Coralville IA – Brainerd MN
Sun Jun 23, 2024
(~852 miles)

If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.

― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Checkpoints are often weird little interludes. You look forward to getting there throughout each leg, with hopes of having completed your grand plan for the previous leg, doing any necessary maintenance (for some), getting some real food and sleep, and just being off the clock for a few hours. The reality is, you’re never off the clock, not really, until the final penalty minute expires at the end of the last leg. There’s always something to be done, some chore to complete, some preparation to make, to ensure the next leg goes better than the one before.

With the daily meal and rest bonuses, this checkpoint feels a bit anticlimactic in comparison – just another hotel stay. But the mental reset is very real, and welcome. I was greatly enjoying the theme and puzzle of this rally by now, and overcoming the challenges I’d faced so far. The the quick scoring process yesterday helped ensure the riders of the LDX Earth Force platoon could get to our racks as quickly as possible (as did another mandatory curfew starting at 22:00), to be prepared and alert for the next phase of our campaign against the invaders.

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Seven full hours of naptime certainly felt luxurious! Up at 04:50, I made room coffee while checking the weather, packing up what I could, and getting set up for the second leg bonus file import. I went out to uncover the bike and brought to pack up whatever I didn’t need for routing, enjoying the final moments of this calm cloudy morning before hopping back on rally time.

This morning’s rider meeting begins at 05:30, and I joined the rest of the troops in the same familiar function room a few minutes before the doors closed. This was a much shorter meeting, lasting just a half hour.  We were given our deadline of Friday 11:30 to be back to the finish before penalties begin accumulating and the rally ends at 12 noon.

Mixed news about the rest bonuses: they are even more rigorously prescribed for this leg – 24 hours minimum for the leg, and six hours minimum for four of the five nights. However, that does leave one night open to ride to our ability and rest at our own discretion. I felt excited at the very thought!

Paul reviewed a few bonus corrections in the rally book, but none were removed completely this time around. The points will be higher in Leg B, and the puzzle is essentially the same. However, as the aliens have grown more powerful we also must up our tactical game.

Now we have four categories of military bonuses at our disposal – naval assets have been added to the mix. Rather than introduce a fourth hitpoint “type”, the naval bonuses are each worth some combination of armored, rotary-wing, and fixed-wing asset points. So in this example from the rally book, the Coast Guard cutter bonus would be worth 35 points for claiming it, plus give us 5 tank, 25 helo, and 5 fixed-wing points (5, 25, 5) against the next alien.

Once again, I headed straight to my room following the meeting (with a fresh cup of joe) to confirm receipt of the rally data files and get things imported. Here’s the scatter:

Shortly after the bonus data email, Paul sent out the current rider standings following Leg A. I was thrilled to have managed fifth place for the moment, even after losing that New Mexico bonus. 🤪 The leaderboard seemed pretty well bunched up but considering the point values being used on the rally, John Anderson actually had a comfortable gap of 1500 points out in front of the pack, after a run out to New England and Quebec, hoovering up bonuses as far south as North Carolina. Billy Connacher went on a monster run to Los Angeles via Aztec and was tailing him with another 1000 point cushion over third. KTS had run a remarkably compact and efficient route to Colorado and the central states to snag that third place, riding at least 200 miles less than any of the other top five. Turns out Kirsten’s was the motorcycle parked below “The Bluff” at the AAZTC bonus when Craig and I rode on by into our own little version of hell on Day 2. Scott Durham slotted in for fourth just a few points over me, with a well-planned run out for a big bonus in southern Nevada in addition to AAZTC.

Bonus waypoint manipulation was a little easier this time since I was more familiar with the puzzle and what was needed. The only real obstacle was choosing additional icons to use for the naval assets. Having exhausted almost all the default tri-color shapes from Basecamp, I decided to use the A/B letter icons. I would later regret this as they are more difficult to pick out visually on the map (for me at least).

With the data imported, I took a break to retrieve some breakfast food and a coffee refill from our buffet spread. At least the food was still warm this time!

Back in the room, I got down to routing, quickly dismissing the biggest alien bonus and cluster up in Alaska as unrealistic for our timeframe and not really worthwhile points-wise. My first real route also focused to the north, including the second-biggest alien up in eastern Alberta. Combining that with some additional big bonuses in the Nevada/Utah region felt like the right move, so I spent another hour or so playing with it until I had an aggressive but plausible route to start with.

