[gregsfc]

I like some of subtle changes that it looks like the event included (or didn't include) this year. I state "looks like", because I'm looking from a far. But what I mean by looks like is that it seems from everything that has been published so far that there were some changes (all to the good); especially as it relates to how the challenge was conveyed and communicated to the public and to the riders who are not part of the organizing; it seemed much more transparent: ..."the results"...were more descriptive and comparable and concise; non-4-bag-grocery-riders were listed up with the other riders, which makes it appear that the ride is not so clickish for only the streamliners..."the interviews"...on youtube were fabulous. I especially liked getting a good look at Scott's bike and what he had to say, and would love to do something similar to my commuter bike but just have zero carpentry skill; and I really liked that some pictures and quotes were taken of stock-bike riders and they got to show off them and their bikes, because that's part of why they came most likely; the comrade and to score well and get recognized for scoring well, i.e. the two CBR250s..."the stat details"... (the pdf version) gave lots of mileage comparison information; how stats were computed; what fuel cost measurements were used, exactly how road tax was applied to the e-bikes; and what electric rate was charged and how that conclusion was made, etc. And the most encouraging part of this challenge, as compared to the one I attended was... "the amount of self reflection or self assessment communicated in the article about how the event went; good and bad; and how to make it better next year". Now maybe this last point had gone on before, but it wasn't communicated to the public and riders as well as this one.

Now for my rant about how to make this ride more inclusive: To me, besides the distance I must travel to join in on a challenge and the fight I must have with my spouse, and the fact that these challenges get almost no media attention and nearly no participation beyond the streamlining community (which is probably no one's fault involved in organizing these events), the most discouraging, averse, logistically challenging, and the most subjective and unequitable part of these challenges for the near-stock bike rider has to be the 4-bag grocery rule.

My first argument, which is a rehash that's been made by many would-be riders and one-time participates, is that a motorcycle does not have to carry four big bags of groceries to be a very useful motorcycle. Of course this is subjective on what we all think is useful and there has to be some parameter set, and there is no set level that everyone would agree on, and so four tall, big bags has been decided as the parameter. But of course this favors traditional streamlined bikes to low riding, tucking-for-the-streamline-effect bikes, because that extra height is not needed or wanted and so luggage space has to be created outward, but for the inventive and those with the means like Fred and Scott, it has been shown itcan still be done, but then what that does is that everyone else who participates that does not have some sort of streamlining, is just sort of riding to ride, and we can all do that at charity rides back home if we're doing it just to see what we can achieve or for riding comradery .

I debated hard about attending the challenge in 2014. I knew my 54-liter Dewalt box wouldn't cut it, but on the other hand, with my lack of mechanical skills and lack of means to have someone build something for me, my choice was to use my very useful box and get on the "B" list, or put some kind of huge Rubbermaid box on my seat, which would have hurt my score and possibly had made my bike more unstable. So I showed up in 2014 with a 54-liter Dewalt tool box turned sideways on my pillion seat; the same way I always had it set up back in those days. The front rested against my back. It was water proof; it was about the same width as my body, and my bike was still very safe and stable but could probably carry only about 3 bags. In 2014, my own computations put me at 96.9 mpg, but sort of an average of the miles ridden were used instead of a GPS distance, and so my official mileage came out at 101.82 or something like that. The next best stock bike; a DR200, came in at 20 mpg under my score. But in 2014, even though I spoke with other riders like Alan and Vic and Fred who were amazed with my score on my stock bike, me and my bike did not get interviewed or photos taken.

But I remiss and am going to pretend that four, full big grocery bags is necessary to have a transportation future with motorcycles. It is at this point where the details of the rules make absolutely no sense. I'll use a hypothetical to make my point: Lets say for instance, someone shows up with a bike with removable saddle boxes and an easily removable top box that all together provide 90 liters of luggage capacity, and this hypothetical bike rider registers to ride in the challenge; and it doesn't matter whether he is streamlined or not; whether his bike and accessories can get 30 mpg or 150 mpg; this guy just wants to be a full-fledged competitor with a very usable bike and see what he can do and has added more luggage than he needs for riding back home just to be a legitimate rider. Maybe he wants to beat his all-time best, or maybe he wants to show to fellow riders in his own riding community that his bike can exceed ???mpg if ridden smartly. This hypothetical bike has all three boxes with a one-button unlock system, and therefore, in the real world, he could ride to the grocery store and park, unlatch his boxes; load his three empty boxes in an empty shopping cart out there in the parking lot (there are always lots of carts near by). He goes in the store; buys the groceries, and instead of putting the groceries in shopping bags at the self checkout, he then loads them in the three boxes; puts them back in the cart. He then takes the groceries that went straight to his boxes out to his bike and mounts them back on the bike; puts the cart in the corrale. When he gets home, he takes the boxes off his bike; one under his arm, the other two carried by hand; carries them into his home; puts up his groceries; and then the next time he goes outside, he mounts the empty boxes back on his bike. This sounds like a lot of steps, but it is really no more intrusive than someone who uses his or her own bags at the grocery store or someone who uses the store bags; and who is to say that this bike is any less useful than a bike that can handle grocery bags in an upright position; that are kept in the bags; but that's what happens. He just barely misses the 4-bag rule, because he has to take groceries out of the bags to fit, and so now, he can still compete, but he has a weight handicap, and so he can't do his best.

Just sayin'