Silly, Silly Me -- I Enter the 10n10 Endurance Rally

How crazy am I? Well, very crazy obviously, since I decided to enter the 10n10 Long Distance Endurance Rally. It's 10 days, 10,000 miles on a motorcycle with a checkpoint in the middle. Starting in Salt Lake City, UT with a checkpoint on day four in Sidney, Nebraska which will be open from 8:00 am until noon. You miss the check point, you are out of the game.

A minimum of 8,000 total miles is required (and making the checkpoint and making the finish back in Salt Lake City on or before Sept. 5, 2010 at 10:10 am) to be a finisher.

I received my bonus listing a few days ago. Hundreds and hundreds of bonus locations to choose from ranging from Hyder, Alaska to Maui, Hawaii and somewhere in Spain. Of course, the main route traverses the lower 48 states.

I first edited the bonus listing to fit onto 3 x 5 index cards then printed that out, cut it up and pasted the bonus locations onto the index cards. My next step was to sort the bonus locations by state. Geez, that took forever!!!

After sorting, I took a map of the US and began putting stars on the map according to state and city which were color coded as to number of bonus points. Again, that took forever. But, it did help me sort out an initial route. Finally, I see a plan forming. Oh, did I mention I was stressing all this time?? What an undertaking. What in the world had I gotten myself into?

I have a new appreciation for LD Riders who do these kinds of rallies. Not only are they exceptional motorcycle riders, they are incredible planners. This is an exercise in time, distance and bonus point management. What a head game!

So, today I mapped out the first few days and changed it repeatedly as I worked on it. Sometimes I had way too many miles to manage efficiently and sometimes I had locations that were slow and stupid. It's been an exercise in efficient planning. You have to watch out for bonus locations that are daylight only or time restricted. You also have to watch out for traffic and slow roads. Not to mention weather interventions. Wow, this is really, truly difficult. This would make a great college class. Time management, endurance capabilities, bonus capture, sleep and rest time, etc. Yes, this would make an excellent college course.

I'm also thinking that weather could play a big role. Hurricane season, heat waves, monsoon rains...all could change the best laid plans. So, I continue to make my plan and edit and change and edit and change.

As of now, I'm planning on a screaming ride to the east coast where I'll bubble wrap my bike, board a charter flight and go to Spain. Take the requisite picture, bubble wrap again, land on the east coast and head to Salt Lake City. Oh, the benefit of going overseas, you don't have to go to the checkpoint, you only have to get the 8,000 mile minimum to finish. Big, big points for going offshore.

I'm sure this is a winning route! All my other planning is simply an exercise in futility.

Regards,
Cletha