2012 Rendez Vous Rally

This is a 12 hour rally - starting at 05:30 nominal and ending 12 hours later. I say nominal, as the riders are released in threes, and one's finish time is 12 hours from their start time. My start was at 05:38, meaning that I had until 17:38 to make it back to the hotel. In reality, I needed to be back by 17:08, as points are deducted for each minute between 17:08 and 17:38. Most rallies have a theme, and this one is no different - the Rallymaster has focused on Post Offices and related items.

05:38 - it's dark and I get the signal to go. My first scheduled bonus stop is Rigaud, 68 miles away, where I need to answer the question "What's written on the middle mailbox?" I get there, and there are three boxes stacked vertically. The top box is labeled "Taxes" and is about 12' up. The second is "Bills" and is about 3' lower and the bottom is for regular mail. I annotate my log with the answer, the time of day and my odometer reading. The last two items are required for every bonus, as it helps to recreate your ride, should there be a question later.

The next stop is in Hawkesbury, a bit under 10 miles away, and is a photo bonus. Each rider has a Rally Flag that has the name of the rally and their rider number. This flag must (unless otherwise stated) be in each photo - it keeps one from recycling an old photo ;-). The requirement was to take a self-portrait with the words "Rendez Vous" visible on the car dealer's front. In keeping with Rally Traditions, it's starting to rain.

Back on the bike and a whole 1.4 miles to go to the Post OFfice in Hawkesbury to get a picture of the Canada Post entrance sign.

10.5 miles later, I arrive in Montebello to grab a pic of a large sundial. The rain has slacked off at this point, but my on-board radar shows that this will not be the case for long. I run into another rider at this point, and we travel together for a bit.

A bit under 3 miles later, we arrive in Saint Andre Avellin to get a photo of the mailbox at the Parc Omega. We take turns holding each other's flags.

Off to Notre Dame de la Paix - a mere 10 miles down the road and another Post Office.

And then the lovely town of Saint Remy de Amherst where I need a pic of the Post Office with the white church in the background. I had planned on starting the rally with a full tank, but had fuelled a few miles before I got to the Hotel and didn't bother to top up.

Mistake. I now need fuel.

Badly.

My GPS says that the Depanneur (convenience store) in Saint Remy has fuel.

The GPS lies. It doesn't look as if it EVER had fuel.

The GPS says that the Depanneur near the next scheduled Bonus has fuel. If I believe it, and it's wrong again, I stand a good chance of pushing the bike for a few kilometers if I can't find someone's lawn-mower gas. Which will do a number on my average speed.

I take the coward's way out and head for Tremblant, 10 miles away, where I KNOW there'll be fuel. There is, and I backtrack the 12 miles to Arundel - for the bonus that I just bypassed. It's too many points to ignore. This little foray has added about 30 miles to my route with the attendant loss of time. Lckily, I'm making better time than I scheduled, so I'm actually back on schedule, but the lovely cushion of time has evaporated.

Arundel - pic of the old railroad depot that has been converted to a Post Office. And get a bit of old RR equipment in the picture, too.

Back up to Tremblant and up to Mont Tremblant for a pic of the Post Box in front of the Country Inn.

I'm now about 200 miles into the rally and have managed to stay dry. This is about to change. Heading back into Tremblant, the dry bubble that I had been riding in closes around me. If I hadn't lost that 30 minutes with the fuel bit, I'd probably have missed this. I did take the opportunity to pick up a wee bit more fuel, as there was a bonus of getting no more than 7.5 liters of fuel between 09:00 and 15:00 - thoughtfully placed in the middle of the day. I take 4.3 liters to top off the tank and am off into a driving rain.

It gets very dark, except for the frequent flashes of light that were throughfully provided to help me see. But the GPS radar shows that I'm heading out of it. The front is stacked up for a hundred or so miles behind me, so waiting it out isn't an option. I pull out of it just as I reach Saint Agathe des Monts and another bonus of a sign proclaiming the site to have been a Post Office. I will be dry for almost the rest of the day - whereupon it will make up over a 20 minute period the preceding 4+ hours of dry.

Up to the lovely town of Saint Donat de Montcalm for a pic of a bank sign and that of a Pizzeria where the Rallymaster had lunch. Thunder is heard in the background, and I head out of town just ahead of the rain.

10 miles down the road and I pick up the bonus of the Mecaglisse motorsports sign.

A bit under 30 miles away is Sainte Emilie de l'Energie and another Post Office. I knew an Emily once, but she wasn't energetic.

30 miles to Saint Edouard de Maskongie and a written bonus - I need to fill in what is written below the words "Canada Post" - it turns out to be an "Authorised Postal Box Vendor)

I've reached my turn around point, and am now heading (generally) back to the barn. The next on the list is in Berthierville, where there is a museum to Gilles Villeneuve.

I grab the pic and head for the ferry that will take me back across the St. Lawrence. I manage to get there just as it starts loading :-) This partially makes up for the fuel fiasco earlier.

Over the river, and through the woods to Drummondville we go. The object of interest is the old Molson Bank (yes, THAT Molson).

Photo secured, I head for Racine and my last scheduled bonus. This is another written one. There's a series of 6 mailboxes - all I have to do is to sum up the numbers on the doors. Easy.

At this point, I've got about 400 miles on the bike with another 60 back to the finish. And the radar is saying that it isn't going to be a fun trip. I hit the rain about 35 miles from the end, and it's heavy. The rain, however, isn't the issue - it's the sidewinds which are literally blowing me across the road. The last few miles are along the river where I'm concerned that a tree will blow over on me, but as there's nowhere to stop safely, I might as well keep on going.

The rain and wind slack off just as I arrive at the finish (of course). A bit over 11 hours and a bit under 500 miles for the day. I finished 7th out of 34 starters with 3 DNFs - one with mechanical issues and two who were time barred (arrived after their end time).

This was the first rally that I (a) made all of my planned bonus stops and (b) didn't leave any points on the scoring table. A good ride, indeed.

My GPS track overlaid in Google Earth. Montreal is at the bottom center:

My Route Sheet with ETAs & point values

Thanks for riding along. Bigger images can be found here