Rally Mapping Advice

I'm riding my first rally next weekend. Any words of wisdom, suggestions on how to map out the bonus points?

I've only ridden a handful of rallies and there is nothing efficient or scientific about my method. I put all bonus location on a map and color code the high/medium/low points just to get a visual. I actually build the route on my GPS because its the only way I know how and the GPS factors in how I ride. I estimate 5 minutes per stop, some are more, some are less. Then I build a best case scenario route keeping in mind what bonuses I will drop when I get behind schedule (which inevitably happens). I do not have an aux tank, only 1 GPS and pretty much just wing it. That's it. There are a ton more things to consider, but you learn those as you go. There are guys that are way more serious than I am and way better at routing so I'm sure they will offer up some good tips. You will be amazed at how fast the time and miles click off when you are focused on your route and timing. Its a blast, I think you'll feel the same way when when you have successfully finished. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

PS We have a few IBR participants that frequent the site, those guys could REALLY give you the ins and outs.

There are several ST1300 riders on the Motorcycle Tourers Forum on Delphi that do those rallies. The MTF is big on rallies. They have a ton of knowledge they can share. They ride all kinds of motorcycles; BMW, GOLDWING, HARLEY YAMAHA FJR1300, V-STROM, and more. Those guys ARE Pro riders, and the greatest group of guys/girls you want to meet.

Are you using GPS, or paper?

Not an expert here either, so far only 9 rallies under my belt. That being said I do mostly like Ken said. I plot them all on mapping software (I use garmin basecamp) then color and shape code the waypoint flags for point level and if its time restricted. The see what I can put together that I can ride. Setting your riding speeds to how you really ride and having your stops at boni as short as you can while getting all your info correct. Then as much as possible ride your plan. Oh also its a good idea to have both a bailout plan to cut time if you fall behind and some boni you can add in if you are early to the finish. The final thing I will say is read every boni several times. Make sure you fallow the instructions and rules to the letter. Had I done so I would have places 2nd in last years minuteman, but due to missing 1 word on 1 boni I dropped to 7th. Dont forget to figure in time for each boni and gas,food, and rest/bathroom breaks.. Oh and have fun, if your not doing that whats the point..

I'll be using a GPS. I'm not using an aux fuel tank, so 240 miles per tank. I'm curious how you plan for stuff to happen.

Do you pick an average MPH, allot time for bonus and fuel stops and then see what happens?

Mostly I learned over time. My First rally I planned for 10 min boni stops and 10 for a gas stop and did not push the limits on the clock. I ended up early and went after all the boni I had close to the finish that I had not planned on getting. I ended up with a mid pack finish, I was happy with that for my first rally. I would suggest planning a conservative plan for your first time and see what happens, then start making your stops shorter to reflect what you are able to really do.

What is the rally you are in for your first?

dkjkwood said:

I'll be using a GPS. I'm not using an aux fuel tank, so 240 miles per tank. I'm curious how you plan for stuff to happen.

Do you pick an average MPH, allot time for bonus and fuel stops and then see what happens?

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I never used an aux tank either. I did what everyone else does:

Plotted them all into Basecamp, and changed the icons to represent certain things I could quickly see in the Zumo to designate time limitations, photo bonii, multi-bonii, etc.

The strange thing I used to do, though, is calculate a "mean" score for all the bonii, and then range them so that I could tell if they were average, above average, or below average for value. Then, I'd assign colors to the icons based on the bonus being high or low.

In the end, I would plot a course that optimized points as best I could, and then ride it as closely as I could. Best advice I ever got was from Curt Gran:

Never plot an entire route in your GPS. Just write the bonii on a piece of paper in the order you want to visit them, and then call them up on your GPS as soon as you've gotten the most recent one done. A pre-plotted course/track on a GPS never works - too many obstacles, or construction, or other things.

The 1st annual Rock 'N Ride rally finished yesterday. Shuey on this site ended up winning the event with ~590 miles, ~ 17 bonus stop locations in 10 hours.
Thanks for all the advice, I ended up color coding and shape coding the bonus waypoints in Mapsource, then designed a dozen routes and picked one.

Based on his route, I chose the correct route, just ended it too soon. I had 7 bonus stop locations, 500 miles and finished 1 hour early.

First thing in the morning, I'm on the highway heading to the first location. My GPS told me in 3.2 miles proceed offroad. Apparently, I need to update my
maps, all went well from there.

Highly recommend trying one!

dkjkwood said:

The 1st annual Rock 'N Ride rally finished yesterday. Shuey on this site ended up winning the event with ~590 miles, ~ 17 bonus stop locations in 10 hours.
Thanks for all the advice, I ended up color coding and shape coding the bonus waypoints in Mapsource, then designed a dozen routes and picked one.

Based on his route, I chose the correct route, just ended it too soon. I had 7 bonus stop locations, 500 miles and finished 1 hour early.

First thing in the morning, I'm on the highway heading to the first location. My GPS told me in 3.2 miles proceed offroad. Apparently, I need to update my
maps, all went well from there.

