The theme of the 2013 DSH was Angels and Demons. There is a long break from Ed's Last Resort Rally and this one... almost 6 months. Plenty of time for the Demons to poke their heads out. It was an uneventful summer, with only one short RTE an hour away. So come October, I knew I needed to get some seat time before the DSH. Prior to Cape Fear, dad and I signed up for the Grand Tour of Georgia (GTG) to use a warmup ride. We had only done one day of riding in the beginning and bagged 8 of the locations. So we decide to finish the GTG as a warmup to the DSH. We figured we could start in Thomasville, GA and collect the final 12 stops all in one ride, 1060 ish miles, in 24hrs for a SS1000. Hey why not. Since my shock was bad, I decided to try a different approach this time and not go for a used OEM shock and 'upgrade' to a used shock off a ZZR1200. With a bit of modification to the mounting brackets on the shock, its pretty much plug and play. No more Connie shock woes! Or so I thought. It ended up being bad also, as I think all the nitrogen had leaked out. But it was a tad better than the bad stock shock so it was going to have to do for the GTG ride. DON'T DO A SS1000 ON GA BACK ROADS! We were not in a huge rush, as the computer had us finishing in 20 hrs. With only 40 or so miles on Interstates, our finish time was 22:40 mins, and 1070 miles. Not including my 50 miles to get the start location and the 50 miles to get home. I was up for 26hrs that day. But we got our needed seat time, finished the GTG, and I burned off my rear brake pads. I ordered a brand new Progressive rear shock and got it installed the weekend before the DSH and went to grab the rear brake pads I've had for almost 2 years to install. Nowhere to be found. I called one stealer who could have them to me in 9 days. Nope. Called another, and they could get them in on Wed before the rally. Luckily they showed up and I was able to get them swapped out. Lets see how this new shock and brake combo works! Off to Dade City.
Dad ended up in bed w the flu for a week, so he smartly bowed out of the rally. It was an uneventful ride down. The shock worked great and I kept randomly riding the rear brake to try and get the pads seated in good. We had been given the bonus locations a week early, and the point values on Wed. There weren't a ton of locations this time, and some were way out by themselves. Most were in Central FL, and good cluster in Jacksonville. So I made 3 preliminary routes to build off of when we got the final bonus list with clarification on the Wildcard bonuses. During the drivers meeting, I sat with Jesse Lucas and Bruce McCrary. This was Jesse's 2nd rally ever and he made all the rookie mistakes. He poked the bear when the bonus locations were emailed out, he came in on a brand spanking new bike, and bought a brand new helmet. But he has done his homework and has studied the art of rallying. I think he got the rally bug worse than me! He should do well. And when I introduced myself to Bruce, he replied "So you are the Infamous Miles Lee." Man... Infamous? Already?!?! Not too sure thats a good thing. But we talked shop and I found out more and more people are well aware of my HSPBA (high speed photo bonus apparatus) But do they know how to make and use one? I'm still not making it public knowledge on the construction and operation of it, so people can improvise one. (I did see one good attempt, but it left much to be desired) Once we recieved our rally packs, we were informed of the Angels&Demons wildcard bonuses. Basically anything that was or said "Angel" and/or some variant of an angel, like the name of a famous one... or anything of or like the devil or a demon. Pretty broad, but also very specific. Then we got the bad news. To be considered a finisher, we had 6 mandatory stops. I generally do 20 or so stops, so 6 should not be an issue... depending on where they are. We all finish chatting and asking questions and head off to our rooms to plan our new routes.
Just as a baseline I added the 6 mandatory stops into S&T. Just that route was 7 hours!! That only leaves 2.5 hours for other bonuses and stops, and .5 hrs for a high point lunch bonus. Not a lot of wiggle room. The good thing is 4 of the 6 were already on or near my original route. But two were wayyy off. An the rally masters ordered up a monsoon to hit just as we are starting and lasting most of the day, so that will slow us all down even more. The mandatory stops pretty much will make everyone ride 2 different routes. The easy one around all the stops in central FL, and the hard one which is running up into Jacksonville. I had already planned on doing the Jax route, but I had to tweak it to get the 2 far off mandatory stops. But somehow I'll have to pull in a few extra stops no one else will do AND get the max of 4 wildcard bonuses to win. This is going to put all the top riders very close in points since the routes will be so close. But thats why they are called Rally Bastards. S&T has me running North to Ocala and Gainsville, then NE to Jax, then South to Daytona, then back across to Dade City. But with a storm front moving in around just after the scheduled start, I reverse that route hoping I can dodge some of the rain early, ride wet for a few hrs, then come home in clear skys. I get my route set to Jax and back, and get it uploaded to the GPS units and pray its enough points. I called it a night around 11pm.
