Chris' 2005 Iron Butt Rally

 Chapter 5

Sounds Like a Plan 

            My plan was pretty simple.  Win the Rally.  Everything I did was geared toward that goal.  I was also realistic in that this was my first Rally and that probably was not going to happen.  I am very competitive by nature.  If I had set my goal for a bronze medal, I would shortly change it to a Silver Medal, then to Gold Medal, then to a top 10 and then to a top 5.   I simply saved time and set the goal to win right off the bat.

            Paul had asked me several months before the Rally, what my goal was.  I told him I planned to ride to win.  I wanted him to know I was not riding to finish the rally.  I was willing to risk a DNF to win the Rally and I needed his advice on how to win, not finish the Rally.  And I got the advice and heeded it.  Harold Brooks had told Paul many years ago his four golden rules to a top 10 finish.  After that, circumstances would need to fall right to win it. 

            *Put the “Big Rocks” in First (Get the Big Bonuses)

            *Stay on the big roads

            *Get 4 hours of sleep every night

            *Ride all night the last night 

            I changed these rules, just slightly.  I planned on riding 1200-1300 miles a day, with 4 hours of sleep in a hotel every night.  I would only eat on the bike or during a timed rest bonus.  All other eating would be done in gas station parking lots.  Take the red pill (hard route) if offered.  Sleep on the bike, when needed.  Ride all night the last night.  Risk the DNF for a chance to win.  As any military person will tell you, no battle plan survives first contact.  My plan would be no exception. 

            The Rally broke down into three legs.  The start was from Denver Monday Morning with the 1^st checkpoint back in Denver Friday evening.  The 2^nd leg would be again leaving from Denver Friday evening and arriving at the Maine checkpoint Monday morning. The 3^rd and final leg would leave Maine and finish at the Denver checkpoint on Friday morning.  Eleven 24 hour periods.  In a departure from previous Rally’s, riders that were late for one checkpoint were an automatic DNF.  You might as well go home.  Your Rally would be over.  This fact was not lost on anyone.  

            All the riders gathered for the Sunday night banquet.  After dinner, riders were called up one by one by the Rally Mistress, Lisa Landry to receive their official Rally flag and rider number.  I sat with Paul and other Team Robo members during the banquet.  As the riders went up to receive their packet, Paul shared what information he knew about them.  I personally knew only a handful of riders and others by reputation only.  As the numbers were called out, Lisa would sometimes state the accomplishments of each rider.  One thing became clear.  A lot of them had done this before.  That did not fill me with confidence.   

            Lucky number 69 was called.  I managed to get up to the front and get my flag without tripping or otherwise embarrassing myself.  As I sat back down, Paul whispered in my ear, “69, now that is a good number.”  I don’t know if I believed him, but at that moment, I believed that he believed it.  Just thinking that made me more confident, if only slightly. 

            Then the time came for everyone to open their bonus sheets.  After a rustling of papers, everyone in the room was frantically going through the bonuses.  Mike Kneebone, the president of the IBA went over some of the bonus locations and other housekeeping and scoring issues.  We were then on our own until the start the next morning.  Class dismissed. 

            As I continued looking through the bonus locations, the room was a flurry of activity.  Every bonus was the right one, every bonus was a sucker one.  You could hear a dozen opinions with every step you took.  I found it a little overwhelming.  I spoke with Vickie Johnston.  Vickie was the top female finisher in the 2003 Rally.  We agreed to look over the sheets and meet in about an hour to see what we had come up with.  Team Robo was to meet in a room shortly to bounce route choices off each other. 

            I gathered all my sheets up and went to my room.  There seemed to be three obvious routes: 

            *West to pick up a lot of smaller bonuses.

            *Northeast to the north coast of New Brunswick for a LARGE Bonus

            *Southeast to Fontana, NC and Key West for Large Bonuses 

            There were some other large bonuses to the far Northwest in Canada, but I thought they seemed impossibly far and not worth the points.  Other than that, I came to no obvious conclusion.  I picked up my laptop and headed to the Team Robo HQ. 

            I found the team with laptops a-buzzing and maps spread everywhere.  We began bouncing ideas.  We thought a route of 4500-4800 miles would leave us in good shape for the second leg.  The first checkpoint was back in Denver on Friday morning.  We strongly anticipated more points being available on the 2^nd leg and then even more on the 3^rd and final leg.  No one wanted to burn themselves out on the first leg and then be too tired to go for the big points later in the Rally. 

            The group eventually decided that Key West was the right route.  Everyone seemed to have variable of some type, but they all involved Fontana, NC and Key West, FL.  I headed back to my room to upload the maps and waypoints into the GPS.  I planned on going to NC, then Key West, Chicago and finally a bonus location in Nebraska.  I felt the route was easily doable and should get me back in Denver in time to get plenty of sleep before the next leg. 

            I called Vickie and she came down to my room.  She was planning on riding the first leg with Bob Wooldridge.  I told her I was planning on going to Key West.  She said they were leaning toward some of the large bonuses in the Yukon Territory in Canada, but that she had some reservations about the route.  She was especially concerned with having to ride long periods at night in an area with abundant wildlife.  I agreed that it would be very risky.  I just did not think there were enough points to justify the risk right at the start of the rally.  We agreed to check with each other in the morning. 

            I finished my route plan and retired for the night.  Ironically after days of not being able to sleep at all, I slept like a rock.  There was nothing left to worry about.  I only had to ride.  Let the games begin.

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