NMdcporter
Well-known member
Run What Ya Brung
I originally was going to take off at mid-night on the 30th and ride straight through to Salt Lake City but instead August 30th, I hooked up with some friends heading for Durango, Co and bummed a little floor space at their hotel that night. I woke the next morning around 5am, took a quick shower and loaded the motorcycle. As I was loading, one of the guys got up too help. We talked how the weather looked pretty bad and I was probably going to be riding in the rain most of the way. We shook hands and he wished me well as I took off in the rain.
I had my wet weather gear on so the ride wasn’t too bad. I rode all the way to Moab, Ut. in the rain. Once I got to Moab, I decided to get something to eat. I hit up a MacDonald for a quick breakfast then off to get gas. As I was getting gas, my auxiliary plug blew the fuse and I ended riding to Salt Lake City (SLC) without my GPS and XM-radio. I arrived in SLC about 14:00. There were several others that had already arrived so I checked in and stated talking to others about the blown fuse. One of the guys knew exactly what happened and told me were the fuse was located. After completing the repair, I went to the Rally Masters room for a beer. I hooked up with some friends at Steve’s room and kicked back talking about the rally and differences between multi day rides compared to 24 hr rallies.
That night about 15-20 motorcycles showed up in the rain, as we sat in the restaurant having dinner. After dinner, we all headed to the bar for an adult beverage watching the weather channel and the rain outside.
On September 1st we woke to pouring rain that continued until late afternoon. We started the technical inspection and odometer check at noon. To be a finisher on this ride you have to complete 5000 miles in five days. So the rally master has to verify your ODO is correct. As I was setting up to run the route, I ran into another guy in the rally setting up to do his check so we took off together. We headed for the starting line, document our ODO reading and took off into the rain. We came up to one of the on-ramps at a good clip when his motorcycle started sliding in the corner. I saw his motorcycle slide so I let off the gas then reaccelerated to allow me to enter the corner at a lower speed. I still slipped a little but nothing to write home about. After that we took the ODO check at a slower speed and had no issues. As we pulled up to the ending line we checked and saw that my ODO was reading 15.8 and his was 15.6 miles with his GPS reading 15.4. So I kind of knew that I would have to do extra miles to meet the 5000 mile minimum need to be a finisher what a bummer.
After the ODO check, we were free until 20:00 for the pre-banquet and meeting to get our last information from the Rally Master. I was hanging out front talking to other riders about the miles on my tires and several were saying I could not make it back on those tire and I would have to change them out somewhere along the route. Most of the other riders went to their rooms checking on the weather moving in from hurricane Gustav. I would have too turn in my route tonight along with my driver license. The driver’s license is placed in an envelope that if unopened at the end of the ride you get extra points. After talking to the other riders hanging out front of the hotel I headed for my room thinking about my tires and what if I need to change them out. Sitting in the room I decided to take out my Louisiana bonus locations out of my route. I still had enough miles so dropping these two locations wasn’t a tough decision. When I saw they had a curfew sent up in Baton Rouge and New Roads I decided to skip them plus the extra 400 miles was really going to be pushing the tires. Most of my peers said I couldn’t get 9000 miles out of the OEM tires on the FJR. By removing these locations, I was going to drop to 5300 miles so I would come in just under 9000 miles on the ODO. I also came up with a couple of Yamaha dealerships along the route that if I had to I could stop in for fresh tires. I took down the information and decided to call on the road tomorrow about tire availability.
At the banquet I received my rally towel, special instructions; driver license sealed and gave the Rally Master my route. After the meeting, we retired to the bar for a going away drink then I headed for the room to get some needed sleep.
Day 1
On September 2nd, I woke up at 05:00 and was out of the room by 05:30 to set up the motorcycle. Several trips from the room to the front entrance bring down my top box, tank bag and electronics for the FJR. There were already 10 motorcycles lined up at the start, so I pulled mine in line and started getting it ready. This time there wasn’t an issue with powering on the electronics like I had at the NM LOE last year. By 06:00 the Rally Master was walking around getting our starting ODO, mine read 3564 miles so I knew I would have to go 8564 plus the correction factor of 134 miles at least to be considered a finisher. I thought I better finish with at least 8750 on the ODO just to be safe. Once my ODO check was completed, I headed for the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast and one last time to check the weather. I sat with one of my fellow competitors talking strategy and he was giving me advice on how to ride my first couple of day of the rally. We talked about our routes and the direction of Gustavo and how it would affect my plans. That was great to bounce ideas off someone and how to reroute on the fly if needed because of Gustavo. Right now Gustavo looked like it was going to hit Louisiana head on then track in a west direction. This was prefect for me because I was heading north to avoid Gustavo and would swing around behind the hurricane. I thought I might get wet the last day in Kansas and Nebraska (little did I know about 3 hours after the start, Gustavo turn eastward and I would be riding most of my ride smack in the middle of the monsoon rains. After breakfast was done, we wish each other good luck and headed for the motorcycles. I got back to my FJR about 20 minutes before the start time. The Rally Master was doing a countdown and when we hit 07:00 he waived us to go.
So here I go hoping to get back to SLC by September 7th at 07:00. I found myself getting caught up in the start of the rally staying with everyone else. I kept telling myself this is a five day event and don’t get a ticket in the first hour. I finally let a group of riders about 12 of them go. I settled in at what I would call a reasonable speed five-seven over and started motoring. About 100 miles outside of SLC, I caught up with a couple of fellow riders that I knew were heading in the same direction to start but would eventually veer off toward San Antonio, Texas. As we were riding together one of our peers passed us running 10-15 miles faster then us. It was the Harley Road King, he must be between his first and second stop of fuel. I remember talking to him yesterday and how he said he can only go about 100-120 miles on a tank. I did the quick math and realized he would have to do about 50 stops to make it. Well the three of us continued on for several miles then they pulled off for what I thought was their first gas stop. I looked down at my gauge and saw I was getting close too, we had traveled 220 miles and I figured 240 would be max distance I would go. We were just passing a town and the next one was 30 miles out so I was getting a little worried but around the corner was another exit so off the interstate I went and pulled in for fuel 227 miles. After I checked the distance, I told myself never cut it that close again. I figured I would have around 25-30 stops for fuel based on state lines. Each state you stopped in for fuel and documented it was worth 10 points, so I wanted to make sure I hit all the states those are easy points. This stop was about 10 minutes long and on the road I was again. I never saw another rider until my first bonus location Douglas, Wyoming where I needed to take a picture of a 13 foot tall Jackalope. As I jumped off the interstate into Douglas I came to my first obstacle a bridge that was out. I knew by my GPS the bonus location was four blocks on the other side of the bridge so I followed the detour and as I came out on the other side of the bridge there was one of the two up riders flagging me down. They asked if I knew where the bonus was and I said follow me. I went to the direct location my GPS told me it was and nothing. I told them it was in the city park and we just passed one so I was going to head in that direction, as we closed in on the park I saw the Jackalope sitting in the corner of the park. We both jumped off our motorcycles and took our pictures talked for a few monuments and off we went, they were heading for Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska and I was off for Sturgis, South Dakota. As I started out of town, I saw the two guys I rode with heading for the Jackalope. Little did I know that would be the last time I saw anyone until the last day. I got to Sturgis about three and a half hours later for my second bonus a computerized fuel receipt. I stopped at the second station, fueled the FJR and boom printer failure. I went inside to get my receipt, when I went in and asked for a computerized receipt the attendant wanted to give me a hand written one. I explained I needed a computerized and she reluctantly pulled one from the cash register. Two down and 18 to go, so off I went for Mobridge, South Dakota to get a picture of Sitting Bull Monument.
