Well I have to omit it has been an interesting year. I have been very busy with a lot of family and motorcycle activities.
As I left 2008, I set a few goals for 2009. I changed a couple because I knew that they were unrealistic based on funds and time. "As I go into 2009 I have set a few goals, I'm planning to attend three rallies with a goal of no DNF's. I'm planning to attend the IBA Pizza Party in Jacksonville, FL., complete a couple of long 2-3 day rides building up my seat time and being a finisher in the 2009 IBR." So I made a couple minor changes back in January and started the year with motorcycle goals of hitting the 30,000 mile mark on the FJR, making finisher status in the IBR, top 10 in the NMLOE and getting in a couple of multi day rides.
My family goals were my son getting his first hit in little league and completing his first level in the Boy Scouts (tenderfoot). Since he is home schooled we are really trying to get him more involved in group activities. For my wife everything has been on hold but as she put it "this is the year of the wife". Focus will be on spending time with the family; a long vacation, some work around the house and a couple of minor rides together but nothing big this year.
So the place to start of course is the family goals, we spent a lot of time working with our son on his baseball skills and I'm happy to say he completed his year in the majors a hitting maniac. He also accomplished his tenderfoot and had his court of honors the first week of January. So I would say we hit the mark for my son. As I said, for my wife we are now in the year of the wife so I'm doing a lot of stuff around the house.
Ok now that I have bored you with my non riding stuff, lets start talking about the motorcycle year in review.
Well I did start 2009 better than 2008. This year I was healthy and had a new motorcycle. This was the year for the IBR and I wanted the FJR ready as early as possible. So I started by getting the fuel tank hooked up and an elbow welded onto the main tank. The FJR was now capable of traveling 400-500 miles under normal riding conditions. With the added cell, I now can carry 10.8 gallons of fuel. My wife surprised me with a new GPS and lighting for the FJR, so I spent a lot of time wiring in an extra fuse block to handle the load. I was planning to have the capability to have 2 GPS running, XM Radio, Radar Detector and Auxiliary lights. I also had a recall on my ignition switch which I was thankful for, since I heard a lot of people talk about being stranded when it failed. My wife also surprised me with a new Netbook with a solid state drive for the motorcycle. So by May I pretty much had the FJR ready, at least equipment wise for the IBR.
Before the IBR I really didn't ride in a single rally, I was hoping to get into the Utah 1088 and maybe do the March meet-up in Jacksonville but money was tight with the cost of getting the bike ready for the Rally and the fees. I decided to focus on riding in my area. I'm sad to say I did have to make a run to Indiana in April, for a funeral. My mom's brother passed away, I decided to jump on the FJR and make a run home 1450 miles. Jumped on the bike early one morning and the next day I was having breakfast with a really pissed off mom. I didn't tell her I was coming becase I knew she would freak out if she knew I was riding straight in. I had my wife call when I was about 300 miles out. On the way back, I decided to take my time and make it a two day ride which was good saddle time.
Most of the riding prior to the IBR was single day rides 200-400 miles with some friend. I was lucky that I was able to get out at least once a week for a ride. As August came around, I was lucky to find a forum member living close to Spartanburg, SC that was willing to help me with a tire change before the start of the rally. I shipped a set of tires to his place a week before I headed out.
When I started out for Spartanburg, I decide to take two days to get there just a nice easy ride. Once there I settle into my hotel, I hooked up with several friends that were also riding in the Rally. We all sat around itching to get going. My rally could not have gone much better, I made a couple of mistakes that cost me a lot of points but I still achieved all my goals; 1st come home safely, 2nd finish and 3rd have fun. It was such a great feeling coming into both checkpoints with peers cheering for you and then getting to the finish line. I arrived about 3 hours before the finish opened 2am but there was still a couple of people out there clapping when I came in. When I got in the hotel, the fist thing was I ran into a good friend that arrived around mid-night. He was sitting in the lobby talking to several other riders that had came in earlier. It was great to see the family and some friends from New York that surprised us by coming to the finish in Spokane. I ended up getting a bronze metal finisher status and a new three digit IBA number. Once you have reached finisher status you are given a new IBA number.
We had a few riders that had accidents in the rally, with most being minor injuries. We did have one fatality this year. A rider from Australia was coming out of Canada and hit a deer. He lost control of his motorcycle and went down, there were several other riders that came up on the accident and tried to help but there was nothing anyone could do they air lifted him but he passed away later that day. We were at the awards banquet and afterwards the word circulated that he passed away, very sad time for everyone. Several of us went outside and toasted the individual and called it a night.
The only other rally I did was the New Mexico LOE in October. I had a goal of a top ten finish but that went to the way side when I hit an antelope about 2/3 of the way through. I actually was the second person to hit the animal. The antelope ran out in front of a truck and then the truck threw it at me. The damage was minimal and I was able to limp in grabbing a couple of more bonuses on the way. I ended up 12th place, so I really wasn't that disappointed. If I could have completed my scheduled route, I would have placed probably 2nd or 3rd. Afterwards the rally master asked me if I would like to start helping with the rally, so starting 2010, I will be helping host the New Mexico Land of Enchantment Rally.
As I closed out the year, I received some bad news Eddie James passed away (motorcycle accident). I did not know Eddie well, we met a couple of times he seemed like good guy and a great rallymaster. Times like this always reminds me Ride Defensively!
So looking back at 2009 I have a lot to be thankful for, my family and friends that helped and supported while I was getting ready for the IBR. I had a great year of riding, over 30,000 miles with little issues and no DNF's this year. I'm looking forward to a great 2010. I have a new grandson due in June, I'm planning to attend the IBA meet-up in Denver in August and I will be co-rally master this year for the NMLOE.
So until next year everyone ride safe and I hope you have a great holiday.
Dave
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
December
Well here we go again last Month of the year and would really like to turn around this bad trend on riding I have seen since October. So the first thing I did was e-mail some friends on getting out and riding December 4th. I was getting good responses and it looked like 4-5 of us were going to get out for a little ride. I was hoping for a 150-200 mile ride maybe getting a beer afterwards. Well Friday rolled around and so did the weather, a cold front rolled in and when we met up at my favorite starting location "Mule Barn" it was single digits and no one really wanted to ride. We all just hung out had breakfast swapped stories and finally headed our own way. I decided to ride to the motorcycle shop and pick up a oil and K&N air filter, I figured I would at least get a few miles in and hope for better weather for next weekend.
This ended up being a good weekend to decorate the house for Christmas, we hung lights outside and put up the tree.
I have to omit that this has been the first day in many that I didn't ride the FJR to work, they are calling for rain and snow and I just don't want to deal with it. I have been checking forecast and the weather looks like it is turning bad, might not see any riding for a couple of weeks.
WOW this week just keeps on getting better, the weather has took a turn for the worse a little snow and rain mix but hey looking on the bright side my son completed his first level in the boy scouts and has completed his review and will be moving up. Ok maybe not motorcycle relevent but much more important. I also received some bad news Eddie James passed away (motorcycle accident)I personally did not know Eddie just met him around good guy and a great rallymaster. Times like this always reminds me ride defensively. Everyone enjoy the ride but be safe.
Well until next week Ride safe
This ended up being a good weekend to decorate the house for Christmas, we hung lights outside and put up the tree.
I have to omit that this has been the first day in many that I didn't ride the FJR to work, they are calling for rain and snow and I just don't want to deal with it. I have been checking forecast and the weather looks like it is turning bad, might not see any riding for a couple of weeks.
WOW this week just keeps on getting better, the weather has took a turn for the worse a little snow and rain mix but hey looking on the bright side my son completed his first level in the boy scouts and has completed his review and will be moving up. Ok maybe not motorcycle relevent but much more important. I also received some bad news Eddie James passed away (motorcycle accident)I personally did not know Eddie just met him around good guy and a great rallymaster. Times like this always reminds me ride defensively. Everyone enjoy the ride but be safe.
Well until next week Ride safe
Monday, November 16, 2009
November
Well here it is November and it seems to be starting same as October ended not much riding happening. I have been out with a few friends and I have put a few miles on but nothing really substantial. I have made the commitment to the NM LOE for 2010, and have started working on next years rally. My first job is coming up with a theme/logo for the rally.
I'm finally taking the FJR in to get the tires replaced, I need to do a little maintenance on the bike. I dropped it in the garage (the dreaded kick stand got me). For those that do not know the kick stand on the FJR is a little flaky and you have to be careful it will give if you do not lock it in. Well I made the mistake when I pulled into the garage and parked I didn't give it that finally check and after I got off it just fell over. When it went it broke the plastic mount for the top box. This weekend I purchased a different top box similar to a pelican case. I have to make up a new mount for the case this weekend.
Really a slow time for me but I hope to get back on the road soon, would like to end the year around 30-32K miles, right now I'm at 28.8K. I have only put 350 miles on in the last 6 weeks really weak.
Well I finally got out and did a little riding, I did a loop and hooked up with a couple of buddies. Ended up doing a 150 mile ride and lunch, it was nice to get out and stretch the legs a little bit. I also jumped in and did the Rio Rancho toy run, that is always an interesting ride. About 7000-8000 riders with 10-20% of the riders going out for the first time or new riders. It is also a defensive ride, usually 1-2 accidents with a rider hitting the back of another bike. Still a good ride for a great cause.
I just replaced my top box, the mount broke a while back. I bought a sea horse box it is similar to a pelican box. I had to make up a mount system but it all works. I still need to make up a back rest. I'll probably sell the old top box once I'm sure I like this new setup.
I hook up with my old motorcycle group AMRG and picked up a couple of contact numbers so I can get out with then occasionally. I was able to ride with my son, we went out on a cold morning for breakfast and made a run together. Just a short hope but fun to get out and ride with him and talk.
Well this month was another bust on the riding front. I really haven't been getting out lately. I don't think I rode more than 400 miles this month. Well I hope to turn that around in December.
Well until next time ride safe.
I'm finally taking the FJR in to get the tires replaced, I need to do a little maintenance on the bike. I dropped it in the garage (the dreaded kick stand got me). For those that do not know the kick stand on the FJR is a little flaky and you have to be careful it will give if you do not lock it in. Well I made the mistake when I pulled into the garage and parked I didn't give it that finally check and after I got off it just fell over. When it went it broke the plastic mount for the top box. This weekend I purchased a different top box similar to a pelican case. I have to make up a new mount for the case this weekend.
Really a slow time for me but I hope to get back on the road soon, would like to end the year around 30-32K miles, right now I'm at 28.8K. I have only put 350 miles on in the last 6 weeks really weak.
Well I finally got out and did a little riding, I did a loop and hooked up with a couple of buddies. Ended up doing a 150 mile ride and lunch, it was nice to get out and stretch the legs a little bit. I also jumped in and did the Rio Rancho toy run, that is always an interesting ride. About 7000-8000 riders with 10-20% of the riders going out for the first time or new riders. It is also a defensive ride, usually 1-2 accidents with a rider hitting the back of another bike. Still a good ride for a great cause.
