Last year I entered the White Stag - Almost World Famous Winter Motorcycle Rally, as my first endurance ride. It gave me both the enthusiasm and confidence to enter other endurance style rides in the remaining year. The White Stag is usually the first long distance ride of the year and when the dates for this year’s version were made - I sent my money in for a second chance at this well-run event.

This year the White Stag was staged out of Tonopah, NV and the Station House Hotel & Casino was the home base. I left Reno, NV on Friday afternoon. I stopped to pick up a fellow LDRider (long distance rider) and we headed out for Fallon. We wanted to stop in Fallon to gas up because that would get me into Tonopah without any worry about having to take it easy to conserve on fuel. We left Reno during a beautiful winter afternoon, 40 degrees, bright sun and windless skies but it was feeling a bit cool after the first 30 minutes in the saddle so I turned up the heat on my electric jacket and gloves. I kept turning up the thermostat - but I didn’t feel any heat so I started to worry that my electric gear had gone kaput. When we got to Fallon I checked my connections and found that I had neglected to plug myself in. What a relief! I commented to Jeff at our gas stop, "what a grand day for a ride" and he agreed. So, we headed on down the road around the Fallon Naval Airstation with Hawthorne, NV in our sights. Jeff and I took turns as the lead bike. We took our time and enjoyed the road and the ride. There was no hurry and it was such a beautiful day. Just as we approached Walker Lake we were joined by another rider who was also headed for Tonopah.

We took the truck detour around Hawthorne accompanied by our new arrival and headed up the hill on the southeast side of town - through the Army Ammunition Depot over the Garfield Hills and heading for Luning and Mina. As we left Hawthorne it actually seemed to get a bit warmer as we climbed the hill. After reaching the top of the hill, it is a long gradual descent toward Luning and the north end of the Soda Spring Valley. At Luning it is always best to check your speed and this time proved to be no exception. One of Nevada’s finest was parked on the side of the road and our ECM’s (electronic counter measures - AKA Radar Detectors) gave us ample warning. Luning is world famous for absolutely nothing but is the point in the road where 95 and 361 meet. For the interested, 361 will take you through Gabbs, home of the Tarantulas and gateway to Berlin - Ichthyosaur State Park located on the west side of the Arc Dome Wilderness Area. What is important about Luning today is that the temperature is 15 degrees. It seems that an inversion has trapped the cold air in the valley and this will play an important part in the rest of the trip.

From Luning it is only a short hop down to Mina - where you can still get gas should you

need it. What Mina doesn’t have is a bonfire which is what we desperately needed as the Temperature had dropped to 5.8 degrees. I was in the lead on this leg and couldn’t help but hug the Valkyrie’s big engine to try to squeeze a few BTU’s into my body. My torso and hands were fine, but my toes and legs were starting to complain. Jeff had zoomed up along side of me and given me the hand signal for 10 degrees several miles back and we both were starting to wonder if we were going to be able to endure that last 60 miles to our destination. Normally, it gets colder the closer you get to the 5,000 ft level of Tonopah. So, we did what any normal motorcyclists would do. When in doubt, we wicked it up. We knew that getting to Tonopah and its warm hotel room and hot shower would be better than sitting on the side of the snow covered road and though we were both aware of "wind chill factor" we also noticed that the difference between 70 mph and higher speeds didn’t seem to make much of a difference - so we twisted our wrists a bit. This turned out to be a pretty good idea as I watched the expected arrival time on my GPS drop from 2:45 PM to 2:35 to 2:25. The way I was looking at it - we were getting out of the cold 20 minutes faster. This was definitely a GOOD thing.

When we arrived in Tonopah we checked in to our hotel rooms and immediately soaked our feet in a nice hot shower. Refreshed and warmer we headed for the casino bar and for the camaraderie of the other crazies that were pulling in for the weekend’s festivities. A few adult beverages were consumed, several howdy’s and introductions and more than a few tales were told of last year’s ride and others experienced by the entrants. There would be a rider’s meeting later that evening and folks were starting to get excited about tomorrow’s ride, although some folks had some serious misgivings with the weather. Some of the southern contingent were not prepared for the cold of today’s ride and the prospects of a longer and possibly colder ride in the morning was cause for concern.

