Two-Bits - 2008
Report
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Two-Bits - 2008 |
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The fourth Two-Bits Rally was run June 6th on a sunny, but chilly Colorado day. 28 riders on 26 bikes came to try a rally similar to the Utah 1088 or LOE 1000, but done in a 6-hour rather than a 24-hour format. Call it "Rallies 101" for the 19 folks on their first "endurance" rally, and just plain fun for the seven experienced riders. Riders came from eight states, Canada, and Australia. One of the rookies was Margaret Peart who has been riding all over North and South America, and has gone on to compete in the Spank rally and the LOE 1000.
Nine of the twenty six bikes were Kawasaki Concours because we moved the rally from its normal July date to the first Friday in June so it could be part of the Concours Owners Group 2008 National Rally. Other makes entered were BMW (no final drive failures), Honda, Harley Davidson, Suzuki, Yamaha, Buell, Ducati, and Triumph.
The rally started and ended at at the Holiday Inn in Frisco, Colorado, headquarters for the COG National Rally. At 8 AM we had a riders' meeting to explain the rally rules and to give the rookies some tips of the trade. Afterwards everyone scattered around to spend 1/2 hour planning their "winning" route. At 9 AM a surprising number of riders leisurely dallied around the parking lot, but some of them took off immediately for a 6-hour ride to find the bonus locations of their choice. Most of the bonii were along the two 250-mile base routes. One route was south to Canon City, Buena Vista and back. The other was north to Steamboat Springs, Granby, and back. As promised, both provided lots of high-altitude Rocky Mountain scenery and lots of curvey roads.Bonii included an airplane, a helicopter, a train, a walking tour of the springs in Steamboat Springs, a tour of historical sites in Canon City, the gravel roads to Cottonwood Pass (north) and Spiral Mountain, riding the sharp ridge line of Skyline Drive, Royal Gorge, a ride through the 10th Mountain Division's Camp Hale site, a progressive that included four mountain passes, and the Two-Bit traditional stop at Sopp & Truscott Bakery in Silver Plume.
Some riders went south, some north, and around 2:30 PM they began to arrive back at Frisco, with a few making the most of their time showing up right before 3:00 when the penalty period was to begin. There seemed to be plenty of smiling faces as everyone discussed what they thought they did right or wrong, what they learned about rallies, or what great roads they had ridden.
When the scoring was all done Chris Baum (Concours - Lincoln, NE) had won the rookies class and Karl Zuercher (Acura 1300 - Santa Fe, NM) won the class for those with previous rally experience.
Again this year I enjoyed planning the event, finding the bonii, and riding the roads too. I want to offer a special thanks to the volunteers, Beth Bishop (my lovely wife), Steve and Sherilyn Cook, Tom Mulvany, Rick Hall, Larry Buck, and Dave Prophet (He found the 1-point Chaffee County bonus while we were out scouting bonii. Sorry about that, Dave.).
The next Two-Bits will revert to its July date, starting and ending on a Saturday in the Denver area. I'm kicking around some ideas to make it somewhat different from these last four events. Stay tuned.
-- Randy Bishop, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
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