I had so much fun on 1999's Thin Air TT, a motorcycle endurance rally put on by the Chapter "C" FreeWheelers , an all-makes motorcycle club in Denver, that I sent in my money just as soon as registration opened for 2000's event. The rally again would be based out of Avon, Colorado, and would be run in a 1+1 format with 15 hours of riding on Saturday and 9 hours on Sunday. Our time management and planning skills would sure be challenged, but there wouldn't be any nighttime riding. A plan that would let us see all the great Colorado scenery as we buzzed around the state.

The first activity upon arriving in Avon on Friday afternoon was to check into the Christie Lodge where most of us were sharing a room with another of the TT competitors. Next was the odometer check where our starting mileage was noted, we rode west on I-70, turned around at a prescribed exit, and returned to Avon where our ending mileage was noted. Then it was time to socialize with old friends from previous rallys and to meet new folks. Another activity was to stroll through the parking garage to check out the other bikes that were being ridden: Concours, Gold Wings, BMWs, ST1100s, a CBR1100XX, a Ducati ST4, an Aprilia, and even a '78 Yamaha SR500 thumper (with an Iron Butt Association license plate frame) that Lowell Mattox had ridden from St. Louis.

At 8pm the rally masters, Bill Gillespie and Brian Boberick, covered the rules of the rally, gave us Saturday's base route so we would have an idea where we would be going (a 603-mile loop from Avon to Walsenburg and back), and list of the extra bonus locations that could be collected in addition to the normal ones along the base route. The "Thin-Air Bonus Group" included points for each Polaroid photo of our rally number card on the signs for  Continental Divide crossings, 100 for the first 4, 200 for the 5th and 6th, 300 for the 7th and 8th, etc.  The "World Records Tour" included some hefty points for the World's Largest Rocking Chair, Largest One Man Project, Highest Suspension Bridge, Largest Hot Springs Pool, and the Largest Pink Dinosaur.

Saturday started at 4:30am when Bill handed out the rally packs that contained a card with our rally number and several pages that listed the day's bonus locations, most of which were located along the base route and worth 20-50 points each. (A bonus location is usually a road sign, historical marker, or other sign that has the answer to a question on the rally instructions. Example: In Frisco Colorado, in what year was the old jail built? Answer: Ride to Frisco, find the old jail in the town park, read the sign, and write the answer on the bonus listing.) We couldn't leave Avon until 5:30am so we had an hour to plan our routes and to mark our maps. My roommate Jeff Foster (rally master for the 1999 Land of Enchantment 1000) and I debated our options and decided we needed to get as many of the points from the Thin-Air Bonus Group and the World Records Tour, then pick up other bonuses along the base route as we had time. So we marked our maps and prepared to hit the road.

The first bonus location, a campground near Vail, was one that I knew, so off I went in the company of several other bikes. A bit farther at Copper Mountain we had to find the golf pro shop. Sounded easy because I'd been to Copper quite a few times, but the shop was hidden around on the back side of a building. Since it was still very early in the morning I rode my Concours around on the sidewalk, found the shop, and looked for the sign with the answer. Fogged over glasses didn't help. Already I was taking too much time. The next stop was the old jail in Frisco. I knew right where that was so I took to a side street to come in from the back side, not wanting to lead the other bikes in town straight to the jail. That's ok, isn't it?

Next up was a 100-point photo at Hoosier Pass, my first crossing of the Continental Divide (although in hindsight, I should have bypassed the places in the previous paragraph and zoomed up to Loveland Pass and Eisenhower Tunnel instead). I continued on down CO-9 through Alma (where we could collect 1 point for a speeding ticket) to Fairplay and then across South Park. South of Hartsel there weren't points to be gained, but the scenery was outstanding. Trees and grasses were green, sky was blue, mountains in the distance. Hard to beat. I bypassed the points at Royal Gorge (Highest Suspension Bridge) thinking there would be too much traffic (I was wrong) and headed for Penrose (Largest Rocking Chair) and a quick photo (I brought plenty of film this year!). Then south to Florence for gas and back into the winding mountain roads of CO-67 and 165 to Bishop's Castle (Largest One Man Project). I tried to find Jim Bishop (no relation) so I could get extra points for having him in the photo, but he wasn't around, so I had one of the other tourists take my picture instead. I was hoping the rally masters would give me points for having "Mr. Bishop" (me) in the picture, but no such luck. ;) There were several more points available around Westcliffe, then a run down CO-69 and the checkpoint at Walsenburg. Got there only 15 minutes later than I was planning.