As I was flying through South Dakota’s, state roads and highways I was on the constant lookout for wild life. I knew that during the day the odds of seeing anything was pretty slim but as the sun was setting they would be coming out in force. I honestly felt like my head was on a swivel scanning both sides of the road. I also thought to myself that the next modification to the FJR would be added lights. The lighting on the FJR is pretty good but there is no substitution for added lights that can be pointed a little out for checking the sides of the road. There was one stretch of road 15 miles that I counted eight deer and decided that even though the speed limit was 70 MPH I slowed to 60-65 hoping for a better reaction time if one decided to cross the road. One more hour and I arrived in Mobridge with about one bar left on the fuel gauge so I knew I could go about 40 miles before needing fuel and my GPS gave me directions for about a 16 mile round trip to the Monument. So off I went on a side road following my GPS but still concerned since it was pitch black and no lights. The GPS gives me a turn left in one mile and when I get to the turn left now I see a dirt road that looks pretty daunting. I told myself at the beginning, I would not do dirt roads to find bonus. So I stopped with my FJR pointing straight down this dirt road high beams on trying to decide go or no go. The GPS was saying .3 miles to the Monument how bad could it be but I decided to stick to my original agreement and no dirt. I felt this was a big miss on my part, I lost time coming here and knew trying to find this Monument was going to be tough in the dark. It was supposed to be on a cliff overlooking the river. Even though I thought I was really screwing up my chances for a good finish I decided to head for Mobridge and get fuel (now I can say that was one of the smartest things I have done so far). I found an all night station fueled up, completed my fuel log and decided to get a cup of coffee because the next bonus location was in Darwin, Minnesota. I struck up a conversation with the clerk asking if she had seen others swing through she said no. I explained what I was doing and how I could not find Sitting Bull’s Monument. She said I was on the wrong side of the road and that the Monument was behind the Casino somewhere, she couldn’t remember the exact location but thought the other clerk might know. The other clerk was an elderly American Native woman who thought I was silly going to the Monument in the dark since there were no lights and little chance of finding it. I asked her for directions and they were interesting at best but she was sure of how to get there so I thought I would give it a try. So I thanked the ladies for the information and off I went backtracking 10 miles, thinking this was a long shot at best since the directions were turn left before the Casino veer left around campground follow road until dirt do a U-turn till you see a Monument for Sacagawea. Once you see the Monument for Sacagawea take the first right loop around parking area and you will see a road on the right follow it till it dead ends into another parking area. Park and walk about 300 feet and you should see the Monument for Sitting Bull. I followed the directions to a tee and she was right on I ended in a parking area on the bluff and there it was right were she said. I also understand why I had to go to the end of the road and turn around the Monument for Sacagawea was blocked from view by brush. I ran down took the picture and as I’m walking back to my FJR I saw headlights heading this way. Not sure what was going on I decided to get on the motorcycle and get out of there as quick as possible. Two cars stopped by the Sacagawea Monument that I had to ride right by. I decided to put on some extra steam and motor right by, looking at the area no lighting, no one else around I didn’t want to get stopped. As I went by they waved and I in return as I swung past them I noticed it was some kids indulging in a couple of adult beverages. So back to the US highway I went signing a big relief and thinking of Darwin next for the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. I was also puzzled why my GPS was so far off, did I make a mistake or was something wrong?
As I blew through Mobridge, I felt bad about not stopping and thanking the ladies again but I was way behind schedule. My goal for the first day was 1200 miles and I was still under a 1000 and it was after 22:00. The ride to Darwin was almost straight with a couple of jogs. I was reenergized by the coffee earlier and felt pretty good. About one hour in the ride to Darwin as I crested a hill all my fear came to fruition. In the middle of the road was a fawn with a buck and doe on the left and another doe on the right side of the road. Thanks goodness for ABS brakes on the FJR, I was traveling about 65 when I saw the deer, I immediately started braking I wasn’t sure how much I slowed down. My only thought was fawn make a decision which way. I hit the horn and the fawn moved right, I went left and the two deer on the left side of the road dove into the brush as I went by. After that little encounter, I decided 60 was a better speed and slowing down for hills was also a good idea. This slowed me down considerable but did help me avoid a possum and raccoon later that night. About midnight I decided it was time to get a room, I wasn’t going to be able to get the 1200 miles in, so why push any harder. 25 miles up the road was a town with a truck stop so I figured they would have a hotel. I rode into the truck stop for fuel and right next door was a Super 8, bingo we have sleep. I pulled under their canopy asked if I could leave the bike there and get a room. So at 00:30 I was in my room drawing a hot bath and thinking about my errors today. All in all not a bad day, 1088 miles three bonuses worth 1000 points and I didn’t hit anything on what I thought would be the hardest night riding. I decided to keep myself on Mountain Time no matter where I was so 00:30 was really 01:30 and I set the alarm for 04:00.
Day 2
04:00 came quick but I felt pretty good as I got out of bed. That was the big concern for me on this ride. I haven’t done a 1000 mile ride since last year and since totaling the ST1300 I was concerned I would not be healthy enough to do multiple days. So off to the shower I went, which felt great and really got me going. As I packed up the FJR for day two I decided to grab a cup of coffee in the lobby and look at the day’s adventure. It started raining sometime while I was sleeping so on went the wet gear. I still had 250 miles to go to Darwin to take a picture of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine and I wanted to get the Jolly Green Giant and the Six Pack of Beer today before heading for Chicago for a hotdog. So off I went at 05:00 with 250 miles to get to Darwin. The last 110 miles went slow it was done behind a law officer hell bent on keeping me at 55 mph. So I arrived in Darwin around 10:00 in the morning the positive was the rain stopped around 09:00. I found the Ball of Twine quickly, my GPS coordinates were only off by two buildings. I proceeded to take my pictures but was having problems getting the ball of twine to show up due to the glare off the glass enclosure. After four attempts, I was able to get the outline of the ball of twine so off for gas and then head for Blue Earth, Minnesota for a picture of the Jolly Green Giant. Here is when the really GPS fun began; the Garmin decided I wanted to take the scenic route. There was a straight shot from Darwin to Blue Earth about 90 miles long that I thought would take around two hours due to small towns but the Garmin sent me way out of the way about 45 extra miles going through several extra small towns. It ended up taking me about one extra hour to get to the Jolly Green Giant statue but hey I made it. So after taking several pictures of the statue, I called home talked to the wife for a few minutes and let her know I was behind schedule but heading for La Crosse, Wisconsin it was 14:00.
On the way to La Crosse, it started raining again so off the FJR gear up and off again, it was almost all interstate and La Crosse is just inside the Wisconsin boarder. I was hoping to make up a little of the time I lost earlier today. I had a pretty clean run into La Crosse where I headed straight for the brewery and my picture of the World’s largest six pack of beer. A couple of quick pictures and off to Chicago for a Hot Dog. I made a quick fuel stop and was out of La Crosse by 17:00 about five hours behind my original schedule.
