BigTex Rally 2012

Introduction to M/C Rallying
Some years ago I was reading one of the motorcycle magazine and ran across an intriguing article call "Butts of Fire" (actually a different name - but you get the point).  This article was about one of the journalist who had heard about a group of riders who attempted to ride a certain distance within a defined period of time. This group of riders were members of the "Iron Butt Association (IBA)" and were attempting to obtain a certificate called "SaddleSore 1000". You obtain this certificate by riding 1000 miles in 24hrs.  The journalist attempted to do this on the new Kawasaki Concours 1400 - which was being sold a the new dawg in town for long distance/adventure motorcycle riding.  The Concours was not the typical motorcycle with built for racing around the track at blazing speed.  This was a road bike with a powerful engine, saddle bags for luggage, upright seating, and of course a wind shield to block the wind.  Ok enough about the bike, I was "really" intrigued by the 1000 miles in 24 hours - so I looked into the IBA website.  Shortly after that I heard about the "IronButt Rally".  This is an 11 day - 11,000 mile rally or scavenger hunt across the U.S.  For some reason this was very interesting to me.  After reading more material about the IBA and the IronButt Rally, I begin to read anything and everything about this long distance (LD) community and motorcycles used for such.  I knew if I was ever going to go down this path I would need to upgrade my motorcycle from the 1984 Honda Nighthawk "S".  This was a 700cc standard Japanese bike not really built for LD riding but commuting around town.  Not that it couldn't possibly handle it with a lot of modifications.

Years passed of just looking at bikes specifically in the "Sport-Touring" arena - Concours 1400, Honda ST1300, BMW R1200T, Honda Goldwing and others.  Years passed of just researching and I finally decided on the Honda ST1300 as the bike I would like to own one day.  This was a proven bike used in the LD community and with police departments.  It was on famously reliable Honda brand and it had a smooth V4 engine.  The last thing that sold me on it was that the bike will just run "forever" and the maintenance was very low. There is a Honda dealership (stealership) in every town so getting parts / repairs wasn't going to be hard to find. I also found an ST1300 forum for good reliable information as well.  January 2011, I just happened to be browsing CycleTrader and see my dream bike - already loaded with features I wanted to add. Talked it over with Lisa and I purchased a 2006 Honda ST1300 with 30,000 miles on it. It already had most the upgrades on it from the previous owner - who was into LD riding as well.  Plus the bike was black and that was my favorite color.  Lisa and I drove from Memphis to Chattanooga, TN to pickup the bike from a BMW dealership. The weather was great (for January) when we picked up the bike. I (of course) took it for a test ride and the weather was just starting to turn cool. On the way back to Memphis, we stopped in Murfressboro, TN to spend night with some closes friends.  We go out in Field Service - and it "snows".

First IBA Event
Can't remember how I heard about it (magazine maybe) but somehow/somewhere I heard that there was going to be an IBA organized event in Memphis for those that wanted to attempt the SaddleSore 1000.  I participated in this event and was able to complete it in about 18 hrs - riding about 1054 miles.  This was a IBA sponsored event so I now have a certificate to show I completed the ride successfully.  The organizer of this event was a gentleman name "Howard Entman".  Howard was a seasoned Long Distance (LD) rider and had participated in these type of rallies before and was preparing for the 2011 IronButt Rally.  During this SS1000 event, I talked with Howard about LD riding and we exchanged information.

IBA Archive of Wisdom for LD Riding
Here are some things to live / ride by - if you are going to travel or rally on a motorcycle.  I try to practice these things before and during my rides.
Archive of Wisdom

What is a Rally?
Here is a link to a very good explanation of what is an M/C Rally.
The Void Rally

