The next leg was the real test of will for me. It had gotten cold enough that my throttle lock did not want to hold at above 50 mph, it was after 3 AM, when I always hit my �wall�. The road just seemed to go on and on and on and .. well you get the idea. I sang to my self, I promised my self a custom seat for Christmas. I did everything I could think of to keep myself going. My hand cramped from the too-large Widder gloves and from holding the throttle. My butt ached. I kept riding, on and on through the morning, until finally I came to the small town of San Antonio. It was closed up for the night. I drank some root beer, tinkled behind the building and did stretches. Adjusted the throttle lock � I should have stopped an hour sooner and done that � and stretched some more. Took off, and hey! I�ve made it to I-25, and I know I�m only about an hour and a half from the end.
I headed north on I-25, the third time today on this stretch of I-25, back towards Albuquerque and the finish. It�s damn cold at freeway speeds, but the throttle lock is working, and the last stop has helped reinvigorate me. I�m watching the clock, and I�ve got plenty of time, so my mantra is be careful, don�t mess it up now. An hour up the road at Los Lunas, its about 5:50 AM, and I stop for a quick warm up. I allow my self a cup of coffee, lots of sugar and cream and hang out in the convenience store warming up. By just after 6 AM I�m back on the interstate. Finally, there is the sign for I-40 and I think to myself that I�ve never been so glad to see an I-40 sign in my life. Remembering the construction and Jason�s unfortunate accident, I take it careful, watching for exit 165.
There it is, and it almost as bad from this way, but at this time on a Sunday morning, there is almost no traffic. I pull to the end of the ramp and wait for the light. And wait. I think it was Dennis O�Neil who pulled along side me, and we both wait. Through two cycles, and I finally decide this light is malfunctioning, and turn. Dennis told me it didn�t change until a truck pulled up. At 6:28 I get the official check in by Rick Morrison, Ardys Kellerman congratulates me, and I head over to the motel to get my paperwork ready.
I changed into sweats at the hotel and straightened my paperwork, numbering gas receipts and checking that all my bonus sheets were complete. I should admit I almost blew the whole ride on paperwork. I left two photos in my rally wallet, and was standing in line, 3rd to be scored when I remembered them. One was for Reserve, and would have cost me a Trail, and thus the rally. I quietly excused myself from line, and hustled back to my room to get the missing pictures. Janene was there, wiped out but she�d finished! She couldn�t locate her last receipt (Carrizozo, our least favorite town by now) and wasn�t sure she cared. She did find it, and met me at the scoring at little later.
After we both got scored Janene took a shower, and I futzed around a little. I was going to stay up until the banquet, but made the mistake of sitting on the bed. I set the Meanie for 11:00 and fell asleep. It went off what felt like 5 minutes later, and I jumped in the shower and then woke Janene. I�m not sure what happened, but we arrived at the banquet fashionably late � like an hour late! I�m not sure if I set the Meanie wrong, or took too long of a shower or what. Oh well, we got fed, which is what counts.
There was a drawing for a couple of prizes, so Jeff told all the riders to make sure they had their tickets turned in. Janene says, �But I didn�t get a ticket, only a warning!� referring to our friends in Tularosa. Finally, Jeff said a few words, and mentioned that someone had even spotted a wolf! Heck all I saw was a skunk, a coyote, and lots of various rodents. He then turned it over to Ira for the results. Last place finisher was Janene; she finished and earned an Iron Butt SaddleSore 1K award, with slightly less than 1,100 miles, much better than she expected to do Friday night! I finished in the top 20 with slightly less than 1,300 miles, 1st in the Hopeless Class, and also earned my SaddleSore 1K. I quipped to Ira when he gave me the Hopeless trophy that it was easier to win the class when your in a class of one, and he reminded me that you had to FINISH to win. Needless to say, Janene and I are very happy with our results. Roger, the other Oregonian, came in second, missing the top spot by 2 points! A very good showing for the Oregon contingent I�d say! |