I just replaced my top box, the mount broke a while back. I bought a sea horse box it is similar to a pelican box. I had to make up a mount system but it all works. I still need to make up a back rest. I'll probably sell the old top box once I'm sure I like this new setup.
I hook up with my old motorcycle group AMRG and picked up a couple of contact numbers so I can get out with then occasionally. I was able to ride with my son, we went out on a cold morning for breakfast and made a run together. Just a short hope but fun to get out and ride with him and talk.
Well this month was another bust on the riding front. I really haven't been getting out lately. I don't think I rode more than 400 miles this month. Well I hope to turn that around in December.
Well until next time ride safe.
Monday, October 12, 2009
October
Well it's October I can hardly believe that it has been a month since the IBR. I have been focusing on getting back to a semi-normal life again. The riding group (AMRG)I belonged to has been changing resently and I've decided it was time to resign as an assistant organizer and to drop from the group. I have met some very nice people but the group seems to have splintered and they have closed their calendar to outsiders, so I decided to step out for a while. Not sure if I'll go back but it has been nice to step out and do my own thing.
I did run in the Land of Enchantment Rally last week placing 12th out of 54 entrances. After the rally, I was asked if I would like to get involved in putting on next years event. I told the rally masters I was interested as long as someone helped me. This is a wonderful rally and a lot of work so I wanted to make sure nothing changed. I also was introduced to Bob Hall the 2001 IBR winner, he was a member of the staff for the LOE and lives just outside Albuquerque. We talked about setting up a web site for LD Riders in New Mexico, a place were we could post rides meeting up for lunch/dinner sometimes doing over night rides. This would not be a meet up ride together but ride somewhere and meet at a specific time. Most of the riding I do is alone so I was interested, so Bob and I plan to get together and talk about what the web site would look like.
Here it is second week in October, it's a big week for me. I just hit 21 years at work and I turned 52 this week. I've pulled off my extra fuel cell I'm planning on make a short birthday run this weekend but I still need to replace my tires, I'm still running on the ones from the IBR. I have somewhere around 12,700 miles on them and the front is getting cupped (they need replaced).
Things are slowing down for me, I haven't been on a long ride in quite a while. I'm still dinking around on the same tires and man I can feel it every time I turn a corner, quite a bit of vibration. Bike seems naked without a fuel cell. Tried to hook up with some friends this weekend but no one showed at the usual starting location, so I called it good for the week. I don't think I have put on 200 miles since the NM LOE a couple of weeks ago.
Well for now ride safe.
Dave
I did run in the Land of Enchantment Rally last week placing 12th out of 54 entrances. After the rally, I was asked if I would like to get involved in putting on next years event. I told the rally masters I was interested as long as someone helped me. This is a wonderful rally and a lot of work so I wanted to make sure nothing changed. I also was introduced to Bob Hall the 2001 IBR winner, he was a member of the staff for the LOE and lives just outside Albuquerque. We talked about setting up a web site for LD Riders in New Mexico, a place were we could post rides meeting up for lunch/dinner sometimes doing over night rides. This would not be a meet up ride together but ride somewhere and meet at a specific time. Most of the riding I do is alone so I was interested, so Bob and I plan to get together and talk about what the web site would look like.
Here it is second week in October, it's a big week for me. I just hit 21 years at work and I turned 52 this week. I've pulled off my extra fuel cell I'm planning on make a short birthday run this weekend but I still need to replace my tires, I'm still running on the ones from the IBR. I have somewhere around 12,700 miles on them and the front is getting cupped (they need replaced).
Things are slowing down for me, I haven't been on a long ride in quite a while. I'm still dinking around on the same tires and man I can feel it every time I turn a corner, quite a bit of vibration. Bike seems naked without a fuel cell. Tried to hook up with some friends this weekend but no one showed at the usual starting location, so I called it good for the week. I don't think I have put on 200 miles since the NM LOE a couple of weeks ago.
Well for now ride safe.
Dave
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
New Mexico LOE 2009 Ride Report
Well here we are another LOE completed and again not 100% happy with my performance in this years rally. I ended up placing 12th out of 54 starters. We had 49 finishers this year and a two-up couple won the rally for the first time. Tom and Rosie Sperry are an excellent team and always tough competitors when it comes to rallying.
I started this rally similar to how I have in the past, they set the start of this years rally in Albuquerque, NM and I again grabbed a hotel room even though I live 15 miles from the start. I arrived at the hotel on Friday checking in with the rally staff. I flew through tech inspection and odometer check with no issues. Once done I settled into my room and prepped for our riders meeting at 8pm. I group of us went to the neighborhood Applebee's for a quick dinner. It was nice to hook up with Dennis who I ran the IBR with and Doug who was at the finish in Spokane, WA. We talked about all the things that happened and Dennis was picking on me about my bad decisions on Leg 2 and how he couldn't believe I missed a 4000 point bonus location that I rode right by. I didn't want to agree with Dennis but he was right, major screw-up on my part.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and attended the riders meeting. We received our rider placards, shirts and bonus packages. When allowed I opened my package reviewed the bonus location, made sure I didn't have any questions and retired to my room. Once back to my room, I fired up the netbook and pulled out both of my GPSs.
After my initial review of the bonus pack, I decided to head North first and run in the mountains during the daylight then I would turn South for my night riding. I always hate running in the North at night, the wildlife seems thicker in the Northern part of the state at night. We had five bonus locations that were time sensitive all worth 50 points. Trinity site, Lordsburg, Carlsbad, Shiprock and Raton. I was working different routes but could not come up with one that I thought I could get to two of the bonuses in the allotted time. So I decide to head for Raton because it seemed that there were more bonus locations clustered together in the North. After that I would head East towards Santa Rosa then turn South and swing back to I-25 and Albuquerque for the finish.
My goal in the first portion of the rides was collect the Alb Balloon bonus then Raton, NRA Whittington Center, St James Hotel, Philmont Boyscout Center, Chicosa Lake State Park, Lamy train station, four bonuses in Santa Fe, Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid, and Sandia Peak before heading for the hotel and the rest bonus.
The second part of the ride I was going to head for Moriarty and Memorial of tears, Santa Rosa and the Hot Rod on a stick, then House, Ft Sumner, Vaughn, Roswell and Bottomless lakes, Smokey the bears grave site, Harvey House Museum, Rattle snake museum, Atomic museum and lastly the Unser Museum before heading back to the finish.
It was now approaching 11:00pm and I needed to quickly download my route into my GPS and get to bed. I finally hit the pillow about 00:30 am and I needed to have the FJR in the parking lot for final odometer check at 06:00 am. 05:30 came quickly, and I gathered up my things, loaded the bike and moved it into the starting position. I sat around kicking back waiting for the 07:00 start. We had our last meeting prior to the start and we were asked to be safe and to saddle up. 07:00 the flag went up and off we went in groups of two.
My first stop was a quick photo of four balloons at the Albuquerque balloon site,
then I was off to Raton for a gas receipt before the time lock out at 11:00. I ended up making it to Raton by 10:00 where I saw several other riders. When you are doing these rides it's nice to see several peers, it tells you that you might have selected the correct directions. After Raton, I went to the NRA Whittington Center to take a picture of the entrance sign. 
I then headed for Cimmeron and the St. James hotel to get the info off the corner stone, next the Philmont Boyscout training center for a photo of the entrance sign. I actually stopped at the administrations office but decided after reading the bonus location info I was at the wrong location. I continued down the road another quarter of a mile to the correct entrance sign. 
I ran into Karl and Mark at the hotel and Philmont stops. Karl and I left Philmont at the same time with Mark heading for the Veitnam War Memorial and Karl and I heading South. Karl and I pulled off at the Springer exit but Karl turned right and I was going left. At the time he confused me, because he was heading back to the interstate. I was heading for the Chicosa Lake State Park and I found out Karl was heading for the Raspberry farm, he missed his turn and was back tracking. I could not find the State Park my GPS, it kept routing me down dirt roads that dead ended into locked gates. When I arrived at Wagonwheel, I decided to give up on the Chicosa State Park. I later found out the lake dried up and the state park closed. That's why the dirt roads had gates closed off and there was only one way in. I should have asked a local where the park was, I later found out I was only 5 miles from it when I decided to skip it.
So after missing that bonus I headed straight for the Lamy train station for a quick picture of the station.
I then headed for Santa Fe to grab four bonus stops. The first was San Miguel Mission. I actually found a guy willing to hold my placard while I took the photo from the street.
My next stop was the Cathedral at the square that was never completed. Again I found a person to hold my placard 
and off I went to grab the third bonus location. I was going to grab the hotel photo bonus but could not find it, I circled the square twice. This was very discouraging because it was the second bonus that I missed and I decide to give up on the fourth bonus in Santa Fe it was geting tough to navigate with the tourist. I had to keep going so off to Madrid and the tavern. I had to stop for fuel since I had about 70-80 miles to go before I would see another gas station. I arrived at Madrid and a quick stop were I took a photo of the Mine Shaft Tavern sign. 
Then off to Sandia Peak and a photo of the city of Albuquerque. The road to the crest is a fun twisting road but not great for rallying. I made it to the top as fast as I could took my picture 
and headed for my next bonus the rest stop at the start. I arrived at the hotel just after the bonus opened at 17:00 right behind Karl. I was planning to go for the one hour stop then start my second leg.
I kicked back in my room, rechecked my next destination and went to check out with the rally staff. After that I headed for the Memorial of tear in Moriarty to take a photo of the tombstones,
I've ridden past this memorial several times but this was the first time I stopped. It is a nice memorial for the DWI victims. I then headed further East on I-40 and Santa Rosa for the Route 66 Museum and a photo of the Hot Rod on a stick. This is the first time I have stopped for a picture and the car was lite up. 
They were having some sort of meeting at the museum. I snapped a quick picture then off for Fort Sumner and a gas fuel receipt.
As I started down Hwy 84 I came up on truck running about 60mph in a 65. I decide to pass and as I was coming up on the cab of the truck, he hit something. I'm not 100% sure what it was but I think it was an antelope based on the part it threw at me. After the truck hit the animal it split in half and threw a chunk straight at me, it hit the front tire and slid up the fairing and over the windscreen. I pulled over to the shoulder and started checking out the bike, all I could see was a lot of blood on the front and my left running light bracket was bent shinning my light 20 feet into the sky. I decide to keep going but did notice a slight vibration in the front end as started to exceed 40 mph and it increased as my speed went up. I ran 60-65 mph to Fort Sumner and when I arrived I gave the bike a better looking at. The gas station attendant let me use his water hose, so I washed off the front of the bike looking for damage but I really didn't see anything wrong outside of the light bracket. I called the rally staff told them what happened and that I was going to alter my route. I decided to make a run back to the hotel making sure I hit enough miles to be a finisher but I was essentially done. I took House, Roswell, Bottomless Lake and Capitan from my bonus lists giving up on those four bonuses.
