Alan Leduc's
Buckeye 2002
Ride Report

The 2002 Buckeye 1000 was a 24 long distance competitive rally which was held July 26-28, 2002. Home base was in Springdale (Cincinnati), Ohio. The event had three classes: Sport and Sport Touring, Touring, and Expert.

Gus Breiland and Victor Wanchena were the Buckeye 1000 Rally masters. This duo is also known as the:

Pre-Ride Preparation

Somehow during the Great Lakes Challenge I managed to be the first person to arrive. I figured that since Team Strange which sponsored the GLC and the Promise Breakers were close friends that I would get put in the Expert Class. This was to be my first 24 hour rally so I was far from being an expert but decided this would be a possibility. I knew from the GLC that many of the riders were using fuel cells, so I figured I might as well add a fuel cell myself to try to be competitive.

I have a Corbin Seat on my Wing so the Ron Smith cell would not fit. I decided to fabricate my own cell using a 4 Gal. Jaz cell as a base. In order to connect the fuel cell to the main tank, there was a need to have a fitting installed in the plate of the fuel gauge sender unit. While drilling the hole for the fitting, I dropped the sending unit and broke it. None in stock locally of course, so I ordered two from Powersports Pro. An extra, just in case I got stupid again. I finally decided to have the units shipped to Ron Smith and let him to install and weld the fitting. They were supposed to go Next Day Air but shipped ground. I called Ron and found that he had not received them and then tracked them down. They would arrive at Ron's place just as he was leaving for a long weekend. Ron said he would get them out on Tuesday, the 23rd but sent an email that he had an emergency. He would get out on Wednesday, the 24th, NDA. Thursday, the 25th, 11:55 p.m. no unit. Oh no, another mistake? No, at 2:00 p.m., they arrived. Pressure is off. Now all I have to do is to install it without breaking it and hope the fuel cell works ok. No problem. However, I found that while the fuel cell technically would hold 4 gallons, you could only put in about 3.7 before it started venting. I ran one test fill-up and drain and everything seemed to work. I sure hope so as I should not be doing major modifications this close to event time.

Not a real rally bike, but I have a fuel cell, a GPS, a cup holder, and a good attitude. I'm ready to go.

Pre-Ride Events

Rick Martin who I met through the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum stopped by the house on the way. We were to meet at 12:00 noon and he arrived about 11:00 a.m. I hate to be late so I was glad to see Rick was early although I was not quite dressed for the ride. Rick and I pulled out before noon heading down the back roads. I thought I had put the hotel in my GPS; but no, I had left it on my lap top. Not a good sign. We fumble our way through the back roads and a detour and finally arrived at the hotel. Met a few of the riders including Jr. Stutzman, who was planning to do the MTF 50CC/100CCC and then had to drop out.

We ride over to the Tri-State BMW for the riders meeting and a meal. There were a lot more entries than I remembered from the list. Talking to the other riders, it was obvious that many had done this before and that I was a real amateur in comparison. My goal as always was to ride the best ride that I think I can and not to worry much about the others, but I really don't want to embarrass myself. 

Some BBQ, chickens wings and sides put down and it is finally time for the riders meeting. The packet reveals 91 bonus locations spread over 26 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia)., Washington D.C. and Ontario, Canada. I don't know what I expected, but this was far more than I had ever dreamed. Where do you start?

Route Development

I followed my strategy at the Palmetto Ramble  and began by entering all of the points in Garmin Map Source Software. I learned from the Palmetto, that I needed a better coding system so I used the following codes like OH7212T. The first two characters were the state abbreviation and would help to keep things in order for the road. The third and fourth characters referenced the bonus sheets. The next series of characters represented the number of bonus points and the suffix indicated a time restriction. This worked pretty good for the most part. I had promised myself that I would not stay up past 11:00 p.m. planning. At 12:15 a.m., I had just finished entering the points and had no idea about a route.

With 91 bonus locations, there was no obvious route. I was intimidated by the Northeast. I have not traveled much in that area and thought that it would be easy to get lost, so I decided to forgo any points in this area. Note to self, you must overcome this fear. Set up a ride in the near future to these states.

I started throwing some possible routes into Microsoft Streets and Trips. I knew from my experience from the Palmetto Ramble that I could out ride the estimates. I also knew that things could go wrong and that I needed to have some bail out strategies as I approached the end of the route. OK, I have to just make a decision and this was it:

City, State Points Springdale, OH --- TriState BMW (Oil) 15 Paris, KY (Markers) 62 Atlanta, GA (Varsity) 72 Atlanta, GA (Gas) 15 Columbia, SC (Gas) 76 Max Meadows, VA (?) 11 Man, WV (?) 54 Charleston, WV (Gas) 16 Morristown, OH (?) 21 Tranquility 17 Springdale, OH --- Total 359

I wasn't really very impressed with the route and didn't think that it would give me a very good showing but, it was 1:30 a.m. and I was going to bed.