So about 290 miles to Chicago here we go. It was interstate most of the way so I cranked it up trying to make up more time. As I was getting to Madison, Wisconsin it was still raining. I stopped for fuel and made a decision to skip Chicago due to the time it would take to get through town, get the hotdog and get out of there in the rain. I figured if I stopped it might cause me to miss the next two bonus locations because they had a time window. At the time, I thought great on the fly decision trying to get myself back on track. So I deleted the Chicago stop out of the route and recalculated. So off I go into the rain for Atlanta, Georgia and a picture at Stone Mountain. I ended up getting to Mount Vernon, Illinois another 400 miles later for a total of 925 miles for day two. I found another Super 8 so off to bed again 01:00 this time.
Day 3
The alarm came really quick and it was a little harder to get out of bed. 04:30 I grabbed a shower and headed for the lobby to grab a quick coffee and got back on the road. I decided to review my route again because I felt I could not get to the locations in Georgia and still make the three time based bonuses after them. I check the math and everything said bail from the Georgia bonuses and add something in later to make up for the miles I’m removing. So back to the FJR again in full rain gear (starting to see a theme) to delete my Georgia bonus locations and recalculate my route.
Here we go again 05:30 and 460 miles to Birmingham, Alabama. As I was shooting through Illinois, I had my second interesting moment on the road. I found out that wicker chairs cannot withstand a 75 mph impact with the interstate. I was shooting down the interstate when out of the back of a pickup comes a wicker chair about 10 feet in the air. When it finally came down, it busted into a hundred pieces, cars were swerving all over the place which allowed me a clear view of the debris. I slowed down a little swerved a couple of times and was clear and moving forward. I decided this would be a good time to get off the road and do my check-in with the Rally Master. I stopped in Metropolis, Illinois for fuel then called the Rally Master. When we called we needed to let him know where we were, say something nice and get a computerized receipt within 10 minutes. This was worth 50,000 points, so missing wasn’t an option. My next goal was to get to Barber Motorsports Vintage Museum before it closed at 18:00. It looked pretty good, I hit Birmingham about 15:30 then things started going down hill. The traffic came to a complete stand still on the interstate due to a car flipped on its side and they were diverting us off the highway. I was just about to get to the off ramp an hour later when the police officer waved to everyone the highway was open. So I moved back off the ramp and started to follow the officer past the accident. There was a car on its side that looked like they had to tear the roof off to get someone out of it. I had 1.5 hours before closing and I’m only three miles from the bonus location (at least that is what I thought). I get to the location of where Barber Motorsports was supposed to be and nothing but warehouses. As you can guess I’m getting a little frustrated, I found someone and they explain this is where it used to be but it has since moved about 20 miles away (tick tock tick tock). The gentleman gave me directions and off I went again with an hour and 15 minutes to go. This time I arrived at the correct location 45 minutes before they closed took a few pictures and talked to a couple of other riders explaining what I was doing. I walked up to the doors and looked in thinking I needed to come back here again, cool looking motorcycles just in the lobby area alone. I rode out, hit a fuel station and was back on the road now heading for Tupelo, Mississippi.
I really didn’t have an issue getting to Tupelo, it’s 140 miles of interstate so I cranked it up again and was there by 19:45 I found Elvis’s birth home snapped a couple of pictures hit a gas station and was back on the road by 20:15. I still needed to get to Memphis, Tennessee 100 miles away before 22:00 to get BBQ.
All interstate again so I cranked it up to 80 mph and shot for Memphis. I hit Memphis about 21:30 decided the location I inputted into the GPS was to far, so I stopped at the first convenience store to ask directions to the closest BBQ restaurant. There was a Memphis police officer sitting in the parking lot, so I decide to get his picture as a bonus and ask directions to the closest BBQ place. He allowed me to take his picture and gave me directions (three blocks away). I arrived at Top’s Barbeque at 21:45 15 minutes to spare, I rushed in and noticed at that moment I might be on the wrong side of town. The two ladies behind the counter said as I walked in “Boy what are you doing here”. I reply, “I’m here for BBQ. I was told you have the best BBQ and your sign says Best BBQ in Memphis”. She again reply, “Yes we have the best BBQ but boy what are you doing here?” So after explaining what I was doing, I asked what do they recommended they suggested the special so I ordered one (not sure what I would get). The food came I sat down and since the place was closing they came and sat with me asking question about my ride and where I was going next. After eating I grabbed the camera and rally towel and asked them to hold it for me so I could take a picture of them and the towel. After a couple of pictures, we returned to the table and I finished my meal. Notice this is the first time I talked about sitting down and eating, I had been on the rode for three days eating energy bars only(not a smart thing). I sat talking with them for another 10 minutes when one of them said I might want to get outside quick. I turned and looked and there were four guys around my FJR and a pickup backing up to it. I jumped up ran outside and said, “Hey guys what’s up?” They responded “your bike soon.” I replied that I was just leaving; “I had to get on the rode, I was in a rally and late for my next stop.” They didn’t respond but then one of the ladies from the restaurant came out and told them to get away from that boy’s bike and leave him alone. They gave her a smart-ass response and she started yelling at then, telling them she was going to whoop their butts if they didn’t get out of there. At that point, they decide she meant it because they took off. I walked over gave her a hug and thanked her for saving me from a butt kicking which I surly would have gotten. She then told me “Boy you better get on your bike and get out of here and I suggest you don’t stop at any red lights.” I said, “Yes mama and thanks again.” So I got on my FJR and high tailed it out of Memphis, here it is 22:45 and 360 miles to my next stop Lincoln, Arkansas. I rode another 265 miles to Alma, Arkansas in the rain to another Super 8 and hit the sack by 02:30. Day three in the books and another bad day only 960 miles completed. I remember thinking I was behind the 1000 miles a day average for the first time and I had to make up the ODO difference too.
Day 4
The alarm went off at 05:00; I jumped in the shower then back to the lobby for coffee. I was thinking another big day coming up with 5 bonus location due up today. I put my rain gear on and jumped on the FJR and was out of there by 05:45. My first stop Lincoln, Arkansas about 90 miles away, I pulled in at Lincoln a little after 07:00 with the sun just starting to come up. I snap a couple of shots got back on the FJR and headed for Oologah, Oklahoma for a picture of a statue of Will Rodgers and his horse 110 miles away. As I entered Oklahoma, the toll roads started a buck here and a buck there and I was in Tulsa turning North for Oologah. I found the statue right where my GPS said it was in the middle of town. I clipped my rally towel on the chain around the statue took a couple of picture, grabbed some gas and off I went for Wichita, Kansas my third bonus stop for the day 250 miles away. I arrived in Wichita around 14:00 but spent about 15 minutes going in circles due to one way streets and road closures. I finally figured a way to the park and took a picture of the drinking fountain and off I went again now making a run to the interstate and Olathe, Kansas 270 miles away to take a picture of Garmin International building (this was my add in to make up mileage missed by not going to Georgia). So good news back to the interstate running at 80 mph, bad news I hit Olathe at 17:30 with rush hour traffic and road construction the last 25 miles. It took another one and a half hours to get to Garmin. As I pull in the sun had just set, so I ran over placed my towel on their door snapped a couple of pictures and head back to the interstate. It is now 19:15 and I’m heading for my last stop for the night Lincoln, Kansas 265 miles away. I started down the interstate traveling 120 miles before I started getting really tired, I decided to stop at a rest stop and take a quick nap. I parked the FJR crawled onto a picnic table and fell asleep for one hour. I woke at 23:00 feeling better and headed out again. I went another 100 miles and decided I was done for the night. I found another Super 8 grabbed their last room and was in bed by 00:30. Day four and another low mileage day 950 miles with only the last day left tomorrow I was gong to need a big day to get the 5000 miles in.
