Final Checkpoint: 9:59 a.m.

Seriously! A minute to spare! Thank God. And thank Andy Kirby and Chris Sakala who kept talking to me as we were watching her Spot tracker NOT updating fast enough. Her bike is coated with bugs. She smells (sorry babe, but you do). And with a half of a banana in her, she’s going through her rally book to pull receipts and get to scoring.


Now that Kirsten’s here, I can tell you part of the anxiety this morning was the reports of additional accidents during the last few hours of this leg. Ken Meese (#1 at end of Leg Two) had a major accident last night. He was out of surgery this morning and doing fine. Another friend of ours crashed just 6 miles from this final checkpoint. She’s fine – gave her a hug this morning. We kept saying that we can’t believe it – 6 miles away! A friend loaned her a bike and she was able to ride in to finish, but it’s frustrating. You plan your ride, you make tough decisions, you take care of yourself and your bike…. and then there’s everything else that happens that you don’t have control over. Every rally has its own bit of luck – good or bad- thrown into the mix.

So, the rest of the day is scoring, shower, sleep, service for the bike, and the final banquet. Will be an interesting evening for sure.

State Tally for Leg Three (48 of 48): Florida (for the capital), Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming (again), Nevada, and California.

State Tally for Leg Two (36 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), Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

State Tally at End of Leg One (21 of 48): Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.

Final Checkpoint: 9:00 a.m.

One hour to penalty points.  The rallymaster walked by me and tapped her watch - I know tick tock.  These tight finishes make everyone nervous.  She might get a handful of penalty points, but she'll still be fine.  A few friends ready to direct her to the "stop the clock" table.  People are milling around the parking lot now.  Bikes everywhere.  Lots of pacing.

Final Checkpoint: 7:30 a.m.

Ok people, she has 2.5 hours until penalty points at 10:00 a.m.  She has 2 hrs and 26 minutes of riding to get here.  And it's through the Los Angeles area.  I have to stop drinking coffee now.

The rally HQ here has been a buzz since about 6 a.m. this morning.  Riders are coming in - BIG smiles.  Lots of hugs and slaps on the back.  Lots of people asking me how Kirsten is doing, quickly followed by, "boy, she put together a great ride."

There has been another accident, although the rider is ok.  The local BMW shop is here and helping out.  We have an appointment for Kirsten this afternoon for new tires, oil change, and to check out that front wheel that's been a bother on this trip.  When I made the appointment the other day, they said, "tell her the guys from Brown Motor Works said - you go girl!"

More later - I have to go hug a few more friends.