Ride Day

I called my wife and had her give me a 6:00 a.m. wake up call. Inspection started at 7:30 a.m. and I wanted to get this out of the way and relax before the ride. I was up at 5:30 a.m. and ready to go. Not sure if the night might be cold and not wanting to be dressing and undressing, I opted to wear long johns under my Joe Rocket Phoenix Pants. I also put a long sleeve shirt in the trunk so I could access it quickly. Screaming Meanie, travel folder in trunk. I was one of the first ones out and thought that the inspection was in the front of the building. I waited till after 7:30 a.m. and didn't see anybody. I decided to ride around the lot and find inspection in full swing in the back of the building. Am I not listening? Hope I can read better than I listen. 

During the inspection Victor says, "Well Alan, we were going to put you in Touring Class, but you have this, as he tapped on the fuel cell." All that work on the fuel cell was unnecessary. Oh well, it will show me how long I can ride without stopping. Inspection for me was rather routine. 

Now, I just need to wait until the Riders meeting at 8:30 a.m. I check out the other bikes. Wonder how someone can do this on a sport bike. Am amazed at the age of some of the bikes. Am amazed at some of the gadgets. Rick Martin lost his key. He has a spare; but he just had it, where did it go? Eddie James tells me, that during the discussion as to whether I should be in the Expert Class because of the GLC, he told Gus and Victor that my problem was that I was so new that I didn't know that I could stop. I got a chuckle out of that, he was about right. He reminded me that I could stop today.

Gus and Victor went through the mandatory safety information. Then the Ride Day Bonuses were passed out. The biggie was a progressive bonus for each capitol that was obtained. It was obvious that this would give far more points than my meager 359 point plan. What do I do? I went over to my bike and pulled out the Atlas. I couple of guys wanted to chit chat, so I went off to the side to sit on the curb away from everybody else. I called my wife and told her my rough plan and that I would be leaving soon. I also quizzed her on the state capitols. Jr. Stutzman came over and wanted to talk and I probably cut him short. Sorry Jr. I had no idea what I should do, so I probably wasn't listening very carefully. It started raining. No rain gear for me, it was too hot. I would just get wet and air dry if it quit. Almost 9:00 a.m. start time and I still was not sure what to do. 

Start time. I mount up and head out. I decide to skip the Tri State BMW Oil bonus as I thought this might take a lot of time for the 15 points earned. I'm off to Paris, KY. There were three of us riding very close in that direction. I figured we would all be going to Paris, but when I turned off of I-75 onto US460 the other riders went on. Wonder where they were going? US 460 was slow, several restricted zones, a lot of no passing and just enough traffic to keep you in your place. I get into Paris and readily find the courthouse. I have to note 10 monuments, plaques, or markers on the block around the courthouse. First walk around the block, I had 6. Oops better try again. I got to 14 on the next trip. This was a time consuming stop. Were the 62 points worth the time? As it ends up they probably were and it took the edge off, gathering my first points so soon.

On the way to Paris, I had decided that I would go to Frankfort, KY and Nashville, TN. Frankfort and Nashville were on one of my original routes but I didn't think that I had enough time and dropped it, along with Hermitage and Lynchburg, also in TN. I decided to try to pick up all four and then take a bail out at the end if necessary. Having found US460 slow, I decide to take US27 to I-64. It looked like on the GPS that this might be some backtracking, but it looked like it was a better road. US27 was still pretty slow, but in checking MS S&T after the ride, this decision actually saved me both miles and time. Good Decision, Alan.

As I approach Frankfort, KY, I'm wondering how far I will have to go into Frankfort in order to get a gas receipt that actually reads Frankfort instead of some suburb. This was a decision that I had to make several times. If I stopped to soon, I would be wasting time if it was the wrong city. If I went deeper into the city, I would be wasting time. I stopped at 676 and ask before pumping. Yes the receipt would read Frankfort. I follow the sign that says to I-64 rather than proceeding straight back to where I came in. This took me west on 676 to US127. MS S&T shows this is only 2 miles further than going back to I-64 on US60 but it seemed longer and was very slow.