It was time for a quick stop for Gatorade and a PowerBar, then on to La Veta to take a picture of the "radar trap" run by a manikin in a patrol car by the side of the road. Very funny. At Alamosa I stopped for gas again, knowing there wouldn't be many handy stops ahead. I munched a granola bar while pumping gas, and as soon as the tank was full, tossed the remaining 1/3 of the bar into my tank bag and took off for the 45 miles of absolutely straight and flat CO-17. The only redeeming things about traveling that road is seeing the UFO observation tower, the alligator farm, and the Sangre de Christo mountain range along the east side of the valley. (Well, maybe the first two aren't so hot.) By going up CO-17 I was missing several bonus points further to the west in Del Norte and Saguache but knew I'd need all the time I could get for the high point-paying Continental Divide passes that were along the route back to Avon.

First up at Poncha Springs was a 45 minute run up to Monarch Pass and back. On north at Buena Vista there was a 1 hour run up to Cottonwood Pass and back, one of the most enjoyable set of curves of the day. Fairly new smooth pavement that isn't plowed in the winter so there is no damage from freeze and thaw cycles. I was keeping up with a Ducati Paso on the way up, which means either I was going too fast on my Concours, or he was going too slow on his Duck. In either case, we had fun swapping howdies once we reached the summit. The next pass was Independence, which also took an hour from US-24 to the summit and back. At Leadville, there was a fairly short detour east to Fremont Pass, my first 200-point Pass. As I was headed back down the hill several of the other guys were gassing it up the hill, probably with the same goals as I had. Rats. North of Leadville was Tennessee Pass, the last Pass of the day. Four other guys were taking photos there too. Finally there was a little time to relax riding US-24 past Camp Hale (where the 10th Mountain Division trained during WW II), along the edge of a deep canyon, and through the forest. One of the most scenic stretches of road in Colorado. I got to Avon with 15 minutes to spare, which means I wasted 15 minutes that could have been used along the way to get more points. Oh well, it gave me a head start on the hamburgers that Bob Norton was cooking.

Sunday started with rally instructions being passed out at 4:30am again. With a mid-day checkpoint at Rangely there were two routes that could be taken. The first involved quite a few bonus locations along old US-6 and a second with fewer bonus locations, but worth more in total points, on a loop that crossed McClure Pass. As Jeff and I did our planning, we decided the US-6 route would be best. After he left, and I was still waiting another 15 minutes for dawn, I changed my mind and decided that it would be better to ride the longer route, figuring I could get more points and still end up at Grand Junction in about the same amount of time. So away I went.

By 6:30am I arrived in Glenwood Canyon. In the early morning light with no traffic, the scenery was simply great. I even slowed down and rode in the left hand lane so I could peer over the guardrails more easily to see the Colorado River. As I exited for one of the rest areas where some bonus points were to be found, three guys were heading back onto I-70. So much for my thought that no one else would take the long route. Next up was a photo of the hot springs pool in Glenwood. Then south to CO-133 to travel along the Crystal River on another of the most scenic stretches of road in Colorado. That was followed by the fun curves up to McClure Pass, the great views back down into the valley, descending through one sweeper after another until reaching the twisties right alongside Paonia Reservoir, and then enjoying the rural scenery of the valleys and orchards. Real Colorado! At Hotchkiss I stopped for a bonus photo of the turquoise horse, but having John Irvin's CBR1100XX and a genuine old Indian motorcycle in the photo didn't give me any extra points. (It's always worth a try. ;)

From Hotchkiss I continued west to Delta, found some information at the city park for some points, then picked up some more points along US-50 on the way to Grand Junction. Nearing I-70 I met up with the Haggards, local leaders of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, who had taken the US-6 route. After a quick stop at Fruita for a picture of the dinosaur, I hopped back onto I-70 and met Jeff Foster, who also had stayed on the US-6 route, as planned. We rode together to Loma, then on up CO-139 towards Rangely. There was very little traffic on that road, but most of the cars we met before Douglas Pass flashed their lights in warning. Sure enough, a few miles down from the pass a Colorado highway patrolman was kind of hiding behind the armco just around a bend in the road. We motored on past, unlike some of our buddies behind us who got a first-hand look, from inside the cruiser, at how the new instant-on radar sets work. Even SR500s can exceed the speed limit on an empty, straight, downhill stretch of highway. Argh!

