2007 Iron Butt Rally - Official Daily Reports

[Warchild]

So much for our detail oriented, BMW riding, anal-retentive engineer! But don't tell him I said that.

But, of course, now that you've written this yourself in the public domain.... no one needs to tell him who said that. :lol:

Get some rest.... you're gonna need it for Leg 2, I promise....

 

[uctofeej]

Rock on, SkooterG! Good luck on the next leg!

 

[turbodave_98]

Greg,

Remember if what you are considering doing doesn't look right, then don't do it!! FYI, just like there are "NO OLD BOLD PILOTS", there are very FEW OLD BOLD RIDERS

Wishing you a continued safe ride, needed rest and a successful rally conclusion.

 

[Wolfhound]

AWESOME Greg ! Mental Clarity(sp) , Go, SkooterG, Go ! I'm loving this IBR !

 

[stryg8r]

Uff da! Dat dere ScooterG is on fire don-cha-no! Dat boy is gonna do vell ya? Oh sure, you betchca.

 

[Warchild]

Day 7: The Cackling Witch of a Rallymaster

2007 Iron Butt Rally, Day 7Sunday, August 26, 2007

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Apparently Rob Nye and Jim Frens don't, or at least they don't care. Early today, I received a report of their whereabouts. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is not on the way to San Jose; it's on the way to Homer, Alaska. Tomorrow, we should learn who else thinks they can average 1,300 miles per day over less than optimum roads for 6 days.

Everything has to go perfectly to get to Homer and back in six days. You can tolerate little or nothing in the way of bad weather, road construction zones, traffic congestion, bike problems, and encounters with animals on the road. Under the best of conditions, you aren't going to get much sleep. It will take a really tough rider with really good luck.

I had just finished writing the above paragraph at 2:30 p.m. Central Time when my cell phone rang. It was IBR veteran Paul Meredith, who is getting periodic updates on Rob Nye's progress. Rob is in Edmonton, Alberta. That's 1800 miles from Chesterfield, MO, and the bonus listings were handed out only 34 hours ago. Rob has been keeping a pace that is sufficient to make it to Homer and back.

Unfortunately, Rob's chances of scoring the Homer, Alaska, bonus have just vaporized. His BMW R1200RT, the one with the all-new, never needs maintenance final drive, is puking rear end lubricant all over Public Highway 16. Dammit! It's bad enough that Rob's valiant effort has to end this way; what's worse is that I am going to have to listen to that cackling witch of a rallymaster reminding me of our side bet on the percentage of BMWs that would finish without mechanical failures. She will laugh about it later, but it's not funny right now. We truly feel sorry for Rob because we know he was giving it his all.

Rob is clearly out of contention for a top ten finish, but he isn't necessarily out of the rally. We should know tomorrow whether he is going to get the Beemer fixed and back on the road. If anyone can do it, Rob can.

There are a couple of reports today of other BMW riders having less serious problems than Rob Nye. Yesterday, when Eric Jewell returned to the parking lot of Rally Central to do additional route planning, IBR staffer Greg Roberts noticed that Eric's rear tire was going flat. Spectator and former IBR winner Rick Morrison found a nail in the tire. The hole was plugged before Eric got back on the road, but the plug blew out as Eric was traveling west on I-70. He was able to replug the hole, but he really needed a new tire.

The nearest BMW dealer in Eric's direction of travel was Engle Motors in Kansas City. He called from the side of the road at 3:10 p.m. to learn that their service department closes at 3 on Saturday. When Eric told them his situation, one of the technicians who had not yet left agreed to wait for him. Eric called back later as he was motoring down the road on a new ME880. He asked me to pass this along: "Engle Motors Rocks!"

Bob Collin called in today from Colorado. He pulled off of the road to take a nap and left his 4-way flashers on. When he awoke his battery was dead. It took over two hours for the service vehicle to arrive and give him a jump. As the truck pulled away, Bob got back on the R1200RT and promptly stalled it. It wouldn't restart. By the time he got his second jump start, he had been sidelined for 5 hours.

