We’re back, Voyageurs 2.0
We’ve juggled some other events around and Rally of the Voyageurs is back on, now on Saturday May 10. We’ve got to update the supplementary regulations and do other paperwork but we believe it will all come together. We’ve still got the hall as HQ, the quarry is onside, 11 of the original competitors are still planning on competing with a couple more that could be added. The MNR is working on permissions.
That weekend is Mothers day but most people will be home on Saturday night. If you are able to help out just let us know.
We’re planning on Rally of the Voyageurs on April 5, 2025 May 10, 2025 on the Fire Access Road south of Catchacoma. The same road used by the old GCFR and Black Bear. We’ll just be using the quarry road, not Loom Lake / Crystal Lake since it will be too soft at that time of year.
We plan on four passes of the 8.5km road in each direction giving about 70km of stage. In & Out twice, Service, the in and out twice more.
Recce in the morning, rally from Noon to ~6PM and a light supper and awards afterwards.
We’ve got a lot to do in a short time so stay tuned as we get road permissions and registration set up.
Rally Postponed (old news)
All our brave efforts have hit a roadblock – the ice storm, power outages and rain have made the quarry road almost impassable. We got that word from the quarry manager at 1PM today that the road would sustain a lot of damage if we ran, and we don’t want to damage our relationship with the quarry or other events on that road would be in jeopardy. We worked so hard getting the event to run but sometimes we hit a dead end.
We are postponing the rally but at this time the new date is unknown, We’ll refund the competitors and pay the other bills and regroup as best we can.
I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to make this happen. We’ll get something going as soon as possible.
Update April 1 – 21:00
Rally is ON.
Ross checked out the stage road on Tuesday afternoon. It’s open and the Quarry has done a great job clearing the branches from the road. It’s quite wet with a couple of big puddles and it’s quite slippery – with mud, not ice.
There is more rain or snow predicted for Wednesday but Thursday is predicted to be +14° and sunny. The weather for Friday and Saturday should also be OK but not as nice as Thursday.
The power in the area has been out since Saturday and Bobcaygeon is just starting to get power on today. I expect Bobcaygeon will be almost back to normal on Thursday. The recreation centre we use for headquarters has had no power for several days but they do have a decent size generator. I assume that is because they are also the local firehall. They need power to run the well pump and have working washrooms.
If you have a B&B or cottage rented check with them to see if they will have power when you get there.
The result of the discussion is we are still going to run the rally. It may not be the perfect rally we’d like to present. but still a rally. If, as a competitor you’d prefer not to run, we can understand that. Let us know you want to withdraw and we’ll get you a full refund. Everybody else, see you on the weekend.
Martin Loveridge
Coordinator, 2025 Rally of the Voyageurs.
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