IBR Prep. Practise Ride 15 May

Martin Little

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#1
Time for another rally practise ride, this one was focused on using my two GPS’s on the fly plus I decided to make this ride a “motorcycle” ride, aka lots of corners, lots of them. A route was knocked out in Basecamp, one that would test the settings on the GPS of “shortest distance” and I went to bed early to get some zzzzz’s ahead of starting out.

I woke before the alarm at 2:30am, (this is becoming a bad habit) so no point in hanging around. Finalised things, got rugged up in full Rally Riding kit, and wheeled the GSA out of the garage onto the road before firing it up t0 trundle the 500 metres down the road to collect a starting docket. Docket collected, Ride Log written up, reread the instructions for the first Bonus Point and headed east for the coast.


Starting Docket


It’s a relatively warm night, overcast with no moonlight. Heading out towards Bungendore past the Captains Flat turn off, the wildlife comes out to play, roos and lots of them. I eventually had to stop for one near the Kowen Forest cutting (known for it’s mobs of Roos). The poor fella had started crossing the road in front of me and slipped over on the damp road surface and couldn’t regain his footing. The Roo was thrashing around on its side in both lanes trying to get upright! After a couple of minutes of watching this I gingerly rode past well out of reach and continued on my way, watching the silhouettes of roos bounding around and across in front of me. Past Bungendore things went quiet at last, no traffic, no wildlife just the hum of the bike engine and the occasional twinkle of a star through the clouds.


Braidwood, and nothing is moving at 4:30am. As I accelerate away from the town limits another Roo comes bursting out the trees on my left and joins me in my lane, just in front of the GSA heading the same way. This Roo is happy to keep going and eventually I stop to allow him to hop off the road. Well things certainly aren’t boring on this ride! It’s a quiet trip down The Clyde to Batemans Bay Soldiers Club, my first Bonus Point. Photo taken and log written up, I programme in the next BP into the GPS that I use for point to point times and point the bike northwards towards Sydney.


The towns and villages roll by as the dawn struggles to break through the cloud cover, I stop for coffee at Berry and then continue on past Kiama before taking the Picton Road off ramp to head up hill to Wilton.


Milton Theatre.




Berry. Coffee time.


More corners and now one of my GPS’s wants me to take a different route, supposedly shorter, but I know it will take longer so I ignore it. This is why I’m riding this route. As I take the on ramp onto the Hume the GPS recalibrates itself and gives me a new (quicker) arrival time at the next BP, which now matches exactly the other GPS. Through Western Sydney and onto the M4 I head west into the Blue Mountains. Mother’s Day traffic is now heavy and it’s a slow ride up the hill. I refuel in Glenbrook where I get quizzed by the servo attendant about my bike, my riding kit, my Bluetooth comms etc. Back on the Highway I continue on to Medlow for BP # 2. The suns out momentarily which makes for a great photo!


On westward over the mountains and I take the turn off to Duckmaloi heading for Oberon. This is one of the reasons I chose the route, it’s been a while since I’ve been up around this area and the road does not disappoint for the next 2 hours as I make my way through Oberon, down to Abercrombie River, on to Taralga and Crookwell.



Bonus Point – Oberon RSL




Abercrombie River Crossing



Bonus Point - Crookwell RSL/CSL


I feel like a snack but everything is super busy in Crookwell so I continue west on the road to Boorowa until I find some space to pull over to munch on a muesli bar and down some water. A farmer and his wife (on their home after Mother’s Day Lunch) stop to check I’m OK, a quick chat and they’re on their way as am I. Pulling away from this stop as I accelerate another Roo bursts out from the tress on my left crosses about 10 metres in front of me, attempts to bound the roadside fence but misjudges the height and gets caught, somersaulting head over heels into the paddock before standing up and looking around in bewilderment! It must be a full moon or whatever the roo equivalent is!

Onwards to Boorowa, and this another sublime piece of country road I haven’t ridden for a while, enjoy it I do, even in a brief thunderstorm before idling into Boorowa to collect the last Bonus Point of this ride.



Bonus Point – Boorowa Hotel



Gravel Surfing Time! Just as well I brought the GSA on this ride


I finish up at Binalong, where I make my way back to the Hume to point the bike towards home. The GPS has been going berserk with rerouting instructions, all of which I’ve quietly ignored, as I know these roads well enough. The Barton Highway Off-ramp comes up soon enough and before too long I’m back in Canberra collecting my finishing docket.



