Heart of Texas Rally–The 12 hours of fun

I was awake before my alarm went off, no surprise there. I had packed the bike and prepped everything yesterday. So all I had to do was wake, shower and hit the road. I managed to do that by 4:30 which put me on Galveston island around 5:45. So I parked at a gas station near the first bonus and waited.

I had simple goals for this rally. I wanted to ride a good ride, get all the points on my route and finish in the top half. If I managed my route correctly I’d score 3,250 points. Another rider I was in communications with this week had a 3,450 point route and I knew there was a rider coming from New Mexico who would surely ride a 4,000+ point route. So I had no delusions of winning this thing.

Here’s the itinerary that I put in the map pouch of my tank bag.

At 6:02 I filled up my tank and said “Yes” to the receipt question. Oooops, the time on the pump was 5:47am. That wouldn’t work. Instead of trying to get some help from the attendant who was just opening up, I jumped on the bike and rode less than a mile to an ATM. I jumped off the bike, left it running, got a balance inquiry with a time stamp of 6:07AM and I was good to go. Albeit 7 minutes behind.

I went over to Gaido’s Seafood to get a picture of the Giant Shrimp. No shrimp, but I knew exactly where it was supposed to be so I set the bike in place with my rally flag and took the picture.

As I was leaving, a fellow rally rider on a Spyder pulled up behind me. No time to talk as I knew I was behind schedule. I needed to be at the next bonus in 1 hour.

As I rolled into Alvin, Tx on Hwy 6 @ Hwy 35 I saw a group of motorcycles meeting up for a ride. Perfect!!! I’d snag my Group Photo bonus early. Here’s the instructions for the bonus.

And here’s my photo

Notice anything missing? How about the “on their motorcycles” part.  Doh!!!! No points for me on this one.

I arrived at the Brazos Bend Park bonus at 7:19, that was 14 minutes behind schedule. I bagged the bonus and took off.

Fortunately I was on very familiar roads so I was able to make some time as I traveled the back roads of the area. I reached LaGrange and the Monument Hill State Park at 8:50. I had managed to catch up with my schedule.

The next stop was Palmetto State Park near Lulling. I considered getting gas at the Bucees there but changed my mind due to the crazy number of people doing the same thing. I arrived at the park entrance at 9:39, 8 minutes ahead of schedule. I found a dry spot of vegetation that looked like it needed some irrigation and did my part to help out.

From there it was a 185 mile stretch along I-10 and Hwy 90 to get to Bracketville. This is the part of riding where I really want cruise control. I struggled with the wind and my speed quite a bit. Not to mention cars in the left lane doing the posted speed limit or below. Really? Move over Texas!!!

I got my first fuel stop in Seguin, 7 minutes.

I had my head down in my GPS when I got to Brackville and almost missed the cannon. I took an extra minute to eat some beef jerky while I was there. I was still 8 minutes ahead of schedule even with the fuel stop.

From there I back tracked to Uvalde where I picked up fuel stop #2, it’s not that I needed fuel, but my strategy was to get my last fuel stop in Bandera so this seemed like a convenient place to get it. The pump wouldn’t print the receipt so I lost a little time walking inside, 6 minutes.

I arrived at Garner State Park at 1:38PM, getting the photo was a little challenging because of the wind and the “lookie loos” who kept stopping to take a picture of me taking a picture. Really people???

Riding to the next stop was great, FM1050 is a fun road. I did catch up with a Texas DPS officer but I guess when he realized I wasn’t some deranged maniac he pulled over to the shoulder and let me pass. As I did he gave me a big thumbs up. Needless to say, I didn’t wear his kindness and kept the speed to a moderate pace as he disappeared in my mirrors.

I arrived at the Lost Maples Café in Utopia at 1:54PM, snapped the photo and dashed to Bandera. I was 18 minutes ahead of schedule.

I got to Bandera well ahead of schedule, as in 2:25PM. I was 35 minutes ahead of schedule considering I couldn’t get my Subway receipt until 3pm. I cruised through town looking for a gas station that wasn’t crowded, then circled back to the Shell station where I waited briefly before getting my 3rd fuel stop and the 200 point bonus. Then a ride across the street to the Subway.

OK, the Subway in Bandera is in no way a flagship store for the chain. In fact it’s probably on their “Needs improvement” list.  The girl behind the counter was no where to be found, I think she was hiding in back hoping no one would find her. At least 1/2 of the meats weren’t available and the list goes on. The kicker was that my receipt showed a time stamp 7 minutes against me. So instead of being able to get a second receipt at 3:01 for a bottle of water I was going to have to wait until 3:08. As it turned out, I didn’t get out of there until 3:15 because the girl went on her break despite the fact that I had asked her to please help me with a receipt precisely at 3pm.

I left Bandera in a blaze and arrived in Kerrville at 3:35PM (10 minutes ahead of schedule). I just pulled onto the shoulder and snapped the picture.

I took the loop around Kerrville and got on I-10 in fantastic time. The South Llano Park bonus turned out to be easy as the sign was right there at the road. I bagged the bonus at 4:25PM (30 minutes ahead). I knew I was doing OK, time-wise.

The GPS found a nice short-cut from Junction up to Brady and I was able to get to my last bonus even quicker. I snapped the Brady Butane bonus at 5:20PM.

With my bonuses collected I headed down the road to the Holiday Inn to get off the clock and start working on my rally log. I completed the rally at 5:25PM.

My final score was 2,850 points. I only lost the one bonus for the Group Photo because I failed to completely read the instructions. Otherwise I road a perfect rally. Based on points, I received 88% of the points I set out to get with only 1 mistake. It’s not a perfect rally but certainly an improvement from the last one.

When they announced the top 3 riders, I wasn’t surprised to hear they all rode more than 4,000 points. With a score of 2,850 I don’t know where I placed. But I’m happy with my rally this time, I planned a very achievable route, rode it, made only one mistake on a bonus and finished on time. That’ll work until next time.

Oh and I got to meet several great new friends whom I expect to see at future rallies.

UPDATE: So the results are in. It appears I tied for 13th place with a score of 2850. Missing the 400 photo bonus cost me 7 positions. There were a total of 32 finishers and 3 DNFs. So I accomplished my goal of finishing in the top half and I have something to work on for the next rally.

