I first started doing distance rallies in 2003, with the Minnesota 1000. Since then I’d only done one multi-day rally, which was the seven day 2006 Butt Lite IIII. I didn’t know if I’d ever want to do another one, but then this winter, it was announced that instead of the Minnesota 1000, we’d be having the Minnesota 2010 – a 48 (or was it 49?) hour event. Cool. I signed up immediately. This was to be my first rally on my Buell Ulysses, that I bought shortly after last years rally. It was my second distance ride attempt on the bike, having failed in my quest to do a Pines to Palms (Angle Inlet, MN to Key West, FL) in May, when my drive belt snapped in Wisconsin. After an excellent, but unusually fancy, (by Team Strange standards) dinner at Chateau Lamothe in Burnsville, we received our rally packs and I headed back to the motel. Normally, I wouldn’t stay in a motel before the event, since it usually starts in Lakeville (as it did this year as well), and I only live about 30 miles away. In this case I did, because with the event being a 2-day, it would have meant having to ride down to the start in rush hour traffic on a Friday. It was a smart move, because it meant more sleep. I spent a couple hours planning some routes. My initial plan was to ride a far northern loop through North Dakota (not far off from where I’d been on last year’s 1000), but I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to make the last couple bonuses in the daylight, which was required. (more on this later), so I chose a route through Nebraska and SD instead for day 1, and planned to do the North Dakota route on the way back. We had to be at the checkpoint in Hill City, SD by 9 am Saturday, Mountain Time. I headed west from Leo’s, with my first stop being New Ulm, MN. The bonus was the Hermann monument. My cousins and I used to sled on the massive hill going up to the statue, until the city fenced it off because it was too dangerous. We didn’t think so.  Hermann the German I picked up bonuses in Walnut Grove and Jasper, MN, and Irene, SD. before heading into Niobrara, NE, to have my photo taken with the legendary Arlene Liska, who has been the centerpiece of several Team Strange events. All the way, I kept seeing a number of other riders. After that I headed for Fort Randall Dam, which oddly enough, I’d never visited. It’s very cool.  Where Half-Pint lived  Irene, SD - an amusing bonus if you know the story.  The amazing Arlene Liska (and some smelly biker)  The Church at Ft. Randall (I did get one with my rally flag, don't worry) It was here things started to go screwy on me. I’d filled up with gas in Sioux Falls, and with my auxiliary fuel cell, I should have a range of around 280 miles when running at highway speeds (about 7.4 gallons total). About 15 miles out from my next bonus, my fuel light went on. That’s not good. I’d only gone about 220 miles at this point. I started punching fuel options into the GPS, and the nearest fuel on my route was about 30 miles away and I was about 10 miles into the light being on. Uh oh. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I didn’t think I could go that far at the mileage I was getting. None of the small towns I was going through had any businesses of any kind. I considered stopping and asking an elderly lady who was mowing her lawn if I could buy a gallon of gas from her, but I kept going. I pulled into the bonus just north of Springview, NE, a small roadside park where I had to write down a name on a mailbox. As I pulled into the driveway of the park, I saw that it was all deep sand. Shit. Down goes the bike. In an odd bit of fortune, being out of gas meant that the bike even with all my gear on it, was fairly easy to pick up. This was the first time I’d dropped the new bike. I wheeled it to some harder ground and wrote down the info. To get out, I rode through some weeds on the side of the driveway, rather than hit the sand again. I was still freaking that I’d run out of gas. I pulled into Springview, and saw a co-op with gas pumps. I wasn’t sure about a receipt, but it would have to do, but I rode into town just in case. There, on the corner, was… A GAS STATION! I put in 7.137 gallons of gas. Yep – there was no way I would have made it to the next town. I was lucky, and fortunately for me, Ms. Garmin was wrong. I was extremely careful from that point on to make sure I could find gas around the 200 mile mark. Soon after that, I came to a big sign that said "CAUTION – WATER OVER ROAD" on US 83. This would be fun. Luckily, there was a car in front of me, so I could kind of see what I was in for. I stayed to the center, but still ended up kicking up a big splash of water that drenched my pants. I suspect it was about 4-6 inches deep. Next stop was a sign in Thedford, NE for the Sandhills National Monument. I actually thought the Sandhills were really cool and interesting, though desolate (not the place to say, run out of gas…). I ran into another rider there (sorry, but I can’t remember who it was).  