Notes on organizing a motorcycle rally
- Keep it simple.If this is your first time organizing a rally, keep it simple.
The simplest rally that I know of was held annually in Brooklyn. A day and time were announced and everyone gathered at the starting place. Just before the appointed time a person would walk out in front of the old Town Hall and set up a card table. On it they would place a pile of route sheets. When the Town Hall clock stuck the hour the riders would rush up, grab a route sheet, and hit the road. At the destination the same person would be sitting with the same card table and a pile of Award Certificates. The route was somewhat obfuscated so there were plenty of challenges to it. The Awards became bragging points until the next year. Decide what kind of rally you want.
On road, off road, combination of the two? Strict time/distance, fun tour with questions about route points, a set of destinations to be taken in any order?
One group bought shop towels and spray painted letters on them. The route sheet was a list of points of interest in the surrounding area. Each rider had to find the place, put their shop towel on the bike in front of the destination, take a photo, and then text it to rally central. The first person to complete the list and get back to the start was the winner.
Another rally for vintage tiddlers was a simple tour with specific directions through the New England countryside. 1.3 miles Turn Right, 2.7 miles Left at Fork, etc. Sometimes the roads would be named, other times not. The destination was always the organizer's home so that people could find their way if they got lost.Lay out the route several times.
If it includes mileages, run the route with different vehicles to get an average of each leg. Odometers vary so have several Reset stops so that riders aren't constantly doing math in their heads to figure out where the next way point is.
Run the route the night before to make sure that there are no surprises. Construction may have closed a road since the last time you went that way. Any number of things can happen, and will!Determine your resources
How many people will you need for support? In the Brooklyn rally one person did it all. The tiddler rally required a person to set up the route and a person to follow the route with a truck and trailer to pickup bikes that had broken down.
Many will promise but few will show up. This is just human nature. Their puppy got sick, the in-laws suddenly showed up, they forgot … Have backups for everything and call the night before to verify their commitment.Know your audience
Who are you aiming this at? Old British bikes rules out rough dirt roads because all the parts will fall off from the vibration. New and experienced adventure riders? Have challenging expert sections but with cutouts so the newbies don't get frustrated or worse. Don't put small bikes on big highways!Check the date
Research all the other events that might cause a conflict. Super Bowl Sunday is probably not a good choice. Neither is any date that is the same as a local club event that would gather to the same riders you want to appeal to. Sometimes it can't be helped and you just have to hope for the best.Get the word out
Think of how you're going to publicize the event. If it's a club function that's easy but if it's a special affair you're going to have to put it out there for the people who will be most likely to join in. Flyers and a website are good. Make it interesting and try to enlist the help of clubs and dealers. They are generally in favor of anything that will promote the sport.Have fun
My experience is that laying out the route is the most fun of all. Finding a tricky hill that will slow the riders down or an easily missed turn that will force the fast guys to backtrack to find what they missed. Some rally masters are known and loved/loathed for their diabolical tricks.Go back and look at #1
Don't overthink your plan. If it's a good one everyone will have a great time and plan on coming back for the next one. Experience will tell you what works and what doesn't. Don't try to do it all. Save some of the surprises for next time.
Make my day, tell a friend about this blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment