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PRELUDE: 24 August, 2002 As the mythic warriors begin to assemble some 1200 miles to the south, I sit and wait in the Minneapolis airport. Eventually, every rally reveals its own theme, and the theme for your Rallymaster thus far has been sitting in the airport. I am not the only one affected. Eddie left Ohio on Thursday afternoon, with high hopes of disporting au natural by the Live Oak pool by evening. The vagaries of weather and Northwest Airlines dictated instead that he spend the night in a Detroit fleabag, without the luggage that the airline lost. Eddie's misfortune doomed staffer John Pedrow to a similar fate. John drove the staff van down to Houston from Minneapolis, and had planned to pick up Ed and lead him on to Live Oak. Instead, he too enjoyed exploring everything that Houston's less expensive lodging has to offer. What's that, you say? John Pedrow? Staff VAN?? It is said that "Life is Change," and BL3 is no exception. Our former driver, Keith Collins, wanted out of the staff car. "Its too boring in there," he explained. "All I had to do was eat and sleep, and that gets old after a week or so." We sadly concurred, and reassigned Keith to help man the Bakersfield checkpoint. Hey "Sleepy:" good luck on your new assignment, and don't forget, head west to California. Taking over as driver and all around good guy is long time TeamStrange volunteer John Pedrow. You may remember John from such rallies as BL5K, BL2, and just about every MN1K in recent memory. He's the guy who's still working after all the others have long gone home. John's enthusiasm and sense of order will, we hope, offset the Rallymasters' always increasing crankiness and disarray as the event transpires. We've also traded in the signature Park Avenue Ultra for more prosaic transportation, in the form of a nondescript Ford Windstar minivan. Official explanation for the switch has not been forthcoming, though those close to the event speculate that my burgeoning domesticity, along with Alamo's diminishing gullibility combined to make the move inevitable. The down side to the change, of course, is giving up that satisfying SNAP as the supercharger spools up and hurtles tons of Late Model American Car down the interstate, as is our God Given Right in this country. The up side, we hope, is a bit more room and the cloak of invisibility that shields all minivans from the prying eyes of state troopers and radar cops. We're going to have an amazing rally this time around. Look first at the field. We've got grizzled veterans like Eric Jewell (winner of the first ButtLite), Bill Newton (who holds the record for most consecutive 1000 mile days--thirty--and is also a veteran of BL5K and BL2), and Howard "The Duc" Stueber, who can ride any bike made and fix it when it breaks with junk found by the side of the road. We don't expect to see Paul Pelland broken down by the side of the road. He's left the Ural at home, and will be tough to beat on modern machinery. Canadian riders Mike Hutsal and Fergus Hand know how to knock down the miles, and are crafty with a route sheet to boot. Todd Witte will be riding the rally on a new Yamaha FJR, and on this rally he's a rider to watch. The list goes on. This is the strongest group of riders ever to start a ButtLite. Nearly every name on the list of entrants could be sitting at the top at the end of the rally. And don't forget, there is plenty of incentive to do well: there are two spots in the Ironbutt on the line. Planning for BL3 began shortly after BL2 ended in 2000, and has continued apace since that time. The last month has seen more than a few long nights, chewed fingernails and lengthy phone conversations. We hope that this preparation will pay off in the form of the most challenging multi day endurance rally to date. I have finished the routesheets. Your winners will very much deserve their trophies. The fog here at Chamberlain Field has started to lift, and there is hope my flight will actually leave on the promised day (if not the promised hour). Soon I'll be in Houston, and shortly after that I'll be at Rally HQ, in the belly of the beast. From there, anything can and probably will happen. You can keep track of it all right here. Check back often. |
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