Well, the inaugural Mason Dixon 20-20 is in the books. Given the mere 6 week lead time, the Rally came off with very few glitches.

We gave it a good try for the World Record, twenty starters, including one 2-up, a bunch of veterans and six IBA rookies. If everyone finished, that would be enough to hold it until the upcoming Roadrunner 1000 and the fall's Gerlachfest.

The Route was 1057 total miles: 388 of it twisties, 600 super slab, the rest mixed. By 11am the ambient temp is in the 90's with comparable humidity- the 100 + heat indices made it feel like late August out there. Over 10 gallons of bottled water were consumed by ralliers plus an unestimatable number of gallons purchased on the road.

The forgotten gem on The Route- US 50 from Winchester, VA to Bridgeport, WV. Most of us Easterners only think of US 50 as "that multi lane/ limited access highway to get from DC to OC". If you have the chance, ride this stretch of US 50, and as you drop first off Backbone and then Cheat Mountains, remember that the Horkster coasted the whole way -- with the ignition off.

The new gems on The Route- OH 26 and OH 9. These are "must adds" to anyone's serious twisties list.

Rally Finishers- Nearly 17.5 hours later, the first riders returned; the last SS1k pulled in with 13 minutes to spare: 17 Saddlesore finishers, which should be the US record, and definitely the East Coast record- over $200 will be donated to the Fran Crane Memorial Fund. Three contributions to the "Bridgeport Policemen's Retirement Fund" were also made.

There were three DNF's, one each to a mechanical (tire), a fuel error, and an oversleep (forgot the Meanie). Five of the six rookies finished with time to spare; a very good ratio considering conditions.