DaJuice
Well-known member
PLANNING PHASE
We got the bonus info about a week before the Rally. That was the first time I’ve ever got it with days to plan… plenty of time to over think. 1st thing I did was manipulate the gpx file Rick gave us to color code the point distributions of the bonii. Green is low, blue is medium, red is high and purple is very high. I also changed the icons for the combo bonii to make them stand out. Here is what it looked like before I started planning.
Next I had to figure out how many miles I could realistically do and start plugging away to see how many points the few options I was looking at pulled in. This rally was 8 hours long, short in time but likely the same amount of stops as a much longer rally which meant lots of stopped time. I figured a 40 mph average would be safe to start with considering many stops and the lack of strait fast roads in the area. That meant I could pull down about 320 miles.
There were some big points to the north so I tried that route first. Looking at the packet I figured I’d need about 10,000 points to have a chance for a podium finish. I came up with a route to the north that would get me 10736 points but it was 386 miles and only 27.8 points per mile. I didn’t think I could do it.
Next I looked south as there was combo bonus for getting gas in MN, IA, IL and WI that would alone be worth 3200 points… Just my luck, I finally get my fuel cell in working order with enough fuel to cover the entire day without ever stopping for gas but the winning route looks to involve 4 gas stops! Damn you Rick! There was also a nice line of high point bonii just north of the IL border that would add up quickly… yes that is where I want to go. Now I just need to decide exactly how much I have time for. There is a big boni in Dubuque, IA, but I hate that town… always seems to take forever to get from one end to the other (Just like La Crosse, but I’m stuck with that one, we are starting and ending there). I also need to find a place in IL to get some gas. I decide the best place was a Sinclair station in Scales Mound as it was the closest one to the line of red I saw in southern Wisconsin. Trouble is, it is a really small town, who knows if it will have the required computer generated receipt with location printed that is required to claim the bonus. I decided to have a backup plan and found a station on the north side of Galena that I’d put in the GPS just incase. I could have played it safe and just planned on Galena, but that station would add about 10 miles to my route so I took a chance.
The pic below shows the 2 routes, the north route in blue and the southern route that I would use in magenta.
Here is a close up of my southern route. 316 miles for a total of 10685 points at 33.9 points per mile. That was a slightly lower total than my northern route but the lower mileage meant I had a better chance of being able to add to my route if I stayed efficient.
THE NIGHT BEFORE
I was sharing a room with Cruzin and we were both picking at each other through the past week trying to figure out each others plan. As he and I were the only 2 riders that had done a rally before we were competing in our own class against each other. About 1 AM we figured each others plan out… we were both going after the gas bonus! That meant it was going to come down to who could pick up more bonii along the way to and from IL.
RALLY RALLYE PRE-START
I woke up at 6 to have enough time to prep my bike before the riders meeting at 7. I knew it was a bad idea to stay up so late the night before! I got the bike ready and headed to get some breakfast at the meeting. Many of us had noticed the rally packet RallyBastard Rick gave us a week ago was rally packet B. I assumed it was rev B… should have known better, Rick had rally packet A waiting for us in a sealed envelope. Luckly he didn’t throw us the normal extra combo bonii at us that would normally completely change the route. It was just a few… find some of things anywhere and snap a photo type. There was also the always interesting, put your driver’s license in a sealed envelope and if it is still sealed when you score tonight you get a boat load of extra points!!! Aka, behave!
OK, now time to get back to the bike and gear up for the 8AM start. We had been watching the radar that morning, there was a huge cell moving in and looked like it would get there right about the same time we were leaving… great.
THE RALLY RALLYE
The sky was dark and RallyBastard Rick was smiling as we waited for the GPS’s to strike 8 AM. My clock said 7:59 and with a flash of lightening, clap of thunder and great big grin on Rick’s mug the sky opened up and the rain began. The GPS changed to 8:00 and I hit the throttle, the 1st one out of the parking lot… sweet!
