Jekyll2024-03-03T15:40:02+00:00https://motozor.com/feed.xmlMotozorKerri Miller is an engineer, a glass artist, a public speaker, a motorcyclist, and a lackwit gadabout based in the PNW.2023 Iron Butt Rally: Day 4 - Out of the frying pan, into the air fryer2023-06-22T13:30:44+00:002023-06-22T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/06/22/ibr-day-4<blockquote>
<p>
<i>No matter how bad things may seem, you can always make them worse.</i>
<br />
-- Astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>I slept well in a comfy bed up on the 7th floor, waking up at 3:30am – I wanted to try and beat the breakfast rush, helping myself to a breakfast sammich and a banana and found a seat at a table with some other rookies. Leg One behind us, we mused a bit on what Leg Two would bring, and a consensus emerged that this would be where the REAL rally would start; surely now we’d get really juicy combos, and that Gut Bomb Bingo would play out with a neat twist.. sure, Earls said that the bonuses for filling in the card wouldn’t change, but nothing was said about getting ADDITIONAL cards, right?!</p>
<p>While at breakfast, Leg One results were posted; I was 51st out of 106, so squarely in the middle. Not bad for not trying hard!</p>
<p>Lisa and Jeff brought us to attention at precisely at 4:00am with a quite stern lecture regarding the behavior of some riders. It’s Rally 101 that if you find someone else’s flag that they left behind at a bonus, you leave it there – you never know if they’re already realizing their mistake and heading back for it! Someone else got caught riding their motorcycle back and forth through a park, looking for a bonus they would’ve been scouting out on foot. The most heated scolding was saved for telling us exactly how the rally staff felt about someone posting details about the group photo bonus on social media. For once, I wasn’t the reason a rule was being made, but even I felt a bit sheepish and chastised by the tongue lashing we got!</p>
<p>Look, I’m a rebel and all, but I agreed to a certain set of rules and expected behavior, and don’t pretend that I’m special. If I break a rule, I expect to be punished, so it makes me angry when people break rules and flounce away without consequences.. why do <em>I</em> bother following the rules, if it ends up not mattering? It felt disrespectful to those of us who were playing by the rules, and really got my blood boiling.</p>
<p>There were a few other announcements, routine stuff around timing for the next checkpoint in Denver, and then we got our hands on the Leg Two rally books. I had an embarrassing moment here, as they had staff members arranged around the dining room with a small stack of the packs. Of course, each pack has our individual rider number on the outside, so we had to find the right staff member who had our number. “Where the heck is 107?” I thought I muttered to myself, but between being more tired than I thought, a bit upset about the misbehavior of others, and echo-y room, and a rather inopportune lull in the background chatter, and what came out of my mouth was a terrible and forceful bellow – <strong>“107!”</strong> – that reverberated like a thunderclap. The entire room went silent and 105 other riders turned to stare at me. Chris Sakala raised his hand and beckoned me over to him, and red-faced I scampered over, grabbed my packet, and skedaddled.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/pano.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">The view from my balcony at dawn.</p>
</div>
<p>I was back to my room by 4:30am, watching the sunrise while I waited for the digital version of the rally book to appear in my email. It took a few nervous minutes it to show up, and I flipped through the printed copy in my rally packet while waiting. During the day yesterday, I had been pulled into a Spotify playlist sharing group with some other riders, and our little chat thread was full of nervous “did you get it yet?!” messages.. ah, rookies!</p>
<p>The bonus listing for Leg Two was surprisingly thin; only 26 bonus locations. Surprisingly, no puzzles, no combos… and perhaps most worrying to me, no additional Gut Bomb Bingo cards, bonuses, or anything! A bad feeling started to form in the back of my head – did I over-think this entire rally?</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/gbb_leg_one_final.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">My Gut Bomb Bingo card after Leg One</p>
</div>
<p>It didn’t take much work to run the data through my usual processing tools, and came up with this spread:</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/spread.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>It quickly became clear that there were really only two routes - head to Wisconsin for the 12,334 point Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center bonus, or head through the southeast for 16,431 points at the Santa Monica Pier. I ran the numbers for both, and still holding on to the idea that the Gut Bomb Bingo just HAD to come back in Leg Three, a loop through the southwest now would secure me the local chains, and leave a “northern tier” ride back to scoop up the remaining regional chains (including a Tim Hortons, rare south of the Canadian border..) Running the numbers, for some reason that I couldn’t make the route to Santa Monica work, not without severely pushing myself.. and remember, I’m on a “rookie ride.”</p>
<p>Taking a short (4-hour) rest around El Paso/Las Cruces would put me at the Kitt Peak Observatory south of Tucson, AZ right about when they opened tomorrow morning (9am local time) and then a full 8-hour rest on Day 5, and get me to the checkpoint in Denver on Day 6 right on time. It also would keep me from having to cross the Mojave Desert in the heat wave being predicted for the next couple days; it would be hot in the Tucson/Phoenix area, but if I climbed out of the valley and into northern Arizona by noon I should miss the worst of it. It wasn’t a GREAT route, but it was safe and easy… a “rookie ride.” We only needed to score a total of 36,000 points between Leg One and Two to stay on pace for finishing, so this would keep me in the safe zone as far as that was concerned.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/route.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">The route I settled for.. I mean, on.</p>
</div>
<p>Now I just had to schlep all my gear back down and across the hotel; it took 2 trips, which I was a little annoyed by, since I’m usually able to live with one bag and the case with my laptop, but having to also juggle GPS, digital camera, helmet, scoring paperwork, etc, and I needed an extra hand to cart things around at checkpoints.</p>
<p>A good number of bikes were already out the gate; unsurprising, given there really were only 2 basic routes worth anything this leg. I chatted a tiny bit with Herakles, whose aux fuel tank mount had broken during Leg One. He was off to find a welder to tack the cracked aluminum plate back together. Some riders were just standing around the parking garage chatting, I left the parking garage at 6:30am local, heading back down I-44 towards OKC where I picked up I-35 south into Texas.</p>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>“Rookie ride”… “Rookie ride”…</p>
<p>I couldn’t stop turning the pebble over in my mind about the lack of any sort of logistical challenge on this leg.. or really so far in the rally. I really thought the Gut Bomb Bingo was going to get more complicated in Leg Two - why else invest so much time into it? Did I fall for a “sucker bonus” (that is, a bonus or combo that teases the rider into committing to a plan that would cost them more then it would benefit them)?</p>
<p>This leg, especially, just seemed so simple- pound out a ton of miles, and you’ll score well. There seemed to be no benefit for riding <em>smart</em>.. but clearly there is, since so many people tell me constantly what an amazing puzzle the IBR is, what a pretzel it will wrap you into mentally, trying to sort out the devious tricks and traps planted in the bonus listing for the unwary. I excel at figuring out the routing optimizations and quirks to get the highest score, but all I was seeing was 2 routes that needed tight timing and big mile days.. there wasn’t anything “clever” in this. What wasn’t I seeing?</p>
<p>The pebble turned over and over, gaining a few edges and enlarging, irritating the back of my mind, bouncing forward into the front of my grey matter over and over again. I’d tuck it away behind a memory of t-ball in 3rd grade or that time I crashed a dirt bike I wasn’t supposed to be riding when I was 10, but it would slip forward every few minutes, and soon I was noodling away on the GPS and Google Maps, trying to find what I was missing.. is this really just a marathon event, where pounding out stupid amount of miles is the only way to score points? It simply can’t be.. it just can’t. What am I missing?</p>
<h1 id="27-okd---arbuckle-mountain-fried-pies---davis-ok---884-pts">27) OKD - Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies - Davis, OK - 884 pts</h1>
<h2 id="0958-edt">09:58 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the “Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies” sign in the parking lot and collect a receipt
for purchase of a fried pie from this location. You must also retain and bring the paper sleeve
for the fried pie to scoring.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/okd.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d833904.7351087448!2d-97.36842523510673!3d35.270175888943584!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87b6925f5b74919f%3A0xea215e16effd29fc!2sDoubleTree%20by%20Hilton%20Hotel%20Tulsa%20-%20Warren%20Place%2C%20South%20Yale%20Avenue%2C%20Tulsa%2C%20OK!3m2!1d36.07308!2d-95.9243158!4m3!3m2!1d35.7232961!2d-96.86321819999999!4m5!1s0x87b2d7a76d889e0b%3A0x8e31463fa863ba82!2sArbuckle%20Mountain%20Fried%20Pies%2C%20U.S.%2077%2C%20Davis%2C%20OK!3m2!1d34.4477773!2d-97.13469889999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707651456339!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I wasn’t the first to arrive here, pulling in behind Wolfe Bonham. I bought a pie and ate a few bites, finding it delicious but far too large and too sweet for me to finish, so I had to leave an uneaten half behind. I made sure to stow the wrapper in my folder for receipts and paperwork; my top case would smell like fried dough for the next 2 weeks.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>183 miles, 2h25m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>183 miles, 2h25m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>60h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>18,140</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>As I was getting ready to leave, a 2-up couple pulled in, and hopped off all smiles. “How’s your rally?!” they excitedly asked.. and friends, I’m a bit ashamed to admit, I told them. “Pretty awful,” I blurted out, honest for the first time. “I’m really frustrated!” They made “aww that sucks I’m sorry” noises and I realized I was just standing there feeling like a total heel. They were clearly having fun on their Iron Butt adventure, and here I am, a grumbling jerk in the parking lot. I laughed it off and said something about the heat (which was getting a little toasty already this morning) and they went inside. Wolfe, who was still hanging about, raised an eyebrow and I shrugged. “Just not feeling like this is a rally designed for me to do well in,” I explained. What else needed to be said?</p>
<p>Onward into Texas, my next stop was a BBQ place in Frisco, TX.. but first, I stopped in Denton, TX to snag a couple Gut Bomb Bingo locations.</p>
<h1 id="28-i5---el-pollo-loco---denton-tx---206-pts">28) I5 - El Pollo Loco - Denton, TX - 206 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1138-edt">11:38 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved El Pollo Loco location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/i5.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d13349.880008174032!2d-97.16949630126372!3d33.22798826000121!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x87b2d7a76d889e0b%3A0x8e31463fa863ba82!2sArbuckle%20Mountain%20Fried%20Pies%2C%20U.S.%2077%2C%20Davis%2C%20OK!3m2!1d34.4477773!2d-97.13469889999999!4m5!1s0x864dca070ac90027%3A0xd0d628ca460b8ed5!2sEl%20Pollo%20Loco%2C%20West%20University%20Drive%2C%20Denton%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.2304478!2d-97.17098299999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707676304806!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I pulled into the parking lot at 11:15, and was quickly shoo’d out of the dining room; apparently they didn’t technically open until 11:30.. if you’re not open, then don’t turn on the OPEN sign and unlock your door! I sat in the shade, watching the heat shimmering off the pavement for 15 minutes, then went back in to order a tea. “Oh.. we could’ve sold you a beverage if that’s all you wanted…”</p>
<p>..and to top it all off, they wouldn’t give me a timestamped receipt until they gave me an empty cup, and they took <em>literally 6 minutes</em> to disappear into the back and fetch me a cup.</p>
<p>🤬</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>87 miles, 1h40m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>270 miles, 4h05m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>58h22m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>18,346</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Luckily, in the next shopping center over, there was another Gut Bomb Bingo location…</p>
<h1 id="29-b1---taco-cabana---denton-tx---371-pts">29) B1 - Taco Cabana - Denton, TX - 371 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1149-edt">11:49 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Taco Cabana location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/b1.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d1668.640868527081!2d-97.16773883798089!3d33.23292172715952!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x864dca070ac90027%3A0xd0d628ca460b8ed5!2sEl%20Pollo%20Loco%2C%20West%20University%20Drive%2C%20Denton%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.2304478!2d-97.17098299999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.2308977!2d-97.1679168!4m5!1s0x864dcae377c00001%3A0x3b60cafbd760c6aa!2sTaco%20Cabana%2C%20West%20University%20Drive%2C%20Denton%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.230369599999996!2d-97.16256229999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707677039624!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>They weren’t as slow, but I did have to wiggle through a crowded Walmart parking lot.</p>
<p>I was again wasting time on the Gut Bomb Bingo bonuses.. they better pay off!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>1 miles, 0h11m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>271 miles, 4h16m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>58h11m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>18,717</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="30-1row---562-pts">30) 1ROW - 562 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Successfully Claim Bonuses B1, I1, N1, G1, O1.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/row1.jpg" />
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>19,279</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Time to get moving again.. the day was really warming up now, touching above 90F as I merged over to I-35E and then east over the Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge. Somewhere along the way, I fell in behind KSolo and let him set a quick pace through town, until we got to the home of the Hutchins BBQ, birthplace of the Texas Twinkie.</p>
<h1 id="31-txfr---hutchins-bbq---frisco-tx---1544-pts">31) TXFR - Hutchins BBQ - Frisco, TX - 1,544 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1233-edt">12:33 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of Hutchins BBQ with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/txfr.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d1670.4032953952149!2d-96.99357128147827!3d33.14044537813289!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x864dcae377c00001%3A0x3b60cafbd760c6aa!2sTaco%20Cabana%2C%20West%20University%20Drive%2C%20Denton%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.230369599999996!2d-97.16256229999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.1401982!2d-96.9934308!4m5!1s0x864c3c2509799a75%3A0x1a28109b8a479706!2sHutchins%20BBQ%2C%20Preston%20Road%2C%20Frisco%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.154522799999995!2d-96.8047733!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707681307584!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>What’s a Texas Twinkie? It’s a jalapeño pepper stuffed with cream cheese and brisket, then wrapped in bacon and deep fried, of course! I wish I had time for a take-out order…</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>29 miles, 0h44m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>300 miles, 5h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>57h27m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>20,823</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I beelined up to US-380W to avoid going back through Dallas traffic as best I could, heading back through Denton before heading northeast towards the Texas Panhandle. Coming down to Texas every year for the Heart of Texas Rally, this is my usual route home; US-81 to to US-287 to I-40W. The sun was beating down as I ticked past familiar small towns – Decatur, Bowie, Wichita Falls slid past, the thermometer on the bike hovering in the upper 90s, flirting with 100F.</p>
<p>While not the most memorable of sections for me, one notable moment happened right as I left the town of Vernon, TX - my odometer ticked over 100,000 miles! I had to pull over and capture the moment.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/odo.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Not bad for a 3-year old bike!</p>
</div>
<p>I stopped at an Allsups for gas and grabbed a cold 2L water out of the cooler to try and recharge my sweat reserves; it was seeping out of my pores and dissipating as fast as I could generate it. I soaked my LD Comfort base layer, and used some eyedrops on my sore eyeballs. I thought I was avoiding the the desert on this route?!</p>
<h1 id="32-txtu---turkey-statue---turkey-tx---2469-pts">32) TXTU - Turkey Statue - Turkey, TX - 2,469 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1656-edt">16:56 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the Turkey statue showing the Texas state outline statue in the background.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/txtu.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d948.0928991582899!2d-100.89073382769534!3d34.3928886318344!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x864c3c2509799a75%3A0x1a28109b8a479706!2sHutchins%20BBQ%2C%209225%20Preston%20Rd%2C%20Frisco%2C%20TX%2075033!3m2!1d33.154522799999995!2d-96.8047733!4m3!3m2!1d33.1747695!2d-96.8224824!4m5!1s0x87006ca0a5ea1ee5%3A0xe3cd2d32f65a086e!2sMain%20Street%20%26%209th%20Street%2C%20Turkey%2C%20TX!3m2!1d34.3928586!2d-100.88996449999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707688025921!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Rolling into town, I kept thinking “I’ve been here before” and sure enough, I had been here just a few months ago during the Heart of Texas Rally, where the rally master, Paul Tong, had us visiting locations in Texas named for places OUTSIDE Texas.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>280 miles, 4h23m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>580 miles, 9h23m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>53h04m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>23,292</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Setting my sights now on El Paso, TX, I had several hours of riding across west Texas to get through. The temps were hovering in the low- to mid-90s as I headed southwest towards Lubbock. Meanwhile, I was getting messages from riders who were also venturing across west Texas and Arizona about the blistering heat they were facing, claiming over 105F and a punishing sun. It was 95F as I rolled through Lubbock, and needing a break, I pulled off when I spotted another Gut Bomb Bingo bonus just off a downtown exit.</p>
<h1 id="33-b3---wienerschnitzel---lubbock-tx---231-pts">33) B3 - Wienerschnitzel - Lubbock, TX - 231 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1857-edt">18:57 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Wienerschnitzel location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/b3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d423430.08762085106!2d-101.70927898880728!3d33.99131213922819!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87006ca0a5ea1ee5%3A0xe3cd2d32f65a086e!2sMain%20Street%20%26%209th%20Street%2C%20Turkey%2C%20TX!3m2!1d34.3928586!2d-100.88996449999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.935137999999995!2d-101.3590613!4m5!1s0x86fe12b909eaa863%3A0x55c5c88f05f87045!2sWienerschnitzel%2C%20University%20Avenue%2C%20Lubbock%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.593979499999996!2d-101.8700461!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707945113609!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The AC was a blessing, and I lingered for a good long while with a hot dog and a milkshake, reading the latest daily reports from rally staff and exchanging messages with other riders.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>102 miles, 2h01m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>682 miles, 11h24m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>51h03m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>23,523</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>It was hot out, but not bad; the temp had dropped back down to a tepid 90F. Rolling past endless farmland, tractor supply shops, gas fields, and small, nameless towns clustered around grain silos and train sidings, I thought “I don’t know what those guys were complaining about…”</p>
<p>I was about to find out.</p>
<p>Cresting a small rise and descending an unremarkable, shallow slope, I was slammed by a wall of heat. Heavy, scorching air pressed through every vent, unzipped seam, up my pant legs, drilling through my pores and squeezing my eyeballs dry. The sudden shift made me blink and shake my head, disoriented, like a dog trying to get away from the flea meds on her neck, my skin simply exploding with sweat that was quickly sucked away, leaving me furiously sucking water from my water jug, vainly seeking some equilibrium of intake and loss. Relief was impossible, each breath a scorching inhalation, like standing impatiently over an open oven door, but without the sweet smell of baked goods promising a tasty prize.</p>
<p>The next two hours were some of the longest I’ve endured on a bike. The temp gauge topped out at 112F, and I bitterly cursed every thing, muttering in my helmet, inventing new phrases worthy of my immediate drafting into the Navy. No one, and nothing, was immune to my wrath, as my brain attempt to squirm and distract me from the misery of baking under the solar anvil of the West Texas/Eastern New Mexican sun. I laughed at my own misery, that I <em>signed up for this</em>, this stupid event which was nothing more than a machine for turning gasoline and rubber into pain. The fact that no one twisted my arm, that I applied for this torture… who is the real fool?</p>
<p>Clearly, the fool whose water ran out 30 minutes before arriving in Carlsbad, NM.</p>
<p>The temp dropped a few degrees as I slid into town, shakily stopping at a gas station for fuel and water. I bought 2 gallons, one for the hydration jug and the other I sipped, refilled empty sports drink bottles along with electrolyte mix, and soaked my swollen, dry skin. Retreating to some late evening shade of the pump awning, I sat next to the bike, back against the cool metal of the pump, and closed my eyes briefly, basking in the comfort of 102F.</p>
<p>I actually dozed off for maybe 5 minutes, a passerby detouring from getting back in his truck to come ask me about the map of the United States on my pannier. “You been to all them states?” he drawled, clearly not believing I was at all sane for having done so. I can’t say I blame him for not believing me, I was such a wreck. He shook his head and soon departed, and I was again reminded of how foolish all this was, but rather than the tortured anger I felt before, I now felt bemused - I did, actually, sign up for this. I’m doing this for fun… yikes!</p>
<p>Before continuing onwards, I did a quick check of the map. Realizing I was in a Big Town, I took the opportunity to scan for additional Gut Bomb Bingo locations, and noticed a Blake’s Lotaburger on the north side of town. It would take me at least a half hour to go fetch it, but what else was I out here for? Clearly not my sanity…</p>
<h1 id="34-i3---blakes-lotaburger---carlsbad-nm---281-pts">34) I3 - Blake’s Lotaburger - Carlsbad, NM - 281 pts</h1>
<h2 id="2213-edt">22:13 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Blake’s Lotaburger location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/i3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d856613.0846465613!2d-103.7151724843195!3d32.999956094186416!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x86fe12b909eaa863%3A0x55c5c88f05f87045!2sWienerschnitzel%2C%20University%20Avenue%2C%20Lubbock%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.593979499999996!2d-101.8700461!4m5!1s0x86e379af8420473f%3A0x5eb1383fef15e6ac!2sAllsup's%20Convenience%20Store%2C%20South%20Canal%20Street%2C%20Carlsbad%2C%20NM!3m2!1d32.4094639!2d-104.2281488!4m5!1s0x86e3782c5b4efae7%3A0x923bd398eefe3077!2sBlake's%20Lotaburger%2C%20West%20Pierce%20Street%2C%20Carlsbad%2C%20NM!3m2!1d32.436283599999996!2d-104.2432535!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1707952046283!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I went inside and had to wait about 5 minutes for one of the high schoolers working the kitchen to wander over. Taking my order for a bottle of water, he rang it into the register, but instead of taking my payment, he said “I’ll be right back” and disappeared for another 5 minutes, returning with a quite warm bottle of water. I never wanted to reach over a counter and hit the “ENTER SALE” key more. 🤬</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>181 miles, 3h16m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>863 miles, 14h40m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>47h47m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>23,804</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="35-3row---615-pts">35) 3ROW - 615 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Successfully Claim Bonuses B3, I3, N3, G3, O3.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/3row.jpg" />
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>24,419</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Clearly, I wasn’t having a great time, but back on US-62 heading south the road was fast, and as the sun dropped behind the peaks of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the temp dipped below 100F and I felt refreshed by my extended delay. Darkness fell along with the temperature, and I settled in for a few hours of empty night, uneventful except for one moment of excitement. In one particularly dark, long straight stretch of dark, aux lights blazing away, no one else on the road at all, I spotted a car pulled off the side of the highway, its lights off. Radar wasn’t pinging, but I slowed all the same. Lucky thing I did, because when I was about 2 seconds from passing them, the car suddenly lurched onto the road in front of me, lights off in the darkness! I braked, slowing hard and coming up hot on them, getting as close as 35-40 feet before dropping back to a VERY cautious follow distance.</p>
<p>They proceeded to crawl ~10mph under the speed limit for the next 15 miles - lights off the entire time! I could see there were 3 or 4 people in the car, but whatever they were up to I wanted no part of it. Once I spotted an area where there wasn’t much of any ditch on either side of the road (in case I needed an escape route) I blipped past them and continued on my way. I kept an eye open for them in my mirrors, but they didn’t do anything but continue slowly onwards… fine with me!</p>
<p>Soon enough I spotted the lights of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez on the horizon, and slipped through late evening traffic to the next bonus, L & J Cafe.</p>
<h1 id="36-txep---l--j-café---el-paso-tx---3041-pts">36) TXEP - L & J Café - El Paso, TX - 3,041 pts</h1>
<h2 id="0057-edt">00:57 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the L & J Inc. Café sign on the corner of E Missouri Ave and N Stevens St.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/txep.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d330895.32447356114!2d-106.75428390791411!3d31.78553757950619!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x86e3782c5b4efae7%3A0x923bd398eefe3077!2sBlake's%20Lotaburger%2C%20West%20Pierce%20Street%2C%20Carlsbad%2C%20NM!3m2!1d32.436283599999996!2d-104.2432535!4m3!3m2!1d31.798412499999998!2d-106.33410099999999!4m5!1s0x86e75984fa0c9fcb%3A0x384b762dedcf124!2sL%20%26%20J%20Cafe%2C%20East%20Missouri%20Avenue%2C%20El%20Paso%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.779512699999998!2d-106.44980629999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1709416357207!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Allegedly this place was the USA Today’s 2018 Reader’s Choice winner for Tex-Mex. It sure was hopping when I pulled up, parking on the sidewalk to get a shot as I needed my headlights to illuminate the signs. One of the worst bonus photos I ever took; I’m grateful it was accepted.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>163 miles, 2h44m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,025 miles, 17h24m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>45h03m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>26,845</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I was feeling a bit tired and needed to put my head down for a proper snooze. I was about an hour behind my most optimistic schedule, and luckily I had included a 5-hour layover somewhere tonight, so I looked for a room in Las Cruces. Usually it’s a snap to find a cheap motel, but everything between El Paso and Hatch, NM was booked solid! I finally found a Super 8 that had an over-priced room available, so I burned a couple points of my credit rating and headed west on I-10. El Paso at 1am was quiet except for a herd of super cars that zipped past me. I paced behind them for a couple miles, getting an eyeful of an orange McLaren and a green Lotus, but I let them go after a bit; I was tired and just wanted to get my head on a pillow for a bit.</p>
<p>The Super 8 was like every other Super 8, although the parking lot was full of busses and vans; clearly some kind of sporting or school event was happening, which would explain the lack of rooms. Pulling in at 01:45, I made sure to park in an extra well-lit area and secured it a bit more than I usually do, not wanting some drunk student to mess with it. Glad I did, too, as I almost literally ran into 3 of them running up and down the stairwell as I hiked up to my 4th floor room (because of COURSE the elevator was out…) I showered and was lights out by 02:15.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d432805.7337732701!2d-106.93845481035378!3d32.061274498850324!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x86e75984fa0c9fcb%3A0x384b762dedcf124!2sL%20%26%20J%20Cafe%2C%20East%20Missouri%20Avenue%2C%20El%20Paso%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.779512699999998!2d-106.44980629999999!4m3!3m2!1d31.858504399999998!2d-106.57584279999999!4m5!1s0x86e1cfcf861315ff%3A0xe77d65772b9b711e!2sSuper%208%20by%20Wyndham%20Las%20Cruces%2FWhite%20Sands%20Area%2C%20Bataan%20Memorial%20West%2C%20Las%20Cruces%2C%20NM!3m2!1d32.360928!2d-106.755094!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1709418522662!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/22/day_4_map.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 4: 8,599 points -- 1,076 miles<br />
</p>
</div>
<!-- [Onward to Day 3 ➡️](/2023/06/21/ibr-day-3/) -->No matter how bad things may seem, you can always make them worse.2023 Iron Butt Rally: Day 3 - A SIDE (TRIP) OF MAYO2023-06-21T13:30:44+00:002023-06-21T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/06/21/ibr-day-3<blockquote>
<p>
<i>The world is big when you fight against it. We move with it.. it is small for us.</i>
<br />
-- Anon
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>The alarm went off at 5am, and I sat up, wondering where I was. I seldom experience the sense of dislocation that many riders in multi-day rides or rallies experience; I usually save the “waking up confused and wondering why your bedroom looks so different” for <em>after</em> the rally. I felt rested and ready, and headed across the street to pull a receipt from the gas station across the street to mark the end of my rest bonus. I was about 10 minutes short of a full 8 hours, so I waited, sitting on the sidewalk in the pre-dawn gloom, eating some breakfast and doing some routing with Google. A 2-up couple pulled in to get gas. We exchanged waves, but little else; I’d see them tonight in Tulsa, God willing and the creek don’t rise.</p>
<h1 id="23-rest1---2880-pts">23) REST1 - 2,880 pts</h1>
<h2 id="2126-0527-edt">21:26-05:27 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Earn six (6) points per minute for staying in one place for a minimum of 4 hours, up to 8
hours maximum credit. Your starting receipt may be on Monday but you must then
document at least 4 hours on Tuesday (no points are earned before 12:00:01 AM on Tuesday.)</em></p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>108 miles, 9h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,615 miles, 43h27m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>17h33m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>14,674</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>I suppose this is as good a place as any to drop a quick note about how I generate these reports, or at least the statistics for mileage, time, and score.</p>
<h2 id="mileage">Mileage</h2>
<p>For most rallies I’m not keeping strict track of mileage, nor looking at my odo at each stop. Some rallies require this as part of the paperwork for scoring, but since this rally uses electronic submission, such record keeping isn’t required. Starting with HoT this year, I started photographing my odometer (and clock) at each stop, but in general I’m generating the mileage by looking at the Google Maps estimate based on the embedded map shown in each bonus I list here. This is a bit inaccurate at times, and the actual number of miles day-to-day may differ from this. This is often caused by my not accounting for any mileage incurred by gas stops or rest areas, or for the natural drift between a motorcycle’s odometer and reality.</p>
<h2 id="time">Time</h2>
<p>I use the electronic timestamp on the photo I submitted to scoring, as well as my satellite track in Spotwalla to calculate the time between 2 bonuses, as that will also account for stops, traffic, potty breaks, performance awards, etc along the way. This is why you’ll often see it taking longer in the stats box than what the Google Maps embed claims. I do the time elapsed and time remaining semi-manually, sometimes using a time calculator, sometimes in my head. Regardless, I sometimes mess up doing the math in time.</p>
<p>During the rally, I left my motorcycle’s clock set to “rally time” – that is, the time at the finish line in Pittsburgh (EDT.) Additionally, I used EDT for every entry on my scoresheet submitted to the scorers at each checkpoint; it keeps the math simple, and I’m less likely to make routing mistakes based on thinking I have an hour one way or the other.</p>
<h2 id="score">Score</h2>
<p>I’m keeping a running tally at each bonus location that includes the points I am claiming from bonuses, as well as combos as I score them. Rest bonuses are also included, but not any non-riding bonuses (such as we might earn for getting our pre-rally paperwork done on time, or having our location tracker registered with Spotwalla correctly) are not included. You might see a difference between the running tally and my final credited score for a given leg; this is likely due to one of these non-riding bonuses (or penalties..) or I’ve made a math mistake somewhere. Don’t worry, it all comes right in the end. I promise.</p>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>I had originally intended my next bonus to be ARDA, a fried catfish joint in a building made up to look like a riverboat. I was looking at a tight time window to get to the relatively valuable (>1,600 points) for the group photo bonus, and ARDA, at 165, seemed like an easy bonus to bypass. Garmin was showing me that I could gain back <strong>45 minutes</strong> if I dropped it.. and besides, it was dark, and I’d already heard word about Lisa Rufo and daughter Molly hitting a deer and going down, as well as Gerry Arel having what was rumored to be a run-in with construction debris in the same rainstorm as I was in the night before, and it spooked me a little. I already had secured enough points to stay on track for finisher status, and in the grand scheme of things 165 points doesn’t matter unless you’re shooting for a competitive slot. A 45 minute detour through rural Arkansas for 165 points I didn’t need? It was an easy call.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/arda_map.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Of course, later on in the comfort of home, I would double check this routing, and found that it only would've added 15 minutes. If I'd know that at the time, I wouldn't have passed it up.. but would that have been the right move?</p>
</div>
<p>Riding through the pre-dawn along I-40, I saw a highway maintenance crew cleaning up the roadkill. They had a heavy-duty truck with what looks a lot like a bucket loader attachment on the front, except instead of a bucket it had a large shelf or panel that they sort of slide under the body of the deer – sort of like a pizza peel but for carrion. I didn’t get a look in the back as I passed, but I imagine it was full of other casualties. The fact that they have specialized equipment for dealing with dead deer should give one pause; in fact, shortly after passing the truck, I start seeing roadkill every few miles. I passed the time by counting deer carcasses, and felt better about my choice to stick to the highway with each one passed.</p>
<p>I-40 skirts around the north edge of Little Rock, following the Arkansas River along it’s northern bank. It runs mostly through farmland, the foothills of the Boston Mountains to my right, framed most of the way by a curtain of trees on either side of the highway and the median, giving the road the feeling of remote wildness, a green tunnel through the Ozarks. I stopped at a rest area about 25 minutes east of Fort Smith, AR and the Oklahoma border, and had a protein bar and mixed up a bottle of electrolytes, the sun already starting to threaten a hot day ahead of me, casting a menacing orange glare. I wondered if there were fires or pollution nearby causing the discoloration, while moms and children clambered out of SUVs, giving me stink eye and judging my road-worn appearance. I smiled and sighed at the same time; smiling because oh lady, wait till you see me in another 5 or 6 days, and sighed because it’s always the same… but if you don’t let people disappoint you, you’re never going to be ready to let them surprise you, either.</p>
<p>Eastern Oklahoma was a bit of a revelation. Having done next to zero travel through this part of the state, I didn’t realize how beautiful it was. The deep forest of the Ozarks giving way to patchy copses of trees, gently rolling hills of grass as woods and prairie disagree about where one ends and the other begins. It reminded me of parts of Texas, and with good reason – this is part of the “Cross Timbers” region, and was a significant challenge for early settlers to blaze a trail through, a thick, dense woodland marking the edge of the Great Plains.</p>
<p>I was keeping an eye on the weather, and when I stopped in Checotah, OK for gas, I spotted some danger on the horizon; a fast-moving derecho was forming west of Wichita, and was sweeping southeast at a ridiculously fast pace, straight at Tulsa. My route had me heading to the west of Oklahoma City, then doubling back east to Tulsa and then north into Kansas. I was going to have to keep an eye on this one; I might sneak in behind it, or get out ahead of it to Tulsa.. or even head north first THEN cut east behind the storm. I’d have to make that call as I was leaving the next bonus.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/radar.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">About an hour later, this is how the map looked...</p>
