Matt Placed 17th in the 2007 Iron Butt Rally

Paul and I did essentially the same thing for a day or two. His blog is in audio form and you gett the emotion and tone of his voice during the rally. One’s mood really does ebb and flow throughout the 11 days. Plus his method allows him to post to the Internet while’s riding with a cell phone.

Significant parts of his rally (the Death Valley/Bristlecone/Scotty’s Castle) were the same day I ran. In fact, Paul and I rode with each other parts of that day.

Good job Paul. Huge props for sharing the experience to others.

Banquet’s over and some have already seen the official results. I placed 17th…which exceeds my wildest expectations. Huge props to my first leg riding partner, Doug Chapman, for leading this rookie through the first leg and getting started on the second.

I had hoped to just finish this thing….as there was a 25% wash-out rate and even long-time veteran riders agreed ‘07 was the hardest rally ever. So, I’m revelling in a to 20 finish, getting a bit drunk….and will get up to drive back with Dad and the bike in back of the truck. We’ll probably take 2 or 3 days to get back.

I’ll also try and use some of that time to detail the ride more extensively than I could while on the ride. Somehow, I think my literary skills….like remembering certain words….will be much better after having gotten a full night’s sleep.

Signing out from St. Louis

Matt Watkins - 2007 Iron Butt Rally Finisher

I made it back safely and just finished scoring. Don’t know final standings, but think I moved up from #43.

Will write after I drink a beer and take a shower.

The rally rocked!!!!

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3 Hours Later

….well I haven’t showered yet…..I’m sitting here in my own BO yapping with George Zelenz.

However, I feel like I need to say something profound…or at least pithy. Not sure this counts, but here’s a try:

On Day 8 after I had gone to Lick Observatory I was spending the afternoon in San Francisco. I had never driven or ridding in SF before, and as I went over the Bay Bridge I caught my first view of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty enough with a bit of low big in the warm, sunny day……..but out of nowhere I started bawling like a baby.

I had just gotten the rally. I had just learned what the Rallymaster intended as a theme. Yes, there was the omni-present Americana kitch, but this other meaning was much deeper and more profound. Mind you, having an epiphany on a major freeway and nominal speeds with tearing up eyes isn’t the best place to do this. So, I moved over to the right several lanes, slowed down a bit, and tried to take it in.

The start of the rally involved 90 or so folks rushing to the St. Louis Arch as a first bonus. Symbolic, absolutely for the beginning, but singular.

Then within several days the majority of riders went to Perce Rock in Canada on the Atlantic. It’s actually an arch rock, but I didn’t get it at that point.

The Golden Gate is full of architectural arches and is the gateway to the West from the Pacific. In the course of 8 days it all struck me in those few seconds. We North Americans have it incredibly well. We have a land mass of incredible geologic and climatologic variety. The heat of Death Valley to near freezing mountains of August in Colorado. The azure quality of the Atlantic and deep green of the Pacific.

We also have people with mixed a wide range of languages and culture. We have French-Canadians deep in New Brunswick that identify more with France than English. We have the Navajo in the Southeast U.S. that really should have a dotted line as a truly sovereign nation within a nation. We have hippies in California ,Volvo yuppies in the mountains of New Hampshire, and Bible thumping midwesterners in Kansas.

We truly are diverse.

And, at the same time one can point a motorcycle in any one of the cardinal compass directions and go that way nearly unfettered. Showing a drivers license still gets you to Canada and back with no cavity search and a friendly smile from both sides of the border.

And after the few days of picking a direction you can pick anothe direction and do it yet again and not see all this continent has to offer.

I’m proud to be a North American.

Just got into a Super 8 in Dillon, CO with WiFi and haven’t eaten other than jerky and granola on the bike all day. Although not the orgy of points the past two days…..I’m still digging. I’m going to scoop up points until there isn’t any more time.

I started the morning by snapping a picture of Bendover Bill (what I’m sure the locals call it even though they have a sign that says Wendover Will).   It’s a 76 foot high neon sign that’s the town’s claim to fame….for Mormons trekking the 120 miles across the Salt Lake to not get reconized and gamble.

Then at dusk I snapped two pictures of mountain passes here in Colorado.  A full day.

I broke my previous 11,300 elevation record again by going to Independence Pass at 12,000 and change. I had no clue there were so many spots so high in this state.

I’m hungry…..so I’m going to eat my Subway sandwich and come back to this blog…..just wanted you all to know I’m alive and well.

Be back in 30 minutes…

…….OK back after my first shower in like 4 days….I think it’s 4 days. I was able to eat half of my sandwich…..my stomach seems to have shrunk and I’ve lot weight for sure.

Last night as I got off the drone of I-80 to about 50 miles of twisty I got worried my rear-end was going out. I had known the rear tire was cupped, but it hadn’t made noise or vibration when I was going straight and upright……now it was. I even called up my buddy Warchild when I was in the Reno area and he thought fatigue was getting to me…which he was right.