2012 Heart of Texas Rally Finisher List
1. #24 Mark Smith 4325
2. #12 Rex LeGalley 4150
3. #4 Ron Milleman 3825
4. #5 Ray Lea 3700
5. #6 Michael Hickman 3550
6. #17 Betsy Young 3500
7. #26 Nick Getzendanner 3200
8. #6 Dianne Fox 3120
8. #7 Bobby Fox 3120
9. #38 Steven Bracken 3050
10. #18 Al Landry and Liz Mrak 2925 1st 2up class
11. #22 Paul and Jenn Saccoccio 2920 2nd 2up class
12. #3 John R Smith 2900
13. #31 Stephanie May 2850
13. #34 Brian Walters 2850
14. #2 Glen Copeland 2750
14. #33 Jack Dannenberg 2750
15. #42 David and Son Trail 2625 3rd 2up class
16. #32 Andrew Tatton 2600
17. #23 Kendal Larson 2585
18. #5 Randy McCamey 2500
19. #43 Abe and Kathi Garcia 2400
20. #39 Connie Schluter 2385
21. #19 Chris Mixon 2375
22. #25 Marshall Harris 2320
22. #16 Jim Howard 2320
23. #40 Dave Schluter 2185
24. #28 Jim and Eva Patterson 2070
25. #36 Karl Zurcher 1800
26. #9 Donny Phillips 1650
27. #29 Mark “Rusty” Allen 1450
28. #30 Paul Partin 850

DNF
#27 Robert Hall
#35 Mike Getzendanner
#20 Kevin Sawatsky

My Route

Heart of Texas Rally–Day -1

Tomorrow is the 2012 Heart of Texas Rally. It’s a 12 hour rally.

Here’s my Spotwalla link to follow along. I plan to start from Galveston island at 0600 and end up in Brady, Tx before 1800 tomorrow.

April Fools Rally 2012–Day 2

It’s amazing what food, a shower and some sleep will do for you.  I was up before my alarm went off and started working on my route. I discovered the problem with my GPS, some how the order of the way points had become scrambled and it had me back tracking quite a bit between a few spots. Since I was behind on my schedule though by about 2 hours I shaved a few bonuses and re-optimized the ones I kept.

I got over to the gas station just a few minutes after my 6 hour REST window was completed, filled the bike full of fuel and headed south on I-35 for 2 exits. I needed to bag my EAT bonus at the nearby McDonalds and then grab the Oklahoma City limit sign for the FOOLS bonus. By 6:45 all of that was done and I was rolling up I-35 to my first planned bonus of the day.

An old caboose in Choctaw, OK was the bonus I was after. And I drove right by it at first because I was blindly following my GPS. When I realized the GPS was in error and that I was not going to drive down some guy’s driveway I turned around and found it back down the street.

Next I rode up through the country side to Arcadia, OK for the BARN bonus. When I arrived I saw a big red barn, pulled up in front of it and snapped the picture. The problem however is that I failed to read the bonus listing which said, “Take a picture of the historical marker across OK-66, just South of the red barn.” Doh!!!! That was 104 points and time lost. RTFP!

The Edmond Post Office Massacre fountain was next on the list. Riding into suburbs like this one can really slow the pace. I’m simply not going to blast through 35mph zones at 70mph. That’s not me. As I was approaching the bonus I saw another rider go through the intersection in front of me. I was certain I had seen my first rally participant of the entire ride. Bagging the bonus was easy and I completed my second CALLIN bonus for additional points.

Next I went to the Memorial Park Cemetery for the WILEY bonus. As I was riding up to the cemetery the other rally rider (Phil) was coming out. I was tickled to death to see him because it gave me some sense of doing the right thing. I rode into the cemetery and found the monument exactly where the GPS showed it to be. Snapped the photo and logged things.

Next I headed south on I-235 to get the OILPNR bonus. The historical marker told the story of Oklahoma’s Oil Pioneers. As I pulled up, Phil was just backing away from the marker. It made it easier to find. Thanks Phil!

From this point the GPS put me on I-44 for a short distance before dropping me onto surface streets and a 45mph speed limit. This slowed me down for about 10 miles until I was able to get past the John Kilpatrick Turnpike, then it was clear sailing at a nice pace. I rolled into Okarche, OK and bagged the BOOZ bonus at the oldest bar in Oklahoma. It was there before Oklahoma was a state.

I had to make a decision at this point to drop one of my bonuses, the Watanga Post Office. It was going to add an extra 50 miles to my ride for a net of 113 points. Plus the GPS wasn’t showing enough time to get the other bonuses so I dropped it.

Next stop was the Kingfisher County War Memorial which was in a cemetery. The GPS had the coordinates right but messed up on the entrance. So I took a little detour before getting my bike into place for the photo. There are a few places that I won’t ride my bike up on the side walk. A war memorial in a cemetery is just such a place.

Next stop was the Big Four School historical marker to the east of town. It was easy to find and I bagged the bonus without much of an issue.

An old retired plutonium plant in Gutherie, OK. was next along the route. If I didn’t know what it was from the rally packet I would have never suspected it to be a plutonium plant. I’d imagine there’s enough security there to cause you problems if you decided to hop the fence and go nosing around.

A stop at the First Library in Gutherie was my last bonus before I hit the interstate system again.

Then it was back on I-35 down to I-44E. I exited at Chandler to go visit the chapel at the Davenport cemetery. I was getting closer to the end of the rally.

Next stop was the Sac & Fox Veterans Memorial 4.5 miles south of Stroud, OK. While heading south on Hwy 99 I passed Phil again.

Tick tick tick. The clock was running out. I had allotted myself 30 minutes plus travel time to capture the 2 last bonuses. I rolled up on the Meadowgold sign and snapped the photo with ease. I was feeling good about things.

From Tulsa I was heading down Hwy 64. As I approached the I-44 interchange I saw a big cloud of black smoke rising in front of me along with brake lights. At the last minute I cut over to the exit for I-44W hoping to avoid the calamity. A U-turn at the next exit allowed me to get back on Hwy 64 just a few hundred yards past the problem. A tanker truck had caught fire and the entire front of the truck was completely gone. TFD were on the scene with the fire out from the time I made the U-turn to the time I got back onto Hwy 64.

I arrived at the cemetery to grab my last bonus of the day at 1:10pm. That was plenty of time I thought. I knew the section and started walking along the graves to find CPL Jared Shoemaker. Even though I had the plot location there’s no signs giving directions. Just as I was about to give up I walked right up to his grave, snapped the picture, sat there a little bit and then hot footed it to the bike. It had taken me 25 minutes to bag the bonus and I had only planned 15 minutes.

When I got back on the bike the GPS told me I would be to the end at 1:51pm. Since my start receipt was 7:59am that meant I had 8 minutes to spare. There was only 1 convenience store along the way and it was on the wrong side of the street. So I opted to skip the COLD bonus (bring a 6 pack of something cold). The bonus was worth 60 points and I decided it wasn’t worth risking the possibility of DNF’ing the rally for a 6pack of cold drinks.

I arrived on time with a few minutes to spare. I wasn’t the first nor the last to arrive. But I had completed the rally within the allotted time.

After introductions and some preliminary story telling we all moved inside to work on our bonus logs. Since I had done mine along the way all I really needed to do was just organize my photos. I went the extra step of renaming them to match the bonus location. Overkill yes, but it made it easier when I wrote the blog.

The scoring process was fair and informative. I learned about my mistake with the BARN bonus and found out where the Wilson Fire Department was located. I took my bike over to the hotel where I was staying and caught a ride back to the rally master’s house for some drinks and grub. It was a great end to a great weekend.

