This year motogiro took a bit more work to decide on. Long time readers will remember that last year in Sicily we had a car accident days before the giro and we had to withdraw from the event. So this year it is very important for us to go and have a great trip to clear the slate!
For 2008 though, there appear to be two motogiro type events in Italy. One is the "Motogiro d'Italia", organized by Dream Engine (which has had a close relationship with Ducati). Another event is the "Motogiro Race" run by MotoClub Terni (which had been running the competition part of the Motogiro dItalia since the early 1990s). Apparently this year Motoclub Terni is running their own event. While I would love to run in both, I must pick just one.
I really like the Club Terni guys and would love to see them again and their event is significantly less expensive. And the route looks fantastic. But Club Terni has not announced a specific "Motogiro" type class, it appears (from the Italian regulations posted on their website) their oldest and smallest class is 50cc to 400cc for bikes made in 1974 or earlier. I'm not sure that I want to be competing against bikes 20 years newer and twice the size of mine! They would have a big comfort and speed advantage.
The Motogiro d'Italia still has their premier "Historical Commemorative Class" for bikes 175cc or smaller and made before 1957. This is a class that truly represents the original Motogiro to me, and my bike best fits it. So that decided things for me and I signed up for this years Motogiro d'Italia today!
This year's event starts in Rome and runs east to the coastal city of Pescara. From Pescara we ride to Vieste and spend an extra day riding in that area. Then we head back to Pescara for another night and then back to Rome. It will be the usual 5 days and approximately 1000 miles racing through the back roads of Italy. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of starting and ending in Rome, I expect the traffic to be horrible. But they have found us a nice hotel there rest of the route looks very nice!
So now my preparations begin for the Motogiro d'Italia 2008.
Carl
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Giro d' California Report
I wanted to publicly thank the organizers of the Giro d' California, Harley and Deb for another great event. I really
thought the whole thing was very professional and can only admire the
effort they both put in to make a great event! Thank you Harley! And
thank you Deb!
Here is the story... I was running well in the morning Monday (although not as well as Hans!). We were running north
on 25 looking for the turn on Bitterwater Rd to head toward King City.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize how far off my odometer was, and when
I reached Bitterwater Road, I was not sure it was the turn as I
thought I had more than 2 miles to go. So I kept going on 25 North.
When my odometer ran down to what I thought was the turning point, I
realized I had missed the turn. So I reversed direction and headed
back South. Of course when I finally got to Bitterwater Road, I
thought I was well behind schedule and was zooming as fast as I could
go. And I was totally confused as to what to make of my mileage. At
any rate, I zoomed down Bitterwater. Harley had arranged a gas stop,
with it's accompanying 10 minute break, just before the final check in
front of the lunch stop. When I got to the gas station, I didn't
recognize it, as I still thought the gas stop was a mile or so ahead!
So I rode right by, and turning the corner in town I saw Deb and the
checkpoint right ahead. Knowing I couldn't (by the rules) stop ahead
of the checkpoint, I drove right up to Deb, with her looking at me
with dismay! I was 17 minutes early! I must have been ahead of time to
begin with, and then flown down Bitterwater road, and then gained
another 10 minutes by skipping the gas stop. Sigh. I was "cooked". I realized right away that I was way out of the running.
I was significantly disappointed, but it's hard to stay sorry when on
such a great event and surrounded by such nice people. So I perked up
during lunch.
Actually, the ride after lunch was great, it was nice to enjoy some
time on the Rumi without worrying about my timing!
But then in the evening while cleaning my bike, I found one of the
rear struts that holds my seat above the rear tire had broken. I made
a search for a local welder, but didn't find one open. Frankly, the
Rumi is a real prize for me, and I was very hesitant to just let some
muffler shop have a go at it. I have almost 4000 miles on it since the
restoration, and I'm not hurting to put in miles on it. So after
considering the situation overnight, Lorraine and I decided to work
checkpoints the next day. We worked one right before lunch and one
right at the end of the day. Both were emergency checkpoints, so I
guess our extra help was useful. Regardless, it was much more fun than
I expected. Lorraine and I got to know Dean and Patrick better, and it
was really neat seeing all of the gang come through!
My congratulations to all the winners and especially to Hans. Hans
rode VERY competitively and his commitment to his pace was to be
admired. I can only hope to give him a run next year!
I'll be back in 2008 for sure.
Carl
thought the whole thing was very professional and can only admire the
effort they both put in to make a great event! Thank you Harley! And
thank you Deb!
