Buttlite 99 5000 Miles in 5 Days?
Are you nuts?
This was the most common statement
made to me by my friends when
they found out my plans for my summer
vacation this year. Now
there is already the premier street motorcycle
endurance rally
held every 2 years called the Iron Butt Rally. That is a
10,000-mile
rally held over 10 days.
Two Ironbutt Rally veterans,
Eddie James & Adam Wolkoff decided
to offer an Ironbutt style Rally of
a shorter time and distance
rally as an alternative to the Ironbutt Rally.
5000 miles in
five days- "The Buttlite 5000- Same great ride, less
miles.
Mr.James and Mr. Wolkoff
already put on one of the best 24-hour
rallies held yearly called the
Minnesota 1000. I have competed
in that rally since its second year in
1996 and have found it
a well run and challenging event, so immediately
this new rally
peaked my interest.
Now riding these events on Harleys is not a common thing.
Harley
doesn't make a bike specifically designed for high-speed
touring.
The other drawback to using a Harley is you must carry an
additional
racing fuel cell to compete with some of the other brands
of
motorcycles that have much larger fuel tanks.
These endurance rallies are not about speed. They are
basically
scavenger hunts spread out throughout the nation. Each
segment
of the rally requires a rider to get from one point to the next
in
a time allowance, which does not require excessive speed to
complete. The
added twist is along each leg of the rally, there
are bonus points
available off the direct route that each rider
may try to obtain on his
way to the next checkpoint. The bonuses
may be as simple as taking a
Polaroid of you rally towel with
your rider number on it or something as
difficult as climbing
to a mountain shrine to write down what is written
on a plaque.
The key to
accumulating points on each leg of a rally is to efficiently
plan a route
which will allow a rider to get as many bonus points
as possible without
taking up more time than needed to reach
the next checkpoint. This is
where the true test of an endurance
rider is. Riding fast is not the
answer; planning and executing
an efficient route is the key to success.
Some of the considerations that
need to be taken in account when
planning a route are: Is the bonus point
too far out of the
way for the point value assessed? Will the point bonus
require
too much time to accomplish? (I.e. climbing to a mountain
shrine
takes more than a few minutes.) Is the bonus point simply a
carrot
placed in front of the rider to lure him off a better
route?
Each rider will be required
to use his best judgment skills to
plan an efficient route to be
successful in such an endeavor.
The
bike I chose to ride this event was my 1999 Harley FLTRI with
the new Twin
Cam 88 with fuel injection. I did add a racing fuel
cell on the platform
Harley use to mount its tourpacks to bring
my total fuel capacity to 10
gallons. I used this bike in the
1999 Minnesota 1000 and rode it to a 10th
place finish in the
Expert class. Other modifications to the bike were the
Harley
Stage One kit with the upgrade chip for the EFI and the
Screaming
Eagle Air Cleaner. I added a handlebar mounted Garmin GPS
III+
navigator for those times when direction and location might be
hard
to ascertain otherwise. This would later prove to be the
best
modification to the bike as the rally went on. A ride
of such an
undertaking also required an upgrade from normal riding
gear. I upgraded
my riding wardrobe to include boots made with
a water-resistant lining,
pants and jacket with breathability
yet water-resistant and of course
appropriate gloves. I chose
boots made by SIDI in Italy, Motoport
Voyageur Ax pants and a
First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket. I decided to stay
with my open
face helmet with a face shield, this would later prove to
be
a bad decision near Mobile Alabama in a blinding rainstorm during
the
rally.
With all this preparation
completed it was now time to ride the
rally.
Day one. Gallons on Gas Receipts Required!
All the
riders were making final preparations before the start.
At exactly 8 am,
48 riders will be given a packet containing
three possible route sheets to
choose from. The rider had to
decide which offered the best combination
of miles x points over
time. You could only obtain bonuses on the route
you chose,
no mixing and matching from the different routes was
allowed.
At 8:00AM with route
sheets in hand I was off to find a quiet
place to sit down and plan my
route. I also carried my laptop
computer to plug in my proposed route to
figure my riding times
correctly. At first his may seem like quite the
advantage, yet
most riders, myself included only used laptops to confirm
what
they had already formulated and make minor tuning changes to
you
already planned route. The key is being able take your map,
highlight the
bonus points and then connect the dots.
The route I chose start with stop at the Minneapolis
Coucilmans
office to have my picture taken with my rally towel in her
office
in front of her bike-yes she is a rider in her own right and
has a
BMW parked in her office.
The next stop would be Winterset, Iowa to
get a picture of the
house John Wayne was born at. During the first
segment I refueled
once along the way, got my gas receipt and off to the
Dukes house.