1st stop was across the river in MN for my 1st fuel stop, I was topping off the main tank when Griff and another rider pulled into the same station a few minutes behind me… I think to myself… damn, they are going for the fuel combo too! I’m a little frustraited with the rain and filling out the paperwork. It took me over 5 minutes… not good, need to speed up those stops!
2nd stop was to get a pic of the Reno town sign with my rally flag, no issues, was out of there before anyone came up on me but still was fumbling having my rally packet in a ziplock to keep it dry. I hope this rain does not keep up.
3rd stop was in New Albin, IA to get fuel… a full service station, shoot (that is not what I said in my head)! The guy walks up real slow and I tell him, the tank is almost full, I just need a splash and a receipt. He pumps in .4 gallons and slowly walks back to the office, I had him 2 bucks and he fills out a receipt… completely by hand!!! Damn, that won’t work… OK, I have to go to Lansing to cross the river back into WI, I can try there. On my way to Lansing I start thinking about my choice of gas stations in IL. If that one in Scales Mound doesn’t work out it is going to cost me a lot of time to run back west to Galena. Maybe I should play it safe and just to to Galena right off the bat? I notice my brain is in fast forward, I’m thinking way too hard, I need to calm down. I have a couple of hours before I need to make a decision. I get my gas in Lancing and head for the bridge to IA. Just getting off the bridge I see an FJR coming at me. I recognize those lights he has anywhere, it is Cruzin, why is he in WI coming into IA? Did he run to MN then back into WI somewhere? How many points did he pick up coming down the WI side? More than me??? My brain is thinking way too hard again… nothing I can do… I need to calm back down and ride my plan.
4th stop was Starks in Prairie Du Chien at Starks Sports Shop. I forgot to flip to the next bonus when I was in Lancing so I couldn’t read what I needed to do there, so I parked the bike and got off assuming I needed to go inside. It is a really unusual place, there you can buy food, booze and guns, what a combo! I read the bonus… all I needed to do was answer what brand of beer was advertised by the neon sign to the left of the front door… “Fat Tire” damnit… I didn’t need to get off the bike! Time wasted! I’m still spending way too much time at each stop!
5th stop was in Cassville to figure out how to hail the ferry. I pull up and see a couple different signs telling me how to do it, all worded slightly differently, one tells me to push the button, one tells me to turn on the switch by the building. Which one does he want??? I wrote them both down and took photos of them in case there was any questions at the scoring table. I talked for a bit with the guys working on the building as they were perplexed by the look of my bike, told them they’d be seeing a few more of us and off I went. There was another bonus on the other side of the ferry but I had no intention of waiting for the ferry then riding it across, too much down time and it would put me on the other side of the river and have to navigate though Dubuque… have I mentioned I hate that town when I’m in rally mode?
6th stop was the Potosi brewery where I needed to get a receipt from the gift shop. As I pulled up I see Griff parked across the street. How did he get a head of me??? I talked to him for a minute as he showed me what he bought and told me he was having a blast. He got a can koosie, actually 2, since he wanted to keep one. I ran across the street and told the ladies I needed to buy something cheap and get a receipt. They showed me the koozie that Griff bought and I liked them so I said I’d take it… $2! I explained what was going on for few minutes which turned out to hurt me as Cruzin came in after I left and they were ready and waiting for him with the cheap stuff… no more explanations needed… you’re welcome!
Now it is decision time… where to get gas in IL? I’m going to play it safe and go to Galena as I’m making good time even with my inefficient stops. I have my full plan running on my Nuvi 765T and I’m currently back in La Crosse at 2:20pm and need to be back by 4:00. I flip the route around on the Nuvi to best fit stopping in Galena in and end up losing 18 minutes which I feel is better than loosing 40 minutes if there is not a good receipt to be had in Scales Mound.
7th stop was GIle Cheese in Cuba City, WI to get some cheese, no issues, in and out and I’m getting the stop times down. The rain has stopped so I’m no longer using the zip lock bags to keep things dry, makes it much quicker to fill out the info and get rolling.
