The Iron Butt Rally (11,000 miles/11 days)

[itchybro]

Dave, thanks so much. Thrilled to hear he's made it. Hope his insurance ain't Progressive (from what I hear from another site they are much friendlier TAKING your money).

Don't know if I'm blaspheming here in Beemerland but, I'm still pulling for Kiecker (aka decaf) on the VFR.

I'm thinking Mr. Missing X factor is Peter Hoogeveen. Higldon's next missive should be da bomb!

[bikerfish1100]

Marsha Hall (Rottenbiker) is in Missoula and (almost) well-rested, having slept in an AC'd motel room in town last night. So on her third try, she finally gets her finish. And earns the distinction of becoming the first ever IB finisher on a "S" version ('99 R1100S) BMW.

[kbasa]

Originally posted by bikerfish1100
Marsha Hall (Rottenbiker) is in Missoula and (almost) well-rested, having slept in an AC'd motel room in town last night. So on her third try, she finally gets her finish. And earns the distinction of becoming the first ever IB finisher on a "S" version ('99 R1100S) BMW.

[swamp]

I was in Madison, AL two years ago when this lady pulled up to the finish line a couple of minutes too late. I couldn't be happier for her!

swamp

[bikerfish1100]

Yeah, she said the "evil lord kneebone" gave her a big hug this time, and noted that this finish was much nicer for him as well as for her. Pity that Speedvision was not there to record this finish as they were the previous one. And no frozen brakes this time, and no flying truck tires either. Just a shredded alternator belt (hmm, sound familiar?) and toasted battery. I could hear her smile over the phone!

[kbasa]

One thing I thought interesting was that BMWs represented 50% of the starting grid and 90% of the mechanical failures.

Not good.

[R1100rtP]

Originally posted by KBasa
. On the other hand, he stopped to help a rider that crashed in New England and broke his ribs. I'm unsure of the rider's name, but I'm sure I can find it. dave

I heard Jeff Lambert crashed @ 4:00am in ILL. Concussion, broken collarbone, sternum.......

This was sure rally of rider and bike misfortune.

Karol Patzer

[flash412]

KBasa: One thing I thought interesting was that BMWs represented 50% of the starting grid and 90% of the mechanical failures. Not good.

Welcome to the NEW "Legendary Motorcycles of Germany." Perhaps it is time to seek a roundel-free existance?

[itchybro]

How many were alternator belts? I know Jewell went down for a bit that way, but I can't remember the others. (I'm pretty sure there were more than two more).

Just curious.

[itchybro]

Oh yeh, speaking of roundel free, I thought the absence of Gary Egan was pretty glaring (Ducati). I'm interested to see how Rachel Dwyer does (Duc Monster). Thought it interesting there were no ST2's or 4's.

At this point I'm wantin' EVERYBODY to finish safe.

[R1100rtP]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by itchybro
Oh yeh, speaking of roundel free, I thought the absence of Gary Egan was pretty glaring (Ducati).

I think there was a reason for his absence. At the checkpoint in 2001 he gave us an interesting talk on how not to read maps!


Yea for Marsha!! If anyone sees her tell her I said Congrats


Karol

[montana]

ItÔÇÖs all over but the shouting. Or maybe the shooting, I guess. The Iron Butt Rally ended this morning. IÔÇÖve learned more about an event IÔÇÖll never enter than I ever needed to know but it sure has been fun. For those who havenÔÇÖt been following this rally the last eleven days on any of the other websites (iron butt org, adventure rider, long distance rider, various ridersÔÇÖ weblogs, etc) hereÔÇÖs my recollection of some ÔÇ£highlights.ÔÇØ

This event requires you to manage a lot of variables: you, the bike, time, distance, paperwork (receipts, photos and other evidence), bonus locations, etc. There are always four corners of the US that are checkpoints. 2003 started and ended in Missoula MT; interim checkpoints were Primm NV, Lake City, FL, Buxton ME. Each checkpoint is open for a limited time period.

For example, the finish checkpoint was open for early check in at 6:00 am. At 8:00 am the riders still out there start losing 10 points a minute. At 10:00 am the checkpoint is closed. Miss a checkpoint, forfeit any points for that leg and the next, if there is one. The last leg included Cooke City MT on the Beartooth Hwy near Yellowstone and Pike's Peak CO as bonus locations, but remember you may now be running out of time so it gets trickier to manage all those variables to the very end.

