Hey everyone. I just entered into the Nutmeg 400 10 hr endurance rally at the end of April in Connecticut. It'll be my first time and I was wondering if any of you had tips for preparing for it and anything that would help. I'm going to be riding my 2011 F800 GS. http://www.minuteman1000.com/Nutmeg_400.html Thanks!
Go to the store. and buy the protien power bars or energy bars. Or the Energy gels. buy plenty. you dont' want the hungry feeling. Also buy the small red bull cans or the 5 hour energy shots. Stay away from big meals. your body will feel tired after you eat and want to make you fall a sleep. If you eat small portions through out the day your feel more awake. get plenty of sleep the night before. and rest up. If it's going to rain bring a change of dry clothes. and dress for the weather. make sure your seat is comfy your ass will thank you later. listen to music. Stay away from low soft music and boring talk shows. Loud up beat music will help keep your attention up. buy some small candy like twislers that you can munch on while you ride and can eat through the helmet. If you want you can even get a camel pack. Don't drink alot just sip it. Drink to much your have to pee alot. At every stop only stop get off the bike walk around stretch and go pee. GO PEE IF YOU HAVE TO OR NOT. If you need to change. Most importantly have fun and enjoy yourself. wave to people on the road. Also make sure your bike it 100% ready. but bring tools and spare stuff just incase.
Also if you have not started already begin with some endurance training, even if it nothing more than riding a bike on a trainer for 45 minutes a night. Build up for cardio aerobic capacity and core muscle strength. These all help in the long run.
A 400 mile day is not too hard unless it's your first ride of the year. Keep your breaks short and stretch when stopped. Do a couple of 2-300 mile days beforehand if you can. Enjoy the ride.
here's a few things i've learned the past couple of years riding in rallies. This is not a race BUT a test of reading comprehension, route planning, time management and riding skill. Riding on the clock is a whole different animal than just traveling. Best bet is to plan some practice runs beforehand and get a feel for bike setup, time management and stress you WILL have to deal with. the GPS is your friend/enemy....know how to use routing software to preplan your ride. Circle routes are more efficient, backtracking on routes should be avoided as much as possible ( keep moving forward) and know your riding (and fuel) limits and adjust accordingly...you WILL burn more fuel than normal. Know how to transfer your route to your gps and run your gps on the move. Practice, practice, practice finding fuel or adjusting your route on the fly. Plan on 10 minutes per bonus stop...for photo bonus type rallies, this is about the right amount of time to get out your flag, camera and photo taken & packed away. For the Nutmeg, still figure 10 minutes per stop. In the beginning, you probably can stqy on the bike for your bonus answer but as the day wears on take the opportunity to get off the bike, stretch and get the blood flowing. Figure gas stop(s) are 15 minutes+ with a bio-break. Read the rules and make sure your fuel rreceipt is good. Your rolling average ( for the east coast) should be about 35 mph. :huh yeah, 35 mph! Time management is the biggest part of rally riding and if the RM is kind, you will be riding some really nice roads, not bombing along the highway. stay away from the Red Bull & other energy drinks. You will be pumped up enough to stay awake and alert. Have fun! enjoy the view, read the back stories for the boni you visit, and remember this is FUN and not a race. Performance awards are not advised.
for some "on the clock" boni chasing try the following: Big Money Rally www.bigmonyrally.com Z to A Grand Tour www.glmc.org Smoke Chasing www.smokechasing.com E2E rally by the pace podcast Phill
If your bonus and fuel stops require ten and fifteen minutes, you're not being very efficient. I've competed in one rally, the Not Superman back in 2010. That year it was a 36-hour rally with an eight-hour rest period. My fuel stops were between two and four minutes, from pulling into the driveway to pulling back out onto the road. Standard bonus stops were about three minutes. Some bonuses I did in under a minute. Some bonuses required us to park and walk somewhere which naturally required more time. You shouldn't have to "unpack" anything. Your bonus flag should be easily accessible. Camera should be at hand. You shouldn't have to do much more than park your bike, get off, take a picture, and get back on your bike. If you're having to fiddle with luggage or putting things away, it's time wasted. Same with gas stops. Credit card should be one zipper away. If you're running inside to pee at a gas stop, you're wasting time. Pee when you're off the bike for some other reason. Even if you have to stop on the side of the road to pee, it's quicker than going inside a gas station. Stretch while you're riding. In a timed rally, every minute counts. If you're not riding, you're wasting time. It kinda depends on your purpose for entering the rally. When I did my rally, I noticed most people weren't there to win, they were there for the fun and social interaction. I noticed a lot of guys would take off their helmets and stop to have a snack at a bonus stop. There were several cases where I pulled up to a bonus stop while someone else was there, and I took my picture and left and they still were fiddling around with something on the bike, or putting their camera away, or whatever. Dr. Phil has it right though, it's all about following directions. The research I did before I entered my first rally showed that very experienced rally riders often screw up because they didn't follow the directions or rules. They made mistakes. For preparation, I'd practice fuel stops and bonus stops. As I said above, my fuel stops, start-to-finish, were less than four minutes, and most of that was waiting for the tank to fill up. I kept my credit card in my right pocket of my riding suit. I removed only my right glove. While my fuel was pumping, I wrote down my odometer reading. After I topped up the tank and put the pump back, I double checked the receipt, put my glove back on, and start the bike. For bonus stops, I kept my rally flag under a bungee cord on the rear seat. I didn't have to unpack it. I grabbed it, draped it on or over whatever the bonus was, my camera was in the front pocket of my tank bag. Snap a photo, double check the quality, and back on the bike. The bonus picture below took about 30 seconds. I didn't even turn the bike off. You can read my ride report from my rally here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=591286 Jamie
Results are on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nutmeg-400/498181213575998 Who Mr. Trump is, I haven't a clue. See 31st place.
Sorry for the late reply! It was a lot of fun! I stayed up the night before stressing and planning my route so I didn't get much sleep but the adrenaline kept me awake. I should of planned the route days before but I didn't and it worked out just fine for me. At the riders meeting Friday night they gave a few hidden bonus locations and one of them was to go to Hunter mountain and bring back a 2013 ski map in the off season. I was successful. So I made the decision then to scrap my route that I made the previous night because the biggest bonus was to ride to the Max BMW dealership in Troy, NY as it was worth 45,000 pts. The catch was to get there between 12/noon and 1pm. So that's what I went with. Also I required was to stay there at least 30 mins (they provided lunch). After lunch I made my way into Southern Vermont and into Massachusetts picking up points at various locations on the way. I got a bit overzealous with my plan and I had to ditch a few of locations on my way the the finish and at one point I almost ran out of gas in the back country roads I finished the race 26th place and with 86,650 points. Overall I had a blast and I'm going to do it again next year!
Buttwax paste ! Don't laugh that stuff works and got me throughout two iron butt (1000 miles in 24 hours) rides a few other long range rides. A camelback is also a must have, don't get dehydrated.
