Bethlehem PA – New Castle DE
Fri Oct 11, 2019
(~755 miles)

We had stopped in at the Sheetz across the street from the hotel yesterday and verified it had proper receipts for Bethlehem PA to make it a valid start location. We packed everything up on the bike, then met the others in the hotel cafe for some breakfast, before heading to the start around 06:45.

Riders were milling around, chatting and prepping themselves for the 07:00 start. We mingled, wishing folks good luck and getting our heads in the game. As the clock ticked down, I motored up to an available pump and monitored the cell phone time to be sure we didn’t jump the gun. We allowed an extra minute to be certain to get a good timestamp, then quickly topped off the tank and got the required photo of the receipt and ODO. We texted that to the rallymaster, got the confirmation, and our rally had begun!

Our good friends Jeff and Erin, fierce competitors on the clock

In order to maximize the number of fast food bonuses, it was necessary to kick our rally off by claiming one. I’d found a Moe’s Southwest Grill right next door to the Sheetz starting location, so we zipped right across the parking lots and snagged our first bonus within a couple minutes of the start. Note the nearby Starbucks to throw all the Beemers off our scent…

Our next bonus lay about an hour to the northeast, the Empire Diner in Parsippany-Troy Hills township, New Jersey. Traffic was heavy, but not stand-still. This diner was part of a bonus combo consisting of five different “Empire Diner” restaurants, but you had to collect them consecutively, with no other bonuses in between. That restriction precluded maximizing our fast food stops, and the combo points were insignificant compared to the Blue Plate Special, so we were ignoring the combo. Doing so would also allow us to skip the Empire Diner in downtown Manhattan, which we learned later turned out to be quite a time suck for several riders.

Our friend Bob was just leaving as we arrived, giving us a small sense of relief that we didn’t appear to be the only bike headed toward Long Island for this rally. That feeling was reinforced when we also spotted Team Jerin (a.k.a. the Arsenaults) approaching as we were departing.

Next up were a few bonuses along the I-95 corridor in southwestern Connecticut and New York. We aimed for the furthest one out – near Bridgeport – taking I-287 back over the Cuomo Bridge to the Hutchinson River and Merritt Parkways eastbound. We took our photo in the overflowing parking lot at the Galaxy Diner restaurant, then followed local roads a couple miles to a Popeyes franchise for our second fast food bonus. We received some funny looks from people in a nearby cafe as I stood part-way in the road to get the photo.

We hopped back onto interstate now, taking I-95 south about 17 miles or so to Norwalk. We easily located the Post Road Diner sign, to snag our next photo bonus.

We continued west back into New York state. Traffic was pretty heavy through Stamford to I-287, after which it lightened up a bit. We exited in Rye NY, wound our way through some construction and roundabout one-ways, and ended up on a narrow residential street, with an acclaimed restaurant tucked away at the end, right next to the interstate.

There was another 2-up rally couple there as we rode up, whom we recognized as Jim and Janet Owen. We exchanged greetings and chatted briefly while Char got in position for the photo. We learned how bad Manhattan traffic had been from the Owens (costing them two hours), and I was very glad we had left that bonus out of our route.

We snagged our photo of the Rye Roadhouse sign while the owner came out to say hello. He mentioned seeing a few other bikes already gone through today, so we figured Bob and the Arsenaults had come by using a different routing pattern than us.

Now, the moment of truth…riding knowingly and willingly onto Long Island! What the hell were we thinking!? We crossed over Throgs Neck Bridge without issue in the busy traffic, which kept us to the speed limit or lower. Spotted a few deer in the grassy areas by the highway along this section.

We needed another fast food bonus now, and I had pinpointed a Wendy’s right near the next diner. We were running a bit behind and hadn’t made any extraneous stops, so we took the opportunity to combine several tasks in the immediate vicinity of Hicksville. We fueled up at a station on NY 106 before continuing down the street to Wendys for a comfort stop and our fast food photo.

Our next Empire Diner (Long Island) was right next door and we made short work of that bonus photo before backtracking up to the Northern Parkway to continue east. We’d just gotten a lot done in a very small radius and felt pleased that we were making fairly efficient stops, just not quite enough to make up the time we’d lost in traffic so far.

We jogged north at Elwood, up to the quaint coastal town of Northport for our next bonus, Tim’s Shipwreck Diner. The northern region of LI was turning out to have some nice little towns to explore (someday). This is the type of hole-in-the-wall joint I would have loved to stop in and sit down for some lunch. But tick tock…

We rode back south to catch I-495 and make some time further east. Exited north on Nicolls Rd toward Terryville for our next fast food stop, a Jersey Mike’s Subs in Brookhaven. In retrospect, we might have been able to shave off some time using some back roads closer to the Sound, but I hadn’t had time to plan a detailed route.

NY 25A led us a few more miles to Zona Out-East Diner, a clean-cut establishment that was apparently built out of the squalor and bad rep of the former Rocky Point Diner.

Around Riverhead, we stopped off at the Modern Snack Bar, an historical wayside stop for New Yorkers headed west on the island.

