Cal24 2008 - BARF style

[Razel]

I saw the SPOT units at HRO (Ham Radio Outlet) and considered getting one. Now I'm sure I want one. I've checked both pages but there's nothing there yet I guess? Are y'all transmitting data yet? It would be keen to see it working before you go on the journey.

Best wishes for a great !

Uh...no? Right now (and it may have to stay that way) there are two pages, one for Alex, one for me. Mine doesn't have much right now, two tracks and one "Ok" message. But, it's there when I go to the website my device is pointing to.

 

[egrep]

Yes, I see now on your page three points! Before on both pages it just said no messages and showed the world map. Nice to get to see a bit more 'in action' stuff from it. Cool! Looking forward to seeing the CAL24 unfold there

 

[Whodat]

I think what you're doing is something lots of us (certainly I) wish we had the ways or the means to attempt. It takes great ability and dedication. Go get 'em and do it for us!

I have exactly the same thoughts about you guys that do track days

 

[aciurczak]

You could use your track log to geotag them later too I suppose. I'm sorry, I'm a geek and a rider. I geotagged my track day photos to the turns they were on.

Any pictures I take will be geotagged (I think geotagging is pretty cool as well), but I don't think there will be too many pictures en route. I'll certainly take pictures of the ride start, the ride end, and the checkpoints, but during the ride itself there is precious little time to be taking out the digital camera and snapping shots. There is a polaroid camera that I'll be taking for the actual photo bonuses, and if there is time I'll try and take some of the same pics on the digicam.

 

[Whodat]

Weather forcast

Hope everyone has a plan to stay hydrated...

Weather forecast for Dunnigan

 

[Razel]

Bring something warm, too.

Lee Vining (Eastern Sierras)
Saturday Night
Mostly Clear
Lo 43°F

 

[Razel]

Extra attention for highway 108

CHP Project Aims To Reduce Accidents On Hwy 108
Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 01:20 PM
BJ Hansen

Jamestown, Ca -- Thanks to a $308,832 grant from the State Office Traffic Safety, the Sonora area CHP Office will be able to make a strong push to curb the accident and death rates on Hwy 108 from the Stanislaus County line to the Pinecrest turnoff.

CHP Commander Mike Ayala says the "Sonora Pass Gateway Traffic Corridor Project" will allow for 200 hours of overtime for Sergeants and 1,870 hours for Officers.

There will also be overtime funding available for CHP pilots, dispatch and clerical workers.

The grant took effect June 1st and will continue until May 31, 2009. Between 2004-07 there were 41 fatalities on the 59 mile stretch of Highway 108 and 1,042 traffic related injuries.


____________________


Don't know the route(s), but heads up.

 

[aciurczak]

Leaving for Dunnigan in a few minutes... SPoT will be up and running...

 

[owlflavored]

Looks like Razel arrived in Dunnigan about an hour ago. good luck guys!!



heh ... if you select "hybrid" map and zoom in, you can see where he parked at the Best Value Inn.

 

[Razel]

Yup. I are here in Dunnigan. Passed by AndyM and IronButt during my odo calibration run, so they're here as well. SPoT working like a charm, too, I see. I can see where I stopped for lunch in Hayward

Bike passed tech. Room A/C is wonderful here. Went by the Bay Bridge and it was a bit chilly...maybe 55 degrees? Here? Hot...

Time to wander out and psyche everyone else out into quitting before the start...

Rally flag, decorated with rider number and in the process of drying

 

[owlflavored]

Cool! looks like Alex just got there too.

 

[aciurczak2]

We're here!

Well, here's Alex's spot track today from home to Dunnigan. I got to decorate his flag... pictures in the process of uploading. Stay tuned!

 

[budman]

Sweet

 

[budman]

Alex appears to be freeway bound.. and Ray has cut off.. pretty damn cool stuff!

 

[aciurczak2]

And they're off!

This year's theme is BITE THE BULLET and so it looks like there will be some kind of firearms activity. The riders received their packets this morning around 7 am which meant an 8 am start.

Here's a photo from yesterday's rider's meeting. We took pics of this morning's meeting, but Alex has the camera for the rally...:

From what I could see reading over Alex's shoulder, there are 8 bonuses in the first leg. Each bonus is labeled as a "Bullet". From the rider's meeting this morning, it was communicated that each bonus gives you one bullet to shoot into your CAL24 shirt! Here's a picture of the bullseye on the back of this year's CAL24 shirt that I guess they get to shoot at.

In the spirit of the theme, I heard something about one of the bonuses being paint ball. I guess this will be another opportunity to shoot stuff. It should be interesting to see if folks return home covered in fluorescent paint.

Alex called shortly after Bullet #1. It must not have been too far from Dunnigan since I got the call at 8:43 am. He told me all was fine and that he was riding with our friend, Don Beaton, and would check in again probably after Bullet #2.

As promised, here are a few pics of Alex's flag (he's rider #34):

#34 and Kyle

Left side of each cup has a flower!

Right side of each cup has a message! The GO!!!! message is a copy of Rossi's GO!!!! on his leathers... Alex is a HUGE Rossi fan, which is why our dog is named Valentino.

Bottom side of each cup indicates the WHAT and WHO. I probably should have put the WHEN (2008), but forgot.

While I was decorating the flag, the rally gods were debating on whether or not it was considered "outside help". The conclusion was made that for the arts and crafts portion of the pre-rally activities, it was OK, especially since the resulting product would enhance the style of Alex's bra. Alex, we are looking forward to the pictures of you wearing it with great pride!

Need to take a break... dog needs a walk. Keep checking here for updates!

 

[budman]

 

[aciurczak2]

Spot updates....

In case you aren't logging in to the Spot guest pages... Here are some snap shots of a few of the folks in the rally (Alex, Don, and Ray):

As was the case 2 years ago, the internet speed here at the Best Western is pretty slow... The Spot pages take FOREVER! For this reason, I don't plan to update folks on their location going forward, so just click on their guest pages and you can see where they are real time +/- 10 minutes.

UPDATE:
OK, I give up! I can't upload the screen shots I took of the 3 spot pages. Internet SUCKS HERE!!!! mad Please go to their respective spot pages for updates.

 

[aciurczak2]

I just spoke with Alex. All is still well and he's having a great time! He and Don are still riding together. They got Bullets 1, 2, and 3, and headed to 4, but aren't sure they are going to make it in time, so they may have to bail on it. He didn't tell me what any of them were as he was in a hurry or something. I guess there's no 20 minute rest to talk to the wife on these things .

Spot didn't seem to be working for about an hour. It stopped tracking Alex at about 10:15 am. It's working now and he looks to be headed towards Truckee, CA. I'll write again later if there's more news.

 

[aciurczak2]

CAL24 Police

One of the new twists this year is that there are CAL24 Police. This was shared at last night's rider's meeting and then explained in more detail this morning. It looks like the CAL24 rally folks are setting up Speed traps to enforce the philosophy that this is a rally and not a race. If any rider is caught speeding there is a significant time and points penalty dependent on how fast they were caught going. I'm sure if folks are caught, we'll hear about it tomorrow when they return.

 

[budman]

Well... I guess you can thank us for that..

Hopefully the Cal 24 Police miss our boys.. er men.

I had noted a lack of pick points for Alex.. and was a little worried actually.

I feel mo better now!