Team Adventurers Workshop takes first place in first ever Moto Rally
 Production and Super Production classes!!!

Congrats to Chris Wyckoff and Ryan Bottesi!!

 
Click here or on the picture to go to the official rally site.

Adventurers Workshop proudly sponsored in part by EVS Sports, The Original Protective Gear Company will have three sponsored riders in the rally and of course, yours truly ;)  The date of the rally will be February 17th in Cheraw, SC.  This is the first time for bikes and it is coming together as a big clash of the larger dual sport machines. BMW against KTM with a few others in there as well.

Our riders are:
 

Christopher Wyckoff

Ryan Bottesi

Michael Gilkey

The bikes before the big day.

The event was just amazing and Anders and his crew did a fantastic job of providing us with a challenging course. Everyone involved in the event deserves a huge thank you from all of the competitors. They made us feel very welcomed and safe. We also want to thank all of the competitors who arrived and participated in the rally. The whole experience made for many wonderful memories.

Onward!! First things first..Lets head towards shakedown. This is a chance to see what the conditions might be and to test our bikes to make sure that all is ok. All of us went through the shakedown run with a pretty clear understanding of what to expect but what came up later was just little different ;)
 

After shakedown we all headed into the town of Chesterfield, which was one of the gracious hosts of the event, for the Park Expose'. Here riders and drivers could meet and hang. In was all good fun and really got all of us very pumped for the next day. We headed back to the hotel to discuss the race and the route sheet and also to make any last changes to the bikes. My bike in particular need a gear shifter adjustment as the boots I was wearing wouldn't allow me to properly shift past 2nd gear through the whole shakedown run. Mike and I fixed her up just fine.

Race day cometh and here was our starting line up. I was in this group as well but proved to be not much of a factor in the race.
 

First special stage line up...

I had this animal behind me at line up. M. Albertson and I discussed passing strategies before we started as I knew that he would come up quickly behind me. How quick? I was doing about 65 mph and I thought I had a good pace but then I saw the headlight and he must have been doing close to 100mph sideways!! Mark passed me like I was sitting still. I was in complete awe. WOW!!!

Everyone got off to an easy start as the first stage consisted of a n easy pavement transition which headed into the woods. I did get through to about the half way point in the 1st stage. After falling three times in the sand, my confidence was gone, I was beat, and I quickly realized that getting out now would be the smart thing to do before I got in way over my head. Chris and Ryan finished the first stage with flying colors while Mike's KTM 620 couldn't stand the beating that it was subjected to. At this point Mike and I were both out but not done. According to the rally rules you could switch bikes and riders for the sole purpose of finishing the race. Our times and results were not to be counted for my bike or the rider. That was Ok with me but I really wanted the HP1 to finish the race and Mike, a little reluctant at first, grabbed the reigns of the big red beast and took her to the finish. Good on Ya Mike!!
 

Times for the first stage:
Campbell Lake (14.27 K) SS 1

Pos.	Result	Diff	Gaps	Car	Driver / Car	Cl.	Cl.P	%	OvP
3	15:53	1:03	0:02	51	Wyckoff/950 Adventure	Pr1	1	7	3
7	17:17	2:27	0:24	54	Bottesi/950 Adventure	SP1	3	16	7
25	66:31	51:41	36:26	52	Gilkey/620 RXC	Pr2	7	348	25

Times for the second stage:
Hunter Pond (8.02 K) SS 2

Pos.	Result	Diff	Gaps	Car	Driver / Car	Cl.	Cl.P	%	OvP
3	9:23	0:26	0:02	51	Wyckoff/950 Adventure	Pr1	2	4	2
4	9:39	0:42	0:16	54	Bottesi/950 Adventure	SP1	1	7	6

Times for the third stage:
Fire Drill (5.98 K) SS 3

Pos.	Result	Diff	Gaps	Car	Driver / Car	Cl.	Cl.P	%	OvP
2	8:15	1:00	1:00	51	Wyckoff/950 Adventure	Pr1	1	13	2
5	8:39	1:24	0:06	54	Bottesi/950 Adventure	SP1	1	19	6
11	9:45	2:30	0:09	52	Gilkey/BMW R1150GS (HP1)	SP1	3	34	24

Fourth stage times and standings:
Sextons Pond (7.08 K) SS 4

Photo By Gregor Halenda http://www.gregorhalenda.com/

Fifth stage times and standings:
Sand Trap Reverse (7.99 K) SS 5

Sixth stage times and standings:
Campbell Lake Reverse (14.05 K) SS 6

It was a decent start but the course proved to tough for a non sand flea like myself.

It looks cool though ;)