During the rider’s meeting we were all told what time we could pick up our rider’s packets (6:15 AM) and what time we could leave (6:30) and were also warned about assuming that just because there was gas in a specific location last year, that there may not be gas there this year. The EPA has required that many gas stations replace their storage tanks and many marginally profitable stations in remote areas have not been able to comply. So, if you are traveling the deserts of the Southwest this year, you might want to inquire ahead of time before you head into uncharted territory. Tom Almassy (Rally Master for this ride) always has a few twists up his sleeve and this year proved no different. The White Stag would be a team event this year! So, not only do you have to worry about your riding, but you have to take into consideration the abilities of your team mates. This would prove interesting by the end of the day.

I headed back to my room to try to get a bit of sleep prior to the morning’s ride. As I had turned up the heat in my room when I got there, I now had to open a window because it was about 100 degrees in there. It felt pretty good, but I didn’t think I would be able to sleep in that temperature. I set the alarm (O:dark thirty) and read myself to sleep.

Isn’t it amazing how LOUD an alarm can be at 5:00 AM? The same little buzzer in the middle of the day can barely be heard, but when the room is dark, the sheets tucked up under your chin and it is below zero outside, the alarm sounds like Big Ben going off under your pillow. Time to jump into the shower and try to wake up. Rally packets will be available soon. After ablutions I headed down the hall to the pre-determined room and stand in line to get my rally packet. There is lots of nervous laughter and joking in the hallway about the weather. I hoped that they had this hall reserved only for us loonies.

With my rally pack in hand I ran off to meet my fellow team mates to discuss strategy. The first thing we did is spread out our rally packs and various maps and began marking bonus locations. This year, the format of the event is that your team must spell out the letters of "White Stag" by visiting various locations and documenting that stop with either a Polaroid photograph, receipt of some sort, or by answering specific questions about that location. There are many ways to get letters, but generally speaking the further away a location is, the more difficult to get to; the higher its point value. Your total miles will be multiplied by the bonus points and providing you are back before the deadline (4:00 PM) you will qualify as a finisher. There will be individual awards, and there will also be a team award. There are also two mandatory checkpoints that at least one member of each team will have to make. The first is the top of Lida Summit at 9:30 AM and the other is 2.9 miles down Pole Line Road just South of Gabbs, NV somewhere between 1 and 2 PM. If your team doesn’t have these mandatory checkpoints then your team would be disqualified from the competition. Individual points are still awarded.

The secret to riding a good rally is knowing your limitations. You must be able to calculate (accurately) how far you can go in a given amount of time - how far you can travel on your load of fuel - and how much time you are willing to put into the saddle. As this is only a maximum of 9 ½ hour rally, the time in the saddle isn’t much of an issue, but how fast and how far you are willing to ride, certainly is. Each member of the team states what they think they can ride. It was kind of funny how the gentlemen from warmer climates sort of gravitated to the Death Valley routes, but each stated what "letters" they would try to obtain and their basic route. What was left was to determine who would go for the Mandatory Check Points. One team mate claimed the Lida Summit checkpoint and since no one had volunteered for the Gabbs stop, I spoke up. This turned out to be a personal tactical error, but sometimes you have to take it in the shorts for the TEAM. Since I would now have to be in a specific place between the hours of 1 and 2 PM, I knew that I would not be able to venture too far from Gabbs and had to plan my route around this location.

By the way, the checkpoints turned out to be pretty novel ideas. Those riders who managed to be on top of Lida Summit at the proper time were invited to a "Coasting Race". Bikes were put into neutral and coasted down the hill to a pre-determined finish line. This takes more skill than you might imagine. Proper riding technique is to accelerate out of a turn and when you have no engine this is impossible. Scrubbing off speed to negotiate a curve would put you at a disadvantage. The Gabbs checkpoint turned into a dual-sport biathlon. The checkpoint was located 2.9 miles down a dirt road. At least it was dirt the day before! During the day, as the temperature crept above freezing in this area and the wind was blowing well over 40 mph, snow had been blown over the road and then melted. What was a frozen dirt road the day before had become muddy, cold and slippery. It was a good thing that only sections of the road were nasty. A few riders managed to drop their bikes because they tried to traverse the slippery spots a bit too quickly. At the end of the road there awaited the Rally Master and his next test of skill. You were handed a .22 cal. rifle and instructed to take 5 shots at a photograph some distance away. Imagine my surprise when I looked through the scope and saw Monica Lewinsky staring back at me. I put 4 of 5 shots on target, but that did not win me any cigars. It did garner the team a few points.