I sat around Fort Sumner for about 30 minutes after talking to the rally staff drinking a cup of coffee talking to the attendant that had seen a couple of other riders earlier in the day. He was asking about the rally and where was I going next. I told him Vaughn then back to Albuquerque due to the antelope strike I was cutting the rally short. So I thanked him for the use of the hose, the cup of coffee and off I went.
I was able to reach Vaughn about 23:00 where I had to take a photo of the city limit sign.
Normally this is easy you attach your placard to the sign snap a picture at an angle so you don't get a reflection but of course the wind was blowwing about 20-25 mph making it almost impossible to keep the placard from moving. After about 9 attenpts, I finally was able to get the picture. I decided that since I was heading back, I would stop at the truck stop in Vaughn and get another cup of coffee. I wasn't in any hurry. After the coffee, I headed back North on Hwy 285 to I-40, this is only about 45 miles but I continued to keep the speed around 60 mph due to the vibration. I made it to I-40 no problems and started back for Albuquerque. I decided to go for the Harvey House photo bonus in Belen, it was only 30 miles and I needed about 75 more miles to make sure I exceeded 1000. The ride to Belen was straight down I-25 but the speed limit is 75 and I tried to run as fast as I could about 65, this made me a little nervous due to the cars passing me like I was standing still. I found the Harvey House no problem took my photo 
and off to downtown Albuquerque for three more bonuses.
I stopped and took photos of the Rattlesnake,
Atomic 
and Unser Museums 
then headed for the finish at the hotel. I was a little concerned about the photo I took of the Atomic museum, the direction took me to the old location so I took a photo of the sign stating it moved. I arrived around 02:30 called my wife to let her know I was in then sat around waiting for the check-in to open at 06:00. It was kind of discouraging knowing that I gave up on four bonuses that I had plenty of time to get but I didn't want to chance it with the bike not running 100%. After 06:00 I checked in and went to scoring where I didn't miss anything and received 270 points. So all toll I missed 7 bonuses worth 70 points, three on the first half and four on the second half. The best I would have done was 340 points and that would have put me either in 2-4 place. I ended up 12th out of 54 starters which I was happy with considering, I expected to end up somewhere in the middle.
After the banquet, I hung around talking to the Rally Masters and accepted a position on the staff to help coordindate the LOE for 2010. So this is my last LOE to ride in for a while. Switching from rider to rally support will be different but I'm hoping fun. One of the guys is stepping down and I'm taking his place.
The NM LOE is a great rally and going forward I hope to continue that tradition.
I started this rally similar to how I have in the past, they set the start of this years rally in Albuquerque, NM and I again grabbed a hotel room even though I live 15 miles from the start. I arrived at the hotel on Friday checking in with the rally staff. I flew through tech inspection and odometer check with no issues. Once done I settled into my room and prepped for our riders meeting at 8pm. I group of us went to the neighborhood Applebee's for a quick dinner. It was nice to hook up with Dennis who I ran the IBR with and Doug who was at the finish in Spokane, WA. We talked about all the things that happened and Dennis was picking on me about my bad decisions on Leg 2 and how he couldn't believe I missed a 4000 point bonus location that I rode right by. I didn't want to agree with Dennis but he was right, major screw-up on my part.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and attended the riders meeting. We received our rider placards, shirts and bonus packages. When allowed I opened my package reviewed the bonus location, made sure I didn't have any questions and retired to my room. Once back to my room, I fired up the netbook and pulled out both of my GPSs.
After my initial review of the bonus pack, I decided to head North first and run in the mountains during the daylight then I would turn South for my night riding. I always hate running in the North at night, the wildlife seems thicker in the Northern part of the state at night. We had five bonus locations that were time sensitive all worth 50 points. Trinity site, Lordsburg, Carlsbad, Shiprock and Raton. I was working different routes but could not come up with one that I thought I could get to two of the bonuses in the allotted time. So I decide to head for Raton because it seemed that there were more bonus locations clustered together in the North. After that I would head East towards Santa Rosa then turn South and swing back to I-25 and Albuquerque for the finish.
My goal in the first portion of the rides was collect the Alb Balloon bonus then Raton, NRA Whittington Center, St James Hotel, Philmont Boyscout Center, Chicosa Lake State Park, Lamy train station, four bonuses in Santa Fe, Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid, and Sandia Peak before heading for the hotel and the rest bonus.
The second part of the ride I was going to head for Moriarty and Memorial of tears, Santa Rosa and the Hot Rod on a stick, then House, Ft Sumner, Vaughn, Roswell and Bottomless lakes, Smokey the bears grave site, Harvey House Museum, Rattle snake museum, Atomic museum and lastly the Unser Museum before heading back to the finish.
It was now approaching 11:00pm and I needed to quickly download my route into my GPS and get to bed. I finally hit the pillow about 00:30 am and I needed to have the FJR in the parking lot for final odometer check at 06:00 am. 05:30 came quickly, and I gathered up my things, loaded the bike and moved it into the starting position. I sat around kicking back waiting for the 07:00 start. We had our last meeting prior to the start and we were asked to be safe and to saddle up. 07:00 the flag went up and off we went in groups of two.
My first stop was a quick photo of four balloons at the Albuquerque balloon site,
then I was off to Raton for a gas receipt before the time lock out at 11:00. I ended up making it to Raton by 10:00 where I saw several other riders. When you are doing these rides it's nice to see several peers, it tells you that you might have selected the correct directions. After Raton, I went to the NRA Whittington Center to take a picture of the entrance sign. 
I then headed for Cimmeron and the St. James hotel to get the info off the corner stone, next the Philmont Boyscout training center for a photo of the entrance sign. I actually stopped at the administrations office but decided after reading the bonus location info I was at the wrong location. I continued down the road another quarter of a mile to the correct entrance sign. 
I ran into Karl and Mark at the hotel and Philmont stops. Karl and I left Philmont at the same time with Mark heading for the Veitnam War Memorial and Karl and I heading South. Karl and I pulled off at the Springer exit but Karl turned right and I was going left. At the time he confused me, because he was heading back to the interstate. I was heading for the Chicosa Lake State Park and I found out Karl was heading for the Raspberry farm, he missed his turn and was back tracking. I could not find the State Park my GPS, it kept routing me down dirt roads that dead ended into locked gates. When I arrived at Wagonwheel, I decided to give up on the Chicosa State Park. I later found out the lake dried up and the state park closed. That's why the dirt roads had gates closed off and there was only one way in. I should have asked a local where the park was, I later found out I was only 5 miles from it when I decided to skip it. So after missing that bonus I headed straight for the Lamy train station for a quick picture of the station.
I then headed for Santa Fe to grab four bonus stops. The first was San Miguel Mission. I actually found a guy willing to hold my placard while I took the photo from the street.
My next stop was the Cathedral at the square that was never completed. Again I found a person to hold my placard 
and off I went to grab the third bonus location. I was going to grab the hotel photo bonus but could not find it, I circled the square twice. This was very discouraging because it was the second bonus that I missed and I decide to give up on the fourth bonus in Santa Fe it was geting tough to navigate with the tourist. I had to keep going so off to Madrid and the tavern. I had to stop for fuel since I had about 70-80 miles to go before I would see another gas station. I arrived at Madrid and a quick stop were I took a photo of the Mine Shaft Tavern sign. 
Then off to Sandia Peak and a photo of the city of Albuquerque. The road to the crest is a fun twisting road but not great for rallying. I made it to the top as fast as I could took my picture 
and headed for my next bonus the rest stop at the start. I arrived at the hotel just after the bonus opened at 17:00 right behind Karl. I was planning to go for the one hour stop then start my second leg.I kicked back in my room, rechecked my next destination and went to check out with the rally staff. After that I headed for the Memorial of tear in Moriarty to take a photo of the tombstones,
I've ridden past this memorial several times but this was the first time I stopped. It is a nice memorial for the DWI victims. I then headed further East on I-40 and Santa Rosa for the Route 66 Museum and a photo of the Hot Rod on a stick. This is the first time I have stopped for a picture and the car was lite up. 
They were having some sort of meeting at the museum. I snapped a quick picture then off for Fort Sumner and a gas fuel receipt. As I started down Hwy 84 I came up on truck running about 60mph in a 65. I decide to pass and as I was coming up on the cab of the truck, he hit something. I'm not 100% sure what it was but I think it was an antelope based on the part it threw at me. After the truck hit the animal it split in half and threw a chunk straight at me, it hit the front tire and slid up the fairing and over the windscreen. I pulled over to the shoulder and started checking out the bike, all I could see was a lot of blood on the front and my left running light bracket was bent shinning my light 20 feet into the sky. I decide to keep going but did notice a slight vibration in the front end as started to exceed 40 mph and it increased as my speed went up. I ran 60-65 mph to Fort Sumner and when I arrived I gave the bike a better looking at. The gas station attendant let me use his water hose, so I washed off the front of the bike looking for damage but I really didn't see anything wrong outside of the light bracket. I called the rally staff told them what happened and that I was going to alter my route. I decided to make a run back to the hotel making sure I hit enough miles to be a finisher but I was essentially done. I took House, Roswell, Bottomless Lake and Capitan from my bonus lists giving up on those four bonuses.
I sat around Fort Sumner for about 30 minutes after talking to the rally staff drinking a cup of coffee talking to the attendant that had seen a couple of other riders earlier in the day. He was asking about the rally and where was I going next. I told him Vaughn then back to Albuquerque due to the antelope strike I was cutting the rally short. So I thanked him for the use of the hose, the cup of coffee and off I went.
I was able to reach Vaughn about 23:00 where I had to take a photo of the city limit sign.
Normally this is easy you attach your placard to the sign snap a picture at an angle so you don't get a reflection but of course the wind was blowwing about 20-25 mph making it almost impossible to keep the placard from moving. After about 9 attenpts, I finally was able to get the picture. I decided that since I was heading back, I would stop at the truck stop in Vaughn and get another cup of coffee. I wasn't in any hurry. After the coffee, I headed back North on Hwy 285 to I-40, this is only about 45 miles but I continued to keep the speed around 60 mph due to the vibration. I made it to I-40 no problems and started back for Albuquerque. I decided to go for the Harvey House photo bonus in Belen, it was only 30 miles and I needed about 75 more miles to make sure I exceeded 1000. The ride to Belen was straight down I-25 but the speed limit is 75 and I tried to run as fast as I could about 65, this made me a little nervous due to the cars passing me like I was standing still. I found the Harvey House no problem took my photo 
and off to downtown Albuquerque for three more bonuses.I stopped and took photos of the Rattlesnake,
Atomic 
and Unser Museums 
then headed for the finish at the hotel. I was a little concerned about the photo I took of the Atomic museum, the direction took me to the old location so I took a photo of the sign stating it moved. I arrived around 02:30 called my wife to let her know I was in then sat around waiting for the check-in to open at 06:00. It was kind of discouraging knowing that I gave up on four bonuses that I had plenty of time to get but I didn't want to chance it with the bike not running 100%. After 06:00 I checked in and went to scoring where I didn't miss anything and received 270 points. So all toll I missed 7 bonuses worth 70 points, three on the first half and four on the second half. The best I would have done was 340 points and that would have put me either in 2-4 place. I ended up 12th out of 54 starters which I was happy with considering, I expected to end up somewhere in the middle. After the banquet, I hung around talking to the Rally Masters and accepted a position on the staff to help coordindate the LOE for 2010. So this is my last LOE to ride in for a while. Switching from rider to rally support will be different but I'm hoping fun. One of the guys is stepping down and I'm taking his place.
