I found a great deal on a matching set from an online retailer - no sales tax, free shipping - and it took a week for them to come in. While I was at it, I ordered a pair of 90 degree aluminum valve stems from Bike Effects - it's really a pain to get the air hose onto a standard front stem. They came in on Thursday morning while I was working on some repairs for our asphalt driveway.

Later that afternoon, I pulled the wheels off the bike, and took everything up to Pasadena Yamaha. Kel gives me a great deal - $20 per wheel to mount and balance a tire. I could have waited for them, but told Kel to take his time and I'd pick them up the next afternoon.

Friday after work, I stopped by and they had everything ready. The rear had a couple of balancing weights taped on, but the front was completely untaped. I talked to the head technician, and he said he was able to balance it perfectly by finding the right orientation. Very cool.

With the rear wheel off, I found a lot of gunk on the inside of the pumpkin. I sent photos to my buddy Hal for advice - Hal knows (almost?) everything about DIY bike repair and maintenance. He hadn't seen anything like my gunk before, and suggested I use carb cleaner to clean up the whole mess. It worked like a charm. I regreased the geared area, and mounted everything up - front and rear - late this morning.

Thanks, Hal!

The mileage at the tire change is 70,272.

Here's a link to a Google Maps page showing the bonus locations. You can click on the push-pin at each location to get complete details on that bonus. Off-road/dirt bonuses are red, and on-road bonuses (including ones just off a paved road on a dirt or gravel parking area) are in blue :

LowCal 250/LC-11 Bonus Locations Map

On Friday night we had a nice pre-rally dinner at Penny's Diner in Yuma. Afterward I rode back to my motel.

Start time on Saturday morning was 5:30am, so I set my phone for 4:40am, and also asked for a backup wake-up call at 4:45am in case the phone didn't work. I woke up on my own at 4:15am, so it was all good. I geared up, packed up the bike, grabbed a McMuffin next door, and headed to the starting spot at the Chevron across the street. I bought a gallon jug of water (only 10 cents more than a 1 liter bottle), and filled up my tank-bag hydration sack and my external water jug. I also got a couple of Nature Valley granola bars, which wound up being my lunch for the day.

You had to start between 5:30am and 6:00am, with an 11-hour limit based on your start time. Point values for each bonus ranged from 79 to 4000, and there was a 100-point per minute penalty for exceeding the time limit, so it was critical to make it to the finish in time. At 5:37am, I was the first to gas up and get my receipt; the time stamp was my "official" start time.

Part of the fun of a rally like this is analyzing the bonus locations and developing a route that: a) gets you lots of points (obviously); and b) lets you finish on time. I had come up with a route that I felt good about. It was a little aggressive, but I had planned for alternate cut-outs at various points throughout the day. At last year's LowCal 250, my initial route was too weak, and I had problems finding the best way to add more bonuses when I found I had more time/mileage to use, so this year I decided to be more aggressive and then skip bonuses as needed to make it to the finish within the time limit.

A lot of the riders came up with close to the same opening set of bonuses that I had planned. My first stop was a bridge near Laguna Dam, northeast of Yuma. Back in the 1900's, long before it became a symbol of Nazism, this bridge had been built with swastikas as a design feature.

From here, the next logical stop was Yuma Duster, a collection of tanks and field artillery associated with the nearby Yuma Proving Grounds Army Base. There's two ways to get from the bridge to the tanks: continue up the dirt/gravel road for 6 miles or so, or backtrack to real roads and ride around to the other side. I chose the gravel roads, and must say I chose poorly. It would have been faster, and much less stressful on the rider and the equipment, to have avoided the unimproved road. But, hey - life's an adventure, right?

After Yuma Duster, I headed up to Blythe on US-95. (A couple of times I saw the big '95' on the signs and wished it was the speed limit and not the highway number...) At Quartzsite, I headed west on I-10 into Blythe, then up US-95 again to the Blythe Intaglios, a group of gigantic pictographs scraped into the ground by ancient Indians. The largest figure is over 170 feet long. This required more dirt and gravel riding, with an off-trail hike to get the picture of the sign needed for the bonus.

