Travel Log Archive

June 27th, 2009 UTAH 1088 - Another Rally Report

When a friend of mine, Peter, (we met last October during the Land of Enchantment Rally in New Mexico), sent me his ride report from the recent Utah 1088 Endurance Rally, I asked if it would be okay to post it online and he consented. As I've stated before, Spoke N Word is not exclusively a long distance motorcycling club/site but we do have several members who are also IBA members and have interest in this sort of fun. 2009 UTAH 1088 Discombobulated is a nice way to describe my reaction upon receiving 6 pages and 14 possible bonus stops with only 15 minutes to decide where to go and which of these bonii to score on before needing to be 90 miles south in 3.5-4.5 hours from then… Oh yes, there were some obvious ones to go get and there was an obvious direction to head toward but that was obvious to most of the 68 participants in this year’s UTAH 1088 motorcycle rally, or for the lay person a ‘scavenger hunt’. [This is also the preferred term when explaining any errant riding to a L.E.O.] I can’t easily explain how overwhelmed I feel when I open the packet and start reading. I look for the heretofore unknown checkpoint location and its time limits and start working backwards from it to find big bonus points. Next I look for a general direction of the bonii locations. There is some computer work involved – perhaps Google to find out when a museum will be open so I don’t arrive at the wrong time; sometimes I use a mapping program, my preferred is Streets & Trips, to check distances and time involved to cover them. Then I start looking at a paper map to see the big picture and start narrowing down a plan. I’m re-reading this and it sounds pretty simple… The first checkpoint was critical because the rally master [RM] explained that the rest of the rally bonii would be handed out when we arrived there [more discombobulated planning!] - so don’t be late!! In this case it was 90 miles south of Salt Lake City in the nice town of Nephi. [Don’t ever go there and miss Lisa’s Country Kitchen – great food!] So, I chose about 5 bonus locations and headed out 40 minutes later than the 7AM start time. I explain it this way because there were many who left right at 7AM with “other” bonii on their minds. One such was a kind of ‘seek and find’ another riding couple – the Torters - and time was of essence with this – I wasn’t interested in my current state of mind, and I did not feel the gamble was worth it – 2,500 points or nothing if I was unsuccessful. I felt some certain points were a better bet. I did get things started with twice failing the “slow ride” bonus, Two tries is the maximum allowed. A minimum of 60 seconds to ride maybe 30 yards on my bike that with gear and me is a 750 pound package with a 2-tire foot print of a few square inches. The next one was real easy – we were to stop if front of a nice hotel and take a picture of it along with our rally hat. This particular hotel is a few blocks away from rally central and no longer welcomes us to its comfortable and spacious suites. I wonder, as does the RM, what they thought when about 70 of us stopped and took a picture… Then I was off to downtown Salt Lake City. Unbeknownst to me, and I am sure to others, SLC is in the midst of a booming economy and there is road and other kinds of construction galore. This presented challenges to us non-locals to get around the obstacles- no left turn or entry, street closures et al. But then that is the fun the RM has with us. I got flustered enough after challenging the concept of the sealed envelope that contained my driver’s license and bike registration, just in case a LEO might want to talk with me, that I fled town forgetting to get a second bonus that was close by. I didn’t realize this until I was a ways down the interstate and just couldn’t be bothered trying to find my way back through the construction maze. [This is exactly was separates the winners from the also rans – that attitude of not wanting to return or re-do something – and I had this going first thing in the AM. Can you imagine what would happen after 20 hours and 1,000 miles?!!] What the hey! I am headed south toward Nephi and a big bonus that will be easy for everyone to collect and the traffic is minimal, the sun is up, the winds are light, and mountains with snow still on their peaks are in sight. Ahhh, the rally is on. Now I am proud that I am an alert rider and I notice a bumper in the lane to my left and it isn’t really going faster as it should be, nor am I getting away from it at my spirited pace so I decide with a sigh, this guy is either checking the bike out or wants some kind of action. So I check my mirrors and turn toward the vehicle. WHAT to my surprise but there is the RM and his crew and of course they are headed to Nephi. But what’s this? I am being shown a series of numbers on the passenger’s hands that are trying to explain something – again at this spirited pace. Finally I figured it out – there was a typo on my rally sheet and the exit of 279 I was headed for was really to have been 297. No one told me this directly, but I could see that I was gonna be way south of where I was supposed to exit if I didn’t make a U-turn and get back up the road. I did just that and found a motorcycle shop whose owner had opened early for us. It was a modern small shop dealing mainly with