DAY 3 – Martinsburg WV to Bedford PA (via Boston MA)
Saturday, May 27
(~ 1129 miles)

My inner alarm woke me before my cell phone and I dozed pleasantly until it was time to rise at 04:15. The hotel had graciously agreed to get breakfast going at 05:00 just for us, a full hour earlier than usual and the coffee was already on. I drank up while packing the bike and then went back to wolf down a quick waffle in the still mostly empty lobby. There were several riders out tending to their bikes in the early morning dim.

Hammy (rally staff member) appeared to be taking his job very seriously, guarding the as-yet unopened rally packs, safely ensconced in the paper box. Buzzards gathered in anticipation.

The strongbox was moved to a more secure location as riders trudged in for breakfast. The late distribution of the rally packs certainly seems to create a buzz even at this early hour, with nobody really sure if a last-minute curveball from the RM would force a change of plans.

Lining up the bikes in preparation for the start began sometime after 04:45, with the clear skies brightening as dawn approached. I filled my thermos with ice, got my bike in line, and wandered around the lot to snap a few start line photos.

 

 

By 05:25, riders had all piled back in to the downstairs function room for the rider’s meeting and the treasure was unveiled:

Rally packs!

With much ado, the packs were split alphabetically and we riders lined up to take possession. At the word from Rick, we opened our packs at the same time and all was revealed. The theme of the ride (to no one’s surprise) was forts and castles. There were no major changes or unexpected twists, so – looks like I’m headed to Boston! A short Q&A ensued and clarified a couple discrepancies, then we were released to launch when ready.

Riders wished each other a safe ride, and I ended up leaving the lot around 06:05, five minutes behind schedule already! Like many others, I picked up I-81 north headed up to PA, where most of the bonuses for this event lay in wait. Here’s the scatter pattern of bonuses:

My route was structured around the following primary goals:

• Obtain the high point bonuses in southern New England, which were also worth multiple letters for the TOWER.
• Get the FORBES combo – a series of markers tracing a historical march from the French-Indian War that you had to do in order.
• Complete my full TOWER.

My first two bonuses were in Carlisle PA. This first historical marker was also the first FORBES combo bonus. It’s always good to get that first bonus done, and start settling in to your routine.

Just up the road in downtown Carlisle was bonus #2, a castle shaped building.

I’d be heading back west across PA for the rest of the FORBES combo tomorrow. So now I rode east for the mandatory bonus in Indiantown Gap National Cemetery at the grave of Jim Young, one of the founders of this event. The rally riders visit his resting place each year to pay respect and this cemetery is quite the amazing sight to see, all done up for Memorial Day weekend.
 

 
After riding past the breathtaking array of flags at the entrance, it was a very slow cruise through the grounds at 15 mph to locate the correct section and site. I followed a rider on a big yellow Goldwing along the pathways and there were another four bikes that had just arrived before us. It was a bit crowded around Jim’s grave, but we paid our respects, got our photos and headed back out to the road in a slow moving parade of bikes.

Once back on the road, I nabbed two more nearby historical marker bonuses in quick succession before continuing north on I-81.

The whole TOWER aspect of this rally made things interesting, as there were only a few T and O bonuses on the entire map. So they became defining features for picking your route, pretty much mandatory if you were trying to score well.

I had a T bonus in my sights up in Bloomsburg PA that had an insultingly low point value (7), but was extremely critical to building one’s tower. I left 81 on PA 42, passing through Centralia without realizing it at the time. This is the all-but-abandoned town with the decades-old underground coal fire burning – a place that had captured my imagination since reading of it as a teenager. I’ll have to go back for a closer look someday. Today I was in rally mode, and eventually found the Fort McClure marker sign to secure my first T.

The next bonus for Fort Wheeler was just a few miles away, conveniently next to a gas station. I quickly filled up the tank, snagged the bonus and got immediately onto I-80 back to I-81 to continue the northerly trek towards Scranton.

I turned east on I-84 and shot across the remainder of Pennsylvania into New York. The next stop was a rare and critical “O” bonus at Plum Point Park on the Hudson River just south of Newburgh NY. I passed about four rally riders headed back out to the highway as I picked my way through the towns.

I arrived right at noon, exactly two minutes behind my schedule and was feeling pleased so far with my plan. Seeing other riders meant I was hopefully on to something, and I’d apparently estimated realistic average speeds for my riding style .