The NM LOE is a great rally and going forward I hope to continue that tradition.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
September I'm home
Well the IBR is completed and I'm home safely. I ended up accomplishing my goals of getting home safely and being a finisher in the 2009 IBR. I ended up finishing reaching medalist status. I have a new IBA number #389.
I have added ride reports under my September link. I ended up traveling a total of 13,000 miles, this included travel to Spartanburg and coming home from Spokane. I rode just under 10,000 miles during the rally. I took my time getting to Spartanburg (3 days), I used the time to string 3 days of riding together and on the way home from Spokane I tool 2 days to just relax.
Since I have been home, I've changed the gear oil, and oil filter ( holding off changing the oil until after the NM LOE rally). I had to redo my wiring for my GPS, lights and XM-Radio. The shop accidently re-routed my wiring under the engine heat shield causing some electrical issues. That took me about 2.5 hours, I also re-wired the GPS and xm-radio together so now I get the voice notifications when I need to turn with my music in the background.
I have left the fuel cell on the FJR and the bike is pretty much ready with the exception of tires for the New Mexico Land of Enchantment rally that starts the first week in October. This is a 1000 mile 24 hour rally. Once done with this rally, I'l be done for 09 and looking to what I might consider for 2010. I have been thinking about the NPT (National Park Tour) or possibly a 48-10 (48 states in 10 days). I'm still deciding if I want to change out the tires before or after the LOE. The Pilot Road II on the bike have been wonderful, not sure if I can squeeze another 1500-1800 miles out of them. They are getting close to the wear bars on the front tires. If I don't change the tires I will have approximately 12,700 miles on the set (not sure I want to chance it).
Well until next week Ride Safe
Dave
I have added ride reports under my September link. I ended up traveling a total of 13,000 miles, this included travel to Spartanburg and coming home from Spokane. I rode just under 10,000 miles during the rally. I took my time getting to Spartanburg (3 days), I used the time to string 3 days of riding together and on the way home from Spokane I tool 2 days to just relax.
Since I have been home, I've changed the gear oil, and oil filter ( holding off changing the oil until after the NM LOE rally). I had to redo my wiring for my GPS, lights and XM-Radio. The shop accidently re-routed my wiring under the engine heat shield causing some electrical issues. That took me about 2.5 hours, I also re-wired the GPS and xm-radio together so now I get the voice notifications when I need to turn with my music in the background.
I have left the fuel cell on the FJR and the bike is pretty much ready with the exception of tires for the New Mexico Land of Enchantment rally that starts the first week in October. This is a 1000 mile 24 hour rally. Once done with this rally, I'l be done for 09 and looking to what I might consider for 2010. I have been thinking about the NPT (National Park Tour) or possibly a 48-10 (48 states in 10 days). I'm still deciding if I want to change out the tires before or after the LOE. The Pilot Road II on the bike have been wonderful, not sure if I can squeeze another 1500-1800 miles out of them. They are getting close to the wear bars on the front tires. If I don't change the tires I will have approximately 12,700 miles on the set (not sure I want to chance it).
Well until next week Ride Safe
Dave
IBR 09 Ride report Leg 3
2009 IBR Report by David Porter
Leg 3
August 31-Day 8 Here we go again up at 03:30 and a quick shower before our 04:00 riders meeting. A quick communication from the Rally Mistress, then bonus packets were handed out for leg 3 and off to the room to plan my route. This time I was determined to not leave early. I wanted to spend time setting up a good route to hit the 76,000 needed total to be a finisher. That went out the window at 07:00 seeing that I needed to be at my first time-restricted bonus to make my second one. So again here we go three of five days figured out this time. I left Santa Ana knowing there was going to be traffic and that my route was taking me through Nevada and Utah (not just hot but damn hot). When I hit my first fuel stop in Mesquite, NV it was 104 and 108 when I hit Vegas. I was at least correct on the time; I made my first bonus Mountain Meadows Memorial early giving me plenty of time to get the Overland Hotel and Saloon but I knew I would not make my next daylight bonus the southern most point in Zion National Park on time so I adjusted my route and picked up the Hotel Nevada (picking up a poker chip) and Gunnison Massacre Site before sundown. I also set myself up for Zion if I really wanted it. That night I decided to give up on Zion’s big points because felt I would lose too much time in the park and have trouble getting to my other time restricted bonuses that day.
September 1-Day 9 I headed for Colorado for Linwood Cemetery and Doc Holliday’s grave site (this was an interesting one a half mile moderate to extreme hike to the top of a hill and boy did they mean it) and then a picture of the Police Car in Rand, CO. The police car was cool it was parked next to Rand Yacht club (out in the middle of nowhere) and it had a dummy in the driver seat with another dummy with it’s head in the officer’s lap (my guess kids did that). I then headed for Wyoming where I bagged JJ’s Bar and the Goshen County Courthouse then off to South Dakota for Crazy Horse Mountain (I ran into Dennis again and Jeff and Carol) and Old Style #10 Saloon in Deadwood. I pulled up and there was a no parking sign but the door man waved me in saying it was ok so naturally I had to get him to hold my rally flag for me. After getting the saloon bonus, I rode close to Devils tower setting up Day 10. I ended up riding to Sundance about 20-25 miles from Devils Tower. I pulled into the hotel right behind Jeff and Carol, they had the same idea of setting up for a short run to Devil's tower in the morning.
September 2-Day 10 I woke and took my time getting going knowing that the next bonus was not available until 09:00, so I didn’t leave the hotel until 08:00. I arrived at Devils tower and was sitting in the parking lot waiting for the 09:00 start time. I noticed several riders leaving the site before the designated time as I rode up. I decided to call the rally mistress becasue the visitors center was open, I found out the bonus opened at 08:00 so our paperwork was wrong. I bagged the bonus then headed off for Summit Hotel in Big Sky, Montana and Frontline Processing. I then headed for Idaho and a Post Office. I rode for a few more hours then calling it a night stopping in a rest stop in Oregon. I figured this was my last rest before Spokane and I had a big day planned so I didn’t want to take any extra time with a hotel. I found a shelter grabbed my tank bag for a pillow and set the screamin meanie for a 2.5 hour nap. If you have never heard on of these things it is light a car alarm going off and you are only a foot away.
September 3/4-Day 11 I woke up after a 2.5 hour nap, washed my face and grabbed a snack bar to get me going. I picked up the Young Life Christian Farm what a bonus about 10 miles of gravel. At one point on the road, I saw a sign that said Emergency phone 1.2 miles; I remember laughing to myself thinking that was silly. About a half a mile later I remember seeing a speed limit sign that said, “Speed Limit 5 MPH and we Really Really mean it”. I could do nothing but laugh as I was going about 25-30 MPH on this gravel road thinking how much worse could it really get. Boy was I surprised, I crested the top of the hill and all I saw was blue sky. The road completely dropped off and I felt like I was on a ski slope. The road was a downhill straight away for what seemed like a half a mile with a 90-degree turn at the bottom. I immediately hit the rear brake and started sliding down; I slowed just enough to make the corner. Once I turned the corner there was a Goldwing heading right for me. We both hit the breaks stopping about 20 feet apart, I wasn’t sure who it was at first, then he flipped up his visor and it was Jerry. He had just grabbed the bonus and was heading out. (I later found out only a few of us made it all the way to the water tower for the picture.) I asked Jerry if the road got any better. He said, “no but it doesn’t get any worse”. So I continued on to the bottom getting a picture of the water tower. As I'm filling out my bonus sheet a car goes flying by with kids hanging out the windows screaming, so I figured it was time to head out. My next stop was in Portland and I was thinking, I was going to hit the area perfectly, I was trying to get in and out before the traffic got bad (boy was that a bad plan). It took me 3.5 hours to get Pleasure Acres Thoroughbred Farm and the Home Depot bonus. My next stop was Skamania County EMS across the gorge bridge in Washington. I saw Joe another rider at this bonus. We were heading for the same bonus but I was planning to stop and grab a bite to eat before pushing on. This would give me time to decide if I wanted to continue hunting bonuses or call it good after the next one (I was concerned that I lost too much time in Portland). We took off together from the EMS bonus and it wasn’t soon before it was apparent that he needed to stop. He was tired and it showed he was having a problem maintaining his speed, so I signaled that we should pulled off the highway, he agreed so we stopped grabbed some gas and coffee. I talked to him and asked if he wanted me to wait for him or push on. He said to go he was going to take his time stopping every 30 minutes till he got in (he decided right then and there he was done). I told him not to push and take his time and I would see him in Spokane, I went ahead and he stayed back relaxing for a little bit. I decided to push on to my next bonus then I would stop and decided if I wanted to continue hunting bonuses or call it good. I grabbed the ZZ Streetrod Sign bonus and headed for the highway and Spokane. I pulled into the first truck stop, reviewed the map and bonus locations and decided to skip the Western State Hospital, it was worth over 1000 points but it would be a 200 mile trip. I figured I could head to the hotel and then decide if I want to go for Zip’s Drive In. I grabbed a cup of coffee, verified my receipts and points knowing I easily had enough to be considered a finisher. I arrived at the hotel parking lot a little after 02:00 to a woman clapping and waving and congratulating me. It might have only been one person but it was nice to have that cheer as I showed up. There must have been 40 bikes already in and I’m sure I was one of the last for the night. I pulled the gear off the bike and saw a good friend Jeff Bakker talking to a few other riders. I asked him if he was going to cruise up and get the time-restricted bonus Zip’s Drive In. He told me he and Milinda were done I was thinking of making the run but felt I had enough points and as long as I didn’t make a mistake at the scorers table I had plenty of points to be a finisher so I decided I was done. I went upstairs and woke my wife to let her know I was here and going to head back downstairs and get ready for rider check in and scoring. At 04:00 they opened scoring and I was the third in line (wanted to get it over). I went into the scorer’s room and found Heidi not scoring anyone so I sat down with her (she scored me in leg 2). I walked away from the scoring table not missing a thing. I was feeling pretty good knowing I had completed the rally and had enough points to be considered a finisher. As I was walking out of the room Ira congratulated me on finishing. Tell me I did New Mexico proud. I hung around waiting for Jeff and Milinda to complete their scoring; afterwards we all went to breakfast. We sat talking about our rides the positives and negitives, where we screwed up and what we would do if we had a second chance. We talked about would we do this again and I think yes was the answer.
