The Void III

[DNA]

Anyone riding the VOID III rally this year?
http://www.rallythevoid.org/
I am starting Altoona, and have a double bed room in Lynchberg Sat night.
Any interest in splitting room costs?
Last year I did it as a 12 hour - this yea they added a 24 hour ride as well.  Should be a good rally judging from the people entered again.  

[DrMikey]

I'll be starting from Owensboro. Just put new tires on, hope to have my aux headlights on by week's end.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

Got my rally towel in the mail today.

I'm also starting from Owensboro. Looking forward to a great time!

[squeezer]

I'll be starting from Altoona.  Bike's at the shop getting new shoes, wheel bearings, and fork oil.

The flag arrived today.  Not sure what to do about moisture protection for it...

[DNA]

I'll be starting from Altoona.  Bike's at the shop getting new shoes, wheel bearings, and fork oil.

The flag arrived today.  Not sure what to do about moisture protection for it...

I'm thinking about laminating the whole thing.

Are people meeting up someplace for a good meal in Altoona before the official start?  As a local, any idea of a good meeting spot?

Any bets what the little tile is all about?  

Who thinks the Sprint will last through this one?    

[Rocket_Cowboy]

Just be careful laminating that thing ... if it creates a glare when you need to use the camera flash, you'll be hating life.

[DrMikey]

How 'bout one of them zip-locky document protector things? You know, the kind with the holes punched for a 3-ring binder? They make 'em with a kind of frosted surface that should reduce glare.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

How 'bout one of them zip-locky document protector things? You know, the kind with the holes punched for a 3-ring binder? They make 'em with a kind of frosted surface that should reduce glare.

That's kind of what I was thinking ... something none permanent, so I can change plans if need be.

[squeezer]

I'll wait on a laminating vs. the temp thing until I get a better sense of what the weather will be like.

Hey Dave:  I think folks are putting together Altoona dinner plans on the Yahoo board, but I probably won't come down for it.  I live an hour north in State College, so I'll be sleeping at home on Thursday.  And I've already made dinner plans for Thursday night up there.  If you want to join us for dinner in Penn State-land, let me know.  

And when we run into each other at a bonus location in this year's rally, let's hope the bonus is actually there instead of several miles away.  

[DNA]

I'll wait on a laminating vs. the temp thing until I get a better sense of what the weather will be like.

Hey Dave:  I think folks are putting together Altoona dinner plans on the Yahoo board, but I probably won't come down for it.  I live an hour north in State College, so I'll be sleeping at home on Thursday.  And I've already made dinner plans for Thursday night up there.  If you want to join us for dinner in Penn State-land, let me know.  

And when we run into each other at a bonus location in this year's rally, let's hope the bonus is actually there instead of several miles away.  

Ed?  
 

I will be at home Thursday night as well in the DC area - but I iwll be riding up to Altoona on Friday AM.

I was wondering if there was an IHOP/Dennies or something up there we can rally to and have a big brunch before the 12:50 start?

I am about 2-3 hours away so I was planning on getting there about 11:30?  Any ideas?

[DrMikey]

The schedule lists a "call-in" start at 2PM Friday, Oct 12. I assume that means call from someplace within a specified radius of a starting point (gas station, fire house, etc.) Is anyone interested in meeting for breakfast before the Owensboro start?

[DNA]

Last night I had a flat tire/ lost/ missing receipt dream.

I think this is going to be a stressful few weeks.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

The schedule lists a "call-in" start at 2PM Friday, Oct 12. I assume that means call from someplace within a specified radius of a starting point (gas station, fire house, etc.) Is anyone interested in meeting for breakfast before the Owensboro start?

If I can find an IHOP in Owensboro, that's where I'll be.

[DrMikey]

Did everyone get their electronic rally book? I have not yet received mine.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

I got two emails Monday evening, both containing the Owensboro KY rally book. The second email was worded that it was a safety check just to make sure there was no problem with the first email going out.

[DNA]

+1

I got mine twice yesterday as well as Altoona Rally book.

Looks like it's going to be a fun rally.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

If you're not already, make sure you're subscribed to the yahoo groups mailer to get updates on rules clarification and updates. I know there's been at least two corrections to the Owensboro KY rally book.

Scott and Gary are updating the rally website with these updates at some point today, but it's also good to get the updates as they happen.

See you guys in Lynchburg if not before!

[DNA]

Shall we try to gather for an STN group pic at the dinner?
I know Ed by sight (we spent a bit of quality time together last year with an old geezer in a truck), but no one else.

I will try to wear my STN national DNA shirt at the dinner - assuming I don't crash out in the process.  Anyone have an STN hat to wear for that Boni?

