Chris' 2005 Iron Butt Rally

Chapter 7

A Horse in Mid-Stream

             I passed riders, riders passed me.  I think we were all happy to be riding.  The “Wrecking Crew” from Minnesota passed me by. Paul had believed they would be some of the strongest riders in the Rally.  I fell in with them and trundled east.  The group would pick up other riders and drop riders from time to time.  Riding east through the foothills of Colorado, they didn’t seem to be so threatening.  After a while, I dropped out of the group.  I had my route to ride and own schedule to keep.  I always thought that riding with someone else during a rally was a hindrance that put both riders at a disadvantage.  

            Shane Smith passed me. It would be a familiar scene over the next 11 days.  John Ryan and I passed each other several times over the next few hundred miles.  We even refueled at the same first couple of stops together by pure coincidence.  Both of us were getting very poor fuel mileage and neither one of us could figure out why.  We never did. 

            I talked to Paul on the phone a couple of times.  He was trying to get an accurate picture of which riders went where.  I told him the Wrecking Crew was heading to Key West with us.  He said that Jim Owen and Rick Morrison had headed west.  George Barnes was going to New Brunswick.  Only about 10 riders were going to New Brunswick.  Everyone else seemed to split between going west and going to Key West. 

            More ominous signs.  Paul stated that he had been running some routes and found that a good rider running an aggressive route out west could probably put up more points than my Key West route.  But, it would be a very technically demanding route and probably leave the rider exhausted at the end of the leg.  And the margin of points gained would be minimal.  The goal was not to be in first after one leg, but be in first after 3 legs.  Still though….in the back of my mind, I began to second guess the Key West route. 

            As night approached, rain began falling on and off.  With night and rain both falling, my speed also fell.  I had been following John Ryan for about a hundred miles or so.  I began to drop back a little as my night vision is not the best.  We were still about 150 miles west of St. Louis and I had planned on riding all night, sleeping on the bike at the bonus location in North Carolina.  The bonus would not be available until 9:00 AM Tuesday morning, providing ample time to get a good nap. 

            Paul called.  He had been running some numbers again with St. Louis as a starting point.  The route to New Brunswick was fewer miles (about 50) and more points (about 700) than the Key West route.  I was somewhat stunned by this.  Paul suggested I head for the New Brunswick bonus, a lighthouse on Miscou Island on the northeast tip of New Brunswick.  He stated that he had spoken with Shane and that Shane had already turned for Canada.  

            I did not want to change horses in mid-stream.  Not only did I already have my route plotted, but I had not brought my laptop with me to load a different map set into the GPS.  I asked Paul to call me back in an hour.  I wanted to think about it and I would not have to decide for another hour or so.  I called Nancy to see what she thought.  I think she said something like, “Less miles, more points?  Seems like a no-brainer to me.” 

            When Paul called back I told him I was heading north.  He suggested a route through Cleveland and Buffalo.  I told him I would try to make Cleveland by morning.  I then called Nancy back and told her the bonus was a lighthouse on the north coast of New Brunswick.  I told her the lighthouse was on an island named Tippensquaw.  I did not want to stop to pull out the bonus sheet to recheck the name of the island.  I asked her to find a large town near the lighthouse that would be in the base map of the GPS, since I could not load any other maps.   I would check with her the next morning.  Of course, the bonus location was on Miscou Island, not on the non-existent Tippensquaw Island.  Nancy would spend considerable time and energy trying to track down information on the mythical Tippensquaw Island!  

            As I rode on through the night, I wondered how I could have been so blind.  By heading straight to New Brunswick, I could have saved 150 miles.  I had now ridden 150 miles out of my way and spotted the other New Brunswick riders a huge lead.  I tried to catch up with John Ryan to get him to go north, but he was gone and had no phone on his bike. 

            I felt a strong sense of urgency to make up for lost time.  As dawn approached, I thought about my plan of 4 hours of sleep every night.  The plan didn’t survive Day 1 of the rally.  The New Brunswick bonus was a “Daylight Only” bonus, meaning I had to get there in the daytime.  My on-the-fly route had me there Wednesday around noon or so.  From there I wanted to go on to Chicago and Nebraska, also both daylight bonuses. 

            After passing through Cleveland early Tuesday morning, I checked the GPS.  In the first 24 hours, I had already ridden just under 1600 miles.  I pulled into a rest stop for a half hour nap on the bike.  Feeling refreshed, I pulled out and headed north toward Buffalo, then into Canada. 