First Rally - CapeFear 1000 - 2012
My first rally was the CapeFear1000.  This year, the CapeFear Rally was encouraging new riders, so they had offered an incentive to veterans that if they could find a person to sponsor for the upcoming rally, their entry would be guaranteed along with their newbie.  Howard called asked if I was interested and I was.  Somewhere along the way before the entry date Howard picked up a second newbie and there may have been some arrangement they had made before my arrangements - so now I don't have a guaranteed entry spot and I would have to enter the normal method via the web. Well, this was a popular rally and entry opens at 12:00 midnight on Jan 2 (I think) and the spots generally fill-up within 10/15 mins.  You had to have a fast finger on the keyboard and fast Internet.  Anyway - I didn't initially get in.  Sent Howard an email letting him know that I didn't get in and would try again next year.  Howard told me to send an email to the "RallyMaster" and sometimes they open up spots at the last minute.  Sure enough - RallyMaster emailed me one day - said I had 1 day to respond to the invitation - 30 mins later I responded with a "yes".

Howard still agreed to mentor me......and 4 others from the Memphis area.  Overall, we all had a great time and I was bitten by the rally bug.  BTW - I got 5th place

BigTex Rally 2012

October 19&20, 2012
At the CapeFear 1000 - my scorer was Wayne Boyter - who was a really nice guy - who gave me some pointers during my first scoring event. After scoring he informed me that he was from Dallas area also (Cedar Hill) and that he was going to start a new rally in Texas.  I told him to send me the info when it was official and I would definitely think about riding in that event - especially since he was going to have it end in Cedar Hill, TX - my home town.  Needless to say - I entered.

ST1300 Prep
I purchased new tires and rear brake pads as I needed to replace my front tire due to wear, so I just decided to replace both with a matched brand. I had a Pirelli tire on the back and a Dunlop tire on front.  The Bridgestones BT-023 tires are new for the Sport-Touring bikes so I wanted to give them a try. I have heard good things about them on the ST1300 forum. I have to say that I am very pleased with them so far.

I had recently change the engine oil and filter, front pads plus the rear differential oil  so no changes needed there.  Since the last rally, I had purchased a Bestem TopBox (rear trunk) for additional storage. I also needed a waterproof duffle bag to carry "stuff". The NorthFace waterproof duffle bag was not cheap.

First Rally Route Planning Alone
This is going to be the first motorcycle rally I take on by myself.  I had learned quite a bit from Howard on the whole rally process, route planning, and efficient riding.  The whole rally process is all about time management and as they say "reading comprehension".  How to manage your body, motorcycle, route planning and comprehension of what the rally master want you to do - you just have to do it.  BigTex Rally - Wayne offered a newbie event to help new ones with "HowTo" rally planning and even sponsored a mini ride to show more tips on planning / rallying.  I had to miss that event.

Rally Pack Arrival
The rally pack arrived 3 weeks ahead of the rally, which was totally different that the CapeFear Rally, which in that rally you got your bonus locations 36 hours before the start of the rally. Our rally pack was this 30 page manual with all the rules and bonus locations.  The bonus location contained the task(s) needed to accomplish, exact GPS locations and point values.  The locations are generally very interesting historic and interesting locations.  You generally will receive a rally flag containing your rider number and you will have to take along a digital camera so you can take a picture of the task/location along with your rally flag.  The BigTex Rally wanted riders to take a tripod with them so they could take a picture with themselves in the picture.  I knew this was so that you (the rider) could have keepsakes to share with friends & family but some riders didn't agree with the whole self portrait thing.

My Rally Route
So you get your rally packs and then you have to plan your route that will get you the most points. The rider that can ride the most efficient route and obtains the most points wins.  My goal was not to win since this was my first rally alone.  My goal was 1.) to finish with enough points  2.) enjoy my ride and 3.) don't make any dumb decisions.
I had 3 weeks to find a good route and I think I must have changed routes about 20 times.  I finally settled on a route about 3 days before departing.  Having a required location for the route made things a little more challenging. I choose to start from the Orange, TX location and had a mandatory location in Langtry, TX. This made planning the route challenging because the museum for Judge Roy Bean (ROY) closed at 5pm. Once I entered all the bonus point locations in the GPS mapping program (Garmin BaseCamp) I assigned all the locations an indicator color based on point value.  Yes, those are locations all over Texas.
Green dots - low value
Blue dots - middle value
Red dots - high value
Purple dot - mandatory

Below is the final route settled on.

