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Bonzai Rally 2005

BRADFORDBENN

Slowpoke & Proud of It!
Memorial Day Weekend was the 2005 Bonzai Rally put on by Team Strange and the Glacial Lakes Motorcycle Club. It was my first Rally with bonuses and time constraints. For a few of the forum members like Merritt Gene and BoxerGrrrrrrlie it was another romp.

There were lots of bikes from all over that showed up, all brands represented except for Ural.

I will a more formal write up soon, but wanted to make sure to post quickly that one of our own, a Rounder of course, took first in their division... :thumb




drum roll please
 

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Congratulations Gene!!!

What a great weekend! I highly recommend road rallies to expand your mind and moto-pleasure. Unlike Gene who planned and executed a great ride, I wallowed in mediocrity by chasing down a monster sucker bonus. :doh But I had a great day of riding and had fun of course.

Brad should be commended too for finishing his first rally with a respectable number of points. I have two questions however:

1. Did Brad have fun? (Hey wiseguy - this is a 'yes' or 'no' question :stick)
2. Will Brad ever do another rally?
 
Dazed and confused

From my own experience, I finished my first endurance rally (2004 Green Mountain 400) and I was somewhat tired from the experience, so I couldn't easily answer the question, "Did you have fun?" But, I soon realized that I couldn't wipe the grin off my face from all the great roads, and the new friends I met.

I had this same question in my mind during the 2005 Bonzai..."Ugh, not only did I bring this on myself, but in two weeks I'll be in the Minuteman 1000, and it's twice as long." Well, the pre-ride jitters, and the frustration of making a wrong turn (like 20 miles of Wisconsin county cow-paths out of my way) wore off as I started accumulating some bonus points. In the end, I was grinning again.

Helmets off to my friends, new and old, who made the weekend fun.

What's up with the early bed times though? Where's the party? :drink
 
Bonus hunting

I'll have to get my photo here first, since I know there will be more to follow.

This grueling encounter was worth a few hundred points:
 

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merrittgene said:
This grueling encounter was worth a few hundred points:

Wow. I can't wait to see the other pics. :)

Maybe we should of went up. If that got you a few hundred point's, we would of walked into the contest with a few hundred thousand right from the git-go. :D
 
boxergrrlie said:
I have two questions however:

1. Did Brad have fun? (Hey wiseguy - this is a 'yes' or 'no' question :stick)
2. Will Brad ever do another rally?

I guess I have rued over this one long enough.

1) No.
I did not have fun while doing the event I was too stressed about finishing. Looking back at it I realized it was a fun weekend. So Yes.
2) Yes.
Looking at the work schedule to figure out when. Maybe the GMR

Okay now comes the trip report, so details will be left out on purpose in case these bonuses are used again.....

So I went out to Monroe, WI on Saturday May 29 for the Bonzai Rally. I had exchanged e-mails with the Rally Master to get a few ideas of what I was in for, but I was not really sure. That morning I did not want to go. I just wanted to stay in bed. What can I say it has been a tough couple of weeks at work. So I motivated myself to ride. I decided to wait for the post person to deliver the mail to see if my IPass would show up so I would not have to sit in toll lines going around Chicago. Nope, no IPass.

So off I went, I had learned how to pack light finally. Everything fit in the system cases, with room to spare. So then it was time for the four hour ride, or so I thought. When I got to Chicago it took me about an hour to go 20 miles. Still I arrived in Monroe by 5PM. I met Derek, Rebbecca, and Gene in the parking lot. At which point I promptly dropped my bike. I have a knack for dropping it in front of people.

So then came check in for the rally, I brought my six pack of beverage for my 500 bonus points. Then it was brats and some tire kicking and talking. Luckily I knew a few people from Omaha, the IBA National.I had two goals for the rally, 1 to finish in time as it was a timed rally, 2 to beat RV who had been running smack that week. Then it was time for bed as the rider meeting was at 6:00AM with odometer check. I am not a morning person to put it mildly. I got some software tips from Gene, I now know what a driving zone is in Streets and Trips. So I figured what maps to load onto the GPS V. So I loaded those onto the GPS.

