2024 GLMC Grand Tour Q&A

[BkerChuck]

I misunderstood post 2 thinking it was the "attached letters" that were the issue and not allowed. Now I understand the city was actually incorrect and attached letters are okay. This just made my life simpler.

[Lapchik]

Submitting photos . . . .where do we send them to?

Event page says glmcgrandtour@gmail.com, "Rally Photo Submissions: Rally photos shall be digitally submitted by email or Internet sharing service (i.e. Google Drive or Photo Album, Smugmug, Flickr, Dropbox, etc)."

Rules page says
● All photos must be submitted digitally to one of the following:
○ email attachments to; glmc2024gt@gmail.com
○ Google drive and similar cloud hosting services. Send a link to;
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...wD6Tody0fn

As far as I know, you can't send a link to a drive folder. You can go directly to that folder and drop files though.

[Lee_0123]

To submit pictures:
1) You can email them to GLMC2024GT@gmail.com. This seems to be working well as several riders have been submitting pictures.

2) You can create your own shared drive and share it with GLMC2024GT@Gmail.com. This is what I did for 2023 and it seemed to work well.

3) I'm not exactly clear on how the GLMC GT 2024 shared drive is supposed to work. I can see a number of riders have folders on the drive including myself and Lapchik. When I initially opened the link I had to wait a bit for the folders to update. I was able to drag and drop a file into the box. I'll look into this and try to understand it better.

[Vint]

(12-31-2023 08:25 PM)Lee_0123 Wrote:  The use of the green DOT signs are not allowed.

Just to clarify, you mean these type of signs? If so, I have to toss half the photos I've taken.



I also wanted to see if signs like this water tower are acceptable. A lot of tiny towns I've looked at using google maps don't have proper signage, a post office, city hall, etc.

[LSGiant]

The Rally master will confirm but yes the DOT signs are not allowed. This because a number of years back a participant was killed by taking her photo at such a stop. I know other welcome signs require the same type of stuff but we can only do so much.
I believe water towers are fine.
Please be careful out there.

[Vint]

(04-16-2024 10:51 AM)LSGiant Wrote:  The Rally master will confirm but yes the DOT signs are not allowed. This because a number of years back a participant was killed by taking her photo at such a stop. I know other welcome signs require the same type of stuff but we can only do so much.
I believe water towers are fine.
Please be careful out there.

Sadden to hear that. From experience, stopping for DOT signs can be pretty scary.

Good news is that I haven't taken that many photos and the ones I need to redo are relatively nearby. I just wanted to make sure before I start traveling further for photos.

I'll wait until the rally master confirms, but thanks for the feedback.

[LSGiant]

The rally master is looking into this please sit tight. He is traveling.

[Lee_0123]

In post #15 I stated that DOT are not allowed.
In the same post I said city limit signs were allowed. The basis for this in my area if there are city limit signs they are usually on multiple streets. So for West Point, PA trying to get a picture of the sign on Garfield Ave. is dangerous because it has no shoulder at all. But if you go down a couple of blocks to West Pointe Pike you can pull into a parking lot by the railroad tracks and get a nice clear picture from a safe distance. There are usually options to get a safe picture.

Now I understand the safety concerns. I'll talk to the senior GLMC guys and get advice on how we should proceed from here. Stay tuned.

Lee B.

[Lapchik]

I think it's important to differentiate between a green background/white letter reflective aluminum DOT sign and a large, possibly landscaped, decorative "welcome to our city" sign when referring to city limit signs.

In my experience, both are usually on main roads into town which means traffic. Rarely safe to pull over on the shoulder to get them, so I just ride into town and find the town hall, public works building, or emergency services to get the tag. Lower street speeds, and people are expecting traffic and pedestrians vs the highway where they do not expect nor see people on the side of the road.

I use google street view often to verify locations before I ride there too. That way I can pre-plan how to come into town, where to park, etc.

[Lee_0123]

Photographs of city limit signs are still acceptable. Beware of your surroundings. If there is no shoulder and it is a dangerous place to park then find another location with a sign. A picture is not worth your getting hurt or worse. There are post offices, municipal buildings, schools, etc. with valid signs on them.

[JohnF]

(04-26-2024 03:44 AM)Lee_0123 Wrote:  Photographs of city limit signs are still acceptable. Beware of your surroundings. If there is no shoulder and it is a dangerous place to park then find another location with a sign. A picture is not worth your getting hurt or worse. There are post offices, municipal buildings, schools, etc. with valid signs on them.

Please define City Limits sign as it pertains to meeting the requirements for a good sign in the 2024 GLMC Grand Tour.

My experience for grand tours is the Green and White DOT sign AND a more decorative "Welcome to" type sign placed by the city or a civic group in the city both count

Just want to be sure if you are referring to both types of these signs.

And yes...be safe there is quite often a driveway or pull off for a mail box near either of these signs that provides a safe place to pull off and get a photo...if not, move on and find something else.


JohnF
Cincinnati, OH

[theemightyorbit]

Question for Lee...

Do water towers count?

[Lapchik]

Historically they have counted, and it's a sign. But I'm also not doing the scoring this year.

[Lee_0123]

If the water tower clearly denotes it is a city. It counts.
Any question of what the tower is declaring and it probably won't count. I would suggest to be on the safe side try to find the post office or water authority office.

[Lee_0123]

JohnF
I am having a tough time figuring out how to answer your question because DOT signs are not clearly defined. The type of sign that is not allowed are those showing distances to the town (highway signs) or signs that have directional arrows to the town. These are not allowed because they are generally located some distance away from the town proper.

Allowable city limit signs can be very simple like the one for Center Point, PA. These are flat sheet metal with a white background and a dark border and lettering.

The town of West Pointe, PA has older, ornate signs that appear to be cast iron.

The town of North Wales has new wooden signs that look very nice.

Don't get hung up on the color and shape of the sign. The three signs above all have a different background colors and shapes.
I believe that Vermont signs all have a green color.

[theemightyorbit]

(05-02-2024 08:59 AM)Lee_0123 Wrote:  JohnF
I am having a tough time figuring out how to answer your question because DOT signs are not clearly defined. The type of sign that is not allowed are those showing distances to the town (highway signs) or signs that have directional arrows to the town. These are not allowed because they are generally located some distance away from the town proper.

Allowable city limit signs can be very simple like the one for Center Point, PA. These are flat sheet metal with a white background and a dark border and lettering.

The town of West Pointe, PA has older, ornate signs that appear to be cast iron.

The town of North Wales has new wooden signs that look very nice.

Don't get hung up on the color and shape of the sign. The three signs above all have a different background colors and shapes.
I believe that Vermont signs all have a green color.

OK, Lee...

Is this an acceptable sign...



as it serves the same purpose (to mark the border of the community) as the Center Point sign below.

The only difference is the color.



Thanks.

[Lee_0123]

Orbit
The images are not being shown on the web page just the photo names are displayed; "no.jpg" and "centerpoint.jpg".
Not sure if it's just me or not.

[LSGiant]

Not just you I can't see them either.

[DownUnder]

For what it is worth, both images show up clearly on this side of the Pacific Ocean.

[Lee_0123]

I use a desktop