Planning
Planning
In 2024, the Grand Tour had a start date of 01 January, so it was during December last year that I waited with increasing anticipation for the announcement and details of the 2025 GT.
But alas, December came and went with no information other than a Kevin Costner type comment that " it will happen ".
I had growing hope in early January for a 01 February start date, but as we rolled into mid-January, it became obvious this date was not going to happen either.
My hope then was for a 01 March date as my riding season was slipping away, however I was prepared for a 01 April date, which had been the preferred start date for many previous GTs.
Then on 26 January, the GT announcement was made, and the details were published.
Coincidentally, 26 January is Australia Day when we celebrate the first British settlement in Terra Australis ( Great Southern Land ) in 1778.
It should be noted that this remote British settlement was only established because of the American Revolution in 1776, which resulted in the British Government having to find some other location to deport their convicts to.
Perhaps President Trump should consider sending his illegal immigrants to England ?
But I digress. After the announcement of the 2025 GT, I quickly downloaded the information sheet and with a bright yellow marker pen in one hand, and a glass of Tooheys Old Dark Ale in the other, I made my way through The Rules, highlighting the key points.
- start 01 March and finish 30 September
- 3 basic bonus categories: "Bars & Taverns", "Restaurants & Eateries" and "Poker Chips"
- bonuses need to be old and/or in disrepair
- B&T and R&E town names must start with G - L - M - C, while poker chips can be from any town
- 1 bonus per town
- 1 point per bonus with some poker chips worth 2 points
- 20 points minimum in order to be considered as a Finisher.
Hmmmm. Houston, we have a problem.
B&Ts and R&Es are doable but "poker chips" are not a business promotion used here in Oz. Oh well, as they say " c’est la vie ".
About now, I noticed that my beer glass was leaving a tell-tale ring on the wooden tabletop, meaning that I should have been using a coaster.
It then occurred to me that, while of no value in the Grand Tour, it would be fun to collect as many different beer coasters as I can from the various B & Ts I visit on my rides.
Of course, these will only be collected at the evening meal as I don't "drink & ride" during the day.
I even found out that there is a term for people who collect beer coasters. They are called tegestologists, from the Latin teges meaning “covering or mat”.
Having read and (hopefully) understood The Rules, the first order of business was to identify all the G / L / M / C towns.
I initially considered using the postcode (zip code) spreadsheet I had left over from last year's GT, but in a moment of brilliance, I came up with a better idea.
After only a few minutes of Googling ( is that even a word ? ), I was able to find and download a list of all premises that are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages in my home state from the NSW Government Liquor Licensing Board website.
It showed that there were 18,892 facilities with a liquor license. After sorting out the GLMC locations, I got that number down to only 5,124.
The next step was to remove duplicates, as many locations will have multiple facilities selling alcohol. This got the number down to 614 locations
Next to go were the retail outlets that sold alcohol, but did not serve alcohol, like supermarkets, bottle-shops, etc. Remember, I am looking for "bars and taverns", so after search of Hotel & Club licenses only, I got the number down to 340.
Now, I ran into the perennial problem of what The Rules imply by the term " town ".
I mean, when is a location considered a town versus being a suburb of a city, and more importantly, does it even matter this year ?
The example of St Paul and North St Paul from last year's GT comes to mind. Wall-to-wall houses between both Post Offices, yet they were considered as 2 towns.
Unfortunately, this year's Rules make no distinction either way, other than saying you can only have 1 bonus per " town ".
Don't you love the ambiguity of the English language ?
Again, in another stroke of brilliance, I decided the easiest way forward was to eliminate all licensed facilities in the suburbs of Sydney, Newcastle and Woolongong ( the 3 largest cities in NSW ). Problem solved.
Besides, I dislike riding in busy city/suburban traffic.
After I eliminated " the ' burbs ", I ended up with a list of 165 potential bonus locations, which I was able to upload to Google MyMaps and produce this bonus field map.
The blue dots represent licensed hotels, equivalent to a US tavern and known locally as a " pub ", and the red dots represent licensed sporting clubs, typically Lawn Bowls, a popular sport in our rural areas, which under NSW Law are permitted to sell beverages to the general public (no membership required).
To provide some perspective, NSW is about 1,000 kms north to south, and 1,000 kms east to west.
All up, it's about 10% bigger than Texas, so I will have plenty of " room to roam " during my Grand Tour. ( cue the theme song from Green Acres )
It will be noted by observant readers that I have not mentioned any research into "Eateries".
This is because, based on my experiences of touring rural NSW, just about every town will have either a pub or a club and if they don't, then the location is probably too small to even be considered a "town".
At the heart of the Grand Tour is a competition, with the winner this year getting an impressive " yellow " jersey and unlimited bragging rights.
Even if I bagged all 165 location, I doubt that it would be enough to get into the Top 5, considering the impressive scores from last year's GT.
Further, some of these locations will not qualify or may no longer exist, as is the case with the Royal Hotel in Gurley which was destroyed by fire over Christmas, but with a little bit of luck I hope to bag enough points to maybe, just maybe squeeze in for a Top 10 finish.
Game on, clutch out, let's ride.
Ooops . . . belay that, it's only 01 February, so clutch in, twiddle thumbs, kick rocks, etc.
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