Utah 1088, June 27-28, 2009

The Utah 1088 in 1998 was my first endurance rally. I followed that up with four Thin Air TT’s, and then put on the Two-Bits Rally four of the last five years. This year I decided it was time to again invest some motorcycling time and miles into competing in the Utah 1088. So I sent in my entry form, improved the lighting on the classic ZG1000, and replaced the front tire the day before leaving for Salt Lake City.

The trip west included the scenery over Vail Pass with blue skies, green forests, red cliffs, and rushing mountain streams. The walls of Glenwood Canyon were nicely lit by the morning sunshine, calling for constant sweeps of vision from the top of one rugged canyon wall, down to the railroad, across the wild Colorado River, and up to the top of the other wall. Along the Colorado River east of Palisade I practiced a rally stop for a bonus, quickly getting photos of a historical marker for my “collection” of those bits of history. West of Green River I turned north for Price where long, straight roads through the 100-degree desert were replaced by winding mountain roads in the 75-degree Uinta and Manti-La Sal National Forests. At Soldier Summit, elevation 7,472 feet, I stopped for photos to “bag” another pass for the Colorado Beemer’s Pass Bagger 50 award, even though passes outside of Colorado don’t count. Before long I was checking into the rally hotel, and then headed over to Chalmers’ for the BBQ and tall tales.

On Friday morning Karl Z and I headed up to the Golden Spike National Historical Site at Promontory to see a reenactment of the old steam locomotives meeting for that big event back in 1869. After reading about the golden spike back in history classes, it was very interesting to see the place in person. And of course I was able to add another stamp in my National Park Passport book. On our way back to Salt Lake we stopped at the Hill Air Force Base Museum, a first class place that has a great collection of USAF aircraft. Favorites included a B-29, B-1, SR-71, some F-4 Phantoms, and a P-38. The F-16s flying overhead were cool too. The sound of freedom.

Back at the rally hotel everyone was busy riding the odometer check, a route of about 15 miles up the Interstates and back. And for some reason folks were using tape and markers to put their rally number on the sides of their bikes. Some were subtle. Some were more in the “please arrest me for looking like a race car” size. After dinner time we gathered in the parking lot for the mandatory riders’ meeting and general hilarity. The skies to the west were full of dark storm clouds and lightning. After standing in some light rain and being told we were “the world’s toughest motorcycle riders”, we adjourned to the hotel meeting room for the remainder of the meeting.

On Saturday morning at 0630 we met again in the parking lot for last minute instructions and to get the rally packs. There was a fair amount of bonii scattered from Idaho to Dugway to Nephi, the site of the first checkpoint where we would get another pack of bonii for the rest of the rally. Everyone rushed off to plan their routes but couldn’t leave until 0700.

Using a AAA map of Utah and a Scalex MapWheel , I quickly decided where to go and left about 0710. I bypassed the “slow ride” because I didn’t want to wait in line for some points that I might not get anyway, so the first stop was right down the street where we could photograph a nearby hotel or simply write down the street address. When given the choice, which is the better way to go? Either can be fouled up. I chose to write the answers rather than taking time to get the camera out. My second stop was two blocks away when my Garmin StreetPilot 2720’s display was nothing but colored horizontal lines. Oh well, I still had my much less capable GPS V and my trusty AAA map.

My next destination was downtown. Some folks have mentioned all the construction and one-way streets. I got overheated and frustrated by all the red traffic lights, lots of red traffic lights. After arriving at the Capitol, along with a bunch of other guys, I hurried across the lawn and wrote down the answer to the question about the memorial honoring law enforcement officers. Then more red lights on the way to a statue where I got the photo, holding my 1088 cap at arm’s length so it would be included in the photo too. Actually I wasn’t sure which of two statues was supposed to be in the photo, so I got both of them in the frame. Good thing this bonus didn’t require a written answer.

Along I-15 on my way to the Hill AFB museum (see above) for two bonii, I passed one of the rally riders on a Hayabusa, America’s favorite LD and rally mount, who was visiting with a state trooper, and it sure didn’t look like he was there just for the bonus photo of a LEO. As I continued up the highway I reviewed the bonii list (easily seen in the 8x10 MotoFizz map pocket) and realized I was going to get to the air museum too early for the bonus that was “available from 9am”. Oops. Knowing the exit and way to the museum, I was quickly parked, went right over to the bonus aircraft parked outside, put my 1088 cap on the landing gear door, got it greasy, snapped the photo in which the cap could barely be seen, and snapped another photo with the cap held out in front of me. Out of curiosity I tried the nearby door and found it locked, and then checked the door around the corner which was open. I tentatively walked in, saw a janitor, and asked if I could go on in for a quick photo. He didn’t care. Remember the P-38 mentioned above? I went straight to it, got the bonus photo, and headed out. The gal at the information desk didn’t seem to care that a bunch of geared-up riders were wandering around before the museum was officially open and asked if I had signed the guest book. I stopped to sign in, and then asked if she would write on the bonus list that the museum had opened for us at 0840. She did. It turns out that Steve gives credit for such creativity.

