Before dawn on a warm and clear Texas morning, several dozen motorcyclists left their chosen starting points. They each had but a single ambition; be in Georgetown, TX, before six pm with more points than the other riders. For those who like to read the end before the substance, I arrived with more points than all but two.
Those two, Rex LeGalley and Brain Walters, managed feats that day that I hadn't even considered possible. Not by mortals anyway. But Rex and Brian are not mortal, they are Iron Butt Rally veterans with high finishing places. The company was, as they say, a select group.
Before we get to Georgetown there is the small matter of twelve hours traveling through some of the best country on offer, so let's go for a ride.
Before delving into the Texas countryside on the rally proper, we need to back up a bit. James Stovall (Rally Master) is fond of two things, at least in respect to Rallying. He likes to spread the fun around, and he likes to play games; or he likes his riders to.
Accordingly, we were set optional challenges that could earn up to six hundred points that would count towards the total. One challenge was simply a series of long rides, the other was a two-part puzzle. Now I like riding for the sake of it, but I like puzzles even more.
For this one we were sent a picture. That's it, no other clues. It was a picture of James standing on a large sundial, at 10.00 am. The task was simply to recreate the picture for 250 points. It took around thirty seconds to work out that the picture was the giant sundial at the McDonald Observatory, which is about seven hundred and fifty miles from home. Having grabbed the picture you had to email it to him before 12.00 pm, then either quit with your points or take the second part of the challenge. You could earn a further 350 points, but if you failed you were going home with zero.
I failed, so I went home with nothing but a smile from the memory of one thousand eight hundred and eleven miles of beautiful scenery, great roads and the knowledge that now I would simply have to try harder if I were to make any impression on the leaders at the end of the rally. While at the Observatory it was my pleasure to meet Mark Pierce and Joe Perry, both of them went on to complete this challenge successfully, and later place very well in this, the start of their rallying careers. They parked their gorgeous bikes next to mine, which was brave given the history of my side-stand. When I see my bike next to two brand new BMW K1600GTLs I have mixed feelings. Pride in what we accomplish together, tinged with wonder at the ease with which modern bikes cover the ground. Oh well, at least I don't much care if I drop mine, other than having to pick it up!
The curious among you might be wondering why I failed. It was really quite simple. The second part of the challenge involved identifying, and riding to, six locations around Big Bend National Park, from twelve possibilities. That and visiting a mandatory photo location. All in about six and a half hours. Perfectly doable, and I had a great route and the time needed to complete it.
The problem was that I completely forgot about the mandatory photo location. That's it ... brain fade in the heat of the moment. No excuses, it happens. When I realized what I had done I was in Van Horn, TX, happily going about my route. The mandatory location was in Terlingua, TX and I no longer had time to get there. This was a teachable moment, and the lesson has not been lost.
I had been on the bike since 7.15 am that morning. I had already covered some three hundred miles up to the Observatory then around Big Bend. Those who have been there will know that the roads are okay, but the riding is technical, and tiring. Now I found myself seven hundred and thirty miles from home, with darkness a few hours away and the major disappointment of a failure that was completely my own fault. The ride home was going to be fun!
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On this gorgeous Spring morning, however, all of that was behind me. One can't dwell upon the might have been, that is simply a distraction from the task in hand. So I messed up the Challenge ... so what, I'll just make sure that I execute this part as well as I can, and dare the others to do better!
I was in Ozona, TX, my chosen start point for the next twelve hours. The Rally Pack consisted of a series of threaded bonuses. The planning challenge was to work out which thread you could complete in the time, and what other bonuses you could make to boost your score. Planning an event like this can be as complex as you make it, or as simple as you want. However, it is vital that you develop a deep understanding of your own capabilities. I don't mean just the rider. I mean the full package. The rider, the bike, your experience, wants and desires. Your own ability to not stop when every fiber of your being is screaming for a lie down to relax those aching shoulders. We have a saying in this small community - "Plan your Ride, and Ride Your Plan". The better you know your own abilities, the easier this becomes.
Two of the threads I dismissed as possibilities from the beginning. The one that involved Big Bend National Park was too many miles for my bike in the time allowed, and the thread involving Subway Restaurants, while offering high points, also required too many miles. The previous two years I have ridden my bike pretty hard, and managed 620 to 630 miles each time. As a guide number that works quite well for a twelve hour rally (for me). Last year, Rex an Brian both rode over 700 miles in the same time, a tribute to them and their machines.