---------------------------------

Final results:
6959 points - 1344 miles - LeGalley, Rex
5270 points - 1160 miles - O'Conner, Phil
4891 points - 1161 miles - Getzendanner, Mike
4701 points - 1065 miles - Walters, Brian
DNF - Bracken, Steve
DNF - Durandette, Larry
DNS- Aikens, Steve
DNS - Wall, Cliff

I was the last place finisher, but I finished and that was my goal for my first rally. I maximized my points at every location by sending in a text message for 5 points. That required me to remove my right glove each time to type on the screen. I need to get a stylus or some glove tips if I’m going to do that again.

Some other things I did that could be changed:

I didn’t stay on top of my nutrition Saturday. I was wearing my heart monitor and learned that I burned 3000 calories while riding for 19 hours. However, I didn’t eat 3,000 calories worth of food. I have to fix that next time.

At each stop I was making my complete entry in my bonus log, moving the current bonus listing to the back of the book, etc. This cost me time. I’m going to just record my info in a little note pad and read the details of the next bonus location before pulling out. No more reorganizing the rally book pages while on the clock.

I loaded my entire route into the GPS which was fine except the Zumo can only have 25 waypoints in a route before it’ll go into partial route display mode. I had 30 waypoints at the beginning. And I had no real way to know if I was ahead or behind my schedule. So instead I’ll write the stops in order in my notebook with expected times that I’ll be there. I think I need to re-visit Streets & Trips or DeLorme for their routing features. MapSource is great as a way to load the waypoints into the GPS but not for timing stops and such. I also need to check out BaseCamp to see if it has better routing features like time per stop and stuff so I can quickly create a schedule based on my route.

Reviewing the planned route for traps like the dirt road debacle is also a good idea.

Route planning efficiency was definitely an area that needs improvement. But now that I’ve found the ezBake spreadsheet for Excel I can at least work a little more efficiently when trying to evaluate routes and their potential scores.

Finally I discovered that maintaining an average trip speed of 50 mph (excluding the 6 hour rest time) is quite a tall order. I managed a 44.375mph average for the rally (excluding the 6 hour rest stop). So I have to work on getting that up higher. Efficiency at the stops is paramount.

I had a blast this weekend and I’m already looking forward to my next rally at the end of the month.

April Fools Rally 2012–Day 1

I didn’t sleep much overnight. I had gone to bed later than I wanted because I was still working on my route and trying to get everything in order. I had skipped working on the FOOLS bonus where you try to find all of the cities needed to spell A-P-R-I-L F-O-O-L-S by taking pictures of the city limit or welcome signs.

I was up before the alarm clock and by 5am I was headed out the door and getting on the bike for my ride over to Beaumont. By 7am I was in Beaumont and looking for a gas station and something to do for an hour. I found a Waffle House and grabbed some breakfast to pass the time. Then it was off to find the right gas station. It took 3 tries before I found one I liked. It put me a little farther west in town but I thought it would work.

At 7:55AM I rolled up to the pump and started the transaction. When I was done I pressed the button saying “Yes” I wanted a receipt. And out popped a receipt with a time stamp of 7:54AM.  Eeeek!!! I had to have a start receipt between 7:55am and 8:05am. Instead of trying to get a tiny bit of gas out of the pump on another transaction I went inside and bought a snack. Receipt said 7:59AM. I was good to go and on the clock.

The Garmin wanted to route me north out of town but since I knew Rose City was just to the east I went east on I-10 so I could bag my first letter in the FOOLS bonus (spell April Fools with the signs). Then it was up Hwy 12 and through East Texas on Hwy 96. I laughed about the fact that I had been on this very road last month for one of my training rides.

The first bonus was in Natchitoches, La. at an old abandoned rail road depot. No real issues getting to it, I just had to figure out my rhythm to bagging the bonus photo and sending a text. I quickly realized I needed gloves capable of typing on a smart phone. Hmmm Aerostitch had something like that I think.

The next bonus was in Paris, TX at the Eiffel tower. It was easy to get to and I even had a person offer to help with my photo. When I said I just needed to include the bike he understood and wished me well on my rally.

From there I rode up the road a few miles to Hugo, OK. and visited the grave of Lane Frost the legendary PRCA bull rider. His grave was near the roadway and I knew exactly where to go thanks to information found via Google.

Upon leaving the cemetery I almost headed east to Ibadel to pick up the city limit sign for an “I”. I didn’t and this ultimately cost me the FOOLS bonus of 420 points

After the grave site, the next bonus was a little north of Antlers, OK in a little town called Moyers. I needed to get a picture of my bike in front of the Post Office. No problem as it was easy to see from the main road. Then I back tracked into Antlers.

Another bonus was just down the road in Stringtown, OK. I rode around the town for 10 minutes or so looking for a post office until I finally had to ask a guy changing a flat tire on his car. It was just down the street a block. I had the right idea while I was driving around, I was looking for a flag pole outside the building. I just didn’t see it because it was tucked back from the road more than I expected. This was my first experience with getting my head up out of the GPS and looking around.  I also completed my call-in bonus to let the rally master know where I was and where I was going.

Up to this point I had been using my GPS to just navigate to the next bonus and wasn’t interested in what time I’d end up at the end point. I felt like I was doing good on time. That was until I pulled up my master route with all the locations programmed in. It told me I was going to be late. What gives???? The route was only supposed to take 21 hours start to finish plus my stops and a 6 hour rest break. I was truly devastated when I saw this. Something had gone wrong in my planning and now I had to solve it while not losing too much time.

I just kept going and decided I’d figure it out when I stopped for the night in Oklahoma City. The problem however is that it had an energy draining effect on me. I had messed up my routing some how and I couldn’t explain it. I pressed on.

The Colbert Monument was next on my list, it was just outside of Durant, OK. When I arrived at Fort Washita the gates were locked up and the sign posted the hours of operations. They closed at 4:30 and it was after 6. Since the bonus listing said available any time I opted for a pictured at the locked gate.

The Good Springs historical marker in Tishomingo, OK was easy enough to get to. I was in and out of the town without issues.

I stopped at the Gene Autry Museum in Gene Autry, OK. to get a quick photo. The bonus said to get a picture of the sign in front of the museum. Well that’s what I did and since I needed the bike in the picture I just drove up to the door via the side walk. I’m sure if someone was there I would have had some explaining to do. The sun was setting and I new I’d be working in the dark from this point on.

The Wilson Fire Department was up next. I came into town from the east and per the instructions it was about 1/2 a mile off of Hwy 70. Well…. I don’t think so. The GPS coordinates put me at someone’s home. So I drove up and down the street for a bit unable to find it. I probably spent 15 minutes looking for the place before I gave up.  Instead of leaving town on the opposite end I back tracked the way I came. Big mistake, the bonus was about 4 blocks around the corner from where I was. Oooops!

