Matt Watkins Wandering North America

I’m back home after the best rally of my life.  Doing the requisite post game on the ride back I kept giggling and smiling.  One helluva and event.

The drama with the flat tire at 6:30 a.m. with 140 miles to cover and 150 minutes to do it…..actually added to the whole thing too.  And here’s a picture of the culprit that almost DNF’ed me:

Or a link to a higher resolution photo.

And to be clear…I didn’t hit a live porcupine .  It wasn’t quite that dramatic…and would have been far nastier I think.  I think I hit the remains of one…as I vaguely remember as a weird little bump in a left-hand sweeper coming down out of the mountains west of Nephi.  It must have been losing air, but I made it the 11 miles to town and it went flat while I was downing a Red Bull and a breakfast burrito.

I assumed it was a nail when I first saw the end of it, but when I grabbed it with a set of pliers a chunk came out and resembled a finger nail.

I’ve also had people tell me it’s not a porcupine, but couldn’t tell me what it was…so unless there’s an animal biologist….I’m going to assume it was from a formerly frolicing spined critter.

After the rally was over I didn’t pretend like I was then going to slog home and try and work Monday….I just extended my room and got 12 hours of great sleep.  Then I just had a leisurely breakfast and am now packing up.

The ride home will be a self post-game analysis and I already know I’m proud of the rally I did.

A couple folks have asked if the main route and sit ups were unfair or something.  Quite emphatically, I’ll say no…or it’s more complicated than than.
First, the Utah 1088 is Steve Chalmer’s rally.  He can and should organize it any way he wants.  I love the guy for providing not only a great competitive event, but an incredible ride around breathtaking sites in Utah.  Even though I was excited by the prospect of holding this rally by the tail…..I was overwhelmed with the ride itself.  I hope to elaborate on the segment from Hanksville to Arches….or the sun going down near Torrey….or the vistas between Price and I-70.

The second thing is that at least first and third place are STRONG riders.  Scott Schmidt and Danny LaDue placed #1 and #2 last year and been in the top 5 the past 6 events.  It would be hubris to think I would have won had I run the same route as them.  I’d like to think I’d have challenged them though.

And second place was an IBR rider who I’ll compare notes with later, Ken Morton.  I think he rode a very efficient route.

One thing I did learn though…I think I can be a Big Dog if I put my mind to it, get a bit lucky, and keep focused.

That and don’t get pulled over in this rally.  That’s a deal breaker.

Now, off to finish packing and the slog home.

Matt

The banquet is over and I place 4th.  This is my highest rally finish and I even got a special note when he announced 4th that I rode my ass off and scored a ton of bonuses.

In fact, had it not been for the porcupine quill (I’ll take a picture and include it later…and Eric rocked) I would have gone to every possible bonus available with the exception of Steam Boat Springs.  Frankly put, I almost add the whole smorgasboard Steve offered without being sick.  It’s like I left a sprig of parsley on the plate.  Those that have read rally packs will know what I mean. 

There were a couple of things that were different for me this time.   I have a better handle on Utah roads and number so when I saw the packet I had a lot better clue the area of the state a bonus was in….which is more like the Big Dogs have.

Second thing was I picked several strategies that were tailor made for the alernate route.  It looked like just a 1600 mile ride for those that like to ride to ride.  But, I quickly saw that besides that I could go to the checkpoint and still get the second leg packet.  A few figured that out, but the second smart move I made was padding some miles in the morning.  Instead of just riding the route and doing miles on urban freeway…..I went to Wendover where one can rack up precious miles at higher velocities.

Third thing was that once I got the 2nd leg packet I then saw that I could possibly ride that main route just about like regular route riders.  I had a clue from the beginning that I could snag most or all of the bonuses available. My trick was to stay above the curve for minimum miles…and if I ever felt that was in jeopardy I’d bail out and go find a fast road in Nevada to crank miles….but never really had to.

So, how it shook out at the awards….about 5 of the Top 10 chose the alternate route, but I had the most points of the alternate route riders.  The four above me were regular route riders that performed a ridicolous amount of situps.  1 point each.  So 100 sit ups was the equivalent of 2/3 of the points I got for a 1600 mile ride.