Just before we got to the checkpoint in Rangely, George and Craig Barnes had rolled in from the northwest (and big points for the pink dinosaur in Vernal, Utah). We warned them of the radar trap and found out that some of the other guys had been stopped by the infamous trap downhill from Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat Springs. Darn. Not that they got caught, but that Jeff and I had figured nobody would try to ride all the way to Rabbit Ears for points, but a bunch of folks had. Since we had finished near the top of Saturday's riding, we knew that if we wanted to continue to compete for a top spot, we needed to head for the 'Boat too. We checked our maps, and at 11:15am lit out. There wasn't time to be wasted.

After a couple of quick stops along CO-64 for points, we buzzed through the White River valley to Meeker for a really fast gas stop. Fifty miles later in Craig, Jeff got through a green light, I didn't. Following normal rally procedures, he continued on. About 60 miles later I met up with him again as I pulled off for a picture at Rabbit Ears Pass. A couple of miles later we stopped for pictures at Muddy Pass. At 300 points each, we suddenly had 600 more points, a lot more than we could have gained on an easy ride back on the base route of US-6 and I-70. (Oh yea, the sweepers from Steamboat up to Rabbit Ears are a hoot! If you watch for the Routt County Sheriff.)

Then it was a dash for Avon. Jeff had to stop in Kremmling for gas (the tanks on airhead BMWs are much smaller than tanks on Concours), and following normal rally procedures, I continued on. Entering Silverthorn on CO-9 the traffic was backed up for several miles as it approached I-70, not an ideal situation for someone in a hurry. As it turns out, a motorhome had caught fire near the west exit of Eisenhower Tunnel. No one was hurt but it caused a massive traffic jam, much, much worse than the normal mess when everyone is heading home from the mountains on a Sunday afternoon. With time running short, I used my local knowledge of the area and took some back streets to bypass most of the problem. Got on I-70, headed west, arrived in Avon with 15 minutes to spare. Jeff got there with one minute to spare. What a great day! Over 500 miles of winding roads and beautiful Colorado scenery.

Turned in the bonus listing and photos, cleaned up, and visited with the other folks. About 6pm we headed over to Minturn for the awards banquet, another well-done part of the rally. It was at a great little restaurant (the Minturn Country Club) on main street by the Eagle River. Finally it was time for the results and awards. Every finisher got a little trophy and over half of the riders got a door prize. The top three in each class, two-up and solo, each got a very nice trophy. First in the two-up division, and first over-all, were George and Craig Barnes. (George was the winner of the 1999 Iron Butt Rally with a record 13,000+ miles in 11 days. In this rally he rode 1500+ miles, compared to my 1200+). First place in solo division was Gary Egan (also an IBR winner), in spite of spending an hour on Saturday near Poncha Springs visiting with the CSP about Ducati performance. I was pleased with my 4th of 21 in class and 6th of 27 overall.

Bob, Sunny, Brian, Bill, Becky, and Frank (the Thin Airheads) put on a mighty fine rally. We were plenty challenged to pick a route that would maximize points while still allowing the checkpoints to be met. There was an unending amount of beautiful scenery and curvy mountain roads. It was fun to meet new folks (some of them on their first endurance rally and some of them experienced winners) and to see their bikes (from Egan's tricked out Ducati ST-4 to Mattox's SR500 thumper). The fourth annual Thin Air TT will be July 27-29, 2001 and will be based in Montrose. My guess is that the routes will pretty well cover the beautiful San Juan Mountain area of southwestern Colorado. I plan to be there.

-- Randy Bishop, Littleton Colorado