September 5, 2000: Aftermath
The date: September 5,
2000. The time: 0300. The place: The Lenox Inn, Columbus, Ohio.
Carol Youroski awoke with start as panic filled her mind. “I looked at the clock, saw the time and
started thinking about how many points I was going to blow for
oversleeping. It wasn’t until I was
almost out the door that I remembered the rally ended yesterday,” she reported
with a laugh.
By the clock, the rally has
been over for almost 24 hours. In the
minds of participants, however, the event will not soon be forgotten. The BL2 was easily the most challenging
multi-day endurance event of the year.
Riders put miles on roads ranging from goat path to interstate
highway. Weather conditions were an
additional obstacle. Eddie Otto, no stranger
to the world of long distance riding, commented, “Your riders have faced some
of the toughest weather conditions on a multi-day event in years. Record heat in the south, cold and rain in
the north, those guys just didn’t catch a break.” We believe that every rider who finished this event can be proud
of a very significant accomplishment.
Mark Kiecker stood in the
cemetery, scratching his head. One of
the leg four bonuses required riders to visit the cemetery in Brock, Ohio and
photograph the gravestone of a famous person buried there. Time was wasting, and a decision had to be
made. Shrugging his shoulders, Kiecker
pulled out his Polaroid and snapped the photo.
Sometimes a rider needs a little luck.
This time, it worked. “I didn’t
know who Annie Oakley was,” he admitted, “but the name sounded familiar, so I
figured that was the one you guys wanted.”
(We’re not sure whether Will Outlaw was ever able to convince Mark that
Annie was the person who invented Oakley sunglasses.)
Kiecker overcame his lack of
cultural literacy, and a few more obstacles besides. We are very proud to congratulate Mark Kiecker as your first
place finisher. Mark is an intelligent,
aggressive competitor who ran a very smart rally. We at TeamStrange are particularly happy to tell the rest of the
world, “We told you so.” We have
watched Mark’s skills develop from a mistake-plagued BL5K, through second place
in this year’s MN2K, to the Winners Circle of BL2. As winner of the rally, Mark will be guaranteed a spot on the
grid for the 2001 Ironbutt Rally.
Riders in that event, be warned: you’ve got a real rider in your midst.
Riders at the opposite end
of the field had their own challenges.
Ren Berggren laughed as he sat down at the scoring table. He’d managed to earn the sleep bonus, as a
consequence of sleeping off a hangover in a hotel on route to the finish. “I would have had the gas bonus, too,” he
chuckled, “but the receipts blew away.”
The first reason anyone should have for riding a motorcycle is for the
fun of it. Ren wasn’t in the running
for any trophies, but he was clearly having fun on the ride. His ride reminds us that fun has to be the
first objective of any endurance ride.
If its not fun its just work, and everyone knows that work is a four
letter word.
The final leg of the rally
had its share of heartbreaks. Howard
Stueber put in a great run, including a stop at Parry Sound, Ontario. Howie made sure to carefully copy down the
words on the surveyor’s marker that formed the bonus, and was convinced his
efforts would move him up in the standings.
Unfortunately, to earn the bonus a photograph of the marker was
required. Though his trip to the great
white north was wasted, Howie found some humor in the situation. “I remember that marker,” he laughed,
“that’s the one that Eddie took a pee at the last time we were up there.” We’re not laughing at Howard’s performance:
he is the first rider ever to earn an SS5K on a Buell.
Joe Ray showed a lot of
class on leg four, by providing assistance above and beyond the call of duty to
a fellow competitor. Joe was riding
with Doug Stout when Doug’s tiny Ninja broke with a bang. A machinist by trade, Ray helped get the
bike to a local shop and commenced wrenching.
“The bike had two broken rocker arms, a bent valve, and a broken piston
skirt. It was a mess,” he recalled in
his understated manner. Joe was able to
get the bike running but unfortunately, the Ninja was too far gone—it died a
few miles down the road. Joe took nine
hours from his own rally to help a fellow rider, the whole time knowing he
would receive no reward from the Rallymasters for his actions. This quiet rider from Ohio showed his true
colors on the way to the finish, and we are proud to have had him in the event.
Eric Jewell was able to repair
his bike after the deer strike, but it wasn’t quite up to factory
standards. Over the course of two
lengthy voicemails, Eric related that the front suspension was tweaked but
rideable, and he planned to do the best route possible on the way to the finish. Eric’s message related that after patching
up the his RT, he grabbed the bonus at Burr Oak, visited some relatives,
secured more bonuses at Festina and Waukon, and visited a second set of
relatives. “These folks use guns to
kill things,” he reported, “so they hooked me up with some deer jerky and sent
me on my way.” Though Eric was obviously
disappointed at how his ride had turned out, he wasn’t giving up. He concluded his message by saying, “For all
I know, everyone else is DNF or has quit, so I’m just going to keep plugging
away.” We believe this attitude is the
core of successful endurance riding.
Eric is a true competitor, and has already earned a spot in the 2001
Ironbutt by virtue of his victory on last year’s BL5K. If he can just keep away from the animals,
we’re sure you’ll be hearing his name again.
Bill Davis rode his homemade
Harley to the finish line and a standing ovation from his fellow riders. The bike began experiencing chain problems
along the way, and Bill had to engage in multiple repairs. Because Davis was riding without a
flashlight, often repairs had to be delayed until daylight hours. Electrical gremlins also came along for the
ride. “Even my watch shorted out,” he
said. Many observers felt that bike and
rider would never make the first checkpoint.
They obviously never spoke to Bill.
We applaud Bill Davis for his accomplishments, which include but are by
no means limited to proving that gadgets and gimcracks do not a rider
make. As Bill rode into the Lennox
parking lot, he saw a banner hung by waiting fans: “Welcome Back, Ironbutt
Bill.” The name has a certain ring to
it.
TeamStrange congratulates each and every ButtLite II rider for completing this difficult, challenging event. Look for the return of ButtLite in 2002. Until then, in the words of Audubon, Iowa’s famous fiberglass bull Albert, “Drive careful, now.”
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