Mason Dixon 20-20

The Mason Dixon 20-20 is a roughly 32 hour rally that runs on Memorial Day weekend every year starting and ending in Hagerstown MD. This was my second attempt at it. Most rallies are simply based on meeting all the requirements while obtaining the most points. This year the MD 20-20 was going to be based on efficiency meaning you wanted the highest points per mile. To keep it interesting there was a minimum of 900 and maximum of 1650 miles required.

This rally gives you some but not all information about the bonus locations about a week prior to the start. You have the bonus location ID, point value, GPS location, availability and special notes available to work with. You receive all the specifics required to claim a bonus about 15 minutes before starting. This allows you pre-plan your route before the rally but can cause you to make some last minute changes if the requirements of a particular bonus are not something you want to do.

As always there are a lot of bonus locations to choose from. This year there were 152 items on the list. The map below shows the locations with red flags indicating high points, green for medium and blue for low. Most of these are simply locations where you complete a specific task, normally a picture, but others can be combo bonuses where you have to get a group of other bonuses or obtain bonuses in a particular order. Most rallies including this one have a mandatory rest bonus requiring you to be off the bike for a minimum number of hours.

 

I normally create a route by picking a few high point bonus locations and build a route seeing what I can pickup along the way. It's not unusual for me to create 4-6 routes and see what I can come up with. Following my normal process I was coming up with numbers in the 6 points per mile range. After talking with a few other participants at the pre-rally banquet I found others in the 9 point-per-mile range and rumors of some near 12 points per mile. Sometimes these are misleading but I felt I had the wrong plan. After the banquet it was back to the drawing board. My best original route had me travelling deep into West Virginia and riding about 1305 miles.

A couple of hours with the computer and I had a new route that was 920 miles and 9.479 points-per-mile. The key seemed to be keeping you mileage as low as possible. This also had the benefit of having plenty of time and a very long rest period.

A riders meeting is held at 5am on Sunday morning where the rally books are handed out and last minute details are covered. Once all questions are answered it's time to ride.

My first stop was in Siler WV requiring only a picture of the sign below. All pictures require your unique flag to be in the picture. I was rider #5.

 

Stop 2 was a HHM titled "Population Center" in Wardensville WV. It states that the population center of the US was located in West Virginia 4 times (1820, 1830, 1840 & 1850) as it moved westward.

 

 

Stop 3 was another HHM in Lost City WV. This one was about Lost River's first church built prior to 1797.

 

Stop 4 in Petersburg WV was the World War memorial in front of the Grant County courthouse.

 

 

Stop 5 in Scherr WV was another HHM titled Greenland Gap.

 

 

Stop 6 was the birth place of Abraham Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks in new New Creek WV. This was one to be careful with because the actual house was there but the requirement was to get a picture of the marker across from the house.

 

 

 

Stop 7 was in Keyser WV and required a picture of a bridge marker that listed Jonah Kelly. 

Stop 8 was in Barton MD and was a memorial to all those who have served.

 

 

Stop 9 was a marker indicating Backbone Mt. This one required having my rally flag and additional personal flag in the picture. 

 

 

Stop 10 was near Thomas WV and I needed a picture of the Fairfax stone. The stone marked

the western boundary of land granted to Lord Fairfax by the King of England in the 1700s. Almost

two centuries later, the stone was used as the determining factor in the state boundary between

West Virginia and Maryland. It is actually the 6th stone to mark the location as earlier ones were damaged or lost.

 

 

Stop 11 was near Redhouse MD and marks the highest point (3095 ft) on Maryland roads.

Stop 12 was to get a picture of Skip Cryer's memorial. This one was in the back of a small park on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere Maryland.

Stop 13 was to get a picture of a bridge in Grantville MD. While not a great picture it managed to get credit, barely.

 

Stop 14 was in Que Creek PA and is a memorial to coal miners.

Stop 15 was the Jacob Kinsey marker near Schellsburg PA. It was placed in 1939 and marks where the first log house in the area was located.

 

Stop 16 was a HHM located in Windber PA dedicated to Johnny Weissmuller who starred in a dozen early Tarzan movies.

 

Stop 17 was one of the original Lincoln highway markers in Ligonier PA. Most of the original 2,346 markers were placed by Boy Scouts along the route on 9/1/1928. Only a few remain today.

Stop 18 was a marker to John Montgomery in Lewisville PA

 

Stop 19 was a marker for the village of Idaho PA.

 

 

Stop 20 required a picture of Flower Power Phil in Punxsutawney PA. This one presented a bit of a challenge as some creative individual had rearranged the plaques that had the names and the name on this one didn't match the bonus description. However the GPS coordinates indicated this guy and it looked right. It was.

 

Stop 21 in Beccaria PA was a memorial to veterans on the town.