From there, I went down US-95 almost back to Blythe, then cut over for the Torque Trestle railroad bridge bonus. This trestle bridge was featured in some of the motorcycle action scenes in the bad movie Torque from 1994. This bonus had two choices: a) park on the road and hike 250-300 yards to the bridge, or b) ride off-road to within 10 yards of the bridge. I chose option (b), but when I met up with other riders I told them to consider parking and hiking instead. The deep sand was not great on my heavier bike.

Next was the Inca Ore Silo, just a mile or so down the road from the trestle. More dirt riding, and a cool looking silo. Then back into Blythe for Gateway Park, which has a monument to all the various branches in the U.S. armed forces. The bonus required a photo of the entire monument with your helmet resting on one of the pillars, and I chose the Merchant Marines for no apparent reason.

The headwinds and the "headwinds" were doing a number of my gas mileage, so I stopped to refuel before heading down to the Cibola sign-post. The bridge over the Colorado River was sketchy, but safe. I met up with my buddy Peter Perrin at this bonus. I headed back of out of town the same way I came in, but it turns out there's an undocumented bridge on the other side of town that would have saved me 10-15 minutes. It doesn't appear on any electronic maps, and you can only see it on satellite view, and I missed it in my pre-ride research. In the end I could have really used those 15 minutes.

The road to Brawley was buffeted by high winds that really tired me out physically. I got sand blasted going through the dunes at Glamis, but made it to the Whistler Mud Pots without a problem. The Mud Pots were cool - geothermal activity pushes up mud into 8-12 foot high "pots". On the way in from SR-111 I took Schrempf, a dirt/mud/gravel road that isn't in the best condition. On the way out, I took MacDonald just to the north, and it was in far better shape.

It was only a few miles north and east to Salvation Mountain, and a couple of rally riders were leaving just as I was pulling in. It's a cool old folk-art display built into a hillside.

Salvation Mountain was worth 4000 points, so anyone wanting to do well in the rally had to visit this location. This was where I had to decide on the route for the rest of the day.

In my pre-ride planning, I had come up with three alternatives from this point, depending on the time I had left. Option 1, in case I was already short of time, was to head south to the Pacific Crest Trailhead south of Campo, then back into the San Diego area for whatever smaller bonuses I could find there. Option 2 was to go up to Mecca, then over for the group of bonuses around Julian. Option 3 was to go up to Mecca, then over to Pine View, Santa Rosa and Scenic Road. If I had enough time, option 3 was the best route, but if I was a little short option 2 was a good alternative.

Based on the time, I decided to go all-in for option 3. If all went well, it was the best option, but everything depended on making a fairly quick up-and-back on the Santa Rosa truck trail. I knew it was in so-so condition, but still thought I could average 20mph.

I made a quick run to the Gracie Salazar bonus in Mecca, got more gas, and headed through Palm Springs to SR-74. My route had me going to Santa Rosa first, and then Pine View, but I saw the Pine View turn-off a mile or so before Santa Rosa, so I turned in to grab it first.

The first section of the Santa Rosa truck trail wasn't too bad, and I was feeling okay about my time, but the road got progressively worse, and it was slow going. I grabbed my photos at the spring, and headed back down. I made better time on the way back, but it still took too much time, and I knew I couldn't even consider getting the Scenic Road bonus. I decided to try to make up some time on the way back to San Diego: if I could save enough I could go to the Aztec Cafe for a combination bonus, and otherwise I'd go straight to the finish at San Diego BMW Motorcycles.

When I made it back to SR-74, I was about 94 miles from the dealer. Traffic in the mountains on the way to I-15 was too heavy to let me make up a lot of time, but it wasn't until I had done 5 miles or so on I-15 that I gave up on grabbing any more bonuses. The GPS said a side-trip to Aztec Cafe would get me back to the dealer at 4:40pm, and I didn't have enough miles to be able to make up the necessary time, no matter how fast I rode. I briefly considered visiting the Liberty Tobacco bonus location, which didn't come with points but instead added 15 minutes to your time limit, but I didn't think it would work, and the penalty for being over time was too harsh.

I got back at 4:20pm, with 17 minutes to spare. My odometer showed 510 miles for the day, and my GPS showed 501. It was a good, long day of riding, and except for the wind I had a fantastic time.

Back at the dealer, I chatted briefly with some of the other riders, and then started in on my final scoresheet. I initially forgot to put down the Cibola bonus, but caught it just in time, with the help of a kind soul who pointed out my omission.