I was a little discouraged after leaving the town of Wilson, OK. I headed north to Ratcliff and then east a short ways before I turned off onto a dirt road. This wasn’t in my plans. As it turned out, if I had remained on Hwy 76 north out of Ratcliff I would have stayed on pavement the whole time. And even with the back tracking I could have save 30 minutes or so. But I found the Claud school and bagged the bonus. This routing snafu cost me 48 minutes to go 20.8 miles over dirt at an average speed of 26mph.

Once I got back to the pavement my pace picked up and I was feeling good. I was heading toward Oklahoma City and my planned REST break.  I stopped in Purcell, OK. to get a picture of the McClain County Law Enforcement memorial.

In Norman I dashed into town to grab the James Garner statue bonus. It was late so I just drove up next to it to get a decent photo. I opted not to stay at the Super 8 there in Norman because it was a little difficult to get in and out of.

On the way into Oklahoma City I spotted the city limit sign a little too late so I decided I’d get it in the morning. I arrived at my hotel and started my REST bonus by getting a receipt at the nearby Loves gas station which had a Subway sandwich shop inside. I probably lost 10 minutes waiting for the lady to make my sandwich but that was one great tasting sandwich when I got to the room. I set my alarm clock to wake me up in 5 hours, that way I’d be able to work on my route and get back to Loves for fuel by the end of my 6 hour break.

769 miles in 16 hrs, 45 minutes.

April Fools Rally 2012–Day 0

In less than 12 hours I’ll be getting on my bike and heading to Beaumont to start a 30 hour endurance rally. This will be my first endurance rally in preparation for next year’s Iron Butt Rally 2013. Riding long distances has never really been a problem for me, riding long distances while keeping track of various bonus opportunities is going to be a whole new game.

In a nut shell I have 30 hours to travel from Beaumont, Texas to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. No problem there’s plenty of time. Except that I have to make the route at least 1,000 miles or else I’ll DNF. I must get a receipt in Beaumont between 7:55AM and 8:05AM to start the clock. If I miss the window for any reason, I’ll be out of the rally before it starts. Next there’s the issue of picking which bonuses to claim. With 150 bonuses available there seems to be an endless combination of routing choices. That is until I realized that for every mile over 1,000 miles that I travel I lose a point up to 1,500 miles. 1,501 miles is a DNF. There’s also a 4 hour minimum rest break, miss that and you guessed it! A DNF.

I’m not about to post my route or intended bonuses before the rally starts, that would be a bad idea. I can say there are some interesting places to see though like an old jail, the grave site of a rodeo hero, several war memorials, an old barn and much much more. I’m not going to see the Gulf of Mexico on this ride as I had planned previously and I won’t be going down to the Padre Island either.

I’ve made a widget addition to this site which I hope will work as planned and allow my readers to follow me while I’m riding via spotwalla. I’ve also set up a spotwalla tracking page for the event. Click this link to see it. I rode a short shake down ride today and you can check out the link for it too.

So why a shake down ride less than 24 hours before a big ride. Simple really, too many things had to change before this ride and time seemed to be against me. My trusty riding boots were no longer trusty or water proof. It took 3 pairs before I found a new pair that was actually waterproof and fit comfortably. I love my new pair of Dianese touring boots, they are a definite step up from the Tour Masters. Then there was the matter of my riding pants. Winter was cruel to me and my borders had expanded beyond the boundaries of my current gear. So I needed a new pair of pants. I also retired my trusty Olympia AST jacket because well…. it looked like something a homeless person would wear and that’s after I cleaned it. And don’t forget the new waterproof gloves either. After 5 years of dependable use they too decided to call it quits in a recent rain storm. So I look like a mannequin for  new motorcycle gear and I wanted to make sure everything was going to be OK. It is.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll post again on Sunday when the ride is over and I’ve had a good dinner with my fellow rally goers. In the mean time follow along on spotwalla. You can find the group spotwalla page for the rally here.

BBFO 2012 - Day 4

The temperature this morning was at least 10 degrees warmer in Campwood compared to Alpine yesterday. I opted not to put on so much cold gear and figured I'd be fine with just my Gerbing gear as a liner under my Olympia 1-pc suite. I wasn't even going to plug in. So after enjoying breakfast across the street with everyone, we packed our bikes and I left with the group heading north.

We left Campwood via FM 337. As it was still early we kept the pace moderate just in case there were any deer out for a morning stroll. After we passed through Leakey I decided to move up 1 position behind the leader to better enjoy the pace through the twisties. In Medina we turned North onto Hwy 16 toward Kerrville. I absolutely love this road as it has lots of tight curves where the GS just rocks!

Once in Kerrville the group of 5 bikes gathered back up and we continued north to Fredericksburg. The only problem with Hwy 16 between Kerrville and Fredericksburg is that it's a 2 lane road. So when you get stuck behind a slow moving truck you are sort of stuck there until they turn or you get into town. We were far enough back in the line of vehicles we really didn't have a choice but to sit back and enjoy the scenery at a speed of 55mph. Once we arrived in Fredericksburg we turned east onto Hwy 290 and headed out of town with a fuel stop at the Shell at the corner of FM1623.

I opted to plug in my electrics at this point. The temperature had stayed around 50 degrees which made it a little cold when riding down the road at 70 mph. Once back on the road I was nice and cozy with just a little bit of juice flowing into my Gerbings. The ride on 290 over to Austin was uneventful although the closer we got to town, the more I had to contend with traffic. In Austin we headed south on Hwy 71 to Bastrop. There I waived goodbye to 3 riders of the group. The 2 of us who were left stayed on 71 heading south toward Columbus.

At LaGrange, Jeff pointed his old airhead toward the gas station and we waived good bye to each other. I was now back to riding solo, just me and my thoughts and the occasional car on the road. I picked up I-10E at Columbus and "slabbed it" over to Sealy where I took Hwy 36 just as I had done on Friday morning. Getting home via Hwy 36 isn't the quickest way but it avoids miles of suburbia and soccer moms so it's worth an extra few miles.

When I rolled up into my driveway I was glad to be home but I was a little sad to see the end of the trip. Over the course of the 4 days I added 1607 miles to the odometer which now reads 98,011. I'm really happy with the seat adjustments I made a few weeks ago. I don't get the same pain from pressure points that I used to get. I still get some back pain but I expect that to diminish over the next month as my workouts at the gym strengthen those muscles.

I had 3 technical difficulties on this trip. First was the broken right hand mirror. It didn't happen on the trip but 2 days before when I was moving the bike around in the garage. I just didn't find out about the problem until I left the driveway and it fell off. Oooops! The second issue was a carry over from my last trip. I'm having all sorts of problems with the XM radio audio from my Garmin going through the J&M CB. I think it's some broken solder joints inside the J&M so I'll have to take that apart to investigate. And there's the fact that I need to replace the Zumo integrator module for the J&M which is going to run me about $400. Yikes!  The last problem happened on Saturday morning at breakfast. I broke the key of my Givi topcase. Luckily it broke inside the lock so I was able to stick the nub of the key into the lock and turn it. I've got spare keys so it won't take long to disassemble the lock and get the broken key out.

