The Digital Scavenger Hunt 2011 was titled and themed "Nautical and Naughty" which led most of us to believe we'd be looking for boats and strip clubs. FL and South GA has a lot of both. But of course the Rally Masters tend to be sneaky, so I didn't think too hard about it. The rally dates were Nov 4-6th. The RM was very nice and sent out the bonus locations in digital format about a week before the event to ensure we had enough time to input the waypoints into our GPSs. But we got no descriptions or point values for the locations. Some were obvious, like the submarine in Kings Bay, GA... and the Blue Angels jet @ NAS Jax. But most were still a mystery. Enter... Google Maps. I was able to narrow down 90% of the locations and what was there using Google Maps and its Street View option. That really helped find out what place or object we were looking for. But again, without point values or descriptions there was no route planning that could be done. But I knew I wanted to go to Kings Bay to see the Sub memorial since it was not erected until after I was stationed there in 1996-2000. But I made 3 very rough routes just to get an idea of which places I could get to and back in the 10 hours we had. The rally was based out of Dade City, FL which is west of Orlando, and North of Tampa... pretty much in the middle of FL. I planned one route NW up through Tallahasee, one NE up to JAX and Kings Bay, and a 'southern' loop through Tampa, Occechobee, and Miami areas. Those routes I would build around once we got the rally packs. I preped the bike with an oil change for the engine and rear drive, cleaned the air filter, and tested the aux tank to ensure I wouldn't be stranded like dad was when he had this tank last year. I was out of work the week up to the rally, so I did a practice run with 5 local landmarks, my new waterproof camera, and a new 'special process' to help speed up my bonus location stops. I wanted to be sure I had my process perfected before the rally. For most rallys you get a rally flag with your rider number on it. You place your rally flag on, or in view of, the bonus location and take a picture of them both. Sometimes the bonus description states your motorcylcle AND rally flag must be visible in the photo along with the bonus. You also have to write down in your rider log, the time and your odometer reading while at each location for final scoring. All these things are to prove you were at the location and didn't send a friend to get the photo for you while you were some where else. I do things a bit different than some to speed up my stops. I don't write anything in the rally log during the ride itself. This prevents me from having to get to the location, get off the bike, get out the rally pack from the saddle bag, find the page the bonus location is on, find the bonus entry (70 in this pack), read the description, figure out if I need just the flag in the photo, or the bike and the flag, get and turn on the digital camera, place the rally flag in view of the bonus, take the picture, take more pictures if need be, retrieve the flag, store the flag and camera, write down the time and odo reading in the rally pack, store the rally pack in the saddle bags, remount the bike, hope it starts, and drive off to the next stop to do the process over again. Thats a lot of steps to do at each location, and it takes a lot of time. I know... thats how I did my first rally. For my second rally, I wrote down what I needed to get at each location in a pocket size notebook I kept in my tankbag, to minimize my off the bike time. But for that rally, there was no flag or photo requirement. For this rally I tweaked to process even more to add the camera and flag requirement. The complete process is currently on a NEED TO KNOW basis, and right now, you dont need to know! Actually I
Two days before the Rally, we got the rally pack with the bonus descriptions and their point values... most of them. Part of the format of this years rally, is some of the bonuses were "Pot Luck" which means, the riders had no idea of the point value of the bonus until we were at the scoring table. But we were told they were somewhere between 300 and 2000 points. That throws a lil kink in the planning. And we were also informed that we would not find out what the Nautical and Naughty wildard bonuses were until the Friday night riders meeting. But we do know they are in addition to the normal bonus locations in the rally pack. At least now we can really start planning routes. The point values for the southern loop were way to low and too spread out make it an option for me. I focused on the NW and NE loops. I knew how to get to 3 of the NW locations near Tallahassee... One of them is 3 miles from my house! But I couldn't get the points up high enough to compare to the NE route up to Kings Bay, GA. It was my first gut reaction to go there before points were known, and now the sub was the highest point value bonus on the ride. I had to go there! Plus there was a multi state gas bonus so GA was a must. I planned my route to GA and back, and would only tweak it if the wildcard Nautical and Naughty bonuses were worth a lot of points. I was done planning and it was the day before the rally! No staying up til 2 am plugging in cooridnates and rally planning like Eds. Nice.