Day 5
After coming up 45 miles short of Lincoln, Kansas I knew this needed to be a big day. I was up again by 04:30 no shower grabbed a cup of coffee in the lobby and headed out the door. Rain gear on again, I was on the road by 05:00. By 06:00 I had gotten my picture of the city limit sign in Lincoln and on my way to Cawker City, Kansas to get a picture of another World’s Largest Ball of Twine 65 miles away. I arrived in Cawker City at 07:00 grab a quick picture of the ball of twine and off again for Lebanon, Kansas for a picture of the lower 48 state central location 31 miles away. So 40 minutes later I found Lebanon but again the GPS led me to a bad location. I found someone opening their store and ask if they knew how to get to the monument. They did and gave me directions that led me right to the monument. I snapped a couple of pictures and headed for my last bonus stop in Alliance, Nebraska to get a picture of Carhenge 390 miles away it was now 08:00 but the rain stopped. Riding to Alliance was very uneventful and I was able to find Carhenge with no issues. I took a couple of pictures and was getting ready to take off when a fellow rider showed up. I took his picture for him and we decided to ride together at least part of the way. He still needed 200 more miles than I did. We stopped back in Alliance for fuel and food (notice only second time I talked about getting food not good). We talked while eating about where we had been and also about what he was doing to make up the extra 200 miles he needed. We decided to ride to Rawlins, Wyoming together where he would turn north and I would continue west. After we left, it was apparent he wanted to go faster than I was willing so I waved him on and rode alone. As he pulled away you could see a wall of rain clouds heading our way again. I pulled over put on my gear and just as I started moving again the rain hit. It was a driving rain for the next 40 miles making me run about 15 under the speed limit. Once out of the rain, I was able to increase the speed and when I hit the interstate I was flying but no sight of my fellow rider. I pulled into Cheyenne, Wyoming for fuel at a Flying J and there he was just pulling away from the pumps. He saw me come in and parked to talk. We talked for about 15 minutes and found out he was only about 5 minutes ahead of me (he was slowed by the rain too). It was now about 17:00 and I still had 550 miles to go. We talked and he said he was going to run 15-20 mph over the speed limit the rest of the way, so I told him good luck, I’m going to head for the hotel and I would see him when he got in. He was fiddling with his gear as I was taking off; I figured he would catch me around Laramie. I was motoring right along but never saw him again, Laramie passed and no sight of him. I was getting worried once I hit Rawlings I knew he should have passed me by then. I decided to stop for fuel in Rawlings and call the Rally Master to see if he had heard from him. I was figuring I might turn around and go look for him. I found out he had lost his paperwork and stayed at Cheyenne looking for it. He contacted the Rally Master explained what happened he told him to get on the road because if he completed the 5000 miles he would still be considered a finisher. I was told he spent about one hour at the flying J, so that’s why I hadn’t seen him. 290 miles to go and it was just past 21:00 plenty of time. I was thinking of adding an extra stop it would have been an extra 90 miles round trip to Promontory, Utah. As I was cruising down the interstate, I decided against Promontory because my tires were past the wear bars and I still had 200 plus miles to go. I did decide not to kill myself heading for the hotel so I was stopping every 100 miles for coffee and a rest. As I came into Utah one of my peers passed me and I decided to pick up the speed and follow them in. We rode together the last 75 miles to a fuel stop and then to the hotel. I made it to the hotel and finish line at 02:30. So the last day was just over 1200 miles in 21.5 hours to bring my overall mileage to 5200 miles but it would be adjusted down to 5065 due to correction factor.
After I arrived, I call my wife she was waiting at the hotel and told me to call her when I got in so I did. I asked her to start a bath and I was on my way up. Once I got to the room she was ready for me, I dropped all my gear jumped in the bath soaked for 30 minutes and then got redressed to be ready for the opening of the finish line at 05:00. My wife went to bed and I headed down stairs to get ready to check in.
At 05:00 on the dot, the Rally Master started checking final ODO readings and he explained how final scoring was going to happen. We were going first-in first-out and needed to hand in paperwork before 07:00. I pulled my SD card out of my camera and dropped it in my envelope with my receipts and fuel log then I dropped off the package at the scorers table. Once done I joined my fellow competitors out front to welcome the riders back in. As everyone started showing up, it was apparent not many were going to finish. To be exact 19 riders made it back to the finish on schedule. Several of us hung out front until 07:00 enjoying an adult beverage waiting for the scoring to begin. After the scoring was completed, this was a verification of which bonuses I went too. I headed for breakfast. I sat around in the restaurant for about an hour eating and talking with peers when I called it a night and headed for the room.
I woke around 14:30 and surprisingly seemed well rested, I went down stairs to see several peers talking outside, and I joined them for a little bit then headed for the bar where the group was forming before the banquet. At six o’clock Stacey, Nathan and I went to the banquet room, had dinner and listened as the Rally Master reviewed the results. As he passed the tenth position, I was surprised he hadn’t called my name and was wondering if maybe I, DNF’d due to an error on my paperwork. I didn’t have to wait long in Ninth place completing his first multi-day rally David Porter. The cheering was deafening or at least in my mine with my 10 year old yelling and my wife clapping. I was pretty stoked with a top ten finish on my first multi-day rally. I was also impressed no accidents during the event and everyone that finished still had their license sealed in the envelope. After the banquet, several retired to the bar again with the Rally Master buying several rounds of drinks. We toasted our winners and congratulated the Rally Master on an excellent time. I talked to several that I would see at the NM LOE in October saying we should get together for dinner the first night and talk about doing the Beast of the East next year in July as prep for the IBR 09 in August. Most thought this was a great way to get some east coast experience next year.
Rally Over
Stacey, Nathan and I were slow getting up on the 7th and most riders had already left the hotel, we were heading to Ouray, Colorado for a little goofing off. After getting everyone out of bed I went down loaded the car and set the trailer up we borrowed from friends. So after 6000 miles getting to SLC and completing the rally I could not believe it when I dropped the motorcycle while loading on the trailer. “” I pulled the FJR up onto the trailer as I did on my old trailer and went to put my foot down but there wasn’t any floor on the left side and the FJR in all its glory rolled off the edge. I quick moment of “oh shit” then I grabbed the motorcycle picked it up and rolled it back down the ramp. Once back off the trailer I assessed the damage. I scratched the front fender, not bad; one scratch on tank ¼ inch long, not bad but the left saddle bag took the brunt. It slid on the asphalt and scratched the whole cover. I decided to get some help loading this time, so I walked into the hotel ask a couple of the guys to help with loading the trailer. We walked it up slick as a whistle, one of the guys held it while I tied it down. I thanked the guys while we laughed at my expense, which I didn’t mind considering how it happened. I think the hardest part was explaining what happened to my wife when she came out of the hotel.
Once all loaded up, we (Stacey, Nathan and I) were off to Ouray, Co. for a well deserved three day vacation.
