2023 Grand Tour General Discussion

[Lapchik]

There are usually a number of riders who just do the minimum plus a few also. I also work on the computer all day and can sneak in some time here and there. Potentially. Like now, for example. Maybe. For sure not wasting time between meetings.

[BkerChuck]

I'm currently up to 182 murals. I live in a very target rich area.

[DownUnder]

Well done, a 182 Murals in only 10 weeks is impressive.

I was in a "target rich" area yesterday, where there were over 60 murals in a small area of a country town. Unfortunately, many did not qualify under the 100 yard rule.

[BkerChuck]

We've had an unusually warm winter for my area with almost no snow so I've been able to get out every weekend so far for at least one day. There are 3 decently sized cities within one hour travel for me and each of those cities has a mural trail with 40 or more murals. The 100 yard rule is the only reason I'm not well over 200 already. One of our more rural counties has a barn quilt mural trail with 29 locations. A little Google research has taught me that Philadelphia, PA which is 2 hours away from me is considered the mural capitol of the US with over 4,000 murals. That being said riding in Philadelphia is a miserable experience and parts of the city you couldn't pay me to visit unless my riding gear included body armor.

I've been continuing to build a library of locations to visit once the weather actually gets nice and have roughly 450 locations stored in my GPS currently.

[DownUnder]

(03-10-2023 07:55 AM)BkerChuck Wrote:  A little Google research has taught me that Philadelphia, PA is considered the mural capitol of the US with over 4,000 murals.

It looks like the east coast of the USA is the place to be again this year.
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Quote:I've been continuing to build a library of locations to visit once the weather actually gets nice and have roughly 450 locations stored in my GPS currently.

Now, that is impressive. Good luck.

[Don Q]

Let the fun begin!!

[Lapchik]

There you go! Glad you got the pic posting figured out.

[Biggles]

That pic answers a question I had, namely, does a company mural with their name on it qualify as a valid mural. I've seen quite a few of these.

[Lapchik]

If it's painted, yes. If it's a printed banner, no.

[LSGiant]

Like this

[Lapchik]

Exactly. That one is good for points.

[Lapchik]

I have not started on a t-shirt design yet.

[DownUnder]

[Willie]

Very nice trophies !!!

[BkerChuck]

Attended a Yamaha FJR1300 forum gathering last weekend in southeast Ohio. Total mileage Thursday through Sunday was 1225 miles. Mural count over those days was 73.

[Lapchik]

Current scores for those who are sending emails/multiple albums as they get pics. If you have a single album for the whole event, I will score that at the end since they are being added to as you go.

LAST NAME--RIDER--DATE--SCORE--NOTE

PURCELL 825 6/2/2023 155 EMAILS

QUISTORFF 82 6/2/2023 34 SCORED MARCH AND MAY EMAIL LINKS

QUISTORFF 630 6/2/2023 34 SCORED MARCH AND MAY EMAIL LINKS

FRICK 207 6/2/2023 536 SCORED GOOGLE FOLDER #1, 2, 3

JACOBS 820 5/22/2023 7 EMAILS

COVER 816 3/11/2023 99 EMAILS

DIETS 821 4/10/2023 34 EMAILS

FOSSEN 325 5/26/2023 56 EMAILS

RUFO 815 3/8/2023 91 EMAILS

[DownUnder]

I wonder, considering some of these excellent y.t.d scores, and that it is now the Summer riding season in the northern hemisphere and that there are still 17 weeks to go in the Grand Tour, if the 20 bonus clip level for "Finisher" status may have been set a little on the low side.

[Lapchik]

Like previous years, there will probably be a considerable share of DNF's and people squeaking by with just 1-5 over the minimum also.

This was a very easy theme that required minimal planning so you could just go wander around, which is a change from some past ones where it was a set location list or unusual letter combos in a town name that required more serious route planning. I enjoy both types of rides but I'm usually the type to go out wandering around in the country on gravel.

Next year it could be a more challenging ride, but that's for the next person to figure out. I have a good motorcycle now so I want to ride vs rally master the next one. I can always do it again if nobody else wants to though, I have a few more ideas rattling around to try out.

[BkerChuck]

Lapchik, I'm using Smugmug as my hosting site and have quite a few murals in it already. Should I do like John Frick and set up a second gallery so you can start on mine? I'm at 490 currently and don't want you to be stuck scoring them for hours on end.

[Lapchik]

If you want to, sure. Just send links for the albums to korymorehead@gmail.com