Job done, just under 1,000kms for the day, with a 1,000 corners and what felt like a 1,000 Roos. The GPS settings will need relooking at as the “shorter distance” in all cases would not have resulted in a quicker/faster time.
 

OX-34

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#6
Good practice run Martin.

Excellent practice...time & date stamp on piccies???
Not needed if this is IBR training Brookester. The rider log (time and odometer) and perhaps the camera data on the scorer's computer screen is what they use.

Martin I find that the shortest distance is the least useful setting. My GPS likes to direct me off roads like heading south on the M7 it points me towards dozens of traffic lights in Liverpool or something.

Now if only that local knowledge that allows us all to ignore our GPS devices could somehow be captured and used in foreign lands...........

Are you planning running PR4s on your USA GSA?
 

Brookester

Premier Member
#7
Thanks OX....Martin is there not a setting in the GPS to avoid recalculations/shortest routes so that it just sticks to the route uploaded from Basecamp??? Or was this the spare GPS to give alternative routes in case of unexpected road closures???
 

Martin Little

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#8
Thanks OX....Martin is there not a setting in the GPS to avoid recalculations/shortest routes so that it just sticks to the route uploaded from Basecamp??? Or was this the spare GPS to give alternative routes in case of unexpected road closures???
Brookester, for the Rally I run two GPS's.
GPS number 1 (BMW V Nav) has the days route on it and is always set for the fastest travel time.
GPS number 2 (Garmin Zumo) I use for the point to point distance and time (that way I know exactly how far/time to the next Bonus) and is always set to "shortest distance"

Th idea is that you get the choice between the two, but in reality the shortest distance can quite often take longer time due to the fact it's gravel road/suburban road etc. Plus add in the lack of local knowledge I have as a non USA resident and the "shortest distance" is of dubious value as Ox pointed out.
 

Martin Little

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#11
Good practice run Martin.



Not needed if this is IBR training Brookester. The rider log (time and odometer) and perhaps the camera data on the scorer's computer screen is what they use.

Martin I find that the shortest distance is the least useful setting. My GPS likes to direct me off roads like heading south on the M7 it points me towards dozens of traffic lights in Liverpool or something.

Now if only that local knowledge that allows us all to ignore our GPS devices could somehow be captured and used in foreign lands...........

Are you planning running PR4s on your USA GSA?
Ox,

I have come around to that thinking also about "shortest distance" setting. In fact it just adds another worry to the endless thoughts running through ones head in the Rally.

I've also pondered long and hard how as a foreigner I can capture that "local knowledge" I guess no substitute for just riding in those foreign lands!

Yes I will be running PR4's on the Rally Bike, which is now a RT1200' (a 2005 model that participated in the 2007 IBR) I am hoping to ride the entire Rally on these. On my K1600 I get 20'000km out of a set of PR4's!
 

HACKLE

Well-Known Member
#13
I just love the practice, practice and again theme. Gets your head in the zone. I also like the distances obtained on the PR4's. Hoping for the same after just fitting a pair of the GT's.
 

Martin Little

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#14
I just love the practice, practice and again theme. Gets your head in the zone. I also like the distances obtained on the PR4's. Hoping for the same after just fitting a pair of the GT's.
That's the plan Hackle, to have the Rally Routine so down pat its automatic!

I've found the PR4's quite spectacular in the distances I am getting out of them on the K1600,
 

Tele

Premier Member
#15
A top day out Martin. Thanks for the report and the pictures . I look forward to following your progress in the USA.

I now have a set of PR4's on the K1600 after running through two sets of Pirelli Angel GT's. The GT's gave me around 14\15k per set so I'm keen to see what I get out of the PR4.

I have the BMW Nav 4 on my K16. I had it set to shortest distance, but after the recent trip with my son to and from Jervis Bay, I have reset the damn thing to Fastest. On the "short" setting it refuses to take me down the M2\M7 out of Sydney, but continually insists that I take the circuitous route through the back blocks of suburban Sydney. (I even checked that I have permitted the "pay toll" section). Leaving Newcastle to head west it continually routes me off the Hunter Expressway when I'm headed to Singleton. I'm looking forward to testing out the revised setting shortly.