I originally was going to take off at mid-night on the 30th and ride straight through to Salt Lake City but instead August 30th, I hooked up with some friends heading for Durango, Co and bummed a little floor space at their hotel that night. I woke the next morning around 5am, took a quick shower and loaded the motorcycle. As I was loading, one of the guys got up too help. We talked how the weather looked pretty bad and I was probably going to be riding in the rain most of the way. We shook hands and he wished me well as I took off in the rain.
I had my wet weather gear on so the ride wasn’t too bad. I rode all the way to Moab, Ut. in the rain. Once I got to Moab, I decided to get something to eat. I hit up a MacDonald for a quick breakfast then off to get gas. As I was getting gas, my auxiliary plug blew the fuse and I ended riding to Salt Lake City (SLC) without my GPS and XM-radio. I arrived in SLC about 14:00. There were several others that had already arrived so I checked in and stated talking to others about the blown fuse. One of the guys knew exactly what happened and told me were the fuse was located. After completing the repair, I went to the Rally Masters room for a beer. I hooked up with some friends at Steve’s room and kicked back talking about the rally and differences between multi day rides compared to 24 hr rallies.
That night about 15-20 motorcycles showed up in the rain, as we sat in the restaurant having dinner. After dinner, we all headed to the bar for an adult beverage watching the weather channel and the rain outside.
On September 1st we woke to pouring rain that continued until late afternoon. We started the technical inspection and odometer check at noon. To be a finisher on this ride you have to complete 5000 miles in five days. So the rally master has to verify your ODO is correct. As I was setting up to run the route, I ran into another guy in the rally setting up to do his check so we took off together. We headed for the starting line, document our ODO reading and took off into the rain. We came up to one of the on-ramps at a good clip when his motorcycle started sliding in the corner. I saw his motorcycle slide so I let off the gas then reaccelerated to allow me to enter the corner at a lower speed. I still slipped a little but nothing to write home about. After that we took the ODO check at a slower speed and had no issues. As we pulled up to the ending line we checked and saw that my ODO was reading 15.8 and his was 15.6 miles with his GPS reading 15.4. So I kind of knew that I would have to do extra miles to meet the 5000 mile minimum need to be a finisher what a bummer.
After the ODO check, we were free until 20:00 for the pre-banquet and meeting to get our last information from the Rally Master. I was hanging out front talking to other riders about the miles on my tires and several were saying I could not make it back on those tire and I would have to change them out somewhere along the route. Most of the other riders went to their rooms checking on the weather moving in from hurricane Gustav. I would have too turn in my route tonight along with my driver license. The driver’s license is placed in an envelope that if unopened at the end of the ride you get extra points. After talking to the other riders hanging out front of the hotel I headed for my room thinking about my tires and what if I need to change them out. Sitting in the room I decided to take out my Louisiana bonus locations out of my route. I still had enough miles so dropping these two locations wasn’t a tough decision. When I saw they had a curfew sent up in Baton Rouge and New Roads I decided to skip them plus the extra 400 miles was really going to be pushing the tires. Most of my peers said I couldn’t get 9000 miles out of the OEM tires on the FJR. By removing these locations, I was going to drop to 5300 miles so I would come in just under 9000 miles on the ODO. I also came up with a couple of Yamaha dealerships along the route that if I had to I could stop in for fresh tires. I took down the information and decided to call on the road tomorrow about tire availability.
At the banquet I received my rally towel, special instructions; driver license sealed and gave the Rally Master my route. After the meeting, we retired to the bar for a going away drink then I headed for the room to get some needed sleep.
Day 1
On September 2nd, I woke up at 05:00 and was out of the room by 05:30 to set up the motorcycle. Several trips from the room to the front entrance bring down my top box, tank bag and electronics for the FJR. There were already 10 motorcycles lined up at the start, so I pulled mine in line and started getting it ready. This time there wasn’t an issue with powering on the electronics like I had at the NM LOE last year. By 06:00 the Rally Master was walking around getting our starting ODO, mine read 3564 miles so I knew I would have to go 8564 plus the correction factor of 134 miles at least to be considered a finisher. I thought I better finish with at least 8750 on the ODO just to be safe. Once my ODO check was completed, I headed for the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast and one last time to check the weather. I sat with one of my fellow competitors talking strategy and he was giving me advice on how to ride my first couple of day of the rally. We talked about our routes and the direction of Gustavo and how it would affect my plans. That was great to bounce ideas off someone and how to reroute on the fly if needed because of Gustavo. Right now Gustavo looked like it was going to hit Louisiana head on then track in a west direction. This was prefect for me because I was heading north to avoid Gustavo and would swing around behind the hurricane. I thought I might get wet the last day in Kansas and Nebraska (little did I know about 3 hours after the start, Gustavo turn eastward and I would be riding most of my ride smack in the middle of the monsoon rains. After breakfast was done, we wish each other good luck and headed for the motorcycles. I got back to my FJR about 20 minutes before the start time. The Rally Master was doing a countdown and when we hit 07:00 he waived us to go.
So here I go hoping to get back to SLC by September 7th at 07:00. I found myself getting caught up in the start of the rally staying with everyone else. I kept telling myself this is a five day event and don’t get a ticket in the first hour. I finally let a group of riders about 12 of them go. I settled in at what I would call a reasonable speed five-seven over and started motoring. About 100 miles outside of SLC, I caught up with a couple of fellow riders that I knew were heading in the same direction to start but would eventually veer off toward San Antonio, Texas. As we were riding together one of our peers passed us running 10-15 miles faster then us. It was the Harley Road King, he must be between his first and second stop of fuel. I remember talking to him yesterday and how he said he can only go about 100-120 miles on a tank. I did the quick math and realized he would have to do about 50 stops to make it. Well the three of us continued on for several miles then they pulled off for what I thought was their first gas stop. I looked down at my gauge and saw I was getting close too, we had traveled 220 miles and I figured 240 would be max distance I would go. We were just passing a town and the next one was 30 miles out so I was getting a little worried but around the corner was another exit so off the interstate I went and pulled in for fuel 227 miles. After I checked the distance, I told myself never cut it that close again. I figured I would have around 25-30 stops for fuel based on state lines. Each state you stopped in for fuel and documented it was worth 10 points, so I wanted to make sure I hit all the states those are easy points. This stop was about 10 minutes long and on the road I was again. I never saw another rider until my first bonus location Douglas, Wyoming where I needed to take a picture of a 13 foot tall Jackalope. As I jumped off the interstate into Douglas I came to my first obstacle a bridge that was out. I knew by my GPS the bonus location was four blocks on the other side of the bridge so I followed the detour and as I came out on the other side of the bridge there was one of the two up riders flagging me down. They asked if I knew where the bonus was and I said follow me. I went to the direct location my GPS told me it was and nothing. I told them it was in the city park and we just passed one so I was going to head in that direction, as we closed in on the park I saw the Jackalope sitting in the corner of the park. We both jumped off our motorcycles and took our pictures talked for a few monuments and off we went, they were heading for Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska and I was off for Sturgis, South Dakota. As I started out of town, I saw the two guys I rode with heading for the Jackalope. Little did I know that would be the last time I saw anyone until the last day. I got to Sturgis about three and a half hours later for my second bonus a computerized fuel receipt. I stopped at the second station, fueled the FJR and boom printer failure. I went inside to get my receipt, when I went in and asked for a computerized receipt the attendant wanted to give me a hand written one. I explained I needed a computerized and she reluctantly pulled one from the cash register. Two down and 18 to go, so off I went for Mobridge, South Dakota to get a picture of Sitting Bull Monument.
