We would roll the paper completely onto the lower spindle of the roll chart holder. Then, we would slowly roll the chart upward onto the top spindle as we progressed through the route. The paper travelled up, just as we were travelling "up" on the drawings. This approach was unique to ACT. Every other Dual Sport event had the paper progress downward. We all agreed Don's approach made much more sense.
I believe Don Ivan first began organizing and offering Dual Sport rides in 1977. My first ACT ride was in 1998. So, Don Ivan and ACT were quite legendary by then. Everyone seemed to agree that Don put on the very best rides in Northern California.
This all took place before GPS, of course. We navigated via a strip of paper that we'd loaded into a plastic box mounted to our handlebars. It was called a Roll Chart, and looked like this:
Don would hand draw these elaborate navigational instructions that we would follow. He would also give us a map of the day's ride, but it was the roll chart that we would reference while we were riding.
I believe he had an active following of about 450 riders. On any given ride there would be 20 to 45 riders. I first started riding on his one-day rides but after a while all his rides were two-day and three-day rides. Don would secure us hotel accommodations somewhere along the route as well as a banquet style dinner and breakfast. There was tremendous comradery amongst us.
In 2009, to celebrate 25 years of ACT rides, a gala was held in honor of Don. Over 100 of his riders showed up to thank Don for his herculean effort in putting on these rides. Place mats were created for the event that captured the artwork used on 25 years' worth of tee shirts. I've scanned the artwork off of the place mats and created a gallery of Don's Greatest Rides:
Image Gallery of Art from ACT's Greatest Rides (click on image to zoom)
You can see that some of the rides were titled "No Piece of Cake." Don wasn't kidding, and he wanted to warn you that this would be a very difficult ride, as many ACT riders would agree!
What ever happened to Don and ACT? I believe he merged his operation with another outfit called Sierra DualSport. Here's a link to their web page:
Looking at their ride lineup, I see a lot of familiar ACT rides. So, the legacy lives on!