DAVE AND TODD'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
(PART DEUX)
It all started in March of 1998 when my riding buddy, Todd and I decided to swing into the old Trackstar Motorsports shop while we were on a business trip in Minneapolis. We looked around for awhile, and as we were leaving we grabbed a Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly and some other stuff to read on our way back to Albert Lea. While we were driving home we noticed a flyer for something called the Minnesota 1000. "So much fun it ought to be a 900 number" the flyer said. Well, I've called all those 900 numbers, so we signed up.
I went to the Liar's Banquet the night before the rally and picked up the list of check points, then drove home to Albert Lea, where Todd and I plotted out all of the stops on a regional map. In planning our route, we both agreed that the last thing we wanted to do was drone along forever on the freeways just to rack up a bunch of miles, since neither of us has a bike suited to long distance riding. Todd's got a 1995 Honda CBR900RR that's short on comfort and I've got a Canadian 1983 Honda CB1100F that's short on range.
Although we had no clue as to how we would fare against the rest of the field, we decided to try and rack up the maximum number of points while riding as few miles as possible. As it turned out, we hit all the mandatory stops after the rally started (when they were worth more points), stayed off of the freeways, hit a bunch of casinos, went to Wisconsin and northern Michigan, and managed to score something like 8800 points while riding 890 miles. Good enough for 3rd place in Standard Class and 5th place in Sport Class. Needless to say, were really surprised.
So, of course, with all of our rally experience, when the 1999 Minnesota 1000 rolled around we had it all figured out. All we had to do was map out every casino in the region ahead of time (which would be worth progressively more for each one you stopped at), then wait for the list of eligible casinos to be handed out just before the start of the ride. All we'd have to do at that point was cross the casinos off our map that weren't on the list, and we'd have The Master Plan. Well, at 9:30 AM on Saturday June 18th, there was no list of casinos, thanks to our hero, Eddie James, destroyer of The Master Plan. Fortunately we weren't totally stupid. Up our sleeves we had Master Plan, Part Deux. This plan consisted mainly of.......droning along forever on the freeways and racking up a bunch of miles.
So at 10:00 AM sharp the rally started and we were off like a prom dress. We had chosen the freeway-laden "Lap of Minnesota" as our main route, and were required to get gas receipts in Rochester, Worthington, Moorhead, and Duluth in order to earn 5000 points. We got a great start, getting away from Bob's Java Hut ahead of most everyone. We took side streets and Lake Street to I-35W south, then 62 Crosstown east to Highway 55 and then we blasted south, down Highway 52 toward Rochester. We passed the Warner Power Sports guy on his Polaris Victory (sorry about that, guy). Later, we got gas at a Conoco station on the south side of Rochester and obtained the required receipts. Our first problem of the rally was the receipts didn't say "Rochester". Fortunately the clerk (let's call him Jim) wrote down the store's phone number and told us that "Store #61" on the receipt would verify the location. Good enough for me. Jim asked what was up and I told him we were planning a big robbery and needed a full tank of gas and a good alibi. Thanks Jim and seeya!
Next, it was south on Highway 63 to I-90, then west, headed for Worthington. Now my CB1100F only goes about 190 kilometers on the trip meter until I have to switch over to reserve, so Todd and I reluctantly pulled into Sherburn so I could gas up. As we were bugging out, the Warner Power Sports guy on his Victory came rumbling up to the pumps. It was nice to know that someone else had the same fuel problem as us. As it turns out, we had a worse fuel problem. You see, Todd figured he had plenty of fuel to get to Worthington, so he didn't gas up with me in Sherburn, which is no big deal, since his bike has better range. But as it turned out, Todd's "pit crew" accidentally did a splash-and-go in Rochester and didn't get a full load of fuel in the bike. So within 10 minutes he was desperately out of gas. All we could do was slow way down to conserve fuel, hoping to make it to Worthington which was still 30 miles away. Within minutes a dozen motorcycles blew past us, one after the other. Then the Polaris "Missile" blasted passed us. Even cars passed us. We were going so slow you had to pound a stake in the ground next to us to see if we were moving. Thankfully, we made it to Worthington and gassed up again, getting the required receipts. This resulted in Receipt Problem #2: The receipt I got had a time that was one hour ahead of the actual time. To make things worse, the gas station had three cash registers and Todd's receipt, from another register, was OK. What to do? Well, I figured that the receipt says I was in Worthington and I bought gas, so good enough for me. Outahere!
J & L Cycle in Sioux Falls, SD was the next checkpoint we hit. Had to stay and visit (translation: urinate) for 20 minutes to earn something like 2400 points. So we "visited" until 3:25 PM, then it was another gas stop in Sioux Falls and off to I-29 northbound. Gas again in Watertown (but, oddly, no water), then off of the freeway to a checkpoint in Milbank, South Dakota. As it turns out, Milbank is home of American Legion Baseball. But also, right next to the correct mile marker is a sign that says "Highway 12: The First Coast-To-Coast Highway". Come On! How can a hick town like this be famous for two things? So we wrote them both down and took off.
We traveled west on Highway 12 to Ortonville, MN, then north on Highway 75. Rolled into Tenney, MN (population 4) at 7:30 PM. Also rolled out of Tenney at 7:30 PM. If you ever go to Tenney to see those four people, make sure your jacket is zipped all the way up because there is a huge bee farm right on the corner of highways 75 and 55, and the bees fly right over the road. Bee CNU!
Gassed up again in Breckenridge, MN, and.....something......smells like.....Victory! (Polaris, that is, the Warner Power Sports guy was gassing up as we drove by...I think). Then back onto I-29 northbound towards Fargo, ND. Saw the sun for the first time on Saturday at about 8:00 PM. Did I mention the rain? It rained on the way to the start of the rally, and we never took our rain gear off until we got back to the finish.