As I was flying through South Dakota’s, state roads and highways I was on the constant lookout for wild life. I knew that during the day the odds of seeing anything was pretty slim but as the sun was setting they would be coming out in force. I honestly felt like my head was on a swivel scanning both sides of the road. I also thought to myself that the next modification to the FJR would be added lights. The lighting on the FJR is pretty good but there is no substitution for added lights that can be pointed a little out for checking the sides of the road. There was one stretch of road 15 miles that I counted eight deer and decided that even though the speed limit was 70 MPH I slowed to 60-65 hoping for a better reaction time if one decided to cross the road. One more hour and I arrived in Mobridge with about one bar left on the fuel gauge so I knew I could go about 40 miles before needing fuel and my GPS gave me directions for about a 16 mile round trip to the Monument. So off I went on a side road following my GPS but still concerned since it was pitch black and no lights. The GPS gives me a turn left in one mile and when I get to the turn left now I see a dirt road that looks pretty daunting. I told myself at the beginning, I would not do dirt roads to find bonus. So I stopped with my FJR pointing straight down this dirt road high beams on trying to decide go or no go. The GPS was saying .3 miles to the Monument how bad could it be but I decided to stick to my original agreement and no dirt. I felt this was a big miss on my part, I lost time coming here and knew trying to find this Monument was going to be tough in the dark. It was supposed to be on a cliff overlooking the river. Even though I thought I was really screwing up my chances for a good finish I decided to head for Mobridge and get fuel (now I can say that was one of the smartest things I have done so far). I found an all night station fueled up, completed my fuel log and decided to get a cup of coffee because the next bonus location was in Darwin, Minnesota. I struck up a conversation with the clerk asking if she had seen others swing through she said no. I explained what I was doing and how I could not find Sitting Bull’s Monument. She said I was on the wrong side of the road and that the Monument was behind the Casino somewhere, she couldn’t remember the exact location but thought the other clerk might know. The other clerk was an elderly American Native woman who thought I was silly going to the Monument in the dark since there were no lights and little chance of finding it. I asked her for directions and they were interesting at best but she was sure of how to get there so I thought I would give it a try. So I thanked the ladies for the information and off I went backtracking 10 miles, thinking this was a long shot at best since the directions were turn left before the Casino veer left around campground follow road until dirt do a U-turn till you see a Monument for Sacagawea. Once you see the Monument for Sacagawea take the first right loop around parking area and you will see a road on the right follow it till it dead ends into another parking area. Park and walk about 300 feet and you should see the Monument for Sitting Bull. I followed the directions to a tee and she was right on I ended in a parking area on the bluff and there it was right were she said. I also understand why I had to go to the end of the road and turn around the Monument for Sacagawea was blocked from view by brush. I ran down took the picture and as I’m walking back to my FJR I saw headlights heading this way. Not sure what was going on I decided to get on the motorcycle and get out of there as quick as possible. Two cars stopped by the Sacagawea Monument that I had to ride right by. I decided to put on some extra steam and motor right by, looking at the area no lighting, no one else around I didn’t want to get stopped. As I went by they waved and I in return as I swung past them I noticed it was some kids indulging in a couple of adult beverages. So back to the US highway I went signing a big relief and thinking of Darwin next for the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. I was also puzzled why my GPS was so far off, did I make a mistake or was something wrong?
As I blew through Mobridge, I felt bad about not stopping and thanking the ladies again but I was way behind schedule. My goal for the first day was 1200 miles and I was still under a 1000 and it was after 22:00. The ride to Darwin was almost straight with a couple of jogs. I was reenergized by the coffee earlier and felt pretty good. About one hour in the ride to Darwin as I crested a hill all my fear came to fruition. In the middle of the road was a fawn with a buck and doe on the left and another doe on the right side of the road. Thanks goodness for ABS brakes on the FJR, I was traveling about 65 when I saw the deer, I immediately started braking I wasn’t sure how much I slowed down. My only thought was fawn make a decision which way. I hit the horn and the fawn moved right, I went left and the two deer on the left side of the road dove into the brush as I went by. After that little encounter, I decided 60 was a better speed and slowing down for hills was also a good idea. This slowed me down considerable but did help me avoid a possum and raccoon later that night. About midnight I decided it was time to get a room, I wasn’t going to be able to get the 1200 miles in, so why push any harder. 25 miles up the road was a town with a truck stop so I figured they would have a hotel. I rode into the truck stop for fuel and right next door was a Super 8, bingo we have sleep. I pulled under their canopy asked if I could leave the bike there and get a room. So at 00:30 I was in my room drawing a hot bath and thinking about my errors today. All in all not a bad day, 1088 miles three bonuses worth 1000 points and I didn’t hit anything on what I thought would be the hardest night riding. I decided to keep myself on Mountain Time no matter where I was so 00:30 was really 01:30 and I set the alarm for 04:00.
Day 2
04:00 came quick but I felt pretty good as I got out of bed. That was the big concern for me on this ride. I haven’t done a 1000 mile ride since last year and since totaling the ST1300 I was concerned I would not be healthy enough to do multiple days. So off to the shower I went, which felt great and really got me going. As I packed up the FJR for day two I decided to grab a cup of coffee in the lobby and look at the day’s adventure. It started raining sometime while I was sleeping so on went the wet gear. I still had 250 miles to go to Darwin to take a picture of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine and I wanted to get the Jolly Green Giant and the Six Pack of Beer today before heading for Chicago for a hotdog. So off I went at 05:00 with 250 miles to get to Darwin. The last 110 miles went slow it was done behind a law officer hell bent on keeping me at 55 mph. So I arrived in Darwin around 10:00 in the morning the positive was the rain stopped around 09:00. I found the Ball of Twine quickly, my GPS coordinates were only off by two buildings. I proceeded to take my pictures but was having problems getting the ball of twine to show up due to the glare off the glass enclosure. After four attempts, I was able to get the outline of the ball of twine so off for gas and then head for Blue Earth, Minnesota for a picture of the Jolly Green Giant. Here is when the really GPS fun began; the Garmin decided I wanted to take the scenic route. There was a straight shot from Darwin to Blue Earth about 90 miles long that I thought would take around two hours due to small towns but the Garmin sent me way out of the way about 45 extra miles going through several extra small towns. It ended up taking me about one extra hour to get to the Jolly Green Giant statue but hey I made it. So after taking several pictures of the statue, I called home talked to the wife for a few minutes and let her know I was behind schedule but heading for La Crosse, Wisconsin it was 14:00.
On the way to La Crosse, it started raining again so off the FJR gear up and off again, it was almost all interstate and La Crosse is just inside the Wisconsin boarder. I was hoping to make up a little of the time I lost earlier today. I had a pretty clean run into La Crosse where I headed straight for the brewery and my picture of the World’s largest six pack of beer. A couple of quick pictures and off to Chicago for a Hot Dog. I made a quick fuel stop and was out of La Crosse by 17:00 about five hours behind my original schedule.