</div>
<p>When new rally riders ask me about what sets the big multi-day rallies like the IBR or LDX apart, it’s that there’s times when your bonuses might be hundreds of miles apart, and today was a good example of this. Besides a stop for gas and a couple rest area breaks, nothing broke the routine for more than 400 miles. I-40 a long, straight ribbon of concrete and asphalt, and the weather, sunny and warm most of the day, was starting to cloud up to the north as I passed through OKC to a small town on the eastern suburb of El Reno, OK. A handful of miles before exiting I-40, I yet again found myself riding behind Danny Dossman, and we both arrived at Sid’s Diner, home of the Fried Onion Burger Day Festival.</p>
<h1 id="24-oker---fried-onion-burger-day-festival-sids-diner---el-reno-ok---702-pts">24) OKER - Fried Onion Burger Day Festival (Sid’s Diner) - El Reno, OK - 702 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1113-edt">11:13 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of Sid’s Diner with the “Onion Burger” text on the façade clearly visible.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/oker.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d1883883.8840521255!2d-97.87536454110828!3d34.72607278271066!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87d49e37644f6213%3A0xff05ae8eeb03558b!2sEcono%20Lodge%20%26%20Suites!3m2!1d34.913332!2d-91.196381!4m3!3m2!1d35.4802738!2d-93.5576541!4m5!1s0x87adfb2db8597ba1%3A0xcf27e1d3f846a360!2sSid's%20Diner%2C%20South%20Choctaw%20Avenue%2C%20El%20Reno%2C%20OK!3m2!1d35.531186!2d-97.9550783!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705870972721!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Apparently, Sid’s had redone it’s fading awning since this bonus was scouted, and the new façade did NOT contain the phrase “Onion Burger” anywhere to be seen. Danny and I walked around the building twice, unable to find even a mention of this fabled delicacy. I called Jeff Earls for a quick clarification, and he advised us to just take as many photos as we deemed necessary to document we were in the correct location, so I snapped pics of each side of the building, a menu, and even my GPS screen showing my lat/long, and after looking at the weather, I headed back out to the highway, passing a pair of riders heading in to the bonus as I did.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>423 miles, 5h46m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>2,038 miles, 49h13m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>11h47m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>15,376</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Leaving the bonus, the weather radar looked good, and I thought I could slip in behind the storm front as it passed south across I-44. However, the storm had other ideas; as I crossed through OKC in record time, it chose to slow down, and I soon found myself getting tossed around by wind, some of the blackest clouds I’ve ever seen just to my left, blue skies to the right. I wondered how far I could reasonably get before needing to take shelter, and a scan through the maps showed me there was almost nothing between OKC (which I’d just left) and Tulsa, and as the wind really decided to shove me around, I watched lightning bolts splashing left and right across the northern horizon, marching close and closer. I needed to find shelter, and fast.</p>
<p>An exit came up, and seeing a helpful “NEXT EXIT 30 MILES” sign, decided to err on the side of safety and burn into the nearly 90 minutes of buffer time that I had and get under cover of <em>something</em>. I headed south on the Kickapoo Turnpike, and as soon as I did, the angry wind just stopped – I was moving with the storm now, ahead of me nothing but blue skies and stillness, but in my mirrors nothing but terrible, roiling darkness.</p>
<p>5 miles to the first exit - nothing! It’s all grass and farms. 5 more miles, the storm wasn’t gaining on me, but I was burning miles.. this exit for sure! I spotted signs of life, and squeaked off the turnpike into the small town of Harrah, OK, pulling into the first fast food place I saw, a “Taco Mayo” (an apt name, judging by the menu and the clientele..) As soon as I stopped, I felt the full force of the wind gusting around, sending grass clippings and detritus from the fields skittering across the pavement. I grabbed my rally paperwork and camera and ran inside just as the first fat drops of rains started smashing down.</p>
<p>One of those modern, hip taco places - you know the ones, with the corrugated metal used for roofing as walls, fast-food aesthetics but with a surprising “fusion” menu, a TV mounted high in one corner was tuned in to some sports event, perched between a parrot piñata and a hanging Corona beer sign. I claimed a booth, and knowing I’d be here for a bit, put in an order, then watched the storm break through the window. The first bass drum crashes of thunder shook the windows, and one of the girls working the counter turned the TV to a local news weather report - big damage in Tulsa, a crawl of counties and towns under extreme storm warnings crawled through the chyron. The kitchen staff, seemingly with nothing else to do despite it being lunch time, emerged from the back to stare out at the wall of wind-whipped water… again, when the locals are impressed by the weather, you know it’s something else.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/radar_2.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I almost timed it right!</p>
</div>
<p>I hunkered down and tried not watch the clock; instead, I went over my paperwork, checked that all my photos were in place, and caught up on rally news. It looked like Lisa, Molly, and Gerry were all OK, but that for them, the rally was over. I also saw a rather shocking bit of news that someone had posted info about the group photo bonus to the FJR forums, and someone else had posted a photo of a page of the rally book to Facebook - what on earth were they thinking?! You may or may not agree with the “no social media” policy, but there a difference between saying “happy birthday” to a dear friend and posting where and when you can find rally riders. It’s the very REASON for the policy, explicitly and meticulously explained to us, so there’s no plea of ignorance possible… how do you break that rule?!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/rain.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">At least my bike (and laundry strapped onto the panniers!) got a good wash..</p>
</div>
<p>Slowly, inexorably, the storm passed overhead, having eaten up nearly all my buffer time. When the radar showed that the worst of it had passed, and with no backside lightning to contend with, I got back on the bike and got the wheels moving. I had maybe 15 minutes of slack time remaining to get to the group photo bonus, but the sun soon came out, and I made good time zipping northeast towards Tulsa on I-44; I even picked up a few minutes, buzzing along.. but as I got closer and closer to Tulsa, the wind started picking up again as I caught up to a band of the storm that was marching slowly west.</p>
<p>I needed a bio break anyways, so I pulled into a QuikTrip on the western side of Tulsa. I had to be at the group photo location in Coffeyville, KS at 16:00 exactly, and my current ETA was showing as 15:42 - I had time, but I needed to keep moving. When I came back out to the bike, the wind was swaying the tall signs advertising services to the highway, and a sideways rain started, swirling dust and stinging drops of needle-cold rain around. I glanced at the radar, saw another blob of yellow and red sliding slowly across Tulsa; no lightning, at least, but if I kept going I was going to be in it for sure. Watching the block, I gassed up, while one particularly strong gust rocked the bike, noticeably shifting it up and taking weight off the side stand - yikes! I blinked back dust, sheltered somewhat by the gas pump, and decided to give this part of the storm time to slip east and out of my path, watching the ETA to the next bonus click up..</p>
<p>15:50… 15:52… 15:55.. yikes!</p>
<p>Realizing it wasn’t going to get any better, I steeled my nerves and got back on the highway, blinking back a mote of dust that found its way into my helmet as I accelerated up the ramp. I merged gingerly, rain pelting down, and soon found myself crossing the Arkansas River south of downtown Tulsa in a wind-driven downpour on one of the worst-maintained stretches of interstate I’ve ever been on. Going 40mph with my blinkers on, visibility dreadful, I hit pothole after pothole, hammer blows of cold rainwater smashing into my legs with each puddle I plunged into. Big trucks blew by, giving a moment of relief from the wind only to pay it back in spades with a blast of turbulence and muddy, oily spray misting across my visor.. truly miserable.</p>
<p>15:56… 15:58…</p>
<p>The miserable conditions almost caused me to miss my exit, but luckily I was already in the right-most lane and slipped onto the exit at the last second, twisting around an under-construction cloverleaf onto US-169 north. The rain and wind started to settled down, but the road here was 1 narrow lane between Jersey barriers, and I was still losing time.</p>
<p>15:59… 16:02 …16:05</p>
<p>I was going to have to hustle and hope some combination of making up time and Garmin/Waze inaccuracies would work in my favor. Luckily for me, US-169 soon burst clear of the suburbs, right about the same time the rain and wind faded to nothing and a weak, patchy sunshine broke out. The next hour was a familiar pattern - fast roads with high speed limits, every 8-9 miles having to slow to a crawl through a small town. My radar detector chirped as I passed through each rural hamlet, and I saw multiple police parked along the main road through town, just waiting for someone in a hurry… someone like me. I was able to make up time despite these intermittent speed bumps of civilization.</p>
<p>16:04… 16:03….</p>
<p>One particularly large town, I got stuck behind someone going 15 in the 25 through town.. then 30 in the 40… and 35 in the 50! The first moment I had a clear view ahead, I zipped around them, just trying to keep the clock rolling down.</p>
<p>16:02… 16:01…</p>
<p>A white motorcycle pulled up fast and tight behind me, and I gulped - did I not notice a motorcycle patrol cop through one of the towns? Was I pinched? Nope - just another rally rider. As I slowed and pulled right, assuming they were law enforcement who wanted to discuss the finer points of Oklahoma law with me, they cracked it open and zipped right past me. I laughed and drafted behind them, as there was no other place they’d be going in this area, at this point in the rally, and certainly not with this amount of speed!</p>
<p>16:00… 15:59… we were both going to make it!</p>
<h1 id="25-ksco---icee-machine-omar-knedlik---coffeyville-ks---1632-pts">25) KSCO - ICEE Machine (Omar Knedlik) - Coffeyville, KS - 1,632 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1600-edt">16:00 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Have your photo taken by IBR staff as part of a group in front of the Coffeyville mural on the
west side of the building. Reminder: You must sign in with IBR staff on location prior to 1500 (local) time on
June 21, 2023.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/ksco.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m42!1m12!1m3!1d1255072.0409323662!2d-96.95753285153026!3d36.25093873764346!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m27!3e0!4m5!1s0x87adfb2db8597ba1%3A0xcf27e1d3f846a360!2sSid's%20Diner%2C%20South%20Choctaw%20Avenue%2C%20El%20Reno%2C%20OK!3m2!1d35.531186!2d-97.9550783!4m3!3m2!1d35.5140405!2d-97.5475937!4m3!3m2!1d35.610537199999996!2d-97.3668764!4m5!1s0x87b231863cde0e17%3A0x840bb972ba6a8b4e!2sTaco%20Mayo%2C%20Northeast%2023rd%20Street%2C%20Harrah%2C%20OK!3m2!1d35.4934947!2d-97.1829954!4m5!1s0x87b784f6201557f9%3A0xee1463d7ecc32bf6!2s215%20W%208th%20St%2C%20Coffeyville%2C%20KS!3m2!1d37.0358555!2d-95.61809459999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1706310317179!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I pulled into the packed parking lot at 15:57, and ran to get signed in with rally staff. Nearly 70 of us squeezed together under the mural celebrating the creator of the ICEE machine, and then scattered.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>229 miles, 4h47m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>2,267 miles, 54h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>7h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>17,008</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>At this point, all pressure for the leg was off. It was around an hour and a half to the checkpoint hotel, and about 5 hours until we reached penalty time, so I took my sweet time packing up the bike. I took a few minutes to sort the packing on the bike, gathering up random fast food wrappers, tightening straps, etc, chatting with a few folks who were similarly taking their time. Leaving town, I slow poked back south on US-169. On the north edge of Tulsa, I spotted a Whataburger, so pulled off to claim another Gut Bomb Bingo bonus.</p>
<h1 id="26-o1---whataburger---owasso-ok---248-pts">26) O1 - Whataburger - Owasso, OK - 248 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1728-edt">17:28 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Whataburger location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/o1.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d3210.7280376290328!2d-95.73629040426204!3d36.4157747325463!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87b784f6201557f9%3A0xee1463d7ecc32bf6!2s215%20W%208th%20St%2C%20Coffeyville%2C%20KS!3m2!1d37.0358555!2d-95.61809459999999!4m3!3m2!1d36.4159181!2d-95.7366553!4m5!1s0x87b6f0a76aae8e39%3A0x305ca5253bd45259!2sWhataburger%2C%20East%2096th%20Street%20North%2C%20Owasso%2C%20OK!3m2!1d36.2935319!2d-95.82853089999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1706311487305!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>3 other bikes were in the parking lot, and more rally riders would come and go while sucked down a chocolate malt and chatted with other ralliers in the A/C.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>57 miles, 1h28m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>2,324 miles, 55h28m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>5h32m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>17,256</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>From here it was an easy run to the checkpoint hotel, only about 18 miles or so to the south side of Tulsa.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d191217.42006816078!2d-95.89181557130117!3d36.172262535882325!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87b6f0a76aae8e39%3A0x305ca5253bd45259!2sWhataburger%2C%20East%2096th%20Street%20North%2C%20Owasso%2C%20OK!3m2!1d36.2935319!2d-95.82853089999999!4m3!3m2!1d36.1250117!2d-95.88055759999999!4m5!1s0x87b6925f5b74919f%3A0xea215e16effd29fc!2sDoubleTree%20by%20Hilton%20Hotel%20Tulsa%20-%20Warren%20Place%2C%20South%20Yale%20Avenue%2C%20Tulsa%2C%20OK!3m2!1d36.07308!2d-95.9243158!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1706313883891!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/checkpoint.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Getting my odometer reading confirmed by Chris Hopper<br />(Photo credit: Tobie Stevens)</p>
</div>
<p>I got myself signed in with Bill Thweat, officially stopping my rally close and starting a new one – I had an hour to present myself for scoring. What I should’ve done is used 10 minutes of that hour to get myself checked into the hotel, but instead I sat in the lobby and finalized my paperwork, which only took 20 minutes (if that) and then signed in for scoring. There was a huge backlog of riders who were in line ahead of me, pretty much everyone who was at the group photo a couple hours before. We all sat on the floor in the hallway outside the basement conference rooms, waiting for our number to be called. You could tell the rally vets at this point, who had used the hour between sign-in and scoring to get their rooms and change into street clothes, some of them taking advantage already of the dinner buffet that was available in the next conference room.</p>
<p>I sat and waited, finally starting to relax, but too worried about missing my number being called to go fetch dinner; there were vague threats of “consequences” if you weren’t immediately available when they called you! I really wanted to have an actual meal, go check in to my room, and take a shower.. but wait I did. Eventually though, I got pulled into scoring, where I surrendered the SD card from my camera, and then was assigned to a scorer – Chris Sakala – to go over the photos, receipts, and any other items I might needed to have brought to the table. I received a single 10-point penalty for a small error I made in writing down the code for a bonus on my claim sheet (I wrote “CALL” instead of “CALL1”…) but otherwise it was a smooth, painless process.</p>
<p>Released, I wandered over to the dinner hall, dropped all my gear on the floor, and tucked in to a plate, chit-chatting a little bit with folks, but I really wanted that shower, so I went and stood in line waiting for the front desk to sort out my reservation. Keys in hand, I soon found myself on the 7th floor on the complete opposite side of the large, sprawling hotel from the parking garage; that would be fun in the morning.. but that’s a problem for Tomorrow Kerri. Today Kerri needs a shower and to get her jammies on because she has to be downstairs for the mandatory rider meeting at 4am!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/day_3_map.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 3: 7,452 points -- 729 miles<br />
</p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/21/map.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Leg One Total: 18,246 points -- 2,344 miles<br />
</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/2023/06/22/ibr-day-4/">Onward to Day 4 ➡️</a></p>The world is big when you fight against it. We move with it.. it is small for us.2023 Iron Butt Rally: Day 2 - What’ll ya have, what’ll ya have?2023-06-20T13:30:44+00:002023-06-20T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/06/20/ibr-day-2<blockquote>
<p>
<i>If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.</i>
<br />
-- Henry David Thoreau
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>I snoozed for about 30 minutes on the picnic table before being woken up by children running around in the rain, shrieking and laughing. For a split second I thought “Oh no, I really overslept!” but it was 1am - still dark, and still raining; if anything, the rain had gotten a little heavier. I sighed and heaved myself upright, and sat, snacking on a protein bar, looking out at the sodium-lit parking lot. A little rain wasn’t stopping the Big Dogs, and while I wasn’t “Big Dogging” this rally, I still needed to get a move on if I was going to get to Tulsa in, what, 46-ish hours? Time to go..</p>
<p>Back on I-40, I finished the twisting slide eastward down out of the mountains to Asheville, NC, where I picked up I-26 towards Charlotte. There’s a bingo location, Biscuitville, on the western outskirts, and I could hit it right when it opened at 5am, and then find a place to sack out for a longer rest, hopefully someplace out of this dang rain! It was coming down strong and steady, and brought with it a chill that permeated everything, making me sleepy.</p>
<p>After about 45 minutes, I just had to stop, and slipped off the highway in Hendersonville, NC, looking for a motel, covered park bench, all night diner.. but the town was buttoned up tight. After riding through the length of the town, I spotted a car wash, and pulled into one of the bays, thinking it might be, as they often are, a convenient and discrete place to shelter for a bit, but as soon as I got off the bike I started shivering - not a good sign at all. If I was shivering, I needed to be off the bike, pronto, and warm up! I took a look at Google and spotted a Waffle House at the next highway exit, so I made that my next target.</p>
<p>The Waffle House was absolutely empty, which probably isn’t surprising for relatively rural North Carolina at 2am on a stormy Tuesday morning. I dragged my soaked, shivering carcass into a booth, and the waitress brought me coffee without even having to be asked. I let her know I was going to be an easy customer, that I just needed to get out of the storm for a bit, that I’d holler if I needed anything.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/wh.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Too awake to rest, I instead took the opportunity to double-check my rally paperwork.</p>
</div>
<p>Of course, I was the most interesting thing that had happened in Flat Rock, NC in weeks, so instead of doing some paperwork quietly and then shutting my eyes slouched over in a sticky Waffle House booth, I spent the next 2 hours getting the life story of the waitress, Cathy, learning all about her multiple divorces, her special needs son who lives with a foster family across the street on account of her drug arrest, how she loves working the graveyard shift at Waffle House because it’s so quiet and restful, and ultimately her Testimony and salvation story when she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. I was polite and friendly, and tried to disengage a number of times, but she just kept going.. finally a local overnight delivery driver stopped in for his lunch break, and I got a chance to look at the weather map; it was still absolutely cats-and-dogs out there, but it looked like there was a 15-minute gap where I could slip between 2 red and purple blobs of lightning and get out ahead, so I settled up and, mostly dry, ventured back out into the night.</p>
<p>(Of course, I’d realize about an hour later that I didn’t get the required “motorcycle outside the restaurant” photo… DOH! Not a real big deal, since Waffle Houses are everywhere, but it was a real head-shaker moment. I’m <em>barely</em> onto Day 2, and I’m already messing up bonuses? I know we’re not going hard on this rally, but seriously we’re going to go this SOFT? BAH!)</p>
<p>I was feeling tired, but a bit better, and at least the rain had stopped, and the lightning far, far off.. or so I thought. 5 minutes down I-25 and I ran into a veritable wall of water, a real frog-strangler of a storm. There was no place to stop, no exits, no hint of shelter. In a nice change of pace, this particular deluge was <em>warm</em>, and felt like I was standing in the shower. The seal on my helmet’s visor did an admirable job, but finally gave up, and water leaked in, and everything fogged up, forcing me to decided between “super-soaker of tepid water to the face” or “15 feet of visibility” – I chose “super soaker” and laughed every couple of minutes at how ridiculous a situation this was, every breath getting a snout full of lukewarm water, peering ahead at the taillights of the only other vehicle dumb enough to be out here at 4am in this weather.</p>
<p>I kept a good distance back from the small sedan, so as not to pressure them, and I’m glad I did. We came up upon a construction zone that diverted the eastbound lanes into a single lane of the westbound side. The crossover was paved, but dipped down as it crossed the median.. a median full of storm water! The rooster tails and fish-tailing brake lights of the car I was following gave me enough warning to slow down, but not enough to stop. All I could do was hope that Cathy’s promise to pray for me had convinced Jesus to ride pillion with me tonight. I popped up into the standard Adventure Rider pose, perched on the pegs, and just went for it. The bike hit the water and it felt like a jack-hammer on my feet and lower legs, the bike slowing and pitching me forward slightly; if I haven’t been ready for it, I would’ve surely crashed and had to make Lisa pull out her “red book” that she keeps for emergencies.</p>
<p>Of course, I survived, but the next 10 minutes I was a lot less entertained by the ridiculous weather, and gritted my teeth, praying for an exit off this road. Finally one appeared, and I gratefully took the exit. Of course, just as I signaled my turn, BAM! The rain stopped, as sudden as if I’d emerged from a waterfall. The rain was just.. gone, and the air felt warm and muggy.. damndest bit of weather I’ve experienced in a long time!</p>
<p>It was 4:35am, and luckily there was a convenient gas station at the exit to refuel and check the weather. The radar map was just a jumbled mess, seeming to show the storm was dissolving and/or sliding north, and my route was taking me due east on US-74. It had only been about 30 minutes since I left the Waffle House, but it felt like hours, my heart was racing so. The parking lot was calm, I could hear crickets and frogs start up as they sensed the change in weather as well. There was nothing else to do but pull up my big girl pants and get back onto the bike.</p>
<p>The sky was starting to lighten, and the rain failed to rematerialize, a boon to me and the morning commuters who started to appear. Shortly after 5am, the inevitable adrenaline crash hit, body and brain shrieking “get off the bike, NOW!” I spotted what looked like a small bank with a covered drive through, which turned out to be a North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance office (complete with signage for farm vehicle parking!) The ground was dry, so I parked in a far corner, rolled out the sleeping pad, and set my watch for 20 minutes before dropping into a bone-deep sleep.</p>
<p>Right on time, my watch buzzed, and I awoke refreshed and feeling ready to tackle the road. It had been a rough night, but the sun was coming up, the skies were clearing, and while in retrospect I coulda/shoulda just taken a 4-hour motel nap somewhere and made just as much headway, I was quietly tickled at hobo’ing it.. now to get some breakfast, and FINALLY some points!</p>
<h1 id="13-b4---biscuitville---kings-mountain-nc---398-pts">13) B4 - Biscuitville - Kings Mountain, NC - 398 pts</h1>
<h2 id="0554-edt">05:54 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Biscuitville location and take a photo of the same restaurant
with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/b4.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m52!1m12!1m3!1d255016.37093577572!2d-82.46582360367302!3d35.32399185014623!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m37!3e0!4m5!1s0x88597143a36aaaab%3A0xce7202db43383b3!2sNorth%20Carolina%20Welcome%20Center%2C%20Eastbound!3m2!1d35.7029871!2d-83.0413007!4m5!1s0x8859c2f9480048a7%3A0x967684de9fdb87de!2sCarolina%20Car%20Wash%2C%20Spartanburg%20Highway%2C%20East%20Flat%20Rock%2C%20NC!3m2!1d35.291168!2d-82.427872!4m5!1s0x8859c2c47755060d%3A0xf377ad4e92e2d17c!2sWaffle%20House%2C%20Upward%20Road%2C%20Flat%20Rock%2C%20NC!3m2!1d35.2980904!2d-82.40452309999999!4m5!1s0x8857610f7e43ddc9%3A0x49a38de4293a2a4e!2sV%20mart%20Hot%20dog!3m2!1d35.2475385!2d-82.2047199!4m5!1s0x885721c9833095c7%3A0xb817e7b95cea4153!2sNC%20Farm%20Bureau%20Insurance!3m2!1d35.2905479!2d-81.56590349999999!4m5!1s0x8856e9c3dcd231dd%3A0xb9060bd24d596c4a!2sBiscuitville%2C%20York%20Road%2C%20Kings%20Mountain%2C%20NC!3m2!1d35.2294443!2d-81.3333389!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705109339101!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I was officially in The South now, as I got “ma’am”‘d and “Miss Kerri”‘d by the woman running the register this morning. I ordered a breakfast biscuit and a sweet tea, and watched the kitchen crew making biscuits from scratch, working away in a glassed-in area where you could see them folding the dough over and over in large sheets before cutting out biscuit rounds by hand.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>128 miles, 5h44m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>808 miles, 19h58m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>41h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>5,115</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I felt incredibly refreshed by my nap and now a tasty meal; never underestimate the restorative powers of 20 minutes of sleeps and a few hundred calories!</p>
<h1 id="14-scga---peachoid-water-tank---gaffney-sc---1545-pts">14) SCGA - Peachoid Water Tank - Gaffney, SC - 1,545 pts</h1>
<h2 id="0629-edt">06:29 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the Peachoid Water Tank with your motorcycle in the photo. Photos taken from
the shoulder of I-85 will NOT be accepted.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/scga.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d52125.341613272045!2d-82.3809230469179!3d35.26038904930647!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x8856e9c3dcd231dd%3A0xb9060bd24d596c4a!2sBiscuitville%2C%20York%20Road%2C%20Kings%20Mountain%2C%20NC!3m2!1d35.2294443!2d-81.3333389!4m5!1s0x885705574c7ed0b3%3A0xeff7d45bae2d7e59!2sPeachoid%2C%20Peachoid%20Road%2C%20Gaffney%2C%20SC!3m2!1d35.0953535!2d-81.6858165!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705110818338!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I’d wanted to stop and see this one for years, and wasn’t disappointed at all.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>23 miles, 0h28m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>831 miles, 20h26m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>40h34m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>6,660</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Peachoid claimed, I topped off the fuel tanks and got back on I-85 south towards my next bonus at the convention center in downtown Atlanta. It never even occurring to me that my ETA was ~10:00.. it’s funny to me, in retrospect, that Atlanta’s infamous traffic hardly fazes me, let alone Houston or Chicago.. heck, even Los Angeles barely ripples my calm – I can lane split on the big chubby GSA with the best of ‘em! …but tell me I have to go into NYC… oof.</p>
<p>Traffic was the usual sort of Atlanta nightmare, a combination of drivers raised on NASCAR and Southern Manners that results in a dangerous mix of insane speeding and sudden bouts of politeness; it’s common to be hurtling along at 80, getting passed left and right only to have the person in front of you slam on their brakes, slowing almost to a stop to let someone merge in front of them while that person also slows, not wanting to take advantage, both waving at each other <em>on the highway</em> you-go-no-you-go-no-you-go-I-insist. I float as best I can like a cork in a rain-swollen gutter.. except the rain is 4,000 pound SUVs, and I’m not a bouncy cork but a fleshy sack of bones and liquid that really doesn’t want to bump into anyone or anything.</p>
<p>That was on my mind as news from Day One started filtering down through chats and short phone calls with friends who tried to summarize posts on the IBR website and Facebook. Details were sparse, but I got the general gist of things - rain rain rain, rumors of a crash, a deer strike somewhere, a missing flag… I felt so removed from the rally, not having seen anyone or been in contact with any other riders, I started to feel a little lonely.</p>
<p>Loneliness is an unusual emotion for me, usually something I feel only during the best moments on the road - a particular sunset, a ridiculous pun on a sign, the flash of a badger scurrying across the road between fields.. I feel lonely in moments that I’ll never get to share with someone else, moments that will, as the replicant in Blade Runner said, “be lost in time, like tears in rain.” Sure, I’ll capture them as best I’m able in a blog post, or a funny story over coffee, but if you’re not an LD rider, can you really understand? Will you be able to really grasp how weird it is to blink and have a hundred miles roll past? The dislocation of standing on the beach in Jacksonville, FL and pondering the fact that you woke up yesterday morning in San Diego? Only travelers and LD riders really get the madness of rallying, of scurrying into a museum to snap a photo of some random object, of sleeping on a grassy patch you hope isn’t a dog park or watered by automatic sprinklers, the spiraling anger at the indignity of having to SEE CLERK FOR RECEIPT, or the giddy feeling of slipping free of traffic and taking that one weird little shortcut.</p>
<p>No, only other long-distance and rally riders know the highs and lows out here. Not even other motorcycle riders get it.. “You don’t see anything if you travel that far!” they often say to us, without stopping to realize just how silly that is. We see far, far more riding 800, 1,000, 1,500 miles a day, moving through a vast and grand landscape, seeing so much and on a scale that opens us to to comprehending and contemplating the wash of people and regions butting against each other, the movement of weather across a slowly morphing and grinding earth, constantly reforming and reshaping itself. We see different borders than most people readily conceive of - some sharper, some softer, but all more keenly, in moments of clarity and stillness despite the buzz and hum. We travel outside the normal confines of who we might be at home, skip across jurisdictions and polities. We play the role of traveling Wise Men, of tinkers and navigators and voyageurs. We might be the most interesting thing that happened in whatever small town we stop in. We play a role, the outsider-other-stranger, the trickster, beggar-Odin. Those odd borders and divisions we see in the landscape of both land and people make us citizens of a different country, the rally book our passport, our motorcycle faithful companion.. We bought the ticket - time to take the ride.</p>
<h1 id="15-gaat---georgia-peach---atlanta-ga---984-pts">15) GAAT - Georgia Peach - Atlanta, GA - 984 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1003-edt">10:03 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the stainless-steel “Modern Peach” sculpture outside the Georgia World
Congress Center.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/gaat.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m26!1m12!1m3!1d842515.7560334367!2d-83.70154763331406!3d34.42479482461187!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m11!3e0!4m5!1s0x885705574c7ed0b3%3A0xeff7d45bae2d7e59!2sPeachoid%2C%20Peachoid%20Road%2C%20Gaffney%2C%20SC!3m2!1d35.0953535!2d-81.6858165!4m3!3m2!1d33.7581491!2d-84.395774!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705166749794!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>GPS directed me through the convention center neighborhood/campus, around the Olympic Centennial Park and behind the College Football Hall of Fame to a loading dock/parking garage. “You have arrived at your destination” well no I haven’t, because this is the “Red Circle” Diamond Parking Lot and it’s for “Employees and Deliveries Only”.. GPS sent me <em>under</em> the convention center instead of onto surface streets above. Frustratingly silly, but I can’t blame Garmin since both it and Waze agreed that I was 100% in the correct location…</p>
<p>I finally managed to get back up to the upper street level, a one-way loop around the State Farm Arena and the CNN Center, which was holding some kind of big convention today. I spotted the statue that was my bonus, only there was no place to park, “No Parking” signs and hundreds of people everywhere, so I circled the huge block again, looking for a place to park that wasn’t going to charge me $30. By the time I came back around to the bonus, I said to heck with it, and parked in the 3-minute pickup/drop-off zone. The convention was some kind of youth-world-council-forum-something-something, so while I was very out of place, no one paid me any mind, and I was able to snap the photo and get the heck out of here.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>189 miles, 3h35m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,020 miles, 24h03m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>36h57m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>7,644</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I got the heck out of downtown Atlanta, heading north on I-75 about 30 minutes to my next stop, another bingo bonus - The Varsity, which until a few years ago held the record for “largest drive-in restaurant”.. I assume by square footage. Located in a shopping development/office park, I arrived a good 30 minutes before they were open for business, so I got a good parking spot for my bonus photo, took off my gear and found a shady spot to lay down for a few minutes and nap.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/sunshine.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<h1 id="16-n4---the-varsity---atlanta-ga---466-pts">16) N4 - The Varsity - Atlanta, GA - 466 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1102-edt">11:02 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved The Varsity location and take a photo of the same restaurant
with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/n4.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d211968.69886988812!2d-84.64049993747048!3d33.88937260691979!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d33.7581491!2d-84.395774!4m3!3m2!1d33.8636929!2d-84.4382651!4m5!1s0x88f514d9ba74616f%3A0xc6b98f21e43b1c57!2sThe%20Varsity%2C%20Town%20Center%20Drive%2C%20Kennesaw%2C%20GA!3m2!1d34.020301599999996!2d-84.5609676!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705175135555!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>There was one customer already in line waiting for the doors to open, and I took his advice on what to get.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/chili_dog.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Kind of reminded me of the "chili dog" I had in New Zealand..</p>
</div>
<p>Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten the whole thing.. but I did. I ended up not leaving this location until about 11:15, between paperwork and stuffing this monstrosity into my face.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>23 miles, 0h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,043 miles, 25h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>35h58m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>8,110</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Talk about a gut bomb.. the chili dog just sat in my stomach the next few hours as I headed north on I-75 out of Georgia and into Tennessee. At least the sun was shining! Just past Chattanooga, TN I spotted signs for both Waffle House and Sonic, so I pulled off to score 2 more Gut Bomb Bingo bonuses.</p>
<h1 id="17-n2---waffle-house---tiftonia-tn---275-pts">17) N2 - Waffle House - Tiftonia, TN - 275 pts</h1>
<h1 id="18-i1---sonic-drive-in---163-pts">18) I1 - Sonic Drive-In - 163 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1310-edt">13:10 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><!-- _Get a receipt from any approved The Varsity location and take a photo of the same restaurant
with your motorcycle in the photo._ --></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/n2.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/i1.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d420745.0388019546!2d-85.30223405762018!3d34.526438845859104!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x88f514d9ba74616f%3A0xc6b98f21e43b1c57!2sThe%20Varsity%2C%20Town%20Center%20Drive%2C%20Kennesaw%2C%20GA!3m2!1d34.020301599999996!2d-84.5609676!4m5!1s0x88605bc7627492bd%3A0xba82545d20e54e7e!2sWaffle%20House%2C%20Birmingham%20Highway%2C%20Tiftonia%2FLookout%20Valley%2C%20Chattanooga%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.0168147!2d-85.38201269999999!4m5!1s0x88605beb702d2617%3A0x55b206d052e1b0b!2sSonic%20Drive-In%2C%20Cummings%20Highway%2C%20Tiftonia%2FLookout%20Valley%2C%20Chattanooga%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.0188456!2d-85.3713014!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705176959333!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Believe it or not, I’ve never been to a Sonic before. I see them all over as I travel, but we don’t have (m)any in the PNW. Besides, drive-ins like this are sketchy on a motorcycle, and this one proved no different; I went up to the counter, but they made me go back and sit on the bike until one of the teens felt motivated to wander over and take my order, then took 10 minutes to deliver me a small tea. Of course, they didn’t bring me a receipt, and my request was met with a blank stare, and another 5 minute delay…</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>100 miles, 2h08m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,143 miles, 27h10m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>33h50m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>8,548</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>As much as I’ve traveled through bits of Tennessee the past few years, I’ve never been here in the south-central part of the state. Beautiful country, and the weather was vacillating between cloudy and sunny, perfectly warm with the occasional pocket of cool, moist valley air. Nothing to do but ride ride ride..</p>
