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Bart Bakker's Ride Report
I passed through
Niobrara for the first time in 1997, an accidental tourist seeking a more
entertaining route to the Black Hills. Nebraska
Highway 12 was marked as a scenic byway, so I gave it a try, and truly enjoyed
the ride. Repeat visits on Team
Strange events over the years built up a mystique around the Two Rivers Saloon
and Hotel, my last visit coming near the end of Buttlite II.
So, when it was announced that the MN 1000 was headed to Niobrara this
year, I was excited. Camping before and after the rally promised more opportunity
to hang out with friends, making the event a bit of a cross between the BMW
MOA/RA rallies I frequent, with an LD event sandwiched in the middle, a hybrid
that I personally would like to see repeated. Sadly
for me, my day job made the event even more of a challenge.
I had to work a few hours early (3 a.m.) Friday morning, ride the 360
miles to Niobrara, check in, set up the tent…and then realized that I’d have
to start riding Friday night if I wanted to compete for the top spot.
I hate starting a rally already tired.
I signed in at 7:25 p.m., listened to 69 minutes of Arlene Liska’s
amazing travel stories, then hit the road, alone. I had sort of intended to ride with my friend Steffan. We rode to Niobrara together Friday morning, though I don’t think he was quite as sleep deprived as I. We laid out a basic route given the information at hand, deciding to head for North Platte, Laramie and then Lusk. The second route sheet and the arrival of our mutual good friend from Iowa City, Ken Lefler, had me switching gears. “Why don’t you and Ken ride together?” I told them. Both were riding modern, Oilhead BMWs with 5 gallon auxiliary fuel tanks, meaning that – even if I could hang with them on my old Airhead GS/ParisDakar – my own gas mileage would suffer to the point that I’d be stopping well before they would need to, despite my 9.25 gallon tank. They readily agreed. I
simply wanted to ride alone. I’ve ridden a lot of events with friends, all of them
memorable, with mixed results, but this time wanted to go at my own pace.
I also wanted to see if I could piece together a completely different
route and still beat my two friends, maybe even win the whole thing.
(I’ve got a serious jones for
that IBR spot, after all.) The
second route sheet included over 2,000 points for Salem Sue up west of Bismarck,
so I decided to sweep northwest across South Dakota toward the big cow in New
Salem, ND. Making my best use of
the little bit of daylight remaining, I hit the back roads hard while making my
way to Chamberlain, but still arrived after Shannon Bruns on his Guzzi.
Next stop was in Pierre at the Flaming Fountain, where I met Shannon
again. He was riding harder than me
but plagued by poor mileage and limited fuel capacity, which led to his demise
(see his ride report).
From Pierre I headed north to Mobridge for the Sitting Bull monuments. One thing I liked about this route was the memories of rallies past it brought back. I’d been to Mobridge on Buttlite One, which helped me find the monuments quickly in the dark. I drove right up to them, as I wasn’t sure who or what I’d find out there alone at 2:30 a.m. Prayer bundles and some coins, but no people were present at that awe-inspiring spot overlooking the Missouri River. Back on the road, I took US 12 to SD 63, then ND 6 north to Mandan. That was the hardest stretch of the ride, as I had by now already been up for over 24 hours but was only seven hours into my ride. It also began to rain hard, which made the ride up the (unpaved) hill to Salem Sue even more exciting. Just like Buttlite II, I thought, remembering the horrific rainstorm and our pathetic attempts at taking a Polaroid photo in the dark under the cow’s udder. No photo was required this time, and as the sun began to approach the horizon, the rain dissipated. It was time to run at the ton west on a desolate I-94. If
I’d had a VFR, god knows how fast I could have gone.
The old GS keeps me riding at real world, license-preserving speeds,
though I would have preferred reaching US 85 at Belfield a little quicker.
This was a very pretty ride, running through the Badlands and butte
country of western North Dakota. I
got the bonus in Buffalo, SD (the horse named Tipperary),
then headed east about 45 miles on SD 20, another scenic road.
