Dan@Adams Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Hey gang! I've been out of pocket on the forum for a few days, but it's for a great reason, I promise. I'm participating in the 3rd Annual Rally North America 2015 Ohio Valley 700 charity road rally, benefitting the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio (EFWO). We just wrapped up Day 1 earlier this evening, and I need to get some sleep to be ready for more amazing driving and locations tomorrow, but here's a quick overview of the RNA organization and what we do. RNA is a non-profit organization that seeks to raise money for some of the best charities out there, through our passion of automobiles. Up to 80 teams can register and help raise money for the respective charity. Typically two events are held each year - the big event in July, in a different part of the country each year, and then a somewhat smaller event in the Ohio region each Fall, to benefit the EFWO. Other than a small entry fee to cover insurance, sponsor decal packages, and so forth, all money raised goes directly to the charity. Since 2010, RNA has raised over $460,000 for charities, and for this particular OV700 event, 50 teams helped to raise over $25,000 so far! The format of the rally is quite simple - it is NOT a race, but more of a timed scavenger hunt, usually 2-5 days in length. Teams have no knowledge of the day's route or checkpoints until they get to the start line and their time is officially recorded. Then you're off to find some very unique and breathtaking checkpoints along the way, with the help of GPS, google, paper maps...whatever your navigator decides to use Any type of wreckless driving or proof of a speeding ticket gets you an automatic disqualification from any podium finishes, and teams that do place are only eligible for a trophy finish on one day of the rally. Since we are doing this for charity and want to set a good example and be safe out on the road, we save the racing for drag strips and road courses, that are usually rented out for us after the finish line on a particular day of the rally. If you are interested in RNA or would like to learn more, feel free to ask me or check out the website at http://www.rallynorthamerica.com Ok, enough of my rambling, the rest of this thread will be a sort of picture-journal of my adventure on the rally. Thanks for looking First thing was first, the little blue frankenstein truck needed cleaned up after driving through nasty construction zones all week in my town, in order to take off some of the Smoky Mountain Rally decals from this past summer and to put the new OV700 sponsor stickers on: Yikes! Just a little bit dirty...my friend's at a local performance shop said "Dan, I don't think we've ever seen any of your vehicles this dirty before" Ha. I started out with some Deep Wheel Cleaner, Wheel Brush, and Wheel Woolie: DWC impresses me every time Next up was a two-bucket wash with the Adam's Foam Gun: Much better: With the truck nice and clean again, I took the hair dryer to some of the old sponsor stickers and finished putting the new ones on around 11pm Thursday night...when I was going to be leaving Friday morning at 6am to travel to the start line in Michigan! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but I've been busy with a bunch of other exciting things! I'll continue with more updates tomorrow evening - my travel day to the start location and then Day 1 of the Rally. We're in Muskegon, Michigan this evening to start tomorrow morning and finish up in Dayton, Ohio. If anyone is nearby, we'll be drag racing at Kilkare Raceway tomorrow afternoon - 1/4 mile racing, live music, food, great people, and we will be showcasing all of the rally vehicles to the public. Feets31, TheWolf and mc2hill 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris@Adams Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Sounds like fun Dan......you got her looking good! Dan@Adams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWolf Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Looks like a great time and a worthy cause! Dan@Adams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirahnah3 Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Sounds awesome and for a great cause, looking forward to the update pics. Dan@Adams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan@Adams Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) Ok I'm back home after quite a bit of fun and headaches on the rally, so the story continues... After frantically packing up a ton of last minute stuff into the truck bed (because the third door handle broke and I couldn't easily put anything in the extended cab behind the seats...bummer), I got on the road and headed North on Friday morning! Getting close to Pittsburgh, PA: A half hour into Ohio...RAIN...I laughed at the rain as H2O Guard & Gloss defeated it. Hahaha. I do NOT think I would want to drive one of these... Really cool twisty wooded entrance into a rest area in Ohio: Lil' Blue Racetruck looking pretty: Cool bridge up ahead! Just a taste of the beautiful fall foliage on this trip: Over 10 hours of driving, just me and some tunes, and open road, but I finally made it to the Best Western in Mackinaw City, Michigan and I wasn't the last rally team to