Sandhills Bonus Then more fuel problems… I’d gone about another 140 miles, and my fuel light went on again. WTF??? I had already flipped the switch to drain the cell into the tank at about 120 miles. The hot weather must have caused the cell to not vent properly, so I was going to have to stop and blow into the vent line (ick). I pulled off onto a side road, and…forgot to put down the kickstand. Shit. Down goes the bike. Twice in one day. I picked up the bike again, fixed the problem, and on I went. I stopped for gas in the next town, and went to look for the next bonus. I also squished a jackrabbit on the way. Sorry dude. I also saw a lot of giant turtles along the road, which seemed odd, but interesting. I realized at this point, I’d made a dumb mistake. I hadn’t calculated correctly with the time change, and increasing daylight going west, that I actually probably could have made the western NoDak bonuses in daylight. I also hadn’t though through that the first leg of the rally was 26 hours. And that the second leg was only 22. Subtracting to get the second rest bonus, that left only 19 hours of riding time for the second leg, plus losing daylight heading east. With the release from the checkpoint at 10 am MT (11 am CT) This meant than my second day plans were all screwed up. However, it did mean I could pick up an extra bonus at Carhenge in Alliance, NE. I headed up there (watching John Coons blast by on the way), and decided to back track to what I had originally planned as my last bonus of the day, the Mari Sandoz monument. More problems.  Carhenge, where the demons dwell... We were given the location on a USB drive this year, so it was easy to put them into the computer, and upload them to a GPS. I must have accidentally dragged the next point to a new location in the middle of nothing, and the GPS kept wanting to take me there. I read the route sheet, and realized that something was WAY off. I pulled off the road and got out the atlas (always carry maps people). The actual bonus was right on the side of a road. I stopped routing and just went to where the map (and route sheet) said it would be. I saw Steve Stellar there, who warned me about deer, and then Randy and Connie Gabrick rode up as I was leaving.  Sandoz Monument It was getting really dark at this point. I hadn’t fitted extra driving lights on the bike, and this was a mistake. The dual hi-beam modification I did was okay for riding up to our cabin, but this was pitch black middle of nowhere stuff. I decided I wasn’t going to be doing much more riding that night. I pulled into Gordon, NE, and after some inquiries from the locals about my fuel cell, I called ahead to a motel in Chadron, about 30 miles away. I got my starting receipt for the rest bonus, and grabbed some gas station food and drink, and checked into the motel. Soon after that, I heard the Gabricks drive up and check in, and not long after that, Rick Corwine did too. I spent probably too much time figuring out a new route for Saturday, and went to bed. I got up around 5:15 on Saturday to see Rick pulling out of the parking lot as I got dressed. The Gabricks left the same time I did. That morning was beautiful. Lots of deer and pronghorns, but nothing close to the road. I wanted to get the bonus at Hot Springs in Wind Cave National Park, but the visitors center wasn’t open, and I didn’t think I should wait around until 8 (smart move it turned out – it was slow going the rest of the way). The riding was perfect through the park, with hundred of buffalo roaming freely (some VERY close to the road). The only thing that sucked was they’d just chipsealed the road, so I had to be really careful about hitting piles of loose gravel. I hate that stuff. The next bonus was one of my favorite bonuses of any rally. The Coolidge lookout in Custer state park. The hours were a bit sketchy, someone had told Bart it wouldn’t be open until 9, but the gate was open at 7:31 when I pulled in. A short ride up a gravel road to the tower, and one of the most spectacular views I’d ever seen. Just amazing. I want to go back and spend more time. The final bonus before the check point was the Needles Eye near Hill City. More great winding roads and scenery, and I got to the checkpoint around 8:45, after a quick stop for food in town so I’d have something to eat while waiting to get released at 10. I’d done just over 1000 miles on leg one. It was fun to hear peoples’ stories and see all the other riders, but the time to go came soon enough. The next stop was the site of the former town of Mystic, which meant about 20 miles total of gravel roads. I don’t know if I’d have ridden it on my old bike, but the Buell really handles well. My only concern was my tires were getting a bit of a flat spot. They looked fine to finish the ride (cough – foreshadowing – cough) but they didn’t have the grip on the gravel that I might have liked. I got back out and headed down towards Spearfish and Lead, and down into Spearfish Canyon. Ron and Carrie told me how cool this was, and they were right. Amazing sights, and just an awesome road (when I wasn’t behind really, really slow people). Another highlight of the ride. Ooh, time for another mistake! Since it wasn’t far off, I decided to pick up the bonus in Belle Fourche. At the time, I wished I hadn’t, but in hindsight (cough – foreshadowing – cough) it’s probably good that I did. It wasn’t many points, and it involved riding in horrible traffic, really hot weather, and nasty construction through town. It seemed like I’d just wasted a lot of time for very few points. At this point, it was 12:30 pm MT.  