Off to Nashville, since my GPS does not autoroute and I didn't take time to figure out my route in Frankfort thinking that I could figure it out on the GPS (I can't), I don't really know how to get to Nashville. Time to put the CB to work. Take I-64 to Louisville and pick up I-65. Yeah I know that way but it takes me North. Isn't this out of the way. Another trucker says to take the Bluegrass. What is the Bluegrass. I can't get a clear answer and can't pick it out on the GPS, old eyes and small screen. I guess I will go ahead to Louisville. MS S&T says that this error in planning cost me 15 miles and about that many minutes. Not much, but a lesson learned. I could have stopped five minutes to check the maps and still would have saved 10 minutes.

As I approach Nashville on I-65, traffic starts to bog down. We are in a construction zone but the report is that there is an accident. We come to a complete stop. Construction zone so no shoulders, three lanes of traffic solid at a dead stop. We move a little, stop, move a little. This is killing me. Ok, things are rolling. Don't get in a hurry, the reports on the CB say that a car has overheated in another lane. We are stopped again. More stop and start. Finally, we are moving again. Reports over the CB now report that a tractor trailer has run out of gas in a different lane. Three stops in three different lanes and there are only three lanes. It has been about an hour. I'm baking in my riding suit. I finally manage to exit onto 45. Unfortunately, so did a lot of other traffic and oh no, another breakdown on the exit ramp. More waiting. I finally get to a service station. Ask if the receipt will say Nashville. Yes. Great, I'll get gas and get out of here. Wait Hermitage is on 45. I'll pick up that bonus and skip Lynchburg. Hermitage was an easy bonus. I don't even get off the bike as I had my bonus sheets in my jacket.

I-24 and I-65 are still backed up according to the CB. I head south on 155 thinking I will try to use the GPS to find I-65. South and west, south and west. That kind of thing. Another bad choice. I eventually got there, but it was a long slow trip through parts of Nashville I'm sure I will never see again.

My gas receipt at I-65 and US45 was around 3:00 p.m. EDT. I feel like with all the traffic and my misadventures getting to I-65, that I am running really late. Although I don't have any benchmark times to make a judgment. I'm caught in yet another mess on the south side of Nashville and am looking for I-65. Dumb! Real Dumb! I am going to Atlanta. I should have taken I-24 to Chattanooga which I have already passed. Ok, lets make lemons out of lemonade. I'm going to Montgomery, Alabama and pick up another capitol. Then I will head to Atlanta and make a decision from there whether to bail out to the end. Looking at MS S&T Montgomery was 207 miles and 3 hours 27 minutes longer than going direct to Atlanta on I-24. In hindsight, this was a really big error. If I had taken I-24 to Atlanta like I should have, I could have skipped Montgomery, AL which would have allow me to go to Charleston and received only 5 less points. I would have also had a good chance of picking up Columbus, OH and would have also made the "Varsity" bonus in Atlanta which I missed by 5 minutes. Missing the Varsity bonus, cost me 72 points. Again, this was a huge mistake. Funny thing. I just posted on the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum yesterday that I thought this was a good decision. Must have still be sleep deprived.

As stated above, I missed the "Varsity" bonus by 5 minutes. This was a big bonus. I thought I could make it so I exited. To add insult to injury, not only did I miss the bonus but could not figure out how to get back onto the Interstate. I'm thinking I need to get onto I-75/85 North. I found several south entries but no north entries. I could have gone south and picked up I-20 as I was going to Columbia, SC. Instead, I bumbled around Atlanta, eventually finding I-75/85 North. I could have taken I-285 South to I-20 but felt this was the wrong turn. Instead I continued north on I-85. I soon realize that I am heading to Greenville and will have to back track to get to Columbia. I decide by looking at the GPS that I can go cross country on US129 through Athens, GA and pick up I-20. Another bad decision:

• If I had taken I-85 South to I-20 to Columbia, SC this would have been the shortest and fastest route.1622 miles

• If I had taken I-85 North to I-275 to I-20 to Columbia, SC, it would have only cost me 13 miles (15 minutes)

• If I had continued on I-85 to Greenville, SC and then I-26 to Columbia, SC, it would have cost me 24 miles (26 minutes)

Instead, I elect to head across US129 from I-85 to I-20, a penalty of 49 miles (2 hours: 9 minutes). That's bad. What's worse is that Athens is the home of the University of Georgia. Additionally, it is the hub of many state roads. I rode in circles in Athens. Every convenience store allowed pay at the pump but was not open. The street was full of sport bikes and drunks, none of which knew how they got to Athens. Finally, I was told to take 78 North past the Super Walmart as the best way to get to I-20. Warning, there are a lot of country roads. This is the route that I took paying a penalty of only 26 miles but a time penalty of 55 minutes. Well, it was better than taking 129 all the way to I-20, but still a very costly mistake. I spent at least another half hour driving in circles in Athens.

