Hoka Hey!
What a day! Saturday brought a little bit of everything into the
Hoka Hey mix... drama, intrigue, mystery, fatigue, emotion, being peed on by a dog and true love. Where to start?
First, Friday: Team Brian did finally make it to the Rocky Mount
CP around 4:50 PM on Friday, August 19. There, it was determined that Mike needed a whole new engine, a 4 -6 hour installation! It was initially decided that Brian and Tom would wait (and sleep) for Mike. After a few hours it became obvious that Mike would not be able to continue at all, so Brian and Tom hit the road.
On to Saturday: Brian and Tom continued on course, and by noon on Saturday, August 20
th, they had made it through 6 states and into New York. I'm not sure if they got any rest, but Brian sounded pretty worn out at noon and he was no longer riding with Tom. At this point, it seemed he was moving nicely toward the last Check Point, we estimated his arrival for 5:00
ish. The trouble with our estimate was that we never know the actual course and there were no other competitors ahead of him at the time. We underestimated... not just the mileage, but Brian's fatigue level as well. Rhode Island, which was
waaaay off course, had to be covered and that required quite a lot of time back tracking to get to Vermont.
But wait, there's more trouble: It turns out that during the wee hours of the night and due to his excessive fatigue, Brian made a
wrong turn on the
right road which led to the
wrong Harley Dealer in the
wrong town of the
right state (New Hampshire!). They were closed, of course, it was 1:00 AM! So, he decided to sleep in the field (thus, the dog... nothing like kicking a guy when he's down!) next to the
wrong dealership. It wasn't until morning that he discovered he was not actually at the
Laconia Harley Dealer (about 45 miles away). So, he quickly corrected course and made his way to Check Point 13, the final check point, arriving around 9 AM.
YAY! After checking in, he wasted no time getting back on the road and is now riding with the new Team Brian: bikes, 665 and 679. Hopefully, three fatigued brains are better than one!
Updated State count: 47, including Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island (no, skipping RI!), Vermont and New Hampshire.
And there's still more... Drama, intrigue and mystery are inherent with
Hoka Hey. This year we may be adding "low down,
shysters" to the list of
synonyms. After lifting the deadline to finish (about a week ago and actually advising riders to "use their bedrolls", safety first!), Challenge organizers have
now decided and posted on their
Facebook page that the Sunday, August 21, 2011, 9:30 AM race limit will
hold. Apparently, any challenger not finishing before this deadline will not be recognised. Stay posted for developments on this latest surprise!
And more... A secret Check Point???? Yes, there was! Brian reports that he was
only the
3rd rider to find the Secret Check Point and sign in there.
Incidentally, the leader and first to finish, Will Barclay, did
not.
Hmmmm....
And true love.... Candy awaits Brian, with 2 bottles of Jack Daniels. Brian said he'd need two!
