Rally Report - Buffalo Run

[Shooter]

What a great weekend!!!!!! First off I want to thank everyone. The volunteers, the riders, and especially Mr. and Mrs. Noah!!!!!
It was a tough weekend for some but nobody gave up and that truly shows the caliber of riders we had this year. Unfortunately it all started Friday with an email from Jim Weatherhead saying he had to withdraw from the rally. What a shame because Jim was leading the ROTY points and had a close race going between Alvin Betram and myself. John Frick also emailed me Friday upset he didn’t enter. After seeing the theme he said he would have drove up last minute. Unfortunately for John his bike is still in the shop getting worked on after his stellar IBR ride. Damn and Damn.
So I I’m sitting at the park Saturday afternoon cooking the pig and Brion calls to inform me that Ken Schleman’s fuel pump went out just before he got to town. Brion picked Ken up and brought him to the dinner. He also let him borrow his bike to ride in the rally. Crisis diverted, or we thought so. Ken was driving Brion’s Car and ran a red light with a camera system….lol. Funny unless your Ken or Brion. And this was just Saturday. Most everyone made it to the dinner and got to hang out. Soon after all the riders were eager to get point values and get routing!!!!
The rally theme was Jean’s brainchild. So here is how the game was to be played. The riders were given a list of 66 animal bonuses. They were put into 33 pairs. There was also a timed shooting bonus from 3pm to 5pm. At the dinner I surprised everyone with the points. 125 points for every bonus but if you got both animals in the pair you got a 750 point combo bonus. So if you got both it was worth 1000 points. The shooting bonus was worth 3000 points. We felt matching pairs was confusing enough and left the points equal. So with points in hand the riders left.
I explained to the riders that they had to be checked in before 5:55am with bikes lined up side by side and the rider meeting would start promptly at 6am. I answered a few questions people had about the bonuses and then I threw them a curve ball!!!!! Before they could get any bonuses they had to go to the riverfront in Sioux City to the steamboat exhibit and find Noah (AKA Jack Backer) and get their pictures taken with him in pairs and wearing their awesome rally t-shirts. After they got their picture Noah gave them a list of 5 mandatory pics they had to get during the rally. Provisions for the journey they were about to embark on. 1. A pair of round hay bales…not 1 or 4 or 7. 2. water tower 3. Hospital 4. Hardware store 5. Vet clinic They had to include their bike and rally t-shirt in the pic. So at 6:20am I asked if any of them had seen the movie Rat Race? If you have not seen it Netflix it!!!! Long story short I told them they had been “rallying” since 6am. They sat In their chairs and stared at me like a deer caught in headlights. I finally yelled go!!!! Just like in the movie they all looked at me confused. A few people stood up wondering what to do and I yelled goooo again and everyone got the idea that they had an extra 35 minutes and they needed to get moving. Nobody seemed in a real hurry and that would come back to haunt a few later in the day. Ahem Kory and Dee…lol. It took 10 minutes to get all the riders on the road. Brion posted a video of the slow start. I had the riders line their bikes up so everyone could get out in a hurry. Seems that wasn’t needed….lol
I told the riders to take the first riverfront exit to meet Noah. It seems Nels didn’t remember that and got to drive all the way thru the riverfront from the second exit. Listening comprehension. So everyone got to the riverfront to chuckle at Noah and get their pics and then off to the races. We had a few minor calls about bonuses in the morning but nothing major. The Rally Staff headed to a well deserved lunch across town. Just as our food arrives Alvin Bertram calls and says he has a hole in his rear tire that he can stick his finger thru!!!! I tell him to give us 5 minutes to eat and get a plan together. So food eaten and plan made we abruptly leave to execute it. Brion happened to have a tire lying around so they ran to the garage grabbed some tools, strapped the tire on Jack’s bike and he was off in true Noah fashion to save the day!!!!!! Don’t worry he took the robe off and got into riding gear before he left.
So myself and the ladies headed out to setup the shooting bonus. The shooting bonus was in two parts. The first station had 6 bowling pins setup just like bowling. I gave them a .357 revolver with six shots. One point per pin and we counted how many shots it took in case of a tie. The second station was 1 shot at an 8 inch plate set out at 75yds with a .22-250 rifle. This was going to be 4 shots but the wind was blowing and the riders would have got stacked up so I made it one shot worth 4 points. A total of ten points were possible. We had 3 riders shoot perfect!!!!! 10 points in two shots meaning they knocked down all the pins in one shot and hit the steel plate!!!! The second Jackass bonus was supposed to be Jack but he was busy helping Alvin so we recruited Marlene or Mrs. Jackass. We caught a lot of crap for using a sweetheart like Marlene. All I can say is that we had to improvise. So 5:00pm rolls around and I tell everyone to pack up and let’s get back. At 5:02pm Lapchik rolls in hot only to be told he’s late. He did get the Jackass bonus with Marlene so it wasn’t a total loss.
A few more phone calls and then the riders started to come back in. Scott Finn rode in at 6:30pm on a flat tire. That’s two tires in one rally with one rider back safely. Alvin also made it back on time but not before stopping to pick up a few bonuses. Way to go Alvin for not giving up!!!!!! All the riders made it back on time but it Seems Ken’s luck didn’t get any better. After borrowing Brion’s bike he got stopped in Storm Lake for a performance award. I’m pretty sure the speedometer was off. Everyone back safe and sound and that’s all that matters.
So while we waited for the scores to be added up we gave out the shooting bonus prize. It was a matching pair of cap guns with holsters. Sarah Bjork, Ken Schleman, and Troy Vodenhal played a round of paper, scissor, rock for the prize. Sarah took out both of the guys like she crushed the targets earlier in the day. The ladies seemed to hold their own in this rally!!!!!
Top riders are listed below. I have sent Beth the standings so she can post.
Novice Troy Vodehnal
Experienced Carol Houck
Expert Scott Madson
2 Up Lee & Pam Miller
Overall Mike Heitkamp
Efficiency Mike Heitkamp
Ball's of the Bull Award Ken Schleman
MAC award Alvin Bertram
Everyone helped clean up and then it was off to drink beers in the hotel parking lot!!!!!
Thanks again to all of the volunteers and riders for a great weekend. You guys make all the work worth it!!!!!! I will post pics when I get home Friday. My hotel wifi sucks.

[AlvinB]

I would like to thank the rallymasters, Chad and Brion (and wives) for a job well done. Jack (and Marlene) went out of their way to salvage my day, and I would like to express my gratitude. It's a testament to the type of people these rallyers are when one is willing to spend 6 hours delivering a tire to salvage someone else's "points" in a game that in the end, is just a game. Even though the result was much different than I began the day hoping for, this little triumph will be a day I remember for a long time.

[MikeH]

I told a few people at the end I'd share my route, I couldn't remember which so here is an overview.



The first thing I noticed when I opened it today is I should have went to another Dalmation which would have only added 5 miles and 875 points, ah well. I blame it on forgetting to load the boni onto my 2720, can't see them in a map view on Zumo.
Had tons of fun, good to ride a rally again, especially one where the rallymasters aren't full of themselves. (Well Frump anyways)