I've got 59 days until I ride in the April Fools 30 hour rally on March 31 and 191 days until the Butt Lite 6IX. The GS needs some attention before I make my next LD ride but overall it's doing well and should serve me nicely as my rally bike for this year after I add the auxiliary fuel cell to raise my fuel volume to 11.5 gallons.

BBFO 2012 - Day 3

This morning we enjoyed breakfast at Magoo's again. We started a little earlier as everyone seemed to be ready before 8am yesterday. My breakfast was a breakfast taco with 2 eggs, bacon and cheese. Definitely a hearty meal to start the day.

The plan today was to head east and end up in the Hill Country for the night in Campwood, Texas. We left Alpine via Hwy 90. The first stop was in Sanderson to allow people to fill up. Then it was on to Langtry to visit the Judge Roy Bean museum. We then continued east to Comstock for lunch and another fill up for some of the bikes. I had not filled up the bike all morning long and I didn't plan to until we got to Rocksprings. This is one of the benefits of having the GS Adventure tank on a regular GS. After lunch at the grill next door to the gas pumps we headed north on FM 163. We stopped in Juno at the deserted resort to kick tires and tell lies for a few minutes. Then continued on up the road to Hwy 189.  Hwy 189 ended at US 277 where we turned south to go down to Hwy 55. From there it was an easy ride into Rocksprings where I topped off the tank at the Shell station.

Most of the riders wanted to head on to the motel in Campwood which was about 25 miles down the road. I wasn't quite ready to call it a day just yet so another rider and I went north on 377 to Hwy 41 East over to FM 335. When I  turned south on 335 I found a wonderfully fresh paved road to enjoy. We set a modest pace and enjoyed the sweepers of 335. Before I knew it we had chewed up the 20+ miles of pavement and found ourselves just a few miles outside of Campwood on Hwy 377.

We rolled into town and pulled into the parking lot to see the other guys just getting into their rooms. Apparently they stayed at the gas stop longer than I expected. Because we certainly weren't going that fast on our little detour down FM 335. I checked into my room and unloaded the bike. Another wonderful day of riding had come to an end. I traveled 333 miles today over an 8 hour period. It was a very relaxed pace today and allowed me lots of time to think about changes I wanted to do to my bike in it's preparations for the big mileage days to come later this year and next.

Tomorrow evening I'll be at home and this year's BBFO trip will be over. Weather has been absolutely wondeful on this trip with lows in the high 20's and highs in the low 70's. Perfect for a winter trip in Texas.

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BBFO 2012 - Day 2

Today started off at McGoo's for breakfast. It was convenient and close to the hotel. Service was good and reasonably quick for a party of our size.

Then we headed down to Study Butte to allow a few riders to top off their tanks before riding the river road (FM 170). I followed Chuck and Mike at a modestly spirited pace. Most of the group stopped off at the fort just outside Presidio but I kept going.

I topped off my fuel tank in Presidio and continued on FM 170, I want to go to Candeleria which is as the north end of the road. The ride was pleasant although not as exciting as the stretch from Study Butte to Presidio. When I got to the end of the road, I looked around, wondered why anyone would live out there and then turned around. In Ruidosa I decided to head towards Marfa via a gravel country road called Pinto Canyon Road. It was a 20 mile stretch of rough gravel with some great scenic views. I wouldn't recommend it on a touring bike but for moderate dual sports it's definitely something you should check out. Of course if you think your Goldwing is a dual sport by all means go check it out.

When I finally reached pavement again I found myself on FM 2810 which I followed into Marfa. There I picked up Hwy 17 toward Ft. Davis. About 4 miles south of Ft. Davis there's a road going toward Valentine, I think it's FM 166. It's part of the Ft. Davis loop. I  turned on it and followed it around for 75 miles to get into Ft. Davis. Just remember to always take the road to the right and follow the signs toward Fort Davis. The first mileage sign to Ft. Davis is about 25 miles into the loop. The ride was scenic and there was snow on the ground as I got into the Ft. Davis mountains near the observatory. Some other riders told me there was actually snow on the roadway at the observatory but I didn't ride up to check it out.

Once back in Ft. Davis it was a short 23 mile ride down Hwy 118 into Alpine. I filled up the gas tank near the hotel and then parked the bike for the day. I rode about 350 miles today and got to see all the sites that I wanted to see. The gravel road was an extra treat.

Tomorrow we are heading back to the Hill Country. I was sort of looking forward to visiting Big Bend National Park but knew I was going to sacrifice my time in the park in the interest of the others so I'll come back and ride that another time. We'll either stay in Camp Wood or Rockspring tomorrow night and then ride home on Monday.

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BBFO 2012 - Day 1

Happy new year. It's been several months since I posted anything on this blog. I've been riding my motorcycle but haven't taken any real trips since the summer.

Last month I did get some exciting news related to my enjoyment of motorcycling. I have been picked to complete in the 2013 Iron Butt Rally. So now the preparation begins. I'm entered in the April Fools 30hr rally to be held at the end of March and then the Butt Lite  6 day rally in August. I'd like to get a new K1600GT as my rally bike but for now it's not in the budget. Hopefully that will change as the year progresses.

Now how about the current trip I'm on? I left my driveway at 9:30 and was finally on the road by 9:45 after filling up the gas tank. It was a quick ride down Hwy 59 and then over to Hwy 36 via Spur 10. Traffic was almost non-existent so I was able to move down the road easily.

In Sealy I turned onto I-10 West and remained on the super slab until I got past Ft. Stockton. I made 2 gas stops along the way, the first was in Kerville. Since it was around lunch time I stayed there a little longer and enjoyed part of a Cliff bar. Total stop time was 10 minutes. The next stop was in Ozona and it was just a quick gas and go. I was back on the road in 3 minutes. With a full tank of gas, I knew I could take advantage of the higher posted speed limits out west so I cranked up the throttle.

Once past Ft. Stockton I took exit 248 south onto Hwy 67 down to Hwy 90 and then into Alpine where the motel is. After stopping to top off my tank for tomorrow I arrived at the motel by 5:30. So it was 8 hours drive way to drive way and 560 miles.

Tomorrow we'll be heading down to ride the river road (FM 170) and other roads as time permits.

Rallies 2011 – wrap up

Life is getting back to normal once again. We are falling back into a routine and our cats are happy we’ve sprung them from their ‘prison’.

The trip was 24 days, we spent 21 nights in hotel rooms and 2 nights with friends. We enjoyed 3 free nights at hotels thanks to reward programs from Super 8 and Choice hotels. The GPS shows 5,724 miles traveled. The route took us through 19 states; LA, MS, AL, GA, TN, VA, WV, MD, PA, DE, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, NH, ME, VT, NC.

We only had one problem with the bikes and that occurred on the final day of the trip just 120 miles from the house when a relay failed on Reagan’s auxiliary electrical system. As a result of the relay’s constant on-off cycling it appears her SkyFi3 XM radio receiver has suffered catastrophic failure and will need to be replaced.