<h1 id="19-tnbb---rc-cola--moon-pie---bell-buckle-tn---857-pts">19) TNBB - RC Cola & Moon Pie - Bell Buckle, TN - 857 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1458-edt">14:58 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the Historic Bell Buckle Tn mural on the west wall of the Chamber of
Commerce Building. Your photo must show the RC Cola bottle and Moon Pie package on the
lower right side of the mural.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/tnbb.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d416815.55471568083!2d-86.19248235578375!3d35.296749015046686!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x88605beb702d2617%3A0x55b206d052e1b0b!2sSonic%20Drive-In%2C%20Cummings%20Highway%2C%20Tiftonia%2FLookout%20Valley%2C%20Chattanooga%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.0188456!2d-85.3713014!4m5!1s0x8863e6a3c1df2147%3A0x241d3da4b157fbf5!2sBell%20Buckle%20Chamber%20of%20Commerce!3m2!1d35.5895106!2d-86.35444559999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705178876736!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>A cute little town, I had to check the name a couple times because I kept wanting to call it “Belt Buckle”… I’d love to come back when they’re having the RC Cola & Moon Pie Festival they have here every year.</p>
<p>Of note, I finally had a bonus stop with other riders! 3 other bikes (including one 2-up team) were there, and we took turns with regular tourists taking photos.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>87 miles, 1h48m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,230 miles, 28h58m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>32h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>9,405</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I took advantage of the stop and made my call-in, claiming another 1,000 points. I tried to think of something witty or funny or on-brand to leave as a message, but kept it crisp and to the point. “Just the facts, ma’am.”</p>
<h1 id="20-call1---leg-1-call-in-bonus---1000-pts">20) CALL1 - Leg 1 Call-In Bonus - 1,000 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1502-edt">15:02 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>11:00AM-11:00PM CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME, June 20, 2023
Call xxx-xxx-xxxx and leave the following information:<br />
(1) Your name<br />
(2) Your rider number<br />
(3) Your location (city/town and state/province)<br />
(4) The last bonus you scored<br />
(5) The next bonus you are heading for</em></p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>10,405</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>As I was pulling out of this tiny village, another pair of rally bikes were coming in. Apparently there were lots of us on more or less the same loop through the south, and looking later at the <a href="https://new.spotwalla.com/animation/6af9-56374-3e04/view?speed=80">Leg One tracking animation</a> it becomes even more obvious about how the distribution of the bonuses encouraged some pretty linear thinking, and scoring would later prove that out, with similarly tight grouping or tiers of points based on which basic route you took. The Big Dogs headed to New England… as I suspected. While I’m still conflicted about my flower-sniffin’, I see it still as a good confirmation that my <em>seeing</em> that as the better-best route was indeed correct. All I can do is trust that a less-than-stellar finish won’t be seen as confirmation that I don’t belong here, and that I’ll be able to come back in 2025 and really give it my all. “Stick to your plan. Anticipate, don’t improvise.”</p>
<p>Back to the highway, I-24 then cutting over to I-840 to loop around Nashville to the south. My weather app, always a bit flaky with geolocation where I am at any given moment, starting pinging severe thunderstorm warnings. Out of curiosity I flipped over to the app to see if it knew I was no longer in Pittsburgh, and yup - another line of thunderstorms stretching across the entire width of Tennessee north to south was ahead of me. I did a quick check of my bingo cheatsheet, and with a little googling found a Shake Shack not too far out of my way, so I figured I might as well earn some points while I sheltered from the storm would at least keep me making “progress”.</p>
<h1 id="21-o4---shake-shack---bell-buckle-tn---240-pts">21) O4 - Shake Shack - Bell Buckle, TN - 240 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1559-edt">15:59 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Shake Shack location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/o4.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d207199.37276110594!2d-86.74148038430074!3d35.763333198738344!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8863e6a3c1df2147%3A0x241d3da4b157fbf5!2sBell%20Buckle%20Chamber%20of%20Commerce!3m2!1d35.5895106!2d-86.35444559999999!4m3!3m2!1d35.799251!2d-86.38226929999999!4m5!1s0x88647f83b7c6c551%3A0xfeff519e008aa5d!2sShake%20Shack%20Franklin%2C%20Aspen%20Grove%20Drive%2C%20Franklin%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.936374799999996!2d-86.8267889!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705258160372!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The storm broke overhead while I was inside, and when even the locals stop and go to the windows to watch the light show, you know it’s a pretty big storm! This building, like most cheap modern retail construction, had giant windows and a thin metal roof, both reverberating and echoing the rain, hail, and thunder crashes like pebbles on a steel drum.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>57 miles, 1h01m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,287 miles, 29h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>31h01m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>10,645</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>While sitting there, waiting for Mother Nature to move on, I started to feel the first hints of frustration. These bingo bonuses were stacking up to score me some not-bad points, but they also were a huge time sink. Not quite a sucker bonus, but surely my suspicion that these would be a bigger deal would have to come to fruition.. right? Again, in a leg with no puzzles or twists other than “how hard can you ride?”, this one little bit of quirky-fun had to lead to something bigger later on. I sure hope so; yes, I’m riding an easy Leg One and taking the usual advice of “just finish your rookie IBR” to heart, and I knew I wasn’t going to make even a medal finish if I was guessing incorrectly, but I didn’t want to turn in a rally performance that was <em>embarrassing</em>. Too many people looking to me already with too many expectations as not only the only solo woman in the rally, but a rookie being picked to be one of the lead riders? I sure hope Leg Two has more opportunities for making the bingo bonuses competitive. 🤞🏼</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/tn_radar.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">The storm only took ~40 minutes to pass, but it felt like hours.</p>
</div>
<p>Back on I-840, I picked up I-40W on the western side of Nashville and continued on towards my next bonus stop in Memphis. The storm cleared the skies and offered a brief respite from humidity, but soon enough the hammering sun and the anvil of thick, heavy air returned to it’s normal practice of squeezing sweat and patience from me. I had a couple long stops to cool down, one at a truck stop and another at a rest area, where despite the humidity making it inefficient, I soaked my base layer in a sink, thankful for even the smallest amount of relief from evaporative cooling.</p>
<p>As I was closing in on the Memphis metro area, I got my first little bit of rally magic; someone had set themselves up on an overpass bridge with a big sign cheering on IBR riders! They must have been following the public tracking page and realized a ton of us were heading down I-40. Sir, I don’t know who you were, but you made my day!</p>
<p>Memphis was Memphis; broken streets, boarded up storefronts closed so long the plywood is stained with rust from nails and screws holding them in place, trash just floating in the middle of the streets, any nearly no one about. I easily made my way to the next bonus while dodging potholes and half-decomposed cardboard boxes flattened by traffic.. but I also could’ve just followed my nose, as the one good smell I got to experience while in Memphis was coming from the kitchen at Charlie Vergo’s Rendezvous.</p>
<h1 id="22-tnme---charlie-vergos-rendezvous---memphis-tn---1149-pts">22) TNME - Charlie Vergo’s Rendezvous - Memphis, TN - 1,149 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1958-edt">19:58 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the Charlie Vergo’s Rendezvous sign above their entrance in the alley behind
the building.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/tnme.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d830660.7691666321!2d-89.09532393965416!3d35.584102148532146!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x88647f83b7c6c551%3A0xfeff519e008aa5d!2sShake%20Shack%20Franklin%2C%20Aspen%20Grove%20Drive%2C%20Franklin%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.936374799999996!2d-86.8267889!4m5!1s0x887ebc92de47fc8d%3A0xc75709c0d51cfb1!2sI-40%20WEST%20Rest%20Area!3m2!1d35.628222199999996!2d-88.9679465!4m5!1s0x87d57e96a82b1479%3A0xcb5bf5a8850c21dc!2sCharlie%20Vergos'%20Rendezvous%2C%20South%202nd%20Street%2C%20Memphis%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.143373!2d-90.0515159!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705262953048!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I arrived right at 8pm, and quite a crowd was in the alley, so I parked about halfway down the alley and ran to get my photo. Apparently I wasn’t fast enough, because as I was sauntering the 100 feet back to the bike, a VERY angry valet was emerging from the underground parking garage entrance that I had parked in front of. I apologized profusely for having missed the signage that it was an active garage; I’d been distracted by the crowd of people coming and going from the restaurant who were clogging up the alley and my not wanting to plow through them. He gruffly accepted my explanation, and I hustled out of there as soon as I could, wishing I had time to stop for a meal or a to-go box.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>220 miles, 2h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,507 miles, 32h58m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>28h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>11,794</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I-40 crossed over the Mississippi River, always a moment for me, and through the fields and fertile soil of eastern Arkansas, sugar and wheat and rice and who knows what else, just intensely green, riding right into the setting sun. I managed for a while, blinking back the orange glare, and started calculating when I should take my rest break - 6 points/min for a maximum of 8 hours would net me nearly 3,000 points, and sitting at ~11,700 a full rest would likely be the most efficient use of my ample time left this leg, both in terms of points and in making sure I was ready for route planning and then riding Leg 2.. I was already close to enough points for a bare minimum “finisher” status, as our target for this leg was 12,000 points, so any other bonuses would be about climbing in position rather than staying ahead of the DNF thresher.</p>
<p>I stopped at a truck stop for gas and to top off my 1-gallon thermos, booked a room at a nearby hotel, and soon found myself showered, pajama’d, and by 9:30pm I was in bed for the night.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d418138.648909627!2d-90.95390695798778!3d35.039029329401814!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87d57e96a82b1479%3A0xcb5bf5a8850c21dc!2sCharlie%20Vergos'%20Rendezvous%2C%20South%202nd%20Street%2C%20Memphis%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.143373!2d-90.0515159!4m5!1s0x87d49e37644f6213%3A0xff05ae8eeb03558b!2sEcono%20Lodge%20%26%20Suites!3m2!1d34.913332!2d-91.196381!4m3!3m2!1d35.0376541!2d-90.765802!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1705263949644!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/20/map.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 2: 6,077 points -- 935 miles<br />
Total: 11,794 points -- 1,615 miles<br />
</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/2023/06/21/ibr-day-3/">Onward to Day 3 ➡️</a></p>If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.2023 Iron Butt Rally: Day 1 - Aperitifs2023-06-19T13:30:44+00:002023-06-19T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/06/19/ibr-day-1<blockquote>
<p>
<i>Trust your fear, trust that the machine is going to work for you, trust your training. Your name wasn’t picked out of a hat.</i>
<br />
-- Astronaut Mike Massimino
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>Slept like a baby, up at 6:30 for one last Dunkies, and breakfast of fruit and eggs. Everyone is getting into the zone now, so few people were at breakfast and even fewer felt sociable - game faces are getting firmly set. I went back upstairs to fetch the bags I was leaving at the hotel, and shortly after 8am moved my bike into the #2 position, getting my final odo check and the coveted orange dot sticker on my headlight that attested to my final sign-off from tech – I was set to go.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/odo.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Final odo check, and I'm officially ready to ride!</p>
</div>
<p>Nothing else to do for the next hour, other than get the rest of the gear out of the hotel room and stored on the bike. I had a few quiet, private conversations with other riders and IBR finishers who were only spectators this year; as much as I felt ready to go and steady, it was nice to get the check in. Thanks, you know who you are!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/trio.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">The 3 yahoos leading this parade.. Ken Andrews, Bob Lilley, and myself. (Photo credit: Tobie Stevens)</p>
</div>
<p>I took the time to get the bike squared away; I was running light on this rally, leaving most of my usual travel gear stowed in the hotel storage room. I usually run with 2 22-liter pannier, carrying all the clothes I’ll need, including street clothes, extra this and that, a nice dress in case I need to go out to dinner, swim suit for emergencies, etc.. This time, I was running one topper with 4-5 changes of underwear, 3-4 pairs of wool socks, a backup set of LD Comfort base layers, pajamas, and my dopp kit.. why pajamas? I dunno, sure, I can fall asleep in my gear, but for the best possible sleep, a quick shower and changing into pajamas does wonders for my getting as much relaxation and recharge out of shut-eye as possible. The other topper was barely packed, with only the sleeping mat I picked up at REI the week before and the really warm fleece pullover we got as part of the rally swag. There simply wouldn’t been any need for any other clothing the next 11 days.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/bike.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Home</p>
</div>
<p>I filled up my 1-gallon hydration jug with water and ice from the station setup in the portico outside the hotel, and wandered the lot a bit, chit-chatting with Team Kiwi (Chris and Stella Wiltshire) and just checking in with everyone else I recognized. The morning was already a little muggy, so I sat inside the hotel lobby and the A/C until the final rider meeting at 9:45, held in a patch of shade cast onto the tarmac by the trees along the creek bank. Dale squawked his bullhorn, and he and the rallymasters gave us our final instructions. Short and sweet - be safe, be smart, no changes to the rally book, etc.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/meeting.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">"Remember, you're all representatives of the Iron Butt Association..." (Photo credit: Tobie Stevens)</p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/bikes.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">(Photo credit: Tobie Stevens)</p>
</div>
<p>9:55am, back to our bikes, a hundred and some engines firing up early and throbbing away in nervous anticipation. You might know the sound, if you’ve been at the starting line of a motorsport racing, nervous throttles spinning open throaty, eager yowls from crashing cylinders, here and there an accidental horn bleating surprise. You might know the sound, but unless you’ve sat waiting for the GO signal, you don’t know the sound inside the helmet, the heartbeats and breaths that push down the cacophony of machine, until the noise is just a vibration, the engine beneath you keeping better time than any watch, ticking away in drops of vaporized petroleum the seconds until you can, if everything goes right and you don’t dump the clutch or drop the bike like some squid, smoothly roll on the power and cleanly parade your way past the honking and flashing of the 120 other people who share this same weird compulsion to ride and ride and ride and never stop, who coughed up the 4-digit entry fee for the pleasure of being Jeff Earls’ plaything as he dangles meaningless points in front of you, goading you to the far edges of the map, all the while knowing you HAVE TO BE IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA IN 61 HOURS which is ridiculous, how is that even possible, who in their right mind oh shit, Warchild is talking to Ken Andrews in front of me, a brief hug, quiet prayer, and a slap on the shoulder, and Ken is moving confidently forward leaving on this amazing adventure and wait no, I’m not ready, Dale, stop, a quiet prayer, a slap on my shoulder, no one in front of me Ken has rounded the corner, crap I’m supposed to follow him, right right ok got this wait I’m already moving, I didn’t stall the bike, move confidently and carefully, oh man Bob Lilley is RIGHT BEHIND YOU can he pass me in the parking lot?!?</p>
<div class="post-image">
<iframe width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n-2blAZ7oaI?si=gny7knkimM9KpGqN" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">(Video credit: Team FA-FO)</p>
</div>
<p>Local PD guided us through the first of 2 red lights between the hotel parking lot and the I-376 onramp.. smack into a small traffic jam as a dump truck decided it had to stop at the light instead of following the cop’s direction to clear the intersection, backing us all up. Lilley was having none of this, and crossed into the opposing lane of traffic to cut around the block, which seemed a little risky to me - I was nerves, but an extra 10 seconds wasn’t going to make a difference, as impatient as I was. I then got to slooooowly follow the dump truck up the on-ramp, a string of riders behind me.. frustrating! I saw a gap in traffic and cracked the throttle wide, crossing the rumble stripped gore and getting right into the flow of morning traffic. A few riders passed me, but we were already moving at the 10-15mph over that local drivers seemed to consider normal, so I didn’t pay any heed to anyone who wanted to race.</p>
<p>It only took about 5 minutes before I came to my first turn, heading south on I-79. Only one of the riders who passed me took this turn, while the rest continued east, obviously heading for the New England Loop. Was a Southeastern Sweep going to be a bad idea? Riders behind me turned as well, and I slowed down a bit and let folks overtake me and set pace. I fell in with the Rufos - Lisa and Molly, the first mother/daughter 2-up team, and Stephen, as well as someone else behind me. A nice little pack, we set a good pace for 20 minutes, eventually turning west on I-70 towards Columbus, OH. Riders would occasionally pass, sometimes we’d pass them, and it soon was clear to me that lots of people would be heading to the same first bonus location.</p>
<p>After crossing through the northern arm of West Virginia, through the tunnels of Wheeling, WV, we soon crossed into Ohio, and I noticed that I’d forgotten to top off the fuel last night. No worries, I had plenty of range, being only down a couple gallons, but the last cup of Dunkies this morning prompted me to pull over about 45 minutes after the start for a quick bathroom break and a splash of gas. It might have cost me a few minutes, but I knew that the first bonus I had in mind - a specific statue of a corn cob in a field FULL of statues of corn cobs - would be much simplified if I arrived a few minutes after the rest of the pack. I wouldn’t have to waste time trying to locate the right statue if I rolled up and walked over to where the clot of other riders were taking photos!</p>
<p>By the time I got to Columbus, OH, the grey skies that had threatened rain at the start started to release their payload, a warm, muggy drizzle, very much like a proper Seattle storm. I fell in behind Danny Dossman for the last couple miles of city highway, before hopping off and meandering through office parks to the first bonus of my 2023 Iron Butt Rally.</p>
<h1 id="1-ohd---field-of-corn---dublin-oh---1267-pts">1) OHD - Field of Corn - Dublin, OH - 1,267 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1255-edt">12:55 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the one concrete ear of corn with the damaged, missing kernel 5 rows from
the top of the ear. Yes, you will need to search the field for the correct ear.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/ohd.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d780193.7695464857!2d-82.2749284278191!3d40.195004403266104!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x88345bff50d488bb%3A0x6f8446c408c499b8!2sPittsburgh%20Airport%20Marriott%2C%20777%20Aten%20Rd%2C%20Coraopolis%2C%20PA%2015108!3m2!1d40.4603378!2d-80.1928557!4m3!3m2!1d40.0482686!2d-80.7820192!4m5!1s0x88389320245f8f81%3A0x93d0cfc40258fb5c!2sField%20of%20Corn%2C%20Sam%20%26%20Eulalia%20Frantz%20Park%2C%20Rings%20Road%2C%20Dublin%2C%20OH!3m2!1d40.0850272!2d-83.1232409!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704927527678!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I pulled up and saw that my cunning plan had worked; there were easily 20 bikes already here, precariously parked along a narrow drive adjacent to the park, a multi-acre green field with 109 6’ tall concrete ears of corn perched on end. A small crowd of riders was gathered around one particular ear, so I hustled over, confirmed it was the right one, and got my picture.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>198 miles, 2h55m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>198 miles, 2h55m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>58h05m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>1,267</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>One thing I started doing during Heart of Texas was to photograph my bike’s odometer and the current time at each bonus. Since we had to fill out paperwork by hand recording the mileage and time of each bonus. The photo helps document the stop when I went back later to review the sheet before I turn it in for scoring.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/dash.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Honestly can't believe I didn't think to do this sooner!</p>
</div>
<p>With business done, I was off to my next bonus. I was, according the itinerary, 9 minutes ahead of schedule… would that hold?</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/itinerary.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I call this photo "Good Intentions"</p>
</div>
<h1 id="2-o3---popeyes-louisiana-kitchen---cincinnati-oh---73-pts">2) O3 - Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen - Cincinnati, OH - 73 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1447-edt">14:47 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Popeyes location and take a photo of the same restaurant
with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/o3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d392986.77474894875!2d-84.00915115585701!3d39.69000055888147!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x88389320245f8f81%3A0x93d0cfc40258fb5c!2sField%20of%20Corn%2C%20Sam%20%26%20Eulalia%20Frantz%20Park%2C%20Rings%20Road%2C%20Dublin%2C%20OH!3m2!1d40.0850272!2d-83.1232409!4m3!3m2!1d39.523735599999995!2d-83.83353609999999!4m5!1s0x884056f7623267c3%3A0xff3281a37bd74ec9!2sPopeyes%20Louisiana%20Kitchen%2C%209751%20Mason%20Montgomery%20Rd%2C%20Mason%2C%20OH%2045040!3m2!1d39.29638!2d-84.3157004!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704928276743!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I had to stop for a potty break anyways, so when I saw Popeye’s on an exit sign along I-71 on the outskirts of Cincinnati, OH, I ducked off to get my bonus (along with a spicy chicken sandwich, since it was technically lunch time.) I ate half the sandwich, saving the rest for later.. I mean, I’ve got all those pre-packed bags of somewhat healthy snacks to eat, too!</p>
<p>Service was a bit slow, and all-told the stop took about 20 minutes, from getting off the highway to getting back on. A nagging thought bubbled up in the back of my head; these “fast” food stops were going to eat up a ton of my time. I sure hope my guess as to them being valuable over the course of the rally plays out, or I’m going to waste a lot of valuable time for fairly little reward.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>98 miles, 1h52m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>296 miles, 4h47m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>56h13m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>1,340</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="3-ohci---kroger---cincinnati-oh---541-pts">3) OHCI - Kroger - Cincinnati, OH - 541 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1516-edt">15:16 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the large produce mural on the east face of the Kroger office building.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/ohci.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d98939.33582410622!2d-84.4963305949419!3d39.2007605600161!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x884056f7623267c3%3A0xff3281a37bd74ec9!2sPopeyes%20Louisiana%20Kitchen%2C%209751%20Mason%20Montgomery%20Rd%2C%20Mason%2C%20OH%2045040!3m2!1d39.29638!2d-84.3157004!4m3!3m2!1d39.1487092!2d-84.4489151!4m5!1s0x8841b1c1fb3f8371%3A0xe762272978676554!2sKroger%2C%20100%20E%20Court%20St%2C%20Cincinnati%2C%20OH%2045202!3m2!1d39.1067022!2d-84.5125782!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704929879737!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Cincinnati was quiet, and I was glad for it as I had to navigate their downtown streets of slick brick and trolley tracks. I had a couple “traction control” moments, and pulled in just as another rider was leaving.. and another one pulled in as I left.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>19 miles, 0h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>314 miles, 5h16m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>55h44m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>1,881</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="4-g5---white-castle---cincinnati-oh---235-pts">4) G5 - White Castle - Cincinnati, OH - 235 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1532-edt">15:32 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved White Castle location and take a photo of the same restaurant
with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/g5.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d12385.835244917718!2d-84.52932682703019!3d39.09602330007506!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8841b1c1fb3f8371%3A0xe762272978676554!2sKroger%2C%20100%20E%20Court%20St%2C%20Cincinnati%2C%20OH%2045202!3m2!1d39.1067022!2d-84.5125782!4m3!3m2!1d39.1050471!2d-84.5162916!4m5!1s0x8841b13578d86969%3A0x5ebaa2758dd9275a!2sWhite%20Castle!3m2!1d39.0877908!2d-84.5197282!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704929332668!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The next stop was right across the river. I was slightly excited about this one, since I’d never been to a White Castle before… and now I miss who I used to be, someone innocent and pure. The place was a grimy, dirty disaster, took forever and a day to get the most basic menu item (their infamous sliders) of which I took one bite and spit it out onto the pavement by the bike. Absolute garbage.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>2 miles, 0h16m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>316 miles, 5h32m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>55h28m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>2,116</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>That 9-minute buffer I had coming out of the first bonus location? Gone.. along with 30 additional minutes. These Gut Bomb Bingo stops were going to eat my schedule if I wasn’t careful.</p>
<h1 id="5-kyw---halls-on-the-river---winchester-ky---727-pts">5) KYW - Hall’s on the River - Winchester, KY - 727 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1709-edt">17:09 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of Hall’s On The River with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/kyw.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d799329.9849703695!2d-85.16164273852199!3d38.50188253941916!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8841b13578d86969%3A0x5ebaa2758dd9275a!2sWhite%20Castle!3m2!1d39.0877908!2d-84.5197282!4m3!3m2!1d38.792348499999996!2d-84.6045312!4m5!1s0x884254ac787bcc55%3A0x9c0f3ed3a1c7ac92!2sHall's%20On%20The%20River%2C%20Athens%20Boonesboro%20Road%2C%20Winchester%2C%20KY!3m2!1d37.9187778!2d-84.2733444!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704930317538!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Kentucky apparently has a “Beer Cheese Trail” you can wander down, sampling the various award-winning offerings of pubs and taverns throughout the region. Hall’s is on the list for having won Best Of awards for its particular blend of said delicacy, although I didn’t have time to sample it. Located a few miles off the interstate, past horse farms and small hamlets in a small holler carved out by the Kentucky River, the persistent rain had made their sloped parking lot slicker than pig snot. I gingerly pulled in beside Russ & Cathy Neal, who were just finishing their own photo. I lost my footing briefly when dismounting, but undeterred, I snapped a photo, said a little curse for good luck, and went on my way.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>96 miles, 1h37m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>412 miles, 7h09m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>53h51m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>2,843</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>GPS and Waze agreed on a weird route, backtracking first past several horse farms then down a single-lane (but paved!) twisty hill road that cut through a Christian Bible camp before dumping me on a frontage road just shy of an on-ramp. Heading south, I stopped briefly in Mount Vernon, KY for gas, getting into a great conversation with a local who opened not with “where ya from?” or “I used to have a bike” but “how big is that extra fuel tank?” A retired welder himself, he was duly impressed with Lincoln Seals work, and after a few minutes of casual chat around “what’s it like in Seattle?” I managed to get back on the road.</p>
<h1 id="6-g3---long-john-silvers---corbin-ky---113-pts">6) G3 - Long John Silver’s - Corbin, KY - 113 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1838-edt">18:38 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Get a receipt from any approved Long John Silver’s location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/g3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m38!1m12!1m3!1d405451.8766294641!2d-84.54442459616706!3d37.44672353237132!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m23!3e0!4m5!1s0x884254ac787bcc55%3A0x9c0f3ed3a1c7ac92!2sHall's%20On%20The%20River%2C%20Athens%20Boonesboro%20Road%2C%20Winchester%2C%20KY!3m2!1d37.9187778!2d-84.2733444!4m3!3m2!1d37.924438699999996!2d-84.3498489!4m5!1s0x8842d9c5f2987075%3A0xd2dba5307d0187e2!2sbp!3m2!1d37.344!2d-84.31402!4m5!1s0x885cc5ec1cfbc6a1%3A0xe62f7a2cecd43e5b!2sLong%20John%20Silver's%2C%20Cumberland%20Gap%20Parkway%2C%20Corbin%2C%20KY!3m2!1d36.957020799999995!2d-84.070409!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704932325814!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I was settling into rally mode at this point, clicking off miles, and called Gabby to chat for a bit. I wasn’t really watching the GPS, so didn’t notice until after I turned off I-75 onto US-25E that I was heading for the Cumberland Gap, where I’d last ventured during LDX last year. I spotted a Long John Silvers, and while I knew they were pretty common, I wasn’t used to seeing them, so rather than gamble on another one popping up in my travels, I hung up with Gabby and pulled in to claim another Gut Bomb Bingo bonus.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>82 miles, 1h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>494 miles, 8h38m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>52h22m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>2,956</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I called Gabby back, and chatted until I lost signal amongst the Appalachian hills. I briefly thought about stopping at the National Historic Park to grab a stamp, but I was already really behind schedule, and they were long closed as I passed them by, cutting through the tunnel and into Harrogate, TN past Lincoln Memorial University. I gave the statue of old Honest Abe a wave as I passed, remembering this stop on Day 5 of my 2022 LDX rally as a high-point, where I recovered from a sucky Day 4. What kind of low points would I see over the next 10 days? Would a sunny afternoon and a statue of a founding father lift my spirits then?</p>
<p>US-25E is a fun, fast road of sweeping curves through the hills of eastern Tennessee, and I easily made up some time here before crossing Cherokee Lake, a TVA-era hydroelectric and flood-control reservoir, and turned onto the commercial strip of Morristown, TN.</p>
<h1 id="7-n3---pals-sudden-service---morristown-tn---358-pts">7) N3 - Pal’s Sudden Service - Morristown, TN - 358 pts</h1>
<h1 id="8-b2---cook-out---294-pts">8) B2 - Cook Out - 294 pts</h1>
<h1 id="9-g1---bojangles-famous-chicken-n-biscuits---237-pts">9) G1 - Bojangle’s Famous Chicken n’ Biscuits - 237 pts</h1>
<h1 id="10-o5--taco-johns---158-pts">10) O5 -Taco John’s - 158 pts</h1>
<h1 id="11-n1---freddys-frozen-custard-and-steakburgers---128-pts">11) N1 - Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers - 128 pts</h1>
<h2 id="2022-2054-edt">20:22-20:54 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><!-- _Get a receipt from any approved Long John Silver's location and take a photo of the same
restaurant with your motorcycle in the photo._ --></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/n3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/b2.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/g1.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/o5.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/n1.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m52!1m12!1m3!1d410127.11021514575!2d-84.005106085442!3d36.575372988123014!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m37!3e0!4m5!1s0x885cc5ec1cfbc6a1%3A0xe62f7a2cecd43e5b!2sLong%20John%20Silver's%2C%20Cumberland%20Gap%20Parkway%2C%20Corbin%2C%20KY!3m2!1d36.957020799999995!2d-84.070409!4m5!1s0x885b96d829557fdb%3A0x524d2458f33339e7!2sPal's%20Sudden%20Services%2C%20West%20Andrew%20Johnson%20Highway%2C%20Morristown%2C%20TN!3m2!1d36.2045155!2d-83.32493459999999!4m5!1s0x885b96d849c91e81%3A0xff6ebd8b9a31465a!2sCook%20Out%2C%20West%20Andrew%20Johnson%20Highway%2C%20Morristown%2C%20TN!3m2!1d36.205072!2d-83.3240462!4m5!1s0x885b96d83a9ba62f%3A0xb2d8cf70a7d14234!2sBojangles%2C%20West%20Andrew%20Johnson%20Highway%2C%20Morristown%2C%20TN!3m2!1d36.2057395!2d-83.3249494!4m5!1s0x885b96d38744c0cf%3A0xc5efe6eaa5a95384!2sTaco%20John's%2C%20West%20Andrew%20Johnson%20Highway%2C%20Morristown%2C%20TN!3m2!1d36.2020267!2d-83.3331706!4m5!1s0x885b913df65e9093%3A0x94b64c1c15162078!2sFreddy's%20Frozen%20Custard%20%26%20Steakburgers%2C%20Hatfield%20Drive%20%23101%2C%20Morristown%2C%20TN!3m2!1d36.1933563!2d-83.3601115!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704933547407!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>My target was a pair of bingo locations that were very small regional chains isolated to the southeast - Pal’s Sudden Service and Cook Out. Both were located next to each other, and both were staffed by Very Nice Young Men who, when I tried to order a small sweet tea, politely said “No charge, ma’am” and then looked slightly confused and/or offended when I insisted on paying, not understanding why I needed a receipt.</p>
<p>While finishing the paperwork, I noticed across the street was a Bojangles, so I zipped over there and went through the same script - order a small tea, then have to insist on paying. Realizing I was on a major commercial strip, I took a minute and compared my bingo cheat sheet to what Google Maps was showing me, and I spotted a Taco Johns and a Freddy’s also on this same stretch, so I knocked them out as well.</p>
<p>Well, it was a slow series of stops, burning up all the time I made up through the Cumberland Gap, but I was 1,200 points further ahead!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>94 miles, 2h15m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>588 miles, 10h53m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>50h07m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>4,131</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>As I was leaving Freddy’s, I realized I hadn’t checked in to Johanna, so I gave Coach Jo a call and we chatted for half an hour or so. Heading south, I picked up I-40 and headed west for a stretch before turning south towards Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg when I said goodnight to Jo, promising to stay in touch during the rally. It was about then that I noticed the lightning on the horizon, and I stopped to check out the weather radar.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/radar.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Uh oh!</p>
</div>
<p>I was getting a little sleepy at this point, between the weather, the junk food stops, and the sun having set, so I pulled into the Sevierville Visitors Center and took a nap while waiting for the storm cell to pass. I’m glad I did, as the wind kicked up and hail started washing over the parking lot in writhing, pulsing sheets of icy pellets… no thanks!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/nap.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I've an entire series of selfies of myself taking naps...</p>
</div>
<p>They had these really comfy rocking chairs set out, so I dozed right off, just a quick 25-minute disco nap, and the rain settled down to a steady but not overwhelming soaking. While waiting, I texted a few people with check-ins, and had a little glucose snack to wake up the ol’ brain. All in all, I spent about 40 minutes off the bike. I felt the keen edge of competition calling me on, and I was struggling with purposefully moving slowly instead of rushing headlong into the drenched night. Why am I doing this, if I’m not competing? Maybe running a “rookie ride” isn’t the best plan.. maybe what I need to do is get back on the bike and GO!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/snack.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Recommended by my triathlete and marathon friends</p>
</div>
<p>Back on the road, I didn’t realize I’d be going through Pigeon Forge, right past Dollywood and all the satellite attractions, like Ripley’s Museum, an aquarium, zip lines, ATV rentals.. every kind of tourist trap business imaginable.. it being after 9pm on a Monday, all were closed, traffic was erratic, and as I wiggle through the mess to downtown Gatlinburg, the rain clicked up in intensity 3 more notches until it was a veritable deluge. I had to slow down well below the speed limit with my hazard lights on, and I was starting to second guess if it was at all a good idea to be out here at all.</p>
<h1 id="12-tnga---pancake-pantry---gatlinburg-tn---586-pts">12) TNGA - Pancake Pantry - Gatlinburg, TN - 586 pts</h1>