Road construction on I-29 slowed us down and we didn't get to Moorhead until about 8:45 PM or so. Pulled into a gas station and there were two other rally riders just leaving, then about 6 more MN1K bikes pulled in a few minutes after us. That's when our vast rally experience told us that a lot of people had chosen the same route as we had, and that the scores were going to be pretty well bunched together.
We switched from our tinted face shields to our clear face shields, then we were off again, east on Highway 10, past Detroit Lakes to Frazee. Next stop, the Twilight Zone. Darkness fell just as we ran out of four-lane. There was good news though; it was still raining. Traveling east on Highway 87, we stopped in Menahga for gas, then found a statue in town of some way-cool Scandinavian dude holding, like, a pitchfork and, like, a freshly speared giant grasshopper, and, in the dark if you, like, shined your flashlight on the dude he would, like, get brighter and stuff. Wow, man, what a trip. Did I mention the drug check?? Back on I-29 in SoDak there were these big signs on both sides of the northbound lanes that said "Drug Check Ahead". Then after that, signs that said "Search Dogs Working". I figured that everyone would be herded through some makeshift checkpoint, but all there was on the road was one state trooper sitting in his car with his lights on. So we figured that: A) They were busting people who took the freeway exit located right after the signs; or B) That Eddie James had got the cops to set the signs up just to scare the bejeezus out of everyone.
After Menahga, it was north on Highway 71 to Park Rapids (where we saw more rally riders) then east on 34 to Akeley. Our plan was to take this little County Road 6 southeast out of Akeley to Hackensack, where there was a checkpoint. Except we couldn't find County 6 off of Highway 64, as shown on the map. We went about two miles out of town, and all we saw going east was a County Road 12, so we decided to go back to town and ask for directions. The guy at the convenience store (let's call him Bob) said to take Highway 12. But what about Highway 6, Bob? "Highway 12 turns into 6," said Bob. So back we went to 12. 12 never turned into 6 (thanks, Bob), but this road turned out to be 10 miles of the twistiest, most freshly-paved road in the state, and it was completely deserted. Turns out we weren't lost, we were in heaven. Every corner was 120 degrees and blind (and dark). The fun came to an end, though when 12 (6?) intersected Highway 371. Then it was back to the rally, south on 371 to Hackensack. By the way, if you are the BMW rider who repeatedly failed to dim his super-high-powered, sky-burning running lights for other motorists (like me), you should be systematically shot, then killed, then kicked out of the rally. Then your name should be read out loud, declaring that you are no longer a road hazard. What an idiot.
After checking out Paul Bunyan's other "babe" in Hackensack, we went north on Highway 371 to Highway 200. At the intersection is a casino and an all-night gas station. This is where my "pit crew" made a judgment error, deciding not to get gas in Northern Minnesota in the middle of the night when there was the chance to do so. After all, I could go 60 more miles before I needed gas. So off we went. The next town, Remer, had four gas stations, all of which were closed. Oh, shit. Now I'm screwed....because the next town, Hill City, is even smaller than Remer. I'll for sure run out of gas. All I could think about while riding was stuff like siphon hoses, riding lawn mowers, sheds, parked cars, knocking on doors, breaking and entering, going to jail, and rally failure. When Hill City came into view, there weren't too many lights on. But then there was a sign for the intersection of Highway 169. I forgot that a major highway ran through here. Please, please, please have a gas station on 169. We went through town, crested the hill, and.....Viagra!! An open Conoco station. Saved!
So we gassed up (for the 9th time), paid, and as we left, the gal behind the counter (let's call her Julie) shut off all the lights and the gas pumps went dead. Unreal. We had made it by five minutes. It had to be a sign.
Knowing at that point that we were truly blessed, we rode down the wrong side of the road for the next 80 or so miles, all the way to Duluth. Well, maybe we did. Anyway, we got a gas receipt at 1:30 AM in Duluth to complete the 5000 point "Lap of Minnesota", then we rode down to the harbor and hit another checkpoint. After that, it was time to find a place for our 3 hour break.
We ended up at an all night gas station/convenience store/restaurant near the Black Bear Casino on I-35, south of Duluth. I bought a tube of Preparation H at 2:30 AM, got the receipt, and slowly sat down to plan the rest of our route coming back into Minneapolis. We knew that we needed to hit as many of the smaller checkpoints as possible since so many riders were running the same general route. At 5:30 AM I bought a small tube of Crest toothpaste and got a receipt, ending my 3 hour layover. The guy behind the counter (let's call him Ron) looked at me kinda sideways. Ron remembered the Preparation H, and you could tell the wheels were spinning.
Next, it was south on I-35 to the Hinckley exit. For this checkpoint, we had to stop at White Castle and buy exactly one cheeseburger and get a receipt. We walked up to the counter with our helmets on, and the guy behind the counter (let's call him Larry) says, "Let me guess, you guys each want one cheeseburger and you need the receipts, right?" It was obvious that Larry was wasting his clairvoyant talents flipping burgers. We got the receipts and Larry turned his back and started to prepare the food. That's when we split. But wait!! If Larry did in fact have ESP, why did he start making those burgers when he knew we were going to leave without them? It had to be that Larry was a fake! On second thought, Larry, don't quit your day job.
Continuing south on I-35, we took the Harris exit, then went back north on I-35 to the rest stop, where there was a checkpoint. Then it was north some more for our 11th and final gas stop and a much-needed U-turn. It was 8:00 AM Sunday, and we had to be back in two hours. No problemo. We hit two more checkpoints heading south into the Twin Cities, then we started thinking about getting the 500 point bonus for bringing back a 6-pack of our favorite beverage within the last hour of our ride.