European bikes and lots of goodies, farkles and accessories. Jeff even had coffee and rolls, yogurt and fruit, and water – ahh, yes, my drink tube had come dislodged and I lost all my water on the way down so now I could refill some of it. I picked up the business card and secured 4,300 points. Next stop was the Museum of Ancient Life at the Thanksgiving Point exit off I-15. I was still not settled in and the half hour wait until its opening was just what I needed to regroup and pull it together. Other riders came and went as they figured they could do something with the time rather than await the opening. I did myself right by remaining there. It looks like a very interesting place and I will return with my son someday. This is something that happens on almost every rally – a really good opportunity to explore or learn something comes up frequently. How many of you know where America’s best chocolate malt is made, or have been to the location where the Golden Spike was placed to join the E-W railroad tracks back in 1869? I have one more bonus prior to arriving in Nephi – the zip code on a building at a set of specific GPS coordinates. I had no trouble locating the building, a post office, and no trouble with traffic. Some of those who left the previous bonus early without collecting it ran into road closures, police, fire trucks and parades for the local Cub Scouts. By the time I got there all of that was finished, so my time was very well spent, thank you. As I motored on in to Nephi I estimated 13,000 points on this first leg and had left another 2,500 or so on the table as I didn’t complete the slow ride and failed to realize the one in town. Not bad for the start but not real good either. Oh, the second packet was twice the size of the first and it contained 30 or more bonii possibilities! Again figure the now 2 checkpoints and when to be there [we could miss one of them if our routes took us elsewhere, but we had to be at 2 of the 3 to be considered a finisher]. Look for the big bonii – Oh WOW! look at these – 5,000 here and there for gas in AZ or whoa! look at this – 17,000 points for riding all the way to Las Vegas for a real Keno ticket… folks, do I have to remind you this is the UTAH 1088, its just past the summer solstice, Vegas is in the desert, there are many, many miles of rather ‘boring’ interstate [Utah has some neat mountain roads as opposed to the slab] and, and, well 17,000 points – how could I turn those down? How could any of my fellow riders turn them down IF they wanted to do well? A quick review shows no way to combine some of the 5000 point locations and come up with 17 big ones in place of Vegas; and, almost no other bonii to go with the 17,000 as to get to Vegas and back to the 3rd check point was going to take over 10 hours and 740 miles. While there were some nice pickings out there on the far corners of Utah, I could not see how going for 2 or 3 of them would be feasible. I probably spent 45 minutes figuring out and finally getting on the road to Vegas – and Hey! who is also just finishing up his planning and getting on his bike heading for Vegas? None other than THE big Dawg [and friend], Jim Owen. Well, I am either having a great day or he is having a bad one… Oh, the road to Vegas is hot, hot, and has a couple of wrecks to get around and too many radar outfitted LEOs whose sole purpose is revenue collection. Hence, the Valentine One is on - my pace might be spirited but it is judicious. Temps climb to the 115 range [remember that number]. I had dropped my GPS the night before the rally and while it would do certain functions ok it could not find addresses or specific locations like a casino that I needed to find. So, I am trying to make it work and am generally travelling faster than most of the cages and trucks when out of the corner of my eye a bike appears and is quickly by me – a BMW GT with none other than Ken Meese aboard – 3 time winner this year. Well, wait a minute here, let’s go! And it is quickly up to the Mach speed range and we head into the last 30 miles or so in about 20 minutes… A couple, Jeff and Malinda Bakker, that were on their GoldWing disappeared in my mirrors as we shot by them and later complimented us on our California-style passing of cars especially when they are driving side-by-side. Most of you have been to Vegas – what’s the chance you could go to an old casino that is out of the way with road construction around it and suddenly realize you had been there a couple years earlier on the same mission? I was flabbergasted when I got to the Keno counter and realized this is truly Déjà vu. But, I picked up my 17,000 points and was out the door quickly. And, if I ever have to go back and can find it again, I now know the quick place to park and the short way in the back door to the Keno counter. Have you ever seen the Vegasites look at a motorcyclist who is dressed in full riding gear as he is barreling his way through the one-armed bandits and crap tables? There they sit with drinks in hand in their summer shorts and little dresses wondering WHAT is this – a raid? Now before Ken and I hooked up, and by the way he was back at a service station, I had figured I could bag another 5,200 points on top of the 17k by riding on SW to California! to buy gas and get a receipt!!! My broken GPS was telling me I could make it back to Price by about 01:30 [closing time