That left two options for routes ... Follow the Courthouses or the Statues. Base route for Courthouses was around 650 miles, and adding in extras would only increase that distance. Additionally, the route that collected all the statues had more bonuses available without too many detours.
Statues it is then! There is a further consideration. You have to assume that every rider will get all of the points available for static items like SPOT, Rest, other stuff. Also, with this rally you further need to think that every rider will get one complete thread and its large progressive bonus. So really you need to add in as many extras as you can, because it is the extras, not the Threads nor the Static points that will determine who places highly. If you manage to make all that work, then you will nearly always place quite well in these events. Winning is another matter though.
As ever, the first task is to get yourself to the start line in good time. My research suggested a potential issue with one of the statues. We had to photograph the III Corp Statue on Fort Hood. The wait in the Visitor Center to get a Base Pass can be a long one, time I wouldn't have, so I went to the start via Ft Hood to get the pass in advance. That added about 100 miles to my journey down, but I was in good shape for the next day having ridden 650 miles to get to Ozona, TX. I settled down for four hours good sleep behind the Subway.
The first problem in the morning was that none of the gas pumps were giving printed receipts, and the registers inside the gas station were twenty minutes slow. I don't have twenty minutes to spare, but the Bank ATM across the street gave me an account balance timed at 6.01 AM, and were were off.
Three blocks to the first bonus "The Tie That Binds", pictured above. It was good to get this out of the way because the early minutes of a Rally can be a bit frantic. You cannot win a rally in the first thirty minutes, but you damned sure can lose one then. So, take it easy, be methodical and logical and remember that you are simply out on a motorcycle ride. No fuss, no drama. With a decent distance to San Angelo, and the next bonus, there will be time for the sun to come up, and time to take stock and settle into the ride. If beginners only ever read one paragraph, please read this one!
I hit San Angelo, for the bonus there, in good time. Another thread of bonuses were large points for taking photographs of Veterans Memorials. Up to six, each in different counties, were worth 550 points each. You cannot afford to miss these and I had eight programmed into my route just in case of problems. The first was San Angelo, and easy grab.
The problems started after this point. The wind, which thus far had been merely an annoying presence, clearly decided that Steve was having far too easy a time of it all. The wind didn't care that I had nearly six hundred miles to go in the next twelve hours, and with complete disdain and a disregard for my personal comfort and safety, set about making the task as hard as possible.
There is not a motorcyclist born who enjoys riding when it is windy. With the exception of a decent tail-wind, all points of the compass are tiring and make riding difficult. You wouldn't mind too much if it blew in a steady direction, and constant speed, but it doesn't. It goes from flat calm to 50 mph sideways, in a micro-second. It can blow you across an Interstate, or off the road completely unless you are careful. I am resigned to the wind attempting to rip the crash helmet from my head, or my glasses from my face, but when I can feel my eyeballs changing shape it gets a bit much!
Much of Texas, especially those areas to the west and south have roads not typical of the rest of the country. There will be those reading this and doing the math. The distances involved, in the time allowed, might seem improbable to some, and I understand that. However, many of those roads while narrow, are straight, with an unobstructed view and go on for miles ... all with a speed limit of at least 70 mph. Some are 75 mph, and what is more, you can travel many miles without seeing a building or another vehicle. So as the title says ... ride appropriately to the prevailing conditions!
Despite this I make my way through wind farms and pick up points at various post offices, memorials an assorted other locations. I have only a couple of things on my mind. The first, access to Fort Hood was taken care of when I had a phone call from the Rally Master saying the requirement to enter the base was removed. A photograph of the main gate would now suffice. That saved me at least the twenty minutes I had allowed, but also took away one of my "edges". I had planned for this rally, now one of the potential pitfalls was removed from all those riders who hadn't bothered. The clock was in my favor, not only was I hitting all of my time-checks, I was just handed twenty minutes and could now add in an unplanned extra bonus.
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The one thing that had been bugging me after the concern over Fort Hood was removed was the six miles of dirt road to the Regency Bridge, the bonus following Zephyr Store, the location I had added in. Not so much "concern", you understand, as cold sweat every time I thought about it, and I needed to think about it because now it was just down the road! Missing this out wasn't really an option. As I said earlier, this rally would not be decided by the headline bonuses, the threads you could put together. Everyone should get these, this turned on the
added value you could bring to your route.
