Butt Lite IX Recap - Day 2 - Well That Didn't Work

After a grueling hot day, my makeshift park bench bed failed to restore any energy to my system.  After a 75 minute nap the screaming phone next to my head went off to rouse me from my repose.  First thought was how this strategy was not going to work well.  In my previous 32/36 hour rallies I've always gotten a hotel for the required rest bonus. The best part was being able to take a shower. This would be my first stay at the Iron Butt Hotel and I say it needs some more amenities!!

I hit the road around 4 am heading east.  Stopping in Berryville to replenish my water supply, the stoner behind the counter was just fascinated with what I was doing.  Anywho, back on the road I headed for my next bonus at the Sam's Throne Campground in Ozark National Park. It was still before dawn and as I got closer to the bonus the mountain fog got thicker and thicker.  If I'm in a rally there will be fog, no doubt.  The hyper attention required to ride in the dark in increasingly thicker fog took its toll. About 10 miles from the bonus I couldn't take it anymore and pulled into the parking lot of Nortons Country Store near Hasty, AR.  This time the Iron Butt Hotel was on the ground and again, I was asleep before my head hit the bag serving as a pillow.  I didn't set an alarm as I decided I would let my body recharge as much as it needed.  After about 2 hours I awoke with a brightening sky that was still socked in with fog.

A quick pee at the side of the store revealed a big problem. The pee was much darker than usual so I knew that I was getting really dehydrated. I had thought that I had drank enough the day before but I guess the heat, humidity and airflow sapped it out of me more than I thought.  It had been a long time since I had done an extended trip in that kind of heat so it caught up with me. I made a point of drinking a LOT more on that day.

Lesson Learned:  Drink. Drink some more. Drink a whole lot more.

Lesson Learned:  I need at least a 4 hour break and hopefully a shower each day.

Leaving the store, the fog vanished less than 2 miles down the road.  As it was now Monday morning there was a lot more traffic on the road as people were presumably heading to work.  AR-123 passed through Mt Judea and began the ascent up to the campground.  This 5 mile section of highway would prove also to be a major time suck.  Garmin once again assumes that it is 55 mph but you're lucky to make a 25 mph average with the continuous strings of 10 and 15 mph switchbacks.  As I pull up to the bonus, two other riders are just packing up to leave.  Not being particularly clear headed at the time, I was getting irritated at them just sitting on their motorcycles and not clearing the area.  Stupid me should have just pulled up around them but my brain just wouldn't register it at that time. Surely the effects of dehydration.  With the bonus captured, I make my way back down the mountain while watching the ETA on the GPS continue to climb.

Next it was off to Mountain View, AR for a picture of the "Stone County In The Civil War" marker on the Courthouse lawn.  Pulling up to the south-facing Courthouse there is a large gray granite memorial right out front. Obvious bonus right?  Hmm, the coordinates on the GPS are about 100 ft away so I pull around the east side of the square to review the rally book.  Sure enough the marker is on a stone base and mounted at an angle.  Very easy to miss. Doc, pic, check, pack, go.

I'm starting to feel a bit better with all the water that I've been sucking down and a quick bite to eat. Looking at my route sheet I accept the fact that there's no way that I can trek off to the north about 80 miles to capture some high value bonuses before heading back south. It was a tough but logical decision to drop them. 800 points. Poof.  I really hate doing that.

With the decision made, I set off for the Shiloh, TN battleground for the DFV bonus.  It was hard to swallow this big gap in my plan, 5 hours and 265 miles to the next bonus.  Just not a good way to get points.  Slogging around Memphis, avoiding the police sitting on the left shoulder of the road running hand-held radar (was a very dangerous spot). I attribute my high-viz gear and helmet to him ignoring me.

Approaching Shiloh National Military Park, the Garmins are acting up again.  In the clip from Google Maps below, the Garmins insist that the yellow trail is a paved road and it is the fastest approach to the destination. On the right you can see what reality is.

So I ride past and let the Garmins recalculate and finally arrive at the DMV bonus.  This memorial is called "Defeated Victory" and honors the Confederate troops that surrounded and captured 2,250 Union soldiers.  However, they were not aware of Union reinforcements arriving in the night and the victory quickly turned into a route.  Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston became the highest ranking officer on either side killed in action during the war. General Johnston had fought in the Texas War of Independence from Mexico and served in the Union army before the Civil War.  Here's a link to his Wiki page:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Sidney_Johnston.

Now dropping south out of Tennessee I entered Mississippi heading for Oxford and another stadium bonus.  Along the way I had planned to capture the Woodall Mountain (WMN) bonus and the 325 points it offered.  The rally book indicates that the last mile to the summit is a narrow gravel road. They didn't, however, mention just how steep it was.  Turning a large 600 lb sport touring motorcycle onto the gravel road I was faced with at least a 10% grade that included a few switchbacks.  Ah hell, might as well give it a try.  The flat bottom car tire that I run on the back was spitting out rocks and making quite the rooster tail on parts of the climb.  In reaching the summit we were required to take a picture of the marker embedded into a large boulder.  I had to laugh at reading the marker to learn that I was standing at the highest point in the whole state of Mississippi, all 806 feet of it.