Back on I-15 I headed south for a bonus at exit 279. Some folks guessed that it should have been listed as exit “297” and went straight to a motorcycle shop for 4333 points, a biggie. I went to 279 and drove straight onto what was soon to be a parade route in Lodi. Lots of traffic, folks setting up their lawn chairs, and all that. Very funny. But no 7200 South, no 700 West, no motorcycle shop. But for 4333 points I wandered around too long thinking I had misunderstood the directions or something. After too much time I abandoned the search and headed south on I-15 again. At Thanksgiving Point I exited, didn’t see the dinosaur museum a ways off the highway (other s found it ok), and quickly got back on the highway. At Santaquin I quickly found the post office I had located earlier with the StreetPilot. A quick 3012 point photo and I was on my way to the first checkpoint.

I had hoped to get there right at 1000 so I would have plenty of time to plan what I figured would be a lot of points available during the rest of the rally. The time wasted in Lodi put me there at 1100. I settled down in the shade behind the gas station along with a bunch of serious riders who were already concentrating on their bonus lists, maps, and laptops. We must have looked rather strange to the normal tourists who stopped there too. I quickly located the bonii on the AAA map, disregarded the big points in Las Vegas because I had already decided I wouldn’t go there (too hot and wouldn’t include enough riding around scenic Utah), ran my MapWheel around some possibilities, decided I couldn’t get to the Torrey checkpoint early enough if I went to Colorado City or took the hike to Mossy Cave along UT-12 , and lit out for some points and miles.

Along southbound I-15 I stopped for another trooper memorial and for a photo of Cove Fort. To make the most of the time before the checkpoint, I rode the scenic, mountainous, winding UT-20, US-89, UT-62, and UT-24 to get some miles toward the needed 1129 miles needed to be a finisher. A stop in Bicknell for some pinto bean pie garnered some more bonus points and a time for a quick review of my plan. I tipped the waitress well and told her more overdressed rally riders would soon be arriving, and that she should tell them the first guy tipped well, and that they should too. It’s not fair to remove bolts from bonus highway signs, but it is fair to mess with other riders’ concentration.

Right down the road I buzzed past the checkpoint in Torrey and rode a ways down UT-12 for more miles and smiles. Back at Torrey I briefly talked to Dave M (rides an older BMW GS with license KXON66, a cool vanity plate) until the checkpoint officially opened at 1630, got my bonus list signed, and headed for Arches National Park, hoping to get there while a bonus was available between 0700 and 1900. Just a few miles away UT-24 enters Capitol Reef National Park where there were blue skies, red, white, and brown jumbled rock formations, and green pinon pine and sage. At the park visitor center down in the canyon there were large orchards left over from the old pioneer days. Like an oasis in the desert. The road continued to weave through the canyon with colorful rock walls on either side and lots of green cottonwoods along the creek. It was a perfect road to dial back a little, enjoy the scenery, and gracefully lean back and forth through all the curves. It was a great reason for not riding to Las Vegas.

About 60 miles away I was hoping to find the I-70 rest area that was “about 8 miles” west of the US-6 intersection ,which should have been right at the intersection of US-24 and I-70. I rode up onto the westbound overpass and couldn’t spot the rest area, could only remember the rest area about 7 miles away up on San Rafael Reef with no easy way to return to the east, decided I needed to be hurrying to Arches, and thought I might look again on the way back. (Turns out it was 12 miles west of US-6, which is in “about” range during a 1000-mile ride.) I made a quick fuel stop in Green River and made it to the Arches entrance station with 5 minutes to spare. But the rangers were already gone for the day. But there are now coin/bill operated machines to handle everything. I didn’t have to hurry to get there after all. (Later Steve just laughed when I told him about the automated entry station.) Motorcycles can get in for $5 so I put in the smallest bill I had, a $20, and enjoyed the sounds of Las Vegas as 15 dollar coins noisily clanged into the metal change tray. I grabbed a map and found out that the 2859 point bonus at the Devils Garden trailhead was clear at the north end of the park. But at 7 PM there wasn’t much traffic and the late day lighting made all the red rock formations just spectacular. It took an hour of 35 and 45 mph riding to get to the bonus location and back, but it was well worth it for the awesome scenery and for the points (2859 points per hour times 24 hours = 68,616, very close to a winning strategy).

At the park entrance I got the photo bonus of the sign, figured I no longer had time to go further south for the points at Newspaper Rock State Park, but could compensate by riding to Dead Horse Point State Park. The winding road off US-191 took me to the high point, where right at sunset, I had a terrific view of the Colorado River, lined by green cottonwoods and mesquite, and rows and rows of red and purple buttes that seemed to reach to the far distant horizon. The view was worth far more than the 512 bonus points. During the short hike from the parking lot to the overlook I even had time for some rally nourishment, a can of vanilla Slim-Fast, something Gary Egan recommended during a talk at a local Ducati shop.

Then it was time to ride back down the twisties to US-191 and head for checkpoint 3 in Price. At Green River for the 3rd time on this trip I fueled up again, thought about getting a score card at the golf course, but then changed my mind about bashing around in the dark after seeing a town cop parked along the street not far away. By the time I got to the US-6 turn-off I decided to skip the rest area bonus and headed on north. On the way to Price I went right past the sign at mile marker 177, thinking it was north of the checkpoint just because that was where it was ordered in the bonus list. Rookie mistake, which also got a laugh from Steve.

Checkpoint 3, like checkpoint 2, was worth another 5000 points. Big points, not to be missed. I turned north on US-191 and realized that ….

To be continued.

-- Randy Bishop, Highlands Ranch, Colorado