8th stop was the fuel in Galena. It was the apex of the trip so I took a few minute break. I was feeling very comfortable having not lost any time against the GPS in a while and the stops were getting fast so I decided I was going to have a look at adding in a bonus that was almost 1000 points. Then I see Cruzin roll up to get gas… what are the odds? He asks me if the receipt is good and I tell him yes as I roll out to stay in front of him.
9th stop was the New Diggings General Store but in my rush to stay ahead of Cruzin, I forgot to flip the rally packet to that bonus so I didn’t know what I needed to do when I got there. For some reason I got off the bike before I pulled off the rally packet. I realized I needed to write down the price of the gas on the gas pump in front of the store… crap, I could have pulled the bike right up to it. Cruzin pulls up and does exactly that as I’m walking back to my bike. He got there a minute after me and got out of there 10 seconds before me. If all of our stops are like that he is going to beat me. I can see Cruzin in the distance as I decide I need to add some more points to my route. I decided to add that nearly 1000 point bonus in Argyle, WI that added about 35 miles and 40 minutes to my route… time to get really efficient.
10th stop was Gravity Hill south of Shullsburg to find what was painted next to the “GH” on the road. I pulled in right behind Cruzin and made up some time at the stop on him. We left at the same time. He took a left as he came into town and I headed strait to turn to Argyle. We were both wondering what the other was up to I’m sure. I would not see him for the rest of the Rally. Good thing, I’ve been following his taillights by accident far too often on these things lately.
11th stop was the one I added, Irma’s Kitchen in Argyle, WI to get a receipt for pie or lunch. It was a typical small town café in small town Wisconsin and looked to have been converted from a house. I parked right in front and walked in with all my gear on and my helmet flipped up with the sun visor still down. I must have looked to them like something from Back to the Future. It was 85 degrees outside now and dressed like I was snowmobiling. Everyone was just staring at me. I slowly raised the sun visor to show them I was human and said hello to an older couple at the table near me. No one said anything back to me, they just looked at me with blank stares on their face. The waitress showed herself and I told her I needed a piece of pie and a receipt. I told her I wasn’t going to eat it so don’t bother actually cutting it, I just want to pay for it and I’d be on my way. She squinted at me and completed the transaction and I was off. I looked through the window as I was getting on my bike and noticed everyone was still staring at me. I guess I gave that town something to talk about over lunch.
12th stop was Crazy Franks in Mineral Point to find out how many sq feet of savings they had, 15,000!
13th stop was the Don Q Inn to see what was wrote on the bottom cement step leading up to the aircraft. I’ve been there many times so I thought I knew what I was doing, I ran up to the plane and saw nothing wrote on the 1st wooden step. I reread the bonus, I missed that it was the cement step, at the base of the hill, once again, I didn’t need to get off the bike, damn.
14th stop was Unity Chapel south of Spring Green to find out what name was on the large white obelisk.
15th stop was S&S Cycle by Viola, I decided to go there when planning my route as Hwy 56 looked like a great road compared to the other bonus on the area on US-14. Hwy 56 was a great ride, but I overlooked that the bonus on 14 was part of the Crazy Franks combo, so I lost 375 points from what I could had if I had taken the boring route. I saw Griff again pulling out of the bonus as I pulled in, I had not seen him since Potosi. I’m guessing we’d be hitting all the same bonii back to La Crosse.
16th stop was on the home stretch back to La Crosse and I had plenty of time so I decided to hit a few of the anywhere bonii and grab some historical markers and rustic road signs that were worth 100 points each. As I came into the 16th stop… The Bossie Mootel (that is not a misspelling), I saw another rider and figured it would be Griff, nope, it was Airboss, I wonder where Griff went, did he get that bonus that fast that I didn’t see him or did he take a completely different route?