5am came quick, but I showered and got all my stuff loaded on the bike. I packed everything just in case I broke down and needed a ride back to the house, since my route took me closer to home than rally HQ. I parked the bike at the front of the hotel, that way I have a staight shot out of the parking lot as soon as they say GO. Weather looks like it will hold off till 7:30 or so I left all my gear on the bike and headed into the morning meeting and breakfast. As I was walking in, I saw David and Ray in a serious looking discussion out front, so I politley said Good Morning and kept walking. But they stopped me and asked me how the routing went. So I told them flat out that the mandatory stops have created only two possible routes and that just the 6 stops will take 7 hours to get. So they will have a lot of non finishers, finishers that just get the required stops, and the top riders all going to Jax. That it made it real tough to plan a winning route. They agreed, and asked if I had made a route prior to arrival, and if it was still in my GPS. I told them I did have a prior route, but I only upload the final route in the GPS. They were toying with the idea of scrapping the mandatory stop rule and letting people go back to their original routes. I let them know that was a terrible idea. Everyone was already a bit mad they had to totally re-route with the stops, and if you tell them now, 30 mins before the start that they can go re-route AGAIN, it would not be pretty. Stick with thier plan, and deal with the grumbles. But next time you have mandatory stops, maybe say 4 of 6 required to be a finisher. That will allow more creativity in people's routes. But not this morning. I went in and got a quick bite to eat and heard some of the grumbling, but hey... it is what it is. We just have to adapt. And during the pre-start meeting, Ray and Dave appologized for what appeared to be a bad decision on the mandatory stops. But they were not going to change it last second, and it will not ever be an option again either. But as they were about to let us out across the state, we could hear the rain hitting the building. Crap! All my gear is on the bike. Gloves, helmet, jacket... everything getting soaked. So when they finally released us to the Rally Gods, I ran out and grabbed my gear, and ran back in to donn it all while soaking wet. To me, nothing is worse than the feeling of putting on wet clothes. I can handle getting wet, but being dry and putting on wet clothes... hate it. So I throw on the wet jacket, wet helmet, and wet gloves. Ughhh. I hope my plan to run the reverse route was the right one. No way to change it now. I run out, bring up the first stop, and hit the road. 9:55 to get back.
The longest 2 lights in America are right in front of the hotel. I think it took 8 mins to get one block away... but after that it was finally time to ride. I ended up behind Jesse at the second light, and followed him for a short bit. But after watching my GPS lose 10 mins, I politely passed him and picked up the pace a bit. All the other bikes seemed to take the Northern route and us two took the Eastern route. It was raining, but the further I drove, the lighter it got. My first stop wasn't until Cassadaga on the Eastern side of Orlando, so I had a good 1.5 hours to get there. S&T wanted me to go through downtown Orlando, but Ms Garmin wanted me the shorter route around the northern outskirts of Otown. I chose to follow the Garmin in hopes of seeing an Angel or Demon wild card bonus. Luck would have it, about 45 mins into the ride, I spotted an Angel's Nail Salon in a strip mall and turned in to get my first points of the rally. In and out quick, since the rain was real light,
(Insert Photo Here)
and the sun was up enough for a good photo. By the time I got to Cassadaga, I drove out of the rain. This bonus was a graveyard and I had to walk a bit to get the required photo, but a pretty easy stop. Ma Garmin finally got me on the Interstate so I could work on drying off as much as possible before I find the rain. I had hoped to make it to Jax, but I hit the cold front again just as I was getting to the Ormond beach exit for the Sugar Mill bonus, and I got soaked. But I was able to ride out of the rain again to a dry spot and got the photo. About 2 mins later I was back in the rain. I made the trek north to Matanzas for a photo of a sign, then back tracked a bit West for a ghost town sign, then the Angel's Diner sign. When I got to the ghost town sign, there was a marker right on the hwy. I was just about to snap and go when I saw another rider in the back of the park with a flag, so I rode back there. Jesse was done getting his photo, so I asked if he was sure which sign we needed. He reminded me the description said "In the back of the park" so I got out my HSPBA, got the photo, and headed out. (Insert Photo Here)
I told him I'd see him at the next stop. It was only 5 mins away. When I got there, there was another rider pulling in at the same time. I got my photo and left. I was a few mins down the road when I passed Jessee coming in. I love my HSPBA!! It makes stops super quick. I got back on 95 and the rain was in and out. But by the time I got to Jax, it was over, and I never saw another drop. There was a diner on the East side, a school and a statue right downtown, and the Blue Angels jet at NAS Jax on the SW side. I was able to find another Angel's thrift store in all that somewhere, and started my route south. I had two good ideas on the Devil WC bonuses, I just needed to pass the right store on the right side of the road. I crossed paths with Roger and Kathy Allen leaving downtown, as I was coming in. And I saw Tony Hudson just as I got the the Angel statue, so I was right on this being the better route.
