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Last update

13/2/2022

Well many of you, like us, will be making the final preparations for the start on Friday. Remember to be at the start before 11:30am so you have time to sort out your groups briefing location and find your Tee-shirts. If you haven’t sent a disclaimer as of last week we will get you to sign it before you leave on Friday - don’t send us them now as we are on the road and it will be easier to get them at the start.

We are getting questions about the state of the roads, especially the route to Karamea as it is a Compulsory Checkpoint and some may have planned to visit this in conjunction with Haast. The road is currently under managed access so we suggest that you look carefully at the plans you have made and other options you might have to complete your challenge. The long range forecast is also looking like it will be a challenging weekend so pack your wet weather gear!

For those of you wanting to join us at the meet and greet at Dodson Street Brewery, they have kept the place open just for us so come on down and relax and catch up with the rest of us who are embarking on this adventure.

Dodson Street Brewery is located at 1 Dodson Street, Mayfield, Blenheim with a great selection of drinks and food and the owner is a passionate motorcycle rider so we will see you there or at the start on Friday.
https://www.dodsonstreet.co.nz/home/
https://www.facebook.com/DodsonStreetBeerGarden/

Riders Update 1 week to go…

10/2/2022

Well our bikes are ready, the plans are set and now it's time to anxiously watch the weather forecast as we prepare for the adventure that awaits us next week.

We are travelling up to drop off the supplies this weekend then returning on the bikes ready to meet you all. So if you have not returned your disclaimer yet, please don’t send it now as we will get you to do it at the start of the rally. As you arrive at the start you will be directed to the group that you will be starting in so it will make it easier if you know the group so we can send you to the right place quickly. Rally briefing will start after 11:30am so make sure you are there before this time. We are intending to release the riders by 11:50am to give you a bit of time to get sorted and to allow for any discrepancy in clocks.

Riders will be given a card with their name on it and the phone number for Josh who will be running the communications during the rally as we will be riding with you all. If you are pulling out of the rally please make contact with Josh so that we aren’t hunting for you when you don’t arrive at Tokoiti by 4pm on Sunday. When you do arrive at Tokoiti School, hand your card into the helpers to record your finishing of the challenge and make sure you get marked off (especially before 12pm!).

At the end please make sure you have a USB cable that you can connect to your camera so that we can download your photos onto the chromebooks that we will have ready for you to use. There will be helpers there to help you put your photos into the correct place. Also complete your scoresheet for us to know what photos we are looking for in your submission.

We look forward to seeing some of you on Thursday evening at Dodson Street Beer Garden and all of you at the start on Friday.

The schools have been made aware of our visiting and we have been wished all the very best, here are a selection of their responses:
Sounds like a fabulous event - all the very best with it. Our children will likely be out waving if we see any participants on Friday. :)
I am super excited you will be visiting our kura! Please wave if you are here during the day. I will get the kids to look out for you all!
I do hope the weather is good for you all and you enjoy your visit here, to our little piece of paradise.
Thanks for choosing our school to be a part of this rally.
I'm sure if some of your riders arrive before school is finished the children will be excited!
We'll let neighbours know, there's one who recently sold his Ducati, who might be tempted back to the fold!
I was on the back of a bike the other day talking about the TT rally!
Thank you and what a great idea to celebrate small rural schools. Maybe some of the photos could be shared with us.
Thanks for the photo I have attached in the newsletter.

January Riders Update

23/1/2022

25 days to go!! This is a long email but it has important information in it.

Attached to this email is the disclaimer form please send it back as soon as possible (and a copy of your vax pass will make things quicker for us on the day)
This pandemic is still testing our planning but fortunately we prepared for this way back in April. With the gathering limits of 100 people outside in each designated area if we use vax passes, we can still hold the event. In this email and on the website the riders have been split into 3 groups so that you can be in a separate area for the start. If you have been separated from your riding buddies then contact us at hq@tt2000.org to change your group. If your name is not on this list you have chosen for your name to remain off the list and you are in group 3. If you did ask for your name to be on this list and it's not email us to ensure we have your details and we can let you know which group you are in.

SpotWalla users - TT Location page.

For existing SpotWalla users, we have created a SpotWalla Location page for the 2022 TT2000.

As you may have heard, as of Feb, 2022 SpotWalla are now starting to charge for their hosting services; the storing of your data points, and the service of receiving data from various devices. These charges are not massive, but they are a change to the way that SpotWalla has been available until now.

