Butt Lite 5

The Butt Lite Rally is no mere 1000 mile ride in 24 hours. Nor is it a mere scavenger hunt looking for interesting people, places and things. The Butt Lite Rally is seven (7), 1000 mile days plus scavenging for bonuses (bonii) across the United States. A rider must keep their mind engaged all the time as reading comprehension is essential for successful completion of the bonus requirements.

The rally started from Decatur, IL on Tuesday August 5 at 6 am and ended back in Decatur on The following Tuesday at 3 pm.

If you visit my Gadget Boy page, you'll see that I love gadgets, especially the one's directly related to motorcycle efficiency and comfort. This years gadget is the SPOT personal locator. During the BL5, I had SPOT travel with me and post my locations to their website. I shared my locations with family and friends so they could follow along in real time. SPOT updated about every half hour.

(NOTE: For some reason, the mapping files are not loading when clicked, so I disabled them for now. Please be patient as I work it out. In the meantime, enjoy the PDF files and photos.)

Come follow my trek on future rides with this link on SPOT. I make no guarantees on when I'll be out and about. But I can assure you of this, until the snow flies here in Wisconsin, I'll make every effort to hit the road.

I get visitors from all over the world and I like to hear comments. Please drop me a note on my Feedback Page if you find any of this helpful or interesting.

