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crazykz
05-29-2007, 09:50 PM
Hey All,

Well it's about time I post something since it's been a while. This past weekend was the 12-Hour long Bonzai Rally held by the GLMC out of Richland Center, WI. Big Kudos to Bill R. and the rest of the GLMC gang for hosting a great rally. People if you are looking for a fun short rally this is the one to do. The location is great and the atmosphere is friendly.

The night before we got together for dinner at Pizza Hut and then went back for refreshments at the hotel. Morning came and we all met at the Richland Center Community Center. Bill had arranged to have it so that there was plenty of room to spread out and plan. Thanks Bill. We all piled into the center at O-Dark-Thirty with some breakfast provided. At 6:15 the sheets were handed out and we were free to plan.

After plugging everything in it was 7:00 and time to leave but we decided to use our 45 minute rest bonus right away and use it to plan. I liked that they added that this year. So after 45 minutes more we decided that running the Big Lubowski was the way to collect the most points. You had to spell out Big Lubowski by visiting certain towns that started with the letters in Big Lubowski. I didn't follow my usual procedure to write down every bonus along the route. This was the mistake that would cost me placing first in expert. Grrrrrr.

We headed towards the river on 171 which is a great road. Spanky told me about it before the rally and he was right. Collecting along the way and avoiding one deer we headed up the river road. Collecting a few Lock and Dams we made to La Crosse where the world's largest 6-pack was on the list of bonuses.

Up the Minnesota side, because it's quicker, we finally made it to the Winona lock and dam which isn't in Winona but 8 more miles up the road. Bagged that and then over to Wisconsin and back up the river. Made it as far north as Buffalo City and then back down to La Crosse. We would find out later that two bonuses overlapped in the GPS and we could only see the one so we missed over 300 points in Fountain City. We went past that bonus twice and never realized it. Screwed!

Then it was a lot of interstate and all the way on 80 to Omro, WI. Then straight back on 80 again. We didn't get the efficiency award, BTW. :) Back into the good riding area getting some Veteran Memorials and finishing up with Big Lubowski. We had an hour to spare so we grab 5 of the closest bonuses to Richland Center and rolled in with 15 minutes to spare.

A great day to ride with great weather and light traffic. The results aren't official yet but I got 4th in Expert and 5th overall. I'll take it and I won't make the mistake of not following my routine again.

Rough route attached.

Curt

forgitaboutut
05-29-2007, 10:10 PM
Sounds like it was alot of fun!
I take it you found the "losing power" problem on the ST!?
Rich

crazykz
05-29-2007, 10:19 PM
Sounds like it was alot of fun!
I take it you found the "losing power" problem on the ST!?
Rich

Nice WING! :) It was most likely a loose/corroded connection where the pigtail from my cruise connects to the coil. At least I'm hoping that was it.

Curt

LDMike
05-29-2007, 11:33 PM
Great job, Curt!! Congrats!

Kevin Powers
05-30-2007, 04:19 PM
Good to see you at the Bonzai Curt. I went as different way, going for the Monticello combo bonus and spending a bit of time visiting locks and dams along the Mississippi. I got out to Breitbach's in Balltown, IA for the first time. The road out to Balltown is a hoot and has to be near the top of this list for fun roads in IA! On the way back from Monticello, IA I stopped in East Dubuque for an IL receipt. I was getting back on the bike when I thought to double check the receipt, and confirmed that it didn't have the city and state on it! I went back in and had the woman write it in by hand and sign it, I was right around the corner from the post office so I got a pic of the bike in front just be sure to get credit. When I got back on the bike the gps told me I was going to be 5 minutes late getting back to rally HQ. I found a combination of county roads that would cut the distance down and maybe allow me to make up the time. I made up a couple of minutes, but when I got to a ROAD CLOSED sign and had to detour about and ended up DNF coming in after 7 pm. Oh well, fun was had and it was a fabulous day to be out!

The ride home was wonderful! I picked up A out of Richland Center and headed over to Viola where I had a good breakfast at the Band Box. Heading north and west, I skipped 33 which always seems to have too much traffic in the fun spots and instead picked up P which is one of my favorites. Heading north I crossed I-90, went through the Mindoro Cut, and took more alphabet roads toward Arcadia, where a run up the Alligator Slide put me at Hanson's Hide Out for a prime rib sandwich with a view just after noon. More lettered roads brought me to Nelson where I stopped at the Creamery for an ice cream cone, but none of the flavors spoke to me so I hydrated and moved along. Crossing the river into MN at Prescott, I headed up St Croix Trail to Afton, where Selma had some Black Cherry ice cream which called my name. Half hour later I was home, no pie, but fat and happy nonetheless!

crazykz
05-30-2007, 10:20 PM
Sorry to hear about the DNF Kevin but it seems like you made the most of it and had a great ride home. Hopefully we'll see you at the MN1K.

Ride safe.

Curt