17th stop was also unplanned but I was riding right past a Yamaha dealer and there was a 500 point bonus to bring back an FJR oil filter, I had enough time but figured several other riders would also go to that same dealer since it was so close to the finish so I called them to see if they had any. They did and said they’d have it waiting for me on the counter. I told them to only let me have it if I was wearing a grey jacket just in case another rider came in and swiped it on me. I pulled up to the dealer and found it to be an abandoned building… huh! I called them again, “Did you guys move?” They had moved, they were now north of I-90 on WI-35, that is out of my way, but not by much but now I’m going to be cutting it really close if the paperwork at the dealer takes too long. I had about 15 minutes to get back when I arrived at the dealer. I ran in and up to the parts counter where everyone stopped and looked at me and the guys said… are you the one that called about the oil filter… I said yes! “Uhhh, another guy came in a few minutes ago wearing a grey jacket and we gave it to him.” “Arg… Do you have any more?” They said yes and just sat there. Uhh… can you go get it… I have 11 minutes to get back to the finish line! My heart is pounding as they have troubles ringing me up and when I got it I ripped the box open and ran out to my bike I had left running by the door and took off. I got stuck at the light where I pulled out my voice recorder and noted my time and mileage for the paperwork to write down later. And hopped on I-90 back and pulled into the finish line with 5 minutes to spare. Plenty of time! I should have gone to Rudy’s Drive In for a 145 point root beer float!
I found out that the other rider with the grey jacket was Griff. You’re welcome Griff. He had wondered why they had one ready and waiting for him! Man would I have been PO’d had that been the last one. Lesson learned, next time tell them my name or make of my grey jacket!
THE RESULT
My ride ended up being 358 miles for 13655 points and 38.1 points per mile. Enough for 1st place overall and 2nd place in efficiency! It was a great tune up ride for next weeks MN2010. Below is the my actual route… aka “the winning route!”
Many thanks to RallyBastard Rick for a great day of riding and interesting sights Kicked off by a bolt of lightening and ending with pure frustration over an oil filter, the same one I won back for my 1st place finish. Good thing as I need one tomorrow! I never did notice what I paid for that filter, I wonder if I got a good deal?
We got the bonus info about a week before the Rally. That was the first time I’ve ever got it with days to plan… plenty of time to over think. 1st thing I did was manipulate the gpx file Rick gave us to color code the point distributions of the bonii. Green is low, blue is medium, red is high and purple is very high. I also changed the icons for the combo bonii to make them stand out. Here is what it looked like before I started planning.
Next I had to figure out how many miles I could realistically do and start plugging away to see how many points the few options I was looking at pulled in. This rally was 8 hours long, short in time but likely the same amount of stops as a much longer rally which meant lots of stopped time. I figured a 40 mph average would be safe to start with considering many stops and the lack of strait fast roads in the area. That meant I could pull down about 320 miles.
There were some big points to the north so I tried that route first. Looking at the packet I figured I’d need about 10,000 points to have a chance for a podium finish. I came up with a route to the north that would get me 10736 points but it was 386 miles and only 27.8 points per mile. I didn’t think I could do it.
Next I looked south as there was combo bonus for getting gas in MN, IA, IL and WI that would alone be worth 3200 points… Just my luck, I finally get my fuel cell in working order with enough fuel to cover the entire day without ever stopping for gas but the winning route looks to involve 4 gas stops! Damn you Rick! There was also a nice line of high point bonii just north of the IL border that would add up quickly… yes that is where I want to go. Now I just need to decide exactly how much I have time for. There is a big boni in Dubuque, IA, but I hate that town… always seems to take forever to get from one end to the other (Just like La Crosse, but I’m stuck with that one, we are starting and ending there). I also need to find a place in IL to get some gas. I decide the best place was a Sinclair station in Scales Mound as it was the closest one to the line of red I saw in southern Wisconsin. Trouble is, it is a really small town, who knows if it will have the required computer generated receipt with location printed that is required to claim the bonus. I decided to have a backup plan and found a station on the north side of Galena that I’d put in the GPS just incase. I could have played it safe and just planned on Galena, but that station would add about 10 miles to my route so I took a chance.
