As over 100 ‘Irish 66’ers’ make their way into Santa Monica, California tomorrow (Saturday October 10) thus completing the 2008 Route 66 Motorbike Challenge for Dublin’s Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, a tiny device will have followed each Harley Davidsons’ every move since setting out on their journey on 28 September 2008.
The device is the Omniscout LT200, supplied by Dundalk based company Omniscout Ireland. For the first time, the brave bikers’ 2,448 mile journey across eight American states on the iconic Route 66 was tracked, allowing those back home, and indeed all over the world, keep up-to-date with their journey.
Omniscout became involved in the now famous Route 66 Motorbike Challenge for the first time this year by donating 12 Omniscout LT200 devices, one for each team. The Omniscout LT200 is a small, portable GPRS/GPS covert location and tracking system which can determine and report the global location of a vehicle with an accuracy of a few metres using GSM/GPRS wireless networks.
Omniscout supplied each team with the device which was fitted to each team leader’s Harley when they arrived in Chicago before setting off on their journey west. Since then the company has provided tracking information, both live and historical, on each team’s progress through its website www.omniscout.ie.
Logging on during the week, visitors to the site can see that at 7am on Wednesday (Irish time), Team ‘Charlie One’ was making its way through the city of Victorville, California and that today, at 8.03am Team ‘Golf One’ had arrived at their final destination on Santa Monica’s Promenade. The website also details at what speed and in which direction each team is travelling and also features a detailed map showing each team’s precise location.
The Route 66 Motorbike Challenge began in 2002 and since then the Irish 66’ers have clocked up over 500,000 kilometres to raise funds for Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, Dublin. Starting out in Chicago, Illinois, the route takes the bikers through Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, taking in world-famous sites and landmarks such as Lincoln, the hideout of the Jesse James Gang at Saunton, Missouri, The Grand Canyon and, of course Hollywood, before finishing up on the Pacific Coast at Santa Monica, California.
Since it began, the bi-annual event has raised in excess of €1 million with this year’s event set to significantly top up that total. Most of those who take part in the challenge have done so since the very beginning, making this their fourth time riding Route 66.
Although it attracts many die-hard biker fans every year, who love nothing more than a big bike and a long open road, the challenge is not easy. Road conditions and traffic conditions are often not ideal and the weather can range from too warm to extreme and even sometimes dangerous. Tony Toner, Training Director with the Institute of Advanced Motorists of Ireland (IAMI) and creator of the Route 66 Motorbike Challenge, said the Omniscout device added a sense of security to those taking part.
“It has to be said, that while all those who take part in the Route 66 Challenge enjoy it tremendously, motorcycling is one of the most vulnerable modes of travel,” says Tony. “Participants’ family members and friends are not only of course concerned for their safety, but are also keen to track their journey and progress. Omniscout’s donation of the devices for each team has given not only myself and the other bikers a sense of security because we know if we get into trouble our location can easily be found, but also has given our families and friends peace of mind as they can check how we’re getting on.
“It’s also an extremely useful means of getting people back home more actively involved in the Route 66 Motorbike Challenge and I see Omniscout’s involvement as having a hugely beneficial impact on fundraising for future challenges as people will be able to actively see how it’s going as it happens, and check where exactly on the route we are at that exact moment.”
Speaking about the donation of the devices to the Irish 66’ers, Barry O’Connor, Managing Director of Omniscout Ireland said: “Omniscout Ireland is delighted to be involved for the very first time in the Route 66 Motorbike Challenge. Our website, where we have been showing the bikers’ progress, has received a substantial number of hits in the last thirteen days which goes to show the interest and support back home for the brave bikers taking part this year. It is a fantastic challenge, and not an easy one, so we’re delighted to be able to provide peace of mind for both those taking part and for friends and family back home through the provision of our LT200 devices |