Approaching midnight on Sunday, Tom and Rosie Sperry are sidelined in Kellogg, Idaho after the "tail dragger" auxiliary fuel cell on their K1200LT broke loose and fell against the rear tire. The rear tire is in shreds. They will try to get if fixed tomorrow morning and stay in the rally if at all possible.

Two more riders have dropped out as of today: Norm Grills on a BMW K1100LT and Dave Hinks on an FJR1300. Norm was too exhausted to continue after spending time trying to fix problems with his CB and XM radio that he should have spent sleeping. David lost all chances of being listed as a finisher when he lost his bonus listing. It blew out of his top case, which apparently hadn't been closed properly.

Most of the 87 riders remaining in the rally are undoubtedly headed for Lick Observatory at the top of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California. Because of the width of the time window, it won't be quite the mob scene it was at Gateway Arch, but there will be dozens of riders there at the same time. The key to placing well will be figuring out what other bonuses can be included in a route that contains the 24,057 point bonus at the Observatory.

Since tomorrow is the first call-in bonus for Leg 2, I will be posting a lot of information on where everyone is and where they are headed. I'm guessing that there are at least two other riders besides Nye and Frens that are on their way to Alaska.

During the break in the action at Rally Central, I want to acknowledge the efforts of volunteers who got everyone through the scoring process at the end of Leg 1. Ira Agin's team of scorers included Steve Hobart, Paul Glaves, John Harrison, Dennis Bitner, Roger Van Santen, Jim Fousek, Greg Roberts, Dave McQueeney, Don Moses, Jerry Harris, and Helen Austin. Bill Shaw served as the custodian of the envelopes into which all of the bonus listings and documentation were filed. He also served as the maitre d'. About an hour before the opening of the checkpoint window, a queue of riders was forming for the scoring tables. Bill kept a list of riders waiting to be scored, which built up to about 20 at the busiest point. It was a very smoothly run operation.

Bob Higdon assisted Michael Kneebone with the final review and data entry process. Donna Fousek and Karen Van Santen also provided assistance to Kneebone and Rallymaster Landry throughout the evening.

In addition to their involvement in the scoring process, many of these same volunteers have put in an enormous amount of time scouting bonuses and doing other behind-the-scenes work necessary to make the 2007 Iron Butt Rally possible.

Tom Austin

August 26, 2007

Copyright © 2007 Iron Butt Rally, Inc., Chicago, IL

 

[Waaane]

2007 Iron Butt Rally, Day 7Sunday, August 26, 2007

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Most of the 87 riders remaining in the rally are undoubtedly headed for Lick Observatory at the top of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California. Because of the width of the time window, it won't be quite the mob scene it was at Gateway Arch, but there will be dozens of riders there at the same time.

When are these guys going to start getting into the Bay Area? Is the time window at the observatory public knowledge? Also I have a set of BT021s in my garage I would be happy to lend any rider that needs them or a place to wrench on a bike or just rest if necessary. I don't have a tire changer but I can pull wheels or take the tires to a shop pretty much anywhere in the bay area. I am located about 5 miles from the I580 / I680 interchange in Dublin and am in the FJR assistance directory. Please let me know if I can help.

Ride on...This is great stuff

 

[Rogue]

When are these guys going to start getting into the Bay Area? Is the time window at the observatory public knowledge? ...

They could start showing up any time.

I'd think anytime between this afternoon and mid day Wednesday.

Isn't the Bay Bridge scheduled to be closed 3 days this week for construction? :blink: :blink: :blink:

 

[Waaane]

Isn't the Bay Bridge scheduled to be closed 3 days this week for construction? :blink: :blink: :blink:

They are going to close the Bay Bridge over the Memorial Day weekend. Everybody should be long gone by then.

(edit) Sorry...I screwed up the quote function

 

[Warchild]

Hot off the press.....

2007 Iron Butt Rally, Day 8Monday, August 27, 2007

Eight Are Heading for Alaska

One of the best things about serving as Rally Scribe is being the first person to hear incoming messages from riders on the road that just make my jaw drop. Who on Earth would have expected a rider in 90th place at the end of Leg 1 to be on his way to Homer, Alaska?

