2025 Grand Tour Q&A

[Lapchik]

This thread is for Grand Tour questions and answers.

Post questions, rule clarifications, and location claims you aren't sure about here.

[theemightyorbit]

I have a few questions...

What, exactly, is gonna be required with the photo submission, besides the photo?

Would a street address suffice? Or would its .gps location be required?

Second, what if the proposed claim is obviously a bar or restaurant, but doesn't display signage with its business name on it?

Would a beer sign on the side of the building work, if that sign doesn't have the name of the bar on it?

Like this...



Thanks.

[DownUnder]

It has been suggested that I share this information with the Grand Touring community



This is a screen-shot of the Coolah Valley Hotel, a licensed premise that serves alcoholic beverages, in the township of Coolah NSW, and was built in 1929, making it just under 100 years old.

As such, it meets the town name requirement, and falls under the "Bars & Taverns" category, and is old. However, I would describe it as more "neat & tidy" than "neglected & in disrepair", so I sought guidance from the RM.

He advised me that as this facility was old, it was covered by Clause 8, of the Fine Print section of The Rules and would therefore be considered a valid bonus.

Game on, clutch out, let's ride !

ps.. Toohey's New is a popular brand of beer here in NSW, although I prefer their Toohey's Old Dark Ale.

[Willie]

Per rules
"Franchise establishments do not qualify – they are verboten!"

Does your definition of Franchise also include Chain Restaurants that are not necessarily franchises"

Let the games begin

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"showing obvious and advanced signs of age, disorder, neglect, and in stages of advanced disrepair

The way the above is written there are 4 qualifications (age,disorder,neglect, disrepair). Do the places have to meet all 4 criteria or just one of the criteria.


Which of these count assume they are all in qualifying towns

A:


B:


C:


D:


E:


F:


G:



All of the pics represent old places

Willie

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You should send a close-up of the chip in a separate photo if not legible in the first photo containing your ride and the dealer

Is the dealer a person or a location ??

Willie

[BkerChuck]

Are American Legion Posts or VFW Posts permitted? A lot of smaller towns in my area still have these or similar private clubs like Elk, Moose, Oddfellows Lodges.

[DownUnder]

(01-29-2025 07:45 AM)BkerChuck Wrote:  Are American Legion Posts or VFW Posts permitted? A lot of smaller towns in my area still have these or similar private clubs like Elk, Moose, Oddfellows Lodges.

Unless advised otherwise by the RM, the approach I am taking is that any facility that is licensed by the relevant Govt authority to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on-site to the general public is a "bar or tavern".

If special membership is required to enter the facility, then it is a "club" and is excluded.

Paging the RM, to the pink courtesy phone, please.

[JohnF]

(01-29-2025 05:18 PM)DownUnder Wrote:  

(01-29-2025 07:45 AM)BkerChuck Wrote:  Are American Legion Posts or VFW Posts permitted? A lot of smaller towns in my area still have these or similar private clubs like Elk, Moose, Oddfellows Lodges.

Unless advised otherwise by the RM, the approach I am taking is that any facility that is licensed by the relevant Govt authority to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on-site to the general public is a "bar or tavern".

If special membership is required to enter the facility, then it is a "club" and is excluded.

Paging the RM, to the pink courtesy phone, please.

Yet, in our area some of the American Legion Posts are "open to the public," so they are selling to members and non-members. Always a exception and gray area it seems.

John F
Cincinnati, OH

[Lapchik]

There are also thousands of eagles, legions, and VFWs. Is that a chain/franchise?

[239]

Will bicycles count for this grand tour?
will you accept a link to a photo blog rather than being inundated with Frickian levels of photos?

[Yzr]

Thanks for your questions:

The rules state what else is required besides a photo: "A list of establishment locations is required. Include in the name of each photo, what the town the
establishment is in; city first, state/province second, the name of the establishment, and your rally number last. Example: Countryside, IL, Sally’s Diner, Rider 803." This will preclude the need for a street address or gps location.

If something is obvious, then, well...it is obvious without signage.

A beer sign would work if it was obvious it was at a qualifying location and not a quick mart or gas station, etc.

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Willie:

This is actually a very good and interesting question. It caused me to look up the definition of both franchise and chain. I learned something new today. Thank you. The intent was to exclude franchises and chains. I did not know that there was a difference as it related to ownership structure. Had I known, I would have included both in the instructions. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

All would qualify. Note DownUnder's post as they are all "old".

Yes, separate is helpful if not legible.

Dealer is a location.

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BkerChuck:

My understanding is that an American Legion post is a local chapter of The American Legion, a veterans service organization. I would assume that such a place could be a meeting hall and nothing else. So, unless it is obviously outfitted to be a qualifying location (serving food/drink), just having such a sign in front of it would not make it qualifying. As it relates to VFW Halls, my understanding is that the difference between the VFW and the American Legions is that the American Legion generally accepts Veterans of the US Military no matter where they served. The VFW however, only accepts Veterans of the US Military who served overseas in a combat zone or received hostile fire pay. So, as it relates to VFW Halls, the same obviously outfitted application would be required to qualify.