After finding a rest stop before Winnemucca and sleeping under a picnic table on the concrete (the table would have been more comfortable, but the light ahead was too bright….and two others occupied by Chris Sakala and Vicki Johnson) for about 3 hours I felt a bit better. Cruising the straights seems to smooth the tire a bit…until I hit a set of twisties again. Weird.

I’m planning my Day 11……I can’t believe this thing is about done!

The most direct route and I’m about 1,000 miles out. I’m planning to get up about 5 a.m. and head back. I can pace myself and figure out which bonii I might be able to sneak in. I’m still digging…….I think I’ve got more than enough points to finish, but I’d like to score a Gold medal and move my standing up from 43.

I’ll find out Friday afternoon….at the finishing banquet of course.

Physcially, I’m pretty good. My right ear hurts pretty badly because of having an earplug in it so long, and my shoulders are sore and muscles need a good massage. I have 11 days of beard growth and look pretty scruffy I’m sure. Also, I had a piece of my ass analyzed by scientific instruments. It’s 98% iron, 1.5% nickel, and the remaining 0.5% are other trace alloys.

My one headlight works…sort of. I have an instrument cluster light out….but that half it lit I haven’t been using much anyway. ;) Also, the GPS audio is intermittent. Electricals suck.

Here’s the plan tomorrow:

Just ran across this picture from Lick Observatory in the San Jose area. Scruffy, but smiling:

Matt called in from Wendover Nevada, he is on his way to Utah and will start first thing in the morning with the mountain passes and then back to Saint Louis. His tire is holding up OK for now.

Matt called in at 2 pm, he is in the San Francisco area and had a good day of points gathering.

He also had the fun of riding a fully loaded FJR on Lombard street!

He is planinng the return ride and is excited to get back to Saint Louis to see how everyone has done.

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10 p.m. Matt is just west of Reno and headed toward Salt Lake. He’s just paused for something to eat and to check his rear tire for pressure and clean off Bristlecone mud. He thinks he may be developing tire problems and will monitor closely and replace as necessary in Utah.

His spirits are high but fatigue is becoming a factor.

Sorry I haven’t been updating the past several days. I haven’t stayed in a conventional hotel room for 2 nights now…..having slept at the Iron Butt Hotel. Last night was deluxe accomodation in Death Valley at elevation -203 feet. I found a nice spot that was only 91 degrees as opposed to the 108 at -260 feet….all while this is 3 in the morning.

I found a nice soft dirt bank with a slight incline and had 3 hours to kill until daylight.

Monday was an orgie of points….over 51,000 of them in one day. What started out as a Death Valley 5000 point option at dawn, was then followed just a few hour later by visting the oldest living tree on the planet at 11,300 feet. Then motoring up to Yosemite for 2 meaty bonii. And then a romp to a hot spring that was a surreal experience in riding as well as finding out where all the lost hippies disappeared to.

More on all this after the ride, but suffice it to say that EVERYTHING I saw today was new and different. I’m exhausted, contented, and contemplative at the same time. A route for the past two days since you all can’t track me with Doug any longer. This route was our plan…I’m just running it as hard as I can stand it.

I am in Super 8 right now and the 5 hour “rest bonus” started…so I’m getting points for sleeping.  Long-term fatigue is setting in and I’ll have to watch and manage it.  Future posts probably are going to sound like they were written by somebody who has been on a motorcycle for 7 days straight.  No deep style or intense alliteration….probably just the facts.

Tuesday is going to be all about a giant 24,000 point bonus in the Bay area along with various yellow diamonds around the city. My plan will be to pick them up and escape across the Golden Gate (all a first again)….and then decide if I’m going to go up to Oregon and Washington…or start heading back and pick stuff up in Utah and Colorado.

I’m hoping 5 hours of sleep will make my options clearer.

6pm Pacific time, Matt has traveled from Death Valley to Yosemite (11,300 feet worth). He is next heading for the hot springs bonus and then on to Salinas to prepare for the Bay Area tomorrow.

Is looking forward to accommodation’s other than the Iron Butt hotel.

Matt just called here and reports he is west of Flagstaff and topping off.  Decided to skip the Grand Canyon bonus as he plotted it south when it should have been the north rim, skipping to get in position well rested for the next stage.  He’ll stop tonight in Pahrump, Nevada and be ready to hit it hard tomorrow.  Matt reports he’s scored well so far and will be set to bite into the meat of the route tomorrow.  Once settled in tonight I am sure he will add details if at all possible.

Matt called to let us know he is in Holbrook Arizona on his way to the Grand Canyon. After that its on to Las Vegas and then Death Valley.

No additional mechanical problems and he is doing well also.