<h2 id="2303-edt">23:03 EDT</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a photo of the Pancake Pantry building.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/tnga.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d206703.7160671365!2d-83.635820607914!3d35.953193685850295!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x885b913df65e9093%3A0x94b64c1c15162078!2sFreddy's%20Frozen%20Custard%20%26%20Steakburgers%2C%20Hatfield%20Drive%20%23101%2C%20Morristown%2C%20TN!3m2!1d36.1933563!2d-83.3601115!4m5!1s0x885c09a504a5ab27%3A0x8d0702369f063b71!2sSevierville%20Visitor%20Center%2C%20Winfield%20Dunn%20Parkway%2C%20Kodak%2C%20Sevier%20County%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.964312899999996!2d-83.5969444!4m5!1s0x885955db9100b597%3A0x637c4efc1904d93a!2sPancake%20Pantry%2C%20Parkway%2C%20Gatlinburg%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.7127188!2d-83.5142133!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704934992937!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The streets of Gatlinburg were a flowing torrent of water 8” deep in spots, water crashing through gutters, picking up all manner of trash and debris. I managed to find a place to park, and drenched despite my rain gear, struggled to take a photo while keeping the expensive, single-purpose digital camera out of the rain, taking multiple photos just to be sure I would get credit.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>47 miles, 1h50m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>635 miles, 12h43m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>48h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>4,717</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Leaving Gatlinburg, I headed east on US-321, skirting the northern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The night was rainy and dark, with on-coming traffic around blind corners making it difficult to use my aux lights to really see much, so I took it slow and cautiously until I managed to get east ahead of the rain; it was really coming down, but it wasn’t moving fast, so soon enough I found myself out from under it. I came to a T intersection, and Wave wanted me to go right, Garmin left. I usually trust Waze, but as soon as I turned onto the new road I saw ahead of me a giant sign warning of “UNMAINTAINED MOUNTAIN ROAD” and something about GPS being incorrect. The sign sure looked official, so I decided to trust Garmin, and almost immediately after turning around and going the other direction, Waze picked up the new route.. I guess it just really wanted to save my 50 feet of travel or something.</p>
<p>I soon turned onto the Foothills Parkway, a beautiful little road that I would love to try sometime in daylight! It ended after about 8 miles at an interchange with I-40, a road I know all too well. I was feeling a bit sleepy at this point, so as I crossed into North Carolina I stopped at the rest area/welcome center to put my soaked jacket under the hand dryer while I checked the map for a cheap motel up ahead to get a couple hours of sleep. Everything for 40 miles was booked up, and feeling pretty beat I opted instead for another power nap. A convenient picnic table under cover, a bit away from the bathrooms and on the opposite side of the rest area from the big idling trucks looked appealing, so I racked out around 12:15am, which seems like a good place to end this day’s report.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d12958.532784093417!2d-83.05025844671786!3d35.710643031188305!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x885955db9100b597%3A0x637c4efc1904d93a!2sPancake%20Pantry%2C%20Parkway%2C%20Gatlinburg%2C%20TN!3m2!1d35.7127188!2d-83.5142133!4m5!1s0x88597143a36aaaab%3A0xce7202db43383b3!2sNorth%20Carolina%20Welcome%20Center%2C%20Eastbound!3m2!1d35.7029871!2d-83.0413007!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1704945230277!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/19/map.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 1: 4,717 points -- 680 miles<br />
</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/2023/06/20/ibr-day-2/">Onward to Day 2 ➡️</a></p>Trust your fear, trust that the machine is going to work for you, trust your training. Your name wasn’t picked out of a hat.2023 Iron Butt Rally: Day -5 to -1 – Mise En Place2023-06-14T13:30:44+00:002023-06-14T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/06/14/ibr-day-minus_3<blockquote>
<p>
<i>“Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.</i>
<br />
-- A.A. Milne, <i>Winnie-the-Pooh</i>
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>I spent 10 days at Gabby’s, camping out in her guest bedroom and working from her couch. I tried not to get flustered at last-minute pre-rally prep tasks, but I was still amped up and overthinking things. I went around and around on last minute ideas; it’s never a good idea to change things up before a rally, but it was really more an excuse to channel nervous energy into something, anything. Obsessing and then fiddling around with something on the edges of importance to my rally was better for me than pacing. I added a folding sleeping mat from REI to my gear, the kind backpackers often tote around, with the idea that it’d come in handy for bike-side naps.</p>
<p>I also spent an inordinate amount of time and energy assembling Ziploc bags of food and snacks, one for each day of the rally, containing around 1300 calories, a good mix of proteins and fats. I also snuck into each of them these glucose pouches and sucrose gummies that my triathlete friends turned me on to; people swear by sour candies as a pick-me-up, but really it’s the hit of sugar that perks up your brain in hour 17 or 18 of a long day.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/snacks.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>I had done this for LDX in 2022, and found it was a great way to ensure I was eating enough; yes, I’m a fat kid, but also when I’m riding, I’ll forget to eat all day long and then wonder why I’m dopey and angry at the world. The see-through bags show me at a glance if I’ve eaten even a bare amount of calories for the day, and saves time over even the fastest of gas station hot dogs.</p>
<p>I also took the opportunity to get some maintenance done. I had a pair of tires and everything I needed for an oil change shipped out to Gabby a few weeks before, and after changing the oil in her parking garage, took the BMW over to <a href="https://www.motounion.net/">Moto Union</a> for the tire change and a fresh set of brakes. The guys there have always treated me well, and they’re my go-to in the Milwaukee-Chicago area for work as I’m passing through.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/oil_change.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I'm getting pretty good at these parking garage oil changes...</p>
</div>
<p>I left the bike in their capable hands, and since it was a Friday, walked a couple blocks to a nearby pub that is renowned for its Friday Fish Frys. It’s a peculiar Milwaukee/midwest tradition that comes out of the strong Catholic culture that still flows under the surface, a sedimentary layer of the Wisconsinite culture laid down by the German and Polish immigrants who made their homes here.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/fish_fry.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I was the first customer of the day, but the place quickly filled up with regulars. I knew I was in a good place when a squad of retired ladies came in for their weekly fish fry and gab, fresh off the golf course across the street.</p>
</div>
<h1 id="ibr-day--4-wednesday-14-june">IBR Day -4 (Wednesday, 14 June)</h1>
<h2 id="572-miles">572 miles</h2>
<hr />
<p>Finally, though, it was time to head out. I rolled out of Milwaukee at 8am, hoping to sneak through Chicago traffic after early rush hour had subsided. It wasn’t <em>too</em> bad, as mid-morning traffic goes, and today was an untimed travel day anyways. I had a few stops to make on the way to Pittsburgh, though, to collect some National Park stamps for yet another National Parks Tour.</p>
<p>First up was the Little Red School House Nature Center, just off the I-294 loop southeast of Chicago proper. There’s always a passel of kids running around, and today was no exception, with 2 school buses in the lot. I ended up having to wait quite a while for the lone docent to get the kids settled into the movie theater before she could help dig up the stamp for the <i>I&M Canal National Historic Corridor</i>. Heading back outside, the day had warmed up a bit, and I was heartened to see I’d accidentally parked under a large catalpa tree, an ornamental shade tree with huge leaves, dangling seed pods like vanilla beans, and perfumed orchid-like blossoms. I don’t see many of them in the PNW, but I grew up with one shading the southern face of our house, and they always stand out to me.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/catalpa.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Not shown: the absolute MESS these suckers make in the fall!</p>
</div>
<p>Next stop was the Indiana Dunes National Park, its visitors center shortly before noon was as busy as ever. I got a little judgy at some of the folks coming and going, and realized it was time to eat, so I tore into a protein bar as I headed across extreme northern Indiana on I-80/90, clicking off miles and toll plazas. My next stop was the opposite of busy, the public library in Maumee, Ohio. I realized this was my fourth or fifth time stopping here for park stamps, as they are conveniently right off I-80/90, and have stamps for Fallen Timbers National Historic Site, Fort Miamis NHS, and the Fallen Timbers Battlefield NHS.. a lot of overlap, but a good stop and the librarians are always intrigued. Last time I was here, during my 2019 48/10 ride with Jo, we had our picture taken and the library posted it on their socials!</p>
<p>I took a few minutes to cool off, as the afternoon weather was getting muggy and hot, and standing in the shade of a tree at the edge of the parking lot, I realized that I had made a small scheduling mistake; my reservation at the rally hotel didn’t start until tomorrow night, and I was making great time, and would be on track to arrive there around 6:00pm. I had left Milwaukee with a vague plan of stopping in Cleveland for the night, so I could visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but it looked like I’d be rolling right past the visitors center around 4:30pm, plenty of time, so I called the rally hotel and managed to get a room for tonight added AND at the block rate - thanks, Marriott!</p>
<p>Of course, best laid plans and all that.. lallygagging and stopping for some extended rest breaks, I ended up rolling up the to Cuyahoga Valley NP visitors center a few minutes after they closed at 5pm.. drat! I knew, thought, that I’d be heading back this way on my way home, so it wasn’t much of a heartbreak. Onward to Pittsburgh!</p>
<p>I got safely checked in, and was a little confused by all the young women in fancy dresses and party outfits. I asked the desk clerk if they were hosting a wedding or some other event, and I found out that Taylor Swift was performing the Pittsburgh stop of her tour the next few nights, making for an interesting juxtaposition between them and us grungy long-distance riders in our bug-encrusted space suits! I found a quiet corner of the bar at the hotel restaurant and had a salad and a glass of wine, said hello to a couple other early arrivers (apologies, I forgot who!) and headed up to my room and into bed before 10pm.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m46!1m12!1m3!1d3049093.9585479447!2d-86.71648037851989!3d41.72848463062177!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m31!3e0!4m5!1s0x8805195c1a11b929%3A0xe8c437087af5f374!2sNorth%20Shore%20Bank%2C%20510%20E%20Pleasant%20St%2C%20Milwaukee%2C%20WI%2053202!3m2!1d43.0507254!2d-87.9055781!4m5!1s0x880e47bd6d0ca6b3%3A0x916f1d68ffbb622!2sLittle%20Red%20Schoolhouse%20Nature%20Center%2C%20Willow%20Springs%20Road%2C%20Willow%20Springs%2C%20IL!3m2!1d41.7090505!2d-87.877281!4m5!1s0x8811bb4cabad60bd%3A0x24f1fca5e265ff9c!2sIndiana%20Dunes%20Visitor%20Center%2C%20Indiana%2049%2C%20Porter%2C%20IN!3m2!1d41.6337924!2d-87.054429!4m5!1s0x883c776d69b25f4b%3A0xc0924326c67f8b37!2sMaumee%20Branch%20Library%2C%20River%20Road%2C%20Maumee%2C%20OH!3m2!1d41.5670631!2d-83.6466013!4m5!1s0x88345bff50d488bb%3A0x6f8446c408c499b8!2sPittsburgh%20Airport%20Marriott%2C%20Aten%20Road%2C%20Coraopolis%2C%20PA!3m2!1d40.4603378!2d-80.1928557!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1701472624143!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<p>The next few days were a bit of a blur, lots of socializing, running last-minute errands, and nervous twiddling of thumbs. I should take more selfies with people, so I can remember who I talked to.. but I’ll try to capture some highlights below. For the most part, the run up to the start was more boring than anything, but I suppose in part that’s because despite the improvisational nature of how I move through the world, that care-free, lackwit gadabout persona is only possible because I generally have “all my shit in one sock” so there was almost no last-minute surprises of note or any scrambling around for me to do. There were a few things different from or in addition to the regular pre-rally things, but spread over 4 days, it felt like a relaxed, lazy weekend lounging around a hotel lobby with a bunch of friends, all of us waiting. Of course, under the surface we’re all simmering, slowly winding up towards launch.</p>
<h1 id="ibr-day--4-thursday-15-june">IBR Day -4 (Thursday, 15 June)</h1>
<hr />
<p>I got up a bit early and not seeing anyone I recognized in the lobby, headed across the hotel parking lot, through the bike paddock to the south end of the property, where a Dunkin’ Donuts outpost rises like some kind of orange-purple beacon. I know it’s not <em>good</em> coffee, and its certainly blossomed past the regional chain it was when I was a kid, but dunks is still in my heart one of those signs that you’re no longer in “the West” and have officially arrived somewhere “back East.”</p>
<p>Coffee and breakfast donut acquired, I walking back along the east edge of the parking lot, defined by the tumbling water of McClarens Run. The hotel was tucked into a bit of a holler, Allegheny hills soft with a blanket of heavy deciduous greenery. The run itself is chock-a-block with the large, dark bones of Appalachian bedrock, dark grey and almost black slate and schist, daubed with large bits of rusting machinery, oxidized lumps of “Industry” too big to move and not too dirty to care. Across the creek and up a sumac- and maple-choked slope, the tightly-packed width of I-376 buzzes past, made soft, swishy rumble by the foliage. The west edge of the property, sandwiched between the hotel and an access road clinging to the hillside, a natural gas well burbles away, occasionally blessing us with a whiff of hydrocarbons from deep underground.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/hotel_map.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Nothing to do until Saturday!</p>
</div>
<p>A few folks are outside and in the the lobby now, and socializing picks up. I chit chat a bit with the people I know, and eventually wandered back upstairs to finish writing my Heart of Texas write-up. As I was posting the first draft, Nick Byrnes texted me. Nick was my Junior Butt Rally partner in 2022, and wanted to grab lunch and catch up. Some quick googling found a pub nearby, so I suited up and met Nick downstairs and we rode to the nearby retail zone, finding easy and convenient parking in front of the Industry Public House. Decent pub food, and as one of my rules of dining out is to “Always order the thing you’ve never seen before” so a burger with sweet pickled red peppers and candied jalapeños would be my meal. Nick and I sat on the patio and chatted for a couple hours, then he headed back to the hotel and I rode to a nearby Amazon warehouse to pickup an order I’d placed before leaving Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Back at the hotel, it seemed nearly everyone had arrived and were in the bar, so I grabbed a beer and caught up with people in person, eating dinner again in the hotel restaurant before heading back upstairs early, to read and bank some sleep before the rally really got started.</p>
<h1 id="ibr-day--3-friday-16-june">IBR Day -3 (Friday, 16 June)</h1>
<hr />
<p>Another early morning started with a trek across the parking lot for Dunkies. A large iced coffee in hand, I wandered back through the bike paddock, now containing a few more steeds than yesterday. Back inside the hotel, I wandered into the ballroom set aside for our breakfast and made a plate, finding a seat at one of the standard round hotel/convention center tables. Eventually breakfast broke up, and the pattern I’d follow the next couple days while waiting for the 1 or 2 things on the official schedule would emerge - wander around the lobby to chat with people I know, wander back up to my room to nap or read for 30 minutes, head out to the bike to fiddle with something.. wash, rinse, repeat.</p>
<p>The only official event was on my schedule was having the option to get Brian Roberts to inspect the my auxiliary fuel tank and confirm it’s capacity. There was a bit of stress around these, because despite getting an informal thumbs-up at the Big As Texas event last year, and extensive testing and measuring by the builder, myself, and the other 4 or 5 people with this particular design, Brian had some inaccurate measurements and was calculating the volume at nearly twice as much (5.8 gallons) as it actually holds (3.2 gallons.) This was critical for me, because the IBR rules state we’re allowed a maximum of 11.4 gallons, and with the main fuel tank on the 1250 GSA holding 7.9 gallons, the tank was designed to very specifically comfortably slot in under that amount. A quick check and we figured out the source of the discrepancy, and my tank “went in the book” as approved.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/brian.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Math!</p>
</div>
<p>It was time for lunch, and a coworker who used to live in the area pointed me towards a hole in the wall Polish deli. I talked Cory Ure into coming with, and we had a nice lunch sitting outside the storefront eating pierogis and kielbasa.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/pierogi.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">The woman running the counter was clearly the daughter or niece of the old woman in the back, who would occasionally yell at each other in Polish</p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/kielbasa.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Yum! Definitely had leftovers for dinner!</p>
</div>
<p>Of course, while at lunch we missed a birthday party for Steven Rufo, so I made a point when I got back to the hotel of tracking him down to wish him well. After that, all that was left today was kickin’ tires and tellin’ lies. Markedly less Swifties in the hotel, but the bar is packed and the energy is starting to pick up now. Tomorrow is the start of the official-official business of registration, so no beers in the hotel bar for me, instead heading up to my room early to do one last check to make sure I had all my paperwork in order for tomorrow.</p>
<h1 id="ibr-day--2-saturday-17-june">IBR Day -2 (Saturday, 17 June)</h1>
<h2 id="35-miles">35 miles</h2>
<hr />
<p>Usually I stay pretty even and don’t get too anxious with anticipation, but the energy of Friday must have infected me as well. I woke up around 3:30am, brain abuzz and spinning. Long years of having this particular model of brain has taught me that the only real solution is to sigh and get started with my day, so I took a quick shower and did some low-stress YouTube watching until 5:30am, then trudged over for my morning coffee, then back to the hotel breakfast for some fruit and conversation.</p>
<p>By this time, the official rally poster was set up on an easel in the hotel lobby, which gave us many clues to what the theme might be and where we might be going. It quickly became obvious that “food” was going to be a big part of this year’s theme, but what did that mean and how would it play out? A small group of us rookies started speculating on implied combos and destinations, spinning some really fun ideas for what puzzles we might be tasked with solving. Of course, no one but Jeff Earls and the rally staff actually <em>know</em> what lies in store for us riders, and even if we guessed correctly, there’s no <em>advantage</em> to doing so.. but what else is there to talk about at this point?</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/poster.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Better pack an appetite for this rally!</p>
</div>
<p>Sign-in and verification went perfectly smoothly for me, and compared to the horror stories of last-minute emergencies and confusion, I found it to be well-organized and hummed along. There were several different steps to the registration process, each of them handled by a different group of volunteers and in separate meeting rooms next to each other in the hotel’s conference center. We were given a checklist of who we had to see, and we could complete them in any order:</p>
<ul>
<li>Insurance, license, and registration verification</li>
<li>Swag & banquet ticket pickup</li>
<li>Sworn-statement of “this is a bad idea” on video</li>
<li>Camera and SD Card check</li>
<li>Tech inspection</li>
<li>Odometer check</li>
</ul>
<p>Once done, you would then proceed to the final check-in step and then and only then were you officially “in the rally.” I sailed through perfectly smoothly with everyone else, and the choose-your-own-adventure method, where you were free to go stand in whatever line was shortest, seemed to move people through relatively quickly.</p>
<p>Once finished with the “indoor” paperwork, I grabbed my gear and headed out for the odometer check, a quick little 34.5 mile up the highway and back - no surprises or really any way to mess it up, and I didn’t hear about anyone needed to ride it more than once.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d97015.70365887419!2d-80.33851518582519!3d40.54731668089057!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x88345bff50d488bb%3A0x6f8446c408c499b8!2sPittsburgh%20Airport%20Marriott%2C%20777%20Aten%20Rd%2C%20Coraopolis%2C%20PA%2015108!3m2!1d40.4603378!2d-80.1928557!4m3!3m2!1d40.636302099999995!2d-80.3202341!4m5!1s0x88345bff50d488bb%3A0x6f8446c408c499b8!2sPittsburgh%20Airport%20Marriott%2C%20777%20Aten%20Rd%2C%20Coraopolis%2C%20PA%2015108!3m2!1d40.4603378!2d-80.1928557!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1702839049693!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<p>The only ding I encountered was in tech inspection. My aux tank already cleared and my muffler being OEM and thus not needing a sound check, the only thing was the general “kick the tires” to make sure the bike at least <em>looked</em> road-worthy, which included a glance at stickers to see if we were touting any sponsorships or hawking services. I was given the all clear, when my chatty-ass had to mention that there was only one sticker I was worried about, from <a href="https://www.thompsonseaglesclaw.com/">Thompson’s Eagle’s Claw moto campground</a> which the inspector immediately zero’d in on and had me cover with painters tape, which I had to acquire via a quick run over to the Walmart… last time I open my mouth!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/claw.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">At some point, doesn't _every_ sticker from a company promote or advertise their product or brand?</p>
</div>
<p>At that point, there wasn’t anything left to do today. I had picked up a pack of a new to me Oreo flavor, and I had some fun sharing them with people; it was nice in that “weird food flavors” is on-brand for me, and a nice ice breaker/excuse to check in with people I hadn’t yet had the chance to say hello to. Still, there wasn’t much to do the rest of the day, so I puttered around, looking at bikes and pacing the cage a bit.</p>
<p>I also coordinated with Lisa Rufo to be one of the riders who would take on a passenger for this rally. Chris Rasmussen, from North Carolina, had passed away earlier in the year. He’d always been a great supporter and been a friendly face at events I attended in the east. He’d been applying for the IBR for a while, and had finally been accepted to this year’s event, only to have a health crisis, passing away just a few short months before the start. Several of us volunteered to carry a small portion of Chris’ ashes along with us on this ride, and I was glad to, in some small way, help him to take one last big ride.</p>
<p>Around 10pm, tired of sitting around, I wandered down to the bike to put it to bed, make sure nothing was leaking, and do one last check of what was packed where, making a list of what had been moved up to the room, and what would stay behind in the storage room here at the hotel. We’d be back in 11 days, so anything we didn’t absolutely need on the road, might as well leave here..</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/kerri.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Photo courtesy Steve Gallant</p>
</div>
<p>The parking lot was quiet, with most folks inside at the bar or in their rooms. I ran into Dale Wilson (Warchild) who gently prodded me to get to bed and get some sleep. I smiled and assured him that was on the agenda, and as we chatted in the relative stillness of the parking lot, he let me know that I was going to be one of the first three riders to leave, specifically second. I blinked and gulped - there’s always the slight pressure that when Warchild points at you to go, you’ll drop the bike, or stall it out, or some other mishap may occur that will earn you a nickname or a spot in rally history. It’s bad enough to do that when you’re 89th to leave, but when you’re second?! Yikes! Still, it’s a huge honor, and hearing a few words on why I was chosen for that meant enough to me to keep those reasons to myself for now.</p>
<p>Saying goodnight, burdened for the moment with the additional responsibility added to my rally, I wandered the lot for the umpteenth time, looking at license plates from all over the world, stickers for every rally, point of interest, and bit of silliness imaginable. All of this swirling in my mind, I threw a leg over my bike and just <em>sat</em> for a few minutes, enjoying the comfortable and familiar feel of the saddle. After so many hours and tens of thousands of miles, the uncanny stillness of the machine at rest was loud, a noise audible only by its absence. I watched a plane come in low overhead, on final approach to the Pittsburgh airport, and finally found a place to put the worry and anticipation aside, and just breathe the moment of not knowing where the road would go, what I would encounter, what would challenge me.</p>
<p>Sitting there in the dull glow of street lights and the occasional glittery splash of headlights on the highway, the rumbling-whine of cars speeding past softened by green hills and thick, humid air, my eyes spotted along the hedges and edges of the lot the sparkling bodies of fireflies dancing, and I remembered the fireflies that guided me through <a href="/2022/06/25/ldx-day-1/">the first night of LDX</a>. This must be a good sign, and if I paid attention to the world around me instead of only listening to the frantic, pressured song of the rally, surely I’d see my way through this.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/parking.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<h1 id="ibr-day--1-sunday-18-june">IBR Day -1 (Sunday, 18 June)</h1>
<hr />
<p>Last full day of pre-rally shenanigans, one last sleep before the start, less than 12 hours until the start banquet, and only 10 minutes until Dunkies and a donut for breakfast. I’d slept in, but still managed to catch some conversation at the breakfast buffet before heading to the mandatory rookie meeting at 10am. Arriving late carried the penalty of having to attend your own special, private version of the meeting AFTER everyone else started their ride at 10am tomorrow, so we all nervously filed in 10 minutes early. What’s said at these meetings is a matter for the participants, suffice to say that we were given specific advice as to rally procedure, process, and rally safety. Most of us are rally veterans with multiple long-distance riding achievements to our name, but the mystique of the Iron Butt Rally is such that even the most experienced veterans can let it get into their head. Better to take an hour and think deliberately about what we’re doing than assume and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Meeting over at 11am, followed by another hotel lunch, and then at 2pm ALL riders gathered for for another mandatory meeting (with the same penalty for tardiness as the rookie meeting!) where we got some very serious words from Jeff Earls, Lisa Landry, Dale Wilson, and Bill Thweat. It was at this point that the riders leading the pack at the start were announced, and anytime anyone asked me why I was chosen to depart 2nd, I’d say “Warchild wants to keep an eye on me, because I’m trouble!” We were then herded over to the hotel courtyard for a group photo before being released until dinner.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/riders.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Amazed how they managed to corral us so efficiently!</p>
</div>
<p>Left to my own devices until dinner at 5pm, I went up to my room to make sure I was set up for rally planning. We would get our rally packs after the banquet, and while I really wanted to go get another coffee, I knew I was already going to have trouble sleeping tonight. I then wandered back down and checked on the bikes, chatting with folks per usual. At one point, another rider mentioned having a problem with their bike, some kind of crack in their engine that was seeping oil or something. The combined wisdom of the small clot of riders hanging around was that the best possible solution would be slapping J-B Weld, a 2-part cold weld epoxy, into the gap and hoping for the best. I dug through my kit and handed over the J-B Weld I’ve carried with me since my first run up the AlCan to Alaska. Always happy
to help a fellow rider!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/parking_lot.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>We formed up in the hallway for the banquet buffet shortly before 5, a boisterous coil of nerves and excitement. Rookies and vets alike were ready, anticipation fueling plates stacked nervously high with food as the last guaranteed sit-down meal we’d have for the next 11 days was attacked. I noticed a lot of leftovers on plates later on, a sure sign of our excitement being greater than our appetites.</p>
<p>We chatted and circulated, keeping an eye sideways on the small stage and lectern, waiting for a throat-clearing beginning to the main event - the distributing of the rally books! We aimlessly pushed food around the plate, nibbling at desserts and sipping coffee (decaf for myself) until around 5:45, Lisa Landry took to the microphone to welcome us officially to the 2023 Iron Butt Rally!</p>
<p>One by one, by order of our IBA member number, we were called up to receive our rally books, which would reveal at last the theme of the events, and info we’d need to begin planning our rides. Up until this point, there was no official roster of who would be participating in this year’s event, but as each name was called, the field began to take shape. Finally, at long last, my name was called - Iron Butt Rally Rider #107!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/stage.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>We were each given a hand shake and a “good luck” from Jeff Earls, and handed a black pouch filled with all the details. Warned not to open them until given the OK, we all sat nervously, waiting for the last rider to be called.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/pouch.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">DO NOT OPEN UNTIL TOLD TO!</p>
</div>
<p>We didn’t have long to wait. Jeff Earls stepped to the microphone, donned a white chef’s hat, and informed us that yes, indeed, the theme for this year’s Iron Butt Rally was to be FOOD! We were given permission to open our packets, and walked through some important steps, first confirming that we had all the expected items included inside. Next step, place the lanyard with the emergency contact information around our necks, where it will live for the duration of the rally (and woe to anyone who loses it or takes it off..)</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/chef.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">One has to wonder if Jeff has a little rat under that hat.. or if he'll be the rat pulling our strings the next 11 days!</p>
</div>
<p>Also inside were 2 books listing the various locations we could potentially claim. The bonus book for Leg One was itself fairly thin - ~40 bonus locations, no combos or weirdness, just straightforward food-related locations to visit, such as the original Ben & Jerry’s location, Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, or the location where “slushee” drinks were invented. Simple and easy, and not at all what I was expecting after years of being told how complicated a puzzle the IBR was, how devious the tricks hidden for the unwary, opportunities for the attentive.</p>
<p>The one item that did strike me as interesting, however, was the separate book of rally-wide bonuses (that is, bonuses we could claim for the duration of the rally, regardless of which leg.) Titled “Gut Bomb Bingo,” we were given a bingo card to fill out, each square representing a different regional fast-food chain. Individually they weren’t worth many points, but completing rows and columns would start to stack up a respectable but not overwhelming number of points. While we were told that point values for the bonuses listed here would not increase, surely with such a basic listing of bonuses for the leg, this would turn out to be the real puzzle; why else go through all the ceremony of bingo cards, bingo marking daubs at scoring tables, etc?</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/bingo.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Surely this means something...</p>
</div>
<p>As we crowded the elevators back to our rooms, a fellow rider leaned over and asked, “Hey, are you the only solo woman riding this year?” Someone else turned and agreed, so we ran down the list of women who were entered in the rally, realizing that all of them were part of 2-up teams - 7 as pillions, and 2 as pilots; I was in fact the only female setting out alone! “Well, now we know why Warchild picked you to leave second” someone in the elevator joked, no doubt intending it as a bit of light humor. I chuckled politely and shrugged, but in my heart I felt the weight of personal expectations, already growing.</p>
<p>Having had no small amount of success in the rally scene the past 2-3 years – a Top 10 finish in LDX, 2 <a href="/2023/04/29/heart-of-texas-wrap-up/">2nd places finishes in Heart of Texas</a>, and <a href="http://127.0.0.1:4000/tag/west_coast_66/">a clean win of the West Coast 66 rally</a> – people had been half-seriously asking me for months what my goals for this rally were.. was I shooting for a medal finish? A top 20? Heck, why not a top 10? I always laugh at those, because there are a few different answers to this question, none of which are 100% correct.</p>
<p>There’s the official answer, of course, which is always “My goal is to arrive at the finish safely” - a safe response that will earn nods from veterans and rookies alike, and is the official party line. If I’m admitting to being competitive at all, I might cop to “I want to finish in the top half”. When I’m speaking 1-to-1 with top riders, I’ll be most honest and admit that I will almost always want to finish at least one spot higher than I did. In this rally, though, with so many people asking what my goal was, I had no idea how to respond. Between the constant inquiries, being asked to lead the pack by starting 2nd, and being the only solo female rider in the field, I felt a ton of internal and external pressure to perform, and as I got back to my room to begin planning my next 3 days, I remained committed to a set of criteria for planning my route that would potentially cost me points, but make sure I was riding MY rally.</p>
<h3 id="kerris-2023-ibr-rules">Kerri’s 2023 IBR Rules</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don’t Fuck Up</strong> - get back safely, don’t lose points stupidly… and did I mention get back safely?</li>
<li><strong>Finish Strong</strong> - I want to sleep and eat sustainably, and at the end feel like I rode a hard rally but that I still had the reserves for a Day 12</li>
<li><strong>Ride a Rookie Rally</strong> - we often hear the IBR Rookie advice of “just finish, don’t compete” and while I can’t NOT compete, I was definitely going to pull back from doing any heroics, and plan in plenty of buffer time for each leg. I should never find myself stymied by weather, mechanical issues, or other excitement along the way.</li>
<li><strong>Don’t ride through New York City</strong> - I chose to plow through DC last summer on LDX, and I know that often in the IBR, the highest scores are attached to the cheekily-placed bonuses found usually on Manhattan or out on Long Island. I can lane split in LA and dodge pot holes in Chicago, the thought of hitting the Big Apple during a rally felt like something I didn’t need to do. If I’m not in it to win it, but just have a good, stress-free rally, I probably can do so without NYC, and I need some rules here to guide me through the experience, to give me some semblance of control.</li>
</ul>
<p>With that in mind, what are we dealing with for Leg One?</p>
<div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/bonuses.jpg" width="750" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
🟢/🔵/🔴/🟣 -- Low/Med/High/Extra High value<br />
🟩/🟦/🟥/🟪 -- Same, but Daylight only<br />
🔺 -- Group photo (1500, Weds 21 June)<br />
🏠 -- Checkpoints
</p>
</div>
<p>The checkpoint ending Leg One is the Doubletree in Tulsa, OK, and I have to arrive there between 2000-2200 on Wednesday, 21 June, giving me <em>at most</em> 61 hours, and our target for finisher was 12,000 points. Given that, a quick scan of the scatter immediately popped 3 main options:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Northeast Loop</strong>: loop counter-clockwise through New England via NYC, Maine, and Vermont before high-tailing it to Tulsa</li>
<li><strong>Southern Sweep</strong>: head south before turning west along the Gulf Coast</li>
<li><strong>Western Run</strong>: Wiggle through the Rust Belt and Iowa, tagging a high-value bonus in Denver before turning back east</li>
</ul>
<p>I ran the points for 3 different “big rock” routes (making the high-value purple bonus the must-get for the route, picking up smaller bonuses along the way) and the <strong>Northeast Loop</strong> looked like the highest net score, but would require NYC riding and some late nights across New England 2-lane. I tried flipping the loop to see if I hit NYC at a better time of day, but honestly <em>I just didn’t want to ride there</em>. Despite that, I built a route I could ride, and it came out around 21,500 points. I also played with a route that avoided NYC, instead hitting the Ben & Jerry’s location in Burlington, VT then cutting west across Ontario, Michigan, Chicago, and Iowa, but then you also had to contend with 2 border crossings, and the points penciled out to around 15,800 - you really needed the NYC and Maine bonuses to make it worthwhile.</p>
<p>The <strong>Western Run</strong> looked fairly simple, but it didn’t present as many points, and since the second checkpoint was in Denver, it would possibly sabotage any points you might hope for from Gut Bomb Bingo, as you’d be setting yourself up to need to head to the southeast in future legs. It also just seemed like the obvious “ride from Point A to Point B” route, and while those will get you a finish, they didn’t seem… fun. The points also weren’t there, topping out around 14,900.</p>
<p>The <strong>Southern Sweep</strong>.. forecast was for rain rain rain, but what am I, made of spun sugar? The Gut Bomb Bingo had a ton of southern and Mid-Atlantic chains, which would let me tick those off, giving me more options in later legs.</p>
<p>I should take a moment here to underscore the big assumption I was making about the rally here. Years of hearing about the “puzzle” and all the “twists” that had historically been revealed in later legs, I couldn’t help but look at the bingo card and imagine it would have to be important. It didn’t score a ton of points on it’s own, but it was the only thing that smacked of “puzzle”, with no combos in Leg One at all, so a strong push on the bingo card might set me up nicely if/when that twist dropped. Now, Earls did say that the point value of the bingo locations wouldn’t change in future legs, but he pointedly DIDN’T say that the combo bonuses for the rows wouldn’t increase, or that there wouldn’t be <em>additional</em> bingo cards (just like you might play multiple cards at a real bingo hall!)</p>