Departure to Orange,TX
Oct. 18
Since I choose the southern most start location in Texas, I needed to leave a day early just to make it there.  I decided to leave Memphis at 7AM and ride to New Orleans via Lake Pontchartrain Causeway bridge. I had planned to have some New Orleans beignet's but I was off schedule and decide drop that event.  I arrived at my hotel in Orange about 7pm Monday evening.

Start of Rally - 06:00 AM
Oct. 19th
All the riders had to meet at the starting location at 5:30am for final riders instructions - the official start is at 6am. The coordinator gave us our final instructions and included two (2) extra items.  1.) They took our drivers license / insurance and put them in an envelope with a BigTex Rally sticker.  If you could arrive at the finish with the envelope intact you would receive an extra 5000 points. You have to figure out how to check into your hotel without DL and if you don't speed then you won't have to show your DL to the police.  2.) They gave us an additional bonus listing. They added some other bonus listing that we could change our routes to obtain additional high values points.  I quickly scanned the list and I opted to only take advantage of one of them - at a location I was already going to visit.  The coordinator said some final words and we all headed to the gas pumps to get an official gas receipt to show our start time.  This receipt has to be AFTER 6:00am - not 5:59am.

6:01am receipt - and I am on my bike headed to first bonus location (bonii) SHI

My printed checklist / planned route of bonus locations

1. SHI - Spoetzl Brewery - Shiner, TX
2. ALM - Alamo - San Antonio, TX
3. LUK - Luckenbach - Luckenbach, TX
4. BND - Cowboy Capital Monument - Bandera, TX
5. ROY - Jersey Lilly Saloon - Langtry, TX (Mandatory)
6. TPG - TransPecos Guitars - Alpine, TX
7. LOK - Mt. Locke - Ft. Davis, TX
8. SCT - Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch - Davis Mountains, TX
9. Hotel - Fort Stockton - Hampton Inn
10. WNK - Roy Orbison Museum - Wink, TX
11. DAM / BST - Howard House - Cross Plains, TX
12. POP - B.S. Ranch - Graford, TX
13. JES - Jesse James - Granbury, TX
14. UFO - Alien Grave - Aurora, TX
15. BMW - BMW Motorcycles - Plano, TX
16. TXT - Texas Theater - Dallas, TX
17. Hotel - End of Rally - Cedar Hill, TX

I had already added all the locations to the Garmin Nuvi 1350 as waypoints at home (not just the ones above) - so now set the Garmin to go to bonii #1(another name for bonus) and we are off.

The weather is a little cool Friday morning, so I have dressed in layers and felt pretty good during the ride. I have on my base-layer thermal wear along with my LD Comfort and heavy gloves - so I feel good. I am on I-10, so Houston here I come.

After reading lot of "IronButt Magazine" - one of the things I remember is to avoid major cities due to traffic concerns.  So knowing this I had decided to take the outer loop around Houston. I could not decide if I should take the outer tollway (8) or I-610 while riding.  I waited too long before deciding and had past Tollway 8 exit - so now I-610 was the route. Wrong !!!  I immediately ran into traffic.  I had traffic all the way until I got back on I-10 West. I think I lost an hour.

As I am riding,  I look to see what time I was scheduled to be at my first location.  The Garmin BaseCamp mapping program indicated that I should arrive at first bonus location at 9:15am - that was at 9:00am when I noticed that little bit of information and I was just about to Columbus, TX off I-10.  I decided to take the next exit for gas and some planning. I was REALLY behind schedule. I mapped on the GPS how long it would take just to ride straight to the mandatory location (ROY) and the arrival would be about 4pm. That meant I had 1 hours to play with - so I dropped ALM & BND and headed straight to LUK a high value location.

here is a picture from LUK

From LUK I headed straight to ROY

On my way up to ROY from Del Rio, TX, I notice that I was low on gas. I know my range on the ST1300 is about 240 miles with the stock 7.7 gallon tank. I was at 200 miles.  I stopped at a gas station in Del Rio to check exactly when the call-in bonus was - I didn't want to miss those free points. Call-in was between 4p-5p - it was 3:50p so I decided to skip getting gas and would fill up in Langtry (ROY).  While riding up to ROY I notice some beautiful scenery around the lake at Amistad National Park - reminded me of Lake Meade in Nevada. Halfway up - my low gas warning starts to flash - I have 40 miles of gas remaining - still 20 miles to ROY.