Classic Steve Chalmers.  It’s his rally, he can do it any way he wants, and I’ll be back next year. ;)

It’s still a little bit of a blur, but I’ll end up doing a write-up of this trip…when my brain recovers.  I saw some incredible country and felt like I had this rally by the tail….which I’ve never had before. 

Now it’s a phone call to my boss’ voicemail and say I’m not going to make it to work Monday.  I’m gonna sleep and leave in the morning….and head back to the bar for another drink of celebration with my Utah 1088 friends.

Matt

I received a call from Matt at aprox 11:00p Utard Time.   He called from a Checkpoint in  Beaver Utah, it sounds as if the checkpoint had no bonus value, instead he went to this checkpoint to pick up a bonus pack for the next leg.

He sounded great, focused and cautiously excited that he may have cracked the puzzle of the rally pack.   I hope I understood correctly and I’ll pass on the best I can:

To reiterate his post of this morning.  YES, he did choose an alternate route.  He chose option 2 which from what he says means a minimum of 1600miles.  He now has 1009 miles so aprox 590 more to go. 

If I understood correctly, his choice of the alternate route also gives him access to many (if not all?) of the generic route bonuses.  Hence Matt is hitting the checkpoints to pick up the listings of possible bonus locations.   This seems to be the puzzle of the rally(?)  Matt seems to think there are others (maybe a dozen(?)) who likely have the same game-plan and it will come down to who can be the most efficient.  

Now, this is *IF* indeed Matt has the best game-plan in place.  

It seem he feels pretty confident that it is!!

He said that he feels that he may have “…..the possibility to hit every possible bonus…”.  There was an excited focus in his voice as he said this so I know he’s focused on what he wants to do.

From his current location in Beaver, he’ll head toward Cedar City, Bryce Canyon, Millford …. so it sounds like he’ll be hitting points in southern Utah before heading back up to Salt Lake City.

I joked with him and said ..”been following your SPOT tracking and wondering when you’re going to stop messing around and do some riding outside of Utah???”.  His response was:  “It’ll all be done inside of Utah.”

Speaking of the SPOT, he mentioned that he thinks his unit turned off, I confirmed this and told him when it went off and came back on …and he asked me to remind family (via this post) not to worry if the updates stop as the unit might be vibrating itself off at times without his knowledge.

So, this very much sounds like an interesting rally, and it seems that Matt is excited that he may have a great plan in place ….And what an exciting and fun feeling that must be.   That, combined with hearing his focused and sharp tone tells me that he’s going to have some fun as he rides the night out …finishing the business at hand.

Good luck Matt, we’re sharing your excitement that you may have an awesome gameplan and executing it well.     It has been fun following your route and the phone call was great.  I hope I relayed the information on this post accurately.    ….renojohn (guest blogger)

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UPDATE  ~~  Sunday 9:15am Utard Time  ~~  UPDATE

Matt called a few minutes after 9:00am Utard time …he had finished the Rally!!

And while the call was brief (Beer waiting for Matt) it sounds like a great and eventful ride!!

During the night Matt hit a porcupine!  …This event put his front tire out of commission and according to Matt “I was kinda freaked out”.   While Matt worked on the tire, Eric Vaillancourt came by the scene and according to Matt:   “Eric Was A Real Hero“.   They were able to fix the tire, (although apparently still some quils stuck in it) and Matt was able to continue on.

This quil adventure cost Matt some time and it seems the end result was having to abandon one bonus he had  hoped to get.   If memory serves me correctly it was worth 2.9points or so.    The event also made made Matt close on time and mileage.   Not wanting to subject the tire to backroads more than need be he pointed west on interstate 80 to collect the needed miles (remember with his alt route, minimum of 1600).   

Matt got these miles with basicaly none to spare and rolled into the finish with just a few minutes reamaining.   Talk about cutting it close!!!

Matt was jazzed when I spoke to him, and is optimistic that he has a competitive score.   He certainly has had a great ride with great adventure.   We’re certainly wishing you luck in your scoring Matt!! 

During our brief call, Matt reiterated the following and made stern instructions that I pass this on:
“Eric Was A Real Hero”

“Be sure to post how much of a hero Eric Vaillancourt was”

“i was freakin’ out and Eric was so calm and we got the tire fixed”

**Congrat’s on a safe and event-filled ride Matt, we’re eager to hear of your finish and all the details of the ride!!.   ….guest blogger renojohn

SPOT GPS Tracking is here or at the top right.