The pic below shows the 2 routes, the north route in blue and the southern route that I would use in magenta.
Here is a close up of my southern route. 316 miles for a total of 10685 points at 33.9 points per mile. That was a slightly lower total than my northern route but the lower mileage meant I had a better chance of being able to add to my route if I stayed efficient.
THE NIGHT BEFORE
I was sharing a room with Cruzin and we were both picking at each other through the past week trying to figure out each others plan. As he and I were the only 2 riders that had done a rally before we were competing in our own class against each other. About 1 AM we figured each others plan out… we were both going after the gas bonus! That meant it was going to come down to who could pick up more bonii along the way to and from IL.
RALLY RALLYE PRE-START
I woke up at 6 to have enough time to prep my bike before the riders meeting at 7. I knew it was a bad idea to stay up so late the night before! I got the bike ready and headed to get some breakfast at the meeting. Many of us had noticed the rally packet RallyBastard Rick gave us a week ago was rally packet B. I assumed it was rev B… should have known better, Rick had rally packet A waiting for us in a sealed envelope. Luckly he didn’t throw us the normal extra combo bonii at us that would normally completely change the route. It was just a few… find some of things anywhere and snap a photo type. There was also the always interesting, put your driver’s license in a sealed envelope and if it is still sealed when you score tonight you get a boat load of extra points!!! Aka, behave!
OK, now time to get back to the bike and gear up for the 8AM start. We had been watching the radar that morning, there was a huge cell moving in and looked like it would get there right about the same time we were leaving… great.
THE RALLY RALLYE
The sky was dark and RallyBastard Rick was smiling as we waited for the GPS’s to strike 8 AM. My clock said 7:59 and with a flash of lightening, clap of thunder and great big grin on Rick’s mug the sky opened up and the rain began. The GPS changed to 8:00 and I hit the throttle, the 1st one out of the parking lot… sweet!
1st stop was across the river in MN for my 1st fuel stop, I was topping off the main tank when Griff and another rider pulled into the same station a few minutes behind me… I think to myself… damn, they are going for the fuel combo too! I’m a little frustraited with the rain and filling out the paperwork. It took me over 5 minutes… not good, need to speed up those stops!
2nd stop was to get a pic of the Reno town sign with my rally flag, no issues, was out of there before anyone came up on me but still was fumbling having my rally packet in a ziplock to keep it dry. I hope this rain does not keep up.
3rd stop was in New Albin, IA to get fuel… a full service station, shoot (that is not what I said in my head)! The guy walks up real slow and I tell him, the tank is almost full, I just need a splash and a receipt. He pumps in .4 gallons and slowly walks back to the office, I had him 2 bucks and he fills out a receipt… completely by hand!!! Damn, that won’t work… OK, I have to go to Lansing to cross the river back into WI, I can try there. On my way to Lansing I start thinking about my choice of gas stations in IL. If that one in Scales Mound doesn’t work out it is going to cost me a lot of time to run back west to Galena. Maybe I should play it safe and just to to Galena right off the bat? I notice my brain is in fast forward, I’m thinking way too hard, I need to calm down. I have a couple of hours before I need to make a decision. I get my gas in Lancing and head for the bridge to IA. Just getting off the bridge I see an FJR coming at me. I recognize those lights he has anywhere, it is Cruzin, why is he in WI coming into IA? Did he run to MN then back into WI somewhere? How many points did he pick up coming down the WI side? More than me??? My brain is thinking way too hard again… nothing I can do… I need to calm back down and ride my plan.
4th stop was Starks in Prairie Du Chien at Starks Sports Shop. I forgot to flip to the next bonus when I was in Lancing so I couldn’t read what I needed to do there, so I parked the bike and got off assuming I needed to go inside. It is a really unusual place, there you can buy food, booze and guns, what a combo! I read the bonus… all I needed to do was answer what brand of beer was advertised by the neon sign to the left of the front door… “Fat Tire” damnit… I didn’t need to get off the bike! Time wasted! I’m still spending way too much time at each stop!
