May 13-16, 2010: SAVANNAH LAKES RESORT
GTR 2010 Registration is NOW OPEN! Click here to get your form now!
RIDE, RELAX, AND RAISE THE ROOF!
For our 12th rally, GTR travels to the Georgia-South Carolina border, home of the Savannah Lakes
Resort! Located on the shores of Lake Strom Thurmond and 45 miles northwest of Augusta, Savannah Lakes is all ours as we have booked the entire resort. We have everything we need for the tandem rally in one place: hotel rooms, townhouses, banquet facilities, social venues, and a beach. If the cycling doesn't wear you out, you
can swim in the pool, kayak on the lake, play a round of golf, swat a tennis ball, shoot hoops, play mini-golf, or just relax. Technically, Savannah Lakes is in South Carolina, but every room faces Lake Thurmond and looks into Georgia!
It's GTR with resort style! Read on for details about this wonderful weekend...
Thursday, May 13:
GTR kicks off on Thursday night with a party at Savannah Lakes. We are still working out the details of this bash, but we hope that you will come in on Thursday this year and get the party started early. There is only one group ride start on Friday morning, so you will want to be in place on Thursday for Friday's ride. We are thinking about adding a short, easy 20-mile ride to the weekend on Thursday. Please vote in our poll to the left and let us know what you think.
Friday, May 14:
Our first full day at the rally is a busy one and starts off with a morning remote start ride near Lincolnton, GA. Today's destination ride has options of 34, 52, and 66 miles and takes us to historic Washington, for a "lunch and learn" about the last days of the Confederacy, which was officially dissolved here in 1865. Jefferson Davis was here, and you will be too as you "forage for food" in one of four restaurants in the square that are waiting for hungry riders. After lunch, take an optional tour of the Robert Toombs House or the Washington Historical Museum. Rumors have it that Toombs absconded with the gold bars of the Confederate treasury, which mysteriously vanished after they were last seen in Washington, GA in 1865.
On Friday night, we have a new event this year, which features a cookout dinner and "Beach Blanket Bingo" on the shores of Lake Thurmond. We've invited Frankie and Annette to enjoy some burgers and beer as we rock out at the first-ever GTR beach party. They might not show up, but don't miss this groovy shindig, baby!
Saturday, May 15:
Saturday is our busiest day at the rally. We will cross Lake Thurmond back into Georgia, headed towards the rural areas surrounding Lincolnton with options of 35, 47, 56, or 67 miles. Did you know that Lincolnton is the only city in all of Lincoln county? We'll pass thru Lincolnton on our way to Elijah Clark State Park, one of the most beautiful lunch stops we have ever visited.We will have a catered gourmet lunch waiting for you from "friend of the rally" Jesse Dixon and D's Catering. "Mr. D." has catered the lunch at nearly every GTR, and we are always happy to have him travel with us. Don't worry about eating too much because it's an easy 3-mile ride (mostly downhill) to the border and the Savannah Lakes pool.
After some serious relaxation on Saturday afternoon, the party kicks back into gear with our Sumptous Saturday Supper at Savannah Lakes. We're planning a low-country boil that will hopefully replace those calories that you have ridden off during the day. It's a BYOB party, so you will be able to enjoy your favorite "adult beverage" with your meal.
Sunday, May 16:
How do your legs feel? We've got one more day of riding and this time we are headed into South Carolina, where we will spend most of the day in the Sumter National Forest. You will see mostly trees and the historic city of McCormick, the "Gateway to Lake Thurmond" as you pedal options of 27 or 38 miles. Then we say our fond farewells to the GTR family as we hit the highways to home and start thinking about GTR 2011!
The Terrain
This is probably the most tandem-friendly terrain we could find without going into south Georgia. There are some climbs, but nothing is over 2% (well, maybe one of them is) and nothing is more than 1/2 mile long or 100 feet change in elevation. GTR 2010 features the kind of roads that will make you feel fast and strong on your tandem, and it's only May!
GTR 2010 Sneak Preview!
See some of the sights where we are headed!
Ninety Second Tandem Rally! from Roger Strauss on Vimeo.
Host Hotel
Note: Please do NOT make hotel reservations at this time. You will not be able to make reservations until AFTER you get into the rally this year.
All of our hotel facilities are on the grounds of the Savannah Lakes Resort. We have 80 lakeside rooms and 13 townhomes reserved for the rally. Each townhome holds 2 teams and includes a kitchen and living room and cost about what 2 rooms cost. As of January 2, the townhomes are all spoken for. There are nearby campgrounds for those of you who wish to camp, but no other hotel facilites are near the resort. Visit our hotel page for full details, but please do not call Savannah Lakes until AFTER you are registered for the rally.
Cool Map: Figure out your distance to GTR
Savannah Lakes is halfway between Lincolnton, GA and McCormick, SC. You can click on the Google map to see how far away the rally is from you.
View Larger Map
GTR 2010 Registration is NOW OPEN!
We have come up with what we think is a fair and much more stress-free way of doing registration this year. Here are the details:
The registration window for GTR 2010 closes on Friday, February 5, 2010.
The application will be posted online until Friday, February 5. How you get it to us is up to you, but mailing time is no longer critical in determining if you can come to GTR. All you have to do is get it to us by February 5th, so mail it now. After that, we will gather all of the applications and use a simple matrix to see who gets into the rally and who gets on the waiting list. This should eliminate all stress involved with trying to get your registration to GTR Headquarters and it makes it fair for those who live far from us. Please visit our application download page to see the criteria used that determines who gets into the rally.
If the rally does not fill up during the initial registration window, we will open it up to general registration on a first-come, first-served basis until the rally is full.
GTR 2010 Rider Limit
As of this writing, it looks like we will be able to have around 200 riders at GTR 2010. Due to hotel room limits, banquet hall sizes, and our own sanity, we limit the ride every year. We will do everything we can to make sure that everyone who wants to attend will be able to attend, but we fear that some riders will be on our waiting list.
GTR 2010 Cost
The fun in the sun will run $190 per tandem team for GTR 2010. The cost includes dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, lunch on Saturday, social events, your t-shirts, maps, and other GTR goodies. The cost of the rally does NOT include your hotel room costs. Kids 4-12 are $50 each, extra adult stokers are $85 each. Children under 4 are free! We make no money on the rally, so it costs you what it costs us.
GTR Hall of Fame
If you have attended six or more Georgia Tandem Rallies AND you have attended the rally within the last two years (Albany in 2008 or Athens in 2009), you are in the GTR Hall of Fame. Big deal? Yes, because you get early registration to GTR 2010. Click here to see who is in the GTR Hall of Fame.
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GTR Mailing List
If you have attended the rally any time since 2004 and we have your correct e-mail address, you are automatically on our mailing list. If you wish to be on our mailing list to receive information about future Georgia Tandem Rallies, including registration information when it is available, click here to request to be on the GTR mailing list.
GTR Rosters, 1999 thru 2009
Bored at home (or better yet, at work) and need something to do? Get busy with our list of everyone who has ever attended the Georgia Tandem Rally! Are you on it?
Questions? We are GTR!
Roger Strauss
Eve Kofsky
GTR creators, organizers and webmasters since 1999.
info@georgiatandemrally.com 770-565-4150
GTR QUICK CLICKS
- Registered Riders, GTR 2010
- Download Application
- Host Hotel
- GTR FAQ
- GTR Rosters 1999-2009
- GTR Pictures, Video, Links
- The History of GTR
- GTR Hall of Fame