Well, the first place we stopped to find a 6-pack was one of my old hang-outs, Ralph & Jerry's, right by I-35 near the U of M. They didn't have anything except beer in 6-packs. That was OK with me, but the guy behind the counter (let's call him Richard Noggin...or Dick Head for short) wouldn't sell us beer at 8:45 AM on Sunday. Something about it being illegal. Thanks, DICKHEAD.
So we decided to run down Highway 55 to Lake Street, near Trackstar Motorsports and the rally finish line, where there would be plenty of food stores. Sure enough, there was a big Rainbow Foods store two blocks away. We parked our bikes and went inside. Just inside the front door, we were greeted by MN1K rider Joan Oswald who was taking her 3 hour break at the store. She showed us right to the 6-packs of pop, so we each grabbed one and headed for the exit. I only had two bungee cords along to strap the pop to my bike, so I mentioned to Todd in the check-out line that I was going to select "paper" when asked that all-important question by the grocery bagger (let's call him LeRoy). Todd announced that he had a cargo net and did not require a bag for his purchase, thank you very much, and besides that, we were only two blocks away from the finish line of the rally. Well, sorry I blew up!
As we were getting back on our bikes, Joan asked us if we had gone to the three checkpoints that were in the area, because it was 9:02 AM and we still had time to hit them. Out came the maps and the list of checkpoints. We decided to go to the checkpoint on Girard Avenue, then see how much time we had from there. Not remembering the fastest way across south Minneapolis, I decided to take Lake Street (big mistake), which burned up a lot of our remaining time. While we were on Lake Street, I noticed that some of Todd's pop cans were sticking through his cargo net. I joked that he probably wouldn't get credit for bringing back a 5-pack, then it was off to the next red light. When we finally got to the address on Girard we found out that this used to be the former residence of Public Enemy Number One....no, not the idiot BMW searchlight guy.....but Mr. John Dillinger.
By then it was 9:30 AM, so we decided to be safe and go back to Trackstar and check in. We took 38th Street east for a ways, then I noticed that Todd really had lost one can of Coke from his 6-pack. I told him, but he thought I was just kidding. Then he looked back, and then he cursed. Fortunately, there was a Coke machine right across the street, so Todd bought one can of Coke, added it to his 5-pack, adjusted his cargo net, and off we went. We jumped up to 36th Street to get across I-35W. 36th Street is a one way. After riding along for a minute or so, I looked around and there was no Todd. Now what? He must have had another problem with his cargo net, and must be stopped over the hill behind me, on the one way street. I couldn't see him, I couldn't turn around, and I wasn't going to go around the block, so I pulled over and waited. It was 9:38 AM. I decided to wait until 9:45, then good buddy Todd was going to be on his own. Three minutes later, Todd came over the hill and pulled up to me. "Where's your pop?" I asked him, because there was nothing strapped on the back of his bike. Then I took a closer look and saw that he had what appeared to be 6 pop-can-sized lumps inside the front of his leathers. Is that a 6-pack of pop, or are you just happy to see me?
Well, to make a long story longer, we hustled up to 32nd Street, turned east again and drove straight to Trackstar, checking in a little before 10:00 AM. Mission accomplished.....well, almost. "Park your bikes over there, and if you brought us a beverage, take it to that gal over there," said the odometer-reading, rally check-in guy (let's call him Phil). So we parked our bikes and I took my nice, paper grocery bag with my 6-pack of Sprite, and delivered it to the lady standing by the pile of beverages (let's call her Mary). "Thanks," said Mary, "How was your ride?" she asked. "Two thumbs up!" I replied, giving Mary my best Gene Siskel-dead-guy impersonation. As I turned and walked away, I heard the sound of a jacket zipper opening and six Cokes splashing into a cooler.
All said and done, we rode about 1105 miles, made 25 stops, saw no deer, saw three state troopers, got no speeding tickets, and scored 13,639 points. Todd got 4th place in sport class and I got 2nd place in Standard Class, so we both moved up a spot from last year. The Warner Power Sports-Polaris Victory guy got third behind me in Standard Class, and between him and the guy that beat me is probably as close to a Victory as I'll ever get.
I can hardly wait for next year's Minnesota 2000 so I can write a story twice this long!!
Thanks for everything Eddie James, Adam, and the whole gang!!!!
Dave Long, rider #250
Eddie & Adam outdid themselves when it came to messing with folks' heads this year. From the beginning when we were given our bonus choices on Friday night to the wrap up of the barbecue where they taunted us with the hint of the MN2K next year. There was no 36 hour rally for those that had "prepared" for it. We ended up with another house guest Friday nightFour riders disqualified themselves right off the bat Friday night by cheating. A fifth rider was removed Friday at the Liar's Banquet-the fool on the green bike popping wheelies in the street...
A big thanks for all the rally folks time and effort for an incredible rally. The volunteers were proffesional-smiling-helpful and without them, none of this could have been pulled off. You really have to hand it to the folks who drive or ride hundreds of miles just so we can have fun. Greg & Kelley Robinson came up from TX and Airyn Darling over from MI. I might be missing more that came a distance but hotdang-thank you, thank you, thank you....
Nothing exciting happened to me. Unless you count almost running out of gas and riding into a drug enforcement checkpoint. They *felt* I might be avoiding their road block by taking that exit and took great interest in my sense of urgency. The DEA, Border Patrol, State Patrol, Sheriff Department local LEOs and maybe the Boy Scouts had about 18 folks at the command center. I must have impressed upon them my situation. They called over to the small Farmer's Co-op to see if they were still open. I think the glowing light and me telling them at idle I wasn't burning as much gas as it would take to start it up again. They sent me 14 miles down the road without turning my bike upside down. John (from Trackstar) had his bike darn near stripped down-had to empty his pockets AND had the drug dog sniffing around.
The other mildly interesting thing that I rode into? I took my three hours of nothing (big points but you cannot put on miles nor look for bonuses points) about 5 blocks from the finish line. Because bringing in a cold 6 pack was also good points-I chose a grocery store. The receipt for the beverage had to be less than an hour old. The police barricades and yellow tape should have given me a hint. The news later showed me that it was a bad hostage situation. By the time I got there-they had quit firing but the LEOs had much more than three hours of nothing. Television cameras were everywhere...
I made three costly errors. I had a great ride. I will do HWY 38 in the daylight but it was wretched at 2300. Someone from that area said that they just got money to straighten the road out. I only shared the road maybe a total of 150 miles. Someone used my PIAAs to keep himself safe behind me. He had GPS that was a blessing for me in Duluth (my second least favourite MN city after ST Paul -where he happens to be form) Another rider just went to the next bonus stop with me in the rain on back country roads. He was a great rider-keeping up on a two cylinder bike (maybe a Seca?) Normally he rides a BMW. Would love to share some of those roads again with him-when it isn't raining. The man I crossed paths with the most-Will Outlaw, has to have the coolest outlook on riding...though I would love to ride with him-probably will not see him again until next year. There are so many folks you re-meet at this event that you want to talk with that there is barely time to run the rally.
I had a chance before and after the rally to borrow a Ducatti, a Yamaha something, and another K bike. I think it is great being able to swap rides and get a feel for another bike without having to go to a dealer. Some of the stories might take a while before they get here-some are best not told and eventually the difference between 10-11 AM and 10-11 PM might be explained...(shades of Jan Cutler)
Eddie, Adam and the rest of Team Strange-you put on a challenging rally. Thank you.
Joan Oswald
Well my first MN 1000 is history and I not only lived to tell about it but I can't wait til next year. My brother-in-law Jon McDermott is the one who got me interested in this rally after he did the 98 one. When we both decided to run in 99, initially we were going to run separately but eventually fate shined my way and Jon decided to 'slum" it with me. I'm sure without his expert advice plus reading the book "Riding the Mn 1000 for dummies" I would never have done as well as I(we) did.
I rode up to Minneapolis on Thurs. eve late so that Friday we could do the mandatory stops and just get ready for the banquet and rally. I had no problem with the mandatory stops so when I arrived at the banquet I was feeling pretty good. Then I saw all those other bikes and realized I was but one small fish in the ocean. I must say that all the other riders seemed very cordial and easy to talk to but it seemed like I was the only rookie. As soon as the point packetes were handed out-- home we shot to Jon's to plan our route.
It was like planning a massive battle, with taking into consideration the available point locations, mileage, and the weather. The rain was coming from the west and south and heading east and north so we figured the driest route would be to head south and west. This proved to be right on and we experienced only a small amount of rain-I've certainly been in worse.
We headed for Sioux Falls S.D. as our first stop and made it there only a few minutes behind our schedule. From there unfortunately we got progressively behind so that by Sat. eve it was apparent that our planned route was not going to get done. Out in the middle of S.D. dodging snakes and taking a highway detour on seven miles of gravel (now wasn't that special) it became apparent that our beloved three hour rest stop in Schaller, Iowa (Jon's parents still live there) was lost.
Oh well, who needs to sleep when you're having this much fun! So we got our 2300 points for three hours in one place in Kimball S.D. at a truck stop--planning our new route and watching the drunks puke. As the sun come up Sunday morn. I must say that I felt a strange euphoria coming over me as I realized we might just be able to finish on time with our 1000+ and fairly decent points. I think Jon would have scored higher without me but I think it's safer riding together or at least that's my rationalization. This was a great event and I thank all the volunteers as well as Adam and Eddy for putting it on. I will definitely be back next year.
By the way--I got one bonus not in the packette. My brother-in-law changed into my friend--Thanks again for a great experience! Martin Aronow, #283.
I expect that everyone who ran the Minnesota 1000 has a woulda- coulda-shoulda story. This is mine.
The route was doable. I figured I would head for Fargo first and do a clockwise Lap of Minnesota. On the way I would pick up every bonus within reach that was worth over 200 points. If it wasn't worth at least 200 it wasn't worth the time to stop. The theoretical point total of my trip would be a little over 14,000.
Then Eddie and Adam handed out 2 more bonus possibilities right before we started. These were big ones, 1,200 points each, with a two hour time window that would span the halfway mark. Initially I didn't think my route would take me anywhere near these bonuses during the time windows and I tucked the information away in my rally folder. Somewhere along that rainy road to Fargo however it dawned on me that if I made my route a figure 8 instead of a loop I could hit Owatonna before the window closed.
During my 20 minute wait at the Fargo dealership I confirmed that my new plan was possible. This was inspired! 15 thousand plus points and maybe even trophy contention! I left Fargo in a golden glow even though the skies were gray and the sun wasn't visible. With this new plan it was critical that I cross northern Minnesota to Duluth in less than 5 hours. There would only be one bonus stop midway, Hackensack.
I was using a different navigation technique for this rally. Instead of consulting a map periodically I had written directions, cheat sheet form, that were easily visible and readable while riding at speed. My eyes are not acute enough to view a map at speed especially since I hate to wear bifocals, but this new technique was working very well. I was making surprisingly good time.
With each passing mile my goal became more clearly achievable and the scenery became more and more beautiful. My spirits were high as my cheat sheet directions to Hackensack told me to turn onto the two lane highway 34 right before Detroit Lakes. The road seemed to bypass the entire city and I barely slowed down. The wind shifted to my rear and the day was becoming warmer. It felt so good.