After a 3-hour nap, I went to a beautiful park next to the hotel walked around with my wife and son and stopped at an Irish pub for a light lunch and a beer. That evening we attended the cocktail party and banquet sitting with friends we had made at the National Meet in Tulsa. Wayne and Robin came to the finish to congradulate me on my finish. It was cool to sit with them and talk, they were very interested in my ride and the places I went. After the banquet and awards ceremony, we went out to the hallway drinking and laughing seeing friends that I had made on the ride talking about our experience. As the night wore on, we heard that Davo had passed away from his injuries from his accident, which put a dampener on our ending. Davo was on the ride of his life he told me at the start. He hit a deer after leaving Canada that morning heading for Spokane, so close to the finish. He was with a group that was hunting bonuses in Canada. They came up on him after the accident but there wasn't much anyone could do from what I heard.
The next day I hung around waving goodbye to other riders heading out that morning. I spent time talking with Bob, he hit a deer in South Dakota and busted up his FJR pretty bad. The good thing he was able to keep it up-right, to keep going he duct taped his plastic fairing back together. I also took in the sites of Spokane, WA with my family, we went walking in the park; swimming in the pool and that night went to a nice restaurant over looking the river. My family took off the next morning, they were flying home. I took my time getting out of the hotel, I really didn't have a set time that I had to be back home so I was in no hurry. It was raining so I put on my wet gear, saddled up and headed for home. That day I rode just past Salt Lake City about 750 miles. It rained about four hours of the ride but was kind of a nice change. The majority of my rally was in the heat, so the rain was a pleasent distraction. It was raining enough to keep everything wet but not so hard that you couldn't run highway speeds. The next day I had a quick breakfast, jumped on the bike early and was home by 15:00. I didn't push hard, I took my time doing the last 600 miles. The ride was quiet with no pressure to be at a bonus location or document a stop, so it was a nice time to reflect on what had transpired during the rally.
So far, I have been having a hard time explaining why I did the ride. I’m still thinking about what ifs or how I could’ve improved. I’m also thinking about what’s next, I have the New Mexico Land of Enchantment rally coming up in October but have not thought much on what I want to do next year.
Below is a listing of the bonuses I reached and points per leg of the rally. I ended up 51st out of 101 riders that started reaching bronze medal status.
David Porter Yamaha FJR1300
Leg Bonus Description Points Penalty 3 Finish, Spokane, WA
3 Arrival Points - Leg 3 100
3 Gas - Leg 3 3000
3 Police car Rand 4568
3 Linwood Cemetery (a/k/a Pioneer Cemetery) 1464
3 Post office Midvale 402
3 Summit at Big Sky Ski & Summer Resort 1818
3 Frontline Processing 246
3 Hotel Nevada 1216
3 Overland Hotel & Saloon 201
3 Young Life Christian farm 3874
3 Pleasure Acres Thoroughbred Farm 3576
3 Home Depot 429
3 Crazy Horse Mountain 4980
3 Old Style #10 Saloon 218
3 Gunnison massacre site 387
3 Mountain Meadows memorial 4835
3 ZZ Streetrods sign 1079
3 Skamania County EMS 171
3 JJ’s Bar 267
3 Goshen county courthouse 288
3 Visitor's Center Devil's Tower 5837
3 Rest Bonus - Leg 3 6003
3 Call-In Bonus 1 9-1-09 - Leg 3 749
3 Call-In Bonus 2 9-3-09 - Leg 3 751
Totals for leg 3: 46459
leg 1: 9,349
leg 2: 28,671
leg 3: 46,549
My total was 84,479
Below is a map of my route, the green is my leg 3.
Leg 3
August 31-Day 8 Here we go again up at 03:30 and a quick shower before our 04:00 riders meeting. A quick communication from the Rally Mistress, then bonus packets were handed out for leg 3 and off to the room to plan my route. This time I was determined to not leave early. I wanted to spend time setting up a good route to hit the 76,000 needed total to be a finisher. That went out the window at 07:00 seeing that I needed to be at my first time-restricted bonus to make my second one. So again here we go three of five days figured out this time. I left Santa Ana knowing there was going to be traffic and that my route was taking me through Nevada and Utah (not just hot but damn hot). When I hit my first fuel stop in Mesquite, NV it was 104 and 108 when I hit Vegas. I was at least correct on the time; I made my first bonus Mountain Meadows Memorial early giving me plenty of time to get the Overland Hotel and Saloon but I knew I would not make my next daylight bonus the southern most point in Zion National Park on time so I adjusted my route and picked up the Hotel Nevada (picking up a poker chip) and Gunnison Massacre Site before sundown. I also set myself up for Zion if I really wanted it. That night I decided to give up on Zion’s big points because felt I would lose too much time in the park and have trouble getting to my other time restricted bonuses that day.
September 1-Day 9 I headed for Colorado for Linwood Cemetery and Doc Holliday’s grave site (this was an interesting one a half mile moderate to extreme hike to the top of a hill and boy did they mean it) and then a picture of the Police Car in Rand, CO. The police car was cool it was parked next to Rand Yacht club (out in the middle of nowhere) and it had a dummy in the driver seat with another dummy with it’s head in the officer’s lap (my guess kids did that). I then headed for Wyoming where I bagged JJ’s Bar and the Goshen County Courthouse then off to South Dakota for Crazy Horse Mountain (I ran into Dennis again and Jeff and Carol) and Old Style #10 Saloon in Deadwood. I pulled up and there was a no parking sign but the door man waved me in saying it was ok so naturally I had to get him to hold my rally flag for me. After getting the saloon bonus, I rode close to Devils tower setting up Day 10. I ended up riding to Sundance about 20-25 miles from Devils Tower. I pulled into the hotel right behind Jeff and Carol, they had the same idea of setting up for a short run to Devil's tower in the morning.
September 2-Day 10 I woke and took my time getting going knowing that the next bonus was not available until 09:00, so I didn’t leave the hotel until 08:00. I arrived at Devils tower and was sitting in the parking lot waiting for the 09:00 start time. I noticed several riders leaving the site before the designated time as I rode up. I decided to call the rally mistress becasue the visitors center was open, I found out the bonus opened at 08:00 so our paperwork was wrong. I bagged the bonus then headed off for Summit Hotel in Big Sky, Montana and Frontline Processing. I then headed for Idaho and a Post Office. I rode for a few more hours then calling it a night stopping in a rest stop in Oregon. I figured this was my last rest before Spokane and I had a big day planned so I didn’t want to take any extra time with a hotel. I found a shelter grabbed my tank bag for a pillow and set the screamin meanie for a 2.5 hour nap. If you have never heard on of these things it is light a car alarm going off and you are only a foot away.
September 3/4-Day 11 I woke up after a 2.5 hour nap, washed my face and grabbed a snack bar to get me going. I picked up the Young Life Christian Farm what a bonus about 10 miles of gravel. At one point on the road, I saw a sign that said Emergency phone 1.2 miles; I remember laughing to myself thinking that was silly. About a half a mile later I remember seeing a speed limit sign that said, “Speed Limit 5 MPH and we Really Really mean it”. I could do nothing but laugh as I was going about 25-30 MPH on this gravel road thinking how much worse could it really get. Boy was I surprised, I crested the top of the hill and all I saw was blue sky. The road completely dropped off and I felt like I was on a ski slope. The road was a downhill straight away for what seemed like a half a mile with a 90-degree turn at the bottom. I immediately hit the rear brake and started sliding down; I slowed just enough to make the corner. Once I turned the corner there was a Goldwing heading right for me. We both hit the breaks stopping about 20 feet apart, I wasn’t sure who it was at first, then he flipped up his visor and it was Jerry. He had just grabbed the bonus and was heading out. (I later found out only a few of us made it all the way to the water tower for the picture.) I asked Jerry if the road got any better. He said, “no but it doesn’t get any worse”. So I continued on to the bottom getting a picture of the water tower. As I'm filling out my bonus sheet a car goes flying by with kids hanging out the windows screaming, so I figured it was time to head out. My next stop was in Portland and I was thinking, I was going to hit the area perfectly, I was trying to get in and out before the traffic got bad (boy was that a bad plan). It took me 3.5 hours to get Pleasure Acres Thoroughbred Farm and the Home Depot bonus. My next stop was Skamania County EMS across the gorge bridge in Washington. I saw Joe another rider at this bonus. We were heading for the same bonus but I was planning to stop and grab a bite to eat before pushing on. This would give me time to decide if I wanted to continue hunting bonuses or call it good after the next one (I was concerned that I lost too much time in Portland). We took off together from the EMS bonus and it wasn’t soon before it was apparent that he needed to stop. He was tired and it showed he was having a problem maintaining his speed, so I signaled that we should pulled off the highway, he agreed so we stopped grabbed some gas and coffee. I talked to him and asked if he wanted me to wait for him or push on. He said to go he was going to take his time stopping every 30 minutes till he got in (he decided right then and there he was done). I told him not to push and take his time and I would see him in Spokane, I went ahead and he stayed back relaxing for a little bit. I decided to push on to my next bonus then I would stop and decided if I wanted to continue hunting bonuses or call it good. I grabbed the ZZ Streetrod Sign bonus and headed for the highway and Spokane. I pulled into the first truck stop, reviewed the map and bonus locations and decided to skip the Western State Hospital, it was worth over 1000 points but it would be a 200 mile trip. I figured I could head to the hotel and then decide if I want to go for Zip’s Drive In. I grabbed a cup of coffee, verified my receipts and points knowing I easily had enough to be considered a finisher. I arrived at the hotel parking lot a little after 02:00 to a woman clapping and waving and congratulating me. It might have only been one person but it was nice to have that cheer as I showed up. There must have been 40 bikes already in and I’m sure I was one of the last for the night. I pulled the gear off the bike and saw a good friend Jeff Bakker talking to a few other riders. I asked him if he was going to cruise up and get the time-restricted bonus Zip’s Drive In. He told me he and Milinda were done I was thinking of making the run but felt I had enough points and as long as I didn’t make a mistake at the scorers table I had plenty of points to be a finisher so I decided I was done. I went upstairs and woke my wife to let her know I was here and going to head back downstairs and get ready for rider check in and scoring. At 04:00 they opened scoring and I was the third in line (wanted to get it over). I went into the scorer’s room and found Heidi not scoring anyone so I sat down with her (she scored me in leg 2). I walked away from the scoring table not missing a thing. I was feeling pretty good knowing I had completed the rally and had enough points to be considered a finisher. As I was walking out of the room Ira congratulated me on finishing. Tell me I did New Mexico proud. I hung around waiting for Jeff and Milinda to complete their scoring; afterwards we all went to breakfast. We sat talking about our rides the positives and negitives, where we screwed up and what we would do if we had a second chance. We talked about would we do this again and I think yes was the answer.
