My First Rally - Questions

[Dave28117]

I'm doing my first rally next month. It's only a 10 hour one, but will let me get to know the planning process more. There are a few basic questions that are nagging at me related to course planning.

What is a reasonable average stopping time at a location? Jump off the bike...place rally flag....snap photo....email....logging on sheet. Am I in the ballpark? 10 or 15 minutes? Sorry for the newb questions, but I'm starting to overthink every little detail about how it will go.

What kind of mileage should I plan for? 50 mph average? I know there's a lot of variables involved, just trying to get a "baseline".

 

[igneouss]

Ball park #s:
Bonus - 10mins avg
Moving speed -60mph avg (western interstates - 70, eastern county roads - 50 etc)
Gas stops a bit longer for bathroom break. Say 12 mins.
All these things are highly variable hence 'avg' values.
Keep track of this stuff and adjust accordingly for subsequent rallies.
Other opinions incoming... LOL

 

[AirbusFlieger]

For me the learning curve is getting my actions down pat and thinking through each movement I need to make on and off the motorcycle.

Even my clothing and gear affects my (long) stops.

Summer/wet is easy. Cold weather, not so much.

Helmet/glasses fogging.
Thick gloves on and off.
Winter gloves and touch screens
Zipper pulls (baggage and clothes)having lanyards
Electronics and cold weather
Thick layers of clothes under Riding gear
Multiple pant layers and boots.

A simple “sit down” bathroom break can turn into :15 minutes of nonsense dealing with riding gear on top of the gas/DBR routine. I’ve even had to take my boots off (tall boots) to be able to sit. One of my sit down bio breaks, the restroom was so small there was nowhere to put my pile of gear that needed to come off, which led to a second stop unrelated to fuel or a DBR….

I don’t have solutions for anyone else but me, however I hope this small list spurs some planning. None of these were a part of my planning on my last Ride Around West Virginia and played a large part of my DNF in that attempt.

Planning for my next Ride Around will include a thorough exploration of what actions are required for all phases of the ride, and going through the motions, literally, to be sure my actions on and off the motorcycle are performed economically.

It’s amazing how much thought needs to go into even the simplest of actions.

Plus I need to cool it being a chatterbox and taking pictures.

 

[Shawn K]

At Heart of Texas, I had rally photo stops done in under 3 minutes, fuel stops under 4. I watched Ben Ernst do an entire stop in about 90 seconds. I have work to do.

Don't hide your money and cards. If you have to de-layer to get to it, you're wasting time. I put my gas card in the arm pouch of my Darien jacket. That way, I pull up to the pump, take off one glove at the most, swipe the card, stick it back in the arm pouch, and go.

The fastest way to get your picture is to have the flag mountable on the bike. When I saw Ben, he had his attached to the inside of his top box lid - roll up, open the top box, take a picture, and go.

What your stops "should be" will depend on your goals. Do you want to be competitive? You'll need to be very fast and efficient. If you're just looking to have fun and don't care about results, then it's not so important.

Rallies are where good kit, a well-rehearsed plan, and experience pay dividends.

 

[rneal55555]

I plan on 10 minutes for a bonus, 15 for a fuel/bio break. I may be able to do better but there is almost always something else that eats up the gain (traffic, missed turn, traffic lights etc). Basecamp lets you adjust average speeds by road type. I bump them up or down depending on where I'm at mostly i.e. higher in the west or more rural areas, slower in the east. You can cover a lot of ground in a rally so it can be a best guess overall.

Due to work, life obligations I don't haven't had a ton of time for rallies. one of the things I have done is do a cert tide rally style. For example there is a thing called the 4 corners of Maine I planned a 1000+ mile route and rode it like a rally the required stops where my bonus's. You could do the same thing with tour of honor sites or something like https://www.roadsideamerica.com/ just make it challenging and go for the unfamiliar. Make the plan, ride the plan and evaluate.

