Chris' 2005 Iron Butt Rally

Chapter 14

Oh, What Could Have Been 

I have spent many hours since the rally ended, Monday morning quarterbacking many of my decisions and what I could have possibly done differently.  The most obvious answer would be to go to the Lighthouse in Corolla, North Carolina that I had skipped.  Those 3513 points would have secured the win for me.  But it is not that easy.  The two hour roundtrip to get those points would have caused me to take the last ferry off Ocracoke Island pushing me back at least two hours.   

If I could have still made the ride to Denver after riding the two additional hours, I would have undoubtedly been in penalty time at 20 points per minute when I arrived in Denver.  Things would have been very tricky.  I think there is a strong chance that I would have been time barred if I had gone to Corrolla.  I will never know, but I do know I was at the limits of my riding when I got to Denver.  Two more hours of riding without more sleep was not possible. 

The bigger mistake was in the route I picked for the first leg.  I rode a horrible route and deserved to be so far behind the leaders.  It is ironic the leg with the most time to plan, resulted in the worst route and hence 10^th place after the first leg.  In looking at the second and third leg, I finished 1^st and 3^rd in points for those legs respectively with no time to plan the route.  In reality the rally was “lost” on the first leg if that is possible. 

Of course, Shane managed to overcome the same mistake and win.  I could not.  In my heart I do not feel I lost the rally by virtue of something I did or did not do.  I was beaten by a better rider.  As with all the riders competing, we did not lose the rally, Shane won it.  It is a distinction with a difference. 

The bike has recovered and came through in fine order.  Though the BMW reputation has taken a hit in recent Iron Butt Rallies, my bike was just fine.  I’m sure Jim Owen might have a different opinion after his BMW broke down and cost him a chance to win.  The body is slower to bounce back but I have time to recover.  One interesting note of my ride was that I only picked up one bonus west of the Mississippi, the lighthouse in Nebraska.  In fact, Denver was the farthest west I rode the entire rally.  I don’t know what that means other than I find it odd. 

The good news is that 2007 is just around the corner.  I have already talked with Paul about a new Team Robo.  He is already doing the planning.  Of course my support crew is not too crazy about another rally, but I think after some time off she will come around.  Shane is officially retired, and I wish him a happy retirement.  I also want him on my speed dial when I am sitting in Red Lodge, Montana and trying to decide to go to Tucson, Arizona or Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2007.  I hope to avoid some of the other minor mistakes I made and do what every rider strides for, to ride the perfect rally.  No one ever has ever ridden one, but we will all keep trying.

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