I was chatting on the phone to Jodie as I approached the turn from tarmac to dust. She had promised to stay with me as I narrated my progress. Then the cellphone dropped the signal, and I was on my own. Some of my fellow riders will scoff at this. They are veterans of off-road riding. Indeed, there was a time when I took part in trials-riding in England, but that was a long time ago, and on a motorcycle weighing rather less than the 1100 pounds of my Venture, in rally trim with me aboard. On a previous event I had done something similar to this while visiting a Monastery, and had marveled at Brian Walters as he flew by me doing about 50 mph, while I was struggling to stay upright at 15 mph. This was akin to the cool guy kicking sand in the face of the 120 lb weakling, even though I know Brian didn't mean it to be. We still giggle about that. Now I had to do it again, and it was the only remaining obstacle between me and my plan.
In the end the road proved less dramatic than the description, or the fear of it. Yes, it was rough, hot and dusty, but apart from a bit of bouncing around I found I could keep up a respectable pace, and the peace, quiet and general loveliness of the Regency Bridge was well worth the effort. What I didn't know at the time was that the bike hadn't fared quite as well as I thought, and we'll come back to that.
From the Regency Bridge it was maybe 100 miles to the finish in Georgetown, with nothing much to collect on the way. San Saba, for the Courthouse clock and memorial, Fort Hood for the main gate, and home. I had about three hours to get there and, as always, I try to match my pace to the time available. I find that on routes like this it helps to try to get ahead of the clock early on, then slow so that when you are tired, and the end is in sight, you need ride no faster than the clock demands. It doesn't always work out that way, but when it does, don't hurry, enjoy the ride.
What was troubling me was that the front brake seemed a little "off". I changed the OEM brakes on this bike for a much more modern set from a Yamaha R1. Normally, slowing down this bulk is fairly rapid but you do need to think about it. Right now it was fairly slow, and you had to plan for it ... something was wrong. The brakes were working though, and the inquest could come when I reached the hotel.
All that was now left for me to do was negotiate the awful road construction around Killeen, TX, visit the main gate of Fort Hood, and make it safely to the hotel in Georgetown.
Mindful of my less than impressive brakes, and the fact that I had time in hand, I was able to slow down and take a break. There is no need to hurry when hurrying is not required.
With no further drama and a growing sense of satisfaction, I arrived at the Comfort Inn, Georgetown, at 5.25 PM, and another rally was now just a memory.
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Postscript:
I was a long way from the first to arrive at the finish, but neither Rex nor Brian were here yet. Nor were several other riders who I expected to be putting in strong performances ... That means they are still out on the road, earning points, or struggling to make it home on time. You find out which it was later.
James came over and met me, and wondered about the oil on my right boot. We looked around for a leak, then he discovered the blown fork seal ... Fork oil was covering the right side of the bike from front to back and, more importantly, was covering the front brake caliper and brake shoes. Well at least I now know why my brakes were providing less than optimum stopping power. They made one hundred miles under rally conditions ... they will make it home entirely on the Interstate!
Scoring was the usual slowish affair, but the wait is simply time to relax, catch up with old friends, and make some new ones. I sat down to be scored by Wayne Boyter, a pleasant, relaxed and friendly procedure. Wayne credited me with everything I claimed which is always nice. Those points are very hard come by, throwing them away at the scoring table is every rider's nightmare. He appeared decently impressed with my final score of 12000 points, but I had no context and was still expecting a decent finish, but mid-table.
Before the final announcement I began to hope for a little more when other riders seemed to think that 12k was better than "decent".
In the end it was good enough for 3rd Place and no one was more surprised than me. Rex and Brian finished 1st and 2nd, so the top three was a repeat of last year. Congratulations to both of them, they rode "monster rides", and earned every point. I can't ride my current bike much harder than I have for the last couple of years, and the mileages they can do are beyond my equipment.
I had a plan and it was as good a plan as I could come up with. I rode that plan hitting every bonus (plus one) and every time-check along the way. It's all I can do and I am more than satisfied.
Best placed "Two-Up" category went to Paul Tong and his cute daughter, many congratulations. Jim Orr won the award for the best placed rider who started with zero "pre-rally" points, and there were strong performances from Troy Martin, Mark Pierce and Joe Perry. All three of those guys have very few rallies to their name and they will be there to keep everyone on their toes in future.
Many thanks must go to James and Karen Stovall. Without their efforts there would have been no rally for us to enjoy, and they were backed up by Rally Staff who ensured yet another impeccable event. My thanks go to them all.
I covered about 1700 incident free miles during the weekend and got home ten minutes before the heavens opened and the rain came down.