After dropping my unneeded supplies and belongings in the rally office, I booked my hotel for that evening and then packed everything up on the bike. Stopping in the lobby, I purchased my Fire Support cards for the leg (four of them this time). Then I rolled out around 09:00, not the slowest out of the gate, but certainly not the fastest either, as many bikes were already gone.

Picking up I-80 westbound again for just a few miles, I veered north out of Coralville via I-380. It was a beautiful morning, with fair skies and comfortable dry temperatures in the 70s. I was well-rested and in a much better mood than I’d been in for days. I’m riding through new territory once again, and enjoyed my first glimpse of Cedar Rapids – it seems like a nice little city worth a stopover at some point.

The short interstate turned northwest up to Waterlook and Cedar City, where I picked up US 218. That road is a nice quick divided four-laner for the next 50 miles jogging slightly NNW, gradually edging toward I-35. In Floyd, I followed 218 as it diverged onto arrow-straight rural two lane roadway, across the northern Iowa farmlands. Near Osage, Google routed me off the state highway for 20 miles, continuing to arrow due north to the state line on well-maintained fast farm roads, and avoiding three small town centers.

Shortly after crossing into Minnesota, I rode MN 56 for a few miles to I-90, then back to US 218 in Austin, heading northwest again. I finally made it over to I-35 in Owatonna, taking that 35 miles toward Minneapolis. Short of the metroplex, I exited near the town of Elko New Market and beelined west on 260th Street and a few other smaller roads to hit US 169 in Belle Plaine. Within minutes I was pulling off and parking along a side road just next to the highway by a lovely little Veterans Memorial Park with a paved loop footpath around a picturesque pond, flanked by several park benches.

Bonus RCUBM (15 rotary-wing points) is a UH-1 Iroquois (or “Huey”) helicopter, mounted on a column next to the pond and easily visible from the road. It’s a limited time bonus, only available during park hours, but I’ve arrived well within that interval. We’ve been instructed to replicate the angle of the sample bonus photos from the rallybook as closely as possible when taking our own pictures, and sometimes the the angle is purposely chosen to get us to take a little walk off the bike, which I don’t actually mind at all. This was one of those times, so I grabbed my ammo can and phone and hoofed it quickly down across the grass to the far side of the pond, in order to get the correct photo.

The alien spacecraft I’m targeting to the east in Wisconsin is worth big points with a fairly medium (for this leg) hitpoint rating of (15, 15, 15). This helo bonus will cover the rotary-wing portion of that by itself. Next, I have to secure the necessary armored asset in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which is a good 130 miles east. That’s at least a good hour or so past the town where the alien bastards parked, so I’m once again overshooting one bonus to gather the necessary forces.

US 169 led me a quick 20 miles up into the outskirts of the Twin Cities metro area. I merged onto the I-494 loop highway to skirt south of the cities, crossing over the Mississippi River for the first time this rally and circling up to I-94 on the east side of St. Paul. From there it was a straight shot to Eau Claire. There was traffic and construction but luckily no major stoppages or delays, taking around full two hours to get there from the last bonus.

Exiting on WI 312 to stay north of the city, I crossed the Chippewa River and immediately turned down a local road along the water to cut the corner down to my destination, VFW Post #305, wedged in a stretch of land between the river and some railroad tracks. Bonus TCSEW is an M-4 Sherman tank and worth a whopping 25 armored asset points, more than enough for the strike force I was building.

Now I just need 15 fixed-wing asset points to complete my assault team and take down the next alien bastard… time to call for fire support! Opening my rally flag, I pulled out the Fire Support card FXARC (B-52 Stratofortress bomber), added the bonus sequence number (very important!), and claimed it as my third bonus of the leg. In the previous leg, the Fire Support cards had been worth 15 points, so my strike force was (seemingly) complete now and I was ready to engage the enemy!

Retracing my path back to the interstate with a quick stop for fuel, my navigation devices then eschewed the slab, instead leading me across it onto a series county roads and then WI 72, paralleling I-94 west for a more direct path to the small rural village of Elmwood. The riding was nice with a few sweepers here and there as the road dodged around big properties, and included pretty wood-fringed farmland with low hills. And the locals apparently liked to buzz through here pretty quickly – one blew past me so I latched onto him as my rabbit for several miles.