 

 

Stop 22 in Ashville PA was a marker dedicated to Elmer "Boob" Crossman who's contribution was to have a creek stocked with trout. I guess the folks in this area like to fish.

 

 

Stop 23 near Bellwood PA was the marker about The Lead Mines.

 

Stop 24 in Petersburg PA was this memorial dedicated to Sgt. William D. Port who was awarded a congressional medal of honor.

Stop 25 in McAlevys Fort PA marks the location near where McAlevy's Fort was built in 1773 to defend against the Indians.

 

Stop 26 in Boalsburg PA was this Armed Forces Memorial

Stop 27 near Spring Mills PA called for this sign. The GPS coordinates were a bit off on this one and I was looking for it about 1/8 mile down the road.

 

Stop 28 was simply a picture of the Troxelville PA sign. 

At this point it was about time for my rest bonus. I found an inexpensive room in Shamokin Dam PA and got a receipt from a fuel station to start the clock. The requirement called for a minimum of 3 hours stopped but I spent closer to 8 hours off the bike. Another receipt from the same fuel station to stop the clock, breakfast at McDonald's and the bonus hunt was back underway.


Stop 29 in Northumberlin PA was the Joseph Priestley house. Mr. Priestley was a English scientist who discovered oxygen in 1774. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were some of his friends.

Stop 30 near Pittman PA was the Purple Pump. It's a old purple pump in the middle of nowhere.   

Stop 31 required obtaining evidence of Centralia PA which is all but abandoned due to an underground mine fire that started in 1962 and may burn for another 1000 years. I had trouble finding anything that stated Centralia and wasted several miles looking for a sign. I was about to give up when I finally located this. Apparently there were other signs but I never saw them.

Stop 32 in Marlin PA was another memorial to coal miners.

Stop 33 is one that is always part of the Mason Dixon and a required bonus. Jim Young's grave is located in the Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. Being Memorial Day weekend American flags line the roads and make for an impressive display. This bonus always make me thankful for those that sacrificed so we could have the freedom we enjoy.

Stop 34 in Boiling Springs was this war memorial.

Stop 35 in Pine Grove was this sign for Camp Michaux which was a CCC camp.

Stop 36 and 37 were near Cashtown PA not far from Gettysburg. The first was The Round Barn and the second was a HHM about the Gettysburg Campaign

 

 

Bonus collecting finished it was time to head back to Rally HQ. Due to a couple of bridges that were out requiring detours and the problems in Centralia I rode about 20 miles farther than planed. Overall it was a good ride with only a little rain and no problems with the bike or equipment. Scoring was easy and I did not lose any points claimed. At the ending banquet I was lucky enough to place 8th and received this.

 

 

Yes, it's a trophy for shooting. Following the theme of the rally "The Mountain Do-Do" all the trophies were located at yard sales and re-purposed. The top 10 riders received trophies and many of them were ballerinas and such so I consider myself lucky.

 

2012 Cape Fear Rally

2012 Cape Fear 1000 Rally Report

I had never heard of a rally until I stumbled across the Iron Butt Rally site (http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/default.cfm) in 2009 and found it fascinating.  I thought this was a sport I might like and registered for the 2010 Cape Fear 1k (http://www.capefear1000.com/). That year I came in 32^nd out of 34 finishers in my starting location due to several rookie mistakes. I rode it again in 2011 where I came in 30^th out of 37 mainly due to a bad starting receipt which cost most of my points. I have participated in a few other rallies and managed to pull off 1^st place in the 2011 Void rally (http://www.rallythevoid.org/) in my starting group. Taking everything I have learned the past 2 years I was determined to make a decent showing this year.  

The Cape Fear sports 3 starting locations for 24 hour riders and a mini 10 hour rally. I was in the 24 hour (really 29 hours) group starting from Jamestown, NY which interestingly enough is the hometown of Lucille Ball. The rally started at 10am on Friday and ended at 3pm on Saturday in Wilmington NC.

Friday morning I made a trip to Wal-Mart to pickup a few supplies and find a location with a good starting receipt. All receipts must list the city, state and an accurate time and date. Starting in Jamestown meant the receipt had to list Jamestown, NY. Fortunately there was a fuel station that had an acceptable receipt right next to I-86 to make escape easy.

Starting times have to be within a 20 minute window of 9:50 to 10:10am. It is also required to send a text that contains rider #, ODO and start time to the rally staff. With all this done I was on the road at 9:59am.

My chosen route took me west and then south into Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Here is an image showing all the possible bonus locations and the route I selected. Red indicates high points, green medium and blue low points.

My first bonus was to take a picture of the Andover Bank Time Capsule marker in Andover Ohio.This was a pretty straightforward bonus and there were a number of other riders grabbing the same one when I was there.