Winterset Iowa was just south west of Des Moines. Lincoln,
Nebraska
was next on the route to take a photo of the Kawasaki plant.
Just before the Kawasaki plant, I stopped for gas again. As
I was checking
my receipts, I noticed that my previous receipt
did not have one of the
requirements on it- the amount of gallons
purchased. I was faced with two
choices, go back 300 miles or
press on. Having all the gas receipts was
worth 1000 points;
I already faced loosing 1000 points of my possible
points on
this leg. Talk about starting yourself out with a handicap! If
I
went back, my point total for the leg would only be 1000 or
I could try to
pick up as much as I could and hope to offset
the loss in points.
I decided to press on and not make
that mistake again. After the
one-hour delay during which I did come up
with a rather inventive
way of getting the gallon amount, I proceeded on
to the next
bonus- Scottsbluff, Nebraska to obtain a gas receipt. From
there
one, more stop in Cheyenne for a gas receipt and on to Denver.
The
last bonus I would get would be a large amount of bonus
points for taking
a 3-hour layover and not riding during that
3 hours. I was riding this
first leg of the rally with a friend
and fellow Buttlite rider, Allen Dye
out of Texas on his BMW
K model.
In
Scottsbluff, there were two routes possible to Cheyenne. The
map showed a
shorter route, but it wasn't clearly marked on the
map. This as the first
time my GPS came to the rescue. I simply
zoomed in until I found the road
in question, then followed the
arrow on my screen right to the road. Now
this was going to be
a great way to navigate on my trip. Thank you Allen
Dye for giving
me advice on using it- his Street Pilot was very similar
and I
was able to figure it out (bought it day before Rally and
promptly
left instruction manual back home)
In Cheyenne, it had been a long day and time to rest.
Since Denver
was only 100 miles away, it was logical that now was a good
time
for that 3 hour rest.
Having slept for 3 hours, off to the Fay Meyers Motorcycle dealers
hip
in Denver for the 1st leg checkin. Though I did have a faxed
copy of
my first gas receipt, and the original with the date,
time and account
number, but because I didn't actually go back
for it was disallowed. A
tough deduction to take and as Rally
master Adam Wolkoff would later say -
I was sad............
With checkin
complete and over 4 hours before receiving our next
route sheets it was
time to recollect my self, rest and prepare
for leg number 2.
Leg 2, day 2 Doing Penance at
Mother Cabrini
After taking an
hour or so nap in the private rest area at Fay
Meyers Motorcycle
Dealership in Denver, it was now time to set
my sights on the next leg or
the BL5K.
Our Rally masters had a wonderful assortment of fruit and
sub
sandwich choices available at the checkpoint. This was a great
idea on
their part for not only did the riders get a good easily
eaten meal, but
fruit to take on the road in our tankbags. I
learned I could peel oranges
while riding!
Promptly at noon, the
checkpoint was closed with only one rider
being time barred. We were then
given our next set of route sheets.
Allen Dye and I had a good ride the
day before so team tell
you what," was off to plan our next segments
ride. After
about 45 minutes, Allen with his Trip-O-Meter and me with
my
Tripmaker had settled on exactly the same route choices. Confidence
was high as we saddled up on our respective steeds for our trip
to
Marietta.
Bonus point #1 for us
would be the Mother Cabrini shrine in Golden
Colorado. Big Points sounded
easy right? Well, when we got there,
we realized that we would have to
climb all the way to the top
of this mountain- Arghhh!!!!!! My knees just
cringed at the thought
of this task. Allen took off his stitch, I took off
my Kilimanjaro,
opened my pant side zippers and we started the climb. For
our
added entertainment, Adam & Eddie were there with the
supercharged
Buick Rally car to see us off on our climb.(They really do
have
a mean streak)
A gazillion
steps later, having written down all the information
required, down the
mountain we went. Being a Catholic, I felt
I had done my share of penance
for the week (Not realizing I
would require it the following day!)
Suited up and off we went. Our
next bonus point would not be
until Wichita Falls, TX so time to put on
the miles, enjoy the
scenery and get into the groove so to speak. While
we were going
through SE Colorado, I noticed what appeared to livestock
pens
that stretched for miles-some kind of loading point for truck
or
train I guess. I thought the pens were empty until I noticed
the earth in
the pens was moving. That wasn't earth! It was wall
to wall cattle as far
as I could see. It was the largest concentration
of meat on the hoof had
ever seen. Time for a BBQ!!!!!!!!!
The temperatures were rising and the day was getting
long. We
had planned only one or two bonus with a 3-hour rest to give
us
ample energy and time to pick up as much points on the next
day enroute to
Marietta.