Highways 34 and 59 ran together for a while and the mile markers seemed all screwy, probably because of 59. After about 15 miles 34 split off on its own and I have never had an experience like this before; the entire road opened up for me. The road surface was smooth and dry. I could see through every curve and every single slow moving vehicle I approached turned off before I got to it. The lakes and woodlands I passed were some of the most beautiful I have seen. The experience was divine, except for one thing. The mile markers were decreasing instead of increasing.
That was strange, but maybe it had something to do with the county line. At that point I was passing mile marker 14. I was in denial. I should have stopped immediately but the road had seduced me and I was making such good time! When I crossed back over I-94 I couldn't deny it any longer. Well, maybe I did go about a mile more. It was such a nice road.
I finally stopped and looked at a map, recognizing with a sinking heart that I had turned the wrong way onto 34. I would have to back track. Doh!!!!!!!!!!!! The first sign after re-crossing I-94 said Detroit Lakes 36 miles. Doh!!!!!!!!!!! My moment of glory faded. The skies became grayer. The wind became colder. Slow moving vehicles blocked my way.
I completed the figure 8 just to see what might have been, stopping in Owatonna for gas. The timestamp was 58 minutes after Tim Foreman had shut down the bonus stop. Woulda-coulda-shoulda.....
Aside from my own blunders the rally was a terrific experience. One of the best aspects was the Three Hours of Nothing bonus. They made this one so valuable points-wise it could not be ignored and everyone I talked to used it. Like many others my initial plan was to complete my ride early and use it at the end. During my ride however I found that it was much more useful at 2:00 AM.
Another enjoyable part of the rally was the popularity of bonus number 1, the Lap of Minnesota. Everyone seemed to be doing the same bonus but they all had a different plan, starting from different corners and going in different directions. I was constantly meeting other riders at bonus stops which was reassuring and fun.
This was my third Minnesota 1000. Every year has new surprises and challenges. I can't wait for the rumored Minnesota 2000 next year. With just a little more detail on my cheat sheets (like the direction of the turn) I should do very well.
Pete Dean, Rider 84 (KLR650)
- One of the best parts of riding a Minnesota 1000 comes during that short
- trip you take to the Saturday-morning starting line at Bob's Java Hut. Along
- the way you're thinking: "I don't have a clue what's going to happen during
- the next 24 hours, but it's going to be something weird, guaranteed. I
- wonder what it will be?"
-
- I t only took about five hours to get my answer. The 18-year-old Yamaha
- SR500 was running perfectly. We already had dipped south to Rochester and
- got the strong headwinds out of the way, and were heading west across the
- bottom of Minnesota. The occasional rain helped water-cool the old single
- and we were well ahead of the schedule I'd plotted on the kitchen table the
- night before. Then, about 70 miles from Sioux Falls, IT happened. I was
- looking at the speedometer and watched the needle drop from 75 to zero.
- Ouch. I held my breath, hoping that the odometer was still alive. A tenth of
- a mile later, I could see it was dead, too. That meant it was either a
- snapped cable, or if I was really lucky, an end of the cable had come
- unscrewed. I pulled to the side of I-90 and got the bad news. Both ends of
- the cable were still attached.
-
- So I did something to the SR that I've never done since I bought it new in
- 1981. I smacked it across the headlight with my glove. I felt sorry about it
- right away. It wasn't the poor bike's fault. I should have lubed the cable.
- But that's the Minnesota 1000 ... a whole string of "should haves." Of all
- the million little maintenance things I've done to keep the SR running over
- the years, I've got to admit I haven't spent a lot of time lubing the speedo
- cable, although I remember lubing the tach cable once when the thing
- developed a severe nervous tick. And anyway, how many of you other riders
- lubed YOUR speedo cable before starting out Saturday. (Actually, I know at
- least one of you did. The guy parked next to me at Track Star Sunday morning
- told me he lubes his regularly, and he added a second electronic speedo
- system as a back-up. So there.)
-
- But after spinning around happily for 65,000 trouble-free and unlubricated
- miles, my cable decided right that morning that it had had it. My first
- thought was that my ride was over ... and I hadn't even had any adventures
- yet. The rules say that without odometer readings, you can't claim bonus
- points. And at the time, I had yet to record a single point. I thought of
- turning around right there, but decided to head on in to the J&L
- Harley-Davidson shop in Sioux Falls anyway. I figured I'd call Team Strange
- and tell them I DNFed. This wasn't the highpoint of my day. It wasn't even
- an interesting DNF ... a thrown rod would have sounded better, or maybe
- resisting arrest ... but not a stupid little cable.
-
- But as I drove along I got to thinking about all the Iron Butt stories I've
- read, and how riders figured out how to bounce back from the weird stuff.
- Mmm. I wasn't lucky when the cable snapped, but maybe I'd get lucky in Sioux
- Falls. Maybe somewhere in that town, on some shelf of some bike shop that
- used to sell old Yamahas, in some dusty plastic bag, there would be a cable
- that had my name on it. It was a long shot, but I wasn't going to give up
- till I took it. What the heck, it's not like I had anything else to do.
- The J&L Harley shop in Sioux Falls was worth big points if you got there
- before closing. We were supposed to spend 20 minutes, resting and visiting.
- Right there on our bonus route sheets it said the owners were friendly.
- Maybe they could help.
-
- I was greeted by Gary Ronning, the sales manager, and his wife Donna. They
- were stamping route sheets, keeping track of the 20 minutes the riders had
- to spend there, and serving up coffee and pop. I told them what happened,
- and they knew right away that I was dead in the water without a new cable.
- Now can you believe this, but Donna's mom, Sharon, is the service manager at
- another bike shop in Sioux Falls. Donna got on the phone and called mom
- across town at Elliott Power Sports. Sharon knew about the Minnesota 1000,
- and said she'd doing anything she could to help. While I stayed on the
- phone, she had her parts manager start digging around.
