MN1K

If you push the seat alll the way back, John Coons will fit in a Prius.  Well, mostly.  His knees kind of fold up against the dash.  After driving 1200 miles to Rally HQ for the Minnesota 1000, rally dogs Bela and Riley and I were happy to have a local co-pilot for a driving tour along the river road to the Friday night bonus location. 

Rallymasters Connie and Randy Gabrick have put together an epic rally for their swan song.  After handing out the rally packs for the Minnesota 1000 last night, Connie started the evening by stating, “Ok, this is a big rally.”  Randy concurred, “It’s HUGE,” (after observing the look of dismay from the collective riders, he modified), “well ok, not huge, but it’s large.” After going to sleep at 4:30 a.m. Friday morning, apparently Randy and Connie got up 2 hours later to “finish it up” and get the rally pack to the printers…. Mmm we love the smell of fresh ink on a rally pack.

Normally they provide about 50-60 bonus locations for this 24-hour rally. But this year’s 32 riders have a smorgasbord of 125 bonus locations to choose from.  Riders immediately got to work looking through the selections, noting values, and quickly suiting up to catch early pre-rally points in the special Friday night bonus.  The first must-get location was a group photo on the Mississippi River at 8:45 p.m. last night.  The photo may have in fact set a new record for having three rally dogs present, including Lisa Erbes’ 4-legged rally pro Jake.  There was general sniffing and prancing as the big dogs nodded their heads and scouted the best spot to stand in the group photo.  The riders were there too.  Most had not even finished loading all the bonus locations from the red dot or blue dot flash drives.  So, photo taken, riders scrambled off to finish route planning.  There was a lot to process between last night and the 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning start. 

An unofficial preparatory photo of the Friday night photo bonus - Mississippi River.

John Coons, Kirsten (prepping her rally pack) and Brant Moteelall

Team Strange is a tight group, and it’s nice to be in their home territory.  They have a system that needs little discussion.  In passing out the rally packs, Connie noted, “if you’re new to Team Strange, see Brant.”  Randy’s dad came out – he and I had a nice talk last summer at the Iron Butt Rally where the seeds of a MN1K trip were planted.  And a big shout out to Karol Patzer who appeared at Rally HQ to wish Kirsten and the riders well last night!  When I asked Lisa Erbes how things were going, just weeks away from the launch of Butt Lite 2018, she said that it’s all pretty smooth.  They recently ordered the shirts with very little discussion she said.  “Maybe we’re all one brain now.” 

In the family spirit, Team Strange and the MN1K use their powers for good.  Riders were able to get early early points (as long as they don’t forget to claim them at scoring on Sunday) by making a donation in support of Arlene’s fund.  Arlene Liska, a pioneer in long-distance riding, rode from Alaska to the tip of South America with her husband in the 1960s, and a few years later, rode from Norway to the bottom of Africa.  Now in her 90s, Team Strange has declared this the year of Arlene, with an opportunity for points-for-donations at every sponsored rally.

As riders pondered their options over BBQ last night, they also considered those things that float through a rider’s brain hours before go, no-go.  One rider is riding a new-to-him 1600 GTL Exclusive on its first rally.  One rider is having pretty irritating back pain.  Dan Roth, lately of the MD 2020, got a flat just a few dozen miles away from home on a fairly new tire.  It had a clean slice, which he was able to patch to carry him through the MN1K.  Kirsten is keeping an eye on her own rear tire.  While routing late last night she mumbled under her breath, “if I hit that one…. Well maybe going this way…. I don’t see a mileage cap….”  It just made me shake my head because I remember a silvery-sparkle on a rear tire after another rally a few years ago – not something a spouse likes to see!  We may be looking at a post-rally tire change to get us home, but in Team Strange territory – there’s no shortage of friends and family! 

Kirsten, Lisa Erbes, and Lyle