Southeast MA – Kissimmee FL
Wed April 18 – Thurs April 19
(~1412 miles)
The time has come for my second ride to Kenlake State Park in western Kentucky for some catfish and socializing with fellow riders, collecting points along the way. The Rock n Ride Rally is in its fourth year and seems to be gaining in popularity. There’s been a lot of chatter in the online ether leading up to the event this year, and I think everyone is ready to get some riding in after the unforgiving and lengthened winter season we’ve all been subjected to this year.
Similar to last year, riders were asked to complete some pre-rally bonuses for major points, including the TEST bonus. This involves getting a shot of yourself in a “rocker” pose with your bike, and sending it to the Rallymaster to test your cell phone works properly for electronic bonus photo submissions. I submitted a different photo showing my bike in the shot, but this one came out the best.
Unlike last year’s rally, where there were 5-6 pre-determined start locations, this time each rider got to pick where they wanted to start, after poring over the map of bonus locations for just over a week. After processing the electronic files sent out in advance by the Rallymaster, the scatter pattern of bonuses looked like so:
As I worked on several routing possibilities, it became clear that the rally staff had done an excellent job of evening out the playing field across the eastern half of the country. It seemed that no matter where I chose for a starting location, the point totals for the route attempts were coming out very close to one another. Eventually, I narrowed down my choices to two possible start locations: Cadillac MI and Kenansville FL.
With a polar vortex currently sitting over the Mid-west and another winter storm barreling in to Michigan, my two choices couldn’t have been more different in terms of weather forecast (sunny and warm in FL, surprise!). I tend to go where the points are, regardless of weather, as long as it seems safe to do so.
Cadillac’s route was worth the most, and was my primary focus in the days leading up to the rally start, though I kept searching frantically (and unsuccessfully) to find more points in other routes starting in warmer climes. I improved my points total from the FL start to within a couple hundred points and, when I saw the forecast for snow, near-freezing temperatures on Thursday, and slick roads in Michigan, I predicted that I would likely not be able to actually achieve all the points on the Cadillac route anyway, due to reduced speeds and the need to stop for warming up.
Tuesday evening I made the final call to stage my rally in Florida – it would be a longer staging ride by 400 miles, but I also felt some relief at not having to deal with the wintry salty mess of the north for the next few days:
Radar forecast at 2 a.m. Thursday
By 2 a.m. Thursday, April 19, 2018, the rain will have changed to snow. The southern half of Lower Michigan will be in a steady, light to moderate snow. Roads retaining warmth will melt some of the snow. But it should come down hard enough and get cold enough that slick roads could be a concern.
weatherbell.com
Radar forecast at 5 a.m. Thursday, April 19, 2018
The radar forecast at 5 a.m. Thursday shows much of the southeastern third of Lower Michigan will be in a steady light to moderate snow. Based on this snapshot in time, Thursday morning’s commute to work or school could be surprisingly slick for this time of year. Check back for updates, but this scenario has been consistently forecast by weather models.
weatherbell.com
Radar forecast at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 19, 2018
The solid snow should be winding down Thursday morning between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in the southeast corner of Lower Michigan. Western Lower, including Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, would have snow over for a few hours by 8 a.m. Thursday. Southeast Lower roads could be slick, while western Lower roads would be improving.
Everything was pretty much packed before work on Wednesday, so I could leave immediately and make some miles that evening. I like to get through the northeast gauntlet of NYC, NJ, DC at off-peak times, and this worked out well, with minimal traffic on my way through to my hotel in Martinsburg WV. I used I-95 through CT to I-287 and then I-78 to I-81. Temps were in the 40s, but it was clear and I was pleased knowing I was riding towards spring in the south.
After a quick hotel breakfast Thursday morning, I set off on the 900+ remaining miles to my destination in Kissimmee FL. I took the opportunity to play with the Sena SM10 BlueTooth transmitter given me by a friend, to get my radar detector buzzing through my helmet headset. Disappointingly, I couldn’t figure out how to allow both music and the radar to play wirelessly together (my phone audio port is blocked on the bike), and I ended up opting for the music most of the ride down to help pass the time.
I was surprised how far south I went before seeing real signs of spring (just south of Roanoke VA). Entering North Carolina was like flicking a switch and springtime was ON, as were the warmer temperatures, climbing well into the 50s fairly quickly. I fell into a long-distance rhythm and my thoughts stretched ahead of me, focused on tomorrow’s rally and the route logistics I’d be attempting to execute in the morning.
I picked up some Subway to eat in the room as I neared my Kissimmee hotel, and arrived just after 22:00. The Rallymasters had released a few wildcard bonuses of the BOLO (Be On the Look Out) variety, whilst I was in transit, so I made some last tweaks to my routing plan. These wildcards included:
- a red corvette (for anniversary of Prince’s passing),
- a radio station van,
- large boots on a sign,
- a street sign with the name “Jack” in it,
- and a Piggly Wiggly storefront.
With routes saved in my GPS, I prepped my gear and set my alarm to 05:00 to allow for the 40-mile morning run down to Kenansville Country Store, where I intended to bag my START receipt for the rally, at 07:00.