Proceeding onto the North Fork peninsula of Long Island, fast food places were growing pretty scarce, but you can always count on the golden arches and we hit up this landscaped McDonald’s along NY 25 in Mattituck.

Continuing on to Southold, we snagged our easternmost bonus at Duck Walk Vineyards.

 

So far so good – we were still moving along nicely, less than an hour behind original schedule. The northern half of the island was certainly proving to be more enjoyable than my last run up the island, though having had a full rest last night and no pell-mell cross country trek looming ahead of me no doubt helped my outlook. I also felt more mentally prepared for the trek across Long Island this time. Familiarity and attitude readjustment can make a world of difference…getting mad and frustrated just wears you out even more.

Montauk Lighthouse, way out on the eastern tip of the island, was available as a bonus for big points, but we had deliberately left it off our route after several attempts to include it in the routing plan. I’d even looked at taking the Shelter Island ferries, rather than going back west around Great Peconic Bay. However, after my ride out there in June, I knew that running the South Fork would be a huge time suck of miles and traffic lights, eating up a lot of rally time just for one bonus. We turned west without regret.

Route 25 and I-495 got us back to the Brookhaven area in fairly short order. The next bonus required both of us to dismount the bike and enter a 7-11 convenience store owned by 2009 IBR rider Tom “Catfish” Bisagni. The store is located on the William-Floyd Parkway and was quite a busy place. We went in and the cashier pointed us toward the rear of the store for the necessary photo of the Montauk Brewing display along with Tom’s IBR rally flag. We did not get to meet Tom, nor find out where his nickname originated. Maybe some other time.

We zipped south a couple miles and got our next fast food bonus at a Checkers in Shirley, just off NY-27.

Then we followed 27 west to about the halfway point of Long Island in Islip. J&R’s Steakhouse sign was the next bonus along a relatively quieter stretch of road by the southern shore. Looking at the photo, just realized it could have been a two-fer, with the Mickey-D’s in the background. But fast food places had been pretty scarce out on the North Fork and we’d already used up our photo for that chain.

 

We picked up the Southern Parkway for what turned out to be an arduous trek back across the remaining half of Long Island to Brooklyn. The afternoon was wearing on, and traffic levels jumped up exponentially from what we had experienced so far. I told Char when we picked this route that I was going to try hard to limit my frustration in advance – just accept the fact that we would be hitting traffic and remain calm and unaffected.

It worked for the most part, and we took some amusement at watching the antics of drivers in the jammed up roadway. There aren’t many  breakdown lanes or shoulders in these parts, but we got creative in several spots, making generous use of the onramp merge lanes to keep moving and skip ahead several cars whenever possible. That all said, my clutch hand was getting a workout, and it was a relief to finally exit the parkway in Brooklyn for the next bonus at the Brennan and Carr restaurant.

Besides my brief visits to Coney Island for my 50CC start a couple years ago, neither of us had really been THROUGH Brooklyn before, so both Char and I observed the local streets and character of the neighborhood with some interest as we wound our way from the bonus down to the Belt Parkway. Some parts were nicer looking than we’d imagined – some less so. Regardless, it is pretty interesting to finally visit a place that you’ve only caught glimpses of for decades in the movies and TV.

Back onto the stand-still Beltway for a couple more miles, and we exited at Bensonhurst Park to nab our next fast food bonus at a Five Guys. Just as we regained the parkway around six o’clock, I realized we would be needing fuel. We were in for some extremely heavy rush hour traffic crossing over the Verrazano Bridge and Staten Island, and couldn’t take the chance of running out.

We pulled up the nearest stations on the GPS and phone and took the very next exit. Local traffic was a parking lot as well, and we crept along Bernard Ave to a nearby Shell station, eating up a good 20 minutes to get gas. At least now we’d make it over to New Jersey without stalling on the bridges!

The sunset was gorgeous as we traversed the Verrazano, and we were certainly going slow enough to take it in. Remaining cool and collected was a challenge during this stretch, but I knew we had a long evening still ahead of us with a couple different bonus options near our chosen rest stop.

By the time we we made it into New Jersey and to our next bonus at the Bayway Diner in Linden, we were running a full two hours behind our original calculated ETA, and darkness had fallen.

We hopped back on I-95 to make some time 30 miles south to snag the Hightstown Diner. Traffic was lightening up a bit, and we were able to easily do the speed limit or higher. The parking lot wasn’t very well lit, so we had to make use of all our lumens to properly illuminate the diner sign and rally flag.

Although I waited for the last minute to scorch the building, the diner patrons didn’t appear all that pleased with our visit.

For the next fast food: “Char and Steve Go To White Castle“, on US 9 in Howell Township, NJ after riding east for several miles on I-195.

We continued to Point Pleasant Beach on the Jersey shore for a photo of Hoffman’s Ice Cream shop along the main drag. Mmmmm, ice cream sounded pretty good right then.

 

 

It was 50 miles to the next bonus in Long Beach, so we stuck to the Garden State Parkway to make time. We took the exit for NJ 72, and crossed the Intracoastal Waterway and Manahawkin Bay to the barrier islands. There were signs about flooding and some sections of the road had some very large and deep-looking puddles as we came down off the bridge into Ship Bottom. The way seemed clear enough and we didn’t give the puddles too much thought, thinking there must have been a LOT of rain lately to cause so much water to gather.