There is no charge to the event, specifically for running the Location Page. In fact Jason at SpotWalla has very kindly provided a coupon for our riders to redeem to waive any fees for your usage during the TT, from the 16th to the 22nd Feb 2022. This is redeemable from the 16th of Feb, onwards - look in the My Account section, then under Coupons - it will remain in the 'Future Coupons' section until the 16th Feb.

This year we're planning on keeping the Location page private and available only to the organisers and those riders who opt into the Location page. If you want to participate in the Location page, send an reply email to us and we'll send you the sign-up link and password, and details on how to view it during the event.

Depending on the numbers involved, if there are enough to make it interesting, we will request another animation this year, from the tracked points. If this happens, we'll circulate this to everyone after the event.

For interest and so you know what we're talking about; here are the last two animation pages:
TT2000 - 2020 - https://new.spotwalla.com/animation/d32e-6df24-543c/view?speed=80
TT2000 - 2021 - https://new.spotwalla.com/animation/c4bf-55104-e708/view?speed=80

This information, and any updates will be posted on Chris Wiltshire's website here: https://www.wiltshire.net/2022/01/20/tt2000-2022-spotwalla-location-pages/
- He has typically provided assistance to people who need help to setup SpotWalla, and time permitting has offered to do so again this year - please don't leave things until the last minute! :)

Just over 1 week to go before the entries close so encourage your mates to get in quick.

For those who were looking out for it, David's final km was 2842 a great effort,! Clive Dominey also went out and completed a DUX ride with 2752 being his final km result. So that gives a benchmark for what it takes to complete the DUX. Well done to both of these riders and we look forward to seeing what results come in for the TT weekend.

Starting Groups (under Traffic Light Red setting)

December Riders Update - Happy New Year

2/1/2022

Another month ends as does 2021 - looking forward to the last weeks of preparation before we head off on this great adventure. Entries to the 2022 event close at the end of this month so encourage your mates to get in and secure their entry.

Road updates: Takaka Hill has finished the work on it and Takaka Hill traffic lights are no more!
Two lanes all the way, with speed restrictions until the locals get used to keeping left. Thanks to Andrew Spooner for this update.

David Britten has been out riding the DUX as he will be riding another plan on the weekend. Scoring of his attempt will not be part of the official results as we are just including those who complete the challenge on the specified weekend and times, but we will acknowledge those who do complete it. David scored 5001 points picking up all the requirements for the DUX. For those who are aiming at planning for this you might be interested to know that David stopped both nights to sleep and finished by 10:15am. Along the way he dealt with horrendous wind, rain and delays caused by a road being closed due to an accident.

This shows planning that happens before the event sometimes can’t take into account what will happen on the road, so time needs to be put aside for the unexpected. David very nearly missed out on this DUX as one of his photos submitted was of the wrong school sign, fortunately for him the correct sign was in the photo so he was able to claim it. Make sure you know what the signs look like for each checkpoint to ensure that you get the correct one.

Well happy new year to you all and we will see you in 48 days. I know Phil Biggs is counting down the seconds!
PS David’s final km count was … coming next update!

November Riders Update (just in time!)

30/11/2021

With the changes in alert levels and moving to the new traffic light system we have had a number of questions about whether we will be able to hold the event. Due to the nature of the event we are able to hold it under Green and Orange levels with vaccine passes being used. We are committed to keeping this going and believe that we can mitigate many of the issues that have caused other rallies to cancel due to the unique nature of this rally. Today we processed the 150th entry to the event, so it is shaping up to be a great one. The iPhone app is live in the app store however there is a bug in it relating to the taking of the photos. Apple has changed the privacy settings and the app needs adapting to work with the newer iOS. We hope to have this sorted in December when Shannon has free time in the holidays so stay tuned for the update. We will let you know when that is sorted and the scoresheets are ready to go. Enjoy the lead up to Xmas and encourage your mates to join us on this great adventure.

October Update

16/10/2021

Hope your planning is going well.

We have had to make a change to the Tasman/Marlborough compulsory checkpoints due to road damage during the storms earlier in the year. So Waitaria Bay School has been replaced with Waikawa Bay School. If you are disappointed about missing all the twists and turns going out to Waitaria Bay, may I suggest the Robin Hood - Oyster Bay route might suffice!