<p>With that suspicion in mind, I found a route that felt moderate with lots of extra time mixed in, maximized bingo locations, and would score me around 18,000 points.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/14/leg_one_route.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">It also had me at the group photo bonus, which was, per usual, at an awkward distance and time from the checkpoint which made including it a point-suck.. but you got to have the experience of it, which is what finally tipped me in favor of this route.</p>
</div>
<p>I loaded up the GPS, got everything packed, and loaded up my phone’s web browser with the websites for the various restaurants, along with a cheatsheet/checklist, so I could keep my eyes open for marquees along the way. I wasn’t thrilled with my route, and I knew it wouldn’t be a winning route, but it seemed like it would keep me in striking distance of a top-half finish for Leg One, while leaving me plenty of cushion for unforeseen time sucks and adventures along the way.</p>
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<p><a href="/2023/06/19/ibr-day-1/">Onward to the starting line! ➡️</a></p>“Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.2023 Iron Butt Rally: Day -17 – A Ride To Remember X 22023-06-03T13:30:44+00:002023-06-03T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/06/03/ibr-day--17<blockquote>
<p>
<i>“The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 'Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked. 'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'"</i>
<br />
-- "Alice in Wonderland" - Lewis Carroll
</p>
</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<p>
<i>“If you don't start somewhere, you're gonna go nowhere."</i>
<br>
-- Bob Marley
</p>
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<div class="divider"></div>
<p>The plan seemed simple; with the start of the IBR being in Pittsburgh, I’d need to ride ~2,500 miles just to get to the start line, so in the interest of having myself and the bike be as ready as possible, I would ride 2,000 miles to Milwaukee a week or so ahead of time and visit my friend Gabby, do an oil change in her garage and get fresh tires (which I’d ordered and had sent ahead to a shop in Milwaukee) put on, and then migrate the remaining 500 miles in to Pittsburgh. Of course, I added far more time to the schedule than I actually needed, and ended up leaving for Milwaukee on 3 June despite not even having a hotel reservation until the 14th.</p>
<p>Still, leaving early would give me time to adjust to being on the road, and find out if anything else on my 94,000-mile GSA would rattle loose and fall off. Since the distance door-to-door between my place and Gabby’s is almost exactly 2,000 miles, the ride over would be a good way to stretch out a bit by riding a Saddle Sore 2k (2,000 miles in 48 hours.) To make it a bit more rally-ish, I decided to combine it with making each 1,000 mile day a <a href="https://tourofhonor.com/">Tour of Honor</a> ride by visiting at least 4 Tour of Honor locations each day. If you’re not familiar with the Tour of Honor, here’s how they describe it on their website:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tour of Honor is a great reason to hit the open road, honor our nation’s heroes, and contribute to a few good charities. The event is a season-long, self-directed ride to memorials and monuments around the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. Beginning April 1, visit as many sites as you want, with any route you choose.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The rules are pretty simple:</p>
<ol>
<li>Visit as many selected state memorials as you want, with whatever route you choose, between April 1 0001 hours ET and October 31, 2023 2359 hours ET.</li>
<li>Visit any seven STATE memorial sites to receive a Finisher’s certificate.</li>
<li>Trophies are awarded to the first three riders to visit all seven memorials in a state, or all sites in a region (Dakotas, New England, Mid-Atlantic).</li>
</ol>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/toh.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">2023 Tour of Honor locations in the lower 48</p>
</div>
<p>Visiting 8 bonus locations, even if they are for the most part “just off the highway” will, in theory, help get me into rally mode, and let me practice balance enduring the hours of riding slab with navigating smaller roads, side streets, and towns, figuring out bonus details, getting stops properly documented, etc.. and also get some crucial practice time with the digital camera that is required by the IBR; cellphone camera use isn’t prohibited, but the rules do make it a burden, so with a fully charged, new-to-me digital camera and bags packed for 6-7 long weeks on the road, I was on my way early on a Friday morning before dawn.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/hitting_the_road.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">“If you don't start somewhere, you're gonna go nowhere." -- Bob Marley</p>
</div>
<p>I made good time out of pre-dawn Seattle and even though I almost always spot a few elk in the early morning, I crossed the mountains without seeing wildlife of any kind. Sunrise caught me at 5am outside Cle Elum, WA, and needing a bathroom break and a breakfast snack, I hopped off the highway to grab coffee at my usual coffeeshop there in town. I thought they opened at 5am, but I misremembered, they open at 6am.. luckily, there’s a rest area just a couple miles past town; crisis averted!</p>
<p>I crossed the Columbia River and climbed up out of the gorge, riding straight into the sun.. oh well, at least there wasn’t any wind this morning, and the forecast was for clear skies and warm-but-not-hot temps all weekend long.</p>
<h1 id="1-wa3---ephrata-wa">1) WA3 - Ephrata, WA</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>This granite memorial pays tribute to residents of Grant County whose lives were lost in the Vietnam War.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/wa3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d692551.7101395851!2d-121.60052971913467!3d47.3088659481918!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x54901473387a8517%3A0xfd2c5fb4df156bd9!2s76%2C%207501%20Roosevelt%20Way%20NE%2C%20Seattle%2C%20WA%2098115!3m2!1d47.683347399999995!2d-122.317742!4m3!3m2!1d46.9425142!2d-120.2165196!4m4!2s47.32188%2C%20-119.55312!3m2!1d47.32188!2d-119.55311999999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1691266675942!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Ephrata is like most of the towns between the Columbia River and Spokane, where not much happens except potatoes, grains, and hay farming. Situated a couple blocks off the main drag through town, the county courthouse and it’s neighborhood at 6:20am was quiet. Tour of Honor doesn’t have the strictest photo requirements, asking only that the bike in the photo OR submitting extra photos if we can’t get close. The first few I took from the street with the bike and the monument in them weren’t great, so I gave up and crossed the courthouse lawn to get a photo where you could see it was actually the right monument. I worried a little since this was the first Tour of Honor stop where I couldn’t replicate the sample photo, but I didn’t really need to worry.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>176 miles, 02h34m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>176 miles, 02h34m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Finally feeling a bit hungry for breakfast, I stopped at the McDonalds in Ephrata and got my usual: Sausage & Egg McMuffin and a medium coffee, 1 cream. Browsing through my stops for the route, it looked like they would be spaced just out about perfect for small rest breaks, which should make for a pretty easy ride, all things considered. I finished up breakfast and took WA-17 east towards Moses Lake, WA, following the old wagon trail across the Gloyd Seeps, one of the few fresh water springs in central Washington, cold pure water burbling from a series of cracks and creases in the 2 mile-thick “German chocolate cake” layers of basalt.</p>
<p>The sun had climbed out of my eyes, and I called my dad and chatted for a while, discussing the pros and cons of getting a new bike at the end of 2023. The rest of eastern Washington passed quickly, interrupted only by a stop at a gas stop where I got into a conversation with a guy on a Triumph Rocket who was 3 days on the road with a half-helmet and no gear. He was having some kind of electrical issue, but said he had it all sorted and was just trying to find someone to tow him to Spokane.. he seemed on the up-and-up, like it was clearly his bike and he knew how to ride, but something seemed really <em>wrong</em> with the situation, so I just nodded and moved on.</p>
<p>Spokane traffic was starting to pick up, and several state troopers were out running laser on the long hill down into downtown.. but then, they’re <em>always</em> there, so if you pass through frequently you know to pay attention through there. Traffic was continuing to build as I got across the state line, turning north onto US-95 for the short distance into my next stop in Hayden, ID.</p>
<h1 id="2-id2---hayden-id">2) ID2 - Hayden, ID</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>The memorial is a large semi-circle brick and mortar raised flower bed with large boulders and a fountain. Around the memorial are memorial bricks for veterans from the conflicts our nation has endured.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/id2.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d691125.5729788715!2d-118.83007348340553!3d47.417611675334854!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x54995c2753b75e31%3A0x9237ff86db02aa98!2sGrant%20County%20District%20Court%2C%20C%20Street%20Northwest%2C%20Ephrata%2C%20WA!3m2!1d47.321836999999995!2d-119.5532384!4m3!3m2!1d47.317398!2d-117.95258969999999!4m5!1s0x5361c08b7db6f263%3A0xcac56d6d202d81d!2s8930%20N%20Government%20Way%2C%20Hayden%2C%20ID%2083835!3m2!1d47.753007499999995!2d-116.78621199999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1692310496672!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Due to construction in the parking lot, I had to park in a bit of an awkward spot, so I hustled to snap this photo. Of course, I didn’t really remember that it was a Saturday, and thus the offices here City Hall of Hayden, ID would be closed.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/hayden.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">City hall had advertising for the Tour of Honor rolling on their message board!</p>
</div>
<p>A quick photo, then a stop in to the rest room at the park behind the building, and I was quickly back into traffic of trucks pulling trailers of side-by-sides and ATVs heading for the mountain playgrounds.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>159 miles, 02h53m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>335 miles, 05h27m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I-90 through the Idaho panhandle and Montana into Missoula is a fun stretch; climbing, falling, twisting through the mountains, a fast road with just the right amount of traffic. I gave a half-thought to stopping in Wallace, ID; besides the bordello museum and home to “the last stop light on I-90” there’s a coffee shop that does a huckleberry latte worth the stop, but the other thing worth a stop is a huckleberry milkshake in St Regis, MT, another 45 minutes east, so I zip past, cresting the Bitterroot Mountains at Lookout Pass as I-90 follows the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullan_Road">Mullan Road</a> along the valley carved by the St Regis River.</p>
<p>Of course, the line for milkshakes was ridiculous as it so often is, so St Regis was a quick bathroom break, bought a couple sports drinks, and headed on to my next stop in Missoula.</p>
<h1 id="3-mt7---missoula-mt">3) MT7 - Missoula, MT</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Located in the Memorial Rose Garden, the Montana State Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorates all the Montana service personnel that served during the Vietnam War. The names of all the Montanans that died in Vietnam are listed on 8 bronze plaques on either side of the sculpture.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/mt7.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d726502.8799954376!2d-116.28473662249434!3d47.51199147693543!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x5361c08b7db6f263%3A0xcac56d6d202d81d!2s8930%20N%20Government%20Way%2C%20Hayden%2C%20ID%2083835!3m2!1d47.753007499999995!2d-116.78621199999999!4m3!3m2!1d47.7347166!2d-116.79296409999999!4m4!2s46.85685%2C%20-114.00422!3m2!1d46.856849999999994!2d-114.00421999999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1693752047794!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
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<div>
<p>This particularly moving memorial is tucked into what almost feels like a grotto, and the religious theme of the statuary here makes that feel appropriate. A quiet refuge from the frisbees and picnicking families on the sunny grass expanse of the remainder of the park.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>171 miles, 03h01m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>506 miles, 08h28m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Missoula is just a smidge over 500 miles from Seattle, and serves as the turn around point for many folks out-and-back Saddle Sore 1k rides, and it’s a nice marker for me around the pace of my ride; I should be able to confidently run Seattle to Missoula in 7.5 hours; 8.5 hours is a little slow, but that includes 2 detours off the interstate for bonuses.. and I’m lingering at these bonus locations, to take in the memorial, read the names, and give the respect and honor due not only to the individual men and women they represent, but the communities as well. The clock can wait.</p>
<h1 id="4-mt3---butte-mt">4) MT3 - Butte, MT</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Located at the United Veterans Memorial in Stodden Park, this memorial was dedicated to the 22 Butte-Silver Bow KIAs.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/mt3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m26!1m12!1m3!1d894112.9247579476!2d-113.86827355157925!3d46.431987086197104!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m11!3e0!4m4!2s46.85685%2C%20-114.00422!3m2!1d46.856849999999994!2d-114.00421999999999!4m4!2s45.98095%2C%20-112.52341!3m2!1d45.98095!2d-112.52341!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1693754877815!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Rain had picked up by this point, and the parking lot was slick with oil spots and loose gravel, and strangely busy with large family picnics, several of which seemed to revolve around toy haulers and large RVs. The memorial itself was the statue to the right; the structure to the left holding the sign (with the somewhat “problematic” font choice..) is the backside of a bandstand/amphitheater, filled with kids running around screaming… literally just <em>screaming</em>. I found an empty bit of curb, threw on the flashers, and got my photo before high-tailing it out of the way.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>120 miles, 02h23m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>626 miles, 10h51m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I donned my rain gear, but soon enough got ahead of the storm, making really good time the rest of the day, with high speed limits and no side quests to speak of. For a Tour of Honor 1000 ride, I needed to ride 1,000 miles in 24 hours while visiting 4 Tour of Honor stops along the way; I’ve 4 planned out for tomorrow, so the rest of today is simply getting to Glendive, MT, just a bit over 1,000 miles from Seattle. Crossing Montana is a bit like crossing Texas, in that it’s a long stretch of being in the same state, but Montana’s changing scenery is a bit more dramatic at times. I made it to Billings around 7:30pm, taking a left turn onto I-94 as it bends north towards North Dakota, eventually pulling a stop receipt in Glendive, MT at 10:35pm, for an 18-hour Saddle Sore 1000. Not my best, but not the worst. Perfectly serviceable.</p>
<p>Of course, a certificate ride isn’t complete without at least one gas pump not generating a receipt, and this was where it happened to me today. I went inside.. and the duplicate receipt didn’t have an address, so I tried a trick I’ve learned: I bought something and paid cash. This can be a handy hack to get a DBR, as often it gets you a receipt from the register rather than the credit card POS printer, and most registers are a bit older and still include a street address.. which this one did, but didn’t have a time stamp!</p>
<p>I was more than a little steamed at this point, but I managed also to laugh at myself being mad; I’m just tired, that’s all. I started googling for ATMs and noticed that inside this gas station, they had a sketchy “Bitcoin ATM”, so I decided to risk it and pulled $40 out of my checking account… and VIOLA! A valid DBR to document the end of my Tour of Honor 1000.</p>
<p>I crossed back over I-90 towards town and my hotel, finding a clean room and a soft bed waiting for me at the La Quinta. In bed asleep by 11pm, alarm set for 4am.. livin’ the dream!</p>
<h1 id="5-mt4---glendive-mt">5) MT4 - Glendive, MT</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>This monument is dedicated in memory of Vietnam and Korean Veterans of Montana and Canada. It was placed by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #23. The American Flag behind the black granite monument was dedicated “In memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice in Vietnam.”</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/mt4.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d2821171.3888441836!2d-111.24866369726827!3d46.32869788587039!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x0%3A0x13aa1105d6b662c2!2s45.98095%2C%20-112.52341!3m2!1d45.980898599999996!2d-112.5234187!4m3!3m2!1d47.1227836!2d-104.7073916!4m4!2s47.10554%2C%20-104.71199!3m2!1d47.10554!2d-104.71199!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1693761214870!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>If you thought Glendive was quiet during the day, wait until 4:30am rolls around! I packed and left the hotel, venturing into its small downtown area to claim this Tour of Honor bonus and starting the clock on my next Tour of Honor 1000 segment at 4:41am. A sheriff’s deputy rolled by with the window down and gave me a friendly wave, but didn’t stop; I guess I look somewhat interesting but not quite sketchy enough to warrant an in-person greeting by the local law enforcement. Nice change of pace!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>446 miles, 12h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,072 miles, 23h50m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Heading east on I-94, I crossed into North Dakota as the sun began to rise, and I stopped just inside the border of Theodore Roosevelt National Park to switch to sunglasses and had to take an obligatory “good morning from the North Dakota badlands” photo.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/sunrise.jpg" />
</div>
<p>Shortly thereafter, I hopped off in Dickinson, ND for breakfast at a Taco John’s, striking up a conversation with the guy running the drive up window. He was the only person of 3 who showed up this morning to open up the restaurant, and was running the entire place by himself. Luckily I was the only customer at 6am, so we chatted about riding motorcycles in the Dakotas. Apparently his girlfriend really wanted to go for a long, multi-day trip, so I have him the usual bits of advice from the script on how to be comfortable and safe, etc.</p>
<h1 id="6-nd2---mandan-sd">6) ND2 - Mandan, SD</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>This beautiful memorial recognizes 461 Prisoners of War from North Dakota, and soldiers who are still Missing in Action. The Vietnam Vets/Legacy Vets & 2nd Brigade Motorcycle clubs came up with the idea for the monument back in 2007. At a cost in excess of $200,000, it was paid for entirely with donations from the community.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/nd2.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m26!1m12!1m3!1d1395027.340057527!2d-104.09912137394667!3d46.9290115360963!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m11!3e0!4m4!2s47.10554%2C%20-104.71199!3m2!1d47.10554!2d-104.71199!4m4!2s46.75200%2C%20-100.85087!3m2!1d46.751999999999995!2d-100.85087!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1693850509220!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Construction in Mandan’s downtown made for a 2+ mile detour on the way in to this memorial, located in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery next to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. The cemetery overlooks the Missouri River, and was just starting to have a few visitors at 9am on a sunshine-filled weekend morning.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>198 miles, 03h28m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,270 miles, 27h18m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Rehydrated, I got back onto I-94 – ok, I <em>tried</em> to get back on I-94, but a train was now parked at the only way back to the highway that wasn’t blocked by construction. I tried to wiggle around this mess and ended up looping through the unpaved cul de sacs of a trailer park, cut through a self-storage business, but eventually I found the on ramp and got back on my way, only slightly perturbed.</p>
<p>The day was turning out to be MUCH hotter than expected, getting north of 95F, and I took a couple extended stops. In Jamestown, ND, I turned what should’ve been a 5-minute gas stop into a 25-minute “stand inside the walk-in beer cooler at the minimart” and once in Fergus Falls, MN I stopped at a Caribou Coffee for an iced coffee, a scone, and 35 minutes of blessed air conditioning.</p>
<h1 id="7-mn3---fergus-falls-mn">7) MN3 - Fergus Falls, MN</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>This memorial is dedicated to all wars, and to all veterans. A portion is established to honor those who were either KIA, MIA, or POW. The names of those individuals are reserved for the pillars themselves.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/mn3.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d2943882.1598660555!2d-100.03852629112507!3d46.82998185158728!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m4!2s46.75200%2C%20-100.85087!3m2!1d46.751999999999995!2d-100.85087!4m3!3m2!1d46.8755935!2d-97.50417499999999!4m4!2s46.28256%2C%20-96.06921!3m2!1d46.28256!2d-96.06921!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1693852096880!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>This memorial is located in a quiet park on the banks of the Otter Tail River, which flows through the middle of town. The scorching sun had me considering jumping into the river despite the signs warning against swimming.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>262 miles, 04h55m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,532 miles, 32h13m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>The heat was really cranking up, and I took several longer than usual stops, including a half-hour afternoon siesta at one particularly green and shady rest area.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/nap.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>I hit the Twin Cities at 5pm, and elected to take the usually faster I-694 beltway around then north side of Minneapolis, but got caught in stop-n-go traffic nevertheless. It was a slog of molasses until I-35E, heading south through St Paul at a “well, at least we’re moving” pace, and traffic disappeared entirely once I switched over to US-52 south, a divided 4-lane through the farmland of southern Minnesota. The evening sun beat down, and I was finding myself doing Dumb Shit, so I pulled over in Zumbrota, MN and parked in a scrap of shade offered by a Dollar Tree store. I ate a banana, chugged some liquids, and tried not to think about the sweat accumulating in my boots.</p>
<p>Finally, I met up with I-90 and continued east, stopping at the last rest area in Minnesota, about 15 miles west of the Mississippi River and the border with Wisconsin. I had another small snack and some sports drink, and chatted on the phone for a little bit with friends, enjoying the green shade. I wasn’t making good time, but I also was a bit out of practice, and still had plenty of time left on the clock.</p>
<p>A hint of wildfire smoke tickled my nose as I got back onto the road, and as the highway wiggled down a ravine to the Mississippi, I plunged into a wall of thick, yellow smog, courtesy of wildfires in Ontario. By the time I made it to the next stop, my last of the ride, I could feel it coating my eyes and throat, my nose running and itchy.</p>
<h1 id="8-wi4---la-crosse-wi">8) WI4 - La Crosse, WI</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>The La Crosse Vietnam War memorial is in Veterans Freedom Park and was recently dedicated in June 2022. This memorial was made to honor those 1,239 service members from Wisconsin who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War. The memorial was the vision of Jordan Briskey, a 2020 graduate of Holmen High School, who wanted to create a wall to capture the true reality of the fallen from Wisconsin so others could feel the emotions he felt when he was talking with Vietnam veterans. It started out, not as an Eagle Scout project, not an exit school project, it was just something a 15-year-old kid decided he wanted to do.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/wi4.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d1443115.7466947832!2d-94.98115961066068!3d45.05363377562983!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x0%3A0x82183ddfbf082817!2s46.28256%2C%20-96.06921!3m2!1d46.2824989!2d-96.06955459999999!4m3!3m2!1d43.9554341!2d-92.2940923!4m5!1s0x87f9545e7c4c4a25%3A0x2b1e278e5446af77!2sVeterans%20Freedom%20Park!3m2!1d43.839557299999996!2d-91.25480979999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1694206478802!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>This memorial is inside a large park that takes up the entire southern end of an island in the Mississippi (or at least in a slough of it..) The silty dirt of the parking lot, chewed up by trucks hauling boats to the boat ramp at the water’s edge, caused me to fishtail a little bit, but a wide apron of pavement around the memorial provided a safe pad for parking.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>332 miles, 06h20m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>1,864 miles, 38h33m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Tour of Honor stops completed, all that remained was a pretty simple ride across Wisconsin. The smoke was bad, but it helped to keep the sun at bay to some extent, and by the time the sun actually set the air was cool, if a bit unhealthy still. I was feeling super beat by the time I stopped at an ATM a couple blocks from Gabby’s place and pulled a receipt at 11:52pm local, having completed 2 back-to-back Tour of Honor 1000s and a Saddle Sore 2000.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d1481879.6221843073!2d-90.8992339195696!3d43.496157436666!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87f9545e7c4c4a25%3A0x2b1e278e5446af77!2sVeterans%20Freedom%20Park!3m2!1d43.839557299999996!2d-91.25480979999999!4m3!3m2!1d43.246556999999996!2d-89.375698!4m5!1s0x8805195c1a11b929%3A0xe8c437087af5f374!2sNorth%20Shore%20Bank%2C%20510%20East%20Pleasant%20Street%2C%20Milwaukee%2C%20WI!3m2!1d43.0507254!2d-87.9055781!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1694298624527!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>209 miles, 03h38m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>2,073 miles, 43h11m</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>This was a great ride, for many reasons. I was glad to have completed a pair of Tour of Honor rides, as well as visit the memorials themselves and pay my respects. The ride also accomplished my goal of being a shake-down ride for the IBR, and there were a handful of things to tweak and fiddle with over the next couple weeks. It also proved to be a good workout for my ride stamina, not having to have contended with summer heat or the air pollution that would hang over so much of the northeast quadrant of the continent for the next month or so, serving to remind me of the signals my body was going to send, how my responses would change, and what I needed to to do counter them. Endurance-wise, I felt stretched and ready to go.. pitter patter!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/06/18/map.png" />
</div>
<p><a href="/2023/06/14/ibr-day-minus_3/">Onward to the IBR Start ➡️</a></p>“The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. 'Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?' he asked. 'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'"Heart of Texas 2023: Wrap Up - The After Party2023-04-29T13:30:44+00:002023-04-29T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/04/29/heart-of-texas-wrap-up<blockquote>
<p>
<i>🎵 Well I drove my truck to Italy and on to Naples fair<br />
There I went to Palestine to get some good fresh air<br />
Well I journeyed on in to Athens, Trinidad and Celeste<br />
To Edinburgh and Scotland, further to the west<br /><br />
Well I stopped in China, Christoval, Tadesse and also Nome<br />
For I wanted much to see it all, before I started home<br />
Columbo was so beautiful, Riviera what a sight!<br />
Paris was the gayest place, especially at night!<br /><br />
Well I came on back from Ontario, St Paul, and Buffalo<br />
Detroit was also on my list, and also St Joe<br />
Well I came right in to Cleveland, Dayton, and South Bend<br />
And on to Boston and Albany before my journey’s end<br /><br />
Then over to Atlanta, Miami, and Jacksonville<br />
Memphis, Paducah, and Charlotte before I could be still<br />
Right on down through Virginia, Richmond, and Centerville<br />
Yorktown, Franklin, Fredericksburg, and stopped in at Hemphill<br /><br />
Well I rambled into Portland, San Diego, and San Juan<br />
Los Angeles, Pasadena, before my day was done<br />
I finished all my traveling, I drove at a normal rate<br />
I visited all those places named, never left the Lone Star State 🎵</i><br />
-- "Never Left The Lone Star State" - Bill Neely
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="post-image">
<iframe width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L-V6NX67chA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>Of the 51 riders (and teams) that left College Station at noon on April 25, 43 would be finishers. 5 riders did not finish for personal or mechanical reasons, and 3 did not claim enough tour bonuses to qualify. So where did I fare in the scrum?</p>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>Before I continue, I need to thank the amazing rally staff. Rallies are complicated events with lots of moving parts (literally and figuratively!) and they wouldn’t be possible without a team of people contributing their time and talents to making them the fun, safe events they are. <em>Kimberly Walling</em> and <em>Chris Hopper</em> checked us all in at the finish line, ensuring we had arrived on time and still in possession of our flags and beards. <em>Lisa Landry</em> helped shepherd us through the scoring process, and liaised with the hotel to get returning riders into rooms with hot showers as fast as possible. <em>Annette Ure</em> was on hand, as was <em>Tara Tong</em>, 2 faces I always love to see and wish I had more time to chat with, but they were too busy running around making sure the little things didn’t become big things. <em>Richard Swim</em>, who rode in the rally himself, cut his ride short by several hours so he could be on hand to make the rest of us look like returning heroes with his photography. <em>Tonatiuh Huitron</em> created another fabulous rally book that will grace many of our shelves for years to come.</p>
<p>..and of course <em>Paul Tong</em> and <em>Nancy Oswald</em>, who invest so much time and effort into these events, planning, scouting, coordinating, promoting, scoring.. and still have time to answer my ridiculous text messages mid rally!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/text.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I _think_ I was asking for clarification on how the rest bonus worked? 🤷🏼♀️ Speech-to-text does funny things inside my helmet..</p>
</div>
<p>After wolfing down some snacks and taking hot shower and a nap, I woke up feeling… off. I tried to be social with folks as dinner time rolled up, but started feeling sweaty and anxious and my tummy was doing cartwheels. I arrived at dinner late, made a plate and found a seat, and felt a wave a nausea at all the noise of people and the smell of all the food, so I snuck out and sat outside for a few minutes. I couldn’t figure out what the heck was going on, but folks noticed I was missing and came out to check on me, which filled my heart and was much appreciated.. eventually I felt myself enough to go inside, and a couple cups of water and unsweet tea later, I felt normal again.</p>
<p>I blame the bag of chips I ate as a snack; the next morning when packing, I went to throw the empty package away and noticed they were almost an entire year expired… YUCK! They tasted fine, but clearly were NOT!!</p>
<p>Anyways.. I snuck into a seat at a table with some folks I know, and was feeling progressively better as dinner wrapped up and we started in with the official awards. We had a moment honoring a rider who was no longer with us, Paul Burns, and the room got a little dusty. Then we shifted to some announcements for upcoming rallies, as well as special mentions for riders who couldn’t be present and someone who had gone above and beyond to help a rider out; Paul actually put their phone numbers on the screen and asked us all to text them our thanks! Then came the Tough As Nails award (honoring Tim Harkins and his tenacity) which went to John Anderson for his overcoming situations during this rally that would’ve made even me throw up my hands and quit. A surprise second Tough As Nails award went to Nancy, and I resisted running up to give her a big hug as well.</p>
<p>Special SS4k awards were given out, and at least this rally I was <em>far</em> below the miles required with my mere ~3200, but it set my expectations fairly low for my finishing position; multiple big days in the saddle are doable for me, but it isn’t my <em>style</em>, and I really wasn’t moving anywhere near the pace needed for a big 4,000 miles/4-day run.. but with at least 4 of the field managing to pull it off, I had no doubts I was low in the standings.</p>
<p>I was soon called up, though, to receive my own reward. It seems like my posting publicly about not needing heated gear in Texas angered the weather gods, and while Ken Andrews might take the blame for the rain, responsibility for the chilly winds we all suffered through was put squarely on my shoulders!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/wires.jpg" />
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/evidence.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">The evidence!</p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/award.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/grumpy.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/duo.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Grumpy now rides with Stitch, and reminds me to keep looking for the silver linings, because things can always be worse...</p>
</div>
<p>A few other awards were given out - the Heart Award to Daniel Eckert for helping stranded riders, the New Rider Award to the rookie 2-up team of Michael Fernedes and Claire Ivey, and then on to the finishers! Before he started, though, Paul pointed out the wide point spread, and how the wide range of points was due to riders solving puzzle by maxing out the the exponential points from meal locations and making sure they took all the rest bonus time available to them, and for the first time I thought “Hmmm… maybe I placed higher than I think!”</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/exponent.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Paul even pulled up this chart to illustrate how powerful the exponent factor was in calculating the rest bonus..</p>
</div>
<p>We first ran through the 2-day riders, and finally the 4-day riders. We got to the top 15, and I was still more than double.. then the top 10.. Daniel Eckert and I looked at each other, both of us not yet being called up. We’d earlier chatted and realized we’d both maxed out the points from the rest bonus. It wasn’t until 6th place that anyone scored more points than we had earned <em>by sleeping and eating</em>! Daniel was called up to accept his fourth place trophy, as well as a special trophy for completing the most tour combos. I was in the top 3!?!</p>
<p>Finally, my name was called..</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/second.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/presented.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/trophy.jpg" />
</div>
<p>Well done, me! I was utterly convinced the entire rally that I was “just having fun” and while that’s certainly true, as Daniel pointed out to me later, we may not have ridden that hardest or the farthest, but in this rally we rode the <em>smartest</em>. We figured out the puzzle, and that made all the difference.</p>
<p>..and what a difference it made! In <a href="https://www.heartoftexasrally.com/_files/ugd/f60a22_39c34b0cb4124583bb576b72a2a5b91b.pdf">the final daily report from Nancy</a>, she shared this chart that shows all the different ways the top 5 finishers scored points; we all clearly saw different paths to the podium, but the points from maxing the meal/rest bonus were key.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/chart.png" />
<!-- <p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Paul even pulled up this chart to illustrate how powerful the exponent factor was in calculating the rest bonus..</p> -->
</div>
<p>Awards given out, we schmoozed for a bit, but were all pretty tired, so off to bed for most of us, including me. I wanted to keep pushing in “rally mode” to stretch out my endurance even more ahead of the Iron Butt Rally at the end of June, so I got a good night’s sleep and pushed to do a Saddle Sore 1k to Farmington, NM in the extreme northwest corner, where I caught 5 hours of rest at a motel. I then pushed up through Utah, picking up National Park Stamps in Moab. You need a reservation to get into Arches and Canyonlands these days, but they have a trove of stamps at the administrative offices in town… a little life hack there for anyone going for a National Parks Tour!</p>
<p>Salt Lake City was the usual ridiculousness, 90 miles of bad driving from Spanish Fork to Brigham City, but there’s an HOV lane the entire way, so you just get into and maintain your speed and you’re through it in short order. Idaho was the usual drag (oh, how I detest I-84..) and I got to Boise about an hour before sunset and threaded north to Emmett, ID to the Black Canyon Dam, one of the bonus locations for this year’s <a href="https://pnwgrandtour.com/">PNW Grand Tour</a> (PNW-GT).</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/dam.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Not shown: the huge cloud of mosquitos buzzing around me!</p>
</div>
<p>The sun was setting, but I was still feeling on to La Grande, OR, arriving well after dark. I again caught a 5 hour rest break, then rode up into the Blue Mountains at dawn and claimed the PNW-GT location of the Tollgate Store around 6:20am.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/tollgate.jpg" />
</div>
<p>From there I dropped down the north side of the Blues into Walla Walla, WA for breakfast at the Maple Counter Cafe, another PNW-GT bonus location. I walked in their door at 7:03am, and got a fresh cup of coffee and a mushroom and spinach omelet and a side order of sourdough pancakes. Food so good you don’t want to die for, but <em>live</em> for - definitely on my list for future visits later this summer!</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/breakfast.jpg" />
</div>
<p>I lingered for a bit, killing time until the Whitman Mission National Historic Park on the west side of Walla Walla opened at 9am. I still got there a little early, but it was a beautiful spring day, so I lounged on the grass in some shade until the doors unlocked and the flag went up. I claimed a park stamp and chatted with the ranger on duty, who was prepping for a school field trip. She had lots of questions about the National Parks Tour and the Iron Butt Association, but she also had work to do so I gave her a sticker (which has my email on it) and headed off through Washington wine and hops country, through the Tri-Cities. I stopped in Yakima (“the Palm Springs of Washington”) for gas before continuing to Ellensburg, climbing up along the Yakima River as it tumbled down from the Cascades. A customary stop in Cle Elum for coffee at the Pioneer Coffee Company, then Snoqualmie Pass, North Bend, the floating bridges across Lake Washington.. and finally home by 2:30pm, tired, satisfied, and with a load of laundry to do after 3 weeks on the road.</p>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