We had some trouble
finding a motel room and finally got one of
the last rooms in town in
Dumas, TX. The desk clerk looked kind
funny at our request for a room for
3 hours, but rented us a
room anyway. Allen set his screaming Meamie and
now to power
nap.
Leg 2 Day 3 Easy
Run through the small state of Texas?
Three hours later rise and shine. I was a little slower
refueling,
so Allen went ahead and we would meet up in Wichita Falls.
Either
he or I were at the wrong gas station, so we separated by
default
but were on the same route. Allen had thought about heading
to
Luckenbach. While looking for him, I deduced that Luckenbach
was too
far off the beaten path, so I headed south for Waco to
the Dr. Pepper
Museum.
I don't recall how hot is
was getting, but removing the lowers
from my bike the night before the
rally, plus my 100 ounce Camelback
canteen were a definite right riding
choice. After a great Dr.
Pepper float it was off to Navisota, TX to visit
Live Oaks resort
and spend a little time with the fine folks there. On the
way
to Navisota I passed Brent Bruns heading the opposite direction
he was
going the Waco for his Dr. Pepper I guess. I arrived at
the Live Oaks
resort around 230 or so and on the way in I passed
Allen on his way out-
hmmm he must have abandoned Luckenbach
as well, but must have missed Waco
to be that far ahead of me.
TIME
FOR A SWIM! LET'S GET NEKKED!!!!!!!!!!!
As I rounded the corner to the Live Oaks Resort, I
noticed a tall
privacy fence around the resort- It was a Nudist Resort!
Cool,
since I had planned this to be a meal stop as well, I went to
their
restaurant and had a very good club sandwich. While checking
in, the staff
explained that we were welcome to use cabin 6 to
shower, rest, freshen up
and if we so desired, strip down and
go for a swim. Well, there were some
pretty women in the pool;
I was hot and tired, in the middle of nowhere
and a long way from
home. Yup, I jumped right in! No Guts, No Glory!!!!
Had a wonderful time
.....hmmm.........swimming and talking with
the ladies in the pool about
the rally. David Allen Coe was going
to be performing there on the weekend
and they invited me to
stay for it..hmmmmm.Maybe I should just call,
withdraw from the
rally since I was properly attired anyway, but damn, no
tent!
I said thanks ladies but I must be off.
I did spend a little over an hour and a half there though
(hehehe)
Had some pictures taken with my towel hoping to change the
Rallymasters
minds about my 1000 points the day before or maybe some
Extra
Credit Points, but alas, no more points than what was listed.
But
Joan did appreciate the pictures!
As I was leaving, I met up with a good friend and
co-worker at
the Post Office, Doug Holmes. I was off to Hot Coffee MS
and
he was off to Alabama. After looking at the routes, the points
would
be simpler and easier to go to Mobile than go for Hot Coffee.
So we set
off together. Around Houston, Doug needed fuel and
since I had a fuel
cell, I continued on and we would meet at
the Battleship. Little did we
know, Mother Nature had other plans!
I ended up an hour ahead of Doug, but since I was putting
distance
between us, I thought it only sporting that I should slow my
pace
by heading through New Orleans on I10 instead of bypassing
it on I12.
Right when I got to the highway separation, I got
pelted by something
which hit my bike, my boot and distracted
me enough to miss the I-12
exit-Damn and no way to turn around!
While getting gas in New Orleans, I
surveyed the damage to the
bike-minimal-large divot in my front cylinder
exhaust pipe heat
shield but nothing else.
Of to Mobile AL, enough of the sightseeing, it was now
getting
late and time was ticking away, but still on schedule for
arrival
before the checkpoint opened. Along the way, the monsoons
hit
just 25 miles out from Mobile. The raindrops were as large as
Buicks.
(Should have stayed at Live Oaks after all!) I was staying
dry, but my
open face helmet with a face shield was not enough.
During this I passed
Doug Holmes, by the time he got back on
the highway, I had already pulled
off at the next exit to put
Rain-X on my face shield.
Getting to the Battleship was quite
an experience. Just as I
was exiting the tunnel, a Ford Explorer had just
spun out of
control and hit the wall. I narrowly missed the accident
in
the rain. I exited and right there was the battleship- took
picture,
got back on I-10 west and stopped adjacent on other
side of freeway of the
accident- the horn was blowing, so I called
in a 911 call. The operator
confirmed the accident; they had
the call already but again confirmed
location. Thanked me for
the call. During my stop at the side just before
the tunnel
entrance, a truck seeing me with the phone out in my hand,
stopped
behind me to block traffic while I made the call. I do not
know
who he was but there are some descent folks out there on the highway
-
and he definitely had my thanks.