            The weather was perfect as I crossed the Thousand Islands Bridge that leads into Canada.  I pulled out my passport as I waited in line at Canadian Customs.  As my turn came I handed my passport to the inspector and waited to be waved through.  I told him I was on vacation on my way to New Brunswick.  “Sir you will need to pull over and see the Immigration Inspector.”  I knew this was not a good sign.  Going through a secondary inspection is a tedious experience that can eat up valuable time, sometimes hours. 

            I pulled off to the side and went into the building to be further examined.  I waited in one line and then another.  I answered questions and then some more questions and then some follow-up questions to those questions.  All the while, I smiled and my brain went “tick…tick…tick”.   An hour later I was cleared to enter the great white north and headed on toward Quebec. 

            Ah…Quebec, or as I like to call it, “The-Land-Where-All-Our-Signs-Are-In-French-And-We-Don’t-Care.”  Nothing against Quebec, but it is really disconcerting even trying to find a gas station when nothing is in English.  Even more disconcerting is the overhead flashing yellow sign that is surely trying to tell you something very important and you have no idea what it is. 

            I struggled through evening rush hour in Montreal and onto Quebec.  Darkness fell and I began to fade fast.  Rain started coming down.  Now this may sound strange, but I have always found Canada to be a very dark place at night.  Living in the Northeast, I am used to everything being lit up at night.  It is clear that Canadians do not share the American love affair with the streetlight. 

            It was time to find a hotel and take my 6 hour rest bonus.  East of Quebec, I began searching for a hotel.  I soon found a perfect one.  It had a credit card machine for a time stamp, restaurant attached and parking in front of the room.  I had been riding for over 30 hours and had covered well over 2000 miles.  I got some food from restaurant and took it back to the room.  I set the Screaming Meanie alarm and was fast asleep two minutes after I was done eating.  This would be the only food I would eat on the first leg. 

            I woke the next morning, sometime before dawn.  I called Nancy and gave her an update.  Using the Star-Traxx website, she had been checking the progress of the other riders heading to New Brunswick.   I had my own schedule but because of my slight detour south, I wanted to find out how my progress compared with other riders.  After checking, Nancy found that I was about 150 miles ahead of a couple of riders that were also headed toward New Brunswick.  I knew from Paul that Shane had spent the night at a hotel about 150 miles ahead of me.  Being behind Shane was something that was going to become a familiar theme. 

            As the morning progressed, it became clear that I would not reach the bonus until early in the afternoon sometime.  I stopped for gas at a small station in St. Quentin, New Brunswick.  After gassing up, I checked the GPS and found it routed me up to the coast through Cambellton and then along the coast to Caraquet.  The map showed Route 180 on a more direct route, through the middle of New Brunswick.  The owner of the station stated that 180 would was a little rougher road, but would save about an hour driving time.   

            I headed up 180, dodging potholes as I went.  I ran into 2 modest construction zones along the 100 mile stretch.  As I rode north, I passed Shane coming south.  He had already been to lighthouse and was heading out.  I continued north and passed one other rider coming out from the lighthouse only a few miles from the bonus location. 

            I arrived at the lighthouse and quickly snapped the requisite photo.  Nearly all the bonuses during the rally required the rider to take a picture of the bonus location that also contained your Rally flag.  While waiting for the photo to develop, I re-read the bonus instructions to make sure I did what was required to earn the points.  I had learned through harsh experience that this was good practice.  As I filled out my paperwork, two other riders rode up.  I spoke briefly with them and then headed back south.

            Again, I opted for Route 180 to save a little time.  Unfortunately, it started raining about halfway down the road.  The previous construction zones were now muddy messes.  The GS slogged through fine, but I really hate riding through mud.  I never get comfortable.   

            I got lost briefly in Montreal, trying to find the correct road west. I planned on riding the northern route and dropping back down into the US near Detroit.  After midnight, I began looking for a hotel for a few hours sleep.  Unfortunately, my timing was going to be very expensive.  Once again I was in the Thousand Islands area.  The first two hotels I checked were full.  The third one had a room.  I ended up with a beautiful hotel room that cost me about $35.00 an hour.  The hotel clerk was quite shocked when I left a few hours after checking in.

(Return to Index) : (Proceed to Chapter 8)