Don Kulwicki, on a GL1800 Gold Wing, called me just before 3:30 p.m. Central Time today to tell me he had just bagged the 28,230 point Watson Lake bonus and is heading for Homer. He was 2,800 miles from Rally Central here in Chesterfield, MO and 59.5 hours into the ride. Since the bonus listings were handed out on Saturday morning, he had been averaging 47 mph. Unfortunately, that's way behind the pace required to get to Homer and back.

Two other intrepid riders are also on their way to Homer: Jim Frens and George Barnes. They have a chance of making it. Jim decided on his route plan quickly and was one of the first riders out of the parking lot at the start of Leg 2. George Barnes spent a lot of time planning a route around San Jose and then changed his mind at the last minute, giving Frens a head start of several hours.

Frens has increased his lead over Barnes. He called in from Tok, Alaska, at 4:35 p.m. Pacific Time. George was still 400 miles from Tok when he called in at 5:38 p.m. Jim is ahead of the schedule required to make it back from Homer; George is behind schedule. If it was anyone other than George Barnes, I would say he is toast.

The other Alaska bound riders aren't biting off quite so much. Dick Fish, Fred Droegemueller, Joe DeRyke, Bill Watt, and Paul Allison are all on their way to Hyder.

Where is the Routing Guru?

Homer, Alaska was a tempting destination for those riders with a butt of iron and a burning desire to win, but there are more points to be had on the West Coast for someone with the skill to plan an efficient route and the ability to hustle to bonus after bonus with very little time off the bike. Jim Owen, who was in second place at the end of Leg 1, is on a mission to score more points than are available by going to Homer as he does his vacuum cleaner routine on the West Coast.

David Derrick, the leader at the end of Leg 1, has fallen back in the pack after a fuel pump failure on his R1100RT. Because of the mileage on the bike, David was actually carrying a spare fuel pump with him. The heartbreaking part of this story is that the bike was trashed while being trucked to the nearest BMW dealership in the back of a truck. What should have been a quick repair turned into an all day ordeal.

Kudos to BMW of Las Vegas for bringing in a technician on a day that the service department is normally closed. Unfortunately, David didn't get back on the road until almost 5 p.m.

"It's Day 8, What the Hell Do You Expect."

That was Alan Barbic's explanation for his embarrassing moment at Glacier Point. The bonus instructions said, "Take a picture of Half Dome from the Glacier Point overlook." He had just done that and was headed back down the road. While trying to ride his bike and double check the bonus listing at the same time (never a good idea), he saw something in the bonus listing about taking a picture of "one of the information signs." He stopped and tried to turn around on the narrow road. He dropped the bike in the process. When he finally got back to Glacier Point, he read the bonus instructions one more time; the picture of the information sign was only required "if weather prevents you from taking the picture" of Half Dome.

Several riders commented on what a nice ride it was to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Rebecca Vaughn referred to it as "A pretty hellish little road." (The fact that it was 18,567 points should have been a clue.) Curt Gran had an especially nice ride up and down the mountain. He had a flat tire on the way up and dropped his bike on the way back down.

Mike Hutsal reported that the road to Bristlecone shook the windshield off his K1200GT. That's my old bike, the same one I used to scout the Bristlecone bonus in 2003; the windshield fell off before I got to the top. That's the road that convinced me to buy a GS for scouting Iron Butt Rally bonuses.

Brett Donahue found an even worse road to get back from Bristlecone. He let "Betty the Bitch" from his Garmin GPS route him down a goat trail called Silver Canyon Road. Brett knew he was in trouble when he got to the sign that said, "Four Wheel Drive Recommended After This Point." Six stream crossings later, he finally got back to pavement.

The road to the Trona Pinnacles also got good reviews. Ken Morton reported, "The road to the Pinnacles absolutely sucks."

Three More Riders Out

A total of 14 riders have now dropped out.