After a 3-hour nap, I went to a beautiful park next to the hotel walked around with my wife and son and stopped at an Irish pub for a light lunch and a beer. That evening we attended the cocktail party and banquet sitting with friends we had made at the National Meet in Tulsa. Wayne and Robin came to the finish to congradulate me on my finish. It was cool to sit with them and talk, they were very interested in my ride and the places I went. After the banquet and awards ceremony, we went out to the hallway drinking and laughing seeing friends that I had made on the ride talking about our experience. As the night wore on, we heard that Davo had passed away from his injuries from his accident, which put a dampener on our ending. Davo was on the ride of his life he told me at the start. He hit a deer after leaving Canada that morning heading for Spokane, so close to the finish. He was with a group that was hunting bonuses in Canada. They came up on him after the accident but there wasn't much anyone could do from what I heard.
The next day I hung around waving goodbye to other riders heading out that morning. I spent time talking with Bob, he hit a deer in South Dakota and busted up his FJR pretty bad. The good thing he was able to keep it up-right, to keep going he duct taped his plastic fairing back together. I also took in the sites of Spokane, WA with my family, we went walking in the park; swimming in the pool and that night went to a nice restaurant over looking the river. My family took off the next morning, they were flying home. I took my time getting out of the hotel, I really didn't have a set time that I had to be back home so I was in no hurry. It was raining so I put on my wet gear, saddled up and headed for home. That day I rode just past Salt Lake City about 750 miles. It rained about four hours of the ride but was kind of a nice change. The majority of my rally was in the heat, so the rain was a pleasent distraction. It was raining enough to keep everything wet but not so hard that you couldn't run highway speeds. The next day I had a quick breakfast, jumped on the bike early and was home by 15:00. I didn't push hard, I took my time doing the last 600 miles. The ride was quiet with no pressure to be at a bonus location or document a stop, so it was a nice time to reflect on what had transpired during the rally.
So far, I have been having a hard time explaining why I did the ride. I’m still thinking about what ifs or how I could’ve improved. I’m also thinking about what’s next, I have the New Mexico Land of Enchantment rally coming up in October but have not thought much on what I want to do next year.
Below is a listing of the bonuses I reached and points per leg of the rally. I ended up 51st out of 101 riders that started reaching bronze medal status.
David Porter Yamaha FJR1300
Leg Bonus Description Points Penalty 3 Finish, Spokane, WA
3 Arrival Points - Leg 3 100
3 Gas - Leg 3 3000
3 Police car Rand 4568
3 Linwood Cemetery (a/k/a Pioneer Cemetery) 1464
3 Post office Midvale 402
3 Summit at Big Sky Ski & Summer Resort 1818
3 Frontline Processing 246
3 Hotel Nevada 1216
3 Overland Hotel & Saloon 201
3 Young Life Christian farm 3874
3 Pleasure Acres Thoroughbred Farm 3576
3 Home Depot 429
3 Crazy Horse Mountain 4980
3 Old Style #10 Saloon 218
3 Gunnison massacre site 387
3 Mountain Meadows memorial 4835
3 ZZ Streetrods sign 1079
3 Skamania County EMS 171
3 JJ’s Bar 267
3 Goshen county courthouse 288
3 Visitor's Center Devil's Tower 5837
3 Rest Bonus - Leg 3 6003
3 Call-In Bonus 1 9-1-09 - Leg 3 749
3 Call-In Bonus 2 9-3-09 - Leg 3 751
Totals for leg 3: 46459
leg 1: 9,349
leg 2: 28,671
leg 3: 46,549
My total was 84,479
Below is a map of my route, the green is my leg 3.
IBR 09 Ride report Leg 2
2009 IBR ride report by David Porter
Leg 2
August 27-Day 4 up at 03:30 for a quick shower then off to the 04:00 riders meeting. It started raining sometime in the night and looked like it was going to rain all day. After a quick riders meeting, they handed out the leg 2 bonus packets. Once they were handed out, everyone headed for their hotel room to plan their route. I worked on my route until 09:00 still not finished with day three or four but I knew I had to get going if I wanted to make my first two bonuses (both had time restrictions). I knew to make them I would have to average about 62 mph (doable). I was within 30 miles of my first bonus location when I hit a road close sign; several bridges were being worked on so I had to detour. I saw a fellow rider taking a picture of the road closed sign and reminded him that if there was away around the closed sign picture would not be accepted. I ended up getting to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Visitor Center 45 minutes later than I wanted too so I knew I had about 30 minutes to spare to get the Hobo Museum my second bonus. I picked up my receipt at the gift shop and off I went. I arrived at the Hobo Museum with 15 minutes to spare but they closed early. So I took a picture of the front of the building and went to the nearest gas station to get a receipt for my time stamp proving I was at the museum on time. After grabbing this bonus, it was off to the Horseshoe Casino and then set up for the barb wire museum in Kansas another time restricted bonus.
August 28-Day 5 started out getting to the barbed wire museum where I had to purchase a shorty barbed wire. After that it was off to Colorado for another time bonus, on the other side of Denver at the Coors Brewery Wellness Center. I made it with plenty of time so I picked up another daylight bonus the Public Safety Center close by and then I grabbed the Coachlight Motel and RV Park and Old Homestead House Museum. After bagging this bonus my GPS sent me out of town on a dirt road to my next bonus location. I stopped before turning on the dirt road and decided no way! I back tracked out because it was dark and no way to really see where I was going. My next bonus was the courthouse in Colorado Springs. After bagging that bonus, I want to get as close to Trinidad and the next bonus as possible. I was getting tired and decided to call it good at Pueblo, CO but just my luck the County Fair was going on and there wasn’t a room to be found. I ended up riding another 20 miles to Colorado City, CO.
August 29-Day 6 I made an adjustment on the fly to my route, I decided I needed to pick up more bonus point. I knew that I would come in right at the finisher level 27,000 using my current route. I grabbed the Ludlow Massacre Memorial outside of Trinidad, CO and instead of heading to Santa Fe; I turned for Fort Sumner and Billy the Kid’s grave site. I grab my picture and headed for Lincoln County Courthouse snapped a quick picture and headed for Los Lunas and the Burger King for a receipt. This is where I made one of my mistakes of the rally. If I would have headed south I could have picked up about 2500-3000 extra points, but didn’t realize until it was too late. After getting the Burger King bonus, I headed for my last daylight bonus Window Rock in AZ. I made it with 2 hours to spare, did my call in bonus and headed for Prescott, AZ and the Hastings Book, Music and Video store. I arrived just before mid-night took my picture and found a hotel asking for a 04:30 wake up call. Once in the hotel room, I was trying to see how I could add a few extra bonuses (tombstone OK corral, Geronimo Memorial and two others around Phoenix, AZ) before heading for the Salton Sea and Santa Ana, CA the second checkpoint.
August 30-Day 7 I jump out of bed I over slept by 30 minutes and decided that the extra bonuses were out. I was going to grab the Salton Sea bonus and head for the second checkpoint. This was going to make the last day a low point count but probably the right thing to do. So off I went heading for I-10 the back way. This was a great road for tearing up the tires but not for rallying. Early in the morning on mountain roads you eventually see deer and boy did I get an up close look at a few. After getting out of the mountains, I finally made my way back to I-10 and heading for CA. I remember laughing to myself about how I was going to get an early start and beating the heat, it was 108 degrees on I-10 and I still had to get the last bonus before heading for Santa Ana. So off I went to Salton Sea (the weirdest place I visited) It was supposed to be a big resort place that collapsed (not sure why). I snapped my picture of the sign “Welcome to Bombay Beach”. I remember thinking as I left who would ever live here? As I was on my way out, I saw Jeff and Milinda pass me. I arrived around 15:00, an hour before the checkpoint opened and 4 hours before penalty points started, so I checked into my room and verified all my data. I also went down to the bike worked on my electrical short in my running lights and called it good. I went to the scoring table at 18:00 and this time I didn’t miss anything and walked away a little disappointed only getting 28,683 points but at least this time I didn’t leave anything at the table. I did make that mistake in my route when I was in New Mexico but I was still over the minimum for finisher status.
So I went down double checked the bike, helped a friend with a tire change and headed for bed. I knew the next day would come quick.
Below is my bonis locations for Leg 2 and a map of my route the Blue is the Leg 2 bonus stops.
Leg Bonus Description Points Penalty
2 Checkpoint #2, Santa Ana, CA
2 Rest Bonus - Leg 2 4001
2 Hastings Books Music & Video 2211
2 Window Rock, Arizona 342
2 State Recreation Area 752
2 Ludlow Massacre Memorial 641
2 Old Homestead House Museum 3464
2 Public Safety Center 405
2 Wellness Center, Coors Brewery 1389
2 Coachlight Motel & RV Park 329
2 Courthouse Castle Rock 188
2 Horseshoe Casino 354
2 National Hobo Museum 4013
2 Barbed wire museum 4306
2 Austin Post Office 507
2 Calvary Cemetery 485
2 Historic Courthouse Lincoln 615
2 Billy the Kid grave 872
2 Burger King 206
2 Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 991
2 Call-In Bonus 1 8-28-09 - Leg 2 499
2 Call-In Bonus 2 8-29-09 - Leg 2 501
2 Arrival Points - Leg 2 100
2 Gas - Leg 2 1500
Totals for leg 2: 28671
Leg 2
August 27-Day 4 up at 03:30 for a quick shower then off to the 04:00 riders meeting. It started raining sometime in the night and looked like it was going to rain all day. After a quick riders meeting, they handed out the leg 2 bonus packets. Once they were handed out, everyone headed for their hotel room to plan their route. I worked on my route until 09:00 still not finished with day three or four but I knew I had to get going if I wanted to make my first two bonuses (both had time restrictions). I knew to make them I would have to average about 62 mph (doable). I was within 30 miles of my first bonus location when I hit a road close sign; several bridges were being worked on so I had to detour. I saw a fellow rider taking a picture of the road closed sign and reminded him that if there was away around the closed sign picture would not be accepted. I ended up getting to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Visitor Center 45 minutes later than I wanted too so I knew I had about 30 minutes to spare to get the Hobo Museum my second bonus. I picked up my receipt at the gift shop and off I went. I arrived at the Hobo Museum with 15 minutes to spare but they closed early. So I took a picture of the front of the building and went to the nearest gas station to get a receipt for my time stamp proving I was at the museum on time. After grabbing this bonus, it was off to the Horseshoe Casino and then set up for the barb wire museum in Kansas another time restricted bonus.