I arrive in Columbia, SC at about 3:15 a.m. From previous trips it seemed like it was about 11.5 hours to home. That means about 9.5 hours to northern Cincinnati. Damn, the last thing I wanted to do in my first 24 hour rally was to be time barred (11:00 a.m.) Could I get there in 7 hours and 45 minutes hours with at least one gas stop? I'm not sure; but, it is clear that there is no way that I am going to get Charleston, WV. This would be my sixth capitol and would surely put me in the upper ranks, but I just can't make it. My goal now is just to finish and it is going to be close. A perfectly timed gas stop allowed me to push into the finish with only one gas stop even though I did arrive on Empty, having exhausted both tanks.

I pulled into the finish at 10:12 a.m. which meant a 73 point penalty for being late. I had made it from Columbia, SC to Springdale in roughly 7 hours including a gas/restroom stop. 

Hey I finished. I had some bad luck and made some bad decisions. Some really bad decisions. I learned a lot. I had fun!! My total was 1185-73=1112 after riding 1629 GPS miles (1697 odometer miles) in 25 hours and 12 minutes. Even though I made some really bad decisions, my riding had saved me.

I figured I had the most miles per point!!! 

At the banquet, they awarded plaques to the top five riders in each of the three classes. My score would have put me in the third touring class. In expert, 5th was at about 1921. If (big if) I had not made any bad decisions I would have been able to pick up Charleston, WV and would have had around 2100 which would have put me in second. Heck, if every rider could have ridden their perfect ride, I would have been just back in my normal place. Like I said BIG IF.

Don Arthur was the winner with over 1500 miles and more than 4000 points. Hell of a ride by Don. Another IBA Rally Pass. Too bad he was already in. Oh Don has 209,000 miles on his 2000 K1200LT.

Side Notes

Rev. Lovejoy posted this on the Team Strange discussion board, "Spotted: Alan Leduc with a tell-tale catheter.
What's up with these new guys? First the Great Lakes Challenge, and now this. Can someone tell this guy that he IS allowed to stop? jeeperz...." Ok, I'm so new that I probably have met Rev. Lovejoy (somebody said it is Eddie James) but I don't even know who he is! 350 Miles is a long time to ride without clearing the bladder. I decided I would try the catheter which I purchased at the local pharmacy for $3.00. Beats $19.95 for a stadium pal. It didn't work and I have the stained shorts to prove it. Got to figure out a way to get that kink out of the hose.

Did I stop and rest like Eddie suggested? No. I dug a big hole and had to dig out just to finish. Here were my stops:

• Paris, KY - walked around the court house twice.

• Frankfort, KY - pay at the pump

• Nashville, TN - pay at the pump

• Montgomery, AL - gas and restroom break. Note: this was my first restroom break I had drank over 96 ounces of water and was almost dehydrated. I downed 32 ounces of Gatorade and loaded up with more water. I also got two deli sandwiches to eat on the bike.

• Atlanta, GA - pay at the pump

• Columbia, SC - pay at the pump

• Knoxville, TN - Gas and Restroom Break

That's right, I was out of the seat 7 times. My guess the total time out of seat was no more that 85 minutes. My GPS shows 109 minutes of stopped time but some of this was in Nashville when stopped dead in traffic.

What Did I Learn?

• I am still a rookie and made a lot of rookie mistakes.

• In Iron Butt Rides you have planned out every detail and stops mean lost sleep. In rallies, you don't have all the details and failure to stop and analyze your maps can be costly.

• An autoroute GPS would have probably saved a lot of my dumb mistakes.

• The GPS cannot do it all for you. For me, it was hard to read and I should have stopped to look at paper maps. Heck, I should have just stopped to figure out my next step regardless.

• I need a way to hold maps so that I don't have to get off the bike and get into the trunk.

• I need a map light for night use.

• I have to figure out how to fill the fuel cell without overflowing it.

• If you wear a catheter, make sure you know how to install it.

• Rallies are fun!

Thanks Gus and Victor for a fun experience. I hope to do it again.

Results

Below are the preliminary results posted on the Promise Breakers web site. I placed 10th out of 22 riders in the Expert Class (counting Don Arthur who was the overall winner) and 14th overall out of the 53 riders. I wish I had done better, but am just thankful that given the number of mistakes that I made that I just finished. I think I did pretty good for my first 24 hour rally and I know I learned a lot. With 1697 miles, I had the most miles of any rider. Don Arthur was second in miles with 1540. Looks like I have the riding down, but need to work on my efficiency.

2002 Buckeye 1000 Results
(P = Verification Pending)