Big Skies and Hot Air Balloons

As the riders rolled out from Denver this morning, the skies were clear, the air cool, and the field immediately split.  Check out the public SPOT link for all the riders: https://spotwalla.com/locationViewer.php?id=336  The labels are random so that rider identity is safe, but it’s always interesting to see the choices riders make right from the start.  This rally is international with riders from Australia, Germany, Belgium and Mexico.  As you can see, the field has already spread to the borders with Mexico and Canada and to the Pacific Coast.  

On Day 1.    

Kirsten is riding her trusty stead – the BMW R1200RT, which has seen her through 2 Iron Butt Rallies (2011, 2015), the IBR 5000 (2010), and numerous miles in between.  She is Rider #74, starting out with 161,466 miles on the bike and all systems are go… mostly.  The GPS gremlins have taken out 2 of the 5 GPS that she brought with her.  The 2610 is dead, the 2720 is funky, finally catching on that the ride was underway about 50 miles outside of Denver when it caught the satellite.

Not far outside of Denver, I got the first call from the helmet.  “There are hot air balloons everywhere!” she said.  There were still several riders along the same path this morning, passing each other and waving.  Rick Miller gave her a wave.  Another rider waved and took a photo of her- its fun to see those "underway" shots later.  She said the big sky had big puffy clouds and she could smell the sage.  Animal viewing so far includes an antelope, a moose, and deer still in velvet. 

The day did have its challenges in pursuit of the first bonus points.  Perpetual summer road construction left chunks of debris that, once seen, required her to pop the front tire up so she could ride over – too late to dodge.  Everything good, she continued up and over a mountain, saw snow, and then rode the last 3 miles to the bonus on gravel.  She said it felt like riding on ball bearings.  A huge shout out to Steve Anderson and Morton’s BMW for running the dirt course that she took a couple years ago.  And to Scott Olson for the GS loaner for that course – she was repeating the mantra in her helmet today!  Head up, stand up, stay loose.  On the way back down, she stood on the pegs and let it roll for the miles out.  She didn’t have time to let some air out of the tires, so it was tight.  But, bonus bagged, she was on her way.

As riders enter the evening of Day 1 and take stock, we look at the map and think about the checkpoint.  All these riders must get back to Reno, NV by the evening of July 5 for checkpoint, scoring, and hopefully, at least several hours of their rest bonus.  It will be interesting to see where the roads lead them in the next two days.  And tonight, just think of the stars that they must be seeing in those big western skies.