10,000 Miles in 10 Days on an FJR

[SacramentoMike]

Just a while back I posted here that I met Alan Rider, a writer who was working on an article for "Cycle World" about participating in the upcoming "MERA 10-n-10" iron butt rally on an '09 FJR. I just got a link to his first entry in what will be an ongoing series of blogs (click me) about what he's doing to prepare himself and the bike for the ride, with his thoughts on the whole thing. He's never done an IBR before. After the rally CW will publish his story about the experience--hopefully as a finisher.

I'll probably update this thread with links to future blog entries. He'll post each week on Thursdays until Aug 26 when the rally begins. Should be interesting.

Edit: see post no. 7 for link to part 2 in his series.

Subsequent edit: See posts 10 and 11 for links to parts 3 and 4.

 

[worldbound4now]

Looks to be an interesting read. Thanks for helping me consume more time on this electronic beast.

 

[FJRBluesman]

WOW! Crazy! OMG! :dribble:

Good PR though for the ole FeeJ.

Thanks, need to track this one.

 

[MCML]

Very interesting. He's in for quite a wild ride. Thanks for the link.

 

[Peter Murray]

Just a while back I posted here that I met Alan Rider, a writer who was working on an article for "Cycle World" about participating in the upcoming "MERA 10-n-10" iron butt rally on an '09 FJR. I just got a link to his first entry in what will be an ongoing series of blogs (click me) about what he's doing to prepare himself and the bike for the ride, with his thoughts on the whole thing. He's never done an IBR before. After the rally CW will publish his story about the experience--hopefully as a finisher.
I'll probably update this thread with links to future blog entries. He'll post each week on Thursdays until Aug 26 when the rally begins. Should be interesting.

Good for him but ..... This is a IBA ride NOT the Iron Butt Rally ( IBR ) Big Big DiFF.

I Wish him well,,, Go Man !

 

[Good2Go]

Good for him but ..... This is a IBA ride NOT the Iron Butt Rally ( IBR ) Big Big DiFF.I Wish him well,,, Go Man !

He's riding in the 10-N-10 Rally, not an IBA ride. Big difference.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Here is part 2 of Alan Rider's blog on how he set up the bike for this rally. And yes, it is far closer to the Iron Butt rally than some 1-day, thousand mile iron butt ride. Not that I've ever done that myself either.

He didn't mention the lighting he had installed in this post. I hope he covers that next time.

 

[RenoJohn]

Here is part 2 of Alan Rider's blog <snip>

Gosh,

what kind of **** would take a pair of bolt cutters to a brand new factory-owned FJR??

uhh, wait that looks like RenoJohn (Right) and Brian R (Left)) doing some serious mod's to Alan's bike!

This picture was taken in Renoville -Alan asked myself and Brian to help out with some farkles.

~~~~~

Yes, while the IBA does a 10-10 ride and that is a focal point of this competitive endurance rally, ...this is rally format, -so much more involved than just going out and riding miles for 10days ...we've got a lot of other criteria to meet on our way to 10-10 certification -especially the competitive rider will be doing much more! The bonus pack is interesting to say the least ....with an infinite amount of options available to riders.

Should be some great fun ....and fantastic to see Alan / Cycleworld actively participating in this even so and writing about it from a rider's standpoint. Typically these articles are written by spectators.

....John

 

[Ignacio]

Good for him but ..... This is a IBA ride NOT the Iron Butt Rally ( IBR ) Big Big DiFF.I Wish him well,,, Go Man !

He's riding in the 10-N-10 Rally, not an IBA ride. Big difference.

Concur it's a different organization, but he 10-N-10 can ALSO be used as an IBA ride......so it's both.....not that much of a difference. A person that completes the 10-N-10 will qualify for the 10/10ths award from the IBA.

And it's true it's not the IBR. The Iron Butt Rally is one day longer and held odd-numbered year. It's also probably fair to say the IBR attracts more riders and a higher concentration of the top riders But, the competition, grueling days, planning efforts, and many other details will still be similar. They don't call Chalmers the "Rally *******" for nothing.

One important distinction between the two for all of us watching.....we'll be able to watch the event unfold in a bit more detail as the 10-N-10 won't be quite so closed to us armchair rallyists. I would expect more blogging, more pics, and possibly more SPOT tracks to be open with this event.

I know I'll be watching and rooting!

 

[SacramentoMike]

Here's a link to part 3 of Alan's blog. The rally starts on Thursday, Aug 26th, so I'm not sure when the next installment will be published. After the rally, maybe? I'll watch for it and post. This week's is about his safety-related equipment. The first comment someone made to his listing of lights, gear, etc., was "What, no helmet?" But he did have a helmet, I'm pretty sure. It'll be interesting to read his post-rally writeup. Especially since I'll never have the experience of riding ten thousand-mile days in a row myself.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Part 4 can be found here, (they're OFF!) along with links to a Spot Tracker map for all the participants (some from the forum), and to Ignacio's blog regarding the rally (first post in the "comments" section). Best of luck to all. And you couldn't pay me enough.