I’m back from my first New England Motomarathon, (www.motomarathon.com), so I wanted to pass on my impressions for those of you who may want to try this out. Mostly this is a description of the event, with a few ride report highlights thrown in…
First, yes, it’s a lot of riding and a lot of fun, and yes, I’ll be doing it again! The event format was pretty simple – 4 full days of riding, 300-400 miles per day, with 3 predetermined checkpoints along the loop where you take a picture of the checkpoint landmark with your Motomarathon badge held up to prove that you were there. Originally I had thought there were many possible checkpoints and you had to strategize how to maximize your points, like the Iron Butt runs, but it was much easier than that. Just 3 checkpoints per day, 1 point each. Most everyone rode the full route every day and got all 3 points. It’s really not about the points anyway; it’s about a full day of riding with some specific destinations, covering some of best roads the area has to offer. Some hardcore folks participate in numerous Motomarathons per year, so obviously they accumulate lots of points, but many folks just do one near them. There was no competiveness over the points, just a lot of riding and event camaraderie in general.
The event was well organized overall, with Riders Meetings every night at 8 PM to give out the next day’s routes and checkpoints, and provide info about the roads and hazards - like high moose areas! The meetings were 2/3 Social Hour and 1/3 business – it’s a pretty energetic crowd! Everyone also got numbered badges, event pins, and T-shirts, Ron Ayres of Ayres Adventures (www.ayresadventures.com) gave a talk about long distance riding on the first night, there was an excellent free BBQ on the second night and there were various prizes raffled off on the last night.
The routes were provided as paper copies, and were simple lists of roads and turns to get to each of the checkpoints. GPS files of the routes were usually available as well, but not always… In some cases there were multiple versions of the route – fastest time, with extra twisties, and with extra twisties plus some dirt. Absolutely no interstates and with a minimum of highway, the routes were almost all interesting two lane back roads with lots of places to wear down the sides of your tires and perfect the art of synchronized passing. You can do the checkpoints in any order, and you can make up your own route as well. I think most folks did the planned route for the most part, and added in custom bits as they saw fit during the day.
As with any motorcycling event, the personalities of the attendees represented lots of variety, but all were welcoming and friendly to the dozen or so of us that were rookies this year out of the total of 38 riders. Most riders were experienced and seriously committed to the sport, some traveling to multiple Motomarathons per year and/or doing other touring type rides worldwide on a somewhat regular basis. Although there were a few speeding citations earned over the four days, there were no crashes and only a couple of minor mechanical issues. The riding machinery was a mix, with the majority being late model BMW GSs and GTs, but also included a couple VFRs, several Multistradas, a Gold Wing, a couple C14s, several FJRs, one Buell, and some others I can’t recall.
Riders formed up in small groups of friends and left whenever they wanted, with most getting early starts at 7 AM or so. After the Wednesday night meeting in Danbury, CT, Day 1 had checkpoints in Great Barrington, MA, Woodstock, VT, and Bath Village, NH, with a final destination at one of the two hotels in Gorham, NH that acted as base for the following few days. Lots of marauding storm cells in the Northeast that day meant keeping the rain gear handy, but mostly it was dry and sunny with just a few wet areas.
Day 2 was a Maine loop, with checkpoints in Rangely, Paris, and Eustis. The day started dark and wet, so we switched the route around a bit and got north of the weather for the rest of day. The excitement came late in the day after we completed all checkpoints. We were heading home at a somewhat leisurely pace with 30 miles to go when an enormous dark and ominous looking front moved in from over the mountains. This thing looked potentially violent, not just wet, so I figured we could outrun it and I stepped up the pace several notches. We did stay ahead of it, but on the last mile, the wind gusts were blowing us sideways on the road, pine cones and leaves were swirling in the air (“We have debris!”) but the rain was just spitting so far. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot, hail began to shower down, and as we jumped off the bikes, the skies opened and it POURED! But we were giddy about safely winning the challenge of outrunning the storm. Unfortunately, people who had chosen their route less wisely spent much of the day in that rain…
Day 3 had checkpoints in Pittsburg, NH, Barre, VT, and Waterville Valley, NH. The weather was finally completely clear and the riding was excellent. At the evening meeting a number of prizes were raffled off, including a coupon for a new set of PR3 tires, installed. But the big prize was from sponsor Twisted Throttle, who put up a week’s stay at a Colorado condo as the grand prize for their Halo Award. On the first night, anyone wanting to participate sealed their driver’s license in a small red envelope. On the last night, all the still sealed envelopes (meaning your license had not been surrendered to a LEO) were put into the raffle.
Day 4 was the run back to the Danbury starting point, with checkpoints in Andover, NH, Sandisfield, MA, and Norfolk, CT. By 6 PM I was back home with sore butt, a cold beer, and a thoroughly satisfied feeling that I had met the challenge of the Motomarathon!