After arriving at ROY (along with 3 other riders) its 4:45p.  The place closes at 5pm. I ask the riders if they noticed a gas station on the way in.  They all said no.  I asked one of the attendants working at the museum and he said - just up the hill is a gas station.  I had head to the gas station - along with another rider who is out of gas as well.  We both get there and big sign taped on the two old style gas pumps "OUT OF GAS".

Out of Gas !!!!

The lady working in the store was VERY helpful to us. She offered to call the owner to see if he had any options. Turns out - he had 5 gallons of gas at his home and he would go get it to share with us.  We purchased some items in the store while we waited for the owner and made some small talk.  She was VERY helpful and kind.  Found out she is the 4th cousin of Johnny Cash - Cash is her maiden name. When the owner arrived with the REGULAR gas - we both didn't hesitate to pour it into our bikes which both run PREMIUM gas. I thank the owner and gave him $20 for the gas.  That would make that the most expensive gas I have ever purchase ($10 gal). Donald headed back south to Del Rio - I was headed north toward Sanderson, TX for gas. When I got to Sanderson - my gas light was flashing again. Sanderson was 60 miles from Langtry.

That's Mexico - on the right side --> Not New Mexico - just plain Mexico.

Sanderson, TX

Sanderson, TX

I met a guy in Sanderson, TX who gave me a little advice - when I was asking him about how far is it to Ft. Davis.  He advised that at night there are a LOT of deer in these parts and it was really dangerous for motorcyclist.  That's all I needed to hear.  I changed my plans and was now going to drop three (3) bonus locations - TPG, LOK, & SCT.  I was headed straight for my hotel in Fort Stockton.

Total Points dropped today - 10,352 :  OUCH !!!

Highway 285 - heading from Sanderson, TX to Fort Stockton.

Hwy 285

At the hotel (Hampton Inn - Fort Stockton) I decide to revise my route for the next day to see if I can just get enough point to be considered a finisher. I need 30,000 points to be considered a BigTex Rally finisher.  If not - I would get the tag (DNF) - Did Not Finish.  I realize that the hotel didn't ask me for my DL, and I hadn't gotten a ticket - so I now have 5,000 points. I can also get some extra points from the Additional Bonus listing for a bonus added at the home of Robert Howard (BST - 2190).  Ah.... I still have a shot !!!!  I must get all of the bonus I designate.  Here is the new list to finish.  I'm also trying not to go to North Dallas - to avoid traffic.

1. WNK
2. DAM / BST
3. JES
4. TXT

If I can get the above bonus locations - I am good to go. My planned departure from the hotel at 5am.  Time for some dinner now.  Luckily, there is a IHOP next to hotel - time for some pancakes / bacon !!!

My actual hotel checking time :  7:00pm / check out time 5:15am -  I think I got more than enough rest and the 7200 bonus points for resting.

Ok, I didn't leave the hotel on time (5am) so I filled up the tank and actually departed the gas station at 6am. The outside temperature is a nice 70 degrees.  Destination - WNK.

It was still dark out and just plain "black".  The HID lights on the bike are very handy.  I am constantly gazing the side of the road for deer and other animals.  As I am riding I notice the smell of natural gas.  At times I get strong whiffs of it and it sends chills down my spine.  The only other thing that gives me that feeling is dead skunks !!!.  Anyway - about 30 mins into the ride I notice the temperature is a little cooler now.  I check the outside temperature gauge on the bike and it reads about 54 degrees. Wow, what a drop.  15 mins later, it feeling a little colder on my hands and look at the temperature again - and it now 43 degrees!!!  I am so glad I decided to put on the base-layer and other layers - just in case.