5th stop was in Cassville to figure out how to hail the ferry. I pull up and see a couple different signs telling me how to do it, all worded slightly differently, one tells me to push the button, one tells me to turn on the switch by the building. Which one does he want??? I wrote them both down and took photos of them in case there was any questions at the scoring table. I talked for a bit with the guys working on the building as they were perplexed by the look of my bike, told them they’d be seeing a few more of us and off I went. There was another bonus on the other side of the ferry but I had no intention of waiting for the ferry then riding it across, too much down time and it would put me on the other side of the river and have to navigate though Dubuque… have I mentioned I hate that town when I’m in rally mode?
6th stop was the Potosi brewery where I needed to get a receipt from the gift shop. As I pulled up I see Griff parked across the street. How did he get a head of me??? I talked to him for a minute as he showed me what he bought and told me he was having a blast. He got a can koosie, actually 2, since he wanted to keep one. I ran across the street and told the ladies I needed to buy something cheap and get a receipt. They showed me the koozie that Griff bought and I liked them so I said I’d take it… $2! I explained what was going on for few minutes which turned out to hurt me as Cruzin came in after I left and they were ready and waiting for him with the cheap stuff… no more explanations needed… you’re welcome!
Now it is decision time… where to get gas in IL? I’m going to play it safe and go to Galena as I’m making good time even with my inefficient stops. I have my full plan running on my Nuvi 765T and I’m currently back in La Crosse at 2:20pm and need to be back by 4:00. I flip the route around on the Nuvi to best fit stopping in Galena in and end up losing 18 minutes which I feel is better than loosing 40 minutes if there is not a good receipt to be had in Scales Mound.
7th stop was GIle Cheese in Cuba City, WI to get some cheese, no issues, in and out and I’m getting the stop times down. The rain has stopped so I’m no longer using the zip lock bags to keep things dry, makes it much quicker to fill out the info and get rolling.
8th stop was the fuel in Galena. It was the apex of the trip so I took a few minute break. I was feeling very comfortable having not lost any time against the GPS in a while and the stops were getting fast so I decided I was going to have a look at adding in a bonus that was almost 1000 points. Then I see Cruzin roll up to get gas… what are the odds? He asks me if the receipt is good and I tell him yes as I roll out to stay in front of him.
9th stop was the New Diggings General Store but in my rush to stay ahead of Cruzin, I forgot to flip the rally packet to that bonus so I didn’t know what I needed to do when I got there. For some reason I got off the bike before I pulled off the rally packet. I realized I needed to write down the price of the gas on the gas pump in front of the store… crap, I could have pulled the bike right up to it. Cruzin pulls up and does exactly that as I’m walking back to my bike. He got there a minute after me and got out of there 10 seconds before me. If all of our stops are like that he is going to beat me. I can see Cruzin in the distance as I decide I need to add some more points to my route. I decided to add that nearly 1000 point bonus in Argyle, WI that added about 35 miles and 40 minutes to my route… time to get really efficient.
10th stop was Gravity Hill south of Shullsburg to find what was painted next to the “GH” on the road. I pulled in right behind Cruzin and made up some time at the stop on him. We left at the same time. He took a left as he came into town and I headed strait to turn to Argyle. We were both wondering what the other was up to I’m sure. I would not see him for the rest of the Rally. Good thing, I’ve been following his taillights by accident far too often on these things lately.
11th stop was the one I added, Irma’s Kitchen in Argyle, WI to get a receipt for pie or lunch. It was a typical small town café in small town Wisconsin and looked to have been converted from a house. I parked right in front and walked in with all my gear on and my helmet flipped up with the sun visor still down. I must have looked to them like something from Back to the Future. It was 85 degrees outside now and dressed like I was snowmobiling. Everyone was just staring at me. I slowly raised the sun visor to show them I was human and said hello to an older couple at the table near me. No one said anything back to me, they just looked at me with blank stares on their face. The waitress showed herself and I told her I needed a piece of pie and a receipt. I told her I wasn’t going to eat it so don’t bother actually cutting it, I just want to pay for it and I’d be on my way. She squinted at me and completed the transaction and I was off. I looked through the window as I was getting on my bike and noticed everyone was still staring at me. I guess I gave that town something to talk about over lunch.