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</div>
<p><br /></p>
<h1 id="wrapping-up">Wrapping up</h1>
<hr />
<p>All in all, I’m pretty happy with this rally. I encountered some issues with Garmin’s timings being pessimistic, but it worked out to my advantage in the long run. Sitting on my butt, though, waiting for bonus windows to open.. really felt like a <em>massive</em> waste of time, but even looking back there weren’t great options for adding more points or tours here.</p>
<p>I think heading south on Day 3 for the meal bonus at El Jalisense was mistake; If I’d taken a slightly shorter rest and been more efficient, I couldn’t returned north and made it comfortably to Mookie’s within their window, which would’ve been much more efficient.. but would’ve left some big points in the west unclaimed, so it’s a toss up.</p>
<p>I think that the Planets bonus route, starting with Earth, was the least efficient route; I could’ve scored at least 6,000 more points <em>in total</em> if I’d braved Houston and been at Galveston at noon, swooping west and then north to claim 7 planets rather than 6; I might even have opened the door for a clean sweep of 8, although that would’ve left me fairly tight on tours heading back to College Station. Weather might have been a factor as well, but on paper and in retrospect, it was more efficient - less dead-heading for sure.</p>
<p>I did a lot of rerouting mid-rally to get around storms and to make up for timing issues from Basecamp, which I seldom have done in the past. On LDX it worked out for me, and in my retrospective for the event I mentioned that taking 5-10 minutes with the laptop somewhere is often worth the effort. I’m glad to have done more of it here, as I’m going to be doing a lot more of it during the Iron Butt Rally simply due to the length of that rally. More practice, more comfort, etc.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, the results are the thing; I figured out the puzzle, and could’ve scored more points - maybe even enough to sneak into first place - if I’d just push a little harder in the right places. I only pushed at about 75% for most of the rally, and while I’m not the mile monster that the Big Dogs are, I <em>do</em> ride smart.. and sometimes that makes all the difference.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/final.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/29/ticket.jpg" />
</div>
<!-- [Onward to Day 2 ➡️](/2023/04/26/heart-of-texas-day-2/) -->🎵 Well I drove my truck to Italy and on to Naples fair There I went to Palestine to get some good fresh air Well I journeyed on in to Athens, Trinidad and Celeste To Edinburgh and Scotland, further to the westHeart of Texas 2023: Day 4 - Levelland2023-04-28T13:30:44+00:002023-04-28T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/04/28/heart-of-texas-day-4<blockquote>
<p>
<i>🎵 Flatter than a table top<br />
Makes you wonder why they stopped here<br />
Wagon must have lost a wheel<br />
Or they lacked ambition one<br /><br />
So they sunk some roots down in this dirt<br />
To keep from blowin' off the earth<br />
Built a town right here<br />
When the dust had all but cleared<br />
They called it Levelland 🎵</i><br />
-- "Levelland" - James McMurtry
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>“Levelland” was playing through my mind all the way out here across the Llano Estacado, the vast mesa that makes up the majority of northwestern Texas. Almost literally “flatter than a table top”, its farms and fields and endless flatness run to a horizon unblemished by hills, forests, mountains, or cities, and all that is between you and the north pole is barbed wire and circle irrigators. Beautiful, bountiful emptiness… but not much to stop the wind.</p>
<p>The Planet bonuses are the only ones available to us today, from noon until 2am. After 2am, we can claim <em>any</em> bonus from any day.. provided we include a selfie of ourselves wearing the fake ZZ Top beard and sunglasses! This gives us a great window of opportunity to hoover up points and complete tours in the final hours of the rally as we spiral back towards College Station.</p>
<p>Oh, the things rally riders will do for points…</p>
<p>The scoring for Planets is a little interesting. Each individual Planet counts as a complete tour by itself, offering an opportunity to make up for any lost ground. The bonus for completing a Planet tour is scaled, and increases as you gather them. For instance, the first Planet tour you complete earns you an additional 1,000 points. For each additional Planet, the bonus <em>for every Planet tour</em> is retroactively increased by an additional 750 points.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/planets.png" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Chart of Planet values from the rally book</p>
</div>
<p>This bonus is, of course, in addition to the value of each individual Planet as its own location, just like all other locations. Of course, they’re scattered enough that gathering all of them will take some doing.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/planet_map.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Was starting in the upper left hand corner of the 2nd largest state in the union a smart idea? 🤷🏼♀️</p>
</div>
<p>I gave some initial thought to trying to grab all of them, but ultimately decided for a less ambitious approach of only scoring 6. In the woulda-coulda-shoulda land, I could see a path towards scoring 7 without much effort, but I had made a personal decision before the rally started that after 2 rallies last year that had me slog from Houston to San Antonio by way of Galveston, I was going to avoid that part of Texas unless it was an absolute necessity… and besides, I’m not competing, I’m having <em>fun</em>, and Houston traffic ain’t fun.</p>
<h1 id="38-p78a---welcome-to-earth---earth-tx---6912-pts">38) P78A - Welcome to Earth - Earth, TX - 6,912 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the roadside sign reading “Welcome to Earth.”</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/p78a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m17!1m12!1m3!1d1374.9270387646313!2d-102.38665329028294!3d34.23315122139828!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m2!1m1!2zMzTCsDEzJzU4LjIiTiAxMDLCsDIzJzA3LjgiVw!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686191542486!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The wind was fierce as a dozen of us gathered around the <em>Welcome To Earth</em> sign, taking turns taking each other’s photos. I got mine taken more or less first, but ran into something fiddly getting my gear on, and ended up following Bryan & Marissa and Ken Andrews south towards Lubbock and the next location on our respective plans.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>0 miles, 00h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>0 miles, 00h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>24h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>1,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>20,306</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Ken set a spirited pace and we trailed behind him all the way down to Lubbock, leaving other riders trailing out behind us. Waze prompted me to turn and skim across the northern edge of Lubbock, while Ken and Bryan & Marissa continued on straight through the cities. As I turned to the east, the full force of the northern wind made itself known, pushing now on me from the left, and would be my continual companion for the next 8 or 9 hours. Believe me, it got old in a hurry having an invisible force trying to shove you off the road, twisting your head like a giant cracking open a beer.</p>
<p>Luckily the ride itself made up for it, coming down off the plateau through the caliche canyons of the Caprock Escarpment that rise a thousand feet above the high plains, the gateway to the rolling hills of ranch country, an escarpment dramatic and tall enough to create thunderstorms to the east as air rushes into them and is forced high into the sky. The road passes long stretches of working horse and cattle ranches, big empty canyons carved into the hard stone that slopes down towards hill country. At one point US-82 passed through Guthrie, TX, and right through the middle of the 6666 Ranch, which even this west coast girl has heard of!</p>
<h1 id="39-x03a---hole-in-the-wall-cafe--rochester-tx---exponent-2">39) X03A - Hole in the Wall Cafe- Rochester, TX - Exponent: 2</h1>
<hr />
<!-- <div markdown="1">
_Take a picture of the roadside sign reading "Welcome to Earth."_
</div> -->
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/x03a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d1698168.8419703546!2d-102.43415127724153!3d33.767486782290085!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d34.232839!2d-102.38551199999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.7430509!2d-102.0624666!4m5!1s0x8654547f973124cd%3A0x554dbdf5a0db322f!2sThe%20Hole%20In%20The%20Wall%20Cafe%2C%20Carothers%20Ave%2C%20Rochester%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.31604!2d-99.855161!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686193161486!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>There were a few rally bikes out front, but only a couple riders from Earth (the bonus, that is.. I’m sure most of us were actually from <em>Earth</em>!) There might not be much happening in Rochester, but The Hole in the Wall Cafe was hopping today, 5 of us rally riders taking up the single large family table in this small, rustic cafe. The woman working the front of house was the very soul of “Texan hospitality” and took great care of us, super friendly and cheerful, and I have to say after several hours of fighting the north wind. I got excited by the grilled cheese on the menu, and scarfed it down with a sweet tea. More ralliers trickled in as we shook our heads at the wind and watched the clock tick down; at least it wasn’t raining, right?</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>194 miles, 03h40m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>194 miles, 03h40m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>20h20m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>1,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>20,306</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Waze sent me off from The Hole in the Wall Cafe through a maze of random farm roads, and I’m sure I saved 30 seconds <em>somewhere</em> along the way.. but I’m also dubious. Rain finally caught up to the wind, light sprinkles now and then, just enough to make the broken pavement that usually only sees traffic from from heavy farm machinery slick. At least the wind was dying down, now a steady 25-30mph, and would diminish even more as the day wore on.. but never quite entirely still, either.</p>
<h1 id="40-p81a---moon-cemetery---breckenridge-tx---3296-pts">40) P81A - Moon Cemetery - Breckenridge, TX - 3,296 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the granite marker located next to the entrance for the Moon Cemetery.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/p81a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m36!1m12!1m3!1d428149.5058041704!2d-99.65474355357148!3d33.032290382895226!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m21!3e0!4m5!1s0x8654547f973124cd%3A0x554dbdf5a0db322f!2sThe%20Hole%20In%20The%20Wall%20Cafe%2C%20Carothers%20Ave%2C%20Rochester%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.31604!2d-99.855161!4m3!3m2!1d33.297014!2d-99.71755739999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.223622899999995!2d-99.59863589999999!4m5!1s0x8651602da030be15%3A0x98f9ae1eb213630!2sMoon%20Cemetery%2C%20Breckenridge%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.760003399999995!2d-98.7950247!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686248496869!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Turning off to an access road of freshly-laid, slushy gravel was a nice “treat” but the big BMW ate it right up. You just stand up, bend your knees, arms loose, keep the front end pointed where you want to go, and do your best to ignore the odd sensation of the rear tire of the bike trying to pass the front one! I didn’t hear of anyone wiping out, but the haunted look in the eyes of the cruiser riders who pulled up while I was there told a story.</p>
<p>On the way out I passed more riders coming in behind me, slowly paddling their way through the gravel, and a couple pickup trucks surprised me in the corners, roaring up the opposite direction, kicking up dust and stones in their wake.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>94 miles, 01h39m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>288 miles, 05h19m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>18h41m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>3,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>23,602</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="41-p83a---rising-star-city-hall---rising-star-tx---2690-pts">41) P83A - Rising Star City Hall - Rising Star, TX - 2,690 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Rising Star City Hall sign.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/p83a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d431062.7321095892!2d-99.21733486438852!3d32.427793186958034!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8651602da030be15%3A0x98f9ae1eb213630!2sMoon%20Cemetery%2C%20Breckenridge%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.760003399999995!2d-98.7950247!4m3!3m2!1d32.531940899999995!2d-98.885306!4m5!1s0x865127d301260e15%3A0xd445a0b74597c8e3!2sRising%20Star%20City%20Hall%2C%20West%20College%20Street%2C%20Rising%20Star%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.096379299999995!2d-98.9650813!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686249531487!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Zip zip zip… quick run down US-183. The sign was weirdly <em>behind</em> the building, and there was a couple… ahem… “renewing their vows” in a parked car off to the side. Luckily the angle for photographing the bonus had them out of frame, but they didn’t seem to notice, so intent they were on declaring their love for each other.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>56 miles, 0h57m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>344 miles, 06h16m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>17h44m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>13</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>7,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>26,292</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="42-p80a---mercury-community-center---rochelle-tx---2800-pts">42) P80A - Mercury Community Center - Rochelle, TX - 2,800 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the sign for the Mercury Community Center.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/p80a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d434253.2406268948!2d-99.3748226147172!3d31.754023542220136!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x865127d301260e15%3A0xd445a0b74597c8e3!2sRising%20Star%20City%20Hall%2C%20West%20College%20Street%2C%20Rising%20Star%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.096379299999995!2d-98.9650813!4m3!3m2!1d31.886329!2d-98.91894219999999!4m5!1s0x8650ac8d7eb40001%3A0x2d841d3ce9ea888c!2sMERCURY%20COMMUNITY%20CENTER%2C%20Milburn%20Ave%2C%20Rochelle%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.412067699999998!2d-99.1563563!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686250004618!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>In addition to a couple other ralliers at this stop, there were a pair of very happy dogs running around, who were content to pace motorcycles and we pulled in or left. I petted them for a minute and made friends, and while doing paperwork before leaving shared my last pieces of beef jerky with them to strengthen our bond.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>53 miles, 0h50m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>397 miles, 07h06m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>16h54m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>13</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>13,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>29,092</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Leaving Mercury a couple minutes past 7pm, I headed back north. I passed one rider of ours who was parked by the side of the road, talking to folks in a truck.. I slowed and got the thumbs up, so pushed on. Waze routed me around the small town of Brownwood, TX, to US-377 past Dublin to Stephenville, and then US-67 east towards the southern outskirts of DFW.</p>
<h1 id="43-p85a---venus-veteran-memorial---venus-tx---2128-pts">43) P85A - Venus Veteran Memorial - Venus, TX - 2,128 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the memorial to Corporal Thomas Hilbert, USA.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/p85a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d866925.4231640794!2d-98.79663901800666!3d31.922150777333012!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8650ac8d7eb40001%3A0x2d841d3ce9ea888c!2sMERCURY%20COMMUNITY%20CENTER%2C%20Milburn%20Ave%2C%20Rochelle%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.412067699999998!2d-99.1563563!4m3!3m2!1d32.1729573!2d-98.0708222!4m5!1s0x864e5fae4c2e4453%3A0x51f5a3d623995809!2sVenus%20Square!3m2!1d32.4330451!2d-97.1036463!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686250837815!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>It was just past 10pm when I parked on the town square to claim this location, and wow, is Venus, TX a happening place on a Friday night! 2 police SUVs were circling this rather small park, and 4 or 5 groups of young folks were stumbling around having a good time (and enjoying some liquid refreshment as well.) For once, no one wanted to ask me about the bike or tell me about their relative who rides, so I was able to get in and get out quickly.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>162 miles, 2h58m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>559 miles, 10h04m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>13h56m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>20,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>31,220</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Leaving Venus and pushing into the Friday night traffic of DFW, I noticed some flickering lightning to the east. Radar showed a slow moving line of storms ahead of me as I hopped onto I-20 heading east. At first it seemed like I’d be able to follow along right behind the storm front, but eventually I found myself caught up with the rain and wind on the back edge of the storm, and the rapid lightning ahead started appearing <em>around</em> me, so I pulled off into a truck stop and under the gas pump awning. That’s where I found Robert Long similarly taking refuge. We chatted a bit and he said he was going to wait it out here, let it get ahead, before continuing. I decided that even though I wasn’t yet tired, if I was going to be stopped waiting anyways, I might as well earn some points and start my rest bonus now. I mean, it was 11pm already, and I had 4 hours of rest break time left to earn. I booked a room nearby and took off.</p>
<h1 id="44-z04f---rest-bonus-4---wichita-falls-tx---4h00m-240-minutes">44) Z04F - Rest Bonus 4 - Wichita Falls, TX - 4h00m (240 minutes)</h1>
<hr />
<!-- <div markdown="1">
_Take a picture of the Scotland VFD. You can get closer to the sign if you want._
</div> -->
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/z04f.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d430267.3338156378!2d-97.08080800218765!3d32.59382802685847!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x864e5fae4c2e4453%3A0x51f5a3d623995809!2sVenus%20Square!3m2!1d32.4330451!2d-97.1036463!4m5!1s0x86494d28da1e6595%3A0xd7c0ef064b2f07d!2sTiger%20Mart%2C%20Farm%20to%20Market%20Road%201641%2C%20Talty%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.6949828!2d-96.3982503!4m5!1s0x864eadbdf19e2f99%3A0xd2afb5714498d579!2sHoliday%20Inn%20Express%20%26%20Suites%20Forney%2C%20an%20IHG%20Hotel%2C%20U.S.%2080%2C%20Forney%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.755687099999996!2d-96.4637963!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686252732492!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I’m glad I decided to rest; on the short ride over, I almost got into a wreck when the road did a slight (20’) dogleg left and I completely didn’t notice! There was zero shoulder, and I was riding the fog line, tensing and pulling left as hard as I was able, trying not to target fixate on the ditch full of storm water to my right! Yikes! Time to close my eyes..</p>
<p>Checked in and lights off by 11:15pm, I set an alarm for 3:15am and was back on the road by 3:30am. It was slightly longer than I had bonus time left, but only by a few minutes. Maxing out my rest bonus this way earned me a whopping 170,676 points; compare that to the points I’m earning from tours and individual locations!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>57 miles, 5h30m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>616 miles, 15h34m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>8h26m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>20,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>31,220</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Back out on the road, radar showed nothing but clear skies ahead to the east; the timing worked perfectly. The roads were a bit wet, but all the Friday night traffic had cleared out and stumbled home, so no one was out but me, state troopers, and truckers. I took US-80 east back to I-20, making good time. Exiting in Canton, I plunged into the darkness of tree-lined roads around 4am, and was glad to have solved the fuse issue which had rendered the high beam setting of my aux lights inoperable. I didn’t see any deer, but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there..</p>
<h1 id="45-p79a---mars-community---murchison-tx---2000-pts">45) P79A - Mars Community - Murchison, TX - 2,000 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Texas historical marker for the Mars community.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/p79a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d430445.54839392577!2d-96.41649962732474!3d32.55669228507511!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m5!1s0x864eadbdf19e2f99%3A0xd2afb5714498d579!2sHoliday%20Inn%20Express%20%26%20Suites%20Forney%2C%20an%20IHG%20Hotel%2C%20U.S.%2080%2C%20Forney%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.755687099999996!2d-96.4637963!4m3!3m2!1d32.5019375!2d-95.7825177!4m3!3m2!1d32.3570822!2d-95.72593839999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686255085639!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>There wasn’t really a good spot to park here, just a sunken, muddy pull off, but it’s barely 4:30am, so I pulled as far right as I dared and threw on my hazards, timing my photo to avoid the glare of flashing amber.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>60 miles, 1h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>676 miles, 16h34m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>7h26m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>33,220</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Now that we were past 2am, any and all bonuses were fair game, as long as we wore the ZZ Top beard and sunglasses (the sole exception being Planets, due to some minor confusion in the rider’s meeting..) I took a look at the spread of locations, adding a couple along the way as I saw that I had more time available than I thought!</p>
<h1 id="46-s21a---reynolds-new-york-feed-store---new-york-tx---854-pts">46) S21A - Reynolds New York Feed Store - New York, TX - 854 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of one of the Reynold’s New York Store signs.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/s21a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d107962.69222393939!2d-95.77437218412001!3d32.262544753976755!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d32.3570822!2d-95.72593839999999!4m3!3m2!1d32.3128278!2d-95.70581609999999!4m5!1s0x86485467a57e9fcd%3A0xa96a60508748a82a!2sReynolds%20Fertilizer!3m2!1d32.1681307!2d-95.6687472!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686256088062!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>What do you think of my new look?!</p>
<p>(Note that we are allowed to use the sticker with our rider number on it in lieu of the flag, an option which I found MUCH easier to manage than trying to take a selfie and hold a flag..)</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>18 miles, 0h26m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>694 miles, 17h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>7h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>34,074</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>A little ways down the road, my tummy started complaining about the lack of breakfast, and since I needed to pee anyways, I stopped at a McDonalds in Crockett, TX around 6:15am. I tapped in my order using their app in the parking lot, went into the ladies room, and my food was waiting for me when I emerged. Scarfing down a sausage-egg McMuffin by the bike and fiddling with the GPS, I saw had plenty of time left, and there was a fairly high-value bonus right next door…</p>
<h1 id="47-c46a---germany-cemetery---new-york-tx---1866-pts">47) C46A - Germany Cemetery - New York, TX - 1,866 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the entrance to Germany Cemetery.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/c46a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m33!1m12!1m3!1d736489.1566842704!2d-95.90645557143125!3d31.777903244867428!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m18!3e0!4m5!1s0x86485467a57e9fcd%3A0xa96a60508748a82a!2sReynolds%20Fertilizer!3m2!1d32.1681307!2d-95.6687472!4m5!1s0x8647c329c333a899%3A0x7b529d4f3c9be05c!2sMcDonald's!3m2!1d31.323389!2d-95.436526!4m4!2s31.440941%09-95.351698!3m2!1d31.440941!2d-95.351698!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686256873545!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Of course, a high-value bonus usually means there’s some amount of difficulty to get to it. That can mean far away, or it can mean the road itself makes for some difficulty. In this case, it was a mile and a half of wet clay and pea sized gravel on a 2-track dirt “road” with grass and wildflowers growing up in the middle in the spots where the lazy grader operator lifted the blade too high! Not really a huge problem, but some amount of extra stress, multiplied by it being in some Bermuda Triangle of cell service, such that I had to wait until I got back out to Crockett itself to get the rally app to submit the bonus.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>84 miles, 1h43m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>778 miles, 18h43m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>5h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>35,940</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Heading south, the sun was up, but the sky overcast. I missed the turn for this next bonus, and had to come in to it from the south side of the village. The small granite marker was embedded in a stone wall, beyond which was the empty field, a couple small bits of stonework, perhaps old hearths, marking where the school once stood. It was still fairly quiet at 7:50am when this grubby rider parked her bike, put on a fake beard, and posed with an old historical marker.</p>
<p>What do you think the neighbors thought of me?</p>
<h1 id="48-f66b---moscow-school-park---moscow-tx---192-pts">48) F66B - Moscow School Park - Moscow, TX - 192 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Texas Centennial marker for the Moscow Academy.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/f66b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d436939.4074705709!2d-95.46193834419222!3d31.17667488954509!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x0%3A0x688dc40237bf0ac0!2s31.440941%09-95.351698!3m2!1d31.4409767!2d-95.35181!4m3!3m2!1d31.203133899999997!2d-95.2730361!4m3!3m2!1d30.9132493!2d-94.8261462!4m3!3m2!1d30.9175662!2d-94.82777039999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686258901073!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I once heard someone loudly say “I don’t put my kickstand down for less than 200 points” and man, I dunno.. isn’t every point worth something?</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>64 miles, 1h05m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>842 miles, 19h50m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>4h10m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>36,132</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>The world was waking up now, and the road was fast; it was only a few miles to the turn off for this next bonus, and wouldn’t you know it? Another gravel road… Did Texas buy a surplus shipment of gravel and decide to just sloppily redo all it’s unpaved road with it? This road started as dry and sandy, but coming around a corner next to a large, logged out section, an 8” deep bed of fresh gravel awaited, and Baloo felt like he was sinking into a crunching, churning trough, fishtailing slowly side to side as the gravel spun out. Treating it like sand, I applied more throttle to the problem, and floated up to the top, moving faster than I might normally, but staying upright through a few tight 90-degree turns before the GPS declared that I’d arrived…</p>
<p>Except, there was no cemetery here! I poked at the GPS and my phone for a minute, parked at the end of someone’s driveway. It soon became clear; the cemetery was up the wooded slope above the road.. but did I need to trek up the hill, or was there an alternate route? Neither GPS device was showing these private dirt roads, so I hopped off to check the rally book to see if there were additional details.</p>
<p>As I did so, I saw a man on a riding mower come to a stop by the fence along the road. He’d been cutting down the tall grass in his half-acre lot, and seeing me appear in the middle of the woods looking lost, came over to see if he could lend a hand. Once I explained what I was looking for, he gave me directions – apparently if I kept going another third of a mile, there was a side road that doubles back and led up to the cemetery itself.</p>
<p>“How’s that road? Is it passable what with all this rain we’ve had?” I asked.</p>
<p>He just grinned, replying “If you’re damn fool enough to have come the way you did, you can get up that road!”</p>
<p>As promised, a side road did in fact climb up the ridge through the woods, and it wasn’t any worse than the way I’d come.. in fact, it looked to have been covered by the same gravel company contract, but with the addition of random stretches of potholed hard-pack clay, just for a little variety. Exciting and a little spicy in spots, but I didn’t have any real problem in the end, just a good story.</p>
<h1 id="49-c53a---peebles-cemetery-israel-community---israel-tx---1947-pts">49) C53A - Peebles Cemetery Israel Community - Israel, TX - 1,947 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>At the end of the drive in Israel is a cemetery where you will take a picture of the small sign stating it’s the Peebles Cemetery Association.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/c53a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m25!1m12!1m3!1d109633.22316581194!2d-94.95131173738118!3d30.829595074516394!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m10!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d30.9175662!2d-94.82777039999999!4m4!2s30.745151%09-94.893531!3m2!1d30.745151!2d-94.893531!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686260395444!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I should’ve known this location would’ve been a bit of a trick to get to, given the the high point value!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>15 miles, 0h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>857 miles, 20h19m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>3h41m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>38,070</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>We’re getting close to the wire now, but I kept an eye on my speed as traffic picked up, and there were a surprising number of local law enforcement out and about this morning. I rolled slowly past the police station in Onalaska and snapped a number of photos with the bell, working on my best ZZ Top impression.. because bells are heavy… metal… music.</p>
<p>Your groans, they feed my soul!</p>
<h1 id="50-s02a---church-bell---onalaska-tx---547-pts">50) S02A - Church Bell - Onalaska, TX - 547 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the old church bell.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/s02a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d109708.0608827785!2d-95.08711028976785!3d30.763999506786153!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m4!2s30.745151%09-94.893531!3m2!1d30.745151!2d-94.893531!4m3!3m2!1d30.7265968!2d-94.9427146!4m5!1s0x864781db4e3dfcd3%3A0xf3062b5ad9b24ea4!2sFirst%20Baptist%20Church!3m2!1d30.806389199999998!2d-95.115693!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686281822728!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>19 miles, 0h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>876 miles, 20h48m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>3h12m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>15</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>38,617</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I crossed over Lake Livingston and found myself speeding through an odd sort of cul-de-sac, but instead of tightly packed houses it was hobby farms and ranches, split-level homes on 5-acre lots with unkept lines of trees marking property boundaries. It took me a bit to find one of the Arizona Ln signs, and I got some side-eye from a guy in a pickup truck who slowed to a crawl when he rolled by me. He didn’t say anything, just glared, wondering what in tarnation I was doing.</p>
<p>…or he was jealous of my beard.</p>
<h1 id="51-s03a---arizona-ln---huntsville-tx---53-pts">51) S03A - Arizona Ln - Huntsville, TX - 53 pts</h1>
<h2 id="53-pts---arizona-tour-complete">(+53 pts - Arizona Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Arizona Ln road sign. There’s several signs in the neighborhood and we’ll take any of them, just be sure to get close like the reference photo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/s03a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d219403.8774083075!2d-95.52451981194085!3d30.76937035779446!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x864781db4e3dfcd3%3A0xf3062b5ad9b24ea4!2sFirst%20Baptist%20Church!3m2!1d30.806389199999998!2d-95.115693!4m3!3m2!1d30.7360328!2d-95.3501544!4m4!2s30.777723%09-95.459390!3m2!1d30.777722999999998!2d-95.45939!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686282259931!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I feel like this photo might be my peak ZZ Top look!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>28 miles, 0h37m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>904 miles, 21h25m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>2h35m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>16</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>38,723</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>In the home stretch now! I had completed my 16th tour, so barring any weirdnesses at the scoring table, I had fulfilled the minimum requirement to be a finisher. I still had time, and set my sights on at least one of the two remaining high-value locations vaguely on the way to the checkpoint.</p>
<p>Traffic was really starting to pick up as Saturday morning moved from breakfast to brunch. Farmers markets, car washes, people running errands, slow moving convertibles, minivans stuffed to the runnels with kids and topped with inflatables, presumably heading to a lake for the day.. all were out in force, getting between me and my goal. I got stuck waiting along with 50 or 60 cars for a train to clear a crossing in downtown Navasota. It only took 7-8 minutes, but it felt like the train was loaded full of the sands of time, hauling them far away from me.</p>
<p>Texas Independence Hall itself is on the grounds of the Washington-on-the-Bravos State Historical Site, and Waze and my GPS were routing me around to the public entrance on the southwest side as I approached from the north, and that the Hall was in the northwestern part of the park, meaning I’d need to ride in on slow, looping roads past families, find parking, hoof it across fields to the building… then I spotted a small access road with a single-bar metal gate swung across it, with a rally bike parked there. A glance at the map showed the hall was only 100 feet or so past this gate, and there were no signs saying this road wasn’t for public use, so I made a decision to quickly pull over and park. A closer examination, and I still didn’t spot any signs warning me off, so I parked, ducked under the gate, and trotted over to grab my photo.</p>
<h1 id="52-f32a---texas-independence-hall---washington-tx---1836-pts">52) F32A - Texas Independence Hall - Washington, TX - 1,836 pts</h1>
<h2 id="23-pts---washington-dc-tour-complete">(+23 pts - Washington DC Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the monument which reads “On this spot was made the Declaration of Independence”.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/f32a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d439774.59370967903!2d-96.14369779504872!3d30.556676947953303!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m4!2s30.777723%09-95.459390!3m2!1d30.777722999999998!2d-95.45939!4m3!3m2!1d30.6734387!2d-95.78441629999999!4m4!2s30.326079%09-96.156749!3m2!1d30.326079!2d-96.15674899999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686282880548!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The birthplace of a (short-lived) nation..</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>60 miles, 1h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>964 miles, 22h32m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>1h18m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>17</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus:</td> <td>170,767</td></tr>
<tr><td>Planet bonus:</td> <td>28,500</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>40,582</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Back on the bike, I moved briskly, and tried to decide if I had time for one more bonus before penalty time; it was 10:44am, and the penalties started at 11:45am. Paul has a very harsh penalty system that uses exponents to make sure you arrive on time; you’re charged 3^N, where N is the number of minutes you’re late. 1 minute late is no big deal, costs you 3 points. 5 minutes late is 243 points. 10 minutes late? -59,049 points!</p>
<p>GPS was optimistic, while Waze was dubious; I called Shawn Kitchen and Bill Kartis, already back at the finish line, to ask if there were any special events, football games, parades, etc happening back in College Station that might be impacting traffic, but neither had seen anything. I hung up, and decided that I’d done enough; as much as I’d felt revitalized today and had really pushed harder than I had on any other day, this still wasn’t a rally I was going to be competitive in, and I felt like I’d ridden a good rally. Why stress myself out and risk a huge penalty? Does that sound like fun?</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d220053.2411485369!2d-96.37908315486149!3d30.483356426810868!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m4!2s30.326079%09-96.156749!3m2!1d30.326079!2d-96.15674899999999!4m3!3m2!1d30.4583642!2d-96.146048!4m5!1s0x864683bdb7d76c17%3A0x1995e19207098f12!2sCavalry%20Court%2C%20Century%20Court%2C%20College%20Station%2C%20TX!3m2!1d30.625857!2d-96.3402933!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686284263797!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
<p>I headed back to the barn, mindful that I didn’t blow it in the home stretch with a traffic violation or minor mishap, and rolled across the finish line at 11:24am, 21 minutes before penalty time. Chris Hopper checked me in and directed me where to park; it seemed like most everyone else was in, and a glance at the group tracking page showed all but a few stragglers were in and safe.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/finish.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Photo thanks to Richard Swim!