I was the first one at odo check, I found out I would be in the Touring Class, makes sense a RT is a touring bike. Then it was waiting for the briefing at 6:30AM. The basic info of safety first, watch out for cops, must be back by 7:30:00PM. 7:30:01PM would be a did not finish. Then it was waiting for 6:45AM when the rally packets would be handed out.

6:45AM here is the rally packet. "Everyone have one? Okay Open them and you can leave at 7:30AM" 15 pages to go through. Holy cats my head was spinning. This bonus for 150 points, that bonus for 150 points, another bonus for 300 points. Okay start putting them onto the map. At the end of the first page I decided that would not work. So I just read through them... How the heck do I pick what to do. I remember the idea of being efficient and picking a good route. Oh look, there is a 2,550 and a 1,500 point bonus that is relatively easy to figure out. Spell out Bonzai with town names for 2,550 they listed the specific towns to use. Okay. Plot those into the GPS using Mapsource. Look GLMC is the same way. I think this is what I will do. So I put the towns in and figured this would be a good easy route to go with. How long will it take. Look 11 hours, this should be good.

So off I went to the first location in the route I had planned out. Okay need to get the picture at either the "Welcome to "town sign or the post office. Okay Let's see what I can find. I am at the post office. Works for me. I park the bike. Making sure it does not fall down. Helmet off, gloves off. Camera out of saddle bag. Take picture. Wait for Polaroid to develop. Okay picture is good, now note odometer reading. Put camera and logs away, now put helmet on. Oh look another rider. "Where is the fire station?" I told him I did not know. Why was he looking for the fire station? Off I go.

Okay the GPS now says I will arrive back in Monroe at 7:27PM. Okay I put in two close bonus points to Monroe I can dump off. I will look at the routing later. Hmm I wonder how long it took me to do that stop.

Next town is 90 minutes away. Okay. I figured the route so I would get my long rides in early so I would have often stops in the afternoon when I get tired. Off for 75 miles of riding....

Next town look for the post office. This town is so small there is not post office. Take a picture in front of the community center, I figure. So park bike, take helmet off, take picture, log odometer. I should check the rally pack to see if this will work for a location. IT says Post Office or Town sign. Better get a picture in front of the town sign. There is a reason the Rally Masters are often called Rally Bastards. Okay back to the edge of town take helmet off take picture, log odometer. Put stuff back. Off I go.

Next town is close. 15 minutes later I am there. This time I figure as soon as I see the sign I am going to take the picture in front of it. Look there is the post office. Okay I will do that instead. I wonder if I need to take the helmet off to use the Polaroid. That will save me some time. Okay wait for film to develop. Put everything away. Log Odometer off I go. Look a gas station, nah my gas stop is planned for the next town. Off I go.

Nice curvy roads now. This is a good ride and it is nice and hilly. This doesn't suck. Uh oh, the low fuel light came on earlier then I expected. Well I can either turn around or keep going. I'll keep going. Hmm. Okay I am at 270 miles and starting to sweat a little. Look there is the town sign. Should I look for gas or get the picture. Well I should get the picture as it will save time. I just hope the bike will start again. Okay helmet stays on. Take picture. I know I will log the odo while the film develops. The first stop was probably 10 minutes this is more like three minutes. Okay look for the gas station. There it is.

Okay fill up. Drat can't pay at the pump. I might as well go in and get a snack as well. Okay 5.86 gallons of gas for a 5.9 gallon tank. I would say I was close. Munch some food while looking at the GPS. Hmm it is now 12:30PM. It says I will return to the check in point at 7:55PM. Not good. Crap I am not going to make it. Now what. Okay, I will dump out the GLMC and just go for Bonzai. Off I go again.

So I figure that I forgot to account for stops for the pictures and gas. That is probably about 90 minutes since I was so slow at the start. I need to speed those photo stops up. I wonder why that guy was looking for the firehouse this morning. Next two stops are pretty quick. At the second one I decide to look in the rally pack to figure out what the stop was I missed. Dang I could have gotten 450 points for an answer about the firehouse in that town. Hmm I should look through the whole pack a little better.

So I take 10 minutes to read the pack. Okay I have lost the rally, cause I am missing stuff along the way. Let's see what I can pick up along the way as I ride along. At least the rodes are pretty good. Hills and curves, we don't have these in Indiana.