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Rally Day – 06:35 MDT – SPECIAL NOTE!  I’M RIDING AN ALTERNATE ROUTE!

I’m posting just before I leave…after people have to declare if they’re taking an alternate route or not.

I am taking an alternate route.  I’ve consulted my Rabi/Shaman/Priest/Spirit Guide/Psychiatrist and they’ve helped me become at peace with the decision.

I haven’t done this before with Steve’s rallies…as his “Main Route” is always a good in that you will score solid points and a strong finish…..but I think I see something in one of the alternates that would do even better.

It’s a bit of a gamble.  Not a safety one, but my plan is to do an alternate and still show up to Checkpoint #1 and get handed a packet for Leg #2.  Not all bonuses will be available to “alternate” route riders, but my dice roll is that there will still be enough points announced for the alternate AND snag those points open to all riders on the main route.  If I’m right I can net more points than riders on the main route alone.

If it works I’ll have a great story to tell after the rally. If it doesn’t work…I’ll have a great story to tell after the rally.

Steve really made me use my noodle on this one…and I think a few others may have figured it out.  His genius is though that we’ll still look like we’re riding the main route.

I’ll tell you now I’m headed west to Wendover, NV; backtracking towards SLC; looping up towards Ogden, and then down to Heber City for the checkpoint as close to the opening of 11:30 as I can.  I’ll likely be riding with Brian R. on this leg.   Whopping points for this leg will be about 13.4.

Oh, and Steve made the points tiny small as a final list twist.  200 points in this rally will be a good figure I’m led to believe.

Shhh…don’t tell any of the other riders!  Wouldn’t want them to get any ideas.

Also, the next post may be by a guest blogger and rallier.  He knows what I’m up to and I’ll afford one phone call…..maybe sometime this afternoon.

June 27th, 23:15 MDT – We Have Leg 1 In Our Hands

Steve shook things up again and handed us the Leg #1 packet tonight.  It gives us the opportunity to not sleep….just kidding.  I’m headed to bed about 22:00 or so.

It has 11 bonuses and has us land in Heber City between 11:30 and 13:00 for a checkpoint.  Once their we get a packet for the rest of the rally.  He also shook up point values and bonuses are worth like 3.1, 3.8, 3.3 points, etc.  He made the suggestion that a 200 point score would be good.

Some GPS bonuses in southern Utah that look time-consuming to get to and some others that are a bit tricky to optimize.

Also part of the packet are 3 alternate routes.  One is do just do 1600 miles in 24 hours and I’m sure will appeal to Warchild on the Busa; another is to go to Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, and Cheyenne; and the third is to Gallup, NM, Flagstaff, and Las Vegas.

I’m crunching the packet now….very interesting….Steve is making me seriously think.

I’ll be up at 5:30 and we have a 6:30 rider’s meeting.

Tomorrow is going to be some serious fun…..I say with a sly smile….see this blog close to 07:00 MDT for my last update before the rally.  I’ve got Leg #1 planned and loaded into my GPS.

June 27th, 13:21 MDT – Tech Inspection Goes Smoothly…Mostly

I sailed through the various paperwork, fuel cell inspection (Steve actually looked at them), and my odometer check following the clowns below.  They tell everybody back home”Hi!” by the way….

It wasn’t entirely without incident though….one of my two 1/2 gallon drink tubes must have come loose and I lost part of it somewhere on I-215 or I-80.  It’s fairly specific rigid plastic tube and I’ll have to decide whether to try and find another or not this evening…probably not.  I think it will be more important to get into the zen of things and not bother chasing a part I actually have a backup drink container for.  I can change drink jugs in about 1 minute if needed with my spare.

One other technical note….I rubbed my ear completely raw in the IBR last year and I think it was because I just couldn’t fit the various parts to my Starcom audio system in the shell of the helmet.  I had tried it taped to the exterior last week and it alleviated pressure on my melon…so this is a slightly trickier way to made a wad of crap look less….crappy.  Heat shrinked tubing encasing a wire mass and zip tied to some super sticky fasteners that don’t come off like tape.  I put on the back of the helmet to reduce wind noise.

Ugly?  Absolutely.  Functional?  Reasonably.

June 27th, 12:35 MDT – Free lunches and Utah Sun

I had a great night sleep getting exactly 9 hours.  Sleeping in increments of 90 minutes is supposedly better than the ubquitious 8 hours, but I’ve been struggling with how one sets their alarm clock conveniently.  Low and behold I find my cell phone has a countdown timer.  Set it for 9:10:00 assuming I needed about a 10 minute head start…..I woke up at and felt very refreshed.

The morning was cool, Brian R. bought me breakfast, and I had Supercuts chop off most of my hair.  It’s warm now, but the short hair feels good.

I’m headed back down shortly to start tech. inspection and do my odo run.  After that it’s pretty much about arranging things on the bike and in the room to be ready for Sunday morning.  The weather is looking to be good and warm and sunny during the day and probably a bit cool at night.  Knowing Steve we’ll probably be doing some mountains during the night.

It’s great to see some increasingly great friends and a crop of newbies.

Below is Brad on the left and is his second rally.  He was hazed properly a several weeks ago with the WORD! rally and is a good FJR pilot.  Linda and Terry Lahman are a two-up couple on a Gold Wing from Seattle I’ve become good friends with.  They even volunteered to help me with a rally I’m considering organizing next year.

June 26th, 21:03 MDT

Back from the BBQ and I started things out with a bang by dropping a 6 pack of beer in the front driveway of the hotel.  Fortunately one survived…and I had a whole other 6 pack backup.

I didn’t shoot many pics, but here are what will clearly be the two fastest bikes at this event.  140 sport and 180 sport monster Busa will be slicing and dicing the wind.

And this great Ural with a sidecar…..not so much of a rallier.

Now, more sleep to get caught back up as Friday is tech inspection, odo check, get a haircut, a couple of key duplicates made, and final prep.

June 26th, 11:30 MDT

I made it, was able to check in early, and figure a shower and nap are in my VERY near future.

The SPOT unit ran out of batteries somewhere in Idaho…..looks like near Burley.  I had thought it would flash a certain color light when the batteries were at half, but I didn’t see it.

New set in and updated a position for you all.

I saw the most incredible sunrise this morning south of Boise…and completely failed to stop and take a picture.  Suffice it to say it had color, clouds playing peekaboo with a deep orange disc, and fields for contrast.

BBQ tonight at Steve’s!

June 26th, 01:30

I’m packed up and going. I had hoped to sleep more before departing, but I was antsy. Maybe I’ll catch some Z’s in the Blues. My plan is to be Boise before the morning commute.

June 24th

My fourth Utah 1088 is fast approaching.

• Thursday, June 26th – Transit to Utah in the a.m., BBQ at Steve’s House
• Friday, June 27th – Tech Inspection and Prep, 1900 Riders Meeting
• Saturday, June 28th – 0600 Riders Meeting, 0700 Utah 1088 Start
• Sunday, June 29th – 0700 Finish Line officially opens, 0900 Finish line officially closed, 1330 Awards banquet, late afternoon departure for home

It will mark the 4th anniversary of me getting into the rally scene and is an incredible event sponsored by a great guy, Steve Chalmers. Utah and rallying evokes some great memories for me including Grosvenor Arch, Simpson Hot Springs, Moab, Scipio, Toele, etc. Great roads, scenery, and friendly competition.

I wrote about it my first year in a rally report. Placed 12th my rookie year.

I half-assed a report in 2006. This was my best finish with a 6th place and a great lesson about good sportsmanship and rallymaster integrity being so key to this particular sport.

And, I wrote about it last year in a blog. This one I screwed the pooch a bit with a 23rd, but still had a fun time and learned that you shouldn’t always take the route handed to you.

And I’m sure I’ll blog about it this year too. That and I have this spiffy new Olympus 1030 SW camera to try…including VGA video @ 30 frames per second with sound!

Expect blogging to start Thursday, June 26th.

I rode with an interesting collection of riding gear in 2007 and was largely satisfied with their performance…..or maybe as happy as a soggy person can be be riding across 11 states and 2 provinces. However, I was mocked a bit by a few veterans when I rolled into checkpoints wearing mesh gear.

