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2021 North by Northwest Rally - Ring of Fire


keithu

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I rode the 2021 North by Northwest Rally based out of Bend, Oregon last week. This was a 60 hour endurance rally. An endurance rally is basically a large scavenger hunt, where riders are given a huge list of possible places to visit, all with varying point values. The Iron Butt Rally is the most famous event of this type. Riders must decide on a route that takes them to places they want to go and/or provides the highest possible points total. The prize if you win is a trophy, nothing else, so it's all for fun. I've done many such rallies over the last 26 years and I always end up visiting new, interesting places I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. 

We got our rally packs Thursday night, and the theme was "Ring of Fire." Most of the bonuses were related to volcanos, some of which were part of the geological ring of fire that circles the Pacific rim. Bonus locations were scattered throughout the Pacific Northwest, down into California, and as far away as New Mexico. I put together a route plan in Basecamp that looked like this:

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This route should have been very doable in the 60 hours allotted for the rally, and it gave me contingency options if something went wrong and I needed to take a more direct route back to Bend. We started at 5:30am Friday morning (Sep 10) amid a rare late summer downpour in the central Oregon high desert. My little FJ-09 looked out of place among the massive touring rigs favored by everyone else. 

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Rainy 5:30am start in Bend, Oregon

I started executing my plan, heading north to collect some volcano bonuses including Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood, then up into Washington for Mt. St. Helens and a few others. Most bonuses required a photo showing my rally flag (I was #29) and some other specific elements. Reading comprehension of the rally pack was key.

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Warner Peak near Enumclaw, Washington

The rain stopped mid-morning, but I'd forgotten what a time suck western Washington could be. I was executing my plan flawlessly and on schedule, but it still felt weird to not get out of the Sea-Tac area heading east on I-90 until about 4:00pm. I burned across the state and through Idaho, collecting a few more bonii before taking a high value rest bonus in Missoula, Montana. 

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Wallace, Idaho

I got a solid 7.5 hours of sleep in Missoula and awoke Saturday morning feeling great. Wind in Montana was strong (as usual) so I had to get creative when displaying my flag for some bonuses. In this photo I used a Roc Strap to secure the flag to my windshield. 

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Crown Butte, Montana

I continued south through Montana to West Yellowstone, then turned back west through Idaho. 

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Evel Knievel's gravesite in Butte, Montana

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West Yellowstone, Montana

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Near Craters of the Moon in Idaho

When I rolled into Vale, Oregon for a visit to the Bates Motel, I noticed my chain was starting to make some noise when off-throttle. 

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Vale, Oregon

By the time I stopped for gas in Burns, the clicking noise was getting louder but it still hadn't registered in my brain that this might be a problem. I really should have stopped in Riley to inspect the chain carefully, but I was focused on my plan and continued south on US-395 towards Lakeview. Concern continued to gnaw at me though, and when I got to the intersection of the Christmas Valley Road I decided to stop for a detailed inspection. 

The intersection of US-395 and Christmas Valley Road is unimaginably dark and remote at 3:00am. When I removed my helmet and ear plugs I could hear a lot of movement out in the pitch black desert, including a bunch of coyotes who yipped unhappily at the two-legged invader. I know coyotes usually don't attack humans, but they were close and their yip-yip-yipping was a little nerve wracking. 

Pushing the coyotes to the back of my mind, I switched on a flashlight and went to work inspecting the chain. I didn't see anything obviously wrong; all the o-rings and rollers looked okay, and the ScottOiler was keeping the chain well lubed. But there were now noticeable tight and loose spots in the chain. I felt it was safe to continue riding, but for how long? I knew every mile I continued further from Bend might be more time I had to wait for a rescue if the chain failed, so I made the difficult decision to cut off the rest of my plan and head straight back to Bend. 

Eastern Oregon has more wildlife than traffic late at night, so even with my massive PIAA LP550s blazing across the desert I set the cruise control to 54mph. I hit at least two kangaroo rats, and had to swerve around a couple of rabbits and coyotes. I didn't encounter any deer, thankfully. At this low speed it took me a while to get back to the barn, but I rolled into Bend without incident just after 6:00am. My final route looked like this:

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I settled into a booth at the local Black Bear Diner for some steak and eggs and started on my rally paperwork. The rallymaster saw my Spot track and came to check on me, so I told him about my chain worries. We agreed that it was the right decision. After breakfast I checked into the hotel early for some rest and a shower. By the time other rally participants started rolling into the parking lot seven hours later I was refreshed and smartly dressed in a classy aloha shirt. 

Despite skipping the last couple hundred miles of my plan I still placed 9th overall, which I'm pretty happy about all things considered. I rode 2210 miles in 48.5 hours, and executed a plan that worked exactly as I'd hoped. The rally itself was great fun and extremely well organized; kudos to the NIITWIT (Not In It To Win IT) crew for putting on a first class rally with excellent food and great route options. The organizer says the North By Northwest Rally will move to the Colorado Springs area next year, and if anyone is interested in this sort of thing I heartily recommend it. 

My Spot track and windshield aftermath:

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@keithu  That is awesome.  Good job in finishing smartly and safely.  These 'scavenger hunt' type rides sound like a lot of fun and a great opportunity to see new areas. 

The only drawback for me personally is riding at night, not only for the numerous critters, which is reason enough, but in the darkness I don't have proper depth perception.   About 10 years ago I was stopped by a sheriff deputy outside John Day as a friendly warning that in the past 24 hours they had 3 motorcycle fatalities due to deer.

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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Yep, you have to be careful at night. I actually prefer a place like eastern Oregon at night. Yes, it's dark and there's a lot of wildlife, but there's also little to no traffic so I don't have to contend with glare from oncoming cars. My LP550 lights throw a crapload of light down the road, but even so I cruised at 53-54mph on roads signed at 65mph. My eyes aren't what they used to be and that's what felt safe.

I used to hunt deer near John Day, all in the name of rider safety of course.

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Nice write up! Great places indeed and yeah the FJ09 looks tiny compared to the wings etc....  I'll have to ear mark this for next year (if it runs) I haven't done a rally in several years and this appears to be a good one on roads I am very familiar with. Thanks! 

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Everything is simple, Nothing is easy

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2 hours ago, 2linby said:

Nice write up! Great places indeed and yeah the FJ09 looks tiny compared to the wings etc....  I'll have to ear mark this for next year (if it runs) I haven't done a rally in several years and this appears to be a good one on roads I am very familiar with. Thanks! 

North by Northwest is moving to Colorado next year, but it sounds like the organizer of the West Coast 66 will run a traditional rally based in Oregon around Memorial Day next year. 

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11 hours ago, huck said:

Hi Keith, What was the final disposition of the chain?

 

Still not sure, I can't find anything visibly wrong with it except for tight and loose spots. A new chain is on order and should be in next week.

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