The positions of the riders have been available on line and itÔÇÖs been interesting. Although a rider may have ridden 5,000 miles and another may have ridden 6,000 miles, one of them may have 1,835 points and the other may have 36,780 points. That shows how optimization makes a difference.

5 minutes before the end of each checkpoint the envelopes of extra bonus point sites are handed out. ItÔÇÖs kept secret so no one has any advantage in planning. From Missoula to Primm these included St Mary MT (a 600-mile detour), Palouse Falls WA, Orofino ID, Death Valley charcoal kilns, etc. The bonus point locations tend to get tougher later in the rally, because you are running into a time constraint and risking what may have already been a good ride.

You can change bikes but you are penalized negative 10,000 points and you forfeit all points for that leg. Sparky (the Aprilia rider, renamed) had a long way to go to regain positive points status. Other riders changing bikes included a few BMW K1200LTs that lost rear drives. Other common deaths were BMW RT alternator belts. One couple (the only two-up entry) on an LT had trouble on PikeÔÇÖs Peak, a bonus location on the leg from ME to MT, went down the mountain into town and bought an 1800cc Gold Wing.

After slapping on a magnetic ÔÇ£Is it poaching when you use a motorcycle?ÔÇØ sign on his truck, I visited with Russell Stephan, the rider of the ST1100 from OH that hit the deer just the second day out. (The other sign says "Speed never killed anyone - it's those sudden stops that hurt.") He showed me his route map and how he put little dots marking the bonus locations and indicating their value, if there was a time restriction to bagging that bonus, etc. Then he highlighted an optimum plan. I reminded him that ÔÇ£planÔÇØ is a four-letter word. His totaled bike in the back of that green truck is going to be in photos from every camera that passes by. He told me the trooper asked to see the deer hair on the wreck to prove it was a deer and not just drunk or careless driving. You canÔÇÖt see it in my photo, but itÔÇÖs there in a couple of places. He also mentioned why he may not take it to the insurer: Since you pay your insurance premium as if you are a normal rider (notice I did not use ÔÇ£typical riderÔÇØ) heÔÇÖd prefer they not see the odo is over 100,000 miles on this fairly new bike.

Of the bikes in my earlier posts, the GL500 Honda made it to the finish after having electrical trouble but the 500cc Yamaha died early in ID. The Stealth Ninja 250 made it in with about 20 minutes to spare (Leon the Animal from DC). The brand-new Yamaha Venture from San Diego (that replaced the one the dealer dropped) looked great at the end but definitely is not so new any longer. The Suzuki Water Buffalo made it until nearly the end. It finally died of a piston problem.

IÔÇÖve been told an Iron Butt Rider gets their gas stop routine to under 7 minutes. Even if they are only riding to work and stop for gas ÔÇô under 7 minutes is the habit. Consider the Suzuki rider was stopping for gas twice as often as the other riders since that bike only gets about 20 mpg.

Chye (my new friend who we helped get a K1200RS stock muffler so he could pass the tech check) was 20 minutes late into the ME checkpoint, mostly due to NY traffic holdups, so he lost the points from FL and there were no points for his ride to the finish. But he still finished. Someone said fewer people have finished the Iron Butt Rally than have climbed Mt Everest.

At the finish area all but two riders were in by 10:00 am. About 15 minutes later I was walking a block from the finish when one of the last riders came through ÔÇô he shrugged at me. Oh well. That means he was 20 minutes late after an eleven-day trip. He still is a finisher, though.

Oh, I forgot - at the finish line, with about 15 minutes to go, one woman is sitting on the bench nearby, anxious for her hubby. She'd spoken with him not long before when he said he was at a gas station just outside of town, but where is he now? Why didn't he come in? Then he showed up. She leaps up, yelling, "Thank God. He would have been impossible to live with, otherwise."

[montana]

You can chew the air in Missoula, stage 2 air quality alerts all week - 150 new fires in the region just since Tues. I guess many riders were afraid of running into road closures at the end of the last leg. A large piece of ash was on a friend's head last night. Another person said, "Hey, some kind of bug is on your head."

Here's my last photo, The End Of The Road:

[R1100rtP]

Has anyone heard how Linda Babcock, Vickie Johnston and Voni are. I assume we would have heard if they had any problems

If anyone sees them...tell them Congratulations on a heck uva ride!!

Karol

[skert]

1. Paul Taylor
2. Mark Keicker
3. Marty Leir
4. Will Outlaw
5. Peter Hoovegeen