Here is the story... I was running well in the morning Monday (although not as well as Hans!). We were running north
on 25 looking for the turn on Bitterwater Rd to head toward King City.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize how far off my odometer was, and when
I reached Bitterwater Road, I was not sure it was the turn as I
thought I had more than 2 miles to go. So I kept going on 25 North.
When my odometer ran down to what I thought was the turning point, I
realized I had missed the turn. So I reversed direction and headed
back South. Of course when I finally got to Bitterwater Road, I
thought I was well behind schedule and was zooming as fast as I could
go. And I was totally confused as to what to make of my mileage. At
any rate, I zoomed down Bitterwater. Harley had arranged a gas stop,
with it's accompanying 10 minute break, just before the final check in
front of the lunch stop. When I got to the gas station, I didn't
recognize it, as I still thought the gas stop was a mile or so ahead!
So I rode right by, and turning the corner in town I saw Deb and the
checkpoint right ahead. Knowing I couldn't (by the rules) stop ahead
of the checkpoint, I drove right up to Deb, with her looking at me
with dismay! I was 17 minutes early! I must have been ahead of time to
begin with, and then flown down Bitterwater road, and then gained
another 10 minutes by skipping the gas stop. Sigh. I was "cooked". I realized right away that I was way out of the running.
I was significantly disappointed, but it's hard to stay sorry when on
such a great event and surrounded by such nice people. So I perked up
during lunch.
Actually, the ride after lunch was great, it was nice to enjoy some
time on the Rumi without worrying about my timing!
But then in the evening while cleaning my bike, I found one of the
rear struts that holds my seat above the rear tire had broken. I made
a search for a local welder, but didn't find one open. Frankly, the
Rumi is a real prize for me, and I was very hesitant to just let some
muffler shop have a go at it. I have almost 4000 miles on it since the
restoration, and I'm not hurting to put in miles on it. So after
considering the situation overnight, Lorraine and I decided to work
checkpoints the next day. We worked one right before lunch and one
right at the end of the day. Both were emergency checkpoints, so I
guess our extra help was useful. Regardless, it was much more fun than
I expected. Lorraine and I got to know Dean and Patrick better, and it
was really neat seeing all of the gang come through!
My congratulations to all the winners and especially to Hans. Hans
rode VERY competitively and his commitment to his pace was to be
admired. I can only hope to give him a run next year!
I'll be back in 2008 for sure.
Carl
Monday, September 24, 2007
A few Secret Tips for the Giro D'California
Next week I take my 1955 Moto Rumi Bicarburatore to the premier California vintage Italian bike event, the Giro D' California. This is the third running of the event and competition is going to be fierce. I've managed to win the past two years and have really enjoyed some good luck.
But now I'm going to tell a few anecdotes and give away a few secrets. Frankly, there are more than a couple guys who really know what they are doing and are gunning for the win this year. But there are also riders who are new to this kind of event, and a few tips might help them understand the fun of the competition!
- Read the rules and the tips that Harley provides for the event. Harley provides this info directly:
- Know what is happening regarding time, speed and distance (TSD) right from the very start. Last year I realized that it would be hard to make the first checkpoint on time, and so I flew out of the gate. I was late to that first checkpoint by a couple minutes but everyone else was much later. The lead I made on that first checkpoint brought me the win, even though I was beaten on other checkpoints that day as well as the second day. (Note that my Rumi is far from the fastest bike out there; that wasn't why I did so well. It was my being aware that I had to really get moving right from the start that was most important.)
- To track the TSD, I just took Harley's roll chart and penned in the time I was supposed to be at each turn, estimated from his time sheet. (He suggests you can write the mileage for every mile of the route, but I don't do that much.) If it looked like I was going to get somewhere too early, I'd slow down. And I sped up if it seemed I was going to be too late.
- You can also guess where the surprise checkpoints might be, and where they are unlikely to be, by looking at the rules and the map. One time last year I pulled over right before a major town, guessing the checkpoint might be there and knowing I was ahead of time. Lots of people passed me and arrived early... when I was back on schedule I started again, finding the surprise checkpoint only about 100 meters in front of me over the hill! It was a just a guess on my part, but an educated one.
- Have a strategy. You can try and ride the exact speed noted, but on these old bikes that might be hard. Typically you can't go fast enough uphill. And sometimes it's easy to be going way too fast. How are you going to keep on pace? Can you see a big mountain ahead? Maybe you should be going faster to get ahead of time before it, etc.