Rallymaster Craig and his great wife Lisa had the scoring process down to a science, and his method of verifying the bonuses that required photos was very efficient. Afterwards, I grabbed some chips and salsa -- graciously provided by the dealership -- and chatted with some of the other riders.

Before the standings were announced, we were all treated to a steak and hamburger dinner, again courtesy of the dealer. They really know how to make everyone feel like family.

While we ate our ice cream for dessert, Craig announced the standings, and I was happily surprised to come in second place. (Or, as Gary, the owner of the dealership jokingly said, "first loser".) My buddy Peter Perrin came in first on his BMW RT, and Chad Smith came in third on his ST1300. The podium finishers got great wooden boxes with an inlay of the LowCal gasket in the image of San Diego County, along with very generous gift cards from the BMW dealer.

It turns out Peter had chosen something very close to my option #2: from Mecca, he headed inland to the bonuses near Julian, which wound up being the best choice. My route to the north might have prevailed, but only if I could have navigated Santa Rosa fast enough to still have time for Scenic Road and the Aztec Cafe, but the roadway did not allow it. A beginner's mistake, but a valuable learning experience.

In the end, everyone had a great time - again, except for the wind, which affected everyone.

Craig will likely go back to the single, 8-hour LowCal 250 rally next year, and I'll certainly be there. He goes to a lot of effort to come up with interesting, challenging, and fun bonuses each year, and the riding in and around San Diego County is first rate. I had a lot of fun helping out with the LowCal, and even more fun riding the LC-11. Thanks, Craig!

LowCal 250/LC-11 Standings

My LC-11 Photos

I had a SPOT Personal Tracker mounted on my bike for the ride. In tracking mode, this device relays my GPS coordinates to a satellite every ten minutes (or so), and let's my family and friends keep track of my progress on long rides. There's two ways to view the map:

• My own STV site
• Spotwalla

This year, Craig the Rallymaster™ added a new twist - the traditional LowCal 250 format on one weekend, and a longer rally he calls LC-11 on the following weekend. The 250 has a firm 8 hour time limit, and starts and ends at San Diego BMW Motorcycles. The LC-11 has an 11 hour time limit, starting in Yuma and ending at the BMW dealer in San Diego. Both rallies share the same set of bonus locations, but there are a lot of bonuses that are only practical for the LC-11.

I rode down on Saturday to help out with logistics on the 250, and other than the 4:45am departure I had a great time.

My job on Saturday morning was to help the LowCal 250 riders load the bonus location waypoints onto their GPS's, and except for one older hand-held Garmin unit, everyone was accommodated. At the finish, Craig verified each scorecard by checking receipts and/or photos, and I entered the bonuses into the computer for scoring.

I'm packing up on Thursday night for the LC-11. On Friday, I'll ride to work, and then leave around 3:00pm to head straight down to Yuma. There's a pre-ride meeting/dinner Friday night, and then an early 5:30am start on Saturday. I've planned an aggressive main route, but have a bunch of alternatives and cut-outs already loaded into my GPS. I spent lunchtime today doing a Streetview/Satellite pre-ride, and printed out a binder full of photos, maps, coordinates, rally packets, spreadsheets, and tank-bag inserts. All that's left is to actually ride the ride.

LowCal 250 Photos

The IBA packet arrived today - a nice certificate, a special BBG license plate backer, a pin - the works. I'm offiical.

The ride included a 16 mile detour along Badwater Road in Death Valley National Park that cannot be documented with a computerized receipt. When I submitted my documentation, I noted this, and included photos I took of the FJR at Lake Manly and at Badwater Point, along with links to my Spotwalla map. The IBA credited me with the whole 1530 miles.

Still to come this year are the Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice SaddleSores with Doug to complete our Four Seasons. Next year, I want to do a B2Bi — Mexico to Canada in 24 hours. After that, we'll have to see...

Originally I planned to ride between the lakes from Paso, up the Jolon road to King City, then west on Carmel Valley Road and up PCH all the way into The City. I got a late start, and had already missed the cancellation time on my motel in Petaluma, so I adjust the route to only Jolon Road, then a quick blast up to Petaluma. The GPS routed me up I-280, and it seemed fast. It was really cold once I got onto surface streets. The Golden Gate Bridge was really cool in the dusk and fog.