August 28-Day 5 started out getting to the barbed wire museum where I had to purchase a shorty barbed wire. After that it was off to Colorado for another time bonus, on the other side of Denver at the Coors Brewery Wellness Center. I made it with plenty of time so I picked up another daylight bonus the Public Safety Center close by and then I grabbed the Coachlight Motel and RV Park and Old Homestead House Museum. After bagging this bonus my GPS sent me out of town on a dirt road to my next bonus location. I stopped before turning on the dirt road and decided no way! I back tracked out because it was dark and no way to really see where I was going. My next bonus was the courthouse in Colorado Springs. After bagging that bonus, I want to get as close to Trinidad and the next bonus as possible. I was getting tired and decided to call it good at Pueblo, CO but just my luck the County Fair was going on and there wasn’t a room to be found. I ended up riding another 20 miles to Colorado City, CO.
August 29-Day 6 I made an adjustment on the fly to my route, I decided I needed to pick up more bonus point. I knew that I would come in right at the finisher level 27,000 using my current route. I grabbed the Ludlow Massacre Memorial outside of Trinidad, CO and instead of heading to Santa Fe; I turned for Fort Sumner and Billy the Kid’s grave site. I grab my picture and headed for Lincoln County Courthouse snapped a quick picture and headed for Los Lunas and the Burger King for a receipt. This is where I made one of my mistakes of the rally. If I would have headed south I could have picked up about 2500-3000 extra points, but didn’t realize until it was too late. After getting the Burger King bonus, I headed for my last daylight bonus Window Rock in AZ. I made it with 2 hours to spare, did my call in bonus and headed for Prescott, AZ and the Hastings Book, Music and Video store. I arrived just before mid-night took my picture and found a hotel asking for a 04:30 wake up call. Once in the hotel room, I was trying to see how I could add a few extra bonuses (tombstone OK corral, Geronimo Memorial and two others around Phoenix, AZ) before heading for the Salton Sea and Santa Ana, CA the second checkpoint.
August 30-Day 7 I jump out of bed I over slept by 30 minutes and decided that the extra bonuses were out. I was going to grab the Salton Sea bonus and head for the second checkpoint. This was going to make the last day a low point count but probably the right thing to do. So off I went heading for I-10 the back way. This was a great road for tearing up the tires but not for rallying. Early in the morning on mountain roads you eventually see deer and boy did I get an up close look at a few. After getting out of the mountains, I finally made my way back to I-10 and heading for CA. I remember laughing to myself about how I was going to get an early start and beating the heat, it was 108 degrees on I-10 and I still had to get the last bonus before heading for Santa Ana. So off I went to Salton Sea (the weirdest place I visited) It was supposed to be a big resort place that collapsed (not sure why). I snapped my picture of the sign “Welcome to Bombay Beach”. I remember thinking as I left who would ever live here? As I was on my way out, I saw Jeff and Milinda pass me. I arrived around 15:00, an hour before the checkpoint opened and 4 hours before penalty points started, so I checked into my room and verified all my data. I also went down to the bike worked on my electrical short in my running lights and called it good. I went to the scoring table at 18:00 and this time I didn’t miss anything and walked away a little disappointed only getting 28,683 points but at least this time I didn’t leave anything at the table. I did make that mistake in my route when I was in New Mexico but I was still over the minimum for finisher status.
So I went down double checked the bike, helped a friend with a tire change and headed for bed. I knew the next day would come quick.
Below is my bonis locations for Leg 2 and a map of my route the Blue is the Leg 2 bonus stops.
Leg Bonus Description Points Penalty
2 Checkpoint #2, Santa Ana, CA
2 Rest Bonus - Leg 2 4001
2 Hastings Books Music & Video 2211
2 Window Rock, Arizona 342
2 State Recreation Area 752
2 Ludlow Massacre Memorial 641
2 Old Homestead House Museum 3464
2 Public Safety Center 405
2 Wellness Center, Coors Brewery 1389
2 Coachlight Motel & RV Park 329
2 Courthouse Castle Rock 188
2 Horseshoe Casino 354
2 National Hobo Museum 4013
2 Barbed wire museum 4306
2 Austin Post Office 507
2 Calvary Cemetery 485
2 Historic Courthouse Lincoln 615
2 Billy the Kid grave 872
2 Burger King 206
2 Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center 991
2 Call-In Bonus 1 8-28-09 - Leg 2 499
2 Call-In Bonus 2 8-29-09 - Leg 2 501
2 Arrival Points - Leg 2 100
2 Gas - Leg 2 1500
Totals for leg 2: 28671
Saturday, September 19, 2009
IBR 09 Ride report Leg 1
2009 IBR ride report by David Porter
My ride started with me taking off August 18th for Spartanburg, SC. I had the FJR all packed up the night before and my wife and son waved as I took off, they were flying to the finish to see me in. When arriving on the 20th, I met up with FJRod from the FJR Riders forum. Rod helped me replace my Roadsmart tires with fresh Pilot Road II's that I shipped to him a week earlier. After changing the tires, I invited Rod and his wife to come to the hotel for dinner. Rod’s wife could not make it but Rod showed up and we had a nice dinner talking about people on the forum and the riders in the 09 rally. After dinner Rod and I went to the lounge, where we met up with several riders kicking back having drinks and talking about the rally. It was a great time hooking up with everyone in what was the last relaxing environment before we started.
The next day was an off day we all sat around checking on our bikes talking with friends and relaxing. At a riders meeting, we received all info need for the next day. I went to tech inspect and breezed through with no problems after that I did my odometer check again without an issue. I ran the odometer check with Davo a rider from Australia that I’m sad to say died the last day of the ride. He had an accident hitting a deer that he never recovered from. I didn’t really know Davo outside of a few conversations at Spartanburg and e-mails on the IBA forum but he seemed to be a real friendly guy.
After tech inspect and odometer check, we had to do camera check, video interview and packet pick up. Later we had two seminars to attend then we were free. I went to dinner with friends riding 2-up. We talked about how the stress levels seemed to be rising and people were starting to put their game faces on.
The next morning we attended another riders meeting were we received our flash drives with our leg 1 bonus waypoints. They basically wanted everyone to test and see if you could read the waypoints. Later that evening we had our opening banquet and received our bonus packets and flag. They told us that to track as a finisher we would need 9000 point for the first leg. After the banquet, rookies were allowed to stay and get additional help/questions answered. I stayed for 30 minutes listening then headed for my room at 20:30. First thing I did was put my clips on my flag and pack it away. I then started playing with the waypoints trying to work on getting a decent route for my first leg. I was focusing on making sure I would get at least 9000 points. I wrote off the big bonuses right off the bat, going for a more conservative route. My goal on leg 1 was to not blow my chances of finishing, I knew the points would go up and there would be time to push harder later. I ended up working until 01:30 designing my route before heading to bed.
Leg 1
August 24-Day 1 I jumped out of bed at 06:00 for a quick shower then downstairs for breakfast. I then packed up the bike, we had to have our bikes in the line up by 08:00 for the 10:00 start out front. At 09:30 one last riders meeting were Warchild was telling everyone how we were exiting the parking lot and if anyone dropped their bike they might as well go home. Once we hit 10:00 Warchild directed the two rotary RE5 to lead the pack out of the parking lot for the first bonus location which everyone was expected to go to the BMW factory in Spartanburg. It only took a couple of minutes to get to the factory so we had to wait until 10:30 for this bonus to open. Several riders forgot about the bonus not opening till 10:30 and they snapped pictures and ran. I ended up getting 5 more bonuses the first day, I hit McCray’s tavern (I had to stop and rewire my GPS at this bonus, my wire for my GPS shorted out but lucky I had brought a spare so 20 minutes later and I was back on the road.), O’Kelly Memorial Library (a police officer was called to the library, a librarian was getting nervous with all the people running up taking pictures of the front of the library), 16th Street Baptist Church (a guy was hanging around so he held my flag for me), Floyd/Chattanooga County Line and Jackson County Courthouse. I ran into Bob Collins at the courthouse location and we rode together for a couple hours and ended up about 40 miles from our next bonus before grabbing a hotel room. I told Bob I was going to ride as close as I could get to my next bonus and he happened to be heading to the same one so he tagged along. Nancy walk in to the hotel lobby as I was walking out, I asked how she was doing? Nancy never said a word, you could tell she was pissed so I didn't press. I found out later a woman had just hit her turning a corner, luckily she was not injured. As I was unpacking the bike I saw a familiar Goldwing, Dennis must have checked in right before me. As I was hitting the bed I was thinking my route must not have been too bad, I saw a lot of other riders.
August 25-Day 2 I’m off like a shot out of the hotel before anyone else and arrive at the Meriwether Lewis National Monument for my picture as I’m leaving Bob and Dennis show up. I cruised into Kentucky grabbing a bonus at the Brushy Mountain Prison, that’s where I first noticed I had the wrong flag (I couldn't figure out why my lettering was backwards but the numbers were correct). My stomach sank thinking that I would be disqualified. After thinking and checking my pictures, I realized that the flag must have been given to me at the banquet by mistake. I called the rally mistress "Lisa", she told me rider 99 had already called and explained to whole thing. She told me to continue collecting bonuses and they would sort it out at the checkpoint. I have to omit she had the perfect time to yank my chain, which I did deserve but she let me off the hook easily. So after a big sigh of relief, off I went to grab the Harlin County Courthouse, Hatfield and McCoy’s historical marker, the strikebreaker historical marker bonus 6 miles away in West Virginia (That section of the ride is not a speed run, the rodes are really twisty. ), Moose Family Center Lodge and Child Enrichment Center (I ran into Dennis again, the guy always has a smile on his face). It was getting pretty late so I waved goodbye to Dennis and off I went, I decided to ride a little longer then grab a hotel close to my next bonus setting up day 3.
August 26-Day 3 I’m on the last day of our leg 1 and feeling pretty good, as I'm walking out of the hotel I saw a couple of other riders bikes. I wanted to get a good start and grab a couple of bonuses before getting to the time bonus at the Sturgis House which was close to the Pennsylvania border this bonus didn’t open until 09:00. I was still having GPS issues but was able to get the first two bonuses Total Waste Logistic Las LLC and the Historical Marker where Pretty Boy Floyd was killed before getting to the Sturgis house. I left the Waste Logistic bonus about the same time as another rider and we happened to both be heading to the Pretty Boy Floyd bonus. I arrived there about the same time as you guessed it Dennis. We were laughing pretty hard while taking our pictures. I again waved and off I went knowing I would see him at Sturgis house. This was a cool stop because there was about 30 riders here (big bonus points) before we started for the checkpoint in St. Charles, IL. I went in purchased my key chain and took my picture of Bob Dillinger’s death mask hanging above the washer in the basement. I talked to Dean who was doing the video for a couple of seconds then I was out of there heading for my last three bonuses before St. Charles. As I was flying down the turnpike across the top of Indiana, I honked as I passed by parents lake cottage. I knew they were up there but just didn't have the time to stop. I bagged the Municipal Airport in La Porte, Drifter’s Restaurant and Lounge and Dillinger’s Museum all in the rain. It started raining as I reached the La Porte and didn’t stop until after I arrived in St. Charles. I arrived in St. Charles about 16:00 three hours before the penalty points were going to start. I was feeling pretty good that I had collected over the 9000 points needed to be on track for finisher status. So when I sat down at the scorers table and presented my pictures and receipts that I collect. I was disappointed that I missed a time stamp on one of my gas receipts costing 50 points. After signing everything, my total for leg 1 was 9349 points 349 points above the finisher level. I decided to double-check everything next time, even though I check my gas receipts as I document them on my log, I somehow missed the time on that receipt. Lesson learned costing 50 points for leg 1. I wasn't even close to the top riders which was ok, my goal was to get the first leg under my belt. I kept telling myself focus on finishing not chasing them.
