Long Distance Scavenger Hunt Rallies....anyone?

[HawkGTRider]

Their Park-n-Ride rally looks like fun. It'd be nice to find an event a little closer to home rather than invest a couple of weeks getting to and returning from an event unless you were already going there.

One interesting aspect of rallies is that the shorter ones may actually be the more challenging in some ways. Consider a 24-hour rally vs a multi-day event.

If you're in the 24 hour rally, you'd best understand that you're going to have to ride for 24 hours to get your best score (I say "your" score, because it really comes down to competing with yourself). If you break down for even a few minutes, you're not going to get your best score. Every minute you spend feeding your face or taking care of those other pesky personal issues is going to contribute to you not getting your best score. If you average more than about 7-9 minutes for a gas stop from the time you exit a road until you're rolling again, you're doing something wrong and you're not going to get your best score. If you don't have aux lights on the bike to help you see better and help avoid nocturnal collisions, you're going to have to slow down...another contributor to not getting your best score.
In a multi-day event, everyone knows that you're going to have to sleep, eat, take care of bodily processes, etc., and everyone does. You can't avoid it in the multi-day rallies.

The 24 hour events may be the very worst for that issue because some people will do whatever they need to do to stay on the bike for the full event length. Events <24 hours are not quite the killers that the 24 hour events are because most everyone can stay in the saddle for 8-12 hours without taking excessive breaks. But whatever you do that doesn't include riding and bagging a bonus, every single minute, is contributing to not getting your best score.

Those are just some thoughts that have gone through my head...what do you think?

[RichGrab]

Those are just some thoughts that have gone through my head...what do you think?

I think it's starting to sound more like work than riding - which is supposed to be fun I thought.  For those  interested, enjoy. Not my cup of tea, milk, coffee - you name the drink. By the way, FCR was a blast.

[Patmo]

Rich....they are just a game, a game that tests one ability to strategize and plan.  How much "work" it is depends on each persons abilities and their desire to take it seriously.  For example...

Let's say that the bonus points were earned by visiting and taking pictures of covered bridges....there is A LOT of them in Ohio.....and the challenge was to make the route to see them as efficient as possible so as to give you the max amount of visits during the time frame allowed.  It's then up to each individual to decide how serious they want to be and how much time they want to spend at each one or how much preplaning they want to do. it would also allow each individual to decide just how much riding they wanted to do in a day, AND, in either case you can be sure that the majority of riding is probably going to be pretty enjoyable...as most covered bridges are out in the country on little back roads.


You can substitute river/lake ferries, state and national parks or historical sites, BBQ restaurants, country stores, courthouses, museums, railroad stations, etc. etc. etc.  The possibilities are endless.  A well planned event should have the intention of making the riding as pleasurable as possible, while still providing more of a challenge then just follow the leader.

[HawkGTRider]

Rich....they are just a game, a game that tests one ability to strategize and plan.  How much "work" it is depends on each persons abilities and their desire to take it seriously.  <snip>

After my 3rd Iron Butt Rally in 2005, my long suffering wife informed me that, with my gold medal finish that year, she felt like I had nothing left to prove and that I was done doing the IBR. I tried to explain to her that these events are, as you say, just a game, but she wasn't buying it.

By the way, I STILL say they are just a game. And even if you win a game of cards, a golf round, a tennis match, etc., that doesn't mean you don't even play again. If I found myself with the opportunity to go to the big dance again, I'd think long and hard about it.

[stevegrab]

Goeffrey,
I had a friend that golfed and told me if he ever hit a hole in one he'd toss his clubs in the nearest water hazard, go to the clubhouse for drinks and never play the game again.

[HawkGTRider]

Goeffrey,
I had a friend that golfed and told me if he ever hit a hole in one he'd toss his clubs in the nearest water hazard, go to the clubhouse for drinks and never play the game again.

Really? If I lucked into a hole in one, I'd be energized to keep playing. If lightning strikes once, it might strike again.

[BMWKeith]

I'd think that at a STAR, a short event would be well accepted.  At STAR '97 in Lake Eufaula, OK, they did a Dam Tour.  They had about 6 or so dams in the area, and the idea was to visit the dams during STAR.  I don't know how many participated, and I don't recall now if they had any prizes or anything, but my buddy and I visited them.  I thought it was kind of fun.  Any theme could be chosen.

Along similar lines, but on a bigger scale, if it is done outside of a rally, there is the Grand Tour, where a number of checkpoints scattered around the area are chosen, and participants visit the checkpoints on their own schedule at any time while the event is open, usually for a season.   I've organized several of these in Michigan, and had great feedback from those who have participated.  Generally I'll have 50 or 60 people sign up, then only about 12 to 20 who actually do it.  Many have signed up every year but never visited any of the checkpoints.  The AMA lists several of these that I think cover much of the country, while mine have stayed within the state of Michigan.

As was stated earlier, it's not for everyone, and it's not mandatory.  However, it's an option.  Those who do participate have a good excuse to go for a ride and see things they wouldn't have thought to go see or do otherwise.