One thing the pandemic has taught me, is the value of being around people. I'm normally a bit of an introvert and I still find it awkward to address a large group in person, even if I visualize them naked. The annual Minnesota 1000 has returned as it normally would have in 2021. You see the years ending in "0" are reserved for the 2000 mile version. 2020 was supposed to be the Minnesota 2020 which was a long running joke between myself and the late Eddie James. See 2020 was to be a magical alignment of the stars: the last Mason Dixon rally, the Minnesota 2020 and the last ButtLite. Then the pandemic hit.
I find myself in the showroom of MotoPrimo in Lakeville, MN; home of the COVID Karens anti-mask and anti-vax association. Lakeville made the news during COVID and not for good reasons. My ride to here was circuitous and that is in a separate entry covering the Grand Tour I am participating in this summer. After stopping by to see some friends in Columbus, I worked my way to the Mississippi to gather Great River Road byway signs. Managed to sneak in lunch at Zanz in Mankato, which is a nice way to finish a trip. So, here I am at MotoPrimo meeting old friends and some new ones getting ready for the 2021 Minnesota 1000. Barbecue, rallypacks, some brief remarks and we're off - no group photo bonus so back to the hotel room for some planning.
Although the list was relatively short, all of the bonus locations were west of the Twin Cities. Most of them were a long ass way away via super slab and dead straight roads. There was a group of 14, all marked as a blue pin below, that if you got all of them, it was worth a bunch of points. I figured it was at least 2 hours to get them all and the closest one to rally HQ was over 6 hours of hard riding away. That was my original plan. High tail it west stopping only for the time limited bonus in Fargo, the green triangle, and going straight to the one to the west to work them from west to east swinging by the purple dot one on the way. Then I got sick around 11pm. I'm blaming the full sugar sodapop which I do not normally drink unless it's Coke and I'm having tummy troubles. Up and awake at my normal time, 5am local, I redevelop a more manageable route that swings south after getting the two in eastern North Dakota. This was the safer option.
730 riders' meeting brought no additional locations, so off we go at the stroke of 802 and a half.
The Lake Wobegon Trailhead
Fargo Visitors' Center- the Woodchipper
and the one inside
The next bonus was cool- we have a "thing" for scale models of the solar system. This one is located in Medicine Wheel Park, Valley City, ND. For the points, we had to take a picture of each planet, including Pluto, in order. The scale? 1 foot = 3M miles, meaning the earth is about 31 feet from the Sun and Pluto is like half a mile.
From here, I turned south on possibly the most dreadful motorcycling road known to man: North Dakota 1. Arrow straight for miles and mile of miles and miles. In a nutshell, boring for a rider on a supersport tourer. The heat was wearing on me and my problems from Friday night made me drop the next two planned locations so I could get out of the heat and start my rest bonus early.
The mascot of NSU, created from scrap metal and bronze.
The town of Manchester, SD was a thriving railroad hub and home to one of the Ingalls sisters. After rail traffic slowed, the town began to depopulate. In June of 2003, an EF4 wedge tornado blasted through town demolishing everything in its path. Estimated at between a half and a mile wide at the base with wind speeds in excess of 200 mph, the town never stood a chance. This is the town pump; the memorial is adjacent.
Official NOAA photo of tornado path; you can see the street grid just north of the main road.
Same sculptor as above, but a stunning war horse.
I piddled around a little before getting to sleep; the motel was jumping. Lots of families travelling, lots of little kids, noisy conversations in the hall. I am so glad I made a reservation as I later heard some riders got shut out for lodging due to the high volume of travelers. This should not have been surprising as there is a huge pent up demand for travel after a year plus stuck at home. The software said 6+ hours of riding plus 5 stops easily making the 8am cutoff.
Here's where Garmin failed me and I failed myself for not checking the math. Although I ended my rest bonus 18 minutes later than I had planned, my route still said that I should have about 35 minutes of cushion to get back to the checkpoint; even then, I could drop the very last location on the way in as it was the lowest value and slightly off the direct line back.
I punched in the remainder of the rally into my GPS, told it to optomize the stops and my estimated arrival time was..... wait for it........0820. That's time barred by 20 minutes; dropping the last one only saved 10 I recalled from checking it out the night before. So, reluctantly, I dropped the first stop, a place where Jessie James jumped over a gulch to escape a sheriff's posse since it was the most off the direct line back. New arrival time 0745. Something still wasnt right but at least it was before 8. This left little if any room for my mistakes and I still had to refuel one more time.
About an hour later it dawned on me to recheck Garmin's route. Dhuo- the route it had wasnt the optimal order despite being optimized. So I manually reordered the remaining locations; new arrival time: 0650. Dumbass- I could have easily picked up that first bonus stop with plenty of time to spare.
The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame
I arrived here to find my long lost brother Lee Miller. Turns out in the 'small world but wouldnt want to paint it' Lee's father actually competed in the Plowing Championship commemorated here and won the title the following year. How cool is that?
Along side the river in Mankato is a homemade memorial to SCW. Zanz wasnt open yet.
The Ottowa little library adjacent to the historic Ottowa Town Hall had bad coordinates in the rally book, but the Google Machine knew where it was roughly a mile away.
How many MILES-7 license plates make up the roof of the Little Library? Three sir, three.
Last stop: the Prince mural. Apparently one of many around town.
I returned just about on the original new net arrival time, got checked in and scored. Easy peasy; lost no points only the ones I skipped out on the rally. I have no allusions of grandeur; my hyper competitive riding days are behind me. I'm here to meet friends, ride great roads, visit cool places and get home after a fun ride.
I did all of that, except the great roads part. After the breakfast awards were complete, I bid my adieu and blasted off for the UP on Lake Michigan to begin the trip home on Monday.
Thanks Team Strange.
