Ural National Rally Day 2013

Rally Day 2013

Well friends, Rally Day 2013 is in the bag. The weather was spectacular, the camaraderie humbling and the interactions (UDF's) brilliant!  UDF, by the way, is Ural Delay Factor and one of the phenomena that make Uraling so much fun.  A UDF is basically what happens when you stop your bike for any reason and get delayed with a conversation (usually about your Ural.)  The UDF's on this years rally often resulted in providing rides, which I call "a monkey orientation."  Oh… the monkey… A monkey in sidecar speak is the person riding in the sidecar.  If you need a greater understanding of what it means to be "the monkey," check out Sidetrak'n Monkey Michael S. at the 12 second mark in the 2012 Rally video or for a more extreme demonstration check out this clip.  Another term is known as "flying the chair," which means handling the bike in such a fashion that the sidecar wheel lifts up in the air on a swift right turn (with a right hand sidecar that is).

The official sunrise time of 0645 started the clock with ride checks and final preparations.  Next thing on the schedule was to meet the group for breakfast at the Quackenbush Cafe in Los Alamos.

The Sidetrak'n Cosmonutz consisted of three sidecars, one BMW GS and a team support vehicle
as we took off to the Air Force base to get a unique "Gate Guard" photo (gate guard = static display).  In this case we took pictures of the Minuteman III ICBM

and the M-47 Patton Tank.  We were also fortunate to have a few Airman join us and take a few service rides (service ride = taking someone in uniform for a ride).

Thanks fellows for raising your hand to defend our freedoms! Next time a longer ride...

After sharing our adventure with our military friends we made our way to the Carnegie Library in Lompoc CA.  While the library is a historic building it is also home to the Lompoc Museum.

From there we made our way down Highway 1

to Hwy 101 South through Gaviota and stopping at the Arroyo Hondo Bridge to pick up points for a "historic bridge" before continuing on to Goleta.  

As we made our way south Yakdan split from the group to go pick up his monkey for the remainder of the journey and rejoin us in Goleta.  We came rolling down the exit ramp at Patterson Ave leaving the scream of the 4-lane behind us… and then there was PIE!!!  Yes... the lovely ladies

of Simply Pies in Goleta took good care of us with a special "Sidetrak'n" pie and even greater enthusiasm.

After exceeding our caloric intake for… ehhmmmm… the month (perhaps the year)…. we adjourned to the parking lot for no less then 5... yes... FIVE monkey orientation rides.  Enthusiasm is infectious and we had a great time.. The customers even got into the spirit and one of the gals sweetheart came down to go for a ride as well.  It was good fun or as Jordan put it, "Pie-tastic!"

 These girls have sidecar'n in their DNA.  They were cracking me up when we were flying the chair.  You girls ROCK!

From there Yakdan took over duties at the front of the pack and lead us to Hope Ranch where I got my first pucker points.  I told Larry i Felt like we were riding through the set of 70's TV show Fantasy Island.  I've lived here for 20 years and never driven through Hope Ranch.  WAY out of my price range...lol.

Without missing a beat we headed across the Mesa, past the beaches, the harbor and up State Street to the 3 Pickles Deli for lunch.  Talk about karma, I achieved a full pucker literally as we pulled into the parking spot!  Oh and I have video to prove it!  Oh yeah, Pucker points are when you run your bike until you are out of fuel.

At the First pucker you switch to reserve and Full Pucker is completely empty.  FYI, you don't want to have full pucker going uphill on State Street in Santa Barbara in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.  Outside of the embarrassment there would be a lot of unhappy motorists giving you the "stink-eye"… at best…lol.  Thankfully the Motorcycle Gods were looking over us again and we sputtered to a stop in the parking lot next to the deli.  Pretty awesome really.  Gas can in-hand we solved that problem without further issue. 

After some lunch we spun around the block for some photographic shenanigans at the courthouse before heading over the San Marcos pass and heading toward Solvang.  In Solvang we split paths with Yakdan so he could go check on his pups and get some canine monkey points before meeting us again to make the twisties back to Los Alamos.
While Dan made his detour we ran up the windy road past the Nojoqui Falls County Park and then a short stint on the "old coast road" before heading to regroup in Buellton.  

As we made our way up Ballard Canyon, which is just a beautiful curvy ride through the hills, vineyards and ranches we kept our eyes peeled for the buffalo grazing in the fields hoping to get some animal points.  Eureka! they were there!  Apparently the buffalo also dig sidecars because the came little closer so we could get some pictures. I think this stop got the highest points for entertainment on the day.  While we were stopped for photo's and a "nature break" a really nice couple came down the road in one of the most beautiful examples of a Shelby Cobra that have ever seen or heard.

This car sounded amazing!!! Well, we flagged them down and they were so kind as to let us get a  picture with our rally flags and that's when the emotion… fatigue… silliness… and general jocularity of it all got to Hank Hank and he clasped (not medically…lol) in gratitude.

 He was just having fun or as he put it… "getting snake bitten by a Cobra."  We all had a good laugh as he flopped down on the road with his rally flag next to him and the car. 

The final run through Ballard, Foxen and Alisos canyons gave us spectacular views of the San Rafael Mountains before making our final stop in Los Alamos at Full of Life Flatbread.

The original plan to meet at Casa Dumetz went awry do to a schedule conflict but not to worry, in Sidetrak'n fashion one must find opportunity when deviating from the plan.  George and the folks at Flatbread hooked us up and we made that our final stop.  As a result of that change in plans, Hank and I challenged each other to a tire change which looked more like a Chinese fire drill than a pit crew but it was good for laugh and a sidewalk spectical.

That spectical resulted in a conversion with a passerby that was an old acquaintance that I hadn't seen in at least five years.  It was great to reconnect and catch-up. Had we followed our original plan or even opted not to change the tire we would have probably missed one another.  

All in all it was a beautiful day.  We shared our story with new friends, spent the day with our Sidetrak'n family, shared solidarity with our Worldwide Ural family and created some great memories for all concerned.  That's what it's all about… pulling on the thread that binds us all and reveling in the experience.  Thanks again everyone!  See you out there… somewhere….hopefully before next years rally.  -jp

For more photos check out Ms. Rosminah's handiwork at her flickr page.