REST DAY:
After Day 1 I chose to use the optional rest day. It’s a bit counter intuitive to take a day
off after only one day on the route during a 9 day event, but……by taking a day
off I had a chance to do some routine maintenance, grab some extra points and
repair a broken kick stand.
Lots of extra time on my Day off for great meals (@ CollegeMarket for the semi-famous TI sandwich)
It’s not unusual for Bike, Gear or Navigation issues to
crop up on Day 1 so the riders who plan for a day off have a higher
success/finish rate than those who didn’t.
Physically I did not need a rest day that soon, gear wise I didn’t need
to change anything and bike wise I ‘almost’ didn’t need that day off. Stress wise, knowing I had a planned day off
coming made my Day 1 virtually stress free.
Just knowing I would have a chance to rectify any bike/gear issues was
worth the extra day. And it turned out
my bike also benefited from the rest day…..
At the end of my Day 1, right after I finished my early
and tasty dinner at the Sand Trap (and collected the extra bonus point), the
retaining spring on my kick stand fell off as I went to leave the parking lot.
Sand Trap Parking Lot. (I don’t know it yet but my Kick
Stand Spring and parts are about to fly off)
KTM style kick stand/spring assembly’s bolts together
with a couple of very specific parts.
When the spring went flying off in the Sand Trap parking lot & one of
those tiny but key parts was lost. The
only way I could keep the kickstand retracted (and hence ride the bike) was to
utilize the rubber retaining loop. (I never use it but thank goodness it was
still on the bike). It’s very awkward
and time consuming to slip this rubber loop over the end of the stand when the spring
is gone, the stand is just flopping down and the bike has saddle bags.
Getting the bike prepped for the rest of the TI at Pocatello
PowerSports (they all know all about the TI)
Hey: A big big shout out to Pocatello PowerSports. On my day off they let me work on my bike in
their parking lot, lent me some tools, gave me some top-off motor oil and
cleaned my filter sock. But the icing on
the cake was when they sold me the needed but ‘not-in-stock’ kick stand part
off a new bike on their showroom floor. YES!!
So in the end, getting the needed replacement part on my
day off saved me time each and every time I had to get off/on the bike going
forward. The stress free Day 1 was more
enjoyable, I got several extra points and a topped it all off with tons of
sleep for a super early start on Day 2.
DAY TWO:
Day 2 for me was a long but relaxed, easy day. The single track is easy but fun, the double
track was fast and fun, and the weather conditions for the desert/sand were
ideal. All in all, other than being a sort
of ‘long’ day, Day 2 was my easiest day.
Day 2, 1st check point up on Scout Mtn, got a
snack, helmet light is now off and tucked away, great start to a great day
'Lime Green' Red Bull and fast but hot lunch in American
Falls. I hit my self-imposed time checks
all day long during Day 2…
2DAFSD Check Point, parked it right up on top of the
little dune for this pic, weather was ideal and hence the sand was an absolute
blast!!
Here are two video links to some of the D2 sand riding,
both vids are raw, uncut/edited. A bit of Martin’s 'flags in the sand' trail and also the fun little drop into/and big
sand bowl.
Getting ready to drop into the big sand bowl
Last CP for the day, Big Southern Butte, views were a bit
cloudy but the hawks were hovering on the thermals everywhere. It was really fun to watch them hovering
‘below’ my vantage point and then seeing a dive and pounce into the grass on
the side of the mtn.
Arriving at Arco, the end of Day 2, I automatically fell
into my pre-planned ‘RECOVER/PREP’ routine (which I followed pretty much each day
going forward). It goes something like
this:
1.
Get gas
2.
Buy food for the room and next day. If available I would microwave dinner,
breakfast and have lots of snacks, chocolate milk and Pedialyte.
3.
Check into room and then multi task as follows:
o Store
GPS track manually on both units and reset/charge GPS/Tracker/phone etc
o Bike
Maintenance
o unpack
o Cook,
eat and Drink in room with ‘recovery’ in mind vs a restaurant meal
o Clean
and organize gear for next day
o Shower
4.
Get horizontal asap and then:
o Facebook
o Study
route for next day
o Set
alarm
o Maximize
sleep
o Snack
and drink Pedialyte once or twice during the night if/when I woke up
5.
Next morning, multitask as follows
o Dress
o Pack
o Hot
breakfast
o Hit
route within +/- 15 min of planned departure
Most nights it is a big rush to get everything done in
time to maximize sleep time and be prepared for a early start. For me the end of Day 2, and the following
evenings, were simply an extension of ‘doing the Tour’. IE: Every action/decision at the end of each
day greatly impacts the coming day, for good or bad.
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