Just thought I would chime in and write a few lines about my experience in this year's rally.
Having registered for the wimpy 1,000 km's in 14 hours instead of the 1,600 in 24 hours, I expected that making the distance wouldn't be a problem even though I had never ridden 1,000 km's on a bike in one day before. Was I wrong? For the answer, read on.
What I discovered is that riding in a straight line on a divided highway is different than riding on back country roads while stopping and taking pictures.
First, I have to say that I was unaware about some of the rule. For example, I did know that there was a penalty for coming short of the 1,000 km's required but I was unaware that going over meant extra points.
At the start, we took off in pairs starting at 6:30 a.m. two at a time in two minute intervals. I was in the pair took off 21 minutes after the first pair took off. The instructions lead us to believe that no matter what time you started, penalties started after 8:30 p.m. That meant, I thought, that I had just wasted 21 minutes out of the 24 hours. I only found out after I had checked in that night that I had until 8:51 p.m. to complete the distance. Oh well.
Moncton is located in SouthEast New Brunswick not far (approx 60 km's) from the Nova Scotia border.
The first part of the rally saw us going towards Nova Scotia.
This year, there were a number of mandatory stops along the route where you had to show proof (polaroid or digital camera) that you had been there. Some stops required a proof of purchase of something. Picture points were awarded for every picture of a lighthouse, trail sign, named bridge and tourist bureau. Some mandatory stops had to be made within a certain time frame.
Oh, I almost forgot. The night before the rally, we all received a set of instructions along with a description of the route and options but the organizers played a trick on us and only gave us approx. 350 km's of route. That meant that we didn't know where we were going after that but since the checkpoint where we had to get our additional instructions was close to the ferry that goes to P.E.I., I suspected that P.E.I. was part of the route.
Anyhoo, when we got to Nova Scotia, we had a choice to make, either take the Sunrise Trail or the Glooscap Trail. I had made a decision the night before to take the Sunrise Trail. It seemed that there were more points to be had on that trail but it was a little shorter.
I was able to make some decent time but the mandatory checkpoints and other stops to take pictures for added points made my average KM per hour less than ideal.
When we got to the checkpoint where we received the rest of the instructions, it was approx 10:45 a.m. A quick glance revealed that there was a lot of bonus points to be had if we got a receipt for any purchase in Charlottetown P.E.I. Without thinking too much, I immediately pointed the front wheel towards the Caribou Ferry and rode like crazy to make the 11:15 crossing. I got there at 11:00 and the last of the cars were boarding. I thought for sure that I was screwed because the bikes go on first. After waiting for a few minutes, the attendant signaled me to go ahead and board. What a relief that was.
As soon as I got up on the deck, I started to look for other rally participants and couldn't find any. When the captain announced that the crossing was going to take approx 1 hr 15 minutes, I thought I was screwed. I didn't think it would be possible the make up that much idle time. That meant that instead of having 14 hours to complete 1,000. km's, I had just wasted 1 1/2 hours if you included the time to board and get off the boat. Plus, if any of you have ever been on P.E.I., you know that you cannot be in a rush when riding there. Bambis are no problem but farm tractors are.
On the boat, I met two other crazies that had taken a chance with it. Both were riding Buells of all bikes with no windshiels or anything for protection against the on and off rain we were having up to that point and loud pipes. Plus, they were doing the 1,600. km's in 24 hours.
On the positive side, being on the ferry allowed me to study the route for the remainder of the rally and eat.
There were no mandatory stops on the Island other than needing a receipt for a purchase in Charlottetown.
Once off the boat, panic set in when I looked at the clock but then I decided that que sera sera. If I got in late, the worst that could happen is that I would lose some points. Still, I was hoping to be able to make it.
I had hoped to be able to make it to Charlottetown before my first fuel stop but the big ST - even though it has a 29 litre tank - couldn't make it. I had to stop just short.
When I got in Charlottetown, I stopped at a convenience store, bought a bottle of water and asked the clerk for a receipt. Guess what? The receipt didn't show anything but numbers. No "Charlottetown" on it. Crap! Now I needed to make another stop. That meant three stops for what could have been one stop if I had filled my gas tank to the rim before leaving.
Next stop was a Shoppers' Drug Mart and I was able to get a proper receipt.
Have you ever tried to get out ot Charlottetown when you're in a hurry. Well, let me tell you, it doesn't work.
The speed limit on the Confederation Bridge is only 80 km's per hour but I didn't care. I hope all those cameras on the bridge didn't see my plate number.
Off the bridge and now in N.B. I exceeded the speed limit slightly once or twice.
The first mandatory stop in N.B, was in Port Elgin. Again, we had to make a purchase at a particular store and I met my two Buell friends as I was walking out of the store. One of them had decided that enough was enough and he was heading home.
Now in N.B., I knew my way around like no one else and I just gunned it. It just so happens that I had just slowed down behind a slower car on the two ocasions that I met a police cruiser at different points in N.B.
Before we started the rally, we had to give our driver's license to an official who put it in a sealed envelope. If the seal was broken during the rally, we lost a lot of points. The story goes that one guy got stopped and after explaining what was going on to the cop, he did not open the envelope. This guy must be a pretty good salesman.
As the day went by, I was able to make up the lost time and had apprx 15 minutes to spare at the end plus the extra 21 minutes that I didn't know about. The last 100 km's was done in torrential rains but with all of the protection that the the big ST gives, I was able to maintain a good pace.
In the end, I finished 6th out of 17 that did the 1,000 km's.
Huron52 of ST.N also did the 1,000 km's and AFA_ST did the 1,600 kms. I'll let them write about their own experiences if they so wish.
Oh, I almost forgot, here's two pictures. The first one is just before the start and the second one is that of a lighthouse on the course in Pointe Sapin N.B.
