Day 7 – One Week, 6500 Miles and Counting

Baseball is good – audio books through the helmet are nice too. Satellite radio. Math problems. All these keep Kirsten occupied on her long miles. And often, like yesterday, it’s just a good twisty road and beautiful country.

Mr. Happy fixing the SpotTracker
during the IBR 5000 (Aug '10).

The ride through Vermont and Maine mountains was fantastic. At one point she said to herself, “Seriously? I was in Washington State on Monday and now I’m in Maine?!” She feels like she’s just riding around, having fun and then it hits her, “I’m riding in the Iron Butt Rally. No! Yes!” These are the conversations you have in your helmet – or with Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy rode the IBR 5000 with her and is along for this ride too (although significantly more dirty than seen here).

As of this morning when she reached a very special B&B in Virginia (Hale Talken-Spaulding), she had ridden 6500 miles so far. After a two hour rest break (1/2 hour bike stuff and eating a hot breakfast, 1.5 hour sleep), she was off. Since then, she’s gotten West Virginia and Kentucky, and is still riding before a planned three hour rest break later this evening. People have asked me how long it takes to ride over 1,000 miles a day. At a reasonable pace (high speeds wear you out faster), it’s about 18 hours of riding and she plans about 5 hours of rest each day.

The weather doesn’t look too great for the last of this leg tomorrow – thunderstorms all day in Jacksonville, FL. Riders have to be at the checkpoint by 5:00 p.m. (Monday). This is a short rest. Rally packs for the final leg will be distributed at 10:00 p.m. Then riders will decide how much to route, sleep, or just hit the road again. Leg Three ends in Ontario, CA on Friday morning. There are a lot of states and big bonus points on the table for the final leg. IBR watchers know that everything can change in the scorecard on Leg Three. Chris Sakala (IBR 2nd place 2005 and 4th in 2009) advises: start strong, finish stronger.

State Tally for Leg Two (32 of 48): Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, (District of Columbia*), Virginia, West Virginia (again – this time for the capital bonus points), and Kentucky.

* The District of Columbia is not a state. But Kirsten and I have been well trained by the home rule advocates in DC after these many years (the DC license plate says “Taxation Without Representation”). In a nod our DC resident friends, Kirsten grabbed DC this morning, even though it’s not part of the rally. (Personal note – I think IBR should have given extra points for the U.S. Capitol after all these state capital grabbings!)

First Woman to Receive Motorcycle License in Washington DC
Lincoln Memorial