	Pre-Rally Look
	Pre-Rally at Home Appleton, Wisconsin The pre-ride look of the bike.		Pre-Rally at Home Appleton, Wisconsin Trying out my new fuel cell. I had a local tailor add the straps for the flashlight and a similar one on the other side for an umbrella. They both worked great!
	LEG 1 - Illinois to North Dakota (28 hours)
	The Battle Bridge Somewhere, Illinois Here's a view of my work station for the rally.		Leg One Bonus Plan Somewhere, Illinois I started out with a detailed plan of the bonii I would be hunting for the next 30+ hours. With the prior night available for planning, I could figure lots of options.
	Lover's Leap Bonus Hannibal, Missouri This is the wrong marker at the site. This one talks about two people who jumped off.		Lover's Leap Bonus Hannibal, Missouri This is the correct marker. The instructions called for writing down the names of the three people that disappeared at Lover's Leap.
	B Edwards Marker Paris, Missouri Find the marker in the town square. Easy right? Until I found out there were dozens of markers at this town square.		B Edwards Marker Paris, Missouri My official photo. At this point, I was taking digital and Polaroid photos.
	Lincoln Highway Bridge Tama, Iowa One of the last remaining bridges of the old Lincoln Highway.		Lincoln Highway Bridge Tama, Iowa A nearby marker tells a little of the story.
	Wiseman Memorial Obert, Nebraska A memorial down a 10 mile dirt road in the back country of Nebraska.		Wiseman Memorial Obert, Nebraska Tragic event from years gone by.
	Endangered/Threatened Species Running Water, South Dakota This is a beautiful area of the country, just across the river from Niobara.		Endangered/Threatened Species Running Water, South Dakota Name the three species that are endangered.
	The Deep Hole Gregory, South Dakota There is an Outhouse Museum in the little town of Gregory. Gregory is also prime Pheasant country.		The Deep Hole Gregory, South Dakota Get a photo of the rally flag and The Deep Hole.
	The Deep Hole Gregory, South Dakota A collection of outhouses.		The Deep Hole Gregory, South Dakota A collection of outhouses.
	Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Lower Brule, South Dakota Count the number of teepees in front of the Admin Building. About a half mile away is a group of twenty-some teepees, which I thought was the bonus location. Fortunately, I re-read the description and saw "on the hill" in it. The other location was closer to the river and the flats.		Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Lower Brule, South Dakota Admin Building photo, just to convince my brain I'm in the right place.
	Cedar Hill Cemetery Fort Pierre, South Dakota This was a surreal place. It was a little foggy. I arrived a the cemetery before anyone else. As I was walking out, flashlights from the other riders cut through the fog. What other group of people meet at 4 in morning, in the middle of nowhere, and have a great time doing it?		Checkpoint Number One Mandan, North Dakota The bike at the end of leg one. I had an extra 20 pounds of dirt stuck on the bike from taking a digger on the road to the Cedar Hill Cemetery bonus.
	LEG 2 - North Dakota to New Mexico (33 hours)
	Devil's Tower Monument Devil's Tower Nat'l Monument, Wyoming We had to get our rally sheet stamped with the passport stamp in the Gift Shop. But, Derek Dickson was kind enough to take my photo in this amazing place.		The REAL Last Railroad Spike Strasburg, Colorado Forget what you know about the Golden Spike in Utah. This is the REAL last section of track for the transcontinental railroad.
	No Bonus - Cool Pic Golden, Colorado This is the welcome to Golden as seen in the middle of the night. I bet this would be a fun place to visit any other time of the day.		Smallest Bicentennial Town Lost Springs, Wyoming Another marker in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night.
	How Far To Paris? Golden, Colorado I broke my digital camera on this one.		How Far To Paris? Golden, Colorado My attempt to take a photo to read the mileage.
	Casa Bonita Bonus Lakewood, Colorado It's real! Cartman said Casa Bonita is "the happiest place in Colorado!". The inside of this place is amazing. I wish I could have spent more time.
	LEG 3 - New Mexico to North Carolina
	The Derrick Floor Monument Artesia, New Mexico This town was filled with sculptures. I have to go back someday and enjoy it.		Super Secret Celebrity #16 Memphis, Tennessee This is a description of the bonus. (Yes, there were two SSC #16's)
	Super Secret Celebrity #16 Paris, Texas Remember John Wayne? The Chisum Trail? Cattle baron, John Chisum, was a real person from a real place in Texas.		Super Secret Celebrity #16 Paris, Texas I wish I had time to see the famous boot in this town. But, time is always against the LD Rider. I also wish I had not broke my digital camera. The Polaroid just can't focus without bright light.
	Robert Johnson Display San Antonio, Texas A remembrance of Robert Johnson and his time in San Antonio.		China Grove Bonus China Grove, Texas "..when the sun comes up on a sleepy little town..down around San Antoine"
	Luckenbach Post Office Luckenbach, Texas "Let's go to Lukenback, Texas, with Waylon and Willie and the boys.." What great place to visit!		Louisiana Purchase Monument Brinkley, Arkansas This bonus had gates that automatically closed at sundown. The only bonus I know that could trap the rider.
	LEG 4 - North Carolina to Illinois
	Last Bonus - Paris Paris, Illinois The rally required the very last bonus to be a Paris bonus.		<Bonus Name> Tangier, Indiana Lost one of my ear speakers in Tangier.
	The Forevertron Baraboo, Wisconsin Probably one of the top three bonus locations of the entire rally.		Hollow Earth Theory Monument Hamilton, Ohio I think I forgot to claim this bonus. Not that it would have made a difference.
	Super Secret Celebrity Metropolis, Illinois The grave site of the bird man of Alcatraz.		Super Secret Celebrity Hampden, West Virginia The cemetery of the Hatfield's.
	Super Secret Celebrity Hampden, West Virginia The cemetery of the Hatfield's. Probably my favorite bonus this rally.		Super Secret Celebrity Hampden, West Virginia The cemetery of the Hatfield's.
	Pioneer Mother Monument Vandalia, Illinois A monument to the women of the plains and without them there would be no settling of the west.		Illinois First Flight Marker Decatur, Illinois This was a marker for the first flight in Illinois, but it was moved from the actual location.
	Third Principal Meridian Geographic Marker Centralia, Illinois The TPM was a baseline for surveying the west. This was a two part bonus and the only one I lost at the scoring table. I got the photo, of course, but I forgot to transfer the date established from the description sheet to the answer sheet. Oh well.		Third Principal Meridian Geographic Marker Centralia, Illinois This is the actual monument.

Audio Clips Along The Way

04/22/09

Butt Lite IIII (My First Butt Lite)