Even the riders that were late arrivals back at Grand Prix Motorsports in Littleton, Colorado, were smiling. The Two-Bits mini-endurance rally must have been a success.

After riding two of my own 1000-in-24s and an Iron Butt Association Saddle Sore 1000, back in 1998 I entered the Utah 1088. I rode the base route, saw a lot of beautiful Utah scenery, rode through the night into the dawn, and finished somewhere out of the top 10. For me, the midnight to 5am stretch on a moonless night made for a tough introduction to endurance rallies. Nevertheless, I was hooked on the competition, the time/distance planning, and the camaraderie. I then entered the 1989-92 Thin Air TTs that were run around the state of Colorado with a format that included 15 hours of riding on Saturday and 9 hours on Sunday, for a total of 24 hours, but no nighttime riding. I was able to finish well enough to get a couple of nice plaques for the wall but the best part was planning effective routes, riding all around the Rocky Mountains, and enjoying the company of likeminded motorcyclists.

As I related details of those experiences to other COG members I found that many riders are interested in endurance rallies but for various reasons haven't entered any. They've lacked the time to compete in the events and to travel to and from the distant locations. They haven't had or wanted to invest the dollars for registration fees, motels, and so forth. They haven't wanted to ride through the night. Or maybe they've just been intimidated thinking about trying to compete with the "big dogs".

So the idea for the "Two-Bits Rally" was born. Two bits = a quarter. A 6-hour rally, a quarter of a "real" 24-hour rally. A length of time long enough to be challenging but short enough not to be intimidating. No nighttime riding. A minimal entry fee. Run on a Saturday out of the Denver area, convenient for the COG members along the Front Range. A non-threatening environment in which the riders could get an idea what endurance rallies are about and to see if their skills and aptitudes would make it a fun experience.

With that in mind I decided on a route, gathered bonus locations, wrote up rally instructions and route sheets, trying to include all the elements of the longer rallies. Twenty riders (and two passengers) eventually registered and seventeen met at Grand Prix Motorsports' new Kawasaki dealership in the southwest corner of the Denver area. Thirteen were from the Front Range area. Others came from as far away as Grand Junction, Craig, and Buena Vista, Colorado. The long-distance award winner was Walt S who rode his Aprilia Futura from Oklahoma City. He was fast asleep at the Iron Butt Motel when we arrived at GPM at 7am. (In this case the motel was the parking lot, with the curb serving as a pillow.) The bikes included nine Concours, BMWs, Hondas, a Harley FXDX, and the Aprilia.

First order of business for everyone was to show volunteers Ed S, Terry T, and Nancy F that they had the mandatory items listed in the rally instructions that had been mailed out. Things like a helmet, eye protection, driver's license, and registration. Then as we entered GPM to troop up to the clubroom, Tony Hayter, the general sales manager, gave each of us a GPM t-shirt. What a great host. Thanks!

At the 8am riders' meeting we went over the schedule, the base route, the rules of the rally, and how to compete. That basically involves coming up with a plan to get as many bonus points as possible, to make the midday checkpoint, and to return by 3pm, all the while riding at a safe and comfortable pace.

The bonus points were listed on the route sheets and were such as: 1) "Fremont Pass is the western boundary of the ______." To gain the 34 points a rider had to ride to Fremont Pass, find the sign with the text and fill in the blank on his rally sheet with the answer. 2) "In Jefferson, just off US-285 is the Jefferson Community Church. Its Sunday School starts at ____." For the 21 points, a rider had to visit Jefferson, find the church, read the sign posted outside, and fill in the blank. 3) "On US-24 at mile post 239 is a sign that says _______ was founded in ____." For this one, a rider would have to plan his route to include the US-24 loop, locate milepost 239, find the sign, and again fill in the blanks. Obviously being able to read a good Colorado map would greatly help with route planning and riding.

At 8:30 the bonus sheets were handed out and everyone began studying their maps and plotting routes. Shortly before 9am the room emptied for loading and gearing up for a departure right at 9, the official starting time.

Jon C made a beeline to Fairplay (the location of the checkpoint which was open from 11am to 1pm) and back stopping only at Sphinx Park, a place he'd never visited before. Paul R started a 3-mile hike up a trail to Baker's Tank, not realizing that the old railroad tank was right beside the road about a mile away. Joshua S and Mariella M took the long route on US-24 and picked up big points. John S rode his Harley a bunch of miles, and a couple of weeks later rode in the FreeWheelers annual 1000-in-24. Walt S got back too late to be classified as a finisher, but arrived with a huge grin anyway because he'd had so much fun and had seen so much great Colorado scenery. The trip West on the Aprilia had been well worth it. Carl T returned with water logged route sheets and finished right near the top of the heap. David V came up with a creative solution to get a postcard at the very busy Coney Island hotdog stand. After people made it clear he couldn't cut in line or enter through the exit, he went around to the back door right behind the cashier and quickly got the 30-point postcard. Matt L rode his 1984 Honda CB700SC to several of the high mountain passes and showed everyone that he knows how to solve the time / distance equation. He also rode in the 1000-in-24 and is entered in his first 24-hour rally, the Land of Enchantment 1000. Michael J got stuck in traffic at Aspen Park and didn't make it back in time, but arrived early enough that we had a great conversation about his KLR650 ride to Inuvik, NWT, last year. Lots of good stories from everyone, many of which were shared while sitting around on the dealership's patio.

After the riders returned to GPM they turned in their bonus sheets and extra bonus items such the Coney Island postcard. Some tried to turn in a loaf of bread from the Sopp & Truscott bakery showing that they hadn't read the bonus sheet quite closely enough, missing the phrase "For extra credit at home". Rallies are won and lost on such little things. But the fresh bread sure smelled good anyway, and it probably did earn them extra credit back at home. After the scoring was completed the results were announced, the bonus sheets were returned to the riders, and everyone headed out tired but happy.

The Two-Bits Rally was over. The planning for the event was fun and gave me good excuses for mountain riding to find bonus locations. The riders returned tired, wet from the scattered rain showers, but still smiling. And they left smiling even if they hadn't done too well. Everyone learned something about endurance rallies. It seems that we met all the objectives of the Two-Bits.

-- Randy Bishop, Littleton Colorado