Wasted Ride
Oct 20th

I get to WNK and its 6:55am.  I'm in the middle of town and EVERYTHING is closed !!!  The bonus was to take a picture next to a cutout of Roy Orbinson wearing a pair of his glasses.  What a mistake !!!!  I thought I would take this picture anyway to see if it would fly. (It did not pass the scoring judge). This means my whole ride to West Texas was a bust.  Time to revise plan again - because I "needed" those 4000 points. Oh well, head to the next location and think about the plan along the way.  I'm headed to Odessa, TX.

Beautiful Sunrise !!!

Along the way to Odessa, I am riding east bound.  I am beginning to witness the sunrise.  I look around and remember that I am in the flatest part of Texas. So I pull over to take some picture.  This is SUCH a spectacular event.  I have never witness a sunrise quite like this..

Sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise - This view doesn't exists in Memphis !!!

My next stop is DAM (2810)/ BST(2190) - Howard House in Cross Plains, TX.   My ride here was interesting because I had to stop in Midland. I was feeling a little uneasy about the bike. Was worried about 2 things.  Oil level and a rubbing noise which I hadn't notice earlier in the ride.  I decided to stop at a truck stop and check the oil level and perform another walk around the bike to check things out. While I was trying to get the bike on the center-stand, I "almost" dropped the bike - "almost" being the key word. Oil level was low to me and still unsure about the noise - I decided to look up on my iPhone for a Honda dealer and go back for a checkout.  Found one in Midland and set the location in the GPS. While I was there a couple of Hispanic Jehovah Witnesses pulled up - who was out in the early morning field ministry at the truck stop. I decided to introduce myself and we talked for a bit about their morning ministry and my being so far away from home. I wished I could remember their names and had gotten a picture with my brothers.  Once I found the Honda dealer - we checked things out and everything was normal.  So I continued on to Cross Plains. During the ride I was noticing a LOT of wind turbines.  They were everywhere.!!!  As I headed east down I-20, I notice a sign - "Sweetwater, Texas - Wind Turbine Capital of the Nation". Ah, that explains it.

Arrive in Cross Plains.
The picture at the front gate was easy (DAM) bonus, but the other one was a little more challenging. It was a typewriter on the inside of the museum and it appears to be closed (BST).  There was a phone number next to front door - so I called it.  The lady was nice enough to come let me in thankfully she had "just" finished eating her lunch and she was close by - so I had a few minutes to wait for her. Once she arrived, she said that must have been WAY behind schedule because all the other riders had come by yesterday.  She let me in - I took my picture - thanked the lady.  She then wanted to take my picture in front of museum next to my bike - which I was happy to do.  Once done I took off to next location.

Who is Robert E. Howard?  Fiction writer from 1930's - creator of "Conan the Barbarian"  That's his typewriter above.

Next stop JES (Granbury, TX)
As I was riding, still trying to figure out how I can gather enough points.  I was a little hungry now and didn't want any more granola bars - so I stopped at the next Sonic to get a quick burger.  However, it wasn't so quick and the staff saw I was a little in a hurry and my order must have been forgotten.  When the young lady brought my "single" Jr. burger (no fries / no drink) - she apologized for the wait and gave me some coupons. What should have been a five minute stop turned into 15 mins. Oh well.  Gave me some time to plan.  Then it hit me, that I was not going to go to the bonus location in North Dallas due to traffic - now I must go there. I put my burger in my tank bag so I can ride and eat. My Camel-Pack is full of Gatorade so I am good to go.

I arrive in Granbury and following the GPS coordinates - its a cemetery. Great, now I have to find the marker.  Its not obvious to me, so I dismount the bike and start to walk. It hot and I'm sweaty and I have totally overlooked the street sign that said "Jesse James".  Found it - I run back to the bike and bring it closer to marker.  Its a gravel road, so I am extra careful with this 700 lbs bike. Its a windy so the three (3) pics show my difficulty with getting the picture.  Finally I found a rock and tuck the flag under my shoe.