I got up Fri morning and sent the kids and wife off to school and work. Got everything packed, and did my last once over on the bike. Tires on pressure. Oil and brake fluid levels good. New GPS cradle secured. But I noticed a little antifreeze on the right side of the engine, on the cowl. Not much.. just a few green streaks. I popped the cap off the radiator and pour in about 4 oz of water. No biggie. I plug up the GPS and enter in the addres for the hotel. Funny... no sounds. I guess its on mute. Nope. It has a big loud speaker in its cradle for use as a speaker phone in the car. That was now dead. I normally couldn't hear what it was saying on the hwy due to the noise and the helmet anyway, but I could hear noises to alert me to look at it. Now I didn't even have that. I'll have to watch it more carefully now. Too late and too expensive to replace on the way to the rally. And now I have to keep an eye on the antifreeze too. Off to Dade City.
I happened to pass a few of the bonus locations on the way down as they were right on my route on HWY 98. But since I wasn't planing on taking that route, no biggie. BUT... just incase I changed my mind, I'll scope out 2 more that are just off the beaten path. But of course there is nothing to gain but knowlege that the bonus location is indeed where the GPS says it is. (Another reason you get your rally flag the night before the rally) At one stop in BFE, I check my phone and see I missed a call from my job recruiter (i'm out of work remember). No signal, so I couldn't check the voicemail. Once I get back into civilization, I check the VM and all he says is to call him. I did and got his VM... time for phone tag! Then I got an email from the recruiting company to call him. Replied back that I did and got his VM, but I was on the motorcycle headed south and will be unable to answer the phone and out of coverage for a portion of the trip anyway. I keep heading south. The phone rang again while riding, so I waited till I found a parking lot to pull off in. Of course the roach motel was nowhere near a cell tower. So I kept on down the road until I got into Chiefland, FL. I think they have one cell tower. I pulled off and finally got to speak to my recruiter. He informed me that the company I had done 3 previous interviews with, was officially offering me the position. Which I excitedly accepted! I am now the IT Manager for Star and Shield Insurance. That was a load off. I could now focus on the rally, and not worry about gas money to get home :) I called the wife to let her know the good news, and that she could return the pallet of ramen noodles. I continued on to Dade City with no more stops.
I met up with dad at the hotel about 2 hours before the riders meeting/dinner. I trained him up on the special photo taking process, and gave him the items he needed to do it. We met up with a few of the other riders as they were trickling in. Let the lies and trash talking begin :) We talked routes, and stategies, and such. Rule of thumb is... whoever is telling you their best route... you agree with them and remember they most likely are lying! Or if their route matches yours, you steer them off of it to keep the advantage. We are evil! And when they tell you they are going for the bonus across the street from UFs stadium, you forget to tell them that its homecoming weekend and the roads are packed or blocked off. Or that a particular bonus is 10 miles down a dirt road. HEY... I looked it up. So can they :) But most of the time we do really help each other out. Buber programmed 2 other riders GPSs for them. The guilty (Ed) shall remain (Ernie) nameless. After a little while, we all headed out to the riders meeting at a restaurant to eat and get our rally flags.
At the riders meeting we finally got clarifacation on the Nautical and Naughty bonuses. Nautical photo bonuses were 400 points for each picture of anything nautical... but just not 'right'. A lighthouse nowhere near water... a boat on the ground... that sort of thing. But the Naughty bonus was not related to establishments of ill repute as many of us thought... but places they put people that have been naughty... prisons and jails. There is no way to plan a route to look for boats on the ground... but you CAN find prisons. Crap! Time to re-route when we get back to the hotel. Naughty bonuses were worth 300 points, so they could be worth it if on your main route. Pot Luck were still unknown point values. We headed back to hotel with a stop to fill up our tanks and fuel cells.
