Photographic proof of arrival in Portland.
Well, a couple of those knuckleheads actually made it Portland, Oregon, around 7 p.m. Monday night, successfully completing this year’s 555 rally.
Of the eight riders who began 10 days earlier, only two bikes and riders made it the entire way (and by then with empty sidecars). Numerous breakdowns (hey what’d you expect for a $500 bike) and used-up vacation time prompted several riders to pull out of the event in Colorado and fly home. A few of them had to be back to work on Monday but Pearl and Slim pressed on through Idaho and into Portland.
They discovered there is a reason sidecars need at least minimal suspension to function very long and that the snow flies early up in the Rockies. They made many friends along the way (at various bike repair shops), and they even got a ticket for drafting behind another vehicle while trying to avoid some of the sideways winds you often experience while riding in Wyoming. Anyone who has ridden west across the Plains of the Midwest to Sturgis can attest to that. You can check out their adventures and a race wrap up on their blog thefivefivefive.blogspot.com/ and keep up to date on the same website to find out if and why there will be another 555 run next year.