I left Petaluma early Thursday, and broiled up the 101. I rashly decided to ride the Lost Coast, which was scenic and all, but the road surface made it a little too much of a chore. The short section right along the coast is a great ride, and almost made up for the 85 other miles of crappy conditions.

Fairlaner teased me about my Subway dinner, but I was tired and just wanted to chill in the room with my book.

Friday was an off day, and I walked around Old Town Eureka all morning. There are a couple of nice used book stores, and I found an Anne Perry that I'd been missing at the smaller of the two. When I got back to the hotel, my room still hadn't been made up, so I walked east and found a big new Target. I bought some granola bars for breakfast and on-bike snacking, some medical tape to help protect Dr. Voron's stitches on my right fore-arm, and the latest Jack Reacher novel, 61 Hours - my only one of the series in hardback.

Friday's dinner highlight was a talk by the Forum's James Burleigh - which worked out great.

On Saturday, my buddy Doug and I rode over to the Samoa Cookhouse for the Vintage Riders Breakfast. Afterwards we decided to ride a big loop of famous roads - CA-299 to Weaverville, then south on CA-3, then west again on CA-36 back to Eureka — about 245 miles total. The ride was really fun. We stopped for lunch at the Burger Barn on CA-36.

Saturday's dinner included a preview of Hard Miles II, a video about the 2009 Iron Butt Rally, with an introduction by Dean Tanji himself. I sat with Terry/Tel at dinner, and we talked a lot about rallying, riding, and English football — very cool stuff.

I had to get back to work on Monday, so Sunday meant the long ride home. Doug joined me, and we drove quickly down to the Bay Area to meet up with Justin, who had ridden up to see his friends in the south Bay. Justin and I made quick plans to meet at a logical landmark, which turned out to be the Motel 6 in Fremont. (It was something we could both find easily on our GPS's...)

We met Justin in the motel parking lot. Doug graciously bought all of us lunch at a surprisingly good Mexican restaurant next door, and we gassed up and hit the road. Justin had come up I-5 on Saturday, and said the heat was close to unbearable, so we decided to stay close to the coast, at the cost of some extra miles.

Terry had told me on Saturday that he was going to take CA-25, as a fun compromise between the heat of I-5 and the traffic of US-101, due to the MotoGP race at Laguna Seca and the Garlic Festival in Gilroy. At lunch the three of us decided to use his advice, and we found some great riding from Hollister down to King City.

From there, we took US-101 to CA-154. An accident at the south end of the 154 stopped us for 5-10 minutes, but we made it to the gas station at State and La Cumbre unscathed. Doug was going to peel off down the 405 to head home to El Segundo, so we said our goodbyes in Santa Barbara, and hit the road. Traffic was bad, and we lane-shared into Carpinteria before it broke up.

Doug headed south at the 405, and Justin and I slogged the rest of the way home, tired but happy.

I left at 3:35am on Monday morning, rode all day and through the night, and made it back home in 22 hours and 54 minutes, after 1,530 miles through California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. About half the ride was Interstate, but even more miles were on cool back roads.

Some notes, for now, with more details soon...

Stints

• Home to Baker - dense fog between I-15/I-215 junction and Hesperia. Felt like the Guild pilots in Dune
• Baker to Beatty - chose the Badwater Road option; took photos to document it
• Beatty to Tonopah - high winds began about 10 miles south of Tonopah
• Tonopah to Alamo - more high winds from the south and west, kept speeds somewhat reasonable, altough I did get some time in the 6,000 RPM range...
• Alamo to Ely - winds continued, but in my favor on this leg. Short stop for road construction.
• Ely to Nephi - more high winds, in the 35-45 MPH range, with gusts and/or drop-outs. Very fatiguing.
• Nephi to St. George - hooked up with a Corolla (of all things) for a 6,000 RPM plus run to Beaver and beyond. Listened to the Lakers-Suns game on the XM.
• St. George to Baker - gusty winds in the Virgin River passes made things too interesting
• Baker to home - just after Baker, I got caught behind a seemingly drunk-ass driver. He would slow down to the 55mph range, but when anyone tried to pass him he would speed up to match their speed, and cut just in front of them if they came up on slower traffic. I watched this happen to three different cars, and didn't feel like it would be wise to try it myself. He finally got distracted and let me pass in north Victorville. More dense fog past Hesperia.