Now I made the long run east to Fort Independence in Boston, via I-84 and the Mass Pike (I-90). I planned and took a small detour around Waterbury CT, knowing there was a large highway construction project happening there that regularly caused backups of 10-20 minutes or more. There was some slowdown when 84 dumped onto 90 in MA, and my foot touched down a couple of times. I probably lost 15 minutes there, but the rest of the way was smooth sailing through heavy traffic on the Pike all the way to South Boston.

I’d never been to Castle Island, site of the fort, and discovered that it gets pretty crowded on a warm sunny spring day – especially on the fort’s opening weekend! (thanks Rick!) I saw even more rally riders leaving the site as I approached, giving me further confidence that coming to Boston had been a good move.

The granite marker I needed was very close to the parking lot, but the lot was jammed with cars circling and looking for spots. There was an official-looking uniformed park employee directing traffic who looked like he might not take kindly to me pulling up to the curb. So I found a painted triangle at the far end of the lot to leave my bike at and ran back up to the marker with my flag. Two other riders were there, having parked at the curb with apparently no trouble, and I cursed myself for wimping out. Got the pic and ran back to my bike, having used up a few extra precious minutes.

I made it out of South Boston to the highway fairly quickly along the shore road and navigated the heavy but moving traffic south on I-93 to I-95. I passed within a mile or so of my house on my way south into Rhode Island. It was a quick easy run down the highway and then on local routes out across Narragansett Bay to Jamestown — familiar haunts all.

I know Fort Wetherill pretty well, it being a popular local scuba diving spot, and was aware of the two different entrance signs, one being at the end of the road leading to the park. I stopped to grab a photo there just in case.

The second sign at the entrance to the picnic area was the correct one, matching the photo in the rally pack by the shape of the pavement nearby. I saw other riders coming and going at this location as well, most stopping for a nature break before the long slog back west. I followed suit and got quickly back on the road. There were some daylight-only bonuses in the NJ area that I was hoping to get to in time to claim some good points, though it was looking less likely.

Stopped for gas at the truck stop in West Greenwich and hopped back on I-95, across Connecticut. I took I-287, across the Tappan Zee, to I-87 northbound alongside the Ramapo River I got caught napping and missed my exit onto NY 17 to stay west of the river. The next bonus was daylight only, I only had 15 minutes or so to spare, and now my GPS was telling me there were no exits for at least 8 miles! I said some choice words to myself inside my helmet and (ahem) found a creative way to safely reverse course, heading back south on I-87.
I crossed into New Jersey on Sterling Mine Road and was then treated to some very nice roads through Ringwood State Forest  with the setting sun’s light providing a lovely view over the few ponds I skirted around. The bonus was a private residence that resembles a castle. We were not allowed past the end of the driveway but were only required to get a photo of the sign there.

At this point I knew I’d miss the time window for the two daylight-only bonuses in Morristown, but there was a third one without time restriction, so I popped off 287 to nab that one, another castle-like building WITH a historical marker too.

If I’d been a half hour earlier, I could have nabbed the nearby two bonuses for a cool 750 base points. Better planning would have allowed for this, if only I had postponed some of those early morning 24-hour bonuses (except the cemetery), until I was heading back west this evening. Hindsight…

My next stop was further down 287, another gate to a private residence (probably resembling a castle if I could have seen it) on a long dark back road. The word STRONGHOLD had to be legible in the photo.

Two deer plus a smaller critter crossed the road in front of me on my way back to the highway. I was thankful once again for the bright LEDrider aux lights I use.

Now I made another long highway run on I-78 west across Pennsylvania as the night wore on, eventually crossing back over my morning route and picking back up on the FORBES combo bonus chain in Shippensburg.

To briefly summarize the Forbes Road history, it is named after the British general who made the second (and successful) attempt to trek westwards and take Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) from the French. To secure his supply lines from attack, he built a series of forts along his route. It generally follows (or more likely created the original path for) route US 30.

This was a pretty cool historical addition by the RallyMaster, though you don’t really take much time to appreciate it when snapping photos of historical markers in the middle of the night!

I arrived at my pre-arranged hotel in Bedford PA close to 02:00. Despite being a Choice hotel (Rodeway Inn), it was a crappy dirty little place, but I’d already booked it online and it was $50 and I only needed to lay my head down for a couple hours. I checked in after fueling up for my starting REST bonus receipt, waited a good 5-10 minutes in the lobby for someone to show up to check me in. At last that was done, and I made my way to my room for a quick shower and a solid two hours of sleep.