Hmm a historical marker, I wonder if it is in the rally pack. I think I remember this town. Yup, there is 200 points. Dang I missed 300 points in the last town. Nope, can't go back I want to finish. 2:30PM and still have 150 miles to go.

Okay off I go again. Look there is a casino, I remember that being one of the bonuses. Cool there is one. I wonder what else is in this town. Look I can get something at this park. Plus I can get points for getting gas in a different state. Okay 750+points in 10 miles of riding. Pretty cool. The GPS says I will be back at 6:52PM. Okay looking good.

Off to the next town that is on the original route plan. Park bike on side stand. Take off right glove. Take two pictures. Write down odo reading. Check picture. Put it back in tank bag off I go. Look 2 minutes for this stop. Pretty good why didn't I do this earlier? That would have saved me at least 30 minutes.

Okay two more towns to go, it says I will be back at 6:58. Maybe I can add those two close bonuses. Get last two towns. Man were those some great roads between these towns. These were small towns as well, populations below 500.

Okay the GPS says I will be back at 7:05 I have time for those bonuses. I'll go for the far one first. Wait those just look like they should be bonuses. Let me snap a picture and get the info I think I would need. Then I will check when I get the rally pack out at the next stop. Cool I got the info. Now back to the check in.

Arrive at the check in at 7:06 PM. I will finish. Now I must find a restroom. I should have given myself enough time for that.

Okay now the scoring part. Look at all these points I missed cause I didn't look at the big picture. Drat. Man am I tired.

Then comes dinner and everyone is comparing scores. Man did I miss some good points. Then comes the awards. Well the winner of my class tripled my score. Whoops.

At that point in time I was frustrated and felt stupid. But as I look back on it, now it was fun. So I guess I will do another one, cause experience counts.
 
BradfordBenn said:
At that point in time I was frustrated and felt stupid. But as I look back on it, now it was fun. So I guess I will do another one, cause experience counts.

Hey Brad,

Glad the stpid feeling passed (I have had many of those :doh )

Saw your post on the IBA list and promptly went to the Rallymasters site.....Someday.......

But, you you never DID say if you beat RV.... :dunno

JC
 
did you know Monroe is the "worlds" largest manufacturer of limburger cheese.


think socks
 
Do they still brew beer in Monroe? IIRC, Augsburger used to be brewed by Jos. Huber there, then they sold the name to Miller and started brewing Berghoff. Haven't seen it on the shelves in awhile.

Steve
 
SCDorman said:
Do they still brew beer in Monroe? IIRC, Augsburger used to be brewed by Jos. Huber there, then they sold the name to Miller and started brewing Berghoff. Haven't seen it on the shelves in awhile.

Steve


Huber is still there:
www.huberbrewery.com
 
Go west young woman! Or maybe east...

BradfordBenn said:
Rematch at the GMR?
Dunno if GMR is in the cards. This year I may be heading west. We'll see.
 
merrittgene said:
From my own experience, I finished my first endurance rally (2004 Green Mountain 400) and I was somewhat tired from the experience, so I couldn't easily answer the question, "Did you have fun?" But, I soon realized that I couldn't wipe the grin off my face from all the great roads, and the new friends I met.

I had this same question in my mind during the 2005 Bonzai..."Ugh, not only did I bring this on myself, but in two weeks I'll be in the Minuteman 1000, and it's twice as long." <snip>

Dude,

Congratulations on a great ride. FWIW if you are looking for a repeat in the east you may end up feeling like the MM1K was three times as long as your jaunt last weekend. ;)

We're gonna make heads pop. :stick

See you next weekend.

- Rob Nye
Rallymaster
Minuteman 1000
 
Rob Nye said:
Dude,

Congratulations on a great ride. FWIW if you are looking for a repeat in the east you may end up feeling like the MM1K was three times as long as your jaunt last weekend. ;)

We're gonna make heads pop. :stick

See you next weekend.

- Rob Nye
Rallymaster
Minuteman 1000

Thanks for the props. But unfortunately I am going to be travelling (by airplane) back from Vegas from a trade show the weekend of the MM1K. Going to have to be GMR. :thumb
 
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