While most people who are close to a milestone birthday throw a party. Bill Whitacre of Boise, Idaho, knew he wanted something different, some- thing meaningful that would both challenge him and benefit others. That goal translated into taking the “ride of [his] life” last January by participating in the Dakar Rally—a 4,300 mile ride on a motorcycle, while simultaneously raising funds and awareness for one of his favorite charities.
In 1847 the US Congress passed a bill to build five steamships under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy. Contracts were let to transport mail from the Atlantic Coast and New Orleans to Panama and from there to San Francisco and some ports in Oregon for monthly mail service.
There are few things that put a smile on your face and enjoyment in your riding more than well executed cornering on a motorcycle. Putting together a series of sequential right and left hand turns on a twisty mountain road is sheer pleasure. Being out of sync with those turns can bring terror and intimidation to your riding.
While pondering what I would share about last years Challenge, I stumbled across what is possibly a very common statistic among riders. Of the twenty-two challenge points collected last year, I ended up hitting eleven sites solo. Let’s do the math, twenty-two total, minus eleven solo, add the “post your own ride”, carry the Three Island Crossing that I lost my picture of, and we end up with a perfect 50/50 split.
In August Thane Eddington and I both got new bikes, his a Tiger 800 and mine a V-Strom 650. It was time to hit the road. After doing some route planning and research on Google I decided to get the Challenge Points near Riggins. We started out the morning with a slab ride to McCall and on toward Burgdorf.
Due to the heavy demand of overtime at work, I knew I was going to be limited on my Saddle time this year. I even debated on not participating in the 2013 Challenge. It did not take long to convince myself to go for it and enjoy what time I could get on the bike. Even if I could only get a few sites, it would be worth it.
Another outstanding Challenge site occurred on September 10. While riding solo, I attempted Caribou City when the voltage regulator on my 990 KTM suddenly failed about 2 miles short of the site. With loss of all electrical power, I could not jump or bump start my bike.
The Club Challenge has been a hit with me since day one, one of Capt.ed’s best ideas. Sure, the Club has attracted like- minded riders with a variety of backgrounds and given them a common forum for sharing their riding experiences, expertise and knowledge.
2013 was my first year to participate in the IAMC Challenge. I have been with the club from very near its inception, but following graduate school, I left Boise in the winter of 2009/2010 prior to the beginning of the first Challenge. I remember talking to Ed Hiatt when he was working on the idea of a club activity that combined the fun of geocaching with riding, and I thought it was a stellar idea. Once I finally had the opportunity to participate, I was all in.
Because the 2013 Challenge focused on sites for bigger bikes and lots of historical places, I got to ride my S10 to nearly all the sites and spend lots of time on Tarmac… that’s not a bad thing, just different than we’ve been used to with the past Challenges.