[squeezer]

Shall we try to gather for an STN group pic at the dinner?
I know Ed by sight (we spent a bit of quality time together last year with an old geezer in a truck), but no one else.

Ah, good times...  

I will try to wear my STN national DNA shirt at the dinner - assuming I don't crash out in the process.  Anyone have an STN hat to wear for that Boni?

I like that idea.  Let's go for the photo.  I'll pack my "All your roads" shirt for the banquet.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

I don't have and STN apparel to wear, but I'm up for whatever Thursday evening.

Hopefully Mike got his rally book issue resolved.

[DrMikey]

Got a phone number for Scott via the LDRider list. Got the Rallybook a few minutes later. I'm on track to be in Owensboro b/w 8-10 PM tomorrow night.

[DNA]

Anyone expecting additional / surprise boni to be delivered on the phone when we check in?

[lionlady]

If only I'd looked HERE before leaving for Lynchburg... then I woulda known to look for ST.N ers... Met DNA on Sunday morning.  

Things I learned from my first LD rally (did the 10 hr):

1. This wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. The time crunch thing was tough enough, but then having to do something DIFFERENT (it seemed) to claim each bonus was more detail than I could take. (I did enjoy the ride, though.)

2. Work out a routine for each stop, then you don't waste time. That no doubt comes with experience.

3. Riding legally and safely means you won't cover enough miles to get high points. OR you risk DNFing.

I lost time with stupid stuff (broke a side plate on my Arai helmet changing visors at my FIRST stop ) and had to cut bonii. Think I finished dead last... but at least I finished!  

P

[PawnBroker]

Pam,

great meeting you and the rest of the STN crew.  

Most important thing is that we all finished.

I learned a valuable lesson at this rallye, even if you have a receipt for the rest bonus it doesn't count UNLESS you write it in your rally book.  There went my 4,500 points.  OUCH  .


PB  

[DNA]

Wow - great turn out ST.Ners!   It was good to meet you all and looking forward to the next one.

The Void 3 is in the bag, and the results are in.  In short, as a group - we basically suck at LD rallies.  


I had a good time and completely my top 4 goals:
1) No wreck
2) No tickets
3) Get hungry, cold, lost, miserable, and unhappy enough to make me want to get back to my normal life and resume my commute and daily BS.
4) No not finish last.

Finishing with a top 10 eluded me this time (again) as I made a few errors in judgement and some bad luck a well.

Some pics of the event:

From the Right:
Dr Mikey, Pawn Broker, squeezer, DNA, ? (Sorry I forgot your screen name Rebecca)




Also there but missing in the main group pic:  

Rocket Cowboy:






Lion Lady:



Renegade is completely missing from my camera - so post up if you got him.



As I used a digital, I thought I'd post a few of the Boni picks to show everyone what fun we were having:

Flight 193 Memorial:



Just Married at a Laundrymat in W VA:



Some baseball park in Carelston WVA:




Daniel Boon's Grave:



Corvette Plant in Bowling Green Ky:




After this I was late and had to make up time.  I ended up 27 minutes late and was punished severly on points, but at least I did not DNF.

At least this year I didn't hit Bambi - someone else sure did though. Bunch of points for me thank you very much:



The next morning Sqeezer and I had some breakfast:



Then I went on to get the 2 I was looking for but had to skip:

Dino girl:



Foamhenge:



Then back home 1:30 late.  Looks like I bought my wife a new deck as she was charging me $85 per minute after 2:00  


All in all good weekend.   Almost 1800 miles in 3 days - 1310+ in the rally, and a few hundred up and back.  After a few brews and a good night sleep I almost want to go again next year.

[DrMikey]

Just signing in to let everyone know I made it home safely. Got in a couple hours ago. To atone for my rather non-stellar performance in the rally (point-wise, anyway) I decided to atone for my sins by doing a saddlesore 1K on the way home. This is unofficial, but 1020 miles in 24 hours. Good weather yesterday made it fun. Got to Indiana before dark, even after leaving Lynchburg late at 10:30. Sometime I'll tell you about all the crap I ran into on this side of Louisville.

The rally was a good time, and it was fun hangino out with STN'ers and LD riders. These things can be habit forming.  

[squeezer]

Hey, it was great meeting everyone.  I had a great time at this rally.  Made the paperwork errors that knocked me out of what would have been my best rally finish yet, but the ride's the thing and it was a great one.  I sure was glad when the sun came up on Saturday morning, though.

I think an S-T.N group shot should become a habit at these events.  Thanks, Dave, for suggesting it.

I know I'll do the Mason-Dixon 20-20 on Memorial Day weekend.  Cape Fear and the Minuteman are on my radar and I'm trying to squeeze them in.  Dr. Mikey piqued my interest in the Minnesota 1000.  We'll see what happens...

