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By Tom Letourneau
The June 1st Rally & Tour (originally planned as an all-day event) is 99% finalized! It is still scheduled to begin at approximately 9:00AM with vehicles taking off at one- to two-minute intervals. For a number of reasons, this event will be limited to 30 vehicles. However, we don't have a sufficient number of members registered thus far, so I would ask you to respond ASAP — press the Email button above. This event will be another FUN gimmick rally/tour with precise and accurate directions, including mileage from one route instruction to the next, making it just about impossible to get lost, as have been my previous two or three events. (OK, one small glitch at the last one, but it affected nothing! ;-) The event will take off from the Park and Ride Car Lot at the Intersection of Route 1A and Route 138 in North Kingstown, RI. As you are heading East on Rt. 138, pay attention for the exit onto Route 1A because if you miss it you will be headed for the Jamestown Bridge and will cross the West Bay Passage of Narragansett Bay, necessitating a long turn-around and return! (Should you wind up doing this, do not panic — it is NOT the toll bridge.) There is a Hess Convenience Store/Gas Station immediately adjacent to the Car Parking Area. The Map & Directions button above is programmed for the Hess station (the address is 1820 Boston Neck Rd & Plum Beach Rd, Saunderstown, RI). (Note that GPS, smartphones, pads, etc. are allowed and actually encouraged for this event.) All participants should arrive by 8:30AM for the Driver's Meeting, where you'll be given the route sheets and gimmick questions. The Rally will begin with a short ride through North Kingstown, RI, and the west side of Narragansett Bay. We will cross onto Jamestown Island and travel along the Narragansett Bay shoreline, covering both the East and West Passages. Once all of Jamestown Island has been traversed, we will then cruise over the Newport Toll Bridge (bring your transponder — RI accepts all of them) into Newport. A short ride through downtown Newport, onto America's Cup Way and then onto historic Lower Thames Street will be next. From there we will ride along along the famous Newport Harbor, by Fort Adams (home of the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals) heading out onto the beautiful 10-mile-long Ocean Drive. This will lead us onto Bellevue Avenue, home of all of the famous Newport Mansions (or summer cottages, as they were called in the day). Our lunchtime stop will be at the famous La Forge Restaurant, which is adjacent to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Mr. Patrick Crowley, the owner of LaForge, will be seating us as a group, out on the partially enclosed veranda overlooking the Tennis Hall of Fame's grass center court. This Rally was originally scheduled to be an all-day, two-segment rally ending in Little Compton, RI, at the famous Sakonett Vineyards, and then allowing participants to, if they wished, stay overnight at a number of B&B's, inns, etc., and then on one's own, touring Newport on Sunday. As things turned out, my doing such a good job of finding back, secluded, waterfront roads on Jamestown and in Newport, again with help from my friend John DeWaele, the morning segment grew to 55-miles! (This is good!) However, since the afternoon segment was almost 78 miles and could be a rally route and event unto itself, John and I decided to do just that! As such, the Rally, now officially named the Jamestown to Newport Challenge Rally, will end at LaForge for the scheduled lunch, and is now also where the awards presentation will take place — check out the trophies below. After lunch, participants can scoot down the street, no more than a quarter mile, to downtown Newport and Lower Thames Street for sightseeing, shopping, etc. And, for those so inclined, reservations could be made for a Saturday evening stay at the many motels, hotels, and B&Bs that can be found all throughout the downtown Newport scene.
That's it! I promise that this will be a Rally/Tour long remembered and a lot
of fun. Oh, and yes, challenging insofar as the gimmick portion of it, should
you choose to also participate in that part of the event. Sign up now!
Jamestown to Newport Challenge Rally trophies
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