So it turns out I might have been bitten harder by the rally bug than I first thought. At the finishing banquet rally master Lisa Erbes asked whether I'd maybe do it again and I was pretty emphatic in shaking my head that this was a one-time only deal... I was sleep deprived, I had…
The end… for now
Saturday morning started early - technically the rally didn't finish until 6am with the penalty window open until 8am. We were up at 4 to get the odometer read and then hit scoring. Unfortunately this time around, I had made a mistake. When we'd stopped at the Eternal Light Peace memorial in PA, I'd written…
Day 6: Lewisburg, WV to Lexington, KY
Our last day dawned at the relatively sensible time of 5.30am. We availed ourselves of the hotel breakfast at 6 and got on the road with a plan to hit bonuses on the way to Lexington and, if we felt like it and could make it in time, to head back to Mammoth Cave National…
Day 5: Bedford, VA to Lewisburg, WV
Day 5 dawned better - even if it was 4am... And maybe it wasn't dawn yet, but whatever... I'd had some sleep, we had two days of riding and collecting points ahead, and I was no longer seriously sleep deprived - only moderately so. Around 5am we were back on the road and found a…
Day 4: Maggie Valley, NC to Bedford, VA
Day 4 started early and after not enough sleep! We'd hit the checkpoint before midnight which meant we could get our rally pack at 6am. If we weren't there at 6, we'd have to wait until 8am and we'd lose 2 hours of potentially valuable routing time - but we weren't staying at the rally…
Day 3: Thomson, GA to Maggie Valley, NC
Day 3 was eventful. And long. And kind of funny now - but not so much at the time! It started, happily, with breakfast and coffee at 6am, then we packed and got on the road pretty efficiently. Our first bonus was in Columbia, South Carolina: our second-last stadium and a great place for second-breakfast.…
Day 2: Oxford, MS to Thomson, GA
I was not ready for the alarm at 5.30am on Monday morning. Admittedly, it was 6.30am where we'd come from the day before, but it didn't feel like enough sleep! I move s-l-o-w-l-y in the mornings, and it required food and coffee in the hotel before I was even slightly ready to get back on…
Day 1: Lexington, KY to Oxford, MS
So after not that much sleep, but more than I was expecting, at 5.30am I was awoken by the Kiwi who was revved to go and had bags packed! I was not ready to be awake, but after some food and coffee things were looking up. We got all our gear on the bike, with…
Day 0: Lexington, KY – planning our route
Day 0 for me was basically the night before the rally started! We spent most of the day (Saturday) trying to get some rest, attending the mandatory riders' meeting and trying to stay calm while organising our packing and plan for the evening's routing. Kiwi was pretty relaxed. I, on the other hand was second-guessing…
Continue reading ➞ Day 0: Lexington, KY – planning our route
We did it!
I'm sitting at Gate A2 in Lexington Bluegrass Airport, KY on my way to Minneapolis via Chicago. It's hard to believe the rally is over after all the prep and it feels strange to know that the Kiwi is out there riding, on his way back to Minneapolis without me. Let me be clear, I…