[DNA]

Just signing in to let everyone know I made it home safely. Got in a couple hours ago. To atone for my rather non-stellar performance in the rally (point-wise, anyway) I decided to atone for my sins by doing a saddlesore 1K on the way home. This is unofficial, but 1020 miles in 24 hours. Good weather yesterday made it fun. Got to Indiana before dark, even after leaving Lynchburg late at 10:30. Sometime I'll tell you about all the crap I ran into on this side of Louisville.

The rally was a good time, and it was fun hangino out with STN'ers and LD riders. These things can be habit forming.  

Glad you made it back - sounds like a good ride home.
What was your mileage for the weekend?  3000+?

[DrMikey]

Glad you made it back - sounds like a good ride home.
What was your mileage for the weekend?  3000+?

Not quite 3000- more like 2500 and change. Starting at Owensboro made for a trip out about half the distance of the trip home.

The I-265 outer "loop" around Louisville is not yet complete. It connects with a state highway in the northeast suburbs that connects with I-264 (an inner loop) that connects with 65. If westbound on I-64, you're better off going all the way downtown and catching I-65. This error cost me probably 15-20 minutes.

There was a semi jackknifed across I-65 in Downtown indy. Traffic was routed east on I-70 to 465. It probably didn't add a whole lot of extra time to the trip, but it had to add no less than ten minutes.

The Flying J (a real gamble, IMHO) had good food, and the service was friendly, but slow. Dunno exactly why, as there were three waitresses working the dining room and about six tables between them all. It took me over an hour to gas up, eat and go. To be fair, I had planned for a long stop, my only one of the day, but by "long" I was thinking 30, 40 minutes tops.

Took a break for a few hours at Merriville, just south of Chicago, and got back on the road at 5. Smooth sailing until the Skyway/Ryan merge. What's normally three lanes was funnelled into two, or four into three, but it caused a backup even at 5:30. Construction somewhere on the Tri-State Southbound caused a backup all the way from the Kennedy/Edens split to O'Hare and beyond. It took 1:45 to go from Merriville to Elgin, about 70 miles, starting at 0500. And the tolls! When I made my exit from the 'burbs in 2000, tolls were 40 cents. I could understand them doubling since. But have they doubled? No. Have they tripled? No. F@&king quadrupled to $1.60! It costs $5.80 to go from the state line north of Rockford to O'Hare. This isn't counting the $2.50 for the Skyway and the $0.65 for the Indiana Toll Road (which I think are the same price as they were in 1992). And Illinois wonders why we Cheddarheads hate driving there.

[DNA]

Sounds nasty.

I'm going to just sit on my butt and watch football for a few weekends and not even think about my bike again for a while....possibly.

The results are in:  We suck    (except Ed  )  but at least we ride.  
http://www.rallythevoid.org/pb/wp_33706818/wp_33706818.html?0.7296916383820126

Now back to our regularly scheduled "which tire/oil/ABS+-/HD's also suck" threads.

[squeezer]

In case you folks haven't gone back to the Void discussion board, Don Jones had a crash on his way home Sunday.  There's a news story here:  http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200771015015.  He's apparently banged up pretty good.  Details are a little sketchy.  

Don's a good guy.  Spare him a good thought.

[DNA]

Crap.  

I hope he is ok - it gets harder o heal up as we age and 4 broken ribs and a broken wrist.  Glad it was not any worse.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

Sorry for the late post, but I made it back home in big D just after 10pm last night. I stopped in Memphis TN on my way home from Lynchburg to say hey to the parents, and so ended up staying there to watch the Cowboys lose.

I'll get pictures and a rally report posted ... my #1 problem was taking way too much time at the stops. It didn't help that I was taking both polaroid and digital shots, but I had tried changing my bonus system in ways that ended up not working for me at all. Spent WAY too much time hunting down a couple of the stops. Still ... beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Good meeting everyone! Sorry I didn't make the group photo...

[guitardad]

I know I'll do the Mason-Dixon 20-20 on Memorial Day weekend.  Cape Fear and the Minuteman are on my radar and I'm trying to squeeze them in.  Dr. Mikey piqued my interest in the Minnesota 1000.  We'll see what happens...

If you get a chance to do the Cape Fear, Jim Bain runs a really good rally.  Don't know about the others, although the MD 20/20 is definitely on my radar screen as well.  I'll have to check in here first, next time!

[Rocket_Cowboy]

The Cape Fear is already on my list for next year, as is the Void again.

I'm still waiting to see what lines up for next summer. I'd like to do a multi-day like the Spank or a Butt-Lite, but it really depends on where they fall on the calendar. If nothing else, I'll end up doing the Utah 1088 or Cal 24.