A Dip in the Defective Gene Pool

It's that time of year again!  I don't do a lot of RTE (Ride to Eat) but the DFW Defective Gene Pool is an exception.  So, I'm riding up to Allen, TX to hangout with LD riding comrades, renew acquaintances and make new ones.

Check out this photo slideshow from last years Defective Gene Pool RTE

The DFW Defective Gene Pool "Ride to Eat" was formed by a few past IBR finishers to give DFW area LD riders and potential LD riders an opportunity to swap lies, renew old acquaintances, encourage new participants to the sport, and generally to celebrate the defective gene that runs common to us all.  Other less notable pursuits may ensue.  Projected attendees at the Ride to Eat include several IBR finishers and a host of LD riders.  If you feel you have the "defective gene" that causes this madness or you just like to gawk at weird people, please join us for this enlightening gathering.

BMW Motorcycle Club of Northeast Florida Rally

I am attending the BMW Motorcycle Club of Northeast Florida Rally being held at Camp Blanding, January 12-15.  The organizers have ask me to be a seminar presenter at a couple of the breakout sessions.

I'm giving talks on using FLIR technology on a motorcycle and about George Wyman.  Should be fun!  You can follow my ride out and back on the map below.

Click here of the full SpotWalla Map

Sat, 1/14  Another day of fun at the Rally.  Coffee and mingling in morning.  Many of the Rally participants are planning self guided rides in the local                country side.  Beautiful weather with partly cloudy skies and temps in the 70s

Fri, 1/13:  Reported to Rally central to sign in and check out the amenities.  Larry, one of the Rally organizers who invited me, got me squared away with the table for my George Wyman display.  Later I had an opportunity to check out the presentation equipment in the large conference room reserved

for my presentations.

After the event dinner tonight Larry wants me to do a static display of the FLIR PathFindIR mounted on my motorcycle for folks to check out.  Should be fun!

Thur, 1/12:  The weather was clear when I woke and the ride to Camp Blanding just southeast of Lake City was nice and easy.  Go to my destination shortly before 5pm.  Checked into the nice two bedroom cabin reserved for me by the Rally organizers and meet up with my contact.  Who, by the way has a couple of Shiner Boch's n his hand.  Got to love an experienced Long Distance rider.

Wed, 1/11:  Had a great ride today with temps in the high 70s.  Had heavy cross winds so it was a bit turbulent.  By about 5pm the weather turned wet, so, not being on any schedule, I stopped for the night.

Presentation slides

Ride Around Texas Insanity Gold

I am riding to South Padre Island for the start of the RAT Insanity Gold.  The Motorcycle Tourer's Forum have hosted this event every few years, since 2006, to the delight of riders from around the country.  I was the Ride Master for the RAT in 2014.
Iron Butt Association

Now, with the approval of the IBA and MTF, Hard Riding Adventures is hosting the 2017 - Ride Around Texas Insanity, "Tropical Adventure" starting May 1, 2017.  The RAT Insanity is to ride around the perimeter of Texas in less than 85 hours or 70 hours for Gold!

I'm finalizing the details with the host hotel for next year's event on this trip.  So, I'm off for some Saturday and Sunday fun in the sun before departing at 6:00 am Monday for a clockwise RAT Insanity Gold.  You can follow along with me on the SpotWalla map below.

Full SpotWalla Map   Realtime Texas Weather Radar Map


Epilogue:
The weather was great for the entire ride.  A little hot in Big Bend and a little chilly around Guadalupe Mountains.  During this ride I had no close calls, defined as the need to perform evasive maneuvers.  I did not use excessive speed, unsafe riding techniques or get to meet any LEO the entire ride.  Most all the roads between communities were 75 mph, even small two lane ranch roads.  Got to love Texas!  My new BMW R1200GS Adventure performed excellently.  All my comfort farkles did their job well as I did not notice any comfort stress during the ride.

The clockwise route worked out well for me.  My objective was to match each leg of the route to my optimum riding time and get good rest in a hotel.  Below are the stats for each leg of my Ride Around Texas

• Leg 1 - RAT Start to Anthony; 6:00 to 22:18, 1,010 miles, 16.3 hours
• Leg 2 - Anthony to Paris; 5:00 to 23:20, 1,239 miles, 18.3 hours
• Leg 3 - Paris to RAT Finish; 6:00 to 19:55, 845 miles, 13.9 hours

RAT Start to Finish; 3,094 miles, 61.9 hours, 70.5 Mvg, 49.9 Ovg MPH

Ride Planning and Itinerary 
The ride planning was done in Garmin BaseCamp.  There are 18 mandatory checkpoints on the RAT Insanity, including the South Padre Island start/finish points.   Below is my route sheet after putting in dwell times for stops and anticipated rest.  (The symbols colors indicate day or night conditions at arrival)

IBA Big As Texas Party

The Iron Butt Association's Big As Texas Party is about to start in beautiful Allen Texas.  In the burbs of the DFW metroplex, this gathering of long-distance motorcycle riders is rapidly becoming an annual event.  Festivities start on Thursday, September 29 and conclude with the spectacular awards presentation banquet on Saturday, October 1, 2016.


Riders will begin to gather at the Hilton Garden Inn-Allen host hotel starting early in the week.  The start for the Texas World Capitals 1,000 and 1,500 mile 24 hour challenge rides are set for 6 am on Friday morning.