There were only a few occasions where we were “unplugged” and they were usually temporary. Together we improved our abilities to work from the road. I tell people as long as I have an Internet connection I can work from anywhere in the world. That is usually true, of course, wanting to work is sometimes a different story. :)

We are considering a SS2000 in September so that I can check off Ohio and Michigan and complete my US map. The trip will depend on work schedules and temperatures. We’ll have to wait and see.

This has been a great summer and once again we got to enjoy parts of the US that we hadn’t been to before.

UPDATE: Sometimes taking something apart can fix the problem and not just make it worse. Honestly, that’s what I thought years ago when as a child I would take things apart. Of course, getting them back together was a whole other story. Today though it worked. I removed the back cover of the SkyFi3 and pulled out the battery. Then reinserted it and tried to turn it on, nothing. I plugged in a USB cord since it had a slot and the screen started to flash as it lit up and shut off. I then removed the usb cord and to my surprise the unit started to power on but then shut off. Thinking the battery was dead, I went outside, repaired the relay problem and plugged the SkyFi3 into it’s cradle. Presto!!! It booted up and locked onto an XM station.

So really the only bike related problem of the trip was a $5 relay. It actually took more time to remove the plastic access panel than it did to hook up the new relay. Reagan’s satellite radio is fixed. Hoooray!

Rallies 2011 – Day 24

Today’s route was simple, I-12W to I-10W into Houston, then we would be home.

We got an early start and the bikes were rolling by 5am. Not much to say about riding across Louisiana. We made our first gas stop after only 120 miles into the ride. Reagan was not getting very good mileage out of the Shell gas from Slidell. We stopped a second time for gas just after crossing into Texas at a place called Crawdads.

The second stop took a little longer because I needed to tend to an electrical issue Reagan was experiencing. The auxiliary relay that powers the accessory fuse block I installed was failing. The quick and easy solution was to bypass the relay all together. If the trip had continued past today I would have stopped at an auto parts store and picked up a new relay and replaced it when we got to the hotel. As it was, I just unplugged the connection once we made it home.

I’m glad we got an early start because the sun did too. By the time we got into Texas it was getting warm. We rolled into the Houston area around 10am and by 10:40am I was in my driveway with the bike turned off. Reagan arrived a few minutes later since she stopped at the nearby Exxon to fill up her tank and get a final receipt.

Today’s trip was a quick 376 miles in 5 hours and 46 minutes. The average speed was 65mph, we didn’t spend much time at the gas stops, even on the 2nd one where I bypassed the relay.

I’m going to finish unpacking, put stuff away, and take care of things that need attention after our absence for 3 weeks. Tomorrow I’ll write up a summary post for the trip. The short and sweet summary, “It was a great trip!!!!!”

Rallies 2011 – Day 23

Today is only the second day of the trip that we had to set an alarm clock. We were up at 4:25 this morning and across the street at the gas station by 5. After filling the tanks we headed south on I-75.

The whole route today was about making time and getting closer to home before the heat set in. We sailed through Chattanooga’s construction with ease and soon found ourselves on I-59S. The GPS took us on I-495 around Birmingham and then we crossed the rest of Alabama on I-20W/I-59S. In Meridian, MS. we stayed on I-59 down toward Louisiana. Then it was a quick ride on I-12W into Slidell, La. where our hotel was. We stopped at the gas station before going to the hotel. It was 11:30 when we turned off the bikes in the Comfort Inn parking lot.

Obviously we had arrived very early and the hotel was just checking out 2 bus loads of teenage boys who had stayed the night before. The staff was helpful and got us into a room by 1pm. The wait in the lobby was certainly better than the heat outside. Actually the entire ride was comfortable temperature-wise until about the last 30 minutes. Then it started getting warm. Dealing with the traffic and heat around the gas station was about the worst part of the ride today.

We travelled 480 miles in 7 1/2 hours. Because of the time change we gained an hour of travel time which helped to keep us in the cooler temps a little longer. Tomorrow is just 377 miles (2 gas stops) so we’re going to get another early start. I expect we’ll be home before noon.

 

SPOT Followers:  It looks like SPOT ran out of batteries this morning. I don’t feel like changing the batteries tonight so it may not  be online tomorrow.

Rallies 2011 – Day 22

Today was our last working day on the trip, as such we worked in the room until 10:30 before packing up the bikes and departing. The Microtel Inn & Suites in Robbinsville has a decent breakfast although not the caliber of a Hampton Inn. With work complete we headed up Hwy 129 toward Deals Gap. We road the “Dragon” northbound first and the turned around to ride it southbound. There was heavy law enforcement today, likely due to the recent fatality of a sportbike vs. semi. From what I was able to gather, the sportbike was in the wrong by crossing the line, the semi truck driver is being charged and the sportbike rider is dead.

We stopped at the Deals Gap Resort for stickers, patches and a meal. Then we decided to ride HellBender (Hwy 28) around to 143 and head back into Robbinsville. There was a gas stop in Robbinsville to top off Reagan’s tank and we stayed there longer to cool off as the temperature was rising after lunch.

At this point, it was time to point the bikes toward home, but not without one last scenic detour. We left the area via the Cherohala Skyway and for a while, escaped the high temperatures. When we reached Telico Plains we turned north on 68 then west on 39. In Etowah we took another break to get out of the heat and cool off. Then it was south on 411 to 64 west which took us to Cleveland, TN. We took the Hwy 60 bypass south to I-75. Then it was a short run on the superslab down to Chattanooga. After being on back roads for so many days I actually had to push myself to get the bike up to 70mph again.

We arrived at the Comfort Inn and checked in. We were done for the day. We travelled 187 miles today.

After showers and a little break we headed across the street to the City Cafe located in the Best Western Inn. It was one of only two choices we had within walking distance. The other was Waffle House and that really wasn’t a choice. OMG!!! The City Cafe at exit 7 of I-75 is a top notch restaurant. Their food is great, their menu is extensive and the prices are fantastic. If I’m on I-75 in the future I will definitely stay at a hotel within walking distance of the City Cafe. It was one of the biggest surprises of the trip.

Tomorrow we plan to make Slidell, La. Heat is of course a concern so we are starting early and plan to keep our stops short. If all goes as planned we’ll get to the hotel between noon and 1. If they won’t let us check in early I’ll just kick back in their lobby and wait. Two hot, sweaty, smelly motorcycle rider should be motivation enough to allow us to check in early.  :)

Rallies 2011 – Day 21

This morning I was slow to get moving, I didn’t sleep very well. I think it had something to do with all the beer although I didn’t feel sick. Breakfast was ‘light’, as in a bowl of Rice Crispies. But it was a breakfast none the less. We finished our work  this morning just before 10:30, loaded the bikes and headed out.

