Sorry for the punctuation. Apparently, it doesn't transfer over..
This MN1K is my 3rd rally. Id like to say Im getting better at it but I seem to still be in that weird area of trying to figure out what system works. When you throw in the complexities of riding 2-up with a veteran like Eddie well, things happen.
My first rally experience was the 08 MN1K and things went pretty well, all in all. We had some hardware issues with our fuel tank and ran into some nasty weather. We didnt finish where we wanted to be and I learned what didnt feel comfortable for me as the passenger and keeper of the very important bonus sheets, etc.
Next up, the 09 Cape Fear Rally. We were doing really well. Ahead of schedule and looking to add some bonuses to the route. Then right outside of Louisville, KY we had the tire incident. Out of the rally. I actually cried I was so disappointed.
I was so ready for this rally! My trip to Minneapolis was challenging thanks to the always deteriorating airline industry. Eddie and I had only seen each other for a few days prior to him leaving Atlanta with the GoldWing and in retrospect we should have spent more time preparing ourselves and our equipment.
After getting the bonus sheets, we went back to our hotel to review it before deciding if we would go to Bobs or not. Eddie entered the bonuses into Streets & Trips and began the process of picking a route. Wisely, he remembered Grandmas Marathon (or whatever it is I aint from around here) and decided it would be too risky to head up to Duluth. We had already decided we werent going to Canada. After a little while, we both agreed the Wisconsin/UP route was best. But clockwise or counter-clockwise? Finally, Eddie decided clockwise based on the daylight only bonuses to the north. He was also concerned about all the wildlife up there and figured getting the UP out of the way earlier in the day was best. Wildlife doesnt use logic.as we would quickly find out.
With the important decisions out of the way, I made out my index cards (another idea stolen from Donna Phillips). I dont remember when I finally went to bed.
The next morning we spent getting the routes loaded into the GPSs. Even with 2 of the darn things we always seem to be lacking in this particular area!!
At 8:00 we took off with Keith Collins, who was planning to ride with us and headed for our first bonus in Connersville, WI. We arrived there with at least three other riders, including Jim Weatherhead and John Coons.
After getting the bonus, Eddie & I were ready to leave but Keith wasnt. He told us to go ahead and hed catch up with us. I really wish we had waited on him. Those 2 minutes would have saved us a lot of trouble in the long run.
We turned out on Hwy. 64 and within minutes WHAM!!! A deer jumped out from the left side of the road and ran right into us. Eddie did an amazing job of keeping the bike up. I simply squeezed my eyes shut, grabbed Eddie and screamed. The force of the deer hitting us slammed her body against our left legs. At that velocity, a 250 lb. deer hurts! Eddie managed to get the bike to the shoulder but couldnt feel his leg to manage to put the stand down. He was yelling at me to get off but I couldnt put any weight on my left leg and was tangled up in my intercom cord. Eddie almost dropped the bike, I somehow managed to get off and luckily, Jim Weatherhead jumped in and helped Eddie get the bike up and stable.
After it was all said and done, the entire incident took about 10 minutes. Once we determined that neither of us was incapacitated and that the bike was ridable, we took off. Of course, by now Keith was back with us and we stayed together for the rest of the rally.
We saw many more deer on this route, especially at Stonington Lighthouse, but it didnt bother me a bit. I figured we had ours and the chances of hitting another one in the same 24 hour period was zilch.
As the day progressed we saw many other riders. This made us feel pretty good except that we were still wondering if we should have done the counter-clockwise thing. We had to make Stonington before dark for this to work.
I made a couple of routing snafus that cost us some time. Later in the day we had quite a bit of stress on what should have been an easy, easy bonus.
Get a gas receipt in Marquette. What could possibly go wrong?
We came in from the west and Eddie wanted to get to the other side of town before stopping (go as far as you can before getting the gas). We stop on the outskirts of town and something told me this place wasnt going to have the proper receipts. I had to use the bathroom so I left the details to Eddie and Keith.
Sure enough, the receipts were no good. So we took off in search of gas, in the wrong direction. After a couple of miles, it was clear we were heading out of Marquette and there were probably no more gas stations so we did a u-turn.