So about 290 miles to Chicago here we go. It was interstate most of the way so I cranked it up trying to make up more time. As I was getting to Madison, Wisconsin it was still raining. I stopped for fuel and made a decision to skip Chicago due to the time it would take to get through town, get the hotdog and get out of there in the rain. I figured if I stopped it might cause me to miss the next two bonus locations because they had a time window. At the time, I thought great on the fly decision trying to get myself back on track. So I deleted the Chicago stop out of the route and recalculated. So off I go into the rain for Atlanta, Georgia and a picture at Stone Mountain. I ended up getting to Mount Vernon, Illinois another 400 miles later for a total of 925 miles for day two. I found another Super 8 so off to bed again 01:00 this time.
Day 3
The alarm came really quick and it was a little harder to get out of bed. 04:30 I grabbed a shower and headed for the lobby to grab a quick coffee and got back on the road. I decided to review my route again because I felt I could not get to the locations in Georgia and still make the three time based bonuses after them. I check the math and everything said bail from the Georgia bonuses and add something in later to make up for the miles I’m removing. So back to the FJR again in full rain gear (starting to see a theme) to delete my Georgia bonus locations and recalculate my route.
Here we go again 05:30 and 460 miles to Birmingham, Alabama. As I was shooting through Illinois, I had my second interesting moment on the road. I found out that wicker chairs cannot withstand a 75 mph impact with the interstate. I was shooting down the interstate when out of the back of a pickup comes a wicker chair about 10 feet in the air. When it finally came down, it busted into a hundred pieces, cars were swerving all over the place which allowed me a clear view of the debris. I slowed down a little swerved a couple of times and was clear and moving forward. I decided this would be a good time to get off the road and do my check-in with the Rally Master. I stopped in Metropolis, Illinois for fuel then called the Rally Master. When we called we needed to let him know where we were, say something nice and get a computerized receipt within 10 minutes. This was worth 50,000 points, so missing wasn’t an option. My next goal was to get to Barber Motorsports Vintage Museum before it closed at 18:00. It looked pretty good, I hit Birmingham about 15:30 then things started going down hill. The traffic came to a complete stand still on the interstate due to a car flipped on its side and they were diverting us off the highway. I was just about to get to the off ramp an hour later when the police officer waved to everyone the highway was open. So I moved back off the ramp and started to follow the officer past the accident. There was a car on its side that looked like they had to tear the roof off to get someone out of it. I had 1.5 hours before closing and I’m only three miles from the bonus location (at least that is what I thought). I get to the location of where Barber Motorsports was supposed to be and nothing but warehouses. As you can guess I’m getting a little frustrated, I found someone and they explain this is where it used to be but it has since moved about 20 miles away (tick tock tick tock). The gentleman gave me directions and off I went again with an hour and 15 minutes to go. This time I arrived at the correct location 45 minutes before they closed took a few pictures and talked to a couple of other riders explaining what I was doing. I walked up to the doors and looked in thinking I needed to come back here again, cool looking motorcycles just in the lobby area alone. I rode out, hit a fuel station and was back on the road now heading for Tupelo, Mississippi.
I really didn’t have an issue getting to Tupelo, it’s 140 miles of interstate so I cranked it up again and was there by 19:45 I found Elvis’s birth home snapped a couple of pictures hit a gas station and was back on the road by 20:15. I still needed to get to Memphis, Tennessee 100 miles away before 22:00 to get BBQ.
All interstate again so I cranked it up to 80 mph and shot for Memphis. I hit Memphis about 21:30 decided the location I inputted into the GPS was to far, so I stopped at the first convenience store to ask directions to the closest BBQ restaurant. There was a Memphis police officer sitting in the parking lot, so I decide to get his picture as a bonus and ask directions to the closest BBQ place. He allowed me to take his picture and gave me directions (three blocks away). I arrived at Top’s Barbeque at 21:45 15 minutes to spare, I rushed in and noticed at that moment I might be on the wrong side of town. The two ladies behind the counter said as I walked in “Boy what are you doing here”. I reply, “I’m here for BBQ. I was told you have the best BBQ and your sign says Best BBQ in Memphis”. She again reply, “Yes we have the best BBQ but boy what are you doing here?” So after explaining what I was doing, I asked what do they recommended they suggested the special so I ordered one (not sure what I would get). The food came I sat down and since the place was closing they came and sat with me asking question about my ride and where I was going next. After eating I grabbed the camera and rally towel and asked them to hold it for me so I could take a picture of them and the towel. After a couple of pictures, we returned to the table and I finished my meal. Notice this is the first time I talked about sitting down and eating, I had been on the rode for three days eating energy bars only(not a smart thing). I sat talking with them for another 10 minutes when one of them said I might want to get outside quick. I turned and looked and there were four guys around my FJR and a pickup backing up to it. I jumped up ran outside and said, “Hey guys what’s up?” They responded “your bike soon.” I replied that I was just leaving; “I had to get on the rode, I was in a rally and late for my next stop.” They didn’t respond but then one of the ladies from the restaurant came out and told them to get away from that boy’s bike and leave him alone. They gave her a smart-ass response and she started yelling at then, telling them she was going to whoop their butts if they didn’t get out of there. At that point, they decide she meant it because they took off. I walked over gave her a hug and thanked her for saving me from a butt kicking which I surly would have gotten. She then told me “Boy you better get on your bike and get out of here and I suggest you don’t stop at any red lights.” I said, “Yes mama and thanks again.” So I got on my FJR and high tailed it out of Memphis, here it is 22:45 and 360 miles to my next stop Lincoln, Arkansas. I rode another 265 miles to Alma, Arkansas in the rain to another Super 8 and hit the sack by 02:30. Day three in the books and another bad day only 960 miles completed. I remember thinking I was behind the 1000 miles a day average for the first time and I had to make up the ODO difference too.
Day 4
The alarm went off at 05:00; I jumped in the shower then back to the lobby for coffee. I was thinking another big day coming up with 5 bonus location due up today. I put my rain gear on and jumped on the FJR and was out of there by 05:45. My first stop Lincoln, Arkansas about 90 miles away, I pulled in at Lincoln a little after 07:00 with the sun just starting to come up. I snap a couple of shots got back on the FJR and headed for Oologah, Oklahoma for a picture of a statue of Will Rodgers and his horse 110 miles away. As I entered Oklahoma, the toll roads started a buck here and a buck there and I was in Tulsa turning North for Oologah. I found the statue right where my GPS said it was in the middle of town. I clipped my rally towel on the chain around the statue took a couple of picture, grabbed some gas and off I went for Wichita, Kansas my third bonus stop for the day 250 miles away. I arrived in Wichita around 14:00 but spent about 15 minutes going in circles due to one way streets and road closures. I finally figured a way to the park and took a picture of the drinking fountain and off I went again now making a run to the interstate and Olathe, Kansas 270 miles away to take a picture of Garmin International building (this was my add in to make up mileage missed by not going to Georgia). So good news back to the interstate running at 80 mph, bad news I hit Olathe at 17:30 with rush hour traffic and road construction the last 25 miles. It took another one and a half hours to get to Garmin. As I pull in the sun had just set, so I ran over placed my towel on their door snapped a couple of pictures and head back to the interstate. It is now 19:15 and I’m heading for my last stop for the night Lincoln, Kansas 265 miles away. I started down the interstate traveling 120 miles before I started getting really tired, I decided to stop at a rest stop and take a quick nap. I parked the FJR crawled onto a picnic table and fell asleep for one hour. I woke at 23:00 feeling better and headed out again. I went another 100 miles and decided I was done for the night. I found another Super 8 grabbed their last room and was in bed by 00:30. Day four and another low mileage day 950 miles with only the last day left tomorrow I was gong to need a big day to get the 5000 miles in.