Highly recommend trying one!

Click to expand...

Great first run!! Glad to hear you liked it so much. I really, really miss riding rallies. Having a baby kind of took the wind out of those sails. Heck - it took the wind out of all riding sails! I'll get back to them some day.

Better to come home with a few extra minutes of time. Or save your rest bonus for the last part of the trip to pad yourself. It took me about 4 rallies to get my first DNF. I thought I could get just one... last... bonus with the time I had. GPS said it would be possible. Traffic jam on the interstate back to the rally point said otherwise.

EASt said:

A pre-plotted course/track on a GPS never works - too many obstacles, or construction, or other things.

Click to expand...

It's been working OK for me. It's all about time. Doing points individually adds what, 30 seconds to each stop? I think I did 60 bonuses at last year's Minuteman. That is an extra 30 minutes. I do the entire route, and watch it carefully. I also print out a list of the bonuses, planned ETA for each bonus, and point value and put it in my map pocket to keep track of them, and gauge how I'm doing for time. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'm no pro, I've just done a few rallies but have done O.K. so far on most of them. I use Streets & Trips for all of my routing. I load in all the bonus locations then as others do, I change the pushpin color and/or shape depending on point value, whether there is a time limit (some require a business to be open, or daylight, etc.) Each rally uses a different point scale so each one requires different values when color coding.

Once I have them all coded I zoom back and just look at the map and see if any routes jump out at me. Not very scientific, but I can usually come up with nearly my final route within 10 minutes of looking at the map. I start by looking at the very high point bonuses and see how many I can connect together. Then I see how much extra time I have and try connecting the lower point locations that are close to that route. When I have S&T route I keep the speed setting (it is adjustable in S&T) in the center, or default position, because this most closely matches my riding. I keep my stops short and ride a bit aggressively, and this is usually pretty accurate. I have S&T auto-calculate the points I put in to see if it can do better than I did (it usually can) and then add up the points.

Next I try another route just using groups of bonuses that are close together. So far in nearly every rally, I have better luck avoiding the really big bonuses and going after many smaller point ones. With fast stops it makes more sense to grab four 3000 point bonuses than one 10,000 pointer even though that big bonus looks very tempting. The upside of this method is that if I mess up a bonus, I don't lose as many points. On the other hand, with 3-4x as many stops, it also gives me more chances to mess one up.

Read the rally book carefully!!! Look for wildcards and take advantage of all you can. Look for group bonuses- added points for getting certain bonuses together. These don't always work out to your advantage, but they can sometimes really add on the points.

As has been mentioned look for some bonuses near the end of the rally that use a lot of time but give few points, and consider those disposable. If you are running behind near the end of the rally, drop one or two of them to make up time. Have them planned in ahead of time, because you WILL make mistakes if you try to second guess yourself once you are tired. During the 2013 Minuteman I dropped a couple bonuses early in the day because I was a half hour behind schedule- bonuses I didn't plan on dropping. As it turns out I made up the time through the night, and finished the rally 15 minutes early without dropping any of my disposable stops. If I had gone for the ones I dropped it would have added 10 minutes to my ride, and given me enough points to win instead of taking 2nd.

Your best place to help yourself do well is to practice stops- both bonus stops and fuel stops. Take an old hand towel and write a number on it. Go for a ride and try to get off the bike, grab the towel, and take clear pics of it and another object. Can you access the towel quickly? If not, find another place to put it in the bike. Can you display it easily? Many of us use hangers or other items to hold the flag. A decent clamping hanger will hold the flag, and the hook comes in handy for hanging the flag at many stops. How about gas stops? You'll do a few during a 24 hour rally, can you do them quickly? Put your credit card where you can reach it easily. No need to burn through minutes just hunting for your wallet. Practice a fuel stop routine. Most of the top riders can fuel up in just a couple minutes. I've practiced a lot and can get off the highway and get back on with a full tank in 4 minutes. That includes exit ramp and entrance ramp. Why do a few seconds matter for a 24+ hour rally? I won't go into detail, but during last year's Cape Fear I was trying to make up just one minute so I would have time for a last wildcard bonus and it caused me to waste a lot more than that. I came in 8 minutes late and ruined what was possibly a winning route (if they were all approved I had the points, but was disqualified for being late).

As Dave said- the most important thing is to have fun. Rallies aren't for everyone, some just like riding easy and sniffing flowers. Nothing wrong with that, but it won't work for a rally. On the other hand, you will usually find yourself on some very cool roads, and each rally will leave you with interesting memories. Some of my best rally memories are riding back roads of Vermont in the middle of the night, all alone; winding down the hills & corners of the Lincoln Highway in PA during last year's Cape Fear; and NY farm country just across the border from CT during the Nutmeg 400.

Jim

Dave . . . you did great for your first time out. You finished while several did not and you outscored two more experience riders. Bravo!

If you want to talk sometime, call or email me. Most of what I'd say has already been provided here by other great riders. Good advice from all.

Shuey
c: (850) 240-3080
Direct email: shuey@cox.net