-
- Now can you believe this again, they found the cable for my 1981 SR. They
- were getting ready to close, and wondered how soon I could get over there.
- Asking someone riding the Minnesota 1000 a question like that is like
- throwing a match in a puddle of 106 octane. I told them I had to wait
- another nine minutes at the J&L shop, and then I'd be over just as soon as
- possible. Thank you thank you thank you.
-
- Donna came up with a map of town, showed me route, and pointed me in the
- right direction. Sioux Falls is a lot bigger than I thought it was, and has
- way more stop lights than it needs, but eventually I pulled into Elliott's
- service department (one of the spiffiest I've ever seen) and Tony got right
- to work. That was the easy part. It took about 100 times longer (well, five
- times longer) to process the bill than it did to install the cable. They had
- to get the VIN number, and the miles, and a whole bunch of other stuff for
- the computerized printout. It was annoying. Didn't these people know I had
- to get moving? But thinking about it, if that shop didn't keep such good
- track of things, they never would have found my cable in under two minutes,
- and the computerized bill, with my VIN number and exact mileage, turned out
- to be the perfect kind of documentation that would be required to explain at
- the end of the rally what happened to those 75 miles missing from my
- odometer. So while they were still working on the bill, I went back to the
- service area, dug out a Power Bar, glugged some Golden Spectro 20-50 into
- the SR and glugged a little Gatorade into me. The cable set me back 15 bucks
- (was that the 1981 price?) plus a little more for labor, and Donna pointed
- me back to I-29. I have fond memories of Sioux Falls.
-
- Four hours and a great tailwind later, I had two surprises at a Moorhead gas
- stop. For one, I caught up to some of the same riders I'd seen back at Sioux
- Falls. The second surprise was the 2.79 gallons I pumped into my
- three-gallon gas tank. Yikes!
-
This is my first MN1000 and I tried to do everything by the numbers. Later found out there are no numbers and you have to be flexible.
About 9 am friday started to drive around and collect my mandatory stops. Met up with Will Outlaw(cool name) on his old R bike and rode to the next stop with him. After a couple more stop's it's off to the odometer check and the Liar's Banquet. Got the check point's and some burgers and home to plan. I'm a little concerned that my ZX-11 might not be the right bike for this sort of thing after seeing all the Beamers and cruisers.
Next morning I 'm the 3rd rider at Bob's and I'm waiting for my friends, Jeff Sinna and William Hagestad, that I'm riding with. They arrive and we promptly through my plan out due to the weather to the west and we are filled with piss and vinegar, and we decide to go for the big dog lap-o-minnesota. 10 am we are off and get or quick points in St. Paul Harley and the park, then to St. Croix Harley up County 65(realy fun road!!) then up I-35. A quick stop at the castle for a slider and then to Duluth. Got lucky and arrived just after the marathon. Check the ship and a fuel stop and up the north shore to grand portage.
A quick slow down to see if I still have a front tire and rim after hitting a pot hole the size of Lake Michigan. Later I found out that I have a dent in the front rim but I can continue. Nice trick with the grand portage city limit sign and population. Make our call, and back track to Hwy. 1. Fun road, be a lot better if it wasn't so rough. Had a bird think my helmet was a good place to land, but changed his mind in the nick of time and missed me by inches.
Got our fuel in Ely and over to hockey hall of fame. Had to stop just NE of Victoria and add oil to Jeff's R6 and chain lube to Bill's ZX-9R. Thanks to the rider on the FZ with no lowers for stopping to see if we were OK. That was great sportsmanship. At this point we are no longer full of piss and vinegar and decide that a 120 mph average for the rest of the big dog is just to much and we start to work the points through the middle of MN.
Hall of fame to the big fish way up in the north and back to Victoria for our 3 hours down time. Checked into an American Inn's Lobby (Thanks to the Girl at the counter to let us sleep in the lobby of a completely full hotel) and out at a gas station across the street. Down to check out Paul Bunions girl friend. Bop down to St. Cloud and into the twin cities.
Checking in with 4 min. before the 10 am deadline. 1035 miles and 9036 points, and some good barbecue later I must say It was a great time and hope to be back next year. Looking back the ZX-11 wasn't such a bad bike for this sort of thing. I have to work on the planning for next year because I'm going to do considerable better!
Thank you Tony Roy (Rider #311)
-- Don't ride faster than Your guardian angel can fly.
Shannon and Donna Bruns' Ride Report
Its Franks fault. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.
It hadn't dawned on me to run 1000 miles in 24 hours before i talked to Frank Wedge, president of the Moto Guzzi National owners Club, at the Iowa Moto Guzzi rally last year. Frank lives in Larned Kansas, and regularly rides big miles on his Guzzi. The fire in his eyes and the level of excitement was contageous.
When I got home I got on the internet and started gathering information on long distance riding. The Iron But Riders Association website had a wealth of information, stories,tips, and an events schedule. Lo and Behold! There was a listing for something called the Minnesota 1000. "Honey, guess what we're doing in mid June?!" My ever tollerant wife, Donna, upon hearing what I'd signed us up for, simply asked what days she would need off from work and started making a list of needed equipment.
As per Iron Butt Riders Association suggestion, we bought electric vests, new helmets, and better raingear. The bike itself needed nothing as it was already equiped with a great seat, hard bags, a windshield, and a throttle lock. And so the adventure began.
