Oriole and Crab 1000

Revenge of the Cardinal 2008

The Oriole and Crab is over for this year. We had a tie for first place between Rick Miller and Mike Allen.

Scores:

1. Mike Allen 9288

1. Rick Miller 9288

3. Pat Hochberg 8151

4. Kurt Dix 7832

5. Jim Abbott 7654

6. James Edwards 7071

7. Allen Hatcher 6749
8. Steve Grigg 6224

9. Jacob Mallow 5204

10. Robert Vincent 5119

Tony Lewis DNF medial

Bill Cockayne DNF electrical

Eric Deremiah DNS transmission

The claws of the Cardinal were felt early on. A week previous to the rally the state decided to close one of the main bridges along MD 28 between two bonus locations. Even I, the rallymaster didn’t know, only Rick Miller knew, and only because he had heard about it on the radio.

Early on Saturday morning things looked good for most riders except one new rider looking mostly to do a Saddle Sore 1000. Rumor has it that he lost is transmission and never started. At 7am, the rally start, only one rider was ready to leave, most it seemed wanted to test the Cardinal’s power.

After the riders left I went on my own journey. I was doing some research in the Baltimore area, though just were I’m not about to say, next year’s riders may find out. However, even my own adventures didn’t turn out how I wished. For the next 11 hours I stayed with my family having dinner and waiting for any calls. I wouldn’t be disappointed. Before the halfway mark the first causality was felt, Tony Lewis who was last years winner, called to say he was out due to a hurt back. Though he does live in Maryland and he was close to home so perhaps the lure of his own bed called.

Soon after Tony called Bill Cockayne called to tell me he had bike problems. He thought he had left his lights on while on the ferry near Whitehaven. Bill would call a few more times before deciding to also drop out. He lives near Tony so perhaps the lure of the bed was too much as well. Within 12 hours the Cardinal had taken revenge on both returning riders from last year.

I wouldn’t hear any more for the rest of he night, though the Cardinal wouldn’t even leave me alone. After dinner at the in-law’s house I needed to get home. Right as I was leaving the weather turned bad. Unlike the rest of the riders I wasn’t prepared for the rain so in the next half hour ride home I was soaked. Though I’m sure that most of the riders were not so lucky. I know the rain would continue for a good long time and cover a good amount of Maryland.

The next morning the Cardinal would again strike me, when I set my alarm I neglected to change it from PM to AM meaning I didn’t wake up on time. My father-in-law though was able to wake me quickly when he saw I wasn’t up. I was able to make it on time to find a few waiting riders.

The first two riders back were two riders mostly looking for their first 1000 mile day. The Cardinal bit them as well. The started by going east and hitting a lot of east coast traffic. Then later that night hit the rainstorm in western Maryland. They came back early and with not enough miles, though they did finish their first rally.

The next bite from the Cardinal would be another new rallist who forgot to write down his rest bonus which was the largest bonus in the rally. A few others would leave off smaller receipts .

The claws of the Cardinal though would strike hardest at Jim Abbott. At some point his front tire would be cut and he would have to slow and cut a number of bonus locations. He was able to finish, but would be stuck for at least a day.

In the end Rick Miller, a local Marylander, and Mike Allen, who had ridden together came in with the highest score, by well over 1000 points higher then the next rider. Perhaps had the Cardinal not bitten a few of those riders there would have been a bit closer. Perhaps next year the cardinal will have been satisfied and not attack so hard.