And parted ways after capturing this lighthouse (stop #11) at Prescott, ON.

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1 The Mason Dixon ( dubbed The East s Premier Endurance Motorcycle Rally, is a 32+ hour event held over Memorial Day weekend. The MD2020 has been staged annually for over a decade and has a very experienced endurance rally staff including Don Arthur, Leon Begeman, and Rick Miller. Unlike the Cape Fear 1000, the MD2020 started and ended in Hagerstown, MD. I began my MD2020 adventure with a 400 mile jaunt up to Blacksburg, VA late Thursday (5/27) afternoon for dinner with my son. Although it was hot, the ride was smooth and quick (that new cooling vest worked!). Check-in and odometer calibration began at 3pm Friday, so I slept later than usual Friday morning before riding up I-81 to Hagerstown. The MD 2020 rally staff has always been very progressive about using mapping software and GPS in their rally. They were one of the first, for example, to provide riders with the coordinates of all bonus locations via digital files (the Cape Fear 1000 provides a PDF rally book with coordinates which requires riders to do lot of cut and paste work). An interesting twist, however, is that we were not provided the rally book. GPS coordinates, bonus values, and availabilities... but no information about the specific bonus. Granted, I expected to visit a lot of lighthouses since the 2010 rally graphic included a lighthouse. But, details had to wait for the rally book. In the days before leaving Atlanta, I d worked through the 127 bonus locations and developed three different routes. The western route, which swung through Detroit, yielded the most points, but required a lot of speed and tremendous good luck with traffic, road construction, etc. The northern route, which cut through Toronto, was also points rich but involved rather risky bonus availabilities. The eastern route, which looped to the northeast, yielded fewer point, required ferry rides, and skirted New York City... but it seemed the most realistic for me. The route I picked is on the left. As I rode to Hagerstown I mentally rehearsed my route while reiterated my three primary goals: (1) Be Safe, (2) Have Fun, and (3) Do My Best. I also clarified an additional goal for the MD 2020: I wanted to ride the 32.5 hour rally as if it were a leg of the much longer Iron Butt Rally. Specifically, after reviewing my route and making careful notes about travel-distance and time benchmarks, I decided to ride the MD 2020 like a marathon rather than a sprint. I

2 realized in the Cape Fear 1000 that top finishers in short duration events push the limits really hard and then they require a lengthy recovery period afterwards. One rider, in particular, had ridden the Cape Fear 1000 without any sleep; telling me that he d set on a gas station curb refining his route during the mandatory rest stop. Wow! My additional MD 2020 marathon objective was pretty simple. I felt I d developed a very efficient route that would yield maximum points per mile traveled. Against that backdrop, I decided to experiment with how much rest I needed to permit clear-headed decision making and safe riding over the 20+ hours following the rest period. I learned when I worked as a radio announcer in the Atlanta area and then in graduate (or is it gradual) school, that I could function pretty well on 4 hours sleep. Although all that was more than a few years ago, the 4 hour rest stop idea emerged as my target. The basic question: Could I ride and make bonus and gas stops efficiently enough to cover the miles AND take an extended rest stop? After a great dinner Friday evening, we got down to rally business early Saturday morning. Breakfast at 4:30am, bikes staged before the 5am rider s meeting, and rally start at 5:30am. My first stop (location 2 on the route map), the only mandatory bonus of the rally, was at the Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery northeast of Harrisonburg, PA to celebrate the memory of Jim Young. Jim, a Vietnam vet, played a formative role in the early days of the rally and, as the MD2020 crew note on their website, we visit him (Jim) every Memorial Day to say thanks for being a soldier, and thanks for making the Mason Dixon the event it has become." As you can see, Dave Martz (Rider 41) and I (Rider 42) happened to stop to pay our respects to Jim at the same time. I d cross paths with several other participants during the rally and it s those brief encounters that punctuate my memories of the MD For example, on the road to my next stop -- a U.S. Post Office with a lighthouse motif In Eaton, NY (stop #3 of my route)-- I had great fun following Greg & Pat Blewett along a small country road. Goodness; was Greg putting on a show with that yellow Gold Wing! We chatted briefly as we took pictures and then Greg & Pat pushed on while I stopped for gas. At my next bonus stop (#4) on the shores of Lake Ontario at Oswega, NY I met Chris Sakala. Bob Stransky, I think, and I exchanged greetings several times as we worked our way along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. We first met at this dilapidated lighthouse (stop #6) near Henderson, NY.