(Insert Photo Here)
Getting in and out of Jax, I knew was going to make or break the ride. I was able to actually be right on time after leaving NAS, so I figured now was a good time to stop and take the lunch bonus. I picked a Krystals just because it was the only place on the right side of the road, and didn't look crowded. 30 mins seems like forever when you are in a hurry! I got my start receipt, took my photos, got my end receipt and was off. I am about 10 mins behind schedule, but that means I am still 20 mins good on my built in buffer. The next stop is just outside of Jax. Its actually 2 bonuses right next to each other in a cemetery. Couldn't pass that up. But again, I had to park and walk to find the cherubs. But I was in a sand lot parking lot, after a lot of rain. I finally found a tree root to put the side stand on, and hoped it wouldn't slip off. I got my photos and prayed the dogs barking at me could not jump the fence they were behind before I got out of the lot. The next stop was a street sign of a ghost town out in BFE. I remember the route on the computer and it was a fairly straight road. For some reason on the Garmin, it was a very windy road coming up. So to be safe, I stopped in Starke and filled both tanks since I was about 315 miles on the trip meter. Getting closer to said windy road, when it told me to turn, all that was there was a young pine tree forrest. So I continued on hoping the 2 roads would converge on the sign... which luckily it did. I had to park in a driveway to get the photo, and was greeted up close and personal this time with the guard dog. Luckily the Golden was a nice guard dog and just wanted a pat on the head. I completed the 3 point u turn in the road and did not follow Garmin again through the woods, and started listening to her when she had me back on the paved road. I got back on 301 South and was just cruising. I saw a peanut vendor on the side of the hwy and remembered that WC bonus in Ed's rally. And right about that time I felt something hit my leg then foot. I did a quick glance and it wasn't the GPS or SPOT, so it had to be out of my tank bag. NO CAMERA!! I pulled off on the next turn lane, not 1/8 of a mile after I felt the thump. I parked and went for a hike to grab the camera. Hopefully it will still work. Other wise I can use my iPhone for the rest of the photos and be OK.... I'm thinking. I walked all the way back to, and past, the peanut vendor. No camera. Its bright orange! How can I not see it. I walk back the other side of the road. NO camera. I get on the bike and do circles back and forth on the hwy. NO CAMERA!!! I used my whole 30 minute buffer looking, and never found anything. I was sweating my butt off, so I rode up to the next gas station, got a cold drink, and made the call to David. I told him I lost my camera, and since I was just as close to my house as I was rally HQ, I was just headed back home. My first DNF. As I was cooling off, Jesse rode on by and honked his horn. I waved and thought he was cutitng it pretty close on time, but he should do well if he doesn;t get time barred. So our routes must have been almost identical. But I made the disappointing ride of shame back to the house.
(No Photos Available to Insert)
Once home and showered, and adult beverage in hand... I added up what my points would have been had I finished. I only had 3 more easy stops to make and I still had a 20-30 min buffer on time, so assuming I finished those and did not even get the other two WC's... I would have had a bit over 21000 points. When the final results came out... The winners, Roger and Kathy Allen came in first with 19,200. Jesse Lucas pulled out a second place w 18,945 points. And third was Rick Baily with 18,878 points. All routes were the Jax routes, so it WAS the winning route. So shoulda, coulda, woulda... had I not lost my camera, I would have taken home the win. But instead... I got to congratulate Roger and Kathy on their win, and Jesse on his 2nd place finish in his 2nd rally ever. Great job guys! All of the riders that went North first, stayed in the rain most of the day, and some threw in the towel. My idea of running East first to avoid the rain ended up being the drier route. And I am glad I decided to pack all my stuff and not leave anything at the HQ hotel. Oh well... at least I know my routing and riding was good. Just a random mistake on my part foiled it all. Now I have to buy a new camera, and remember to zip up my tank bag all the way from now on. Every ride is an adventure, and every ride is a learning experience.
My results for 2013:
Cape Fear = 9th
Ed's Last Resort= 1st
GTG/In State GA SS1000 = 1070 miles in 22:40
Digital Scavenger Hunt = DNF
Miles