Now time to buckle down, put on mile and get to Marietta.
I started
getting a little tired so I weighed the alternatives. Press
on
and nod off or take an IBC hotel stop for 20 minutes and be a
few
minutes late. I chose the IBC hotel, set my clock and 20
minutes later
back on the road wide-awake. One thing I had learned
in previous rallies-
rest when your body tells you so.
I
puled into Marietta 8 minutes late; the rallymasters adjusted
it to 3
minutes for the 911 call, which was a fair adjustment
since it didn't take
that long. Another bonus mistake- No picture
of a giant chicken in
Marietta along with a Gas receipt. Thankfully
only a 111 point loss.
Where the hell was that Chicken? I must
have missed it somewhere. I had
made up considerable points,
going from second to last up to 21st I think.
Not too bad .
The checkpoint again
was well manned and rally style food abundant.
Kudos again to the BL5K
Rallymasters and volunteers! Time to
rest a little, buy some new maps as
the rain had leaked in my
tank pouch and turned my maps to mush.
The rally was taking more of a
toll, some more withdrawals, Dan
Stephens(the Younger) playing Tango with
another vehicle but
the biggest surprise to me, fellow Minnesotan and
99MN1K 1st
place finisher I think, Brent Bruns being time barred by a
few
minutes. He had gone just a shade too far and need to rest.
Though a
disappointment to Brent, I was glad to see a friend
had chosen discretion
over pushing the ride too far. He has
a great picture of his family on
his fairing, and that's all
that really matters anyway in my opinion, the
people back home-
there will be other rally days.
Just over half the
rally now complete!
Leg 3 Day 4
Easy Day up to Springfield- NOT!
I've seen the enemy and it was Time!
On the previous leg, I found out
that no matter how waterproof
the map pouch looks -- its not! Some of my
maps for the next
leg of the rally were just mush, so time for new maps.
Good
thing there was a Speedway gas station near by!
Again the Rallymasters & volunteers had a great
checkpoint-ample
parking, a place to rest, food and beverages to gives us
one
good meal that day-Kudos Again!
We were handed our packets promptly after the check point
closed.
Before we opened them, Adam reminded the riders that it was
a
short ride to Springfield and we didn't have that much time to
get
there. A bit of advice that I would later forget in
Tennessee.
I opened the sheets,
quickly discounted the bonus points I thought
were obvious distractions in
favor of a direct route to Springfield,
and would just pick up points
right along the route. I also
decided I would take a 3 hour layover in
Chattanooga on the front
end of the leg to give me the rest to ride
through the night,
and hey it was only 600 miles-can't be that tough
right?
I picked up my Chattanooga
Choo-Choo picture and proceeded to
take my 3 hour rest. Rested &
showered, I left Chattanooga
for my short ride up to Springfield.
I looked at my map and wow, those
bonus points around Gatlinburg
sounded great! Just a quick divert off the
freeway and I should
get them both. I would be back on the freeway by 1100
PM at the
most -- still plenty of time to get there.
As I rounded a corner entering Pigeon Forge, I couldn't
believe
my eyes. Where did all this tourist trap come from-here I
was
stuck in traffic and not even at Gatlinburg! It was like the
Las
Vegas strip tucked away in the Appalachia's. Dollyworld!
All this traffic
cost me about an hour getting to Gatlinburg.
After getting my picture in
front of the car museum, I asked
the attendant which way to the Clingdome
bonus point. "oh
its just up the road a piece about 17 miles" he
said. Great
I told him, I would quickly go get it and then get out of
this
area on another road. A minor complication had developed 2
days
earlier with my GPS- I have broken a pin on the back for the
12v
power from bike so it was on a limited use basis during the
dark hours to
conserve batteries.
Off I went, now
a little behind schedule, but still OK. This
is where my "brush with
stupidity "would start. The
trip to Clingdome was anything but quick.
The closer I got to
it the denser the fog was becoming. At the top, I
could barely
make out the other 2 bikes up there. Kerry Church was up
there
wandering around in the fog looking for the sign and Don Sills
would
also join us up there. We all took our pictures and all
disappeared in
the fog (the Bonus had an X-File kind of feel
to it).
Upon arriving back in Gatlinburg, I
opted to avoid Pigeon Forge
and go north to the freeway and start
pounding down miles to
Springfield.
I misread my map and started heading toward Knoxville I
though.
After about 35 minutes I realized I was headed east not
north-whoops,
well OK just continue and I would pick up the freeway and
head
back toward Knoxville. This is where my new maps did me in, they
were
in a different scale than the maps I got from AAA. Once
reaching the
freeway, I realized I was a whole lot farther off
course than I initially
thought-about 90+ miles.