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JohnF:

Thanks for your page. Unfortunately, this semester I agreed to teach night classes twice a week. Because of that, I have to turn the pink pager off until I get home. Thanks for your understanding on my late night response.

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Yes, if they are electric / motorized per the rules - first page, first paragraph. I could have been clearer and stated "bicycle" instead of "bike". But, yes, they are included if they are motorized or electrified as are also trikes, sidecars, slingshots, etc.

I completely realize that people could rack there electric bikes on their cars and take pics and gather chips with their bikes without riding there from home. However, I also have seen people trailer their bike to Sturgis, stop 25 miles out of town and ride in. In addition, I've seen people rent motorcycles out of town after flying in from across the country to grab points or locations for a GT or other competition. If you go through that amount of trouble, you deserve to attend Sturgis with your motorcycle and deserve the point for your troubles racking your bike. It is the memories and bragging rights that are important here. We are not the GT police looking for cheats. RMs catch cheats all the time in competitions. If you get caught, well of course the points won't count. But, those that tend to do are never serious competitors looking to win a rally or competition and are separated by far by those that do.

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239 - I should have added a response to your second Q. We also have the option of sending in a USB. If you can't send in a USB as a second option, email me and we can discuss.

[LSGiant]

As VP of the GLMC club I will answer the bicycle question.

Bicycles WILL NOT BE ALLOWED.

This is a motorcycle club not a bicycle club.

[239]

we dont have a toy hauler so only the bicycle goes on camping trips. o was hoping for a one off waiver as the bulk of my intended submissions will be from my motorcycle.
sorry for the kerfuffle.

[LSGiant]

"we dont have a toy hauler so only the bicycle goes on camping trips. o was hoping for a one off waiver as the bulk of my intended submissions will be from my motorcycle.
sorry for the kerfuffle."

No Kerfuffle. My fault not the rally master as he submitted these rules and I did not catch this section.

As mentioned we are motorcycle club and our goal is to promote motorcycling.

[scottheinrich]

Extra points for double lettered towns? Like Central City?

[Yzr]

Not this year.

[StarWolve]

A question about "all locations need to be in towns that starts with G, L, M, C" - is this "location" or mailing address?

For example: The Lowesville Cafe, is in the Lowesville community/area. Lowesville is a census-designated place in the County and State, United States. However, the mailing address is not Lowesville, it is the larger nearby town name. If this other town name doesn't start with GLMC, does it still count as this is a census designated place?

My gut would be to go with "it counts", as it's a census designated place, even if the mailing address uses the name of a nearby town.

[DownUnder]

(edited for simplicity)
I have a question regarding the photo submission :--

The Rules state that all bonus photos must be submitted digitally via an email attachment or sent via USB, but my preference is to use the email process. My Gmail has a 25 Mb attachment limit per email, and as most of my photos are around 3 Mb, that means only 8 photos per email. If I achieve Finisher status, that means I will be sending at least 3 separate emails, but hopefully, even more.

So the questions I have are :--
Q1) If I choose to send in multiple emails, should the emails be sent in progressively through-out the really, or should I just wait until September and send all the emails in at the same time ?? ( drip feed vs big bang )
Q2) Do I require a separate photo log with each email, or just the combined log attached to the last email ??
Q3) Will the Rally Master send out "receipt" emails confirming the arrival of each email submissions so that I can track their delivery ??

[LSGiant]

Down Under, download a photo risizer. I don't know if you are Windows, Apple or your phone. Most have some program to downsize photos.
There is absolutely no need to send 3MB photo. 200K is more than big enough. That will allow you to send 125 photos per email.

[Lapchik]

Just my 2 cents, but also I'm not the guy making scoring decisions this event.

When I ran the GT a couple years ago, I preferred 5-10 at a time and sent updated scores back after I reviewed them. Only took a couple minutes on top of my regular daily email review. When I got 20-50 or even 100 in one shot, it took considerable time and I might put it off a day or two until I had more free time.

When I rode, I sent in pictures by ride every time I got some, whether it was 2 or 10 of them. I added a screenshot of the new entries on my listing spreadsheet, and at the end of the rally sent the spreadsheet as a complete file.

    <-- click to enlarge

Google drive is free, and allows you to use Sheets and Docs for free, as well as 15GB of cloud storage [option to pay for more storage if you want]. You can use Gmail to attach drive stored files for easy organization and sharing. It's what I use.

[Yzr]

The establishment needs to be in the town starting with G, L, M, or C and not a nearby location next to a town beginning with G. L. M. or C. However, the location you reference would qualify. Not because it is in a town beginning with an L but because it is in a town beginning with an M, namely Mt Holly.

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DownUnder:

Q1) If you send them as you get them, it will be easier to manage on our end. However, nothing precludes you from sending them all at once.

Q2) Just the last one.

Q3) You should be able to send out an email with receipt acknowledgment so that you are aware as to when they are received.