Homer Krout put his BMW R1200GS into a ditch on SR180 in Sequoia National Park after hitting some gravel on the road. Homer is banged up a little bit but apparently okay. The bike is more than a little banged up; Homer thinks it may be totaled. He is probably out.

Steve Broadhead is definitely out. He had plans for doing Hyder, but he decided to pack it in when he reached his hometown of Calgary.

Alan Bennett, riding his first endurance rally on a Hopeless Class 250 cc Kawasaki, is also out. In addition to being beaten up by the weather on Leg 1, he had his GPS and tank bag stolen. Because the tank bag contained some of the receipts he needed at the scoring table, he ended up in 87th place with only 53, 225 points. He wasn't doing well on Leg 2 and has decided to call it quits.

Glenn Pancoast is the second victim of a rear drive failure on the all-new, never needs maintenance final drive on his R1200GS. But he will apparently be back on the road tomorrow.

Location, Location, Location

At the riders meeting for the start of Leg 2, everyone received supplemental instructions regarding the call-in bonus. To help riders remember what they need to report, they were told "Think of the three most important things when it comes to real estate; location, location, and location." Two riders, Bill Thweatt and Peter Murray, failed to report their current location. Vance Keeney failed to report his next location. As was said at the riders meeting, "The sleep bonus" doesn't cut it.

We think Rick Martin also lost the call-in bonus for using Vicki Johnston's rider number. Either that or Vicki Johnston sounds really bad today and is using Rick Martin's name.

Listed below, in order of the time that they called in, is the location and next destination for each rider. All times are Pacific Daylight Savings Time.

12:12 a.m., Jim Simonet is in Jarrell, TX, and headed for The Alamo.

12:24 a.m., Paul Peloquin is in Las Vegas, NV, and headed for Death Valley.

12:33 a.m., Matt Watkins is in Pahrump, NV, also headed to Death Valley.

1:08 a.m., Terry and Lynda Lahman are in Ely, NV, headed next to Yosemite.

1:09 a.m., Bob and Silvie Torter are in North Dakota and headed for Lake Louise.

1:29 a.m., Jim Bain is in Kingman, AZ, headed for Las Vegas.

1:33 a.m., Peter Leap is in Washington, UT, headed for Las Vegas.

1:35 a.m., Rick Miller is in Kingman, AZ, headed for the nearby "Golf Ball House."

2:15 a.m., Stephan Bolduc is in Mitchell, SD, headed for Mt. Rushmore.

2:20 a.m., Jim and Donna Phillips appear to be riding with Stephan Bolduc.

2:22 a.m., Steve Branner is in Utah on his way to Las Vegas.

3:12 a.m., Rick Neeley is in Wyoming on his way to Dinosaur National Monument.

3:25 a.m., Richard Buber is in El Paso, TX, heading for White Sands, NM.

3:26 a.m., Mike Senty appears to be riding with Buber.

3:29 a.m., Jim Winterer appears to be riding with Buber and Senty.

3:30 a.m., Ken Morton is in Ridgecrest, CA, headed for Sequoia National Park.

4:17 a.m., Reiner and Lisa Kappenberger are also in Ridgecrest headed for Sequoia.

4:19 a.m., John Tomasovitch is in Las Vegas and headed for Death Valley.

4:22 a.m., Chris McGaffin is in Paige, AZ, and headed for Sequoia.

4:37 a.m., Don Catterton is in New Mexico headed for White Sands.

4:44 a.m., Peter Murray is headed for Lake Louise.

4:49 a.m., David Bordeaux is in North Dakota, headed for Mt. Rushmore.

4:56 a.m., Marty Leir is in Big Pine, CA, headed for Bristlecone Pine Forest.

5:12 a.m., Dennis Powell is at Wall Drugs in South Dakota headed for Mt. Rushmore.

5:13 a.m., Greg Marbach is in Bishop, CA, headed for Bristlecone.

5:22 a.m., Jim Mulcahy is in Canada, headed for Lake Louise.

5:29 a.m., Brian Roberts is in Nevada, headed for Death Valley.

5:37 a.m., John Langan is also in Nevada, headed for Death Valley.