Once back at the hotel, searches for prisons on my route commenced. I found a good number of them, and was able to bypass some of the lower point, hard to get bonuses in favor of the prisons on the main route. I finally settled on a route around 11pm and got them all loaded into my GPS. I filled out my cheat sheet notebook for the tankbag, and went to bed. I was going to make 19 total stops, 3 being Pot Luck, and 7 naughty bonues. I scheduled a 9hr route, so I could get the 30 min lunch bonus, and still have a 30min cushion. I would look for nautical bonuses while riding, but none were pre-planned.
We had another riders meeting before the start in the hotel with the free crappy hotel continental breakfast. We had to seal up our registration and drivers license in an envelope for the 'No Speeding' bonus. If it comes back still sealed, you get 500 points. Then we got one more new option to score some more bonus points. You had the option of carrying with you a Grade A, Farm Fresh, numbered egg (not boiled) and if it made the trip back... it was worth 2000 points. If it broke, you would lose 1000 points! The kicker was... you had to take a photo of it every 100 miles, plus or minus 3. I really did not want to be on the shoulder of I-95 or I-4 trying to get a photo of an egg, or possibly lose 1000 points if I broke it... so I passed on the egg bonus. We all headed for the bikes, as the start time was closing in. I checked the antifreeze situation, and poured in another 4oz of water. I figured it wouldn't be an issue on the ride, if it only lost 4 oz in the 5 hrs of riding to the rally and dinner. I suited up, set the GPS to my first location, and activated my SPOT tracker. It was right at start time, so I headed over the to starting cones. Ray just let the first 2 riders go, so I was headed out # 3. He got my ODO reading, start time, and off I went. Its always good to get a jump on most everyone! Then waiting 5 mins at the 2 stop lights to get to the Interstate, half the field was right behind me. So much for a starting advantage.
I had my route planned before the Naughty bonus explanation, but I pretty much followed the same route after I added all the jails. My first 2 stops were changed from the low point value bonuses to jails. The first one was in Bushnell, 20 mins from the start. It was still dark when I arrived, so it took me a few camera shots at 2 differnt signs to get a valid photo of the sign and my rally flag. I got it and was gone. I passed my dad as he was coming in to get it. Garmin decided not to take me back to the interstate, but a 2 lane rd that hit I75, 5 miles up the road. I passed a ton of cops going/leaving work as there was a huge Sherriffs office just up the road from the jail. Once I got past all that, it was nothing but pastures for 5 miles. Just before I got to the interchange to get back on 75, one of those cops headed to work was feeling a bit excited to be on the job and flipped around and lit me up. My GPS said 65... but I was in a 55 zone.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?"
"I guess because I was doing 65 in a 55???"
"No. You were doing 66."
"Oh. Well my GPS said 65, and speedo said 62, but OK."
Here it comes.... "License and registration please."
"Sir if I open this envelope, I loose 500 points."
Blank stare...................... So I rip it open and give it him.
"Mr Lee, where are you headed."
"Actually I'm headed up to Kings Bay, GA, down to Daytona, then back to Dade City. I'm in a motorcycle rally."
Blank stare..................... "Whats that thing on the back of the bike?"
"Its an extra fuel tank so I can ride 350 miles without stopping for gas."
Blank stare..................... "Wait right here," as he heads back to this car.
I wave at a few riders as they are riding by on the interstate. He comes back with his ticket book, asks me the make and model of the bike, and hands me the ticket book to sign. "Mr. Lee, this is just a written warning. But I'm putting this into the system, so If you get pulled over again, you will get a ticket."
"Thank you sir. That won't be an issue."
"Slow it down," as he hands me a pink slip and license back.
"Yes sir," as I'm rushing as slowly as I can to get back on the bike and leave.
