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The first point-to-point motorcycle rally in the United States occurred in Cheraw, South Carolina recently, as part of the NASA Rally Sport 2007 Sandblast Rally - the biggest rally in America in years. The event, which has usually been only open to cars, allowed bikes to run this year, and Max BMW's XPLOR race team put on a fantastic show.

Ten of the 13 riders completed the event - no easy feat considering the deep rutted sand and hairpin turns that made up the route. The MaxBMW team grabbed three of the top six places, with the top-placing rider on the Max BMW XPLOR team being Mark Albertson, who earned third place overall and second in the SP1 class aboard his HP2 Enduro. Peter Canning got fifth overall on his HP2 Enduro, while Dave Hubbard, after getting his G 650 Xchallenge only days before the event, finished second in his class.

Just getting to the event was a race in itself. Thanks to an impromptu winter ice storm in the northeast, several riders were faced with cancelled or delayed flights. Upon learning that his seemingly easy two hour trip south was not going to happen as scheduled, Jason Adams - who competed on his 1990 R 100 GS PD - thought fast, rented a car, and drove all night for 900 miles (1,500 km) to get to South Carolina. He made it to the event just in time for the four-hour orientation session. Now that's what we call impressive, but the race - and those who competed in it - was equally as impressive.

The Starting Gate (enlarge image) * Rob Nye's instrument cluster (enlarge image) * Turning a corner (enlarge image) *

A few stages in, a battle between Doug and Mark Albertson began brewing, until Doug had a fall and lost the front 'beak' of his HP2 Enduro in the woods against a pine tree. With sore ribs and determination, Doug hopped back on the bike and managed to finish sixth overall, while Albertson put his motocross experience to good use and finished second in the Production 1 class and third overall. "The bike performed flawlessly and having the power and the stability to reach over 100 mph in the sand was a huge rush," said Albertson.

There were some mishaps as well, with three riders falling victim to the challenges of the race, but most of team members persevered, including Peter Canning (HP2 Enduro); Max Stratton (HP2 Enduro); Steve Mauk (HP2 Enduro); Chris Olsen (F 650 GS Dakar); Keith Ciampa (F 650 GS Dakar); John Joy (R 80 GS); and Dave Hubbard (G 650 Xchallenge). Hubbard had this to say about riding the new Xchallenge:

"The first thing I noticed is how light it felt. The power from the motor seemed never ending. Even at 80 mph (130 km/h) in deep sand it was pulling strong. There was hard-packed dirt, mud, and lots of deep sand but the suspension handled it all with ease. The brakes were incredible, too. Overall, the bike was rock stable and tracked straight. It's an amazing dual sport weapon."

In addition to the timed stages, there were also several liaison stages, where each rider had to navigate via road book to the next stage. It was important for each competitor to arrive to the next stage on time, which meant not arriving either too early or too late, which could incur an additional time penalty. So in addition to the fast stages on closed dirt roads, the transit stages also featured on-board navigation, which is just as crucial to riding ability in any off-road rally, and something that was a lot more difficult for motorcyclists to do than the automotive competitors.

Here's what Jason Adams (who competed on his 1990 R 100 GS PD) had to say about the race conditions: "The sand was a blur, but the ruts were a darker shadow. The surface conditions were changing every 10 meters from soft sand to hard pack to wet muck to more sand. I'm extremely happy just to have finished but next time I'll try to beat my own time."

All in all, the Max BMW XPLOR race team put in quite a performance, so congratulations to all the competitors. It's proof that you can still 'play in the sand' no matter how old you are.

The bikes (enlarge image) *

Jason Adams, Stage 4 (enlarge image) *

Rob, Max, Jason, and John (enlarge image) *

* photo by Jud Bartlett