Apparently, there is a history of unexplained phenomena reported in the Elmwood valley area, so it is considered a “hot spot” for such things. They host a “UFO Days” festival in July, with a parade and everything, with signs already posted about it at the town line. 👽😎 It also seems to attract local motorcyclists for the somewhat curvy roads and pretty riding, as there was a large group of cruisers there that had taken over the local gas station as I putted by, seeking my quarry.

A quarter mile past the Cenex, displayed outside a meat store on the corner, I spot the silvery hibachi-looking spacecraft that indicates an invasion force in the area. Bonus AWIEL at 6200 points marks the first major anchor point of my leg plan. It was around 15:15 when I snapped the photo, just a beautiful afternoon. The big group of cruisers roared by to continue on their Sunday ride, peering over at the oddly-dressed tourist on two wheels who probably looked a bit like a spaceman himself.

Continuing west through the village, I spotted a small baseball field with the iconic blue porta-potty in the empty gravel lot, always perfect for a quick and efficient stop. Straggling bikers from that large group continued to dribble by, also heading west as I restocked my tank bag with vittles from the pannier. Just outside of town, I turned north on WI 128 and enjoyed some refreshing curves through the woods along a small river. That brought me up out of the small valley I’d been in and through more open farmland back up to regain I-94.

The next alien target in my mission plan is northwest up in Fargo, North Dakota. Carrying a tough defensive hitpoint rating of (25, 25. 25), I would need to rebuild a significant military force from scratch before engaging with it tomorrow. For now, that means I’m spending the rest of my afternoon on a long circuit north to collect important recommissioned assets close to Hibbing, Minnesota. I followed I-94 for 40 miles back to the Twin Cities, where stupid Garmin wanted to take me directly into the center of St. Paul before turning north. Luckily, I’d been running Google Maps which was a bit more sensible and put me on the I-494 loop to continue skirting around the northeast edge of the big city.

There is another alien bonus just northwest of Minneapolis, but it’s worth about half the points as Fargo with the same hitpoint rating. You can’t get them all, so easy decision already made there. I blasted north on I-35 for the next few hours. There are two 25-point military assets up in Chisholm that will get me 2/3 of the hitpoints needed for Fargo. They are daylight-only, so it was absolutely imperative that I make it there before dark to stay on track. Sit there and twist that. Easy riding with nice cool comfortable temperatures, such a relief after the heat of Texas and the central states over the past couple days. Calls with Char and my friend Ken helped eat up some of those miles on the slab.

In Cloquet, where 35 bangs a right east towards Duluth, I left the interstate system behind me for the remainder of the evening, continuing due north through town on MN 33. I picked up US 53, which is a fast divided highway, another 30 miles to MN 37 west, just before the city of Virginia. Cutting the corner through Hibbing city limits on a county road up to US 169, I arrived in the small city of Chisholm around 20:00. The sun was low in the sky, but still very much providing the necessary daylight. Made it!

Luckily, I didn’t need to ride into the city itself. The Minnesota Discovery Center is right off 169. A small group of military vehicles is displayed in sight of the highway. They actually have all three types: a helo, a plane, AND a tank, but only two counted for the rally. FCRCM is first, an F-94 Starfire worth 25 points.

All I had to do then is turn around and walk several paces to capture rotary-asset RCUCM (another Huey, worth 25 points) from the proper angle, facing west and creating a cool silhouette shot.

Just like that I have two thirds of my strike force assembled, though the cost was dear in terms of miles and time ridden to get up here! The next thing on my mind now is claiming today’s meal bonus. Based on Google Maps, there appeared to be a restaurant right here on site, so I mounted up and wound my way through the empty parking lots towards what seems to be the main building. I saw signs for a restaurant but the entire place seemed deserted. I wasn’t going to waste time looking around so I’ll just have to find something along the way before it gets too late. I hope I’m passing through big enough towns that have the necessary type of restaurant, before they close.

I was feeling pretty beat from this morning’s routing session and the miles ridden, so I was looking for something super-easy that wouldn’t force me to detour too far from the route. Riding south on 169, I was through and past the large city of Hibbing before I knew it and didn’t want to spend time going back to look for a restaurant. Same with the next few small towns, with no likely looking eateries along the highway that I could see. I chatted off and on with Char, for once hoping to come across the type of strip-mall-ridden commercial district that I usually try to avoid at all costs when riding! Google showed an Applebees up ahead in Grand Rapids and it was right along my route, thankfully.