We left Watertown SD thursday, June 17th for Minneapolis. Our plan being to find Warner Power Sports, just off of Lyndale Avenue, where Friday nights riders meeting would be held, then hit the mandantory stops so that we could get away from the Minneapolis metro area as soon as possible Saturday AM when the rally began. A Polaris Victory rider at Warners (I was introduced to him three times and still don't remember his name) gave us directions to Midwest cycle, and Trackstar Motorsports. This would be valuable information later. Being from South Dakota, I lack all os the skills needed to negotiate Minneapolis traffic, so at Friday nights meeting when Eddie James announced that the starting line was at Bobs Jave Hut on Lyndale Avenue, and the finish line would be at Trackstar Motorsports, our strategy began to take shape. We would plan our route so that we could exit and re-enter Minneapolis via Interstate 35 exit at Lyndale ave. and follow the route from Warners ove to Trackstar. It was probably not the most efficient route, but it was a safe one.
Friday night we laid the maps on the floor of our hotel room and went to work. We decided that the higher speed limits and familiar roads of South Dakota were our best hope and laid out a loop through Chamberlain to Wall, up to Firesteel and back across. This way if we thought our timing was off, we could simply turn north, shorten our route, and make up the time. Saturday morning the sadists known as Team Strange threw out two more stops shortly before the green flag dropped, Owatona Minnesota, and Aberdeen South Dakota. Without consulting a map, I decided that we would ignore Owatona, since I had no idea where it was, and would only take it if we lucked across it. Aberdeen on the other hand was a given.
When the flag dropped, we got out of Minneapolis as planned and headed down I35 in the rain. As we rolled south on 35 we saw a sign, "Owatona 30 miles". What luck. I confered with my copilot as to where in Owatona we needed to stop, and looked for the offramp. We rolled into the Perkins parking lot in Owatonna right on shedule. We parked alongside one of the expert class riders from California. He was coming out as we were going in, he nodded, got on his bike and left. I stepped inside and asked for the Minnesota 1000 rep, as directed , only then did I notice that it clearly said on the run sheet, "Between 9 and 11 pm, we were 12 hours early. Donna and I enjoyed a quick laugh at our rookie mistake, and we continued south on I-35 to I-90 west.
Sioux Falls is a familiar city, so we got off at the airport exit and grabbed fuel and a bag of cheeseburgers on the way over to the Harley dealership. During the mandantory 20 minute stop at SiouFalls, we reviewed our toute, and decided to drop Wall, and just cut north at Chamberlain to Gettysburg so that we could make the Aberdeen stop between 9 and 11 pm. In retrospect, this strategy was not sound, Chamberlain was far too few points to be worth the miles we went to get them.
We made the stop just west of Chamberlain as planned, and turned north to Gettysberg only to find that the Cenex wouldn't accept our Visa card without the PIN, which I don't honestly know. Lucky for us a local farmer pulled in and let us fill up using his Cenex card. We paid him and were on our way back south and east to the reststop just outside of Miller SD to check out the historical marker. Suspicions confirmed, the monument didn't say anything about Lewis and Clark, but instead informed us about the early settlers in the area, and on the other side were directions on how to read branding irons.
We splashed fuel in the tank in Miller, and headed north to Aberdeen where we found Team Strange members enjoying a nice meal, and laughing at the silly motorcyclists that came in asking for their autographs. One rider asked us how we were doing so far, I thought he meant miles, and said. "I'm not sure, but I think when we're done it will be about 1100 or so" His eyes went wide, and he sputtered. "That will never be enough to be competitive" In retrospect, I'm sure he was asking about points, not miles, in which case we were doing just fine. Aberdeen is only 100 miles or so north of our home in Watertown, and Watetown is only 30 miles from Milbank which was on our list, it would be perfect.
We pulled into our house at about midnight, Donna made soup and sandwiches while I regrouped and reassesed our plan. Only then did I notice the 2800 points available for doing nothing for 3 hours. Gadzooks, 2800 points! We jumped on the bike and went to the end of the street to get a fuel receipt from the Kum and Go. The mentally challenged individual behind the counter gave me the receipt as requested, but the time on the receipt said 11.42 when it was actually 12:42, he corrected this for me, wrote in the date and stamped the back with the stores check stamp.We then went home to grab a quick 2 and a half hour nap. When we awoke, we gathered our equipment and hopped back on the bike to grab another receipt before leaving Watertown. We grabbed some granola bars at the convenience store on the corner of highways 81 and 212. This is when Donna noticed that the cashier at the Kum and Go had listed the date as the 19th, but since it was after midnight, is should have beed listed as the 20th, so back to the Kum and Go we went for the correction.
We were unsure of what Sunday morning Minneapolis traffic would be like, so we opted not to take Milbank, and headed into Minnesota grabbing a couple more stops on our way back to Minneapolis. We stopped for fuel in New Prague and tried to pick up the six pack of pop, only to find that they did not carry 6 packs, only 12 packs. Curses, that was their evil plan, my guess was that 6 packs were not available within 60 miles of minneapolis, this is why it was worth so many points. We stopped at four more places on our way to Trackstar before finding a 6 pack of Coca-Cola 10 ounce comemorative bottles at a grocery store.
We worked our way across town to Trackstar Motorsports as planned and clocked in with time to spare. Only upon checkin did we discover that the points auditors would have accepted 6 or 12 packs. Note for next year. Our route added up to 1144.8 miles and our points were good enough for 3rd place in the two-up class, which was a real thrill for us first time competitors. Our post ride inspection revealed a dangerously defective rear tire, unsafe to ride back to Watertown. The good folks at Trackstar helped us with this problem and we were on our way, Thanks Guys!
We'll be back next year with a new Guzzi, and a fresh strategy . In the mean while if ya see a couple on a red and Black Guzzi wearing matching road race jackets at 3 am on a desolate backroad, Its Franks fault!
Shannon Bruns
It was exciting, challenging and rewarding. It was the 1999 MN1K ride! Let me, for the sake of literary accomplishment and sharing, try to explain how I and some riding friends became involved.
