California Dreaming

The next morning I walked back to the dealership to get the bike well before sunrise.  I expected to have to wait while the tire was replaced, but amazingly, the tire had been replaced and the bike was ready to go.  I can’t say enough about this type of service.  Once again, and not for the last time, a BMW dealership, or more precisely, the employees at the dealership had gone above and beyond to get me back on the road.   We were off, heading down to Big Sur for a good bonus.

Arriving at the Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, we ran into Rebecca Vaughn.  Rebecca had just set an IBR record by spending over $400 for a hotel room on the Monterey Peninsula the night before.  The price is even worse than that when you figure that most riders will be in a hotel room for just a few hours.  We wished Rebecca well and worked our way north back to Santa Cruz for the boardwalk bonus.

Vicki in Big Sur, California

We began to sharpen our lane splitting skills in earnest as the morning rush progressed.  Though it always seemed to be controlled chaos as we weaved our way through traffic, it certainly made rush hour traffic a non-factor.  Being fairly well rested, we made good time and arrived at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk ahead of schedule.  It also felt good to be able to lean over again and to not have to constantly stare at the tire monitor.

Boardwalk in Santa Cruz

From Santa Cruz, it was just a short hop over to the large bonus at the Lick Observatory.  As we rode I spoke with Nancy and Paul.  By gathering information from a variety of sources, they were able to put together routes that were being run by other riders.  I also relayed information that I had received from other riders, some of which was probably more rumor than fact. 

In looking at what some of the other riders were doing, it appeared that no one in the top 10 had gone for the far north bonuses.  The other riders seemed to fall into two groups, a clockwise route which would include Marty Leir, David Derrick, Greg Berger, Mike Evans and myself and a counterclockwise group that would include Alex Schmitt, Jeff Earls and Jim Owen.  Everyone seemed to have built a route around the Lick Observatory bonus.  Though some information seemed to be solid, I was never 100% sure where anyone else was unless I actually saw them myself.  The Rally was far from over at this point.

We started up the road to the Observatory and found a tight, twisty road with sharp switchbacks all the way to the top.  Though paved all the way to the top, we barely managed 10-20 mph all the way up.  At the top there were numerous riders milling around.  I saw Jeff Earls and spoke with him briefly.  He had made an all night run from Washington to arrive here. 

Lick Observatory

We nearly made two fatal mistakes at the bonus.  Our first pictures did not include the requisite picture of the Observatory Dome and Vicki nearly forgot to have her bonus book stamped.  Disaster averted, we grabbed some cold water and took five minutes to rest.  Dean Tanji was there and got me for another short interview.  Much like the Arch Bonus, it was clear that the Rally Masters wanted riders to be at this bonus to give Dean a chance to capture more of the Rally on tape.

Again, we spent the next hour backtracking our way off the mountain and over to Livermore, California for the longest continually burning light bulb in the world.  Excepting for power outages, this light bulb, located in a fire station has been burning since 1901. 

We arrived at the station only to find everyone was out on a call.  Per the instructions with the bonus, there was nothing to do but wait for someone to return.  Fortunately, someone returned within a few minutes and let us in.  More importantly than getting the picture was for the rider to sign a log book, documenting the visit.  I took a long look at the names that were already in the book.  I was surprised to see none of the names of riders that I believed had already been there. 

106 Years and Counting…Center Top

Heading north toward the five bonuses in San Francisco, I had an extensive conversation with Paul about my route choice.  Up until now, things were working pretty well, but he thought I was making a mistake in trying for the Northwest bonuses.  There was no doubt I would be able to pick up a large amount of them.  The problem was that this would force me about 2,000 miles from the finish in St. Louis with a little over 24 hours to go.  I didn’t remember this when running the route, but I did remember I would need to put in big ride the last 30 hours.  Even with a two hour grace period for the late window, I would be hard pressed to not be time barred at the finish. 

