In May 1998, Ron Ayres spoke at one of our club socials
about endurance riding. This was just before he undertook his 7/49 ride. In
that 30 minute talk I was hooked! I had heard of the 1000-in-1 for years, even
saw the ad in the BMW MOA magazine back in the 80's and had done 2 of them without
documentation. I had no idea that endurance riding had grown to the extent that
it had. After hearing Ron, I signed up on the LD Rider list and started following
peoples' exploits. In July I did my SS1000. Then in the fall, I heard about
the Butt Lite 5000. I thought "this would be a good way to see if I have
an Iron Butt Rally in me", so I signed up and sent in all the forms and
money that Adam repeatedly asked for.
Finally, June rolled around and
the anticipation rose as I
prepared my bike and me for this undertaking.
The ride to St. Paul was
uneventful and I got there on Friday
relaxing for the next two days. FIrst
tech inspection and odometer
check. Then the MANDATORY riders meeting on
Sunday night and the
first of what was to be FOUR bonus routes for the
first leg. I
had no idea what was ahead of me but I had heard "pace
yourself
for the end". Monday morning and it was time for the
7am
rider meeting and then the final envelop for the first leg - THREE
MORE
BONUS ROUTES. Eddie, you sadist!
I took a conservative route on
the first leg, wimping out on
the South Dakota route 50 miles
into it when I found myself making slow
progress through all those
small towns. I defaulted back to the route
handed out on Sunday
night. I got to Denver about 2:30am only to see 2
bikes already
there and the riders laying beside their bikes on the
pavement.
I opted for a motel room. When I checked in they were doing
backup
on the system which would prove catastrophic to me. I went next
door
and bought a coffee to prove the start of my 4 hour rest
stop. I went back
6 hours later and got another receipt. The only
problem was, I paid in
cash. Kiss 400 points goodbye. Well, maybe
not. I still have the motel
receipt. WRONG. The backup never completed
until after 5am and they
registered me at 5:18am, only 3 hours
before I checked out. This mistake
dropped me from tied for 8th
to 38th! OUCH!
In Denver we were all in pretty
good shape, all
except for Terry Smith (east) who had bitten off
more that he could chew
and was time barred. Getting the bonus
packets for the second leg, I laid
out a route that would get
me a lot of bonus locations and a short route to
Marietta, about
2003 miles. I didn't realize it at the time but the only
problem
was there were too many secondary roads. I went to the shrine
and,
while there, realized I was going to have to get back through
Denver in
rush hour - sucker bonus! HOWEVER, I outfoxed Eddie
(so I thought!) and
took the 470 loop around to the south side
of Denver then cut cross
country, picking up I-70 at Limon. Now
it was interstate to Wichita Kansas
where I took a 4 hour rest
getting the correct receipts this
time.
From Wichita it was
on to Independence
Kansas, the Little House on the Prairie then on to
George Washington
Carver, Precious Moments and Booger Hollow. Coming in to
Russellville
Arkansas from Booger Hollow, I came on Dan Stephans II who
had
just wrecked. Staying with him for an hour to make sure he was
OK, I
then pressed on to Memphis and got there about 9:30 and
got the requisite
picture on Beall Street after getting a police
escort. I had stopped at a
convenience store and asked a local
lady gendarme how to get to the statue.
She said, "you're
the second person tonight to ask me that. Follow
me". I then
parked illegally and was getting a ticket when I told the
officer
the lady officer had given me permission to park there (she
really
hadn't but it sounded good) so he tore up the
ticket.
By this time it
was lightning
pretty badly where I was headed so I stalled around a bit
before
finally heading out about 11:30pm towards the Natchez Trace,
getting
there and riding the Alabama section about 1:30 am. I pushed
onwards
until about 5am when I hit the wall and laid down on some
grass
behind a Comfort Inn with the screaming meanie on my chest for
a
whoppin' 35 minutes sleep. When it went off it was daylight
BUTT a fog bank
had set in and I still had miles of 2 lane road
to
ride.
I finally got to
Marietta 13 minutes
after the window opened but was given an hour's grace
due to Dan's
accident. I had ridden less than 2000 miles but had
collected
enough points to move me up to 16 place but at a price. It
was
hot and I knew I needed rest so, when we got our bonus sheets
for leg 3
I took it and headed to a motel. I showered and tried
to sleep at 3pm but
that did not work so I laid out my route planning
that, when I got to
Chattanooga I would decide whether to go after
bonuses or forgo them and
head straight for Springfield. I chose
Springfield. I then headed up I-75
and got to London Kentucky
before an illusionary 18 wheeler came up beside
me about 10pm.
I knew there was a lot of construction between London and
Lexington
so I decided it was time to get off the road so I stopped for
gas
and some caffeine. I looked over and there was a Comfort Inn
calling me, so
I took a four hour sleep. I got up rather well
rested and pushed on,
foregoing all bonuses except the rest and
fuel log. Arriving in Springfield
I dropped to 22nd place. I knew
I probably would not place well at the end,
so I decided to ensure
I got my 5000 miles (I wanted at least one major
achievement out
of this ride!). I needed 1600 miles so I laid out a route
that
was all interstate. I knew I could do it, "the good Lord
willing
and the creek don't rise". The creek rose.
Leaving Springfield I went to
Columbus to the AMA
museum then started the push west on I-70
to Kansas City then north on I-29
to Fargo and back to St. Paul.
At Eiffany Illinois the skies opened. The
cross wind was vicious
and the sky was green (hail) so I camped out for an
hour waiting
for it to blow over but it did not so I got on the bike and
started
riding. The truckers were saying it cleared up 40 miles ahead
but
that was only temporary. By the time I got to St. Louis it
was a frog
chokin' gully washer! The truckers could not believe
I was out there riding
in that downpour. I was doing about 40mph
with my 4 way flashers on but
there was no alternative. Somewhere
on the west side of St. Louis I heard
another BUTT rider on the
CB. It turned out to be Brent Bruns. We started
riding together.
As time went on, it became apparent that I could not get
to Fargo
without being time-barred at the end and losing everything so
I
decided to start picking up bonus locations. Brent and I did
Speed Kansas,
then Kansas City before heading north on I-35. We
stopped somewhere in Iowa
for the last 4 hour rest and then went
to the museum in Minneapolis before
arriving in St. Paul about
an hour and a half before the window
opened.
Picking up those
bonuses moved
me back up to 19th as my final finishing position. I fell
short
of the 5000 miles by about 300. All in all I was disappointed
in my
result. I know I can do better than that. I just made some
rookie mistakes.
HOWEVER, I did finish. Will I do it again? YOU
BET! Tomorrow - not likely.
After I finished the LITE, I went
to Ottawa Canada and did a 3 day canoe
trip with high school buddies
then pushed home in 2 hard days. The total
mileage for the 18
days I was on the road was 8320 (corrected to 8450
miles). Not
bad.
I
congratulate every finisher
of the BL5K. You know there was not one entrant
who had done a
multi-day endurance rally. I especially congratulate Eric
Jewell
on one heck of a ride and finishing first.
Most of all, I would like to thank
Eddie and Adam
for an outstanding rally. I'll be ready for
next
year!
Norm Grills
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