Belle Fourche - Center of the US I headed east on I-90 through Rapid City, passing the big Harley dealer there. It had a big sign that said "OPEN SUNDAYS" I thought to myself "that’s a good idea, because a lot of people are traveling on Sundays and it would be nice to have an option if you broke down." (cough – foreshadowing – cough). My next stop was Badlands National Park. Another sight I’ll always remember from the rally. It was slow going though, as there were lots of people and traffic and giant RV’s (I’m looking at you Ron Hanson!) It was also really, really hot, and the road was all torn up getting to the visitors center. It took more time than I’d expected, but it was worth it. More amazing scenery. Why had I never been out that way before??? The amount of time I spent getting the four bonuses made me wonder if I hadn’t screwed up my route again. I’d planned to go to Mobridge to the Sitting Bull grave, and then pick up some small stuff on the way back, getting my sleep bonus at home. Mobridge was a daylight only bonus, and I had myself getting there at 9:30. I knew I’d have to stop for fuel, and I’d have to go through Pierre. Not a big city, but I figured there would be stoplights and slow speeds, so 9:30 wasn’t realistic. It also had me getting home around 3 am, and that was without stopping for bonuses and gas, so add another hour or so at the most. I was pretty worn from the heat at this point, and the idea of riding through the dark til 4 am, or sleeping on the ground at a truck stop wasn’t really something I felt like doing this time around. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I was pretty beat, so I stopped in Murdo for gas and something to eat. I ran into the Bordeaux brothers there (they were also at Badlands when I was), and I talked to them for a little bit. Dave took off before I did, and Don stayed a bit longer to eat and drink, and I got back on the bike. I decided at that point I probably wasn’t going to make Mobridge in time, even though I knew where the monument was, having been there, so I changed course and stayed on I-90. I thought I might pick up the Sibley, IA bonus, and I had an ETA of around 1 am to make it home to sleep. Oh yeah, I also almost tried to pour a bottle of water into my fuel cell instead of my water jug here, so I was feeling kind of messed up. Bad things…I had to pee about 20 miles west of Mitchell, so I stopped at a rest area. As I came out, I could see from about 30 feet away that my rear tire had a bit of a stripe down the middle that was not there before. Uh oh. I looked closer, and it was down to the soft compound underneath, and it was crumbling away. I knew that this was a big problem, but I was a long way from anywhere, so I decided to get back on the road and take it slow. I held my speed under 60 and headed for Sioux Falls, where I’d need gas anyway. The only good thing was there was lots of construction, so speeds were slow in a lot of spots anyway. My concern though, was that I’d get a flat in a construction zone, and have nowhere to pull off the road. I was pretty worried at this point. Thank God I didn’t choose to try and go up to Mobridge and get stranded out in the middle of nowhere. (Bob Johnson, you might have been getting a phone call if I was near Milbank…) I was routing to Leo’s at this point, and would have slept in the parking lot if I’d have thought I could make it there. I pulled into a gas station just past I-29 in Sioux Falls around 6:30 pm, and looked at the tire. I was showing cords at this point, and knew that was the end of the ride for me. I didn’t even fill up, and went directly across the street to a motel and checked in. My thought was that if I paid for a room, I couldn’t try and justify to myself attempting to ride home on a shredded tire, which would have been really stupid. Had I been near Mankato or something, I might have done it, but I was 240 miles out from Leo’s. No way that tire was going to make it. I was also bummed, because I’d got over 7000 miles on my last rear (same tires) with depth remaining. I assume running at high speeds on chip seal roads, with hot weather and a lot of weight on the bike really took its toll on the tire. Oddly enough, the front still looks to have about 50% tread at 4500 miles.  