As much as it pained me to cut those bonuses, in reality I had no choice.  I kept going over it in my head how I could have made such a mistake.  Perhaps I had not taken into account the loss of time riding back east or more likely, I just was too hurried to get out of St. Louis without rechecking the route.  I had really been counting on those bonuses to push out to a lead in the last 48 hours.  There was nothing else to do but work the middle of the country collecting bonuses in Nevada, Utah and Colorado as I made my way back.

When Vicki and I stopped at the first bonus in San Francisco, I explained to her my mistake.  She seemed to take it all in stride, which, in retrospect, was the thing to do.  We methodically worked our way around San Francisco with a minimum of difficulties. 

Cupid’s Arrow with the Bay Bridge in the Background

Crooked Lombard St, with a Rider Coming Down

Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

Sutro Baths, San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge

Christopher Columbus Statue

Perhaps the only problem we had in San Francisco was that we were both running low on film.  I had brought enough film for 80 pictures, but with duplicates on some bonuses, I was down to my last pack, as was Vicki.  I stopped at a drug store and bought 4 more packs. 

After the Rally, I would find out there was a mini-controversy over these bonuses.  Some riders had been led to the bonuses by non-Rally riders.  I was completely underwhelmed by the situation.  While riders in the Rally are prohibited from riding with riders that are not in the Rally, some people seemed outraged by this, thinking those riders got some type of extreme assistance. 

Given that neither Vicki, nor I knew San Francisco at all, I would still doubt that any of the riders made it through the city much quicker than us.  The bonuses were just not that hard to find.  Any assistance using riders with local knowledge would have been of negligible usefulness in the overall Rally.  I also doubt there was any intent to circumvent the rules.  Quite appropriately, the punishment imposed also did not impact on the final standings. 

We easily beat rush hour out of San Francisco and headed east toward Sacramento.  With just a bit of wandering, we found the large coke cup and continued on.

One Tall Coke, Sacramento, CA

We still had two more bonuses to grab before daylight ended.  They were both located in the Grass Valley area of California.  We easily found the covered bridge for which we were searching.  Then the odyssey began to find the Kneebone Cemetery.  We searched for the better part of an hour with absolutely no luck.  We stopped several times to reread the directions.  Finally, Mike Langford road up and asked us if we were looking for the bonuses.  We told him that we had been to the bridge, but couldn’t find the cemetery.  To our amazement, he told us the cemetery was right next to the bridge.  I was dumbfounded and more than a little angry.  More wasted time due to sheer stupidity.  Near the end of the Rally, these mistakes would prove costlier.

We quickly backtracked toward the bridge and found the cemetery.  We snapped our pictures and headed toward Nevada.  I wanted to try to make Utah before the end of the night. 

Covered Bridge, Grass Valley, CA

The Kneebone Cemetery

Leaving the bonuses, we stopped for gas.  As I filled my main tank, I tried to calculate how much this delay had hurt.  As I filled the tank, the cap on the main tank just snapped off and clanked against the ground.  The metal hinges had broken.  I stared at the cap on the ground simply dumbfounded.  I had never even heard of such a thing.  I picked up the cap and tried to get it to seal on the main tank, but it wouldn’t seal.  Now, instead of a 3 gallon auxiliary tank without a cap, I had an 8 gallon main tank with no seal.  Once again, I tried not to think about the consequences of dropping the bike.  There was nothing to do but set the cap in the neck of the tank and ride off.  What else could go wrong?

We crossed over the Sierra Nevada Mountains after sunset and were greeted by the pulsing neon of Reno, Nevada.  The night had grown cold but was not intolerable.  In fact, after the heat of California, the coolness was welcome.  There was a 24 hour bonus in Wendover, UT to pick up during the night but as the night wore on, it was clear we were not going to make it that far without some rest.  We stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada and got a few hours sleep in a hotel. 