The first order of business was to go get some gas. There was a Wal-Mart just down the hill so I decided to fill up there. Bad idea, their gas is lousy and we could tell it throughout the day. With our tanks topped off we went back by the hotel and headed down 226A a.k.a “Diamondback”. It was definitely a twisty road. It started off slow but 4 miles into it things got really technical. Maybe it’s because I started the day tired but I found myself worn out before I reached the bottom of the mountain. I originally planned to turn around and go back up it but when we got down to 226, we took that back up the mountain to the BRP.

The ride south on the BRP started out nicely with a clear road ahead. As we got closer to Ashville more and more traffic started showing up. We stopped in Ashville for some snacks and Reagan topped off her tank to get some better gas.

After the gas stop, I wanted to eat lunch at the highest elevation overlook which was at mile post 431. We were still in the 380s and it was already after 1pm. Breakfast was a distant memory. I finally stopped a few miles short of my goal at an overlook with a picnic table. The view wasn’t great but the cool breeze made it nice none the less. We cut lunch a little short when rain drops started coming down.

When we got to mile post 431 we were rain free so we pulled into the overlook and sat there for a little while just taking in the scenery. Then it was time to head down the mountain and finish the BRP. It turned out that we had more miles left than I expected.

When we rolled into Cherokee, TN. The air was significantly warmer than we were accustomed to for the past 4 days. We kept moving, got to 74, then 28, then 143 into Robbinsville. We rolled into town a little after 4pm. Checked into our hotel, received a free upgrade to a suite and unloaded our bikes. Dinner was had at a local diner up the hill from the hotel.

Today’s trip was 200 miles long and kept us on the road for 5 1/2 hours.

Tomorrow morning we’ll go ride the Dragon, get Reagan a patch and depending on how we sleep tonight we might do HellBender, then head to the Cherohala Skyway and start our ride home.

It’s been fun to play for the last 3 weeks. But as the trip is winding down I have to say I’m looking forward to my routine and diet at home. At least until we knock out a SaddleSore 2000 in September so I can tag Ohio and Michigan thus completing my map to the right and allowing me to retire my well worn AST jacket.

UPDATE: Reagan’s been keeping track of the wildlife seen on the BRP. Her totals are: 3 does, 2 fawns, 2 turkeys, 2 wood chucks, a suicidal squirrel and a field mouse. Today she made a huge dent in the butterfly population, they may now be considered an endangered species (ha ha ha).

Rallies 2011 – Day 20

This morning we enjoyed a great breakfast and then worked for a little while. Reagan finished her work first and I decided it was time to go play so I stopped working a short while later. We left the hotel just after 10:30 and headed south on I-81 to Hwy 8 which would return us to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We stopped in Floyd, Va. for fuel and some food to eat along the way. A few miles later we reached the BRP and headed south. Traffic was very light and I joked that it wasn’t called the Blue Ridge Parkway but rather the Brian & Reagan Parkway. Travel was easy and full of twists and turns.

Around mile post 229 we reached the detour which Reagan had found out about by reading the nps.gov site. The detour took us away from our route and into warmer temps. Cars unable to go the speed limit were the biggest stress factor along the detour. But with patience we made it to the end of the detour and found ourselves once again on the BRP with an open road in front of us.

We stopped for lunch at one of the overlooks and enjoyed a light meal, V-8 juice, snack mix, beef jerky. Yum! This worked well as we were able to enjoy the wilderness while eating something light.

With lunch finished we resumed the ride south with about 80 miles left for the day. The further south we rode the higher the elevation got. We were going into the mountains. We stopped at a visitor center and purchased a few of the “decreasing radius” items they had for sale. Then it was back on the road.

We exited the BRP at mile post 331 and turned onto 226A to find the Skyline Village Inn. When we pulled up I was a little concerned but once I went in and started talking to Joe I felt really good about the place. We parked the bikes around back under a special covered area exclusively for motorcycles and then carried our stuff.

Today we road 203 miles in 5.5 hours. It was a great day of riding.

Normally that’s where the blog entry would end. But after we got into the room and changed into street clothes we headed downstairs to check out the food and drink situation. Reagan found the gem store on the first floor and acquired a beautiful emerald along with lots of other things, I bought a sticker. Then we headed into the restaurant. Again, my first impression was “what have I gotten us into?” But once we got our beers and placed our order then Mike, the owner, showed up and started telling us about the history of the place. The original owner was a moonshiner and built the hotel from his earnings as a ‘shiner’. Then we found out that Wednesday night is “Beer Club” night. Around 6:30 locals showed up and we were included in their weekly meeting. Mike has a passion for bringing craft beers to his store, he’s got so many unique beers I haven’t seen before. His selection rivals Specs liquor. We enjoyed tasting some different beers and then played a trivia game with some really odd questions. The evening was a blast!!! It was the most fun we’ve had in the evening during the whole trip.

If you want a great, warm and friendly atmosphere, show up at the Skyline Village Inn on a Wednesday and stay for the night. Get down to the first floor restaurant around 6 and enjoy the evening with fun people. And leave your apprehensions behind, the hotel has a unique character with all the wood working and masonry work. Reagan and I want to come back and stay for several days to enjoy the area.

Rallies 2011 – Day 19

Today we started our ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway. The higher speed limit made the turns more interesting. We stopped at the northern visitor center to get a stamp, sticker and patch. We managed to leave the center just before a large group of Harley riders pulled out.

Unlike yesterday, we didn’t stop much at the overlooks. I was wrapped up in all the twisties. We stopped for lunch at Peaks of Otter Lake. There were no Otters to be found. But we did find a regular National Parks restaurant serving normal nps food. Certainly not as enjoyable as yesterday’s lunch.

After we finished our meal and checked out the gift shop, we resumed our travels south. Once again we passed the large Harley group who had stopped at the general store across the street. Reagan wanted to stop at an overlook which had shade and a view so a few miles down the road I found an overlook that fit the bill. We stopped, took off our helmets and just sat on the curb looking out to the horizon. It was peaceful.

A short time later we resumed our ride south. The temperature was rising and our elevation seemed to be falling. The curves weren’t as fun and the scenery turned to that of local houses and farms. We pulled over to resolve a satellite radio issue and once we returned to the BRP we found ourselves behind 3 Harley riders who could barely keep the speed limit in the occasional curves but had no problem rolling on hard in the straight aways. I kept thinking they would turn off at an overlook. I had that thought all the way to mile post 159 where we exited and headed northeast to Christiansburg, Va.

After a 27 mile ride from the BRP to our hotel we were done. Tonight’s Quality Inn has juice, milk, coffee & tea 24 hours a day, breakfast from 6 to 10am and cookies from 5 to 10pm. Of course we enjoyed some milk and cookies.

Today’s route covered 193 miles which we did in 6 hours. Stopping for lunch really slowed us down. Tomorrow I’m hoping to take a lunch with us, something light. That way we can stop at a shaded overlook and enjoy the scenery for awhile. And then continue on to mile post 331 where the Skyline Village Inn is located. It promises to be an exciting stay tomorrow night. When I asked about gas, the proprietor said not to worry, they are one 1 1/2 from gas and it’s down hill so you can coast to the gas station.  I’ll make sure to top off Reagan’s tank in Floyd, Va. before we get back on the BRP.

