On the Road to Rally Tennessee! May 23, 2008

June 05, 2008 16:21

On the Road to Rally Tennessee! May 23, 2008

This being Friday morning of a holiday weekend, we know that many of you are gearing up for your first trip of the season. We’ve just spent the better part of two days on the road to Rally Tennessee and thought it might be worth sharing a few of our road trip rules:

Rule #1: Pack smart.

Six days worth of gear. Five rally-prepped motorcycles. Four extra wheels. Three toolboxes. Two brothers. No girls. No dogs.

Rule #2: Stop someplace you’ve never been before and take pictures.

We decided to make two special stops on this trip. The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio and the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky:

Rule #3: Make every mile a learning experience.

Rule #4. At the end of the day find a nice spot to relax with friends.

This is the first rally we’ve been to that’s held the Novice Competitor Orientation poolside. It’s probably no coincidence that it was also the longest NCO we’ve ever attended.

In a couple of days, the trip down here will be dwarfed in our memories by the action and activities of the only tarmac rally event on the Rally schedule this year. Almost all of the bikes and cars have arrived and undergone their requisite dressing of decals.

The bikes have been unloaded and inspected for tech, and thanks to the time zone we feel like we have a head start on the day this morning. As soon has we hit “send” on this e-mail, we’re off to spend the better part of the day driving the roads that we’ll be rallying across tomorrow. The reconnaissance, or “recce” as it’s known, is an opportunity to examine the course and surface so we have a general idea of what to expect. We’ll also get to ride a short shakedown stage at the end of the day to see how our inspections from the car translate to the bike.

We’ll take some pictures and let you know how it goes.

For more information on Rally Tennessee, please visit www.rallytennessee.com.