My ride was relatively uneventful. I chose one bonus location that was a measly 2 points which cost me too much time and prevented me from obtaining an easy 8 pointer. I rode through the Smoky Valley of central Nevada which is one of my favorite parts of the state. Manhattan, Round Mountain, Carvers, and on up to Austin. Though the entire valley floor was snow covered and the temperature fluctuated between 4 and 20 egrees; I still managed to have a great day. When I got to Austin - another high elevation location it had actually warmed to 43 degrees. Even though the snow was blowing off the mountain top, and the wind was blowing at a considerable speed, I felt like I had ridden into a tropical heat wave. It is down hill toward Gabbs from Austin and I tried to take a short cut to the town of Ione via old route 50 and another county road connection. This turned out to be a mistake because several of these roads had not been plowed and were still snow covered. I figured that I would still be able to obtain the "I" that was needed even if I passed up Ione. I knew that I would get the Ichthyosaur State Park (or at least I thought I would). I retraced my route and got back onto Old US 50 and headed for Gabbs over Carroll Summit and on to the Berlin-Ichthyosaur cut-off. The last time I went through here I was able to purchase gas in Gabbs so I was confident that my previous detour would not bring me grief. I made the Berlin-Ichthyosaur cutoff and headed up 844 through Bell and Topler canyons over the back of the Paradise Range and into Brunton Pass. This is a great motorcycle road but I would rather that they had spread a bit less sand. The center of the roadway had standing sand that was at least 1 inch deep and between the lousy traction and a side wind that was at least 45 mph; my usual casual riding style turned into more of a white knuckle affair. It was about 13 miles up and down this road that I remembered that the entrance to Berlin-Ichthyosaur was about 1 mile down a dirt road. I was now second guessing my decision to obtain these points, but knowing that my team was counting on me for an "I", I pressed on. Luckily, the road was relatively clear. I only had a couple of spots of greasy road and I easily made it to the entrance to the park. My task was to discover how much the Fossil House tours cost and I found this information on a sign at the entrance. There was another rider ahead of me and for some reason he found it necessary to ride his bike all the way up to the sign (through the snow) instead of parking a few feet away on relatively solid earth. Just as I approached he was backing down a bit of a hill and dropped his brand new BMW R bike. Oops - broken mirror and very hurt pride. I jumped off my bike and extended a helping hand and helped him upright the bike. He was very thankful (he could have been stuck there for quite awhile) and road off. After obtaining my needed information I headed for Gabbs. On the way out I passed on the other road into Ione, but since it was 7 miles of unpaved, snow covered dirt, I didn’t have the time nor the inclination to give it a try (though at least one rider managed to make it).

I headed for Gabbs and took a picture of my bike in front of the school mascot (Tarantula) and neglected to obtain another photo in front of a closed hair salon. This cost me a bunch of points. From there I looked for the gas station that used to be in town, only to find that it was closed. Uh oh. I might have a problem here. I wasn’t sure how much fuel I had left as I had been fighting severe winds ever since leaving Austin. Luckily, down at the Gabbs checkpoint the Rally Master had stashed a gas can from which I was able to obtain a gallon or two to see me home. I did stop in Mina on the way back and filled up, just for insurance. I took off toward Tonopah at about 2 PM giving me plenty of time to cover the 90 miles to our final destination.

The final 90 miles was as uneventful as it was cold. I was now back in the inversion zone and the temperatures were back into the teens. But, I knew my ride was almost over and that it would get warmer as I approached Tonopah (at least that was what I was telling myself).

As it turned out - my team didn’t do so well. One of our riders had decided to venture north to Wendover and go for the highest bonus "W" and some serious mileage, to boot. He did not make it back in time and so was time barred from the event and also disqualified the rest of the team. I did not do so well because there weren’t many bonus locations within riding distance of Gabbs so my personal numbers were not good. The fact that I made a poor decision on the first bonus point and didn’t get the points in Gabbs because I missed the Hair Salon didn’t help. I managed to put on 470 miles on my bike between 8 AM and 4 PM and returned with all my fingers and toes. I couldn’t feel them, but I could count them.

That evening we had the awards banquet - drawings for prizes (you got tickets based on the number of individual points your earned) and the Station House did us proud with Prime Rib and all the fixin’s. We ate, drank and shared our stories until fairly late in the evening. As many of us would have to leave early in the AM, some folks would head to their rooms, some to the casino and others to other entertainment venues. I had to leave early, so I headed to my room.