How Time Flies

Boy did those few days go by quickly.

No blog as we were at the one place for a few days and catching up with friends competing in the IBR2013.

We stayed at the Hyatt about two miles away from the Marriott where all the action was, as we guessed the Marriott may be full.  Wrong guess.  The Marriott is HUGE.  So with the 2 miles taking in several sets of traffic lights, we wasted a lot of time travelling back and forth.

Next time.......

So we took a boat load of pictures and have had to cut them down.  Charleen has done a great job of picking out the best for you and consolidating a few.   Mostly about the Rally

Ian undergoing tech inspection

Little story with that.  He didn't have his registration "tag" due to a language difficulty on the meaning of tag. His participation was in jeopardy.

Another rider knew a policeman who knew someone else in an office and a proper copy of the tag was generated and delivered to the Marriott under escort.   Great mates in the LD riding scene.

Tech inspectors insisted this high-ride gravity feed aux tank be lowered somewhat.  Trip to a local engineering shop and it was done.

The Cuddles Machine.  NSW Rego and pictures of their boys (both racers) on the back

An old 500cc single Honda shows packing innovation.

The Cuddles depart on an odometer check.  Minutes later they were back to ask directions.

Ghosty, CEO of FarRiders, checks out Ian's setup

Start day.  All the Aussie contenders pose.

Monday July 1 was day one of the Rally.  Starting at 10am, but there was an odometer check at 8am.  All riders had to be beside their bikes.  Rules are strict and penalties apply so they were all there, in the rain.
Then a nervous nearly two hours wait.
This was when the Aussie riders were happy to have some familiar faces around.  Instead of being strangers in a large parking lot full of bikes, we went in to the hotel and had coffee and conversation and before we knew it - time to get under way.

Odometer check and short riders briefing

 The police were involved to get the 100 bikes out of the hotel and on to the nearby freeway.  What a great sight as they took off one by one under the direction of Dale "Warchild" Wilson who was aptly described as looking like a Filipino traffic cop.
There is a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lh2piuQg9U&feature=youtu.be

Our guys getting under way.
Police escort - Shane and Annette "Team Cuddles" Cudlin
Peter "Ox" Hogan - Ian "Drain" McPhee

 Most of the riders are carrying SPOT and their progress can be checked here
https://spotwalla.com/locationViewer.php?id=168
Worth a look in now and then at they travel all over North America

Time for us to be on the move again, we'll be back here when it is all over.   We headed east in to more rain, looking for a candle factory in Pennsylvania.

Some huge bridges spanning the rivers

We passed through Punxsutawney  and this little guy was everywhere.  Remember the film Groundhog Day?

We had struck a problem with our GPS arriving in Cranberry.  After many years of service and a couple of prangs it finally gave up the ghost in a torrential downpour.  Problem is that replacements are hard to get and we needed something - or buy an awful lot of maps.  So it was a trip to an electrical store where only the car type GPS units are available.  No motorcycle units available anywhere in these parts.
Problem is the car type ones are not waterproof and have weak mounts, only good enough for car dashboards and not motorcycle handlebars.
So I duct taped the new one to the old mount and away we went.  Naturally, more rain so pulled in to a shop.  No sandwich bags to cover it up, but they did have cling wrap.  One does what one must.

Cling wrapped and duct taped.  It works

All the rain has the local rivers and creeks running bankers

Farmers asking for a little bit of dry to get this crop in.

We finished up, after a short day at Huntingdon, PA where there is a candle factory.  This is where they make some scented waxes that we like so we will post a pound or two of it home.  Too late for the shop, we will visit it in the morning.
A very nice meal at a down-to-earth restaurant - not one of the big chains - and our day was done.

DC tomorrow.