Now, I'm 500 points, and I don't know how many minutes, behind. I thought I was only stopped for about 10 mins, but I really didn't have a clue. I hit the interstate to get headed to my my next jail in Ocala. I didn't see any riders on the way there, so I figured I got passed by all of them that were headed the same direction. As I was stopped at the red light at the bottom of the off ramp, dad pulled up beside me. He gave me confused look as he knew I was ahead of him at the first jail we went to. I followed him to the Ocala jail and once stopped, I started my on-the-bike flag and sign photo process. Dad started his off the bike, put the flag on the sign photo process. I went through all that planning and training for you NOT to use it... Hey. Whatever. I was ready to leave as he was gettin his picture. I think from that point on he used the on-the-bike method since he saw how much faster it was. I explained the getting pulled over fun I had... and he figured out thats how he caught me. So I still thought at that point I was only 10 mins behind schedule. I hit my next waypoint on the GPS and headed out. The next bonus was a histrical marker and caboose in Waldo. I was on back roads most the way there and the sun was up, so I started looking for boats on the ground as I figured there'd be plenty with all the shady homes on the back roads. But then I realize... If I pull up in some of these run down domicile driveways, I may stir up more trouble than I want. I passed 2 or 3 boats being used as pit bull houses... Nope. Not worth getting eaten or shot. And this was the case the rest of the day!!! I found the caboose and got my picture of the bike, flag, 2 historical markers, AND the caboose... all in one photo. Another rider was pulling up, as I was headed out. That was the last rally rider I saw until 45 mins from the end. I passed a road sign pointing down a side road for a correctional facility that was NOT on my list. I was in the boonies, so I figured it couldn't be too far down the road. It wasn't. Stopped and got my photo and avoided the security guard coming at me to see what I was doing. I waved as I took off. One TRUE wild card as it was not planned at all. Next stops were NE of Jax in and around Yulee. There was a Giant golf ball, an adult prison, one of my Pot Lucks...the Jacksonville Vetrans Cemetary, and another prison... all within a few miles of each other. I even found a juvenile prison not on my list. More points! I didn't get off the bike once. I texted a Navy friend of mine to meet me at the sub memorial in St Marys, and headed to my old stomping grounds.
I got there and got the photo of my bike, flag, and sub from the road. That was the first time off the bike in a couple hours. My friend wasn't there so I left to get gas for the 2 state gas bonus. I figured I'd take my lunch bonus there too as it was in the lunch window now. I filled up the main tank, and aux tank at a BP station, and sure enough... no address on the receipt. So I go inside to get a receipt. NO ADDRESS ON THE RECEIPT!! Just a station ID #. So I head out to find another gas station. I find a gas station with a Subway next door. As I pull up to the pump I see a receipt hanging out of the machine. It has the address, with the state showing. I pumped 25 cents of gas to get my scorable receipt, as that was all the tank would hold. I ran into Subway and ordered my lunch. I think the couple working there thought I was weird, since it was only after I ordered, called in the bonus, and took a picture of my lunch and flag, that I took off any of my gear. I texted my friend again and told him where I was and the exact time I was leaving. I never heard from him.... Slacker Jeremy sleeping till noon! Headed to NAS Jax.My next planned stops had 4 grouped together in St Augustine. Once I got to I95 South, I started figuring in my head, how much time I had to get back to Dade City, versus all my stops I had to make. I knew it was going to take 2 hours from Daytona to get back to the finish. I still don't have a route in the GPS... I just go bonus to bonus. So I don't have time-to-bonus and time-to-finish calculated for me. But I do have my expected arrival times for each bonus. I was going to be 1hr behind getting to my first stop in St. Augustine. At that point I knew I would have to drop a few places. I used to live in Daytona and know my way around pretty good, and there were 5 places there to stop. So I opted to drop all St. Augustine locations and head to Daytona. I hit the first waypoint in Daytona on the GPS, and I was still going to be a little behind.