When I started considering the IBR I saw an opportunity to learn in the SBR so I jumped on the inaugural one as a junior partner I learned tons (Thanks Terry) and we had a respectable finish and most importantly showed me I could safely operate over multiple days in a rally environment.

I had previously done just one eight hour rally on very familiar roads. After getting a draw for 2021 I practiced routing, we did the Maine Four Corners thing and we entered and rode the final MD 2020 which became the CO-VOID 2020. Because that is what I had time to do.

All that said there really is no better experience for the IBR than running competitive rallies especially multiple day rallies but all of us don't always have that luxury. We're probably not gonna have a podium finish but we certainly have a respectable finish.

 

[Dave28117]

thanks for the ideas and guides. I'll be "planning the ride and riding the plan". As this is the first, I'm just nervous about the unknowns (to me). I'm going to jump right into the deep end and try to be competitive with it. I have zero expectations though and will always consider it just "fun", win, lose or draw.

 

[rneal55555]

Something else I thought of make sure you have a plan to get a CSV file imported to your routing program in a usable fashion. It helps if can create a naming convention that tells you something about a bonus by looking at the saved name. The are several programs spreadsheets out there that help with it. Greg Rice has one on his web page if I remember correctly but there are others.

 

[EricV]

10 minutes is a good starting plan time for bonuses. That said, a lot depends on the rally and how they structure the bonuses. If they are deliberately forcing riders to get off the bikes, it's going to push that 10 minute window. If the bonus is your flag and something you can ride up to, there is no need to get off the bike if you have your flag accessible from the saddle. Many bonus stops were pull up, toss flag over the windscreen, lean back and snap a photo, tuck flag and camera away, ride off. Less than a minute stopped. If your rally 'flag' is a rubber chicken or a hat or other items that don't stow easily, that's going to cost you time.

Your camera should be useable with gloves on. So should your fuel credit cards of choice, and more than one. I prefer to tether the camera to my jacket. I would also suggest that if you have a flag for the rally, you tether it to the bike and keep it more external, if possible. I have on many occasions installed a brass grommet to the corner, or multiple corners, of the rally flag prior to the start. The tools are small and it gives me a reliable and secure hole to use a bungie tether or carabiner to both hang the flag on things like the bike, a fence, etc, and to secure it to the bike when stored so it won't fly out. I kept my rally flags between my tank bag and SWMotec map case for years. Great for when you can't remember if you took your flag off the fence at the last bonus and are riding away, just reach your hand in between the tank bag and map case, yep, it's there! Or, OH SHIT, time to turn around.

Think hard about anything that requires you to get off the bike or remove gear. Fix or change those things so you don't need to remove gear. Be that access to a pen, your camera, flag or rally photo item and fuel stops.

 

[lakota]

For my first rallies I didn’t worry about estimating times at bonii or gas/bio breaks. I just figured that a 43mph or 430 miles was the tops I could do in a 10 hour rally. As I improved my stop times my average speed has gone up to about 53 mph. I think it was easier to just have an end goal to worry about.

 

[TwoWheelTim]

It is fairly easy to go practice a few "stops" to get a feel for how long you can expect, and maybe to refine your efforts. Use a towel if you don't have a flag. Keep it as real as possible.

As Eric said, much of the timing depends on how the bonus is written, so pay attention to each planned description for possible time sucks.

 

[LDimick]

I was very fortunate for my first rally. Because it was an 8 hour geared to newbie's they gave us the bonii a week in advance and encouraged us to pre-scout. Now, I did not have time to run all 8 hours of stops but I was able to run 2 or 3 and that helped me set up my timing for stops, traffic etc.

The one thing that I did that was a HUGE help was create a quick and dirt spreadsheet that showed me what time I expected to leave each stop. I then highlighted two stops that I could throw out if I fell behind in my projected schedule. That was a huge help and I was able to complete my ride and finish with about ten minutes to spare.