5:53 a.m., Carl Stark is in Tonopah, NV headed for Bristlecone.

5:57 a.m., Michael Boge is riding with Carl Stark.

5:59 a.m., Andy Mills is in Colorado, headed for Dinosaur National Monument.

6:12 a.m., Kevin Healey is in Arizona, headed for the Grand Canyon.

6:17 a.m., Glenn Pancoast is in Laramie, WY, headed for Dinosaur.

6:23 a.m., Tom Skemp is in Wendover, NV, headed for Gerlach.

6:25 a.m., Bob Collin appears to be riding with Tom Skemp.

6:49 a.m., Richard Keegan is in Bakersfield, CA, headed for Sequoia.

7:01 a.m., Jeff Earls is at the ferry terminal in Port Angeles headed for Vancouver Island.

7:17 a.m., Don Jones is at Idaho Springs, CO, headed for Tennessee Pass.

7:58 a.m., Jack Shoalmire is on his way from Las Vegas to Death Valley.

8:24 a.m., Karol Patzer is in Las Vegas and headed for Death Valley.

8:28 a.m., Fred Droegemueller is in Lake Louise and headed for Hyder, AK.

8:29 a.m., Joe DeRyke is also in Lake Louise and headed for Hyder, AK.

8:32 a.m., Tony DeLorenzo is in Las Vegas and headed for Death Valley.

8:45 a.m., Bill Thweatt is on his way to Death Valley.

9:16 a.m., Rick Martin is on his way from Wendover, NV, to Gerlach.

9:42 a.m., Bob Mueller is in Jacob Lake, AZ, headed for Las Vegas.

9:55 a.m., Jim Owen is in Carson, WA, and headed for Maryhill, WA

10:35 a.m., Tom and Rosie Sperry are in Kellogg, ID, headed for Mt. St. Helens.

10:39 a.m., Art Garvin is in Tonopah, NV, headed for Death Valley.

10:49 a.m., Steve Broadhead called it quits from his hometown in Calgary.

11:24 a.m., Kendall Anderson is in Big Pine, CA, headed for Yosemite.

12:04 p.m., Brett Donahue is on Highway 395 headed for Yosemite Village.

12:11 p.m., Tom Melchild is at Glacier Point (Yosemite), headed for Mono Hot Springs.

12:17 p.m., Mike Evans is on Vancouver Island and headed for Hurricane Ridge, WA.

12:28 p.m., Rob Nye is Edmonton, Alberta, and headed for Lake Louise.

12:31 p.m., Vicki Johnston is departing Glacier Point for Mono Hot Springs.

12:35 p.m., Chris Sakala is en route to Mono Hot Springs from Yosemite.

12:56 p.m., Mark Collins is in Belgrade, MT, and headed for Kellogg, ID.

1:15 p.m., Don Kulwicki is in Watson Lake, YT, and on his way to Homer, AK.

2:24 p.m., Dick Fish is in Fraser Lake, BC, and on his way to Hyder, AK.

3:02 p.m., Alex Schmitt is in Tacoma, WA, and on his way to Mt. St. Helens.

3:12 p.m., Doug Bailey is in Seattle, WA, and on his way to Mt. St. Helens.

3:16 p.m., Gregg Burger is in Bishop, CA, and on his way to Mono Hot Springs.

4:33 p.m., Mike Langford is Oakhurst, CA, and on his way to Mono Hot Springs.

4:35 p.m., Jim Frens is in Tok, Alaska, and on his way to Homer, AK.

4:53 p.m., David Derrick is in Las Vegas and on his way to the Yosemite Village.

5:38 p.m., George Barnes is in Whitehorse and on his way to Homer, AK.

6:27 p.m., Chris Cimino is in San Francisco and on his way to Livermore, CA.

7:55 p.m., Maura Gatensby is in Elko, NV, headed for Yosemite.

8:08 p.m., Joel Rappoport is in Wall, SD, headed for Kellogg, ID

8:30p.m., Curt Gran is at Mono Hot Springs and on the way to San Jose.