Now the fun part, going back down the steep grade. It's bad enough descending steep switchbacks on pavement but now having to do it on gravel?  Fighting the normal impulse to grab the front brake, I left my foot on the rear brake (well sort of, my bike has linked brakes) as I descended the road.  Btw, Garmin thinks that this is a 55 mph road!  In what seemed like 20 minutes I finally made it back to the pavement and continued on my journey.  I know the GS and other adventure riders are laughing about now but it is what it is.  As a side note, this road did claim one of the riders who spent a few hours waiting to get rescued and a ride to the local ER.  Fortunately, she only had minor injuries and was able to continue and finish the rally.

Along the way to Oxford, there was an easy grab of a low point bonus just a few miles north of Tupelo on the Natchez Trace.  On this section of the Trace the speed limit is 55 mph so it wasn't too bad to run about 30 miles on it.  I approached the turnout where the bonus was and started my routine. Got off the bike. Documented the bonus code, odometer reading and time. Flipped over to the proper page in the rally book for the instructions which read, "Take a photo of the Old Trace sign."  Ok, close the book, grab my camera and flag and search for the bonus.  I look up and there it is, a sign that says, "OLD TRACE".  Pack gear and off I go.  Only later would I find out that there was another sign 50 ft away that also said "OLD TRACE".  Hmmm...I argued this one at scoring but was ultimately denied the bonus. Grrrrr....

My Photo

Correct Photo

Credit: Steve Gallant

Jumping back on higher speed roads I made my way to Oxford, MS to visit the stadium at the U. of Mississippi, Ole Miss if you will.  Another rider arrived shortly after I did and we both went through our routines.  This bonus was a question/answer bonus and didn't require a photo.  The photo at right is from buddy, Steve Gallant, which makes for a:

Lesson Learned: Always photo bonuses of question/answer type.

The question was "What was Chucky's simple philosophy in life?"  And the answer was "NEVER QUIT!"  It was imperative that you wrote the answer exactly as it was displayed including the all-caps, exclamation point, and double quotes.  You would be denied the bonus if it didn't include all aspects.

This was the first in a string of capturing stadium bonues and was #4 of the 9 I needed for the combo bonus.

Next on the list was the run down to Starkville to visit Mississippi State University.  Traveling down Alt US 45 I needed to make a gas stop and pulled into a rather modern station and convenience store.  I was shocked to run across a Regular (87 octane) only pump.  No Mid-Grade. No Premium.  A lot of motorcycles require these higher grades for performance reasons.  Fortunately, mine does not.  It was just unusual to run across this especially at an obviously post-2000 built gas station.

Arriving at the Mississippi State campus revealed gorgeous grounds and a smattering of summer students making their way to/from classes.  It was hot again by this time of day and it was nice to park in some tree shade while I documented the bonus.  Following the magenta line led away from the stadium so a moment of confusion set in until I saw the small monument with the MS bulldog on top. It being the obvious bonus stop.  It's funny seeing spots like this in person after seeing them hundreds of times on TV during games.

Next up was a run down to Tuscaloosa, AL to visit the home of arguably the most dominant program in the country right now, the U. of Alabama Crimson Tide.  Arriving in the early evening I was able to park right in front of the stadium near the Walk of Champions.  My task was to photograph Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.  The walkway in front of the row of statues was being refurbished so the only approach was to cross the finely manicured grass (this is often a no-no at tradition rich universities). I would never do this at Texas A&M for sure. I made my picture and bee-lined it off the grass and back to the bike.

On the way now to Auburn, AL I faced the quandary of snagging some low value, low hanging fruit bonuses in the Montgomery, AL area.  With fatigue setting in and the need to get my 8 hour rest bonus in, I made the decision to continue on and skip the bonuses.  I arrived in Auburn just before 10 pm local time (CDT) with the Garmins routing me up to a large parking garage next to the stadium.  The bonus location was another 200 yards up ahead.  I notice that some traffic barriers that were protecting what appeared to be a walkway had been lowered thus opening up the path to traffic.  Throwing caution to the wind I headed up the path as a student walked by eyeing me. This bonus was rather specific, you had to have all the parts in the photo: 1) rally flag, 2) the bust of John Heisman, 3) the name of the stadium (Jordan-Hare Stadium), and 4) the Auburn logo.  Ambient light would take care of the flag.  My motorcycle headlights would illuminate the bust.  The logo was self lighted. The problem was the stadium name.  Well out came the day maker flashlight again.  Perching it on the motorcycle, it did its job and had no problem illuminating the words as you can see in the photo.

I had planned on making it to Athens, GA before retiring for the night but I was out of energy. I needed to start my rest bonus now.  Checking Hotels.com I found a TRU hotel (Hilton Group) nearby at an acceptable rate.  I stopped at a Chevron store nearby for gas and a start receipt but the damn store didn't print their address on the pump receipt.  So I went inside to get a counter receipt and same thing.  Grrrr.  I'd have to rely on the hotel receipts to verify my times.  Fortunately, the hotel host showed me a receipt and it prints both the check-in and check-out times on the same receipt. Whew.  Problem solved.

When I get to the room, I peel myself out of my clothes and marvel at the level of funk one person can accrue over the course of two days. I mean the old factories were protesting mightily.  Before another move it's time to jump in the shower. Oh man, did that feel good.  Obviously the TRU brand is Hilton's hip millennial eco hotel chain but it was really nice. Huge shower, large bathroom but sacrificed some of the bedroom space.  The work desk area could stand some improvement.  After the shower I pulled out the computer to look at my Day 3 plans and made some significant adjustments.  Stopping 3.5 hours short of my goal was going to impact my route obviously.  I worked out an acceptable solution and loaded the Garmins with the new route.  Now for some much needed rest.

...on to Day 3...