Day 11 – A Yawn, a Checkpoint Finish Line, and a Ticking Clock

This morning, I really needed a cup of coffee.  I’m sure that many of you out there really need a cup of coffee.  I’m sure there are some bikes out there that would love a cup of coffee as they beat feet to the final checkpoint in Minneapolis with less than 12 hours to go.  Penalty points begin at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.  

Last night, a sign in the campsite next to me said, “Where friends and marshmallows get toasted.”  It could have been a reference to tomorrow night’s IBR 2017 banquet.  Friends are coming in on 4 wheels and 2 for the dinner, and to hear the stories of what happened from Nevada to Newfoundland.  Several more riders who started this safari 11 days ago are now out of the running with stories of heat, broken bikes, and missed checkpoint deadlines to tell.  There's a handful of Spots lined up to ride in the next 12 hours what I drove in the last 2 days (with a lot of flower sniffing).  There will be people outside Rally HQ all evening welcoming riders in.

Rally pups Bela and Riley and I completed our trek to Rally HQ- MN this evening.  Not to be left out of the fun, along the way we ended up on a county road, past an elk farm and two sandhill cranes (safari spectator bonus points for live interesting animals!), until we got diverted by a road closed sign, and then slowed by a bevy of scooters.  Once back on the highway, a huge piece of plastic from road construction got blown in front of Chase Van 2.0 from the semi in front, and ended up flapping under the van despite evasive maneuvers.  That required a quick tug to dislodge the plastic, and carry on through the 96 degrees / 97% humidity that is coating the northern Midwest right now.  A safari indeed. 

Non-IBR scooters scooting slowly
down a WI road.

  

A quick call with Kirsten during her rest break last night had her sounding, well, fine.  The bike is running well with some added oil and she got some needed rest.  The rally clock is ticking, but as the Spots converge once again on Minneapolis, we are looking for safe arrivals for all the riders.  After all, I know there will be coffee at the finish.  There might even be marshmallows.

Your blog scribe at the "Finish" of Mizen Head (the southernmost point of Ireland) in May.
We're now at Rally HQ - MN waiting for the riders to roll in.  We'll leave the light on for you.

The Long Night

[7/6/17 Corrections: It’s hard to get the details together, especially over broken cell phone connections lasting a few minutes here and there.  That being said, I feel like I need to post a quick correction.  Kirsten wasn’t taking a short-cut, nor was she following a brilliant suggestion from her GPS.  She was following the actual signs to the state park, and that brought her on that road – which by itself makes me wonder about the sign plan!  Regardless, we can now confirm that the R1200RT can stand well by itself with it wheels deep in sand, and keep on ticking.  One other correction pointed out by the honorable former IBR scribe, Mr. Higdon (I'm honored sir) - it is in fact Smokey Bear.  Not Smokey the Bear.  In my defense, even though everyone thinks park rangers work for the US Forest Service, we do not - the National Park Service is within a different Department entirely.  Smokey is their bear.  We have Buddy Bison.]

Well friends, it’s been a very long 24 hours. Kirsten started Leg 3 fairly refreshed and a few spots up in the standings after Checkpoint 2.  Days 7 & 8 found her riding through some of her favorite parts of the country.  But last night, trying to make a tight window for a daylight only bonus, she took a back road that turned into more of what I’d call a rutted mess.  She was out of contact for 11 hours.  I’ve been out of contact with her on many rallies, sometimes for well over day; but it has never started with the red “needs assistance” Spot message pinging my phone and e-mail for an hour.  To keep a long and sleepless story short, I’ll say that Kirsten found herself in the dark, having wrestled the bike up from one sand pit only to be tossed into an embankment as the bike found yet another pit of deep sand and a rock for the front tire.  For those of you playing along at home, that’s four get-offs – one pre-start and three underway.

The SAR team assist, including propping the RT up with some of the abundant rocks.

Being smart, strong, and resourceful, she hiked nearly 4 miles to her planned bonus location knowing that there would be people there in the morning.  She did the hike in the company of one rattlesnake, one scorpion, and one otherwise vacant road.  She took shelter on the concrete floor of a vault toilet – warm and scorpion free.  In the morning, the SAR team provided an assist to get her back to her bike, and get the bike back to the “good gravel.”  She rode out under her own power on 30+ miles of gravel to arrive gratefully on a solid piece of pavement.  

Blessed pavement and war horse RT

When she rolled into the closest town, it happened to be in the middle of a 4^th of July parade.  She and her war horse RT were only a few spots behind Smokey the Bear!  With her helmet up, she waved and wished a Happy July 4^th to everyone on her way to a water and food stop.  I'm not sure how many people can say they were involved in a SAR and came out in a 4^th of July parade, but I can’t make this stuff up.

From this side of the keyboard, I can only say again how grateful I am for rally staff, skilled responders, family and cell towers.  And pavement.  She is rested and the bike, now looking pretty ugly, is running well.  She is making her way back to the barn with high attention given to self and bike care. And I’m pretty sure there are a few bonus locations within her path of travel.

Day 6 and It’s All Unicorns and Rainbows

Big miles are always part of Iron Butt rides, but in the Rally, points are primary for competitors.  You can ride all you want, but the points DO matter.  Rally math says lower miles plus higher points equals more efficient routing.  Leg 2 was a routing challenge for a lot of riders.  Sometimes you just don’t “see it” and don’t pick the winning route.  But once committed, it’s hard to make course corrections without the pile-on potential of making an error and loosing even more points.  Riders chant the mantra, “plan your ride; ride your plan,” but when you start to feel the plan isn’t the best, it’s hard to keep the motivation up to keeping riding the plan.  IBR rally reports from the past couple of days tell the tale.

Kirsten and Wolfe at the Start Line, MN

And then sometimes rally karma just sneaks in and takes over.  Wolfe Bonham had a birthday surprise when he got into a tank slapper that had him underway one foot on the peg and one foot on the seat.  He has a sticker from his dirt days that says, “When in doubt, give it gas – it will either fix it, or end the suspense.”  So he gave it gas, got back on his seat, and carried on.  Kirsten, who hit some diesel fuel on an off ramp yesterday had the tank slapper problem, but the opposite conclusion.  When she gave it some gas to straighten up the back tire, the front tire found a huge crevice in the road and slapped the handle bars for a hard left landing.  The result was three lanes of stopped traffic and immediate assistance to get the bike back up and on the road.  But karma is sometimes funny – she was already on the way to the shop for a rear tire.  Guess if karma is going to put you into the pavement, it’s better on the way to the shop.  So, she was able to strap the left light back on and pulled in with a few other items for attention.  She’s fine, no helmet dings.  Her middle finger on her clutch hand is tweaked (take that as you will).  After talking with her from the shop, I gave the Rallymaster a call.  Lisa’s wise response: tell her Advil is a major food group.  

The RT's left light, needing some repair.

The Leg 2 checkpoint opened at 5:00 p.m. local Texas time, with Kirsten presenting herself for scoring.  Now’s the time to maximize rest and regroup for Leg 3.  It’s a rally now my friends.  And it's all unicorns and rainbows. 

Ron's repairs to the RT