- Watch your competitors. Last year Lorin and I had a fantastic run for one of the checkpoints. Being next to each other in the starting order, we only had to hit the checkpoints 30 seconds apart. We found ourselves riding together, and we both knew if we stayed together, neither of us could pull a significant lead on the other! It was hilarious as we tailed each other, sometimes riding slow, sometimes fast while watching our time speed distance charts. We knew we were both watching each other's every move! Finally we stumbled on the next checkpoint. I made a point to quickly get it done and zoomed off without waiting. And I never saw Lorin again after that due to the curvy roads.
- Watch your competitors, version 2. If people are following you, essentially keeping time with you, find a way to break them off of your tail. I've been known to hide down a side road or behind a parked truck to let people pass.
- Watch your competitors, (version 3) but DON'T follow them. We left town at the start, and as I had to make a bike adjustment, I stopped for a minute right after the start. I was caught by the next pack of riders and followed them. This was the second day, so people knew roughly where the route went, or so they thought. The leading rider went down the ramp for the highway, and I knew immediately that was wrong. Harley doesn't run us on the major highways, and more importantly, we hadn't reached the mileage for the next turn. But, the rest of the pack followed down the ramp. I stopped for a moment and considered, and then I continued on my way. At lunch several of those riders were asking about why their mileages were all off and why they hit the checkpoints early. Ends up the detour they took cleanly merged back on the route, so they never knew they took a wrong turn. And I didn't answer Ivan's questions about what I thought of the supposedly messed up mileages! ;-).
Best luck to you!
Carl
But now I'm going to tell a few anecdotes and give away a few secrets. Frankly, there are more than a couple guys who really know what they are doing and are gunning for the win this year. But there are also riders who are new to this kind of event, and a few tips might help them understand the fun of the competition!
- Read the rules and the tips that Harley provides for the event. Harley provides this info directly:
The rules are posted on girodcalifornia dot com and explain where checkpoints can be located, scoring, etc.:There is some additional info on the AMA District 36 web site on Enduro Timekeeping, which is what the T-S-D of the Giro is based upon:
- To track the TSD, I just took Harley's roll chart and penned in the time I was supposed to be at each turn, estimated from his time sheet. (He suggests you can write the mileage for every mile of the route, but I don't do that much.) If it looked like I was going to get somewhere too early, I'd slow down. And I sped up if it seemed I was going to be too late.
- You can also guess where the surprise checkpoints might be, and where they are unlikely to be, by looking at the rules and the map. One time last year I pulled over right before a major town, guessing the checkpoint might be there and knowing I was ahead of time. Lots of people passed me and arrived early... when I was back on schedule I started again, finding the surprise checkpoint only about 100 meters in front of me over the hill! It was a just a guess on my part, but an educated one.
- Have a strategy. You can try and ride the exact speed noted, but on these old bikes that might be hard. Typically you can't go fast enough uphill. And sometimes it's easy to be going way too fast. How are you going to keep on pace? Can you see a big mountain ahead? Maybe you should be going faster to get ahead of time before it, etc.
- Watch your competitors. Last year Lorin and I had a fantastic run for one of the checkpoints. Being next to each other in the starting order, we only had to hit the checkpoints 30 seconds apart. We found ourselves riding together, and we both knew if we stayed together, neither of us could pull a significant lead on the other! It was hilarious as we tailed each other, sometimes riding slow, sometimes fast while watching our time speed distance charts. We knew we were both watching each other's every move! Finally we stumbled on the next checkpoint. I made a point to quickly get it done and zoomed off without waiting. And I never saw Lorin again after that due to the curvy roads.
- Watch your competitors, version 2. If people are following you, essentially keeping time with you, find a way to break them off of your tail. I've been known to hide down a side road or behind a parked truck to let people pass.
- Watch your competitors, (version 3) but DON'T follow them. We left town at the start, and as I had to make a bike adjustment, I stopped for a minute right after the start. I was caught by the next pack of riders and followed them. This was the second day, so people knew roughly where the route went, or so they thought. The leading rider went down the ramp for the highway, and I knew immediately that was wrong. Harley doesn't run us on the major highways, and more importantly, we hadn't reached the mileage for the next turn. But, the rest of the pack followed down the ramp. I stopped for a moment and considered, and then I continued on my way. At lunch several of those riders were asking about why their mileages were all off and why they hit the checkpoints early. Ends up the detour they took cleanly merged back on the route, so they never knew they took a wrong turn. And I didn't answer Ivan's questions about what I thought of the supposedly messed up mileages! ;-).
Best luck to you!
Carl
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