8:49 p.m., Paul Allison is on the way to Hyder.

8:59 p.m., Mike Getzendanner is in Clovis, CA on the way to San Francisco.

8:59 p.m., Bill Watt is in British Columbia, on his way to Hyder.

9:01 p.m., Mike Hutsal is in Los Banos, CA, on his way to San Francisco.

9:11 p.m., Lisa Stevens is in Fresno, CA, headed for Livermore, CA.

9:14 p.m., Tobie Stevens is, of course, following Lisa.

9:26 p.m., Rebecca Vaughn is on her way from Yosemite to Big Sur, CA.

9:33 p.m., Alan Barbic is on his way from Mono Hot Springs to Santa Cruz.

9:39 p.m., Eric Jewell is on his way to Mono Hot Springs.

9:43 p.m., Dick Peek is in Yosemite Village, headed for the Ahwahnee Hotel.

10:14 p.m., Vance Keeney is in Livermore, CA, headed who knows where.

11:40 p.m., Gerhard Memmen-Kruger is in San Francisco headed for the Lick Observatory tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is the parade to the Lick Observatory at the top of Mt. Hamilton, where the riders have to sign in with Dean Tanji to score the 24,057 point bonus. Some riders will be taking a fairly direct route back to Rally Central after that. Riders who are going to finish in the top ten have a lot more bonus hunting to do first.

Tom Austin

August 27, 2007

Copyright © 2007 Iron Butt Rally, Inc., Chicago, IL

 

[twowheelnut]

9:11 p.m., Lisa Stevens is in Fresno, CA, headed for Livermore, CA.9:14 p.m., Tobie Stevens is, of course, following Lisa.

:rofl:

You fuckin' guys are relentless!

 

[airboss]

We think Rick Martin also lost the call-in bonus for using Vicki Johnston's rider number. Either that or Vicki Johnston sounds really bad today and is using Rick Martin's name.

Heres a shot of "Vicki" inspecting his bike to make sure we put it back together( we being Paul, Jim & I, not Smitty)

Go, Rick GO!

 

[FJR_pig]

9:11 p.m., Lisa Stevens is in Fresno, CA, headed for Livermore, CA.9:14 p.m., Tobie Stevens is, of course, following Lisa.

:rofl:

You fuckin' guys are relentless!

At least Mr. Lisa Stevens' first name is being used now. That's some kind of progress.

 

[RayW]

2:24 p.m., Dick Fish is in Fraser Lake, BC, and on his way to Hyder, AK.

OK....I normally don't laugh at peoples names because of the grief I got growing up but...ya gotta admit....

:rofl:

...I wonder if he did that on purpose....

Ray

 

[Bounce]

Anyone familiar with Dick's past rides know that it's not a laughing matter. He's a hell of a rider.

 

[Warchild]

He's a hell of a rider.

Indeed. He is among the best.

This particular IBR, he gambled on some potential bonus decisions and lost, thus he is likely not to place anywhere near his usual upper 20% in the standings.

But a hell of a rider, he is....

 

[RayW]

Anyone familiar with Dick's past rides know that it's not a laughing matter. He's a hell of a rider.

Hey...I'll be the first to admit that even the lowest scoring folks are about a million times better riders than me. That line just struck me as funny. But then, I'm kind of warped. I just wonder if he was trying to give us a laugh on purpose by calling in from Fraser Lake. It would be like me, with the last name of "Woods", calling in from Forrest City, AR.

All these folks really impress me. Shoot, I'm ready for a break after my 30 mile ride to or from work every day. After some of the miles these folks put in I'd be like that tricycle guy from the old "Laugh-In" show....pull up to a stop sign and just fall over.

And...since I'm already typing here instead of working...just want to say a BIG thank-you to Warchild for keeping us updated on everything. I've known about the IBR for quite a while but your updates have made it much more enjoyable. You've given us a "home team" to root for. :clapping: :yahoo:

Ray

 

[Bounce]

I'd recommend that anyone with the time, hit the IBA web site and surf to the daily reports of past IBRallies. Do a search of Dick Fish and be ready to shake your head in amazement.

