PTA, Part II- epilog

When Wolfe proposed hosting a daylight only, multi-day rally last winter, I was all-in.  Having worked with several other rallymasters, affectionately called The Illegimati, I know the struggles of getting enough riders to actually sign up despite the "pent up interest in another multi-day event" that is widely exhibited and professed.  Both times, we barely got enough riders to make it worth the effort.  Apparently, he also struggle with enrollment as the deadline approached, despite getting a deposit last winter.

Either way, it was a blast.  Jean and I had our annual vacation in parallel to this event; a first for us.  I rode, she helped.    This made it fun as we combined in some sightseeing to the trip.  On a side note, Jean's car decided the entry drive to the Fairfield was the perfect spot for the brakes to start grinding.  On Saturday morning, I busted the main zipper on my riding suit and to top off the perfect weekend, my fuel cell developed a leak somewhere.

We are hoping that this becomes a regularish event; we also hope that the LL following, while very faithful, branches out a little and becomes more exposed to events beyond the LL world.

As a funny thing, we Americans usually think of Ontario as Toronto, Ottawa and then everything else.  Ontario is huge, bigger than Texas huge.  Its eastern border is just north of the NH/NY state line and its western border is that weird notch above Minnesota while stretching all the way to Hudson's Bay.  It is almost entirely in the eastern time zone, which is really weird.  And while we Americans have an odd understanding of the province, the locals have even a weirder one.  Toronto is central, Montreal is to the east.  Windsor is west.  Ottawa is north, so is North Bay, and Thunder Bay and Dryden.  Go ahead, look at map, I'll wait.     Any way you look at it, the countryside is lovely with lots of rolling hills and glacial lakes.   The longer revisit is added to the post retirement trip list.

Day 3- 8 hour - Automobiles

Day 3- Automobiles.   Our rallypacks now include a toy car that has our rider number on them, hence explaining why rider numbers were a little odd.  Your car must appear in at least five photos.  I took the liberty of zip tying it right to my rally placard.  Now I have two things attached.....  No group photo this time, but the minimum was a racetrack, a car show and a vintage gas pump.  there were combos for each of them and i planned on doing two of them.  couldnt figure out the gas pump one and it was the least valuable.  Also, the car shows had specific photos that were to be taken; for once, being an old fart paid off since I know the difference between a hot rod, a classic and  a muscle car.

New item for today- checkered flags.  they must appear in all race track photos.

Even though it's a rally, we had a LeMans style start.  Once the green flag dropped, we had to go from our bikes to retrieve our helmet, placards and gloves then go back to our bikes in order to leave.

It was very silly but needed.

this bonus would be the last time I see fellow riders until the double car show much later in the day.

my newest Facebook cover

Address of where the car show was supposed to be

where the car show actually was.  The photo was to be of a white sports car; the car on the left is a Studebaker Avanti; arguably the US's only sports car until the C7 and C8 corvettes.

Now here's where the fun starts.  The following two locations are both on my planned route and have very similar ID codes [the last 4 digits are identical].  When i pulled up my next stop, the Model A bonus is adjacent to the BA gas station in "closest to where i am" order in my GPS despite being about 40 miles apart from each other.  I selected the car first by accident and as I was riding now north of the 401 and wondered why I was north of the 401 when I should be along the coast.  Instead of stopping and double checking, I ploughed on and upon arrival realized my mistake.

supposed to be on the return loop

where i was supposed to stop

Now the Double Car show- two different car shows in the same park.  One was a photo of a hot rod; the other was a photo of a late model tuner.  Several riders turned in muscle cars instead of a hot rod for no points.  when in doubt, ask.

Yup, that's a smart car with treads.

hot rod

tuners

There's a story behind this picture.  Just as I take this shot, I hear the rumble of a shitpot of Harleys on the parking lot.  I can see them slow roll up to the exit portal [just above my bike] as I run back.  Their right indicators are on- that's the exact direction I'm heading.  There is no way I'm getting behind like 100 of these buttholes.   I stuff my checkered flag and rally placard into my riding suit and I am out of there just as they start to make their turn.  Not today Harley, not today.

At this point, you should see the photo of a Model A if I hadnt mucked them up earlier.

Arriving at the finish line about 35 minutes early since there is nothing left to collect and the closest vintage gas pump, needed to fill out the combo, is over an hour round trip, I light my ceremonial cigar.  I'm done and I have another day's worth of points.

Day 2- 10 hour - Trains

Friday night brought Leg 2's bonus list- trains complete with a wooden whistle.  This whistle must be used in all bonus locations that require a train ride- there are several of them in the pack.  In fact, this leg minimum finisher's requirement is to have at least one locomotive, one train ride and one rail station.  After Friday's disaster, I was determined to establish a route that got me finisher's status BEFORE I got to the next group picture bonus at the Petersborough Zoo train- which counted as a ride and another 300 points if you rode it again.

 My plan was trimmed back from the lessons on Friday, when my 5 hour route to the Group Bonus took almost exactly 6 hours.  This time, i planned a 4.5 hour route to the Group Photo timed bonus.Starting time was determined by your boarding pass which were randomly issued just after the riders' meeting. I drew the earliest departure which didnt matter since the first bonus stop was another ghost hunter as the designated locomotive was gone.

Loco Gono Missingo

Big Apple caboose

that's a lot of pies

these two beauties sit adjacent to each other.  8510 required the bike in the photo

42 did not

I am now 90 minutes ahead of my expected arrival time;  guess i was too conservative.  Off to Timmies to figure out what to do for the next two hours before the train ride/ group photo in nearby Peterborough

waiting for our train ride.

this was harder than i thought it was going to be without stepping into a very busy street

not 500 feet away from the caboose is...

Got in early, had the minimum requirements, I finally have points.   Life is good.

Day 1 -12 hour- Planes

Day One- Airplanes.   We got our rally placards along with two bonus lists-

one of all the usual places and another with about 100 'regional' airports.  The minimum requirement was at least one international airport and three regional.   There was a large timed group photo bonus colocated with a substantial bonus way out in God's country.  I had great luck early, traffic was moving well, the bonus locations were exactly where they were tagged, including a nice walk up to a bluff with a giant paper airplane.  Oh, we were handed out plastic propellers that had to appear in at least 5 photos.  
Before we could leave, we had to do out "pre-flight' check list; this required running around the hotel answering a variety of questions before getting the requisite "remove before flight" tag which became part of our rally placard.  you should see it in most photos for the rest of the rally.

And now my luck turns to crap- these 'regional' airports are all over the place, but tend NOT to have signs.  Before the timed bonus I stopped at two, no signs to be had anywhere despite both being active.

 wrong airport sign

 correct airport sign

in the hanger for the group photo

the other bonus 

At this point, I probably should have regrouped and purposely sought out regional airports that were next to major towns figuring they'd have to have a sign considering I have none of the required three.  But I did have 5 planned on my return back to HQ, figuring they all can't be strike outs.........

finally one

and number 2.  the third one was the Belleville regional airport.  the red X marks the waypoint provided.  the blue lines are my spot tracker showing me circling the waypoint trying to find a way in.  Turns out you had to enter the Strawberry Farm and go around the farm house to find a sign.  Some riders found it; I didnt.  Therefore, I have no points for me.

the airport is to the left and behind the farm house.