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ljmattox  > Motorcycles > Not Superman 12 Hour Rally July 2008
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ljmattox > Stacy and I had a blast participating in the 2008 edition of the Not Superman Rally, based out of the Drury Inn in Cape Girardeau, MO.  Jim Puckett and David Derrick put on a terrific event, even surpassing the 2007 version, we chose the short version again this year.  NSR is a bit unusual in that the bonus locations are handed out a week in advance, allowing plenty of time to plan a "winning" route.  Here's the one we chose, using IBR-winner Paul Taylor's strategy of "putting the big rocks in first" we found a couple on which to stake our route, then filled in with other bonii that were "along the way" to some extent.  We'd planned about 540 miles worth for the 12 hours, that had to include gas stops, bonus hunting / photos, and (as it turned out) some re-routing.
ljmattox > This statue of Churchill was our first bonus stop, and also the furthest point away from Cape Girardeau.  We "made pretty good time" getting here, a long interstate stretch including a gas stop just 1/2 mile from our home west of St. Louis.  We did manage a couple of u-turns to find a parking spot on the Westminster College campus, Stacy then trotted up the stairs to hold the flag for our photo.
ljmattox > A second bonus we bagged here was the "furthest distance from Rally HQ", and called for a screen shot of the GPS to show where we were.  Simple, right?  I probably spent 5 minutes cussin' and fussin' trying to get my camera to focus in macro mode.  RTFM.  Holding down the shutter release partway does the trick.  And got our shot of my classic Garmin GPS-V showing where we were.
ljmattox > A second long leg took us from that first bonus in Fulton, MO to the Kampsville ferry in Illinois, our first time to have the Mighty K on a ferry of any kind.  Free, run by IDOT, it was pretty cool how they had the ferry engine on a pivot so that it was free to swing around to propel the ferry in opposite directions.  The photo had to be on the ferry, including a shoreline that could prove you actually rode the thing.
ljmattox > Our next bonus was fairly high points, and was to be a photo of your bike with the Gateway Arch.  Our plan had called for pulling into the parking lot of the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, and taking the shot across the Mississippi.  The bonus required that the bike, towel, and at least 75% of the arch be visible.  We were on track to do just that, when a wrong turn sent us across the McKinley Bridge and landed us on the Missouri side of the river.  Now at the base of the arch, it was a bit of a problem to get a good perspective.  I ended up parking on the street east of the park, lay on my back in the street to get the arch, Stacy, and the bike all in.  The scorers gave us a break on the rally flag; the number should be visible too!

What came before this was "Sanjay" and "Kumar", a couple of Pakistani's on vacation, who spotted us and thought we were the circus come to town.  They begged us to get a photo with us in our gear and them with the bike.  Weird.
ljmattox > So that part about re-routing time, and getting all that time to plan ahead?  Here's where it broke down.  We'd bagged the Arch bonus, but were now on the "wrong" side of the river for the Illinois bonii we'd planned, and were behind schedule after consuming too much time getting the high-point Arch shot.  ("Hey, aren't you guys *from* St. Louis?  Why was this such a problem?"  Oh, be still!)  

Anyway, my co-rider suggested we just blast I-55 south to Ste. Genevieve, actually cross on the Modoc Ferry (not just take its picture) and make up some time.  So we tried that.  Made a good freeway blast to Ste Gen, but the Modoc Ferry?  She wasn't on the river! (due to the flooding that had just occurred).  We took this photo anyway to prove we'd tried to get the bonus as written, and improvised again: crossed off the Modoc Rock Shelter (50'ish points if memory serves) and made tracks for Perryville, MO and the MO51 bridge that would deliver us to the Popeye Statue.
ljmattox > Chester, IL just across the river from Perryville, MO was the home of the cartoonist Segar, the creator of Popeye.  A statue of Popeye is in a little park just outside, and the bonus called for taking a picture of the backside of the statue, with you, your co-rider, and the rally flag all in the photo.  Good thing I have long arms!
ljmattox > We actually planned and took this photo of the Popeye statue first; we thought Jim and David would get a laugh out of photographing Stacy's backside as well as Popeye's.  But a bit more reading comprehension of the bonus requirements revealed that both the rider and co-rider needed to be in the shot.
ljmattox > We had a next bonus of a jeweled shrine in Belgique, MO, but a doofus GPS coordinates entry error led us to blow by where it may have been, and directly to the Brazeau MO post office, the next bonus.  Hmmm.  Oh well, another 20'ish points lost.  

I'd been here before, but not from the direction we came, so it sorta surprised me and I was glad to see another participant stopped to tip us off.  Yes, it was raining pretty intently.  But that was nice lighting for the Dakar yellow of the Mighty K!
Stacy and I had a blast participating in the 2008 edition of the Not Superman Rally, based out of the Drury Inn in Cape Girardeau, MO. Jim Puckett and David Derrick put on a terrific event, even surpassing the 2007 version, we chose the short version again this year. NSR is a bit unusual in that the bonus locations are handed out a week in advance, allowing plenty of time to plan a "winning" route. Here's the one we chose, using IBR-winner Paul Taylor's strategy of "putting the big rocks in first" we found a couple on which to stake our route, then filled in with other bonii that were "along the way" to some extent. We'd planned about 540 miles worth for the 12 hours, that had to include gas stops, bonus hunting / photos, and (as it turned out) some re-routing.
 > Stacy and I had a blast participating in the 2008 edition of the Not Superman Rally, based out of the Drury Inn in Cape Girardeau, MO.  Jim Puckett and David Derrick put on a terrific event, even surpassing the 2007 version, we chose the short version again this year.  NSR is a bit unusual in that the bonus locations are handed out a week in advance, allowing plenty of time to plan a "winning" route.  Here's the one we chose, using IBR-winner Paul Taylor's strategy of "putting the big rocks in first" we found a couple on which to stake our route, then filled in with other bonii that were "along the way" to some extent.  We'd planned about 540 miles worth for the 12 hours, that had to include gas stops, bonus hunting / photos, and (as it turned out) some re-routing.
Stacy and I had a blast participating in the 2008 edition of the Not Superman Rally, based out of the Drury Inn in Cape Girardeau, MO. Jim Puckett and David Derrick put on a terrific event, even surpassing the 2007 version, we chose the short version again this year. NSR is a bit unusual in that the bonus locations are handed out a week in advance, allowing plenty of time to plan a "winning" route. Here's the one we chose, using IBR-winner Paul Taylor's strategy of "putting the big rocks in first" we found a couple on which to stake our route, then filled in with other bonii that were "along the way" to some extent. We'd planned about 540 miles worth for the 12 hours, that had to include gas stops, bonus hunting / photos, and (as it turned out) some re-routing.
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