2024 Land O' the Pnes Ralye Recap

The 2024 "Land O' the Pines Rallye" at Yellow Rose Canyon.
Rallye Chairman, VP Richard Bowman

2024 LOP Rallye Recap

This year’s LOP was on October 4-6 and was a huge milestone for the club, being our 40th anniversary rallye. I’m delighted to report that the whole event went extremely well, with nothing but positive feedback from the attendees.

This was the second rallye held at the Yellow Rose Canyon location, and we made several improvements over the previous year which were well received. Attendance (in terms of rallye registrations, RV site reservations and bike show entries) were about double the
2023 numbers, and the weather, although a bit warm in the afternoons, was much more pleasant than the year before.

The events started on Friday evening with the new “Small Bike Fun Run” a.k.a. “Tiddler Ride”. We had around 20 people participating on their bikes, which had to be 125cc or less. Many thanks to Bill Felton who suggested and organized this event. He even brought in his parents to help him (thank you too, Mr. and Mrs. Felton). Thanks also to Richard Boothman for piloting the SAG truck. A couple of machines needed the SAG truck rescue services, including, ironically, Bill Felton’s Yamaha RD60.

Saturday brought the usual bike show and field events, however the location was different from the year before. We moved from “The Crater” to an area closer to the cabins. The vibe was much more friendly and intimate with the events in their new location, and they were easier to access for everyone. I’m pretty sure the new locations will be set for the future. Thank you to the people staying in the cabins who had to be flexible with vehicle parking on Saturday. I think that most of the cabin residents liked the new arrangement though, as they had the bike show and field events right on their doorstep.

I have only been to a few LOP rallyes in the past, but I have to say that this year’s bike show was bigger and better than any I have seen at any of the previous events. Ninety-eight, yes 98 motorcycles were entered into the show! The Norton Commando class had 18 entries, which was spectacular, and very fitting for the 40th anniversary of the NTNOA rallye. A big thank you to Ryan Ambrose for taking care of the bike show registrations and to George Tuttle for preparing the “bike books” for Ryan to use. Thanks also to Jane West for preparing the ballots and ballot boxes and also Chris Parry and Richard Boothman for setting up the bike show area. We’re also grateful to Jay Tynes for organizing the trophies and Ben D’Avanza for making the bent valve award. Ironically, Ben won his own award after breaking down riding to the rallye!

The one and only Scooter Jay McCurry did the set up and running of the field events, with expert assistance from referee Jane West (complete with whistle and referee’s outfit ). Grand Master Jay Tynes provided commentary and sounds. The field events had excellent participation this year, and many thanks to all involved.

The all-important award ceremony on Saturday evening was hosted by Chris Parry who, as always, did an excellent job. We started the awards later in the day than last year, which kept us out of the sun, and made the event more comfortable. Next year though, we need to get some lighting on the stage as we finished up using flashlights. Thank you to Mary Garner for helping with the award and door prize presentations. Numerous businesses and individuals donated door prizes, and many thanks to all of you for your generosity.

At the end of the ceremony the rallye bike raffle drawing was held for the 1974 Norton Commando 850 Roadster. The lucky winner was Eric May, who purchased his winning ticket at Yellow Rose Canyon in 2023, at the Born Free Rally. Many thanks to Jane West for keeping track of the raffle ticket sales, both in person and on-line. Also thank you to those club members who helped out selling raffle tickets at various events over the past two years in preparation for the big drawing at LOP.

The lucky 50/50 winner for the rallye was Cole Smith. Many thanks to Randy Bauer for selling the 50/50 tickets, ably assisted by Nanci Teter from the So Cal Norton club.

After the award ceremony, we were able to dance the night away with live music from the Go-Go Rillas playing in the Red Thorn club. Live music was new this year, and thank you to Jay Tynes for suggesting and organizing the band.

The final event of the rally was the Sunday morning breakfast ride, organized and led by Chris Parry. After the breakfast, Oliver, our host at the Yellow Rose Canyon guided a visit to a local attraction called the Cosmic Shed. Apparently very cool and interesting, and well worth a visit.

I want to say thank you to other individuals who played a key role in making the rallye a big success (in no particular order):

          • Penny “RV” Martin who kept track of the RV site bookings and assignments
          • Richard Asprey for his help with numerous items, but in particular for providing canopies, chairs and tables, and their transportation. Richard also organized the food truck which served excellent Mexican meals, and last but not least he procured the raffle bike.
          • Chris Parry, Club President, who, in addition to hosting the awards ceremony and breakfast ride, helped across-the-board to prepare and set up the rallye, and to keep it operating smoothly.
          • George Tuttle (already mentioned for the bike books) for keeping the NTNOA.org website up to date. It’s the gateway for club communication and also for rallye registration etc.
          • Jane West, Club Treasurer, who does a huge amount for the club and the rallye. In addition to things already mentioned, Jane organizes the tee shirts and other merchandise. She prints the rallye packs, and takes care of the all-important finances, both for the rallye and the club in general.
          • Scooter Jay McCurry who, in addition to the field events already mentioned, transported all the supplies needed for the rallye to the Yellow Rose Canyon. Thanks also to Scooter’s employer, Emerald Services, for the loan of a trailer.
          • Randy Bauer and his group for counting all the bike show ballots and updating the bike books with the winners. With the increase in attendees this year, the vote counting work basically doubled.
          • Last but not least, thanks to a number of individuals who pitched in during the rally to set things up, load and unload trailers, and generally help out. I haven’t named you all individually, but without your help the event could not have been successful.