at the checkpoint, and we aren’t talking about approximately 01:30, but exactly at 01:30 is when it closes – to the second!] That seemed ok as I knew I could remain at a good pace and make it and also there weren’t a whole lot of points to gather after the checkpoint due to where we would be riding and what would be all around us. More on that later. But wait! What’s this? My wonderful BMW R1200 RT is showing signs of fuel thirst and I have about 50 miles to go to where I know I can get gas in Baker, CA. Due to the time squeeze I don’t have enough to stop for a splash of gas, and I do know there is about a 7 mile down hill to Baker and gas if I do run out and need to coast in. This is cutting it to a fine edge – and I had already run out of gas last year on this bike and I realize when it says its dry it is! My on-board computer ticks the miles down that are left in the tank and this is wonderful and very nerve-wracking information. I realize there is a big hill to climb – several miles and a couple thousand feet of elevation to a summit and possible gas in CA. I make it up the hill and NO gas or station. I crest the hill and what’s this? In front of me is another long valley with an equal size hill and climb that I had forgotten was there. It’s gonna be close IF I make it! I ride on and here in the bottom of the valley is Cima Road exit. [A working GPS would have known this!] And, what does Cima Road have but a Shell gas station! I am safe… I have gas, I have eliminated the rest of what would be a 50 mile round trip to get back to this point and thus have saved 40 minutes or so and whoopppeee, I am back in it! I should make the CP without time worries. I do what I should at the stop and take stock – I re-ice and water the drink system; I take my evening meds; I eat something; I fuel up; and for the first time in 9 hours I add music to my listening pleasure. I bag the CA gas bonus as well. And, I am flying North again. By the way, can you imagine what an extra cup of gas can do for a motorcycle? A good rallyist is always quick at the stations – we are talking less than 5 minutes to fuel up with 6-11 gallons of gas, rest room, eat and drink something and be gone. Time during a stop is the killer – one has to be on the move and so we do things that keep us moving such as eat and drink on the move, along with elimination on the move et al. That cup of gas? Well, it just might get me to the next exit I need to get to and so I take enough time to be sure I get all the fuel in the tank that is possible. A few seconds of fill time equals a few more miles of ride time. Now it’s getting on to about 7PM in Las Vegas and traffic is massive and constricting and the heat is still very high and a 5 lane Interstate narrows to 2 due to more construction and then narrows to one due to an accident up ahead. Didn’t anyone tell these people I am on a scavenger hunt? I do my best in Nevada to show those who are there from every imaginable state in the union just how we “share lanes” in California especially when on a scavenger hunt and traffic is at a dead stop. I finally got through the miles of delay and the GPS now says I am gonna be 15 minutes late at the check point instead of having 15 minutes to spare. This calls for some serious riding, but if Ken can do it alone I will sure give it a try. By the way, there goes the golf course bonus because I won’t have time to stop and it’s supposed to be during the daytime anyway. By the way Mr. Chalmers [he’s the RM], you didn’t say it had to be a regulation 18-hole golf course but I couldn’t figure out who would be playing miniature golf in 100+ temps. Now there is another 1,200 or so points close to the CP for finding out the name of the officer who was killed in the line of duty at a mile post marker. I up for finding that but it’s going to be way dark and the GPS is telling me it’s going to be another 25 miles or so out of my way. I can’t afford this so I finally get off of I-70 and head north on Utah State Highway 10 [that’s USH10 in our lingo]. It’s after midnight and I have picked up only 10 minutes on the GPS estimated time of arrival [ETA] which says I am not going to make it. I have 70 miles to go and by riding carefully but near the speed limit I am able to click off more minutes than I had in the 240 miles from Vegas. All of a sudden they are falling at a good clip and I pick up another 10 minutes. This is due to the GPS thinking I am on a very secondary road when I am actually able to maintain a good pace. I arrive in Price about 01:10 and am very pleased to be there and happy to see faces of people I know – both other riders and the staff that are volunteering and putting in their time so that we can all have fun! Good people! Did I mention my sealed envelope was still intact?!! As I did at the first CP, I take a break and get some nourishment, my first caffeine of the rally and do some routing. I know I am headed for the barn; I have good mileage and am doing well with points as I have brought back another 22,000 points. I lie down on a curved bench and it feels good to not be moving. I can’t sleep but do rest my eyes for 5 minutes or so, then I am back up and the last bike to leave the CP. Between my map that is folded under incorrectly and my malfunctioning GPS I get turned around and can’t figure why I can’t get north on US191. I think I am going the wrong way so I turn