I then went and doubled checked the bike and the wiring job, I did early to make sure it would hold up for leg 2. It was now about 21:00 so off to bed, we were not going to get our leg 2 bonus packets until 04:00.
Below is the bonus listing for leg1 with a map of my route. The Red locations are the bonus for Leg1.
Leg Bonus Description Points
1 Checkpoint #1, St. Charles, IL
Call-In Bonus 8-25-09 - Leg 1 250
Gas - Leg 1 1000
1 16th St Baptist Church 457
1 Jackson County Courthouse 195
1 O'Kelly Memorial Library 209
1 McCray's Tavern 208
1 Floyd/Chattanooga county line 646
1 Dillinger Museum 144
1 Drifters Restaurant & Lounge 137
1 Municipal airport 141
1 Historical marker 2066 606
1 Harlan County Courthouse 517
1 Sturgis House 1031
1 Total Waste Logistics Las LLC 149
1 Historical marker Calcutta 589
1 BMW Visitor's Center 666
1 Meriwether Lewis National Monument 1014
1 Brushy Mountain Prison 124
1 Moose Family Center Lodge 159
1 Historical marker Matawan 845
1 Child Enrichment Center 162
1 Penalty - Missing odo reading on a fuel log 0 50
1 Arrival Points - Leg 1 100
Totals for leg 1: 9349
My ride started with me taking off August 18th for Spartanburg, SC. I had the FJR all packed up the night before and my wife and son waved as I took off, they were flying to the finish to see me in. When arriving on the 20th, I met up with FJRod from the FJR Riders forum. Rod helped me replace my Roadsmart tires with fresh Pilot Road II's that I shipped to him a week earlier. After changing the tires, I invited Rod and his wife to come to the hotel for dinner. Rod’s wife could not make it but Rod showed up and we had a nice dinner talking about people on the forum and the riders in the 09 rally. After dinner Rod and I went to the lounge, where we met up with several riders kicking back having drinks and talking about the rally. It was a great time hooking up with everyone in what was the last relaxing environment before we started.
The next day was an off day we all sat around checking on our bikes talking with friends and relaxing. At a riders meeting, we received all info need for the next day. I went to tech inspect and breezed through with no problems after that I did my odometer check again without an issue. I ran the odometer check with Davo a rider from Australia that I’m sad to say died the last day of the ride. He had an accident hitting a deer that he never recovered from. I didn’t really know Davo outside of a few conversations at Spartanburg and e-mails on the IBA forum but he seemed to be a real friendly guy.
After tech inspect and odometer check, we had to do camera check, video interview and packet pick up. Later we had two seminars to attend then we were free. I went to dinner with friends riding 2-up. We talked about how the stress levels seemed to be rising and people were starting to put their game faces on.
The next morning we attended another riders meeting were we received our flash drives with our leg 1 bonus waypoints. They basically wanted everyone to test and see if you could read the waypoints. Later that evening we had our opening banquet and received our bonus packets and flag. They told us that to track as a finisher we would need 9000 point for the first leg. After the banquet, rookies were allowed to stay and get additional help/questions answered. I stayed for 30 minutes listening then headed for my room at 20:30. First thing I did was put my clips on my flag and pack it away. I then started playing with the waypoints trying to work on getting a decent route for my first leg. I was focusing on making sure I would get at least 9000 points. I wrote off the big bonuses right off the bat, going for a more conservative route. My goal on leg 1 was to not blow my chances of finishing, I knew the points would go up and there would be time to push harder later. I ended up working until 01:30 designing my route before heading to bed.
Leg 1
August 24-Day 1 I jumped out of bed at 06:00 for a quick shower then downstairs for breakfast. I then packed up the bike, we had to have our bikes in the line up by 08:00 for the 10:00 start out front. At 09:30 one last riders meeting were Warchild was telling everyone how we were exiting the parking lot and if anyone dropped their bike they might as well go home. Once we hit 10:00 Warchild directed the two rotary RE5 to lead the pack out of the parking lot for the first bonus location which everyone was expected to go to the BMW factory in Spartanburg. It only took a couple of minutes to get to the factory so we had to wait until 10:30 for this bonus to open. Several riders forgot about the bonus not opening till 10:30 and they snapped pictures and ran. I ended up getting 5 more bonuses the first day, I hit McCray’s tavern (I had to stop and rewire my GPS at this bonus, my wire for my GPS shorted out but lucky I had brought a spare so 20 minutes later and I was back on the road.), O’Kelly Memorial Library (a police officer was called to the library, a librarian was getting nervous with all the people running up taking pictures of the front of the library), 16th Street Baptist Church (a guy was hanging around so he held my flag for me), Floyd/Chattanooga County Line and Jackson County Courthouse. I ran into Bob Collins at the courthouse location and we rode together for a couple hours and ended up about 40 miles from our next bonus before grabbing a hotel room. I told Bob I was going to ride as close as I could get to my next bonus and he happened to be heading to the same one so he tagged along. Nancy walk in to the hotel lobby as I was walking out, I asked how she was doing? Nancy never said a word, you could tell she was pissed so I didn't press. I found out later a woman had just hit her turning a corner, luckily she was not injured. As I was unpacking the bike I saw a familiar Goldwing, Dennis must have checked in right before me. As I was hitting the bed I was thinking my route must not have been too bad, I saw a lot of other riders.
August 25-Day 2 I’m off like a shot out of the hotel before anyone else and arrive at the Meriwether Lewis National Monument for my picture as I’m leaving Bob and Dennis show up. I cruised into Kentucky grabbing a bonus at the Brushy Mountain Prison, that’s where I first noticed I had the wrong flag (I couldn't figure out why my lettering was backwards but the numbers were correct). My stomach sank thinking that I would be disqualified. After thinking and checking my pictures, I realized that the flag must have been given to me at the banquet by mistake. I called the rally mistress "Lisa", she told me rider 99 had already called and explained to whole thing. She told me to continue collecting bonuses and they would sort it out at the checkpoint. I have to omit she had the perfect time to yank my chain, which I did deserve but she let me off the hook easily. So after a big sigh of relief, off I went to grab the Harlin County Courthouse, Hatfield and McCoy’s historical marker, the strikebreaker historical marker bonus 6 miles away in West Virginia (That section of the ride is not a speed run, the rodes are really twisty. ), Moose Family Center Lodge and Child Enrichment Center (I ran into Dennis again, the guy always has a smile on his face). It was getting pretty late so I waved goodbye to Dennis and off I went, I decided to ride a little longer then grab a hotel close to my next bonus setting up day 3.
August 26-Day 3 I’m on the last day of our leg 1 and feeling pretty good, as I'm walking out of the hotel I saw a couple of other riders bikes. I wanted to get a good start and grab a couple of bonuses before getting to the time bonus at the Sturgis House which was close to the Pennsylvania border this bonus didn’t open until 09:00. I was still having GPS issues but was able to get the first two bonuses Total Waste Logistic Las LLC and the Historical Marker where Pretty Boy Floyd was killed before getting to the Sturgis house. I left the Waste Logistic bonus about the same time as another rider and we happened to both be heading to the Pretty Boy Floyd bonus. I arrived there about the same time as you guessed it Dennis. We were laughing pretty hard while taking our pictures. I again waved and off I went knowing I would see him at Sturgis house. This was a cool stop because there was about 30 riders here (big bonus points) before we started for the checkpoint in St. Charles, IL. I went in purchased my key chain and took my picture of Bob Dillinger’s death mask hanging above the washer in the basement. I talked to Dean who was doing the video for a couple of seconds then I was out of there heading for my last three bonuses before St. Charles. As I was flying down the turnpike across the top of Indiana, I honked as I passed by parents lake cottage. I knew they were up there but just didn't have the time to stop. I bagged the Municipal Airport in La Porte, Drifter’s Restaurant and Lounge and Dillinger’s Museum all in the rain. It started raining as I reached the La Porte and didn’t stop until after I arrived in St. Charles. I arrived in St. Charles about 16:00 three hours before the penalty points were going to start. I was feeling pretty good that I had collected over the 9000 points needed to be on track for finisher status. So when I sat down at the scorers table and presented my pictures and receipts that I collect. I was disappointed that I missed a time stamp on one of my gas receipts costing 50 points. After signing everything, my total for leg 1 was 9349 points 349 points above the finisher level. I decided to double-check everything next time, even though I check my gas receipts as I document them on my log, I somehow missed the time on that receipt. Lesson learned costing 50 points for leg 1. I wasn't even close to the top riders which was ok, my goal was to get the first leg under my belt. I kept telling myself focus on finishing not chasing them.
I then went and doubled checked the bike and the wiring job, I did early to make sure it would hold up for leg 2. It was now about 21:00 so off to bed, we were not going to get our leg 2 bonus packets until 04:00.
Below is the bonus listing for leg1 with a map of my route. The Red locations are the bonus for Leg1.
Leg Bonus Description Points
1 Checkpoint #1, St. Charles, IL
Call-In Bonus 8-25-09 - Leg 1 250
Gas - Leg 1 1000
1 16th St Baptist Church 457
1 Jackson County Courthouse 195
1 O'Kelly Memorial Library 209
1 McCray's Tavern 208
1 Floyd/Chattanooga county line 646
1 Dillinger Museum 144
1 Drifters Restaurant & Lounge 137
1 Municipal airport 141
1 Historical marker 2066 606
1 Harlan County Courthouse 517
1 Sturgis House 1031
1 Total Waste Logistics Las LLC 149
1 Historical marker Calcutta 589
1 BMW Visitor's Center 666
1 Meriwether Lewis National Monument 1014
1 Brushy Mountain Prison 124
1 Moose Family Center Lodge 159
1 Historical marker Matawan 845
1 Child Enrichment Center 162
1 Penalty - Missing odo reading on a fuel log 0 50
1 Arrival Points - Leg 1 100
Totals for leg 1: 9349
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