arrive! Seven more teams showed up after me. Quietest and most fuel efficient vehicle on the rally parked next to the loudest and worst fuel efficient vehicle on the rally? I had to Edited October 18, 2015 by Dan@Adams Chris@Adams and TheWolf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan@Adams Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) A few shots of some of the other vehicles in the rally that I snapped before the sun went down: Completely stealth...gloss black sponsor decals on a gloss black car...we do tend to draw attention from police officers with all of the stickers, but they are usually very understanding once we explain that it's a charity scavenger hunt and not a race. Trucks and SUV's welcome too: Then we had the pre-rally driver's meeting and auctioned off some items for the Epilepsy Foundation. I put together 5 different Adam's kits. It was my understanding that it was going to be a silent auction, but then they made me get up there in front of 100 people and explain the products and kits. Luckily I knew more than half of the people, and I got to talk about my passion, so I wasn't too nervous These 5 kits - Car Wash Bucket with Car Wash Trio, Waterless Wash & 2 Towel Combo, Detail Spray & 2 Single Soft Towels, Basic H2O Guard & Gloss Kit, and the Americana Premium Shine Kit - all with a T-Shirt thrown and air freshener thrown in, raised just shy of $400 for the charity! Thank you to all of the bidders! After a very long day, and even hungrier stomachs, some of us took a nice half-mile walk after the driver's meeting to grab a late dinner...yum! Day 1 Start Line and Checkpoints are up next, stay tuned! Edited October 18, 2015 by Dan@Adams Chris@Adams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan@Adams Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 We woke up bright and early the next chilly, but beautiful morning, to begin the adventure for the next two days. Getting all of the vehicles lined up. The start grid order is determined by how much each team raised for the Epilepsy Foundation. More of the diverse vehicles on the rally as they are being handed their route card for the day: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan@Adams Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 And let's not forget the two heavy hitters at the front of the pack! Here is the Day 1 Route Card. These are the types of clues and places we visit during these rally events. They're always challenging to find and very interesting and rewarding once you get there! I need to pull more pictures from my phone, but more updates coming your way soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkj4243 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Dan, Great pictures of the event for a great cause. It appears that the participants were from numerous states? Does the rally always start in Mackinaw City, or are there other locations depending upon the year and planned route? Being from Michigan, it is always great to see others discover or find the really cool things and places we have throughout the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan@Adams Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) Thanks Robert! Participants come from all over the U.S. and Canada too! They give out a Long Distance award at each rally for the team that traveled the longest to get to the start line The big rally each July is in a different part of the country each year and they choose a different charity each year as well. The Ohio Valley 700 events are for the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio each year, but the area around Ohio has been different each of the 3 years it has been running - Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky in 2013, Ohio and West Virginia in 2014, and now Ohio and Michigan for 2015. I'm hoping we end up doing Ohio and Pennsylvania next year, because I can help out a ton for finding interesting locations in PA. Since 2010, the events were: Rally 66 2010 - The Stefanie Spielman Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, Columbus Ohio Rally Appalachia 2011 - The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Rally Dixie 2012 - Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis Rocky Mountain Rally 2012 - Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis Rally New England 2013 - Camp Sunshine (first rally event that I attended, as a navigator) Ohio Valley 700 2013 - Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio (first rally event that I was a driver) Route 50 Rally 2014 - Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis Ohio Valley 700 2014 - Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio Smoky Mountain Rally 2015 - Hope For The Warriors Ohio Valley 700 2015 - Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio To date, RNA has raised over $480,000 for these charities...simply awesome. Edited October 20, 2015 by Dan@Adams rkj4243 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirahnah3 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 looks like fun, Im sure that the locals have a slight advantage in knowing where things might be. Quite the grouping of cars too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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