around and in another 5 miles I am sure I am going the wrong way. STOP! Get under a street light and read the map correctly. I was correct in the first place, just needed to proceed 10 more miles. I finally arrive at US191 northbound and it is the twistiest, curviest of roads AND there are critters about – I see a cow – thank goodness it has some white on it to contrast with the rock walls that line most of the road. Then I see some VERY large deer – I am sure they were elk as they were just too big. This is going to be a fun stretch of road at 02:00. It’s only about 50 miles but takes the best of an hour to safely travel. We had been warned of animals at night and they did seem all around. I need fuel again and the town of Duchesne on US40 looks totally asleep and I am on my way further east to another mile post bonus point. I ride out of town and stop at a sign explaining the next town that might have fuel. The map shows it has a red dot as opposed to a black dot – meaning bigger and thus a chance for something open. I head further east and soon realize the mile post I am seeking is back west though I don’t understand why. Did I say its 02:00? Well, I don’t think there is gas in the town I just left and so I press on with hopes of finding it in front of me. The RM had explained there would be some long and lonely stretches of road during the night [meaning no gas!]. I was hoping this wasn’t one of them. That cup of fuel might be critical after all. Finally I see lights and a closed station that at least has left their pumps on and I gladly refill and breathe a sigh of relief – again. This is exciting isn’t it? I backtrack the 20 or so miles and go through the town that was asleep. On the western edge is another station that is closed but has its pumps open… if I had just turned west I would have gotten fuel sooner, saved 40 miles or so, plus that many minutes, and would have been closer to the bonus I wanted. Winners don’t do it this way… Remember that temperature of 115, well, I now have my electric jacket liner turned up, heated grips on and the on-bike thermometer is reading 37 degrees ambient temp – that’s in less than 12 hours! You do the math. I finally reach the mile post the directions specify - between MP 60 and 59, so I slow and use my big lights to be looking for the white cross alongside the road that will be the stop. I go on and on for the full mile at a slow pace and my lights eventually light up MP #59. I finally see the cross not a hundred yards from it – hello! Could the instructions say ‘at’ instead of ‘between’? did I say it’s after 02:00? Getting’ cranky aren’t I? Answer to bonus question obtained, mileage and time noted as is necessary for all bonus stops and points, and I am headed straight down the highway for SLC and the finish. My GPS has some more coordinates that I have entered for the last big bonus and I try to find them but the GPS keeps directing me incorrectly. I am in SLC again and the GPS can’t really figure exactly where I am. I climb a steep hill that seems vaguely familiar [another rally?] and I finally realize I am near the Capitol building and see some other bikes. I am looking for a Purple Heart honoring our fallen men and women in the armed forces – a fitting ending to a great rally ride and one that is truly in the spirit of this great Rally Master. I get the requisite picture with my hat and head down the hill for rally headquarters. I am done! But, there is a final bonus that is always on the UTAH 1088 and it assures us all of plenty to drink so I stop and purchase a 12-pack of Sprite – good for another 1,000 points. What a ride; what a rally. I came to see Utah, as I always do, and I didn’t get to see much. I got drawn into a big bonus that took me afar in many ways but I am basically happy with the execution of my plan. I missed a few but gained some valuable bonii. What a State, what a Country we live in! Thank you God for a safe trip for me and all the riders. The awards banquet was full of fun and jibes, jokes and surprises. Unbeknownst to me it was Maura’s birthday and we had eaten breakfast together and paid our separate bills. During the banquet in walks the “local” LEO and arrests Maura for her various violations of the riding laws and then proceeds to direct us all in singing Happy Birthday. It was great and she had finished a very credible 14th! When it was all over all she could say to the RM was “I am gonna kill you” – and that from a Canuck! The numbers: well, 68 starters, 49 finishers. Ken Meese finished 1st for the 4th straight time this year! Then there was Marbach, Owen, Sauter and a guy who hasn’t broken into the top ten in at least 7 tries – Peter Perrin – Hey! that’s me 5th!!! I can’t tell you how I almost fell off my chair! This was really special. Almost 62,000 cumulative miles; no accidents; on ly one speeding ticket; and lots of smiles. I rode home through the beautiful part of Utah, that I had missed, taking a couple hundred extra miles and decided to bring the family back this 4th of July weekend to see what I got to see! 1241 miles for me [a minimum of 1129 were necessary to be a finisher] 71.3mph riding average 53.3mph overall average 17:25 riding time 5:36 stop time – see how much that plays into needing to keep moving! 23:01 out of the 24 hours rally. I had started about 40 minutes late and arrived at the finish about 15 minutes early