Next on the list was a Highway Historical Marker in Carrolton OH on the subject of the fighting McCooks. This bonus specifically called for the side that lists the members of the “Tribe of John” which required leaning back into some bushes to get the correct picture.

Third on my route was the birthplace of Clark Gable in Cadiz, OH. This was another easy one to grab and document.

The next bonus was a fairly long run down into West Virginia to get a picture of the Looneyville post office. As the rally book mentioned this one was named appropriately for anyone crazy enough to participate in these events.

Next up was another long slog to the NC/TN state line to get a picture of a sign on the Appalachian trail. By this time it was well past nightfall and pretty dark along the twisty back roads that get you there. The bonus requirements stated to park in the dirt pullout and locate the trail head to the NE. That probably would have been pretty easy during the day but it was DARK and I mean DARK. Using my insufficient flashlight I located what seemed to be the trail and started heading up the hill. Motorcycle gear does not make good hiking gear and I had went far enough I was just about to turn around thinking I was in the wrong place when I finally came across the sign I needed.

Next up was the Paint Rock HHM near Hot Springs, NC. Another rider (Bob Lilley) and I had been playing tag at a number of bonuses and once again met at this bonus location. In general there is not a lot of rider interaction during the rally but in this case it helped both of us to hold each other’s flag at this location. This would be the last place I saw Bob until scoring back in Wilmington.

This years rally provided an unusually attractive rest bonus with 5000 points for 4 hours and up to a maximum of 11,000 for six. It also happens that I was able create a route that took me within 11 miles of my house so it only made sense that I use it for my rest and save the cost of a hotel room. I was able to start my rest time around 12:10 and was back on the road 6 hours and 1 minute later successfully claiming the full value of the bonus along with getting more sleep than usual while in rally mode.

Next up a photo of Speedy's BBQ in Lexington, NC. I hear the food here is good but trying it out would have to wait.

The next bonus required that a photo of the rebuilt train depot in Gibsonville, NC so that the scorer could read “Gibsonville Depot” on it. I found that name on two sides of the building and took pictures of both to make sure I had the right one. Here is the better picture.

Next up was to take a picture of a geological survey maker at an abandoned gas station in Gum Springs, NC. I had never seen one of these before and thought it was pretty cool.

Following this it was time to get to the time restricted odometer check which was only open from 9am to noon. Along with the ODO check you could elect to participate in the time-speed-distance challenge which was worth a fair number of points. On this one you lost points for being too fast of too slow. It turns out I was 23 seconds too fast but that was close enough to keep most of the points.

After finishing the ODO check it was time to get back to bonus locations so next up was the Mt. Olive pickle factory in Mt. Olive, NC.

There were a large number of high point bonuses that were only available after 12pm but the problem is the rally ends at 3pm and with my route it was only possible to grab one in Kinston, NC. The CSS Neuse was a confederate ironclad that never saw battle. It ran aground it first time out and was scuttled soon after to avoid capture but the union forces.

It was time to start heading toward Wilmington and just grab anything not too far out of the way. This left a replica of the Bodie Island lighthouse in Pink Hill, NC. I got this bonus during last years Cape Fear so I knew exactly where it was.

The next bonus was to take a picture of yourself with Scully the pirate at the Quartermaster restaurant in Surf City. With no one else around this was a more difficult task than I thought it would be and the picture that resulted is too embarrassing to include here but not too embarrassing to turn in for points. 

The final tasks were to pick up cold adult beverages, make it to the checkpoint and stop the clock before 3pm. Beverages purchased and the clock stopped with 20 minutes to spare.

Now it was time to do the paperwork. My method is to print 2 rally books keeping one fully intact and clean while I cut out the bonuses I plan to claim from the other. I then take each bonus listing and affix them to an index card and keep that stack of cards in the window of my tank bag. This allows me to see the requirements of the upcoming bonus without opening anything and provides a place to record the data that needs to be captured. Once finished I then copy the data from the individual cards into the rally book to be turned in.

With the rally book complete and turned in for scoring all there was to do was wait to be called and scored. Fortunately scoring was uneventful and every claimed point was awarded. I ended with a total of 50,265 points which was enough for 4^th place in my starting group and this.

The awards banquets at these events are always entertaining and this one was no exception. We also had a BBQ dinner was excellent.

I awoke about 4:30 Sunday morning to the sound of rain. The weather during the rally had been perfect with nice temperatures and not a drop of rain. Apparently the ride home was going to be a different story. I packed up and departed by 5am riding through rain for all but the last 30 miles. Other riders heading north had to contend with far worse. 

I would like to publicly thank Jim Bain and the Coastal Carolina Rally Krewe who make this event possible. I can't fully imagine the time and effort involved in making this happen so successfully year after year. I can't wait for next year.