basecamp in an effort to build a route with more than the 10 stops Google allows. My 50CC route for June seems like a good place to start.

 

[Shawn K]

My 50CC route for June seems like a good place to start.

For what it's worth to you, there's nothing wrong with using Basecamp to help you plan a 50CC, but Basecamp isn't a necessity for a 50CC. It's entirely possible to do it without the software (as I recently did). Start at one coast, set your GPS for the other coast, and let 'er rip. Pay attention to your fuel stops between Las Cruces, NM and Kerrville, TX.

Also, there's not a whole lot of similarity between a 50CC and a rally, at least not as far as doing one helping you to prepare for the other. A rally is much more about strategy and planning, while a 50CC is more about endurance. At least, that's been my experience so far.

 

[TomMcD]

It's intended as exercise in learning Basecamp, not directly rally related. I've planned the route in Google, and Rever with exact gas stops laid out, ideal travel times between each, major construction project, lodging availability across western Texas and other details I can plan for as I think of them.

The stock 6.6 gallons on the RT simplifies things significantly and should let me get away with 9 planned en route stops. I'm also Including markers for the SS, BB(G) and SS2k which are useful as intermediate goals if the CC had to be abandoned for some reason. I build a detailed plan so I have less to worry about on the day and more mental bandwidth for the inevitable issues that come up in the moment.

Now to work out an efficient fuel stop routine.

For what it's worth to you, there's nothing wrong with using Basecamp to help you plan a 50CC, but Basecamp isn't a necessity for a 50CC. It's entirely possible to do it without the software (as I recently did). Start at one coast, set your GPS for the other coast, and let 'er rip. Pay attention to your fuel stops between Las Cruces, NM and Kerrville, TX.

Also, there's not a whole lot of similarity between a 50CC and a rally, at least not as far as doing one helping you to prepare for the other. A rally is much more about strategy and planning, while a 50CC is more about endurance. At least, that's been my experience so far.