Before dawn Wednesday morning, we packed up and headed out.  The leader for the first leg, David Derrick has also gotten some rest in the same hotel.  Unfortunately, David had run into some mechanical problems during the second leg which would knock him out of contention.  He was just trying to make it back to St. Louis with enough points to be a finisher.

Over the next couple hundred miles, we would leapfrog back and forth with David until we parted ways after the Wendover Will bonus.  Later that day, David would be involved in a serious accident, ending his rally completely. 

Wendover Will, not to be confused with Wendover Won’t

We stopped at a gas station in Wendover to fill up.  At the pump across from me was another rider.  He asked me what time did the Rally finish Friday?  I told him I thought it was around 7:00 AM Friday, but he should check the bonus sheets to be sure.  Once again, I was trying to do two things and not concentrating on refueling.  I filled the auxiliary tank and moved the nozzle to the main tank, but it would not fit.  After trying for a few seconds to force the nozzle in the main tank, I realized what I had done.  I had been pumping diesel fuel into the bike.  Idiot!

I had also left the valve between the auxiliary tank and main tank open.  Some diesel fuel had undoubtedly drained into the main tank.  I closed the valve and pushed the bike to the edge of the station lot.  I disconnected the auxiliary tank and began draining the diesel fuel.  Vicki had finished refueling and rode over to me.  Once again a stupid mistake was costing time.  I finished draining the tank and refilled the bike with gasoline.  After speaking with Roger, I was fairly confident no real damage had been done.  The bike started right up and we were off for Salt Lake City.

The rules of the rally required the rider to turn in receipts for all fuel purchased during the rally.  I started chuckling to myself about how to record the purchase of 3 gallons of diesel fuel in the log.  I decided to call Lisa with a scoring question.  “If you fill your bike with diesel fuel, are you required to get a receipt?”  I actually found this question to be hilarious.  Ah…long distance humor.  There is nothing like it on Day 9 of the Iron Butt Rally.  

I got a call from Paul as we rode across the salt flats on the outskirts of Salt Lake City.  He had somehow sweet talked the service manager of Salt Lake City BMW to meet us at the bonus location in Salt Lake City with a new gas cap for the bike.  The manager would need to remove the entire fuel cap assembly and re-key the cap.   I was amazed that someone would take the time to help me out like this. 

We arrived at the Council Hall Building a short time later.  With barely an introduction, the manager went to work on the bike while Vicki and I took pictures of the large, colorful bison in front of the building.  By the time we returned, the manager was just about finished.  I paid him and thanked him profusely.  More importantly, I did not have to worry about every bump spilling fuel all over my crotch. 

Colorful Buffalo

We quickly moved across Utah toward a large bonus at the Dinosaur National Monument.  Construction traffic slowed our progress, but not too horribly.  We took a quick nap on in the parking lot of a gas station, but were soon off again.  We passed a couple riders outside the Park and rode to the visitor center.  Though I am sure there are probably a lot of things to do in the park, it seemed to be just one large desert.  I guess I expected giant dinosaur statues like something out Disney World.

Two Rare Breeds…LD Riders and Dinosaurs

We wasted no time in heading for Independence Pass, the next bonus.  As we rode through Aspen, Colorado, I started feeling just the slightest vibration in the clutch lever.  It was so slight that I first thought I had imagined it.  But it was there.  I called Roger and told him the problem.  He had me run the bike through a series of diagnostics as we rode through town.  Nothing else seemed amiss.  Being cognizant of possible final drive failures, I asked Vicki to look at the drive at a stop light to see if there was any leakage.  Everything seemed tight.  The bike continued to run fine and the vibration disappeared a few miles later.

We began the climb out of Aspen up toward Independence Pass.  The temperature dropped dramatically as we rose.  The wind was also whipping across the mountain tops.  This was perhaps the quickest bonus of the rally.  It was very cold at the top.  I am not sure we said one word as we took the pictures and headed back down to warmer climate.

One Quick and Cold Bonus

Continue to Chapter 10

Return to Index