Day 5
After coming up 45 miles short of Lincoln, Kansas I knew this needed to be a big day. I was up again by 04:30 no shower grabbed a cup of coffee in the lobby and headed out the door. Rain gear on again, I was on the road by 05:00. By 06:00 I had gotten my picture of the city limit sign in Lincoln and on my way to Cawker City, Kansas to get a picture of another World’s Largest Ball of Twine 65 miles away. I arrived in Cawker City at 07:00 grab a quick picture of the ball of twine and off again for Lebanon, Kansas for a picture of the lower 48 state central location 31 miles away. So 40 minutes later I found Lebanon but again the GPS led me to a bad location. I found someone opening their store and ask if they knew how to get to the monument. They did and gave me directions that led me right to the monument. I snapped a couple of pictures and headed for my last bonus stop in Alliance, Nebraska to get a picture of Carhenge 390 miles away it was now 08:00 but the rain stopped. Riding to Alliance was very uneventful and I was able to find Carhenge with no issues. I took a couple of pictures and was getting ready to take off when a fellow rider showed up. I took his picture for him and we decided to ride together at least part of the way. He still needed 200 more miles than I did. We stopped back in Alliance for fuel and food (notice only second time I talked about getting food not good). We talked while eating about where we had been and also about what he was doing to make up the extra 200 miles he needed. We decided to ride to Rawlins, Wyoming together where he would turn north and I would continue west. After we left, it was apparent he wanted to go faster than I was willing so I waved him on and rode alone. As he pulled away you could see a wall of rain clouds heading our way again. I pulled over put on my gear and just as I started moving again the rain hit. It was a driving rain for the next 40 miles making me run about 15 under the speed limit. Once out of the rain, I was able to increase the speed and when I hit the interstate I was flying but no sight of my fellow rider. I pulled into Cheyenne, Wyoming for fuel at a Flying J and there he was just pulling away from the pumps. He saw me come in and parked to talk. We talked for about 15 minutes and found out he was only about 5 minutes ahead of me (he was slowed by the rain too). It was now about 17:00 and I still had 550 miles to go. We talked and he said he was going to run 15-20 mph over the speed limit the rest of the way, so I told him good luck, I’m going to head for the hotel and I would see him when he got in. He was fiddling with his gear as I was taking off; I figured he would catch me around Laramie. I was motoring right along but never saw him again, Laramie passed and no sight of him. I was getting worried once I hit Rawlings I knew he should have passed me by then. I decided to stop for fuel in Rawlings and call the Rally Master to see if he had heard from him. I was figuring I might turn around and go look for him. I found out he had lost his paperwork and stayed at Cheyenne looking for it. He contacted the Rally Master explained what happened he told him to get on the road because if he completed the 5000 miles he would still be considered a finisher. I was told he spent about one hour at the flying J, so that’s why I hadn’t seen him. 290 miles to go and it was just past 21:00 plenty of time. I was thinking of adding an extra stop it would have been an extra 90 miles round trip to Promontory, Utah. As I was cruising down the interstate, I decided against Promontory because my tires were past the wear bars and I still had 200 plus miles to go. I did decide not to kill myself heading for the hotel so I was stopping every 100 miles for coffee and a rest. As I came into Utah one of my peers passed me and I decided to pick up the speed and follow them in. We rode together the last 75 miles to a fuel stop and then to the hotel. I made it to the hotel and finish line at 02:30. So the last day was just over 1200 miles in 21.5 hours to bring my overall mileage to 5200 miles but it would be adjusted down to 5065 due to correction factor.
After I arrived, I call my wife she was waiting at the hotel and told me to call her when I got in so I did. I asked her to start a bath and I was on my way up. Once I got to the room she was ready for me, I dropped all my gear jumped in the bath soaked for 30 minutes and then got redressed to be ready for the opening of the finish line at 05:00. My wife went to bed and I headed down stairs to get ready to check in.
At 05:00 on the dot, the Rally Master started checking final ODO readings and he explained how final scoring was going to happen. We were going first-in first-out and needed to hand in paperwork before 07:00. I pulled my SD card out of my camera and dropped it in my envelope with my receipts and fuel log then I dropped off the package at the scorers table. Once done I joined my fellow competitors out front to welcome the riders back in. As everyone started showing up, it was apparent not many were going to finish. To be exact 19 riders made it back to the finish on schedule. Several of us hung out front until 07:00 enjoying an adult beverage waiting for the scoring to begin. After the scoring was completed, this was a verification of which bonuses I went too. I headed for breakfast. I sat around in the restaurant for about an hour eating and talking with peers when I called it a night and headed for the room.
I woke around 14:30 and surprisingly seemed well rested, I went down stairs to see several peers talking outside, and I joined them for a little bit then headed for the bar where the group was forming before the banquet. At six o’clock Stacey, Nathan and I went to the banquet room, had dinner and listened as the Rally Master reviewed the results. As he passed the tenth position, I was surprised he hadn’t called my name and was wondering if maybe I, DNF’d due to an error on my paperwork. I didn’t have to wait long in Ninth place completing his first multi-day rally David Porter. The cheering was deafening or at least in my mine with my 10 year old yelling and my wife clapping. I was pretty stoked with a top ten finish on my first multi-day rally. I was also impressed no accidents during the event and everyone that finished still had their license sealed in the envelope. After the banquet, several retired to the bar again with the Rally Master buying several rounds of drinks. We toasted our winners and congratulated the Rally Master on an excellent time. I talked to several that I would see at the NM LOE in October saying we should get together for dinner the first night and talk about doing the Beast of the East next year in July as prep for the IBR 09 in August. Most thought this was a great way to get some east coast experience next year.
Rally Over
Stacey, Nathan and I were slow getting up on the 7th and most riders had already left the hotel, we were heading to Ouray, Colorado for a little goofing off. After getting everyone out of bed I went down loaded the car and set the trailer up we borrowed from friends. So after 6000 miles getting to SLC and completing the rally I could not believe it when I dropped the motorcycle while loading on the trailer. “” I pulled the FJR up onto the trailer as I did on my old trailer and went to put my foot down but there wasn’t any floor on the left side and the FJR in all its glory rolled off the edge. I quick moment of “oh shit” then I grabbed the motorcycle picked it up and rolled it back down the ramp. Once back off the trailer I assessed the damage. I scratched the front fender, not bad; one scratch on tank ¼ inch long, not bad but the left saddle bag took the brunt. It slid on the asphalt and scratched the whole cover. I decided to get some help loading this time, so I walked into the hotel ask a couple of the guys to help with loading the trailer. We walked it up slick as a whistle, one of the guys held it while I tied it down. I thanked the guys while we laughed at my expense, which I didn’t mind considering how it happened. I think the hardest part was explaining what happened to my wife when she came out of the hotel.
Once all loaded up, we (Stacey, Nathan and I) were off to Ouray, Co. for a well deserved three day vacation.