Just before Bison, I went south on the Bixby Road (which is all paved,
despite what the maps say.) Absolutely nothing out there, my friends, so I dispatched it
as quickly as possible, arriving at the Ben Ash Monument around 8:30 a.m.
(Good ol’ Stimmy Stimson!) Next
stop, Aladdin, Wyoming. US
212 was under construction, as always, this time between Newell and Belle
Fourche. Though I was not at all
swayed by the construction zone/“motorcyclist warning” signs, they had just
wetted down the dirt, so it was rather muddy, though no problem for the GS.
It did delay my arrival at the general store in Aladdin, however, where I
met yet another flag gal and pilot car. (I
was very polite, though I could tell not all riders had explicitly obeyed her
commands.) I’ve been to Aladdin
before, during rallies and just passing through.
The worker there assured me that all the info I needed was on the receipt
(not true) and that she had a friend
who’d run the Iron Butt Rally before (true) and understood my needs.
Good people abound, and make rallies so much easier. Outside
of Hulett, WY, I met Steffan and
Ken headed in the opposite direction. I’m
sure they were wondering what I was up too. By the time I reached Devil’s
Tower, I was becoming a little concerned about the time.
Then I saw Jim Winterer ahead of me on his SR500.
He asked, “how long do you think it will take to get back to
Niobrara?” I replied, “how fast
can you go on that thing?” (He
made it back in time.) If
Jim could handle it on a single…I got my passport stamp and busted a
move for Deadwood, SD. I’ve
been to Deadwood countless times, but never gambled there.
I just don’t, period, and it has nothing to do with the “morality”
of it. I found a casino right at
the junction of US 85 and 14A, got a $1 coin (my first casino experience) and
got the hell out of there. No way I
was going to Keystone, that would take too long – or so I assumed.
US 14A into Sturgis was nearly empty, unlike during Bike Week(s), when
you can’t go over 20 mph behind a parade of hideous Hogs.
I knew by now I had plenty of time for the bonus at Interior/Badlands NP,
so when I found myself taking a nap out on I-90 east of Rapid City, I
immediately pulled over for a Power Bar and some caffeine. Soon
I met Marty and Tim coming out of Interior, waved, and hoped I could beat the
two Oilhead GS boys. Wishful
thinking. Finding
myself with plenty of time remaining to get to the finish line, the only bonus
that appeared feasible was a small one in Monowi, NE, about 20 miles west of the
finish. I took SD 44 from Interior
and rode at what seemed a leisurely, tourist pace – I didn’t want to get
back too early. Steffan and I had
taken this road out west only a month earlier, and it was rather odd to be on it
again so soon. The scenery is much
better than on the slab, though you travel through one of the poorest parts of
America. Visit Wanblee if you want
to see how the BIA treats our native Americans. One
of the two alleged residents of Monowi was outside, scowling at me, as I
recorded my final bonus. I’d had
a pretty good ride and finished almost an hour earlier than I needed.
The results: 1,328 miles in 21 hours and 39 minutes of riding, a 61.9 mph
overall average, 70 mph whilst driving (or so my GPS claimed.)
Nearly 1,000 of those miles were ridden on two-lane roads. For a few brief moments I held the top score, until Messrs.
Conway and Leir arrived. Congratulations
to both of them! They rode 100
fewer miles than me, too. Bob Corio
also had a great run and finished 39 points ahead.
Steffan and Ken blew the bonus at the Ames Pyramid east of Laramie, WY
(much to their chagrin) or they would have taken top honors in Expert Class.
This allowed me to finish ahead of them, second place in Expert class.
Kinda cheap but I’ll take it, friends.J Two
Wheels to Niobrara was a fantabulous event, one which I would like to see
repeated, year after year. One can
understand that the MN 1000 franchise might be too valuable to relocate there
every year, but the magic of Niobrara has only been increased, now eternally
enhanced by the looming presence of the newest Team Strange Reverend, Arlene
Liska. You’ve been told, don’t
miss it next time. |
Unless otherwise indicated, all
material herein © Team Strange Airheads, Inc. All rights reserved.
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