The IBA Big As Texas Party is also the celebration event for the end of the annual IBA memorial ride period.  This riders who do an IBA challenge even during the several weeks leading up to the BAT Party get special recognition at the event.  This includes quick turn-around of the ride certification and personal presentation by Mike Kneebone, President of the IBA.  Perfect "Selfie" opportunity!

The Texas World Capitals 1,000 and 1,500 mile rides are below.

After the Rider's meeting at 5:45, the BBG riders departed first, followed by the SaddleSore riders.  Wasn't long before the two seperate groups began to spread out.  The BBG'ers headed west then north while the SS1K riders headed east then south.  First to register picturers were from the SS1K crowd at Paris. 


Dave McQuenney was at the rider monitor desk receiving the pictures of the bonus location and rider flags.  Several submissions have issues that need to be resolved by closer inspection once the riders have returned.  Dave is compliling the list of "Please see the Scoring Team" names for Rider Check-in.  That list will be posted on the door near the Allen ballroom.


Frans and Bettie deWit had a low speed get-off while in rush hour traffic around San Antonio.  No injuries to report but they couldn't continue with the ride.


Jim Judge struck a deer while taking the short cut off the recommended route, by-passing Junction, on his way to London.  About 5:20 pm, time on his last SPOT track, he struck the local wildlife along the county road leading from I-10, through Harper then on to US377.  He was airlifted to Brook Army Medical Center with a couple of broken ribs, banged up hand and the usual road rash.  His spouse, Sandra, was here at the hotel in Allen and was quickly brought up to date on his condition after a short time.  His son is a BAMC to see after his dad and to keep mom informed.  She will be packing up all their stuff from the Allen hotel and driving down to San Antonio in the morning.


We wish Jim Judge along with Fran and Bettie deWit a speed recovery.


The Big As Texas Party - Schedule of Events

Thursday, 9/29
Afternoon:  Registration in the hotel lobby
Evening:  No Host dinner locally

Friday, 9/30
5:45 am  Rider Meeting
6:00 am  Rider start of TWC 1,000 & 1,500
Evening:  No Host dinner for non riders

Saturday, 10/1
10 am to 2 pm:  Rider check-in - Near Allen Ballroom
4 pm:  Awards ceremony and certificate presentation - Allen Ballroom
6 pm - 8 pm:  Dinner Program - Allen Ballroom
8 pm - until:  Party in the lobby bar

Sunday, 10/2
7 am - 9 am:  Breakfast

Texas World Capitals Tour 1,000 Recon

I'm finalizing the timing and routing elements of the Big-As-Texas Party "World Capitals Tour" 1,000.  It's going to be a fun ride for all who attend the BAT at the end of September.  Click on the link above to check out all the details.

Going to depart the Hilton Garden Inn in Allen and ride through Paris, Athens, Moscow, Vienna, London and to Georgetown.  My goal is to validated the planning software timing and routing through these segments.  

Click to see the full: SpotWalla Map

Monday, 7-18:  Departed the host hotel right at 6:00 am.  The weather was clear and dry the entire ride today.  Temperatures reached the upper 90s by the time I got to Houston.  Hit triple digits by early afternoon and stayed hot the rest of the day until I got to Georgetown.  The riders of the Texas World Capitals Tour 1,000 will have nice fall temperatures at the end of September.

Overall, the roads are fast and wide with speed limits of 70-75 mph over 90% of the route. The majority, over 60% are four lane or Interstate highways.  Services are plentiful along every segment.  Some slow-down through communities, but that is to be expected.  Traffic through the outskirts of Houston was flowing nicely around 12:30.  There was a bit of a slow-down along Anderson Loop (1604) over the northern stretch of San Antonio due to a fender bender.

Along the way I stopped at each checkpoint to take a picture and do a log entry.  Cellphone coverage was available at every stop, so riders of the TWCT 1,000 will be able to email their pictures.

I arrived at Georgetown on I-35 a little after 8pm.  Compare the arrival times below to those of the projected times of Garmin BaseCamp route table.

1. HGI Hotel - Paris:  Arrived 7:20, 86.3 miles
2. Paris - Athens:  Arrived 9:05, 106.4 miles
3. Athens - Moscow:  Arrived 11:13, 121.7 miles
4. Moscow - Vienna:  Arrived 14:02, 197.4 miles
5. Vienna - London:  Arrived 18:06, 246.4 miles
6. London - Georgetown:  Arrived 20:09, 123.6 miles

The final segment from Georgetown back to the Hilton Garden Inn in Allen is a straight shot up I-35.  At normal Interstate speeds, that's a little under 3 hours to cover the 193 miles.   Most all riders should be back at the hotel by around midnight.

Sunday, 7-17:  I've been farkling several items on the GS Adventure I bought in May.  Recently installed the FLIR PathFindIR camera and display.  I'll be using this in the early morning and after sunset along the TWCT 1,000 route tomorrow.  And, this will be the first extended hot weather ride since installing the airflow farkle to help solve the right side hot spot comfort issue.  It's projected to be in the high 90s or low 100s today.  I'll post how it worked when I get settled in at the hotel in Allen.

Texas World Capitals Tour 1,000 segment ride plan:

The Garmin BaseCamp route timing is listed below.  At each TWC checkpoint I'll drop a Spot message.  This will be a good way to compare the planned vs actual route timing.  For planning purposes I included a 0:10 minute dwell time at each checkpoint.