Well guys I pull the trigger yesterday and through my helmet in the mix for the Guts & Glory Rally. I first read about it here on SpyderLovers and have been kicking it around ever since. If you haven't heard about it you need to checkout http://www.gutsandgloryrally.com
Here's the jest of what it's all about from their Facebook page.
"The Rally is set up as a points-based timed event. Each participant will begin the Rally with 11,000 points. There are 11 checkpoints / legs along a pre-determined route traveling though each of the lower 48 states and encompassing over 9,000 miles. The entire route will take eleven (11) days to complete. Prizes will be awarded for to the winner of each of the 11 legs. The participant with the most points at the end of the Rally wins the Grand Prize of $100,000 plus a custom built motorcycle.
The Guts and Glory Rally is a motorcycle event designed to support Shriners Hospitals for Children and our Military service men & women. Through this event, we will make a difference in thousand of lives across this GREAT nation in which we live and do business!
Their Mission
To support our children and those who defend our freedom through the following charities; Shriner's Hospitals for Children, Able Forces, Not Alone and Project Healing Waters"
Contact email is [email protected]
I've traveled most of the United States on motorcycles and Spyders. I've been cross country twice on my Valkyrie, once on my Boss Hoss and once on my M109R. I've been cross country three times now on my Spyders and the Spyder is the most enjoyable of them all for the long haul and the RT is hands down the most comfortable ride I've ever been on.
There are a lot of folks that I consider more hardcore than I am as far as putting down the miles on the Spyder. Doc Doru is the first that comes to mind. As most of you know he has over 100,000 hard miles on his Spyder and he was one of the first ones to sign up for this ride. I understand that Repops (Harvey) signed up the day after Doc. I was able to shame BajaRon to to signing up too yesterday but he's still not sure if he can pull it off or not but he really wants to do this ride and he is my good riding buddy. Ron and I have put on thousands of miles together and we pretty much know each others riding style well enough that we know what each other is going to do before they do it. That's the kind of partner you want on something like this.
This ride is no joke and even though there is prize money for coming in at the right time that is the last thing on my list of things to be concerned about. I've done a few 1100 mile days on the Spyder and many 600-800 mile days but I've never done 850 miles for 11 days in a row. This will be a test of machine, man and mind.
My trip will start at the end of April where I'll ride 600 miles to Cuba MO for the largest Spyder Rally in the US, that would be Spyderfest US. I'm looking forward to hooking up with all my Spyder buddies there for three or four days. From there I'll ride about 1800 miles to San Diego where I'll hangout with family till it's time to head to LA to start the race. Then the race is 9,000 miles from LA to Bar Harbor Maine and from there I'll be riding 1200 miles back to East TN. Doing the math I would say this will be well over a 13,000 mile trip when I'm done.
Last year I did a trip on the RT that was over 9,000 miles by myself. The RT did great and that's the trip where I really fell in love with the touring version of the Spyder (still love my RS too). I have no doubt that the RT will get me there and back but I feel like I'm cheating a little bit riding such a comfortable ride. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to have to deal with all the same elements just like everyone else but the RT has great weather protection and traveling through 48 states in 11 days I'm sure I'll be hitting every kind of weather this country has to offer. Last year I got stuck in OK and had to wait out a blizzard for two days. I hope we can do without all that on this trip but you just never know what the weather is going to do and there's no changing it so you just got to deal with it.
I think the real test for me will be if this beat up body will hold up for that many miles and if I can mentally handle the challenge. Two years ago I drove from East TN to Hollywood CA for the Spyder Owners event and on one of those days I had a sick stomach from the start and every fuel stop I thought about getting a room till I felt better but I kept pressing on. We wound up doing over 1000 miles that day so I know about pushing through when you really don't feel like it and I'm sure there will be days like that on this ride. Here's a link to that trip.
http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=118096
I guess you can say this ride is on my "bucket list" but I didn't know about it till the end of November so it hasn't been on the list long. I will say there is a personal side to this ride too. I have three boys that are serving our country now. My oldest son Lance just did his 5 years in the Marines and is now in the reserves but while he was in Iraq he ran a sweeper crew that would go out and look for IED's and clear them so the Army could setup in different locations. He was just telling me about one of his guys that lost his legs when he was doing a sweep. It breaks my heart to hear that and to know that could have been Lance. My son Nathan is still in the Marines and my son Alex is in the Air Force and both of them will deploy to Afghanistan this year. I am so proud of all our service men and women that signed up knowing they would be put in harms way to help protect our freedom in this great country. I'll be thinking of them when I do this ride knowing that the money raised will help support them and so many other great causes. Many times when I've been on a long ride I remember my boys telling me about Boot Camp and how the Drill Sargent would tell them that "pain is weakness leaving the body". I'm sure there will be plenty of weakness leaving my body on this trip but it will be great to see if I have what it takes to make it to the finish line. I'm pretty sure my Spyder will.
There are ways that you can get involved too if you can do the whole ride. They have it setup now so you can just do a leg of the ride if you want. I know of one SpyderLover that is looking into doing that and maybe that's something you guys would be up for. Check out www.GutsandGloryRally.com for all the details.
GL! Wish I could do it. Kids wont fit in the saddle bags and they will slow me down by weighing the bike down and thus making me stop more for gas :lecturef_smilie:
ray: as anyone that does this will need them. This is for sure, some of the best causes/reasons in our country to ryde:firstplace:
. I retire at the end of May so I'll need to stick around to wrap things up at my University:yes:. Maybe next year.