Tire. Fail. DNF. I checked in, called my wife Lisaberg, who reminded me that she has a lot of family members in town who could help if need be. Even my Mother-in-Law was in town! My wife’s cousin and her husband ride Harley’s and they told me that the dealer is open Sundays (think back to what I said about Rapid City) and that they are Buell-friendly. Excellent! I called Bart and told him my sad story, and ordered a pizza to drown my sorrows. I’d eaten very little over the past two days, so it tasted especially good. Not good enough to mask my disappointment over a DNF, but good nonetheless. Next morning I got up and rode to the dealer, which was 2.6 miles from my motel. I got there kind of early, but they had lots of nice outdoor seating, wi-fi, and even real bathrooms that are open when the dealer is closed, so I sat outside and waited. The front desk girl arrived first and exchanged hello’s, and I told her my problem. She said that she didn’t know if they had a mechanic on duty on Sundays, but she’d ask. The service writer showed up next, and said that they did not have a mechanic on duty. He gave me a list of other shops in town, but nobody was open, nor did I expect them to be. He said that when the parts guy got there, we could at least see if they had a tire that would fit, so worst case, I could get going on Monday. The dealer opened about 15 minutes later, and I went to talk to the parts guy (I’m sorry I don’t remember his name). He was super cool, and brought me upstairs to the tire racks to look at my choices. They had about five options, so at least I wasn’t SOL for two days. I said I’d think about what I wanted to do, and I called my wife’s cousin to come and get me, since she’d offered a place to stay if I was still stranded. Just after I called, the service guy said they’d called a couple of the mechanics and one was going to come in and help. I told the guy I could have hugged him. The mechanic came in an hour later (even delaying the start of a fishing trip) to help. To make matters better, the parts guy found an inexpensive Shinko 006 tire that would fit, and sold it to me at cost so I could get home, rather than having to pay for an expensive tire that wasn’t what I really wanted (though I would have, because beggars can’t be choosers). As bummed as I was about DNF-ing, I can’t say enough good things about how I was treated at J&L Harley-Davidson in Sioux Falls, Everyone there is a total class act. The parts dept, the service guy Rich Crelly, and the tech (I believe his name was Nick), who came in on a Sunday to help a guy out on the road are all top of the line in my book. This is how you should treat customers. After an hour or so, I paid for the tire, and tipped the mechanic (it was the least I could do considering the circumstances), and I was on my way home. I had one last amusing incident. I wasn’t running my fuel cell, because I was planning on taking it off the bike when I got home, so I had to stop for gas in Lake Crystal, just outside of Mankato. I paid for the gas and pulled around back so I could go in and get something to drink. Soon after, three guys on Harleys pulled in for gas, and pulled around where I was parked. One of the guys walked up and said "So, end of the ride, huh?" I thought this was odd, but I said yeah, I should have been home, but I had a tire go bad and told him the story about the dealer. He said "Buell huh? Cool bikes. Ya like it?" I said that I loved the bike, but I was bummed about my belt breaking on the way to Florida, but that was my only problem with it. His response was "Oh, you were one of the Pines to Palms riders?" Ok, now I’m shocked. This guy knew about the P2P ride, which means he knew exactly what I’d been doing all weekend. I said "so, you probably guessed I was running the MN2010?" He said "yeah, I saw a bunch of you yesterday. A friend of mine does this stuff – his name is Jim Weatherhead." I laughed and said I last saw Jim roll into Hill City yesterday morning and we talked for a couple more minutes and I was on the way home. Weird stuff… I rolled into the driveway around 6:45, but unfortunately missed seeing my wife who was flying out to Omaha that night. In an odd twist, she had been there the week before too, and took a photo of the Columbus, NE bonus (she was staying in Columbus) having no idea that it would be a bonus on the rally. What are the odds of that???  Lisaberg's unexpected visit to a bonus location! In a nice surprise, though he’d sent me a message about it, Ron and Carrie had brought home a finishers plaque for me from the 2006 Butt Lite. That made my day – at least I’d have something nice to hang on the wall of shame in the garage.  A very nice surprise! In any case, despite the DNF, I really did have a lot of fun. Probably as much fun as I’ve ever had in an event like this, because of what I got to see and do. I really did miss seeing everyone at the end though – that’s one of the best parts. Thanks to Bart and all the other staff for a great time. I hope to be back next year – I can’t be letting this new bike jinx me… Oh, finally, I did score myself this evening to see how I would have done. Actual points at time of DNF: 9216, which would have been 53rd place. Assumed points including above, plus fuel log, plus Sibley bonus, plus second rest bonus: 11,919 which would have been 37th place, which was just around what I would have expected to be, so I’m fine with how I would have done. I think my total miles would have been around 1800, but I’m not sure. Oh well…See you next time! |