19 February 2017 Ride Report

I got a very late start on Sunday -- the weather was decent, the list of undone chores was manageable, and there was a [short] list of nearby Big Money Rally bonuses to knock out. The four local "stadiums" on the list -- Nationals Park, Verizon Center, FedEx Field, and the Prince George's Stadium were worth just over 12 points total -- plus several "campground" bonuses promised a good point total day.

Nationals Park

Verizon Center

Lincoln Park Kitchen & Wine, Lincoln Park, Washington, DC

FedEx Field, Landover, MD

Prince George's Stadium, Bowie, MD

With such a late start (almost 1400), I was up against the clock to get as many bonuses as I could before the light gave out. The need to have the motorcycle in the shot greatly limits my night bonus hunting ability. I shed a few western bonuses, but still managed a great afternoon (and early evening) of point gathering.

Tin Cup Products, Falls Church, VA

12 February 2017 Ride Report

The weather forecast promised much, so Donna and I headed out for a Sunday ride to Lynchburg and other points south. I'd been frustrated, on the 21 January 2017 ride, with missing both the Manassas train depot and the Lynchburg stadium bonuses. So, it was time to redeem myself and take Donna on a nice winter ride.

The temperature was in the mid-40 degrees F when we left -- the forecast for Lynchburg was in the upper-70's by mid-day. 

We headed west through Manassas (and got credit for that train depot), then south on U.S. 29, grabbing bonuses along the way. We successfully snagged the Lynchburg stadium bonus (where I've now been several times -- the Team Strange 30 ball park bonus set caused me to stop by there, as well as many other locations across the country). By the time we reached Lynchburg, the temperatures were above 80 -- 83 degrees F was the highest temperature I saw all day. Not bad for February!

We had a great time between Lynchburg and Richmond, then headed home when it got dark.

Great ride -- a nice test of heated gear, with a little early spring weather thrown in for good measure!

Team Strange Love & Merci Grand Tour

I've had a lot of fun doing Team Strange Grand Tours over the years. This year's involves a search for Merci Train boxcars and spelling the word LOVE (up to ten times) using the first letter of city/town names. Sounds like fun!

2017 Iron Butt Rally

It's official -- I'm in.

Iron Butt Rally 2017

Well, I posted my application for the 2017 IBR this evening...the draw is soon, so I'll know in just a few weeks if I made the cut.

2015 Iron Butt Rally -- Day -1

The three day ride from Virginia to Albuquerque was a good shakedown ride. I ran at about a rally pace, and picked up Tour of Honor, Whispering Giants, and Virtual Cache "bonuses" along the way, which are reasonably good substitutes for rally bonus locations.

More importantly, I settled in to where things should be stored on the bike so I can find them quickly, and convinced myself that I hadn't left anything essential at home. I haven't used everything I packed, yet, but I'm convinced I will.

This morning is a bit of last-minute adjustments, and a little quiet time before the planning begins for leg one. The last thing I will do before the rider's meeting is refuel the bike -- I'll do that when it's warm so the fuel doesn't overflow while the bike is sitting in the sun this afternoon.

Headlights

The intermittent headlight problem that appeared on the ride west turned out to be a short -- the hot wire is discolored, and there is some bare conductor. The tech at Sandia BMW is going to insulate the hot wire spade connector to see if that fixes the problem, enough to get me back on the road.

2015 Iron Butt Rally

As it so often goes, the plans I have (in this case, blogging about my preparations for the 2015 Iron Butt Rally) go unexecuted. It's not that I haven't thought, oh so many times, that I had a nice thought to share -- it's been more a choice to spend time doing other things (in many cases, working on preparing for the Big Dance).

The weather was poor again this winter -- cold and windy -- and with two big proposals to get out the door, the time got away from me. I did get in a few very nice rides, between the Big Money Rally, Cape Fear (which turned out to be a DNF because of a universal joint failure), one of Hammy's rallies, and the Mason Dixon 20-20. I also had several very enjoyable weekend "fun run" rides that served double-duty as practice rides.

In addition to the universal joint failure near State College, PA, I had a final drive replacement, and a main shock replacement. The repair to the universal joint involved a new drive shaft, so the entire drive train aft of the engine has been replaced in the past 12 months or so.

Tomorrow, I head to Albuquerque to ride my first Iron Butt Rally. My goal: to finish safely, earning a three-digit Iron Butt Association number.