 

[EricV]

@LDimick brings a really good point to light. Any plan should have some bonuses that you can add if you're ahead on time, and some you can remove if you're behind on time. Knowing those ahead of time really helps you avoid cutting a big point bonus to keep small point bonuses in the plan because the timing was against you. Setting a time frame in your plan to make those decisions is also very helpful.

 

[Dave28117]

I was very fortunate for my first rally. Because it was an 8 hour geared to newbie's they gave us the bonii a week in advance and encouraged us to pre-scout. Now, I did not have time to run all 8 hours of stops but I was able to run 2 or 3 and that helped me set up my timing for stops, traffic etc.

The one thing that I did that was a HUGE help was create a quick and dirt spreadsheet that showed me what time I expected to leave each stop. I then highlighted two stops that I could throw out if I fell behind in my projected schedule. That was a huge help and I was able to complete my ride and finish with about ten minutes to spare.

I had planned to have a few to toss out if time was a factor. I actually got some old 2020 rally csv files and did some planning practice. I really hadn't planned to add any in. I'll look at that though just in case I'm super proficient with my stops and amaze myself.

 

[Gerry Arel]

Some great recommendations here already. I'd add (not knowing where the rally is) don't push your stopped times so thin in planning that the route goes out the window halfway in. It's important to remember that in a sprint rally, 8 or 10-hr, that you don't have much clock time to borrow against for unplanned issues like traffic etc
10 minutes is an accepted general guide as shared above, and it is a long time unless you're practiced at it. If all goes well you might well be ahead of your schedule and that where those 'extra' bonus stops that you kept in mind come into play. I always have a sheet with my planned ETA for each stop so I can see if I'm earning or losing time.
I plan all my stops for 5 minutes unless I know specifically I'll be hiking to a bonus and that has worked pretty well for me over my rallies.

Not sure if you ride Tour Of Honor, but you could look there and set up a practice rally for yourself. Its great rally practice as its available almost anywhere. Between the auxiliary rides and the site locations you should be able to put a good 10-12 location route together in your area. Then ride it and practice the bonus stops. The sites are available even if you are not a TOH rider (the Tour is over for 2022).
Good luck!!

 

[LDimick]

One other thing I can share.

Check traffic patterns. There is nothing worse than running a looping route in the wrong direction and getting caught in traffic. You don't want to get caught on the 101 in LA in the afternoon because you didn't go through that area and direction early in the morning. I know of at least one rider on here who got burned that way

 

[Dave28117]

This one is in the SE, but I get what you are saying. Starting in Albany GA, but I'm familiar with avoiding Atlanta GA for exactly that reason. Any bonus points near there better be pretty big to offset the time suck of traffic!

 

[Matt Hube]

This may have already been said, but get in the habit of doing everything the same way and keeping things in the same place. I always keep my wallet in the same pocket in my Stitch. I always keep my flag in the same place in the trunk. I always keep my pen in the same place. I always do things in the same order when I stop for a bonus or gas. This will make your stops quicker and you'll be much less likely to leave your rally flag behind or lose your wallet or whatever. You get the idea.

 

[Dave28117]

so....I'm looking through potential stopping points. many appear to be stop/go places. Things along or just off the road which require a picture. I'm trying to think of a way to not get off the bike. does anyone have ideas of a telescoping wand to hold the flag out while taking a pic?

 

[Owsley]

so....I'm looking through potential stopping points. many appear to be stop/go places. Things along or just off the road which require a picture. I'm trying to think of a way to not get off the bike. does anyone have ideas of a telescoping wand to hold the flag out while taking a pic?

There are many selfie telescoping sticks out there that people are using.

 

[LDimick]

so....I'm looking through potential stopping points. many appear to be stop/go places. Things along or just off the road which require a picture. I'm trying to think of a way to not get off the bike. does anyone have ideas of a telescoping wand to hold the flag out while taking a pic?

I thought about that too but I decided that my body can use the 1-5 minutes at every stop. If nothing else it seems to help clear my head a bit.