Rallies 2011 – Day 18

After 2 weeks on the road we’ve really hit our stride. Things work like a well oiled machine every morning now. Since today is a work day that meant we worked until 10:30ET this morning. This works out well and allows us to travel an extra week this summer. Next year this routine will allow us to travel even longer. And since we won’t be on the east coast we should be able to finish our work earlier (1 hour per timezone going west).

We’ve started staying at Quality Inns again on this trip just like we did last year. And again I’ve discovered that Quality Inns are really a great value. They are only a few dollars more than a Super 8 but the breakfast is Hot and nearly rivals the Hampton Inn. We’re definitely going to be staying at more Quality Inns during this trip.

With work done, we loaded up the bikes and headed to the Skyline Drive. We entered the park and stopped at the first visitor center to get the passport stamps, buy a patch for Reagan and learn a little bit about the park. Then we continued south through the park. It seemed like we had the road to ourselves. Only occasionally did we find a vehicle traveling in our direction. A brief stop at one of the lookouts usually resolved that situation.

We stopped for lunch at the Skyland center. The view from the dining room was great! The food was better than normal for national park food and the prices were extremely reasonable. As we were getting off the bikes, Reagan had a close encounter with a deer. They were within 5 feet of each other at one point and the doe wasn’t the least bit scared. NO, Reagan did not try to pet the deer…  After lunch when we returned to the bikes we found a pair of deer just a little deeper in the woods with a little fawn being the closest. The deer didn’t spook when she started her bike either. On the way out of the area we saw a turkey run across the road.

After lunch we had a little more than half the park to ride through so we picked up the pace a little bit and headed south. The ride was very pleasant and relaxing. I found myself slowing at most of the lookouts like a bonafied tourist. In many cases, seeing the lookout from back on the road before the turn off gave a greater image than pulling off to look down in the valley.

Before I knew it we were at the end of the park and turning into Waynesborro. As we road into town we found a BBQ joint next to the Sunoco. We’ll get a picture tomorrow on our way back out. It was a little too far from the hotel so we won’t be dining there tonight.

Checking into the hotel was a real treat. Saturday night Reagan was in charge of booking rooms and picked the Quality Inn rooms. This was another fantastic choice on her part. She discovered we had a free night’s stay from last year’s promotion. So she opted to use it for tonight’s room. However because we had previously booked a room for July 31st the web site thought the second room, in another town was also for the same night. When we tried to correct the mistake the site would not let us. When I tried to call in to customer service I got an unsure commitment that the reservation was changed. Yesterday I called the hotel and got the reservation changed to tonight.

When I showed up to check in though I was still unsure about whether we actually had a room. As luck would have it the lady at the front desk was the same lady I spoke to on the phone yesterday. She said she had a room for me but there was a slight problem. “Oh boy”, I thought, “here comes the fact that I lost the free room.” She said, “We have you a room but we don’t have a key to your room.” She went on to explain that their computer system was messed up as result of an update earlier in the day which had disabled their ability to create room keys. We could still get into the room via a master key which had to be used by a hotel employee only. Because of this “inconvenience” and because we are Choice Rewards members they decided to refund our points used for the room AND…. wait for it…. give us the room for FREE!!!! How cool is that! This has been a great day on so many levels.

Needless to say, we’ve already got another Quality Inn stay booked for tomorrow night. And I’ll start looking for Wednesday night’s room before I go to sleep tonight.

 

Today was a fantastic day of riding. We covered a short 113 miles in 5.5 hours. It wasn’t about the quantity of miles but the quality. Tomorrow we start the Blue Ridge parkway and stay in Christiansburg.

Rallies 2011 – Day 17

This morning we wanted to get on the road early as we knew we had a long day ahead of us running down I-81S. As a last minute thing before we left I checked the Garmin for food along the route with “BBQ” in the name. I found one stop in each of the 4 states we would be passing through; Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. We managed to get on the road by 8am after having breakfast at the hotel. Today had my first waffle of the trip.

Riding the superslab isn’t usually exciting but the scenery along I-81 in New York state is very nice, and the temperatures stayed in the 70’s. In fact it was very comfortable until we got down into Pennsylvania and our altitude got lower. That’s when the heat started building.

Our first BBQ joint was at the southern end of PA in a little town called, Greencastle. When we rolled into town something big was going on in the center of town and they had the streets blocked off forcing people to follow detours that weren’t really intended for that amount of traffic. Finally after circling the entire town and coming in from the south we reached Bentley’s Old Mill Bakery & BBQ. The place met the objective of having “BBQ” in the name for the Smoke Chasin 2011 ride. They were closed for some local event and the hand written sign said they would be open “later”. Two things make me unlikely to ever try to go back to that place; 1. no bbq smoke smell outside (even if they were closed for business, the pit should have been smoking meats for Monday) 2. The place looked brand spanking new and lacked any authentic BBQ attitude about it. I’m really stuck on the lack of good smelling smoke…. UPDATE: Reagan did some investigating online and determined they have closed the place and it’s up for sale. That certainly explains the lack of smoke.

So we punched up the 2nd joint which was just down the road a few miles in Maryland. A short ride down I-81 and another drive through town took us to a shopping center in Hagerstown, MD. There we found Hempen Hill Bbq Bar & Grill which as luck would have it is closed on Sundays. OK, those of you who know me…. if I ever actually decide to open a BBQ joint, you have my permission to give me a “whoopin” if I don’t open on Sundays. I mean come on! BBQ joints should be open on the weekends, no excuses. Close down on Monday and Tuesdays if you want time off.

The rules of the Smoke Chase don’t require us to actually any Q so we got our pictures and moved on. The 3rd stop was a long shot in my mind. It didn’t show up on my Garmin and I had found it via google. So we headed down to Martinsburg, WV in search of JF Texas Brisket BBQ. The address led us to a little business center in the middle of no where. I guess they had gone out of business because there was no JF’s BBQ to be found. I should have checked it out a little more carefully online since it wasn’t in my Garmin. Oh well…

We returned to I-81S and went down the road a few exits until we found a Subway just across the Virginia state line. That gave us a chance to get out of the 100 degree heat and enjoy a late lunch. We opted to skip the BBQ in Virginia as we’ll be in the state for another 2 days and should be able to find a place along the way. We completed the last 45 miles of the day’s ride and found our hotel in Front Royal, Va. We are just a mile or so from the beginning of Skyline drive.

Today we travelled 440 miles and were on the road for 8 hours. This was certainly the hottest travel day we’ve had so far. Tomorrow we’ll be riding the Skyline drive in it’s entirety. The whole route is 111 miles and is supposed to take 3.5 hours plus stops along the way. It’s a work day so we’ll later but I expect to be in Waynesborro tomorrow afternoon in time for a nap.