We have had a number of questions about the the impact of Covid on the event, and although we can’t plan too far out - we have taken this into account for our preparation and we would still be able to hold the event under alert level 2 (as it stands now) as we have a large number of physical areas that we can use for the start and also a number of starting locations if it came to that to ensure that we were able to operate with the limits on any gatherings that may be in place. We will be monitoring the situation and will update you closer to the time on any changes or adaptations that may be needed.

The TT App is going through the final stages of preparation and testing and should be available on the App Store in the next couple of weeks.

Dodson Street Beer Garden has offered to host our pre event get together and evening meal. They serve a great variety of beers, food and they have a great atmosphere - the perfect place for kicking back and relaxing before the big off. They are located next to a large parking space so there will be plenty of room for all those who have indicated their interest. Check them out on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DodsonStreetBeerGarden/ Always a good sign when you turn up to a pub and the owner has his bike parked out front!

September Riders Update

6/9/2021

Welcome to you all and thank you for registering to take part in the TT2000 for 2022. I hope that you are all as excited as we have been as we prepared it. We intend to send out regular emails just as was done in the past to update you on the event, road conditions and news. We will also include questions that might come up, so feel free to email hq@tt2000.org with any questions that you might have. Mark and Shannon have worked with Wayne to transition the event as he steps away from running the event. We appreciate the work he and Mike have done in setting up and running the event in the past and we hope to continue that tradition.

Q. If I get compulsory checkpoints, but they are not paired will I still get the points?

All checkpoints that you arrive at and claim will earn you the points. However, to complete the challenge you need to have 2 pairs of compulsorily checkpoints in your tally. The compulsory checkpoints are regionally based, so you will have to plan to get both checkpoints from at least 2 regions.

Q. Do I need to get the checkpoints in a particular order?

No, you may choose to get the checkpoints in any order that best meets your riding plan and the goals you set yourself.

Q. Do I need to get the bonus points?

No, the bonus points are there to add an additional challenge to riders who wish to add a level of complexity to their ride. The bonus points will be automatically added as part of the scrutineering of the photos after the event.

Q. What happens if I have more than 5000 points?

To make this event a challenge without encouraging speeding or pushing riders beyond their limits, the 5000 point is a cap and no record will be published with the points over this, the only exception will be those earning the extra point for the DUX bonus.

Q. Where are the rally resources from previous years?

In order to have the site up during lockdown, some of the resources development has been put on hold. Be assured that these are being developed and will be on the website later this year. The entrant card that is required for the Interislander discount is being updated with the emergency number. This number will only be monitored during the event as our Comms team is different from the organising team (as we wanted to ride the event with you all!)

Q. Do the photos have to be at the exact spot shown in the run sheet?

Yes! In the past there was more latitude towards the location of the photos, as long as the photo proved you were in the general location oftentimes it was accepted. This year the requirement of having the exact location is necessary due to the other challenges that are being added. With the efficiency and navigation challenges, riders are trying to ride the least amount of km for the points they need, and to be fair to all riders the photo needs to be in the specified location. Prior planning to identify the photo locations will help. Due to the locations being schools, they usually are fairly easy to find, but make sure you get the correct school sign as some locations may have several, and in a small number of cases they are not of the school sign, for example Romahapa is the water tank with "Go Otago" on it.

Q. What about the TTX Badge, are they all gone and will you make more?

The TTX badges were limited to 20 only and with Mike's family being the recipient of the final one, we think it is appropriate that they remain limited. However we will be making new badges TT10 for those riders completing 10 successful rides.

Q. Can I use a GPS track for my distance record?

If you take your starting odo and finishing odo photo then you can also submit a GPS distance (with a gpx track to back it) and this distance will be used.

Q. What if I am riding in a group, what distance do we use?

Where riders are riding as a group - they can use 1 speedo or GPS as indicative for the group (as long as the GPS requirements are met) and photos of all the bikes included in this group are in all the photos.

Q. Can I use Tokoiti School for the decile four school?

No, the 10 decile schools must be part of your checkpoints for you to claim this bonus.

Q. The year patches of the TT can I collect one for each year that I have done a TT for?

The year patches have been a recent innovation and initially it was perceived as cost prohibitive to create one for each year. We will be sending out a survey later in the year to establish the interest in these and then we will be able to look at the costs for getting backdated patches made.