We followed the only boulevard at low speeds north for a few miles to Long Beach, dodging a few more puddles while the V1 picked up a couple local police cruisers waiting for folks to exceed the very low speed limits. Though I believe I have learned my lesson pretty well about not blindly following the Garmin magenta line, the street layout on this thin island was very simple and I wasn’t really on full alert when the GPS had us make a left turn towards the bay side, as we approached the bonus. When we hit the parallel road, Bayview Ave, the streetlights shone down on water covering the entire roadway.

I started to suspect that this may actually be seawater instead of excess rainwater, but I was committed to moving forward with those hot bonus points fresh in my nostrils. The water was several inches deep, but you could see the painted lines and there were no obstructions. We made it through OK and then Char confirmed she smelled saltwater. Shit shit shit – my precious ST covered in corrosive salt water!

We took a right several streets down, which brought us right back to the main boulevard and the Mustache Bill’s Diner bonus location…WTF Garmin!? We could have just continued straight ahead for a quarter mile on DRY roadway right to the waypoint. I told Char to keep an eye out for self-serve car washes this evening.

We made it back over the bridges and stopped off at a Taco Bell along the way back to the GSP.

South for another 25 miles or so, then exited on US 9 to Galloway. We entered the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge with full high beams, and pulled into the deserted remote parking lot for Oyster Creek Restaurant.

 

Next, we had a good 50 mile run even further south onto Cape May at New Jersey’s southern tip. The NY 47 bridge to Wildwood (on another barrier island) was closed for repair due to more flooding and we were prevented from reaching the bonus, just 1.5 mile further ahead. Luckily, there was a highway worker manning the roadblock there who gave us directions to circle back west past the interstate to get to the still-open North Wildwood bridge just to the north.

As we covered the extra few miles, Char wondered aloud if the flooding would allow us to even reach the bonus once we were on the island. She was looking at Google Maps and there were road closures shown all through the villages. I used the POI Pocket app to bring up a route directly to the waypoint on my phone. Sure enough, despite road closures, flooded streets, and detours, Google threaded the needle for us and we were able to pick our way through on dry roads to get our bonus photo of the Pink Cadillac Diner.

We then followed some state highways, mostly NJ 55 northwest, back inland to Sewell NJ for our next fast food bonus, a Chik-fil-A right off the highway.

Picking up I-76 in the wee hours, we crossed the Delaware into Philladelphia and found our way to the western suburb of Lansdowne. There were some sketchy sections of road through here, with trolly tracks running up the middle of the lanes and very few painted road markings still visible. It was hard to tell where the lanes were. Locals blasted buy us as we picked our way carefully ahead and finally pulled up at our third Empire Diner of the rally.

 

 

If we’d been running on time, the next bonus in my original route had been a Friday-only bonus in Maryland. We would then have backtracked to our hotel in New Castle and grabbed the Saturday-only bonus in Wilmington after our rest.

Running as late as we were, we’d missed the Friday bonus and plan B was in effect. We were able to simply stop along our way in Wilmington, navigate the deserted city streets, and snag the Loma Coffee bonus before continuing west. This actually saved us some ride time, gaining back some of what we’d squandered in Long Island traffic. It also wouldn’t affect our fast food bonus stop pattern, since I’d had three normal bonuses in a row scheduled for the morning, giving us a “spare”.

Almost done for the night! We picked up our next fast food bonus at an Arby’s just down the street from our hotel by the airport in New Castle DE. Then we got fuel at a nearby station to start the clock on our REST bonus.

We checked into the Quality Inn just before 03:00. The hotel clerk was super chatty for some reason, telling me about some trip he’d taken, and taking his time with the paperwork. Finally, I told him that while I would ordinarily love to chat, we were very tired and had to leave early in the morning. He took the hint and we finally got to our room. We hadn’t bothered with food from the gas station, scarfing up a few Fig Newtons and beef jerkey (for me). I told Char to hit the sack ASAP (which she did) while I caught up on our paperwork.

I updated the scoring log sheet and looked at our timing for the next leg. We were already taking just the mandatory minimum rest of three hours. Our route would be leading us south the length of the Delmarva peninsula and over the Cheasapeake Bay Bridge. I now spotted the possibility of hitting two more bonuses by making a loop through Baltimore and Annapolis, then crossing back over the bay. That would allow us one more fast food bonus, boosting our final score a full 15,000 points! But the timing was VERY close, and in the VOID, your clock doesn’t stop until you have actually handed in all your scoring materials, receipts etc. This means you actually need to arrive at the hotel with enough time on the clock to take care of those administrative tasks, or else face a DNF (Did Not Finish).

I finally decided to forego the additional bonuses, believing we had a good route even without the 15th fast food. The timing was simply too close for comfort, with no margin for error. If someone else managed to get 15, they would be taking a big risk, but would certainly deserve the win. I finally hit the sheets with about an hour to go until wake-up.