Final Day, Zero Hour

At midnight, they were taking orders for food.  The group in the parking lot at Rally HQ, watching SPOTs, waiting for riders, cheering and helping the tired and weary roll into a safe space in the bike corral.  Wendy Crockett, Mr. Wendy Crockett (LOVE that picture from 2013 IBR), and little Tess were welcoming friends in.  IBR winners for 2011 and 2013 Peter Behm and Derek Dickson were welcoming riders in for hours, helping them get settled, saying a few quiet words.  Class and grace in the quiet midnight streetlight.  Voni, the lady in red, was hugging and cheering at nearly 1:00 a.m., and was there when I got back to the corral at 6:30 this morning.  Tonie was in – after powering through tire troubles in Leg 1 and fuel tank troubles in Leg 2 – she finished strong.  Then came Allen on his loaner.  He parked and gave a roar – YEAH!  He was in.  “Sometimes you have to be open to the zen and it will come to you.”  And bring you a bike to ride to the finish with great thanks.  [See great photos on FB at IBR Magazine.]

I kept dipping back into the lobby to refresh my SPOT screens – all three of them.  Kirsten was close, but on our 3:30 a.m. phone call this morning, she had decided to go see the sunrise at Bandelier and get the points.  I told her, “Go for it.  I’ll see you later.”  When at 7:15 I saw her SPOT in ABQ, I called her.  “Are you riding in now?”  “I’m in Petroglyph – I’ll be there in a few minutes.”  So – after a monster ride which began in Duluth on Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m., with 2 more parks under the tires on the final morning, she rolled in at 7:30 a.m. to cheers and cowbells.  Riley was very excited; we haven’t seen Kirsten in over 3 weeks.  She picked him up and he gave her a huge lick across the face.

As she went in to get ready for scoring, Mark Crane, Eric Jewell, and Jim Owen pulled in with minutes to spare.  Then Jon and Ande and that left just a few people in the field after 8 a.m., including Jerome who continues to impress me and everyone else every year with his love of riding and his tenacity to keep it moving.  This is the man that once rode in at the end of a rally holding his windscreen after it tore off and the duct tape quit working.  Everyone is now in or accounted for and it’s quiet around HQ as people are eating, sleeping, and some, working on their bikes.  The banquet is at 6 p.m. this evening – the final hurrah of the Rally.  Lots of people had monster rides and Leg 3 is always a game changer.  So many people with that long glazed look got off their bikes this morning and even as they were being congratulated, shook their heads saying, “it will be interesting to see how this all sorts out.”  Indeed.  But mostly, I'm just glad they're back.