12th stop was Crazy Franks in Mineral Point to find out how many sq feet of savings they had, 15,000!
13th stop was the Don Q Inn to see what was wrote on the bottom cement step leading up to the aircraft. I’ve been there many times so I thought I knew what I was doing, I ran up to the plane and saw nothing wrote on the 1st wooden step. I reread the bonus, I missed that it was the cement step, at the base of the hill, once again, I didn’t need to get off the bike, damn.
14th stop was Unity Chapel south of Spring Green to find out what name was on the large white obelisk.
15th stop was S&S Cycle by Viola, I decided to go there when planning my route as Hwy 56 looked like a great road compared to the other bonus on the area on US-14. Hwy 56 was a great ride, but I overlooked that the bonus on 14 was part of the Crazy Franks combo, so I lost 375 points from what I could had if I had taken the boring route. I saw Griff again pulling out of the bonus as I pulled in, I had not seen him since Potosi. I’m guessing we’d be hitting all the same bonii back to La Crosse.
16th stop was on the home stretch back to La Crosse and I had plenty of time so I decided to hit a few of the anywhere bonii and grab some historical markers and rustic road signs that were worth 100 points each. As I came into the 16th stop… The Bossie Mootel (that is not a misspelling), I saw another rider and figured it would be Griff, nope, it was Airboss, I wonder where Griff went, did he get that bonus that fast that I didn’t see him or did he take a completely different route?
17th stop was also unplanned but I was riding right past a Yamaha dealer and there was a 500 point bonus to bring back an FJR oil filter, I had enough time but figured several other riders would also go to that same dealer since it was so close to the finish so I called them to see if they had any. They did and said they’d have it waiting for me on the counter. I told them to only let me have it if I was wearing a grey jacket just in case another rider came in and swiped it on me. I pulled up to the dealer and found it to be an abandoned building… huh! I called them again, “Did you guys move?” They had moved, they were now north of I-90 on WI-35, that is out of my way, but not by much but now I’m going to be cutting it really close if the paperwork at the dealer takes too long. I had about 15 minutes to get back when I arrived at the dealer. I ran in and up to the parts counter where everyone stopped and looked at me and the guys said… are you the one that called about the oil filter… I said yes! “Uhhh, another guy came in a few minutes ago wearing a grey jacket and we gave it to him.” “Arg… Do you have any more?” They said yes and just sat there. Uhh… can you go get it… I have 11 minutes to get back to the finish line! My heart is pounding as they have troubles ringing me up and when I got it I ripped the box open and ran out to my bike I had left running by the door and took off. I got stuck at the light where I pulled out my voice recorder and noted my time and mileage for the paperwork to write down later. And hopped on I-90 back and pulled into the finish line with 5 minutes to spare. Plenty of time! I should have gone to Rudy’s Drive In for a 145 point root beer float!
I found out that the other rider with the grey jacket was Griff. You’re welcome Griff. He had wondered why they had one ready and waiting for him! Man would I have been PO’d had that been the last one. Lesson learned, next time tell them my name or make of my grey jacket!
THE RESULT
My ride ended up being 358 miles for 13655 points and 38.1 points per mile. Enough for 1st place overall and 2nd place in efficiency! It was a great tune up ride for next weeks MN2010. Below is the my actual route… aka “the winning route!”
Many thanks to RallyBastard Rick for a great day of riding and interesting sights Kicked off by a bolt of lightening and ending with pure frustration over an oil filter, the same one I won back for my 1st place finish. Good thing as I need one tomorrow! I never did notice what I paid for that filter, I wonder if I got a good deal?