Normally, conformity doesn’t hold a lot of sway with me….especially if I bothered to devote an entire blog entry to the subject, but it’s 2008 now and I figure I’d reconsider.

The biggest thing I like about mesh is that it flows air well. You do sacrifice in protection, but I’d rather skitter down the highway accidentally on mesh than skitter down the highway in the best armor because I passed out from heat exhaustion. At least with the first I’m conscious when it happens.

Folks wearing the one piece Aerostich Roadcrafter, ‘Stich for shorthand, suits look well protected, but in the hotter climates they also look suspiciously like a baked potato wearing tinfoil. Their hot and red faces stick out of the top like a turkey thermometer and even more unhappy than the average IBR competitor.

And I also knew the Road Crafter wasn’t all that water resistant watching my partner don a rain slicker and get wetter than I did in my Klim Goretex snowmobile jacket.

So, what to do?

I talked with the good people at Aerostich and immediately grew a rapport with Dennis. Dennis immediately steered me to the Darien jacket. I knew the Darien jacket because of the good things George Zelenz talked about it. And after about 10 minutes I found myself ordering at a really good price of $285 a hi-viz lime yellow…..the IBA’s new black leather.

Since I’m clearly headed farther down the path of steamed potato I figured I’d may as well be better protected and ordered a street-grade back protector.

I initially ordered a set of Darien pants, but returned them as they were just too big for my skinny waist (no laughing) and the knee armor seemed to low. The second set of pants was a set of AD1 pants and fit much better.

I also ordered a set of lobster-claw rain cover gloves as I had gotten soaked during the last IBR and thought these actually be waterproof.

What I found when I got everything in one place was an impressive amount of quality and engineering. The Darien looks like something a firefighter would wear more than a motorcyclist….and already has several people inquire about my “firefighter’s jacket”.  Each seam, gusset, zipper, and pocket has a specific purpose and design. Just realizing the left side pockets are purposely made differently than the right side pockets told me this jacket was built for right-handers and opened my mind to where I could stuff things while riding.

So, if you see me on the road…I look a lot more like the average Iron Butt rider now…..at least until the road grim build up a patina.

Well, today is my birthday.  The big 40.

I like to think I’m somewhat ambivalent about it…although I realized a month ago I had a red sporty car in my garage.  Perhaps it’s midlife crises brewing and I don’t fully realize it yet.  Or perhaps this blog is the post-modern equivalent to getting a Vette.

I dunno.

Regardless, today I most remember when my father turned 40 several decades ago and demonstrated with his hands that he had 7 fingers of life dealt to him and that he had 3 of them left….leaving him “over half dead”.

It was edgy and at the same time a bit creepy to an 18 year old.

I guess I’m a bit more optimistic for myself as I do my own mid-life inventory…and think that today I’m only half dead with 4 or so fingers left (insert edgy and creepy visual here).

In fact, on my 40th birthday I’d like to use my birthday wish for Pop revise his thinking and give himself an extra finger….pun intended you old coot.

Of course none of this is really IBR related as the blog title suggests.  However, hopefully I’ve grown a little wiser, sophisticated, and able to appreciate some of the the finer things in life…..including art.  Mom sent me an Allan Mardon lithograph that I’ve been drooling over since I was given directions to open earlier than my birtdhay.

It’s just plain cool and entirely appropriate for my 40 year old bachelor pad.

It reminds me of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid which was a year after I first skied…and a sport I still enjoy to this day.

Besides Allan’s incredible talent that is a world and brain hemisphere apart from my own–he has become a family friend over the years that I regularly spend Christmas with.  He even signed it with a personal note and what I’ve learned is a favorable mark in the art world.  “AP 1/40″ which stands for Artist’s Proof….a run that precedes production.  And there were 300 of those if my Google skills are intact.

A rare piece to be sure.  And who knew that my 40th birthday would include art appreciation as a subject…and even rarer me appreciating art?

And even if I can’t fully appreciate the finer elements of composition, style, and subject matter…it just really classes up the joint!

It’s Great to Be Alive and the Next 40 are Going to Be Even Better
Happy Birthday To Matt!