After first stopping to fuel up, I pulled in to the restaurant just a mile further and started my meal bonus timer around 20:50. Telling the waitress who seated me that I’d be her easiest customer all night, I quickly ordered a Chicken Caesar salad and lemonade, along with the check please. And no need to check back with me, thanks! I was a bit wary of eating any more restaurant food during the rally, but the salad seemed harmless was actually pretty tasty. Since I was going to be hitting my rest bonus soon, I actually managed to eat half of it while I caught up on my bonus claim form and reviewed my progress. I was actually running a bit ahead of schedule, so that felt pretty good.

Shortly after clearing the Grand Rapids city limits, I caught the sunset afterglow over Pokegama Lake as I continued pushing south on route 169.

On high alert for deer and other critters now as darkness enfolded the woodsy countryside around me, I noticed that my low-beam light configuration just didn’t seem as bright as I remember it being. I’ve been having off/on trouble with one of the fork lights, so I chalked it up to that for now, as well as just being tired. Luckily, there wasn’t much oncoming traffic and I was able to blast high-beam daylight down the road in front of me for most of this stretch.

A few miles north of Aitkin, I hit a road closure at the junction with MN 210. At least there were detour signs this time, but it looked like it would be a long one several miles east through McGregor. After zooming around on the GPS, I took a chance on a gravel path called Nature Road that appeared to lead down to the next parallel east-west highway, cutting off many miles of what was likely the officially marked detour several miles further east. Wait, do I really want to attempt another nighttime gravel excursion in the middle of the Minnesota woods? Ah screw it!

I continued following the well-graded gravel some five miles, and it was just fine, turning out to be very doable shortcut. I was still relieved to hit the pavement again, and followed MN 47 back west into Aitkin to continue on my way. Being from the northeast, where there’s a web of paved roads pretty much everywhere, it still can take me by surprise how large the tracts of land can be out west without any alternate roads running through them. Even with the shortcut, the detour had eaten up about 20 minutes of the small cushion I’d built up over my schedule. A bit worrisome, actually, since I need to check in to my rest bonus by midnight tonight in order to log the required six full hours.

Running down route 210 through Deerwood and Crosby, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way down to Brainerd. I pulled into the hotel parking lot right around 23:30. Here I got a bit confused, as I was expecting a Quality Inn, and the sign I could see on the building says Econolodge. And frankly, looked like quite a dump.

Pulling up near a door with a sign that said Lobby, something just seemed weird and the door just led into a random interior hallway. I went back outside and saw there appeared to be two separate wings of the L-shaped building, and guessed maybe I was actually on rear side of the hotel. After walking around the corner by the road, I found a  more familiar brightly-lit and modern front entrance with signs for Quality Inn. Weird, but maybe the two hotels are sharing the same building (?). Regardless, they did have my reservation and I quickly checked in and got to my room, which was clean enough apart from the old carpet. It actually had doors opening to both the inside hallway and right out to the parking lot, which was pretty convenient for unloading my stuff.

This time, I got my rest bonus photo before covering the bike up for the night.

After washing myself and my LD Comforts, I spent time re-evaluating my route. Char had mentioned a lot of riders appeared to be heading due north while I was messing about in Wisconsin. By checking the group Spotwalla page, I could now see some riders all the way up in Winnipeg, Manitoba by now.

I’d seen a few small bonuses near there but nothing worth all those miles – what the hell were they doing?  Then I saw it, a naval bonus hiding right there in plain sight on my Basecamp map. It was hard to notice because of the icon type I’d chosen, obscured by a highway number sign. Well geez, that would have been nice to know about at the start!

Combining that naval bonus (rated 10, 25, 15) with the other military assets close by, it appears that a sortie up to Winnipeg could provide a sufficient strike force to take down the huge alien bonus in Alberta. That, of course, was already my goal but via a different combination of military bonuses along a (mostly) more direct route. My route would include a long out and back to Edmonton however, so I ran some comparisons.

I’ve never been to Winnipeg but know it’s a huge busy city, and spent some time looking up traffic info for the area, trying to decide if I should alter my plan. It would be Monday and in order to make the trip there worthwhile, a total of four bonuses in different parts of the city would need to be gathered. It could be a big time suck, but I created a new route just the same. I was tired and probably overthinking things, but somehow convinced myself for the time being that it would be worth it. Deciding to deviate from my original route and head for Winnipeg after Fargo, I booked a hotel for the following evening in Saskatoon, in central Saskatchewan, and called it a night!