Somewhere
in here is where I saw the elephant - Too many miles
for too little time-
I needed warp drive and my Harley didn't
have it. Moreover, on top of it I
would be going through Cincinnati
during morning rush. I was beginning to
get.......sad .....as
Adam would say.
Ride strategy changed at this point-skip the bonus points
left
and get there can't be time barred this far into the rally.
My 10
gallons of fuel would be the difference on the remainder
of this leg.
Quite simply, I had enough gas for the remaining
miles so I could cover
the remaining distance by not stopping
at all. Getting through Cincinnati
immediately would have to
rely on luck. I had certainly painted my self
into a corner
now!
I focused on
getting there, all points on the way faded as I drove
on. Cincinnati posed
a question-take the bypass around and loose
more time or roll the dice, go
right though downtown on the freeway
and hope because of construction, the
locals were avoiding it.
Just as I
was approaching Cincinnati, I saw it Florence, KY water
tower-this point I
remembered! I wrote down Y'ALL, noted my
mileage and time as I rode past.
Well, the gamble was paying off,
traffic was light and I slipped
right through. I approached Dayton at 800
am, I had made up
time, though I needed a rest stop in the worst way.
My body would have to wait- I would
not be time barred. Thankfully
it was only 30 minutes more and
Competition Accessories was
easily located right off the interstate in
Springfield.
I pulled in at 8:30,
and checked in, 1.5 hours behind schedule,
but not time barred!! The HD
dealer in Springfield was going
to change my oil, check the bike over and
even put tires on if
I needed them had I arrived when the checkpoint
opened. They
were ready for me and I didn't have the time to do it. I
called
and thanked them and they were disappointed not being able to
help
me on the rally, but wished me luck and said maybe next
time. I have to
send them photos anyway. I checked the oil on
the Twincam 88- it was
fine, tires looked OK and it was time
to go.
Leg 4 Day 5 - I need my Head Examined!
Well, I was pretty beat from my
previous night's ride, so I was
definitely looking for the most efficient
way to St. Paul.
While looking at
the route sheets, I noticed that on the three
different sheets, the same
bonus points had different point values.
I chose the most direct route
with the most points- I would
only make 3 stops and finish with nearly
5000 points on this
leg-very doable. I would take a slightly longer route
through
Des Moines to ensure that 5000 miles would reflect on my
odometer
readings.
I headed off to
the AMA bonus point by Columbus-too many points
to pass on this leg. All
was going on schedule and on time, so
off for a quick ride to Indianapolis
Motor Speedway- wrong!!!!!!!
Is
there any road in Indiana that does not have construction?
As soon as I
got to the Indiana borders the construction started.
I didn't reach the
speedway until about 415. So much for being
on time. I bought Eddie a
magnet at the track and headed west
for Illinois -- Get me the hell out of
road construction Indiana!
I had
planned to get as far as I could before taking a 3-hour
rest, but thanks
to the construction, I rested much earlier just
prior to entering IL.
Around 900 PM, I hit the road again and
off to Peoria. I would have no
more checkpoints until Minneapolis.
All I had to do was ride and make
absolutely sure my receipts
showed gallons.
Somewhere around or 4 am I came on a rest stop and
decided to
take an IBR hotel break for 20 minutes. As I rode up, I saw
a
BMW with a fuel cell and a rider asleep, helmet on the bike.
I promptly
parked in the next stall, set my alarm and took a
nap.
Just after the alarm went off, this
rider is standing next to
me. A fellow Minnesotan- Nels Gebbons. We
decided to ride together
till Capt. Kirk's bonus point. When I told him
what route I
was doing, he regretted having thrown away his other
sheets,
since I was getting easy points for fewer stops.
We had a nice ride to Iowa, parted
company and I was off. One
last bonus stop. I was going to get my head
examined in Minneapolis
at the Museum for Medical devices. Along 1-35 I
was passed by
Brent Bruns, so I rode with them awhile. Great to see
Brent
was doing fine and on track for home as well. We were all
migrating
home.
I pulled in with 30
seconds to spare from penalty points. I had
racked up 4980 points this
last leg and ridden my odometer over
the 5000 mile mark.
Was it fun? Yes, Challenging? Yes,
Was the Rally well run? A
BIG YES to that! Winnable on a Harley, yes-had I
made better
riding decisions. Did I learn a lot more about endurance
riding
? You Betcha! Would I do it again-OVERWHELMINGLY
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adam and
Eddie-where do I send my check and save rider #60 for
me!
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