3 And parted ways after capturing this lighthouse (stop #11) at Prescott, ON. Donald Jones and I met briefly at the Fort Ste. Anne historical marker (stop #12) on Lake Champaign at Isle La Motte, Vermont. That s Donald preparing to photograph the historical marker. We both tried to be really quiet as we went about our business at Fort Ste. Anne so as not to disturb the outdoor celebration of Vigil Mass at Saint Anne s Shrine Then, we back-tracked through Rouses Point, NY to I-87 and turned south towards Plattsburg, NY. Riding overnight through Vermont isn t everyone s cup-of-tea. But, I d visited the state during a National Parks Tour and vividly remembered congested roadways and low speed limits. I reasoned that it would be less frustrating navigating through the state over night. So, I took my planned extended rest stop in Plattsburg. All riders were required to document at 2.5 hour stop. But, I d decided to extend my rest to 4 hours. After documenting my start time with a gas receipt and grabbing some hot food, I checked into a motel just after 8:15 Saturday evening. Four hours later I d finished filling my fuel tanks and was headed east to Vermont. I got quite a chuckle when I arrived at the ferry dock and found Chris Sakala and Kirsten Talken-Spaulding were also making the voyage. I d met Chris and Kirsten at dusk Saturday evening as we struggled to find a missing bonus location (notice there s no lighthouse and a menacing sign!) just outside of Plattsburg.

4 So, meeting them again 4 hours later only a few yards from our previous rendezvous point was a big surprise. We chatted while sailing across Lake Champaign and then traveled together to capture a couple of Vermont bonus locations (#s 16 & 17) before parting ways in Middlebury, VT. It was about 4am when I pulled up to the Daniel Webster Historical Monument in the Green Mountain National Forest. It was a pleasant surprise to hear the throaty voice of another BMW R bike and turn to see Nancy Oswald pulling up the steep dirt road behind me. This rather remote bonus location a popular camping area along the Appalachian Trail marks the spot where on July 7, 1840, in a 300 acre clearing, more than 15,000 people gathered at the Whig Party Convention to hear Senator Daniel Webster speak on behalf of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, who were running for president and vice president. After snapping our photos, Nancy (on a GS) and I (on an RT) navigated a couple of curvy gravel roads together before parting ways. The Sunday morning sunrise was beautiful as I rode south on I-91 through southern Vermont, Massachusetts, and into eastern Connecticut for stop #19 near Simsbury, CT. Then it was on to capture two bonuses along the Hudson River just north of New York City. Three of us, including R. Scott Thornton riding his classic Yamaha XS1100, discovered that the Stony Point Lighthouse wasn t available. After calling the rally master for confirmation, we all snapped photos of the Site Closed sign, stopped for a location confirmation receipt, and turned southeast towards Hagerstown.

5 The ride down I-78 was uneventful until I approached the last bonus (stop #22) near Lake Wynonah, PA. Riding north on PA 183 I was amazed to encounter several other MD 2020 participants. As you can see, there was quite a crowd at the bonus location. The ride back to the rally finish point in Hagerstown was great fun! Shortly after getting on I-81 southbound I met up with Art Garvin and we rode together to the finish. Art, who was an IBR finisher in 2009, is such a great guy; I swear I could see him smiling behind his full-face helmet! We crossed the finish line about 20 minutes before the penalty window opened. I went to my room, cleaned up, and organized my paperwork and photos before heading to the scoring table. The scoring process was uneventful. Thankfully, everything was in order and I didn t leave any points on the scoring table. We learned the rally results at dinner Sunday evening. I was thrilled to learn I d finished tied with Bob Stransky for 9 th place with 1957 points. Plus, I almost won the Jim Young Trophy for riding efficiency-(it was awarded to Stransky). The top finisher, Mike Ligons, collected 2118 points. The average score across the 50 rally finishers was points (SD = 529.3). So, given my extended rest period experiment, I was very happy with my score. I rode home Monday (Memorial Day) stopping again in Blacksburg, VA to enjoy lunch with my son. Weather reports indicated very strong storms between Charlotte and Atlanta so I elected to travel through Asheville, NC. The route via Asheville is a bit longer, but riding through the mountains was fun and I didn t see any rain until I was south of Clayton, GA. The 2010 MD 2020 was a great experience and I learned a lot! Rick Miller and the rally crew put on a wonderful event that I m looking forward to riding in 2011.