Once I got to the Daytona area, I knew I would have to still drop something to be able to finish on time. I got to the first stop in Holly Hill and got my flag and caboose photo. Then Ms Garmin tried to send me dead West to get to another location, then right back dead East to head to the next one... so I opted to drop the two out west, and if time allowed pick them up on the way out of of town. I made it to Sugarmill Garderns... another Pot luck, and got my photo. I used to play in that park as a kid, as we lived a few blocks away for about a year. Then I headed to another Po Po station for a jail bonus... literally across the street from dads neighborhood. 2 mins gone... Headed further south for my last jail photo and another pot luck in New Smyrna. Hit the last waypoint to see how much time I had, and if I could hit the hwy and go get the last 2 jails in Daytona... It showed I had a 5 min window to get to the last stop and back to Dade City, AND I still needed a gas receipt in FL without going back to the last 2 stops. So I headed west to I4 and started to the house. Weekend traffic was HEAVY to and through Orlando. Luckily I brought my SunPass and got on the Turnpike as soon as I could. No traffic after that. Somewhere off the Turnpike and past Groveland, I pulled up at a light next to another rally rider. I asked if he'd gotten any Nautical bonuses, since I hadn't seen any. He said "No... oh wait. I did get a pic of a jetski on the ground." I told him I hadn't gotten any. We rode through the lil town together, and as soon as we cleared all the lights... wouldn't ya know it. A jet ski on the ground. I pointed to it so he could see it, did a U-y and rode up the sidewalk to get the photo. He kept going. I ran him down about 20 mins later, and as soon as I got to him, he pulled off for gas. I wanted to bag the last bonus, before I stopped for gas, so I continued on to the Lighthouse restaurant to get my last photo of the bike and lighthouse. And wouldn't you know... right next to it was a boat on the ground. Got 2 photos for 2 bonuses. Of course with needing to get off the bike for a bike-in-the-picture shot, this stop took a bit longer. But when I pulled up, there were 2 riders already there that had already taken their photos and were packing up. I asked if they got a picture of the boat too for the nautical bonus. They had not, and thanked me for reminding them. I got my photos and was gone in 3 mins. They must have been there at least 10 as they started unpaking their gear again for another photo as I was leaving.
I stopped right before Dade City's historic downtown for a splash of gas and a receipt. Downtown... right where we had to check in... was a car show. All the side roads were blocked off trying to get to the check in area. We had to go past the road we need to be on, and circle back behind it, and ride through some baracades. I made it in with 15 mins to spare. I possibly could have gotten those last 2 bonuses in Daytona... but it wasn't worth DNFing. I was done! I had ridden exactly 500 miles in 10 hrs, made 17 stops for bonuses, 3 stops for gas, and 1 stop for lunch. Not bad. Time to go do paperwork.
This time, I was determined not to leave ANY points on the table due to clerical errors. That is the drawback for doing all my entries in the notebook vs right on the rally pack. Its easy to overlook something, forget something, or write something wrong. But I took my time and got my package together. And even thought there were 5 or 6 scorers, I waited 30 mins or so in line to get scored. But it went pretty fast once I was at the table since I had everything ready and in order. I did good... I didn't loose ANY points at the table. The only points I lost were the License points from being pulled over. But having to drop 4 places in St. Augustine, I knew I wasn't going to win. But I still hoped for a top ten. Ended up 8th! 20 points behind dad. Not bad.
I still don't know where I lost an hour of time during the ride. Getting stopped didn't help, but it wasn't an hour. I built my route on Streets and Trips, then entered the waypoints into the Garmin. Mine still doesn't support uploading routes like the Zumos and 2600/2700/2800s. So I may need to look into how much different the S&T route was compared to my Garmin route. When I created the route within the GPS, the times were within 5 mins. But once it recalculates on the road, there is no telling what it does. Maybe I just wasn't riding fast enough :)
Made the freezing ride home to Crawfordville that night. Dad rode with me the whole way and stayed at my house. We got in around 2am. Passed about 50 deer within 20 miles of the house, so we were taking it easy through there. We rode handlebar to handlebar most of the way back since no one was on the road that late. That was cool. Parked the bikes and we crashed til morning. It wasn't until the next morning when dad was headed out that I noticed the pool of fluid under my bike. And all the antifreeze on BOTH sides of the motor. I've since tracked it down to a leak from the thermostat housing wheree it mounts to the cooling log. Hopefullly just the O ring. Problem is... I have to take off the carb rack to get to it for repairs. I have yet to start that project a month later :( Too much going on lately. But now with another paycheck coming in, I think its time to start on it. I may find a few other things that just HAVE to be replaced around Christmas time. Like a new cooling hose, tires, or Zumo :) !!!