Tim
First, yes, it’s a lot of riding and a lot of fun, and yes, I’ll be doing it again! The event format was pretty simple – 4 full days of riding, 300-400 miles per day, with 3 predetermined checkpoints along the loop where you take a picture of the checkpoint landmark with your Motomarathon badge held up to prove that you were there. Originally I had thought there were many possible checkpoints and you had to strategize how to maximize your points, like the Iron Butt runs, but it was much easier than that. Just 3 checkpoints per day, 1 point each. Most everyone rode the full route every day and got all 3 points. It’s really not about the points anyway; it’s about a full day of riding with some specific destinations, covering some of best roads the area has to offer. Some hardcore folks participate in numerous Motomarathons per year, so obviously they accumulate lots of points, but many folks just do one near them. There was no competiveness over the points, just a lot of riding and event camaraderie in general.
The event was well organized overall, with Riders Meetings every night at 8 PM to give out the next day’s routes and checkpoints, and provide info about the roads and hazards - like high moose areas! The meetings were 2/3 Social Hour and 1/3 business – it’s a pretty energetic crowd! Everyone also got numbered badges, event pins, and T-shirts, Ron Ayres of Ayres Adventures (www.ayresadventures.com) gave a talk about long distance riding on the first night, there was an excellent free BBQ on the second night and there were various prizes raffled off on the last night.
The routes were provided as paper copies, and were simple lists of roads and turns to get to each of the checkpoints. GPS files of the routes were usually available as well, but not always… In some cases there were multiple versions of the route – fastest time, with extra twisties, and with extra twisties plus some dirt. Absolutely no interstates and with a minimum of highway, the routes were almost all interesting two lane back roads with lots of places to wear down the sides of your tires and perfect the art of synchronized passing. You can do the checkpoints in any order, and you can make up your own route as well. I think most folks did the planned route for the most part, and added in custom bits as they saw fit during the day.
As with any motorcycling event, the personalities of the attendees represented lots of variety, but all were welcoming and friendly to the dozen or so of us that were rookies this year out of the total of 38 riders. Most riders were experienced and seriously committed to the sport, some traveling to multiple Motomarathons per year and/or doing other touring type rides worldwide on a somewhat regular basis. Although there were a few speeding citations earned over the four days, there were no crashes and only a couple of minor mechanical issues. The riding machinery was a mix, with the majority being late model BMW GSs and GTs, but also included a couple VFRs, several Multistradas, a Gold Wing, a couple C14s, several FJRs, one Buell, and some others I can’t recall.
Riders formed up in small groups of friends and left whenever they wanted, with most getting early starts at 7 AM or so. After the Wednesday night meeting in Danbury, CT, Day 1 had checkpoints in Great Barrington, MA, Woodstock, VT, and Bath Village, NH, with a final destination at one of the two hotels in Gorham, NH that acted as base for the following few days. Lots of marauding storm cells in the Northeast that day meant keeping the rain gear handy, but mostly it was dry and sunny with just a few wet areas.
Day 2 was a Maine loop, with checkpoints in Rangely, Paris, and Eustis. The day started dark and wet, so we switched the route around a bit and got north of the weather for the rest of day. The excitement came late in the day after we completed all checkpoints. We were heading home at a somewhat leisurely pace with 30 miles to go when an enormous dark and ominous looking front moved in from over the mountains. This thing looked potentially violent, not just wet, so I figured we could outrun it and I stepped up the pace several notches. We did stay ahead of it, but on the last mile, the wind gusts were blowing us sideways on the road, pine cones and leaves were swirling in the air (“We have debris!”) but the rain was just spitting so far. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot, hail began to shower down, and as we jumped off the bikes, the skies opened and it POURED! But we were giddy about safely winning the challenge of outrunning the storm. Unfortunately, people who had chosen their route less wisely spent much of the day in that rain…
Day 3 had checkpoints in Pittsburg, NH, Barre, VT, and Waterville Valley, NH. The weather was finally completely clear and the riding was excellent. At the evening meeting a number of prizes were raffled off, including a coupon for a new set of PR3 tires, installed. But the big prize was from sponsor Twisted Throttle, who put up a week’s stay at a Colorado condo as the grand prize for their Halo Award. On the first night, anyone wanting to participate sealed their driver’s license in a small red envelope. On the last night, all the still sealed envelopes (meaning your license had not been surrendered to a LEO) were put into the raffle.
Day 4 was the run back to the Danbury starting point, with checkpoints in Andover, NH, Sandisfield, MA, and Norfolk, CT. By 6 PM I was back home with sore butt, a cold beer, and a thoroughly satisfied feeling that I had met the challenge of the Motomarathon!
Tim