But where was Keith? Eddie couldnt see him in the rearview mirror. We slowed down to a stop and waited. Finally, here he comes. Eddie hadnt secured the rear tank gas cap. It fell off when we turned around so Keith went back and got it. Lucky for us he was there.
After riding around downtown Marquette for too long, Keith finally led us to a station and there were several riders getting their receipts. By this time Eddie was stressing as only he can. After a too long stop where I was no help at all, we finally got the receipt and got back on the road.
Ill never take a gas receipt for granted again.
We made Stonington Lighthouse with plenty of light available. The bugs were bad and I would have loved to have stayed to watch the sunset but we got the pictures and took off.
Next stop Gladstone. By this time we were all getting tired and hungry. And it was becoming obvious that we might need to reevaluate our remaining stops to see if we had time to get them all in.
At a McDonalds somewhere beyond Gladstone, after doing the math of remaining hours, rest bonus and arriving at Bobs by 7am for the mugs, we decided we would need to cut out several stops.
We could get the stone at the Michigan Welcome Center but we probably had to cut out Lily. We planned on stopping at 3am to start our rest bonus, giving us an hour to get to Bobs and then plenty of time to make it back to Leos.
That is exactly what we did. We stopped at a 24 hour, almost truck stop in Eau Claire. There were three other bikes there and Allen Wilson rode up not long after us. The other riders were no where to be found.
After looking around for a proper place to sleep, we finally found a nice patch of grass by the parking lot. Eddie was asleep within a minute and slept until we woke him up at 5:30. Keith & I had gotten up earlier and enjoyed coffee with Connie, Randy & Allen. Turns out Connie & Randy had slept in the luxury tanning suite. I couldnt believe we didnt think of it.
Another teensy receipt snafu (totally my fault) and away we went. We arrived at Bobs just minutes after 7 and pulled into Leos around 7:35.
We came in 5th in the 2-up class for the second year in a row. This year we had the deer but that wasnt our real problem. I made some rookie mistakes and we wasted time on too many of our stops.
This rallying thing is addicting. There were a couple of times when I was asking myself why the hell am I doing this? It is so difficult to articulate.
It is the near misses, or actual hits. It is the mistakes. It is sleeping in the wet grass at a gas station off the freeway at 3 in the morningit is seeing places you would never see otherwise it is the fun of running up to a monument in full riding gear to write down some odd fact and knowing that everyone around you is staring and wondering what the hell you are doingit is eating a gas station sandwich (something I would never eat on a normal day) in less than a minute so you can keep movingit is knowing that few other people do this weird thing.it is standing around afterward sharing your stories with others that get the same rush from doing this.
It is a beautiful thing and Im hooked. Thanks Eddie.
For those who weren't at the finish: Imagine my distress when my cell phone rang before 10 a.m. Saturday morning, only to hear Eddie telling me that he and Lisa (aka Lurleen) had already hit a deer. It wasn't clear to me at that time if they were continuing on or where done; it certainly seemed to portend a long day and night of phone calls from riders facing challenges. As it turned out, only one more (non-wildlife) significant incident occurred during the rally, a commendable achievement given the 88,654 miles logged by rally participants.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your report Lurleen and remember, it's only 361 days until the next summer solstice.
Cool video. Our strike was much cleaner (as in no blood - at least I didn't see any). I think I should outfit Eddie with one of those handy helmet-cams. It would only be fun with sound though.
I personally am in step one of recovery. My prognosis is good as I see yours is also. Part of your recovery is facing yourself head on. I have pictures of you to see the person you have become. Send your email.
Heck, I think you two did great considering the circumstance!
Critter
My helmet is off to you for your ride. This rally business is addicting. Most people can't just do one, it gets in your blood. Hope you avoid the wildlife next year.
Thanks for sharing so much about the MN1K experience. Sorry it didn't turn out better, but we're all here to write and read about the experiences. Reading your account of a rally was great!
Take good care and tell Eddie I said hello... Someday I'll repay him for the tires.