3 Days In One

OK well I've been a bit slack the last few days.  Been too busy having a good time to catch up with the blog, so here are the last three days in one.

From Dunkirk, on the shores of Lake Erie, the morning after the stormy evening was clear and clean.  Even so, we were a bit late getting started, but then didn't really have far to go.

Once again avoiding the busy toll roads, we traveled along the southern shore of the lake.  Not that we saw it much as even the closest road strays away quite a lot.

Eventually we came across a cherry stand - we had been seeing them a lot - and the temptation became too much.  Stopped to pick up a bag of them.  Of course there was no where to store them on the bike, so we went down to the lake shore and sat on the beach and scarfed the lot.  Yum.

Lake Erie Beach.  Not quite the golden sands of our Qld beaches.

But the cherries are nice.  We had some sweet black ones.

Then we turned inland towards Cranberry traveling through farmland.  Greenest of green most of the way.  I am struck by the intense greens of the local countryside.  Nothing like home.

This for members of Northern Gateway Ulysses whose mascot is Tweety Bird.

After one long traffic delay we finally got to the Marriott at Cranberry and checked in.  Lots of IBR supporters, family and friends were there and the rally organisers were setting up for the final scoring.

One lairy Goldwing trike.

We were up bright and early on Friday morning to welcome our rallying friends home.  A small crowd of well-wishers had gathered at the circular entrance where all the finishing bikes were turning up in dribs and drabs.
First instruction to all the riders, who had ridden through the night, "Put your side stand down."  Then the rest of the instructions.  Not one bike fell over in the driveway, though a few threatened.

The small crowd gathered around each bike for warm welcomes.

First Aussie in was Peter.  Here getting his odometer reading logged by the official.

This bloke could barely hold his bike up and standing was a problem.  A few of us were on hand to help out.

Second Aussie in, Ian is greeted by his Colleen and Sharnie, wife and daughter,

Third and final Aussies Annette and Shane Cudlin cheered here by Ghosty, holding the flag.

We thought it quite possible that this rider had deflated completely. But it was just his suit.

Typical rally bike dashboard

Getting close to cut-off time, some riders had to run in to stop their clock.

After they were all in and accounted for - some didn't make it in time - they all disappeared for a well-earned sleep while the scorers got to work.
Later that evening there was a huge banquet and all the riders, their families and supporters were there.  Each finishing rider was called out in reverse order, no one really knowing their final placing until they heard their name.
Our guys acquitted themselves quite well.  To win this rally is really a super-human effort and to finish is something really special in itself.  So far there are only around five hundred finishers of the Iron Butt Rally. That's less than the number of people who have left earth to fly in space.
So these four Aussies are special indeed.  Only three other Aussies have completed the test.  Shane and Annette have now done it twice.

Ian, Peter, Annette and Shane proudly display their trophies.

All that over it was off to bed and next morning bikes departed in all directions.  Ian back to Atlanta to store the bike and back to his job in Africa.  Peter down the road a bit then fly home to Newcastle.
The Cudlins will travel around the USA for a couple more weeks at a more leisurely pace before putting their bike back in a container and flying home to Taree.
For us, it is a trip back to Albuquerque to return the Little Black Bike home.

Time for superslabbing.
The quickest, if not the most picturesque, way to ride across America is on the Interstates.  These well-made roads criss cross the country and are the lifeblood of the transport industry.
They also keep the heavy transport off the often prettier highways and byways where we normally prefer to travel.  They are often  tolled.  In fact today we spent almost as much on tolls as we did on fuel.  Our first fill up cost us $11.  Our first toll booth cost us $16.50.

The states fly by and the Clinton towns still show up everywhere.

An innovation in aerodynamics.  The buffetting approaching these trucks seemed a little less than normal.

A couple of these getting power from passing transports?

 We managed to do 717 miles today in just 13 hours 12 minutes, with three longish stops totaling 2 hrs 23 minutes.  Not a bad average.

And lastly for this post, some views of the bikes of our three finishers, including some well worn rear tyres that were new just eleven days ago.

Peter's Yamaha FJR1300A

Ian's BMW R1100RT

The Cudlin's Yamaha Super Tenere 1200