It actually started prior to the 1998 MN1K. When Eddie James was still working at St. Paul Harley Davidson, I got into a conversation with him and was enthusiastically introduced by him to the MN1K. I had many questions and had never considered entering into an endurance rally. My experience of long distance riding existed of 2 day trips to Sturgis with numerous pit stops and a layovers. Ride a 1000 miles in 24 hours – NEVER!
As the days wore on and this idea of entering didn’t vanish from my simple-minded brain. I had spoken to one of the riding companions, Jerry Kellogg, and he without even thinking about the commitment said, "Yes, let’s do it!" Of course he was speaking from having experience in riding to Texas and Arizona. He was already conditioned to long distance riding.
The concept of ‘misery likes company’ had me asking another riding companion, Bill Pyzska. Bill is always on his bike and he too didn’t give it too much thought. So there you have it, we signed up. I was rider number 257, Bill was 258 and Jerry was 260. We were in the 1998 MNIK.
At the start of the 1998 MN1K, another rider Jerry Kellogg and I had met in Madison, WI during the 95th Anniversary of Harley Davidson joined our team. He was Roger Rimnac, Rider number 77. Our experiences for the 1998 MN1K included the wet weather by sitting under bridge overpasses in Iowa, figuring we’d not make the 1000 miles having a bite to eat at the Boondocks (mile marker 144 in Iowa), turning around to head North after hearing from a patrolman that the weather was getting worse further South, departing the Boondocks around 6:20pm with the thought we’d just head home, then seeing clear skies to the West when he reached I-90 in Minnesota and decided to head West towards Sioux Falls, SD, once in Sioux Falls we were gassing up and decided, ‘What the heck!,’ let’s head North on I-29 to Fargo, ND – which we did. After leaving Fargo we got as far as Barnsville, MN (exit 23 on I-94) when four deer scooted across the road. We slowed down to let them pass but the last deer, a buck, decided he liked the northern side of the highway better. Fortunately we were back under power and when the deer started across the highway, I served to avoid hitting it but he glanced off my passenger seat and tour pack. He was knocked to the roadway where Roger ran directly over him. Fortunately for Roger, he fell onto the deer – the deer got the road rash and not Roger.
After using the cellular phone to call 911, an emergency vehicle showed up and some county patrolman. Roger was attended to and the deer was dispatched (actually took 2 shots for the patrolman didn’t hit him the first time). We were back on the road around 4:45am. We hadn’t gone more than 15 miles when we spotted a vehicle in the medium. The driver was walking from the vehicle. We stopped and told him we’d call 911 – which I did. He approached us and wanted a ride to Fergus Falls, MN. I told him, "No way, a call was made to 911 and an emergency vehicle is coming as well as some county police." He decided to walk towards Fergus Falls, approximately another 15 miles away. I called 911 again and the operator recognized my voice and said, "Ray, what may we do for you now?" I was on a first name basis. I told her about the situation with the driver from the car in the medium and she said it would be taken care of.
We finally got back to the Twin Cities, had time to clean up and check into the Rally finishing before the 10:00am deadline. We all made the 1000 miles and were rewarded with our coveted pins. It was an unforgettable experience that now brought us back to the 1999 MN1K.
Well, we were now hooked! The four of us signed up again, this time for the 1999 MN1K. In addition, another riding companion, Jim Vandenberg, joined. He became rider number 295.
We went to the Liar’s Banquet and got ourselves all hyped for this year’s rally. We were going to use different strategy this year – watch the weather map more closely and try and take a route with less rain. Roger Rimnac opted not to take the trip with us. His experience with hitting a deer damped his enthusiasm for nighttime motoring.
As we waited at Bob’s Java Hut, I intently watched the weather channel. It looked like the weather was moving out of the area to the North and was still coming in to the South of the Twin Cities. As usual the weather forecasters (prognosticators are unable to predict what the weather is actually going to do. We decided to head North – we didn’t know the weather was going to stall. We had rain all the way to Fargo, ND. Fortunately, it was not a heavy rain – misting and slight drizzle! The stops along the way to Fargo had us putting on rain gear and changing socks, boots and whatever so that we’d be more comfortable.
Once we passed West Fargo heading towards Bismarck, the weather was terrific! We had cloudy but warm weather – Bill Pyzska attached his wet boots to the outside of this gear to air dry them. It worked! Enroute to Bismarck at a gas stop, the clerk, a young lady asked us where we’re from and where we’re going. We explained about our participation in the MN1K. She said, "Why would you want to do something like 1000 miles in 24 hours?" She had no concept of the challenge, so we departed for Bismarck without really giving her a good explanation.
From Bismarck we headed through Mandan and turned South towards Eagle Butte, SD. We had a full tank of gasoline and figured it would be not problem. It was close, we needed to refuel in a small town along the Missouri River. It was 9 miles out of our way, but we needed miles anyway. Fortunately for us we arrived just in time before he was going to close. We refueled and headed East once again, next stop Eagle Butte for more refueling.
It was dark when we arrived at Firesteel, SD. The mosquitoes were out and the information marker was difficult to read. We copied all the information as requested but were planning to decapitate Eddie or Adam when we got back for coming up with such a stop.
As we headed into Clark, SD, we were tired. It was time for our rest. We checked into the motel with instructions for the clerk to awake us at 5:30am. It didn’t take long before the lights were out and the damn phone was ringing with our wake up call.
We made it back to the Rally finish line with about 15 minutes to spare. Bill Pyzska stopped for gasoline for he wouldn’t have made it. He pulled in about 5 minutes after us. He explained he did a Memorial Day 500 pit stop by pulling in a putting in 2 bucks of gas, picking up the receipt and moving out again in the shortest time possible. He made it!
We were tired, but happy we had no incidents like the year before. Already the guys are talking about the MN1K for year 2000 – a 2000 miler over 2 days. Count us in!
Ray Anderson, Rider 257