See you next year!

Richard Bowman

Bike Show Winners

• Class 1 Concours - Jack Wilson Memorial Award
            o Roger Hunziker – 1976 Benelli Sei
• Class 2 Norton - Pre-Commando
            o Jeff McCoy – 1956 Norton Dominator
• Class 3 Norton Commando - Joe Edwards Memorial Award
            o 1st place - Stewart Garrison 1975 Norton Commando 850
            o 2nd place – Roger Pouncey - 1975 Norton Commando 850
• Class 4 Vincent - Bevo Bowen Memorial Award
            o Greg McBride – 1949 Vincent Black Shadow Special
• Class 5 Triumph – Pre-Oil in Frame
            o 1st place - Brian Bonnell – 1960 Triumph T110 Tiger
            o 2nd place – Harry Villers – 1957 Triumph T110
• Class 6 Triumph – Oil in Frame Clay Walley Memorial Award
            o 1st place – Ben D’Avanza – 1979 Triumph T140D
            o 2nd place – Andy Fletcher – 1971 Triumph Tiger
• Class 7 British Modern - 1988 & Newer
            o 1st place – Mike Swierk – 2014 Royal Enfield Continental GT
            o 2nd place – Hunter Garrison – 2023 Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE
• Class 8 BSA
            o Matthew McLaughlin – 1972 BSA Firebird Scrambler
• Class 9 Other British & European - 1999 & Older
            o 1st place - Ed Fletcher – 1948 BMW R-35
            o 2nd place - Jason Small – 1964 Royal Enfield
• Class 10 German 1999 & Older - Perry Bushong Memorial Award
            o Eddie Albin – 1975 BMW R90/6 with Ural sidecar
• Class 11 Italian - 1999 & Older
            o Anthony D Armstrong – 1970 Lambretta J50
• Class 12 Competition - Ed Mabry Memorial Award
            o Rob Mercer – 1978 Bultaco Pursang 370
• Class 13 Pacific Rim - Less than 500cc, 1999 & Older
            o 1st place – Jim Nay – 1967 Honda S90
            o 2nd place – Gary Anderson – 1974 Suzuki RV125
• Class 14 Pacific Rim - More than 500cc, 1999 & Older - Norm Blumenberg Memorial
Award
            o No entries
• Class 15 American 1987 & Older - Mike Brown Memorial Award
            o Stanley Miller – 1951 Indian 80 cu in Chief
• Class 16 Modern - 2000 & Newer
            o Rick Clark – 2012 Ecosse Heretic
• Class 17 Modified Street
            o 1st place - Jody McClure – 1967 Triumph Chopper
            o 2nd place - Mike Selvey - 1971 BSA
• Class 18 Pit Bike/Mini Bike - 125cc or less, any year
            o 1st place – Charlie Walton – 2006 Honda Ruckus
            o 2nd place – Audrey Menarik – MV Agusta 50cc

Other Trophies

• Best German Ridden to Rallye
            o Jeff Myers – 2001 BMW R1100S
• Longest Distance Ridden to Rallye
            o Art Bone – over 1000 miles from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
• Best Italian Ridden to Rallye
            o Paul Dalton – Moto Guzzi Griso
• Best Triumph Ridden to Rallye
            o Ben D’Avanza – 1979 Triumph T140D
• Best Norton Ridden to Rallye
            o Nanci Teter
• Preservation Award
            o Jay Tynes – 1972 Harley Davidson Servicar
• Youngest Rider to the Rallye
            o Josh Bushong
• Bent Valve Award
            o Ben D’Avanza

Field Events Winners

• Cold Start –
            o Under 500cc, knobby tires - 1st Rene Kraus – 2nd Dan Piassick
            o Under 500cc, street tires - Chris Parry
            o 500cc and over - Hunter Garrison
• Plank – Brian Belcher
• Clothespin Hang – Hunter and Devon Garrison
• Ring Toss – Wendy Griffiths and Josh Bushong
• Barrel Roll – John Rizzo
• Side Car – Patrick & Eddie
• Slow Race
            o Without clutch – Charlie Walton
            o With clutch – Justin Jones

Click here for a shared google photos album with pics from the field events (mainly of the winners).