This idea is inspired by a nearly identical relay on svrider.com. The basic idea is to have an item of some sort that we pass off from one member to the next across the continent... A relay, of sorts!
My plan is to put together a small 'kit' that we pass off from one rider to the next. The kit would be a small pelican case with a 'SBN (or sportbikes.net or whatever) Relay Across North America' label on it. Inside the pelican case would be:
-a notebook that every member could sign their name, their location, route taken for relay, and any notes they want to add
-a thumb drive to add pictures along the route to
-a bunch of stickers that every member who participates can take one of
-a small gnome (since yard gnomes are too big)
I guess we'd need permission from the admin of the site to create a custom sticker for this relay. This is something that can be worked out later if there is even enough interest to do a relay. Depending upon the cost to get the stickers made, the pelican case, and the thumb drive, I may have to ask for some small donations from the group interested in doing this to cover costs.
I have created a Google Map here:
SBN Relay Map
1) Each rider will add a shape that covers the area that they are willing to travel to this Google map
2) You will have to create an account in order to edit the map if you don't already have one (directions for adding your area are on the Google map)
3) Riders will meet up at a reasonable location to exchange the 'relay kit'
4) The length of a ride will be at the riders' discretion, but the relay should include as many SBN members as possible.
5) Members should take as many pictures as possible to add to the thumb drive to chronicle the journey of the 'relay kit'
6) ONLY SBN MEMBERS ARE ALLOWED TO CARRY THE 'RELAY KIT'
7) THIS IS NOT A RACE!!!! It doesn't matter if it takes 6 months, a year, or two years to finish... In fact, I don't even know what 'finished' would entail yet... The lower 48? Lower 48 plus all Canadian provinces? 49 states (except HI) + all Canadian provinces + Mexico? It depends on the interest level here, I guess.
Once the game kicks off, I'll start a new 'Roaming gnome' thread that members can post in to tell who has the kit at the moment and who will pick it up. We can also post roaming gnome threads in the regional subforums as well, as the kit passes through.
Since most members here in the northern part of the country have their bikes winterized during the winter, I am envisioning this kicking off in the spring after we get enough people willing to do the relay added to the map. If there is enough interest in the south, we can start it down south sooner than the spring. I ride year round, so if there is a chain of members willing to pass it south, we'll start it as soon as the map fills up enough.
I hope this idea gets as much interest here (actually more!) as it did on svrider... So start adding your shapes to the map!
SBN Relay Across North America!
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