Next stop BMW - Plano, TX

On the ride out of Granbury, the GPS leads me through the "hub" of Granbury.  Downtown Granbury is very nice!!!  I would come back to visit this place.  I then notice a beach.  I then notice - "a beach".  Granbury has a man-made beach in the middle of town, sitting on the lake.  I really wanted to stop and take a dip.

Since I had made a decision to head to North Dallas, I plotted the GPS and it wanted me to go via north side of Fort Worth, then around DFW Airport.  I was here a few months ago and knew there was a LOT of freeway construction so I decided to NOT follow the GPS.  I instead headed to I-20 south of Ft. Worth and was going to take the new tollway built that connects to I-20 in Grand Prairie, TX.  However, not sure of the outcome of this route, I didn't take the exit. (Mistake).  So I am very familiar with Dallas area (since this is home) I decided to take Hwy 408 to I-35 to I-635 (Mistake). I get to I-635 and Midway and traffic come to a STOP.  A six lane highway comes to a stop. Fortunate for me, I was in the right lane (and on a motorcycle) I made my way to the exit for the Dallas Tollway.  I had to sit through some lights but I made it. Once on the tollway, my exit was going to be the George Bush Tollway - the same tollway that I didn't take in Grand Prairie.  Oh well, on to Plano.

The task at the BMW Motorcycles of North Dallas - was to take a picture with Rupert Austin.  Yes, that's Rupert.  I finally run into some other rally riders here. Its about 5:00p - so I have an hour to make to my next bonus location - TXT - Texas Theater in Oak Cliff.  We all get on Central Expressway and the traffic is moving nicely all the way to downtown.  I then have another brilliant idea to take Woodall Rodgers to avoid the "I-30 / I-35 Mix Master".  I could get on I-35 and scoot on around to Jefferson Rd. (Mistake).  Traffic was backed up on I-35 from the Woodall Rodgers entrance ramp.  This just wasn't going to work for me. Again, knowing Dallas, I decide to take the Continental exit and go into town and cross via the Houston St. Viaduct - which turns into Marsailis Ave.  This will cross Jefferson Blvd.  I get to Texas Theater at 5:22p - run in and get my picture.

Wow, I am home free, all I have to do now is head to the hotel, its 5:30 - 30 mins to get to Cedar Hill.  One other bonus to collect - pickup a 6 pack of your favorite beverage. I decide to get a 6-pack of Coke so I stop at a gas station in Cedar Hill / Duncanville area.  No 6-pack. Go to another one - No 6-pack.  Doesn't anyone sell 6-packs of soda anymore ???  Finally decide to try one more location in Duncanville - bingo. I find a place to tie it down and off to the check-in.  My check-in time is about 5:45p - 15 mins to spare.

Conclusion:
I really enjoyed this rally, so hats off to the Wayne Boyter and staff!!  They put on a good rally.  I would ride in this rally again.  I definitely learned a few things about managing my time and route planning.  I have to be better about adapting during the ride - Plan A, Plan B, etc.  Things don't always go as planned.  My Day 1 was horrible - I only achieved 2 bonus.  I am glad that I know my limits and made decisions based on those limits.  I understand that these rally are just weekend getaways - no prize money, no career moves, no reason to put myself in danger just to obtain bonus points.  I rally because I enjoy the odd locations that we go to. I rally because I enjoy the "ride". I rally because of the LD community of riders.  I don't rally because of the competition.  I'm a competitive person by nature, so I would like to do well.  If I get a top 5 finish because I rode my ride - great.  If I get last place - because I rode my non-aggressive style of riding and made it home safely. GREAT!!!

Score:  31,678
Finisher: Yes
Place:  Last
Total Miles Ridden in Rally:  1339

I present the "Broken Piston Award" for last place.   I love my trophy!!

Total Miles ridden for this trip - 2460 miles

• Memphis to Orange via New Orleans - 641
• Rally Miles - 1339
• Dallas to Memphis - 480