</p>
</div>
<p>I bounced inside and started to relax. I got called in to scoring and sat with Lisa Landry, going over my paperwork when I noticed my last bonus hadn’t been scored! I opened up the app to confirm and DING! when the “uploaded” confirmation sound - crap! Bad data connection at the last bonus meant it hadn’t been sent yet! I checked in with Nancy and Paul next door, who had already noticed the issue. They confirmed I’d been to the location via the tracker, and saw that the photo itself was good and was claimed in the app, and so it was accepted and my score recalculated.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/final_score.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<p>There was some issue with rooms at the hotel not being ready in a timely manner, so I hung around the hotel bar and shared a beer with Ken Andrews, chatted with a few folks who had gotten in much earlier and already looked showered and relaxed. Finally I managed to get a room, took a shower, ate some snacks from the snack bar, and took a nap until dinner time.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/28/day_4_map.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 4: 996 miles
</p>
</div>
<p>So how’d I do? To find out, I guess you’ll have to wait for the band to do an encore…</p>
<!-- [Onward to Day 2 ➡️](/2023/04/26/heart-of-texas-day-2/) -->🎵 Flatter than a table top Makes you wonder why they stopped here Wagon must have lost a wheel Or they lacked ambition oneHeart of Texas 2023: Day 3 - All Hail West Texas2023-04-27T13:30:44+00:002023-04-27T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/04/27/heart-of-texas-day-3<blockquote>
<p>
<i>🎵 I'll be your blue-eyed bandit if you'll be my renegade<br />
I count a thousand tumbleweeds roll by me everyday<br />
I'd like to grow a rose and stow it in that desert safe<br />
Like a message in a bottle floating down the open plains<br />
Where the Llano Estacado rises up to meet the sky<br />
I ain't crying that's west Texas in my eye 🎵</i><br />
-- "West Texas In My Eye" - The Panhandlers
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>Deciding that Mexican sounded better to me than BBQ, and feeling like the window for getting back north to Mookie’s was too tight, I elected to head south. I’ve never been time-barred or “earned” penalty points for being late, and am seldom significantly behind schedule - am I too conservative? Perhaps.. but also, the idea of fighting back up through Austin and Waco traffic just didn’t sound <em>fun</em> to me.. and hey, I’m not running a competitive rally here, so no need to push things..</p>
<p>Heading south along US-59 to Beeville, skirting to the west of Corpus Christi, the temperature began climbing along with the humidity, and I got a little taste of summer. I hopped over to TX-359 south in Skidmore, and continued a long, straight, hot, humid ride parallel to the coast. I stopped briefly in Mathis to follow my Grammma Miller’s advice of “Fill what’s empty and empty what’s full” (in this case my water jug and my bladder) and soon enough the small farm communities passed by and I found myself in the bustling retail strip of Alice, TX.</p>
<h1 id="31-x01a---el-jalisiense---alice-tx---exponent-2">31) X01A - El Jalisiense - Alice, TX - Exponent: 2</h1>
<hr />
<!-- <div markdown="1">
_Take a picture of the De Vaca and La Salle monument at this location._
</div> -->
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/x01a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d899478.8929591412!2d-98.18419319269526!3d28.280463839723094!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x864266cea9c13d47%3A0xc7235d2ab5141663!2sMemorial%20Park%2C%20400%20N%20Wheeler%20St%2C%20Victoria%2C%20TX%2077901!3m2!1d28.8011143!2d-97.00129779999999!4m3!3m2!1d28.5462313!2d-97.5654776!4m5!1s0x8667cbf4d033bb7d%3A0x4254a6063eb69ef2!2sEl%20Jalisiense%2C%20East%20Main%20Street%2C%20Alice%2C%20TX!3m2!1d27.762441799999998!2d-98.0487007!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686151971631!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>El Jalisense is the place to be today! Almost every table was packed with groups of 3 or more, wait staff swirling around with big pitchers of water, sweet tea, horchata, and more, the din of the kitchen bringing with it toasting cumin and coriander, roast meats and beans.. I grabbed a booth, shedding all my gear, and ordered the thing on the menu I don’t see often in the northwest - carne guisada, a beef stew with a silky, thick gravy of beer, tomato, garlic, peppers, and onions that is sticky and amazing on fresh flour tortillas. I meant to only order the tacos, but I didn’t complain when the waitress dropped off a plate. I ate almost the whole thing (and most of those chips) and honestly, have I ever eaten this well on a rally before?</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>108 miles, 2h35m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>108 miles, 2h35m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>46h54m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>10,956</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Out in the parking lot, I did my paperwork, and tucked away my receipt with the other meal receipts into.. the pouch.. where I keep them all? The EMPTY POUCH?!</p>
<p>Crap.</p>
<p>I still had the receipt from JJ’s Roadhouse, but the receipt for The Heart of Texas Cafe on day 1 was gone. I spent 10 minutes searching every pocket, pouch, folder, and case three times, but it was nowhere to be found, and it dawned on me what happened. When I went to pay at Heart of Texas Cafe, the older, hard-of-hearing gentleman who was running the register asked where I was from, and we struck up a conversation about Seattle while he made change for the $20 I handed him, and while I didn’t mind I WAS keeping an eye on the clock. My brain started thinking about the <em>next</em> thing, and in the process I walked outside and left,forgetting to get the receipt BACK from him.</p>
<p>I was amused and quite frankly angry at myself; one of the techniques I use to manage my multi-track, ADHD brain is to focus on the Zen Buddhist teaching of “ichigyo-zammai” - do one thing, at one time. It is the practice not of physical or mental stillness or lack of action, but of the <em>concentration</em> of action. Focus on doing one thing, doing it well and to completion, and then take on the next task. I forgot the task I was working on, neglected to ensure I had completed it, and was living 5 minutes ahead of the present..</p>
<p>So was that it? Did I just blow my entire rally? I cursed myself and my stupid, horrible, rotten, no-good brain, and not for the first time in my life wished I could just “choose” to “do better”, to not just be.. broken. As I rode north, I needed to snap that loop, so I sent a couple texts to rally staff to let them know I had biffed the rally completely, a mistake that was going to cost my 90,000 points (40% of my projected total!) and I gave some thought to just quitting.</p>
<p>Of course, that’s when I get the ding of a new message came in. Nancy confirmed that my bonus submission was clean, and since the only reason I’d need the receipt was if I wanted to contest the meal bonus not being accepted, I’d be fine. Whew!</p>
<p>I chilled out, even if the day was starting to roast me a bit. It wasn’t that hot compared to full summertime temps, but it was hot enough for a PNW girl who hadn’t had time to acclimate, so I stopped at the first rest area after merging onto I-37 north to San Antonio to sit in the shade, have a drink, and wet down my gear. I was NOT going to drop out, but instead I wasn’t going to make stupid mistakes. I was going to eat and drink more frequently. I was in this rally to have FUN and there’s still 2 days of rally time to go see some cool shit, eat wicked good food, and have some adventures worth remembering. THAT is what is important, THAT is the point of all this, and who even CARES what the score is or where I end up in the standings? The only competition here is with myself.</p>
<p>..and Ben Ernst. I’d really love to beat that guy for once. 😄</p>
<p>Freed from some burdens of my own making, I headed back north on I-35, wiggling onto I-10 through early rush hour traffic into and through San Antonio. I stopped in Comfort, TX on the western edge of the San Antonio metro area just before 4pm for an extended gas stop, shoving calories and electrolytes into my face in a scrap of shade. The truck stop was super busy, and several young guys in giant pickups played chicken with me getting first to a gas pump, and then getting out of the parking lot. I wasn’t in a mood to fight about who had less manners as it isn’t a fight you win on two wheels. I was thrilled to get back on the highway.. which isn’t something I say about I-10 very often.</p>
<p>Around 5pm I made it to Junction, TX and turned north past the slow-as-molasses McDonalds that had wasted my time on the ride over from Arizona. US-83 would take me north all the way to Abilene, but first I needed a couple stops, one in Menard for a quick bio break (and to load up on some small-town pecan brittle) and then around 5:50pm a stop in the tiny, arty town of Eden for my next bonus.</p>
<h1 id="32-c42a---garden-of-eden-park---eden-tx---212-pts">32) C42A - Garden of Eden Park - Eden, TX - 212 pts</h1>
<h2 id="212-pts---eden-tour-complete">(+212 pts - Eden Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the entrance to the Garden of Eden.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/c42a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d1778305.8887231403!2d-100.26615967188921!3d29.479795828540833!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x8667cbf4d033bb7d%3A0x4254a6063eb69ef2!2sEl%20Jalisiense%2C%20East%20Main%20Street%2C%20Alice%2C%20TX!3m2!1d27.762441799999998!2d-98.0487007!4m3!3m2!1d29.9769385!2d-98.89691769999999!4m4!2s31.213009%09-99.845260!3m2!1d31.213009!2d-99.84526!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686166166504!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>293 miles, 4h47m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>401 miles, 7h22m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>42h07m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>11,380</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I finally felt like I was actually making halfway decent time, even if I did have a few extended stops to rehydrate and recover from the heat.. again, it wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t used to it. As the sun grew old in the west, the temps cooled back to what I am more normally used to and I kept the pace north on US-83.</p>
<p>Another part of Texas I hadn’t really been through before, right on the dividing line between West Texas and Hill Country, there were just miles and miles of smaller farms and ranches, gorgeous little towns and hamlets. Ballinger, TX had a lovely courthouse square and some great stone block architecture, and it’s downtown, while built in a more prosperous time, seemed like it was doing pretty well these days. Abilene was the next big city, and I skirted around to the east around 7:15pm. It was a quiet evening, but I still managed to miss a turn because I was yakking away on the phone with Gabby about IBR plans, and had to double back a mile, but I was out of the metro area and back into sage brush, pines, and deer munching away placidly by the side of the road, unperturbed by my passing. Dusk fell and night soon followed, and I found myself pulling up to the gravel parking lot of the Scotland VFD at 9:30pm on the dot.</p>
<h1 id="33-c68a---scotland-volunteer-fire-department---scotland-tx---244-pts">33) C68A - Scotland Volunteer Fire Department - Scotland, TX - 244 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Scotland VFD. You can get closer to the sign if you want.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/c68a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d1724225.4576131518!2d-100.53707960776416!3d32.42912276538891!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m4!2s31.213009%09-99.845260!3m2!1d31.213009!2d-99.84526!4m3!3m2!1d32.074743999999995!2d-99.91905039999999!4m5!1s0x8652fd6894309c1b%3A0x705784c4ac5c0d9f!2sScotland%20VFD!3m2!1d33.658995!2d-98.4724615!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686167545205!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>None of the side streets of this small town were paved, including the access road and parking lot of the fire department.. which isn’t a slight, but more an observation that they quite likely aren’t running big trucks out of here.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>224 miles, 3h37m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>625 miles, 9h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>38h30m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>11,624</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I took a couple minutes to look at the map, and decided to take my 2nd full 8-hour rest break in Wichita Falls, about 30 minutes north. It was the last big town on my route today so hotel options should be decent, and I knew that after an 8-hour break (the most I could claim points for) I’d still have 3 hours of unclaimed rest bonus to claim (because of the shorter 5-hour break yesterday), which meant taking a 4-hour break tomorrow (since 4 hours was the minimum rest period we could claim, even though I’d only get credit for 3 of those hours.) I booked a motel online and headed north, feeling good that I had a PLAN.</p>
<h1 id="34-z03r---rest-bonus-3---wichita-falls-tx---7h00m-420-minutes">34) Z03R - Rest Bonus 3 - Wichita Falls, TX - 7h00m (420 minutes)</h1>
<hr />
<!-- <div markdown="1">
_Take a picture of the Scotland VFD. You can get closer to the sign if you want._
</div> -->
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/z03r.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d212231.90763936174!2d-98.65155668848867!3d33.783307353378845!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x8652fd6894309c1b%3A0x705784c4ac5c0d9f!2sScotland%20VFD!3m2!1d33.658995!2d-98.4724615!4m5!1s0x8653208a44b3fbfb%3A0x5e786ac601996cc9!2sOYO%20Hotel%20Wichita%20Falls%20-%20Downtown%2C%208th%20Street%2C%20Wichita%20Falls%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.9054803!2d-98.5028943!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686168559793!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I parked in their car port and ignored every signal to my brain that this was the kind of hotel under the highway that exists for… liaisons. Must have been all the red neon. I took 15 minutes with Basecamp to confirm the itinerary for tomorrow morning, showing that I’d arrive at the Earth, TX bonus at 11:40am; a little early, 20 minutes before the window for the next day would open, but not disastrously early.</p>
<p>I woke up about an hour before my alarm was set to go off, feeling wide awake and antsy, and knowing that my 4-hour break tomorrow would have an hour of “wasted” time, I decided to cut this rest break short at 7 hours. I submitted the bonus at 5:00am on the dot.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>21 miles, 7h31m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>646 miles, 17h30m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>31h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>11,624</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="35-s11a---iowa-park-historical-marker---iowa-park-tx---267-pts">35) S11A - Iowa Park Historical Marker - Iowa Park, TX - 267 pts</h1>
<h2 id="267-pts---iowa-tour-complete">(+267 pts - Iowa Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the historical marker at this location for Iowa Park.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/s11a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d105927.66783609493!2d-98.66596731927741!3d33.93496460609949!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8653208a44b3fbfb%3A0x5e786ac601996cc9!2sOYO%20Hotel%20Wichita%20Falls%20-%20Downtown%2C%208th%20Street%2C%20Wichita%20Falls%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.9054803!2d-98.5028943!4m3!3m2!1d33.9527315!2d-98.58180329999999!4m5!1s0x86533b4efb0a57cf%3A0x5a08dfa9b709cc3a!2sIowa%20Park%20City%20Hall!3m2!1d33.951353399999995!2d-98.66770129999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686169344862!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Just a short hop up US-287, this historical marker was on the front lawn of the city hall/police department. There wasn’t any real street lighting, so I parked in the middle of the street and blasted the sign with my aux lights, sure that someone would come out to ask what I was doing lighting up the police station, but Iowa Park is a pretty sleep little town at 5:14am..</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>13 miles, 0h14m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>659 miles, 17h44m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>30h46m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>12,158</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="36-c75a---bob-wills-monument---turkey-tx---372-pts">36) C75A - Bob Wills Monument - Turkey, TX - 372 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Bob Wills monument.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/c75a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d844305.8701288609!2d-100.4435391771686!3d34.24676238456743!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x86533b4efb0a57cf%3A0x5a08dfa9b709cc3a!2sIowa%20Park%20City%20Hall!3m2!1d33.951353399999995!2d-98.66770129999999!4m5!1s0x87006b5cc7f16f77%3A0x3d37c67c956cec6!2sBob%20Wills%20Monument%2C%20Main%20St%2C%20Turkey%2C%20TX%2079261!3m2!1d34.3925771!2d-100.9007429!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686170140981!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The sun came up, as did the wind, which turned the giant windmills at a good clip by the time I rolled into Turkey, TX. The monument was at one end of the cute little downtown, which had a number of art galleries and coffee shops, as well as an RV park; was this a snow bird destination? What brings tourists out here? One of the coffee shops had 3 mismatched side-by-sides and a golf cart parked in front, and it looked like the Old Man Coffee Club had taken up residence at an outside table sheltered from the wind.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>144 miles, 2h07m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>803 miles, 19h51m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>28h39m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>9</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>12,530</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>From here I wiggled first south and then west through fields of wheat, cotton, and windmills, on a series of county roads of increasingly… interesting maintenance choices. Waze made some interesting routing choices, and I stopped in the crossroad hamlet/glorified rest area of Muncy, TX to make sure I was moving in the right direction; I was making blisteringly good time compared to what Basecamp and my Garmin were claiming; I knew I’d picked up an hour by leaving an hour early from the hotel, but impossibly, I’d gained ANOTHER hour along the way. I don’t know what Garmin though it was suggestion, but I was yet again decidedly not impressed with it’s accuracy, and would be cooling my heels somewhere for 2.5 hours.</p>
<p>Oh well, at least it always overestimates the time a trip will take, instead of underestimating it.</p>
<p>The wind really started kicking up on this stretch, becoming a fierce 35-40mph steady wind from the north. I flipped the visor shut to keep as much of the dust out as I could and leaned into it as best I could. I did stop in one small town and quickly threw the chin curtain back into my helmet; without it in place, I get more ventilation, helping to prevent fogging issues during rain storms, but the wind was acting like an invisible hand grabbing onto the chin bar and constantly twisting my head around to the left. The chin curtain helped immensely, with the trade off being of course that I was even more sealed in than normal.</p>
<p>Weather radar showed some light rain to the northwest, but it didn’t seem to be moving in my direction anytime soon. I passed through Earth, TX on my way to the next bonus in Sudan, TX, maybe 15-18 miles further on, so I scoped out the bonus location and looked for any place to sit for 2 hours out of the wind, but other than the church and a tiny Allsup’s, there really isn’t much in the way of amenities there. Maybe I’ll find something in Sudan…</p>
<h1 id="37-c70a---quanah-parker-arrow---sudan-tx---432-pts">37) C70A - Quanah Parker Arrow - Sudan, TX - 432 pts</h1>
<h2 id="432-pts---sudan-tour-complete">(+432 pts - Sudan Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Quanah Parker arrow here in Sudan.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/c70a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m44!1m12!1m3!1d844495.0830486318!2d-102.2767246871409!3d34.227897092614384!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m29!3e0!4m5!1s0x87006b5cc7f16f77%3A0x3d37c67c956cec6!2sBob%20Wills%20Monument%2C%20Main%20St%2C%20Turkey%2C%20TX%2079261!3m2!1d34.3925771!2d-100.9007429!4m3!3m2!1d34.2674282!2d-100.8897191!4m5!1s0x8701d3808119a0df%3A0xbc25ea4a687c2dec!2sMuncy%2C%20TX!3m2!1d34.0664649!2d-101.3915492!4m5!1s0x87023fd0c88bb331%3A0xfcd1cc51fb575461!2sEarth%2C%20TX!3m2!1d34.233137299999996!2d-102.41074929999999!4m5!1s0x87026d4c4b0a52fd%3A0xbacd493886d731b0!2sSudan%20City%20Park!3m2!1d34.0671313!2d-102.5246002!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686171505692!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>What you might notice in this photo is how the flag is straining like a sail; the 40mph is coming from behind me, and even though I was blocking it as best I could, the flag was still snapping and straining, threatening to fly away.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>128 miles, 2h11m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>931 miles, 22h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>26h37m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>13,394</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I circled around the city park a couple times to look for an open cafe or library or something, but didn’t find anything other than an Allsup’s. I parked the bike, and worried about the wind, brought my helmet inside with me. I bought a coffee and a chimi, and puttered around the store for a bit, making small talk with the ladies working the counter. They seemed fine with me loitering out of the wind, but I knew I couldn’t stay there all day, so I stepped outside and went around to the back parking lot on the south side of the building. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was out of the wind.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/chimi.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Living dangerously!
