From what I can gather, it seems Gorman MIGHT be open to RallyMoto, but that is the only one? Anyone in the know? Gotta decide if I want to plan and prep to run RallyMoto as my first competitive (not at a competitive pace) event?
I have been in constant contact with Ray Hocker THEE man behind most all things rally on the west coast for over 15 years and the organizer or the Gorman rally. Since 2008 the CRS or the california rally series which includes most all of the west coast / AZ / WA/ ID rallys and NASA rally sport tried to run a bike class. in 08 about 5 different riders myself included rode about 3 of 5 or so rallys .. 09 came and they actually had a rally championship just for bikes they had about 2-5 racers that year. Ray has told me Its a losing propositon for them to include bikes so they have stopped opening them up to us because of very low bike numbers. Ray actually has left the door open by welcoming us to the Gorman but we need AT LEAST 5 entries for us to pay our share of insurance. We had 3 lined up to race Gorman last year but that was not enough. I can tell you If we get enough Ray WILL let us race the Gorman rally. He also offers the ridgecrest rally school that he is willing to open to bikes too but not enough interest. The other one that MAY let bikes run is the High Desert Trails which is ran in the Ridgecrest area and also offers a rally time keeping class. Those are the only two besides Idaho which also lets SxS's, Quads and three wheelers in. I started my rally career with the CRS in 2008 racing out near the burining man festival area in Nevada at the North Nevada Rally which has since switched to Rally America a sanction that doesnt allow bikes. I ran three NASA rallys in 08-09 and learned ALOT about multi stage days and time keeping but not much in the way of navagation as all the stages are blocked, fenced and taped off for BLM /Forest service reasons thus making it easy to concentrate on riding skill in corners and staying in the rally game ALL DAY which takes more fitness and concentration than most would think. The east coast events have had great turnouts where the west only has had one rally, the mt hood that had over 5 racers and that was because they were filiming it for a possible movie that never materialized. SO with that said we now have two riders "IN" for Gorman
Yeah, I am a little late on the scene. I have looked over the last few years results and seen the low entries and dwindling Rallymoto on the left coast. That said, I am not looking to be Dakar type of experience. So having little navigation is of no importance to me. Just some closed fireroad running with time being kept. Essentially, a very cool way to screw around. I know the east coasters make a great turn out. I can only guess the westies are too busy playing Hare n Hound in the desert to bother with 'Rally.' HDT is in May right? Not sure I can buy a bike and get enough practice in by then. I will keep my eyes open, and will use any means necessary to get off work for Gorman. So keep that in mind, and hopefully we can recruit some more. I have seen your past efforts on ADV to get enough bikes to cover the costs.
Surf, can you direct me to the pertinent sites concerning this event? Whats needed for entry (personal and bike) etc... I might be interested but need to know what's involved. Cheers
This page has links to most everything.. http://californiarallyseries.com/ Here is the Event site http://www.gormanridgerally.com/
First link does not have much useful info specific to RallyMoto. CRS doesn't seem to be too focused on Moto at the moment. This however has some info (although the site does not appear to be updated much) http://rallymoto.com/?q=faq 2012 NASA RallyMoto http://www.nasarallysport.com/rules...General-Regulations-for-Rallies-Section-4.pdf This will answer about 99% of your questions. And 2012 Sections 1 and 2 http://www.nasarallysport.com/rules...eral-Regulations-for-Rallies-Sections-1-2.pdf which will essentially apply to a RallyMoto (driver, co-driver/navigator=rider, aka: use common sense when interpreting the sporting rules and regulations). These are the Supplemental Regulations from the 2012 Gorman Ridge Rally http://sierraphotographystudios.com...itors_files/Supplemental Regulations 2012.pdf A little info for planning this year, as I doubt it will be much different than 2012. It really appears to be a pretty straightforward affair. They are serious but in what I imagine to be a laid back kind of way. It looks like great fun, without the need for great bike or self prep.
You live near the Hare n Hound capitol of the world. Why not just do that? It's a lot cheaper and there are plenty of events to cut your teeth on. There is a 4 day rally called the Mexican 1000. The length of Baja. There is a thread here on it. It is a series of timed sections linked by transits. Roadbook navigation, plus GPS. Somehow blazing through the trees at high speeds on dirt roads doesn't strike me as healthy.
All good points for those in the southwest. Unfortunately, I however do not live near it. 6+ hour one way drives aren't easy for me to make. I don't really see how RallyMoto is any more or less dangerous than desert riding. All are good forms of motorsport. Wish I could play in more of them.
If you want closer you have some of the best enduro's on the planet in your area. When I say your area, I mean the Sierra's, Clear Lake and the mountains west of Willows. Then there are hare scrambles too. Places like Hollister Hills and such. Enduros are typically two 50 mile loops and involve time keeping. Hare scrambles typically have long laps, with each being several miles. The idea is to get the most laps in for the time allocated. Hare N Hounds are two desert loops or maybe point to point. Check with AMA District 36 (Norcal) or District 37 (Socal) for events. Regarding the safety question, the RM concept is over gravel roads. That means very high speeds through trees. Desert racing is a lot slower for the most part because it is technical riding. Hare scrambles slower yet and enduros are just that. Trying to maintain an assigned pace through rugged terrain. You can get killed in any of them, but it seems to me that motorcycle racing is less risky when the speeds are down. That's my experience, anyway. Personally, I started with enduros and migrated to amateur MX. Enduro's were too much work!
Word on the street is that NORRA may be joining forces with CODE (Mexican group that promotes off road races in Northern Baja) for a 3 day rally from Mexicalli to Ensenada in September.
Just for the running tally---I have been repositioned at work and definately have lost the flexibility in my scheduling. So, more reading ride and race reports for me in 2013 and not making them. Damn!
The sanctioning body for these events is NASA Rally Sport, and a zillion first-timer questions are answered here: http://www.nasarallysport.com/main/Rally-University Cheers! Anders
Mexican 1000 average speeds on day had to be in the high sixties, low seventies. RM average speeds at the top are in the mid fifties. Baja, open to all traffic....RM closed course.