</p>
</div>
<p>I fiddled around with Basecamp trying to figure out what the heck had happened to the routing, but couldn’t figure it out.. still honestly don’t know. I assume it was some kind of default map mismatch between Basecamp and the GPS unit itself.. something to keep an eye on, certainly.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d105658.64015665885!2d-102.5502184607085!3d34.15062707286633!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x87026d4c4b0a52fd%3A0xbacd493886d731b0!2sSudan%20City%20Park!3m2!1d34.0671313!2d-102.5246002!4m3!3m2!1d34.1384954!2d-102.51547479999999!4m5!1s0x87023fd0c88bb331%3A0xfcd1cc51fb575461!2sEarth%2C%20TX!3m2!1d34.233137299999996!2d-102.41074929999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1686172278924!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
<p>Not having anything else to do, around 10:30 I got all my gear back on and headed the 18 miles back north to Earth, straight into the wind. After a few minutes of the ceaseless buffeting, you kind of get used to it. At one point I rode straight through a thin squall line that was like a white wall of hail and dust, but it only lasted a mile or so before moving through it completely.</p>
<p>Back in Earth, I had over an hour to kill, so I poked around town, went to the baseball park, made sure I knew where the bonus was, and finally settled on parking by the church and pacing a bit inside it’s somewhat protected breezeway. That lasted maybe 20 minutes before a caretaker/handyman appeared to politely ask what I was doing there.. I explained I was just waiting to meet some friends at the sign at noon, and he seemed to believe me, although a bit reluctantly.. I mean, after all, what kind of thief or suspicious character would make up such a ridiculous story?</p>
<p>It didn’t matter, really, since right as he was inviting me into the church, I saw a couple rally bikes go by, and since time was getting a bit short, I moved over to the Allsup’s, where a half dozen rally bikes had already converged as it was the only place in town to shelter inside out of the wind.</p>
<p>I bought a couple of things to justify why I was huddled inside, and soon enough there were nearly a dozen of us - Daniel Ekert, Ken Andrews, Paul Meyer, Bryan and Melissa as well as a few others. when the clock ticked down to 10 minutes until noon, we remounted and headed over to the sign, just as Ben Ernst came peeling in dramatically. Since the 8 Planet bonuses were the only ones available between noon and 2am, I expected to see a lot of other riders swarming around them.. and I wasn’t disappointed.</p>
<p>Day 3 ended up not being a high scoring affair, but a day where I picked up a few more tours (3) and most importantly, repositioned myself to make a run for a high-ish planet combo, and to pick off the last remaining high-value meal location.</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/27/day_3_map.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 3: 2,429 points -- 949 miles<br />
Total: 13,394 points -- 2182 miles
</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/2023/04/28/heart-of-texas-day-4/">Onward to Day 4 ➡️</a></p>🎵 I'll be your blue-eyed bandit if you'll be my renegade I count a thousand tumbleweeds roll by me everyday I'd like to grow a rose and stow it in that desert safe Like a message in a bottle floating down the open plains Where the Llano Estacado rises up to meet the sky I ain't crying that's west Texas in my eye 🎵Heart of Texas 2023: Day 2 - There’s a little bit of everything in Texas2023-04-26T13:30:44+00:002023-04-26T13:30:44+00:00https://motozor.com/2023/04/26/heart-of-texas-day-2<blockquote>
<p>
<i>🎵 There's a little bit of everything in Texas<br />
Just look around and you will see<br />
There's a little bit of everything in Texas<br />
And a whole lot of Texas in me 🎵</i><br />
-- "There's a Little Bit of Everything in Texas" - Ernest Tubb
</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="divider"></div>
<p>Ernest Tubb might have written it first, but The Reverend Horton Heat did my favorite version.</p>
<div class="post-image">
<iframe width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lyNXifKWb7Q" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<p>
<i>🎵 There are forty seven states around her<br />
And each of them have treasures of their own<br />
And everything they boast of I sure found it<br />
But we've got them all right here at home<br /><br />
Now you may love old sunny California<br />
Or perhaps the hills of Tennessee<br />
No matter what you love just come to Texas<br />
And I'll bet my boots you will agree<br /><br />
There's a little bit of everything in Texas<br />
And really I'm not bragging, you see<br />
There's a little bit of everything in Texas<br />
And a whole lot of Texas in me! 🎵</i>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spending so much time riding around Texas the last 3 years, I feel like I’ve really gotten to see why so many Texans love the place. There really is “a little bit of everything in Texas”.. but right now, I’m focused on the places that AREN’T in Texas!</p>
<!-- <div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/25/rally_book.jpg" width="750"/>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">This massive tome is more than 300 pages long!</p>
</div> -->
<h1 id="14-t13c---old-boston-historical-marker---boston-tx---223-pts">14) T13C - Old Boston historical marker - Boston, TX - 223 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Texas historical marker for Old Boston.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t13c.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m26!1m12!1m3!1d53274.1048848059!2d-94.39654687172059!3d33.43284891468381!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m11!3e0!4m5!1s0x8635b337df51f423%3A0x243d1e48b70dc5db!2sWalmart%20Supercenter%2C%20James%20Bowie%20Drive%2C%20New%20Boston%2C%20TX!3m2!1d33.4711814!2d-94.4036588!4m3!3m2!1d33.403883!2d-94.41582419999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685650465360!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I snapped the photo around 11:30am, and went and napped in the park across the street. As soon as my phone alarm went off at noon, I hit submit, fired up the bike, and scooted!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>7 miles, 0h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>7 miles, 0h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>72h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>4,227</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="15-t13b---bowie-county-jail---boston-tx---225-pts">15) T13B - Bowie County Jail - Boston, TX - 225 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the old Bowie County jail.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t13b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m25!1m12!1m3!1d26637.367687101123!2d-94.43786276239283!3d33.43182181237474!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m10!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d33.403883!2d-94.41582419999999!4m4!2s33.441878%09-94.421375!3m2!1d33.441877999999996!2d-94.421375!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685650940610!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>This old jail made me start seeing other dilapidated structures with an almost identical size and building materials all over.. I’d always thought they were maybe fire houses or banks or something, but now I’m not so sure..</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>3 miles, 0h07m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>10 miles, 0h07m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>71h53m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>4</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>4,452</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="16-t13e---james-bowie---boston-tx---227-pts">16) T13E - James Bowie - Boston, TX - 227 pts</h1>
<h2 id="1161-pts---massachusetts-tour-complete">(+1,161 pts - Massachusetts Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the statue of James Bowie.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t13e.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m24!1m12!1m3!1d53270.48810366688!2d-94.4534223692209!3d33.43874031364367!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m9!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d33.403883!2d-94.41582419999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.4736161!2d-94.40582979999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685651439124!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I retraced my route back up into town; wasn’t I <em>just</em> here? Somewhere in my wandering around town killing time until noon, I flipped the order of these 3 bonuses, and while it’s only 5 or 6 miles, it’s still a bit of a silly routing mistake to make.</p>
<p>I always forget that Heart of Texas runs right around spring elections in Texas; the compact, modern courthouse and troopers barracks had lots of American flags out along with signs declaring this building a polling location, no loitering, no campaigning, etc. Not wanting to get kicked out of ANOTHER small town community, I took my photo quickly and skedaddled.</p>
<p>Only later did I notice how blurry the photo was! 😬 Luckily it was accepted, as it completed the Massachusetts tour, netting me an additional 1,161 points!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>5 miles, 0h10m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>15 miles, 0h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>71h43m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>5,840</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="17-t16b---jefferson-fountain---jefferson-tx---188-pts">17) T16B - Jefferson Fountain - Jefferson, TX - 188 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Jefferson Fountain. Be advised that this location is located located between 114 and 124 W Austin St.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t16b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m30!1m12!1m3!1d427747.1002820825!2d-94.71106706796246!3d33.11501909424233!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m15!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d33.4736161!2d-94.40582979999999!4m3!3m2!1d33.130009199999996!2d-94.3711075!4m5!1s0x86368942c5341949%3A0xfcf61e32a5e41b5d!2sThomas%20Jefferson%20Memorial%20Park%2C%20West%20Austin%20Street%2C%20Jefferson%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.7561385!2d-94.34481009999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685652058007!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Heading south again, the hardwoods and pine and swamps and farms passing me by - I was in the zone. I cross over the head of Wright Patman Lake, a flood-control reservoir holding back the waters of the Sulphur River and a fair bit of the runoff from northeast Texas.</p>
<p>Just before entering the town of Jefferson, I came up on a small white utility pickup truck, and suddenly my radar detector started going nuts; it was a sheriff! I wasn’t speeding, though; he was going 5 under the limit, but I made sure to give him plenty of space. He made a left turn down a side street right before the main intersection in town, where I myself was turning left. Of course, 5 blocks later, he popped out behind me.. not like he was trying to catch me, I’m pretty sure he was just taking a shortcut for locals and I happened to catch the traffic light. Still, it was a little unnerving that he was following me.. until I realized that the bonus was located in a small park adjacent to the county courthouse! He was just going to work.</p>
<p>Speaking of work, I saw the strangest landscaping crew outside the courthouse, working on the 5’ strip of lawn next to the street. It must have been some kind of uniform, orange-and-white striped shirts and solid orange pants. Not really landscaping attire, it almost looked like hospital scrubs…</p>
<p>I took my photo, swigged some sports drink, and left as quickly as I could, before someone decided they might need someone else to help trim the grass!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>56 miles, 1h00m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>66 miles, 1h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>70h43m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>6,028</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Jefferson was such a cute little town; lots of old hotels, B&Bs, and signs everywhere for the kind of specialty, niche museums I can get lost in - one for Gone with the Wind, one for old watches and clocks, an old train depot.. I’ve added it to my map of places to stop in again sometime.</p>
<p>Heading south out of Jefferson, I next passed around Marshall, and was thankful for the ring roads that even these small Texas cities have built out. Soon I was through it and on the south side of town I picked up I-20 heading west, and.. wait, wasn’t I just here? Longview? It’s that where I stayed last night?</p>
<p>I thought I recognized it, but also my attention was being diverted to the large wall of fuzzy black clouds ahead of me, the big fat COLD drops of rain starting to smash into my visor and windscreen…</p>
<div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/radar_1.jpg" width="750" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Here we go again...</p>
</div>
<p>I hopped off at the next exit and sought shelter inside a combination Kwik Stop and Sonic. It was ~1:50pm anyways, and I could use a bite to eat. I hunkered down and watched the Texas skyline uncork enough rain that I could barely see across the frontage road to the edge of the highway.. I was glad to be inside. I got a coffee, a donut, and a banana and kept vigil, and after about an hour it had finally tapered off enough that I felt comfortable riding again. As I was gearing up on the sidewalk, a pair of riders on old Harleys sloshed up. Lacking rain gear or windscreens, they squished and squelched in all their leather as they passed me into the store, leaving little puddles behind them. I was glad to have sat again, but started to wonder if another 1h20m sitting on my butt instead of riding was doing me any favors.. at least everyone ELSE also had to deal with rally complexity and the weather!</p>
<p>Back on I-20, I was even MORE pleased to have made the safe decision when I came upon a wreck in the median; a huge pickup truck facing the wrong direction, buried to it’s belly at the end of 100 feet of deep gouges carved in the grass and earth by it’s tires. On the shoulder of the road, 3 passenger cars with their flashers on, all with significant body damage… did the pickup truck hydroplane and take out these bystanders as flew, uncontrolled, into the ditch? Local fire department was on the scene, so I kept moving and said a prayer of thanks for being a scaredy cat about storms.</p>
<h1 id="18-f44g---new-london-school-monument---new-london-tx---699-pts">18) F44g - New London School Monument - New London, TX - 699 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the monument to the students and teachers who died in the New London School accident.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/f44g.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d430731.3141179807!2d-94.96879027404012!3d32.49706657990075!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x86368942c5341949%3A0xfcf61e32a5e41b5d!2sThomas%20Jefferson%20Memorial%20Park%2C%20West%20Austin%20Street%2C%20Jefferson%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.7561385!2d-94.34481009999999!4m5!1s0x863647b6f175fb6f%3A0x308e04cafeb56a6a!2sSonic%20Drive-In!3m2!1d32.458484!2d-94.6666403!4m5!1s0x0%3A0x9bfdaea55f1c4178!2s32.239206%09-94.941972!3m2!1d32.2391875!2d-94.94195669999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685656319722!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>School was just getting out, and busses and kids were all over. I carefully parked in an off-camber parking area for a boarded-up store and ran across the street to grab my photo. Everything was wet, and the skies, which had settled down after the storm passed through, still seemed a bit heavy and chaotic; I was in for more rain, no doubt about it.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>65 miles, 2h26m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>131 miles, 3h43m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>68h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>6,727</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>From here, I’d planned to go due west through Tyler, pick up a low-value bonus in Athens, and then on to The Palace Theatre in Corsicana. Only problem? Another large storm cell was sitting halfway between Athens and Tyler, and it was barreling due east straight for where I was sitting! My radar app was flashing tornado warnings and displaying a crowded field of lightning bolts at the front edge of the storm, and the reflectivity layer (showing wind direction) was showing the beginnings of some rotation… yikes, no thanks! I decided to take the slower, southerly route and skip the Athens bonus (only 113 points and not part of a tour combo for me); heading directly into the teeth of that particular storm would waste just as much time trying to find a place to shelter as it passed.</p>
<div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/routes.jpg" width="750" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">I took the path less rained upon, and that has made all the difference</p>
</div>
<p>So I turned south.. I pulled over to the shoulder at a wide spot just past Jacksonville (wait, wasn’t I just here yesterday?) to check the radar and make sure I’d gotten far enough south - looked like I’d clip the edge of the storm, but it looked like just rain, with the lightning on the northeast edge. While I was fiddling with the radar, a local cop slowed and stopped alongside me, to make sure I was ok. He started asking me a ton of questions, and I gathered he was a rider himself, but traffic started backing up behind him and he eventually waved and drove on.</p>
<h1 id="19-r45c---palace-theater---corsicana-tx---102-pts">19) R45C - Palace Theater - Corsicana, TX - 102 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the front of the Palace Theater in Corsicana where Billy Joe Shaver once played and where a future statue in his honor will be displayed.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/r45c.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d433051.3172059479!2d-96.02337225052344!3d32.009332223841305!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x0%3A0x9bfdaea55f1c4178!2s32.239206%09-94.941972!3m2!1d32.2391875!2d-94.94195669999999!4m3!3m2!1d31.781788199999998!2d-95.63765869999999!4m5!1s0x864f2c70fb9ee201%3A0x848e7b6579e42643!2sThe%20Palace%20Theatre%2C%20West%206th%20Avenue%2C%20Corsicana%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.0926861!2d-96.4638592!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685659155054!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I was so focused on the storms and getting the bonus scored that I didn’t even notice the Mrs Texas pageant was happening!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>120 miles, 2h17m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>251 miles, 6h01m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>65h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>6,829</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>I actually managed to stay dry on the run in to Corsicana, which was nice, but I wasn’t making good time or big miles today. I’d only gone a little over 250 miles in 6 hours, barely a Saddle Sore pace, and I could see danger up ahead…</p>
<div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/radar_2.jpg" width="750" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">You've GOT to be kidding me...</p>
</div>
<p>My route was driving due west, straight through the middle of that angry mess, and it was drifting northeasterly to meet me. I didn’t see any way around it, as my next stop was to the northwest of Waco, and I’d need to go far south or north to get around it. Instead, I looked at the series of small towns along the way, deciding that there was a reasonably good chance of shelter for the worst of it, and I rolled the dice and cracked open the throttle.</p>
<p>I made it as far as Barry, TX before the first bits of hail started smacking into my visor. Purple-white lightning was striking now, close enough to see the bolts splashing down to earth. I kept my eyes peeled for any kind of shelter, and spotted and old, out-of-service gas station and mechanics shop, so I peeled off the pavement and onto the gravel. Pulling up to the garage bays, I spotted a couple guys working on a truck inside, and asked if I could shelter in the garage bay at the end of the road.. at least, I think that’s what I asked them. They didn’t have much English, but it was a lot more than I have of Spanish, so I parked the bike under cover.</p>
<div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/barry.jpg" width="750" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Google Street View image</p>
</div>
<div class="post-image">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/shelter.jpg" width="750" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">Hardly glamorous accommodations, but out of the worst of it!</p>
</div>
<p>The sky started getting much, much darker as the storm began to bow and my phone started squealing with tornado and hail warnings. The bow front hit, and the wind whipped leaves and sticks through the air, hail rattled down, and the gap between the flashes and the cracks thunder converged. Here I was, standing in a metal-sided pole barn on a wet concrete floor in the middle of a thunderstorm. I decided that probably wasn’t the smarted thing to do, so I hopped up into the cab of the forklift - big rubber tires and the metal cage should protect me from the worst of a direct strike on the building. I distracted myself by calling Shawn Kitchen and chatting for a bit, then texting with friends back in Seattle until the worst of it had passed, a bit more than an hour.</p>
<p>As I was packing up to head out, the 2 mechanics came out to lock up, generously offering me water and a poncho. I thanked them and explained I had all I needed, and they took off, and I followed them right behind.. smack into another slightly smaller storm about 10 miles down the road. On the radar it had looked like a small squall, but it was moving MUCH faster than the last one, so I had to get off the road in a hurry. Blooming Grove, the next town, I pulled over at a small gas station market and huddled for another half hour, eating some snacks on a lovely little bench they had set up.</p>
<p>The storm passed over fairly quickly as it hurried east to catch its bigger brother, and I went west into a gorgeous sunset that was peaking out from under the next line of storm clouds, a massive, roiling wall of sheet lighting, bolts dancing across the entire sky ahead of me. I hurried as fast as I dared as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and the clouds closed in. Lighting lost it’s interest in the sky, and started dipping it’s toe down to earth as I picked up I-35 south for a couple exits, then west into the darkness on some county road of questionable quality, straight at the heart of the storm. There would be no getting around this one, stretching as it did from Fort Worth almost to Austin.</p>
<p>My next stop would be JJ’s Roadhouse to today’s meal bonus, and I watched the GPS slowly count down the miles… it was better than watching the pyrotechnics furiously bursting ahead of me! The road itself improved in one section, the potholes being recently filled in with fresh asphalt; I steered for these black stretches of pavement, seeking relief from the cracks and divots left by who knows how many years of farm vehicles passing this way. Of course, I quickly discovered these were NOT patches of pavement, but instead deep ruts full of standing water! There’s nothing quite like the blast of water hammering your feet and legs while the bike’s traction control lights pop off like a tacky Christmas tree to focus the mind. I slowed down and picked my way through them, when the electric flashes that were now coming down not just ahead of me but to either side revealed I was riding across the top of the Aquila Dam, completely exposed, the highest point around!</p>
<p>I hunkered down, knowing it wouldn’t help, but it made me feel slightly less like a prey animal, and within 5 minutes I found myself pulling into the muddy lot of JJ’s Roadhouse. I parked near the metal-sided barn of a building between a couple pickup trucks that were actually used for their intended purpose, started my meal break timer at 8:44pm, and headed inside.</p>
<h1 id="20-x05a---jjs-roadhouse---whitney-tx---exponent-2">20) X05A - JJ’s Roadhouse - Whitney, TX - Exponent: 2</h1>
<hr />
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/x05a.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m34!1m12!1m3!1d216555.2826854508!2d-97.04200885001423!3d31.996789622701968!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m19!3e0!4m5!1s0x864f2c70fb9ee201%3A0x848e7b6579e42643!2sThe%20Palace%20Theatre%2C%20West%206th%20Avenue%2C%20Corsicana%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.0926861!2d-96.4638592!4m5!1s0x864f26856a950ecd%3A0xd7437596aba813de!2sJack%20Herod%20Trucking%2C%20E%20State%20Hwy%2022%2C%20Barry%2C%20TX!3m2!1d32.1026826!2d-96.6322193!4m5!1s0x864fbb0ca2749441%3A0x91a3bd9a482b1ae7!2sJJ%E2%80%99s%20Roadhouse%2C%20Farm%20to%20Market%20Road%20933%2C%20Whitney%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.9258675!2d-97.2907231!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685662916879!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I scanned the crowd for any other riders, and spotted Art Garvin in a booth towards the back. He was just finishing up his meal but had some time still on the clock, so I joined him and we grinned at how insane this weather was. He told me “just before you came in, I asked the waitress if any other riders had stopped in, and she said ‘No, no one is as crazy as you!’”</p>
<p>The rain and wind finally arrived, rattling the roof while thunder shook the walls; even the locals looked up from their pool and darts at a couple of the blows. I pointed out to Art that the roadhouse had a stage area set up at the far end, and it was far enough away from the bar to be empty and somewhat quite. “I wonder if the waitress would take $20 in exchange for letting me sleep there until closing?” I joked, and after Art packed up and headed out, I actually gave the problem some thought. I’d lost so much time today sitting around waiting for weather to clear that it really messed up my plan for a full 8. If I wanted to get back on track, I’d have to take a shorter rest break tonight, but that would mess up my plan a bit for Friday.. I’d built enough slack time into the schedule for a 3-4 hour break Friday night/Saturday morning so I could still max out my rest bonus, but I might have to get creative with routing in the last 24 hours. That, however, is a problem for Saturday Kerri; Wednesday Kerri’s sole job right now was to eat this cheeseburger and fries!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>57 miles, 3h30m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>308 miles, 9h31m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>62h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>6,829</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>The rain was mostly stopped by the time I was ready to go, and radar showed the worst of the storms had moved far enough east that it was safe to venture back out. I decided to grab one more bonus tonight and then find a hotel and log a rest break.</p>
<p>Back outside, the rain had stopped, but the muddy dirt lot prevented me from backing the bike up. I never, ever nose into parking spots if I can help it, and now I was stuck! I couldn’t go back… but maybe I could go forward? There was just enough space between a pair of concrete blocks for the fat butt of the GSA with it’s huge panniers to squeeze through, onto a narrow paved path and slippery grass. Riding it the length of the building, it ended in a large mud puddle that had prevented anyone from parking there, so I made yet another water crossing and escaped.</p>
<p>I wish someone had filmed it; I must have looked like a <em>real</em> ADV rider! 🏍️💦</p>
<h1 id="21-f56c---tokio-store---corsicana-tx---934-pts">21) F56C - Tokio Store - Corsicana, TX - 934 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the front of the Tokio Store.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/f56c.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d108458.17990125982!2d-97.30664791800578!3d31.843557523948316!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e0!4m5!1s0x864fbb0ca2749441%3A0x91a3bd9a482b1ae7!2sJJ%E2%80%99s%20Roadhouse%2C%20Farm%20to%20Market%20Road%20933%2C%20Whitney%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.9258675!2d-97.2907231!4m5!1s0x864f9fe4e6c0a7c9%3A0x6dabacb1e0a65ccb!2sHoot's%20Tokio%20Store%2C%20Tokio%20Loop%2C%20West%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.760611899999997!2d-97.1580465!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685663390356!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>No sign of the vicious dog rumored to guard this location!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>17 miles, h30m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>325 miles, 10h01m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>61h59m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>7,763</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="22-z02w---rest-bonus-2---west-tx---5h10m-310-minutes">22) Z02W - Rest Bonus 2 - West, TX - 5h10m (310 minutes)</h1>
<hr />
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/z02w.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d27132.78601123617!2d-97.14955731556135!3d31.781441723202086!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x864f9fe4e6c0a7c9%3A0x6dabacb1e0a65ccb!2sHoot's%20Tokio%20Store%2C%20Tokio%20Loop%2C%20West%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.760611899999997!2d-97.1580465!4m3!3m2!1d31.786219799999998!2d-97.106872!4m5!1s0x864fa1a8425fdc7f%3A0xf970bbd58f9ebafb!2sHoliday%20Inn%20Express%20%26%20Suites%20N%20Waco%20Area%20-%20West%2C%20Melodie%20Drive%2C%20West%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.802883899999998!2d-97.10213279999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685664045767!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>I booked this while at the last location (Tokio Store) as it was close by and available. I stopped and gassed up, then headed in. The young kid at the front desk was a bit slow, but before I knew it I was in bed and asleep, my alarm set for 3am - a short rest, but I really needed to start making miles.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>5 miles, 5h23m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>330 miles, 15h24m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>56h36m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>7,763</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>By this point, I’d made embarrassingly few miles, been skipping bonuses left and right. Sitting around waiting for weather was just… the wheels simply weren’t turning, and when the wheels aren’t turning, you’re not making miles, and if you’re not making miles, you’re certainly not scoring points! Pulling out from under the hotel’s carport at 3:24am, I wasn’t giving up, but I certainly felt… resigned to just having a good time. Emotionally, I checked out from any expectation of being competitive, and refocused on the skill targets and process changes I was working on. I was happy that I was making safe decisions, and if nothing else I would at least <em>finish</em> this rally.</p>
<h1 id="23-t09b---springfield-cemetery---corsicana-tx---234-pts">23) T09B - Springfield Cemetery - Corsicana, TX - 234 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the road sign for Springfield. There should be ample safe space to park in this area.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t09b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d217259.39933111318!2d-96.97309178872212!3d31.697366418446833!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x864fa1a8425fdc7f%3A0xf970bbd58f9ebafb!2sHoliday%20Inn%20Express%20%26%20Suites%20N%20Waco%20Area%20-%20West%2C%20Melodie%20Drive%2C%20West%2C%20TX!3m2!1d31.802883899999998!2d-97.10213279999999!4m3!3m2!1d31.6383545!2d-96.9482572!4m4!2s31.589790%09-96.523482!3m2!1d31.589789999999997!2d-96.523482!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685664992104!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>By this point, I have no idea where I am. The darkness hides any sense of direction, but the occasional star peeks out through the clouds that are breaking up behind the long-departed storm. There’s nothing but me, the bike, the road, the stars… and about 50 million suicidal possums.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>48 miles, 0h54m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>378 miles, 16h18m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>55h42m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>7,997</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="24-t30b---texas-centennial-marker---nashville-tx---333-pts">24) T30B - Texas Centennial Marker - Nashville, TX - 333 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Texas Centennial marker for Nashville.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t30b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d436615.371451981!2d-96.94440677463042!3d31.24682904508051!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m4!2s31.589790%09-96.523482!3m2!1d31.589789999999997!2d-96.523482!4m3!3m2!1d30.950429999999997!2d-96.6889923!4m5!1s0x8645cf9e5eca8e8f%3A0xa8710f9d8edef28f!2sNashville%20on%20the%20Brazos!3m2!1d30.8260686!2d-96.65266729999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685665420819!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Nothin’ but possums out here, baby.</p>
<p>So many possums… they just lie in the middle of the road, frightened into their stupor by the boxer drone and the false sun of the sizzling aux lights burning away the darkness.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>58 miles, 1h02m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>436 miles, 17h20m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>54h40m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>8,330</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="25-t17b---lincoln-volunteer-fd---lincoln-tx---244-pts">25) T17B - Lincoln Volunteer FD - Lincoln, TX - 244 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the sign for the Lincoln VFD.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t17b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d439787.6952543921!2d-97.16092430141454!3d30.553785580856776!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x8645cf9e5eca8e8f%3A0xa8710f9d8edef28f!2sNashville%20on%20the%20Brazos!3m2!1d30.8260686!2d-96.65266729999999!4m3!3m2!1d30.4601978!2d-96.99896439999999!4m5!1s0x864467e53330cd91%3A0xe01d5431fb48717d!2sLincoln%20Volunteer%20Fire%20Department!3m2!1d30.2822493!2d-96.9630583!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685666085574!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Well well well… look who decided to show back up! Bryan and Marissa pulled up just as I was dismounting, so we did the photo trade again.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>51 miles, 0h51m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>487 miles, 18h11m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>53h49m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>8,574</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="26-f46b---eben-ezer-berlin-church---brenham-tx---232-pts">26) F46B - Eben-Ezer Berlin Church - Brenham, TX - 232 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the Texas historical marker at this location.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/f46b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d220665.1938928163!2d-96.87075622534213!3d30.211582542078016!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x864467e53330cd91%3A0xe01d5431fb48717d!2sLincoln%20Volunteer%20Fire%20Department!3m2!1d30.2822493!2d-96.9630583!4m3!3m2!1d30.1466846!2d-96.70966039999999!4m5!1s0x864402df3adbe31d%3A0x53bfa2330303bd38!2sEben-Ezer%20Lutheran%20Church%2C%20South%20Berlin%20Road%2C%20Brenham%2C%20TX!3m2!1d30.1670055!2d-96.44803879999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685721641002!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The world was starting to wake up as the sun rose, and after heading south on US-77 to Giddings, TX I merged with the early morning workers heading east on US-290. The Eben-Ezer Church was just down a side road that I almost blew past, plopped down in the middle of farm country, strangely quiet despite being so close to the highway..</p>
<p>Also, what is it with these small, out-of-the-way Texas churches and cemeteries having convenient and clean porta-potties for me to use? (I’m not complaining!!)</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>40 miles, 0h42m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>527 miles, 18h53m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>53h07m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>8,806</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="27-t25b---salem-cemetery---salem-tx---535-pts">27) T25B - Salem Cemetery - Salem, TX - 535 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>In the cemetery, towards the center by the two large trees is a cross with a sign. Take a picture of this cross.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/t25b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d27601.523629559353!2d-96.45824681853637!3d30.14597045317912!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x864402df3adbe31d%3A0x53bfa2330303bd38!2sEben-Ezer%20Lutheran%20Church%2C%20South%20Berlin%20Road%2C%20Brenham%2C%20TX!3m2!1d30.1670055!2d-96.44803879999999!4m3!3m2!1d30.1545548!2d-96.4252968!4m4!2s30.125013%09-96.427898!3m2!1d30.125013!2d-96.427898!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685722127607!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Waze sent me wiggling down a maze of farm roads, with sharp turns, over little hillocks and bumps that clearly date this road; if it were built today, they would’ve scraped the road flat, but instead they just paved over the wagon paths from the original settlers, leaving a series of whoops and dips that were fun, if not a little sketchy to be moving quickly through.</p>
<p>The cemetery was at the end of a short gravel access road, and I rode the circumference of this quiet, green acre to find the bonus. Later on, people would complain about this bonus location being difficult to find, to access, or some kind of muddy bog, but at 7am this morning, it was a well-drained lane of hard-pack gravel, and my GPS brought me right to where I was going. Funny how conditions can change so quickly, how much a few minutes of rain or sun can completely change the tenor of our rides..</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>5 miles, 0h14m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>553 miles, 19h08m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>52h52m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>9,341</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Leaving Salem Cemetery, I backtracked a couple turns and found myself heading southwest again on smaller farm and side roads. Traffic was minimal, but I kept seeing other rally riders heading in the opposite direction, all getting a wave and a head nod, of course.</p>
<p>I had one scary moment, about 15 minutes down the road. The route I was on crossed a busy farm-to-market highway, and I didn’t see the stop sign, and had to panic break HARD not to shoot out into traffic! The back wheel tried to lock up, and even ABS couldn’t stop it from trying to skitter free, fishtailing a big on the broken pavement of this under-maintained side road. Luckily I managed to keep it upright as I came to a stop a foot past the stop sign, although the bike tried to dump itself over… scary, and a wake up call that I was tired and needed to just back off a bit; after all, I’m not competitive in this rally, so why push it?</p>
<p>I got stuck for a while behind a caravan of white pickup trucks ferrying work crews to a pipeline or power line that was being built; every few hundred yards one of the trucks would turn off into a dirt construction area, all along a long, straight gash carved through the landscape.</p>
<p>Passed through La Grange, and given the rally theme, you know what I had to listen to…</p>
<div class="post-image">
<iframe width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gg9cNGHl-bg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">No side trips to the Chicken Ranch today, boys!</p>
</div>
<p>The weather was perfect, and past La Grange the road was quiet and empty all the way to Flatonia and I-10. I needed to pee, so I stopped at the McDonalds, picking up an iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich in the process. A quick 15-minute stop, but it was a nice wake-up pause before continuing to the next bonus, just a mile or two away.</p>
<h1 id="28-f41b---maticka-praha---flatonia-tx---971-pts">28) F41B - Maticka Praha - Flatonia, TX - 971 pts</h1>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the sign as you enter Praha. (Maticka Praha translates into Mother Prague)</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/f41b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m33!1m12!1m3!1d221339.35927751943!2d-96.92727276215385!3d29.909592920977556!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m18!3e0!4m4!2s30.125013%09-96.427898!3m2!1d30.125013!2d-96.427898!4m5!1s0x86437607d3fe60c3%3A0xdc4b9b4c4e3b875!2sMcDonald's!3m2!1d29.695354199999997!2d-97.1039089!4m5!1s0x86439f84e124da8f%3A0x6724776e3999fc1d!2sSt.%20Mary's%20Catholic%20Cemetery!3m2!1d29.6713749!2d-97.0663032!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685731510384!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>The sun was drying everything out, and I took the time to photograph some of the wild flowers sprouting up in the un-mown grass around this sign. A tour bus pulled up to that lovely church in the background and disgorged a group of 25-30 folks, not quite sure what the significance of it or the cemetery are, but it was quite lovely. I tried to remember if I stopped here during Heart of Texas 2021; I’m confident this was on the bonus list.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>65 miles, 1h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>618 miles, 20h37m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>51h23m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>10,312</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Heading to the next bonus, I almost dumped the bike AGAIN! I did a u-turn in the road, but misjudged and went just a bit wide, and the soft, grassy shoulder dropped down into a ditch almost immediately! I managed to stay in the little 8” strip between the road and the ditch, but was going to have to gun it up out of the soft, wet grass and up onto the road surface, made all the more unnerving because I was on the inside of a surprisingly high-cambered turn, and I could <em>barely</em> see what was coming around it! I gave it, and got up and out before getting hit, but man.. twice in one day? I gotta settle down.</p>
<h1 id="29-f34b---vienna-church---vienna-tx---290-pts">29) F34B - Vienna Church - Vienna, TX - 290 pts</h1>
<h2 id="90-pts---austria-tour-complete">(+90 pts - Austria Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the front of the Vienna Baptist Church.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/f34b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m32!1m12!1m3!1d205740.970789412!2d-97.11625196180923!3d29.477176306737096!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m17!3e0!4m5!1s0x86439f84e124da8f%3A0x6724776e3999fc1d!2sSt.%20Mary's%20Catholic%20Cemetery!3m2!1d29.6713749!2d-97.0663032!4m3!3m2!1d29.566583299999998!2d-96.930635!4m5!1s0x8643b64cf98fffff%3A0x17bd4bd3995dbaf8!2sVienna%20Church!3m2!1d29.382428299999997!2d-96.7783956!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685732370185!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>It was turning into a really great day, warm and sunny. The rally book warned about one of the approaches to this location being at the end of several miles of dirt, and I was glad to have all my nav devices set “avoid dirt unless absolutely required” - the short bit of dirt, maybe 100 yards, that I did have to ride on to get to the church proper was slick clay! At the finish, I heard horror stories from folks who had ridden the 5 miles or so of dirt, and none were pleased with their life choice that day.</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>36 miles, 0h46m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>654 miles, 21h23m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>50h37m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>6</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>10,692</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<h1 id="30-f69b---devaca-and-lasalle---victoria-tx---132-pts">30) F69B - DeVaca and LaSalle - Victoria, TX - 132 pts</h1>
<h2 id="132-pts---seychelles-tour-complete">(+132 pts - Seychelles Tour Complete)</h2>
<hr />
<div>
<p><em>Take a picture of the De Vaca and La Salle monument at this location.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/f69b.jpg" />
</div>
<div class="post-street-view" style="margin-top:20px;">
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d446129.515178621!2d-97.2197452523571!3d29.123778456282526!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!3e0!4m5!1s0x8643b64cf98fffff%3A0x17bd4bd3995dbaf8!2sVienna%20Church!3m2!1d29.382428299999997!2d-96.7783956!4m3!3m2!1d29.230408599999997!2d-96.9814657!4m4!2s28.801289%09-97.001337!3m2!1d28.801288999999997!2d-97.00133699999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1685737063555!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="750" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<p>Getting close to the coast now, and I remember wandering around this town when I visited Port Lavaca just south of here last year, hunting lighthouses. This park felt deserted and forgotten, but also it’s still morning on a Thursday, so who knows what evenings and weekends are like!</p>
</div>
<table class="post-stats-table">
<tr><td>This segment:</td> <td>57 miles, 1h08m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total:</td> <td>711 miles, 22h31m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time Remaining:</td> <td>49h29m</td></tr>
<tr><td>Tours complete:</td> <td>7</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest bonus exponent:</td> <td>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Points scored:</td> <td>10,956</td></tr>
</table>
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center"></p>
<p>Now came a really critical junction. It was 10:31am, and I had <em>just</em> enough time to run back north to eat lunch and claim a meal bonus at Mookie’s Mesquite Patch BBQ and it’s 2 exponent points back up in Waco, but since it’s just over 4 hours away and closes at 3pm, that would only give me 28 minutes of leeway, and I’d have to make a gas stop along the way. Alternatively, I could continue south to El Jalisiense in Alice, TX, another 2 exponent place, which was less than 2 hours away.. but it would put me just to the west of Corpus Christi, waaaaay down south. A quick look at the map showed that there were a couple more locations eligible for the next time period (which starts at 12 noon) but… was 28 minutes enough of a window to risk <em>my entire rally</em> when I’d decided that I wasn’t competitive and was just out to have fun? What sounded like more fun? BBQ or Mexican food from down by the border?</p>
<div class="post-image" style="margin-top:25px;">
<img src="/img/posts/2023/04/26/day_2_map.jpg" />
<p class="post-image-caption" style="text-align:center">
Day 2: 6,952 points -- 711 miles<br />
Total: 10,956 points -- 1233 miles
</p>
</div>
<p><a href="/2023/04/27/heart-of-texas-day-3/">Onward to Day 3 ➡️</a></p>🎵 There's a little bit of everything in Texas Just look around and you will see There's a little bit of everything in Texas And a whole lot of Texas in me 🎵