The time when the frame on his bike broke, so he used some tie down straps to fashion a set of suspenders, shoulder the bike, and held the 2 halves up while standing on the pegs while he rode the bike to a distant town. Then went door to door until he found someone with a welder who was able to help him fix his frame. DAMN!

 

[RayW]

I'd recommend that anyone with the time, hit the IBA web site and surf to the daily reports of past IBRallies. Do a search of Dick Fish and be ready to shake your head in amazement.
The time when the frame on his bike broke, so he used some tie down straps to fashion a set of suspenders, shoulder the bike, and held the 2 halves up while standing on the pegs while he rode the bike to a distant town. Then went door to door until he found someone with a welder who was able to help him fix his frame. DAMN!

DANG!! Sounds like he needs to change his name to "McGiver"!! Although I think McGiver would have used some jumper cables and a coin to weld it up himself...

and just to make it clear...I *do* have the utmost respect for these guys. Shoot....I'm even impressed by the guy on the solo run with the extended gas tank.....

and now that I mention it....didn't I read that that thing was about 13 gallons or something??? That would make it over the 11.5 gal limit for the rally itself, wouldn't it?

Ray

 

[Bounce]

Day 9 While Dale's At the Finish Line

2007 Iron Butt Rally, Day 9Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Parade to Mt. Hamilton

Today was the motorcycle parade to the top of Mt. Hamilton, where the

riders had to sign in with Dean Tanji at the Lick Observatory in order

to get the 24,057 point bonus. The point total was set so that it would

attract every rider who didn’t go to Alaska. During the 9:00 a.m.

to 3:00 p.m. bonus window, a total of only 54 motorcycles showed up.

Accounting for the 14 riders who we know to be out of the rally and the

9 riders who headed for Alaska (Barnes, Frens, Kulwicki, Nye, Fish,

Droegemueller, DeRyke, Watt, and Allison), there were 20 other

motorcycles that we expected to try for the observatory. We know that David

Derrick and Glenn Pancoast were sipping Kool-Aid in BMW dealerships waiting

for their motorcycles to be put back in running order. Mark Collins

was stranded at a Harley dealership.

The other 17 motorcycles that were no-shows are being ridden by Maura

Gatensby, Bill Thweatt, Bob and Silvie Torter, Jim Mulcahy, Peter

Murray, Bob Mueller, Rick Neeley, Joel Rappoport, Mike Senty, Jim Simonet,

Jim Winterer, Steve Branner, Kevin Healey, Jim Bain, David Bordeaux,

Richard Buber, and Don Catterton. They are either running behind schedule

or on a sub-optimal route.

Fourteen motorcycles were waiting at the observatory when the

checkpoint opened. Their riders were Mike Hutsal, Reiner and Lisa Kappenberger,

Tom Melchild, Jack Shoalmire, Chris Cimino, Vance Keeney, Bob Collin,

Terry and Lynda Lahman, Ken Morton, Rick Martin, Richard Keegan, Chris

McGaffin, Jeff Earls, and Greg Marbach.

At the back end of the parade, the rider in 3rd place at the end of Leg

1, Gregg Burger, came within 20 seconds of missing the checkpoint

window. Doug Bailey was much more conservative, leaving himself a whole

minute. Alex Schmitt had 8 minutes to spare.

The other riders that made it to the observatory, in the order they

signed in, were Mike Langford, Marty Leir, Peter Leap, John Tomasovitch,

Brett Donahue, Rick Miller, Brian Roberts, Kendall Anderson, Alan

Barbic, Tobie Stevens, Lisa Stevens, Chris Sakala, Paul Peloquin, Vicki

Johnston, Matt Watkins, Rebecca Vaughn, Gerard Memmen-Kruger, Tom and Rosie

Sperry, Tom Skemp, Art Garvin, Mike Getzendanner, Michael Boge, Carl

Stark, Karol Patzer, Curt Gran, Tony DeLorenzo, Andy Mills, Jim Owen,

John Langan, Kevin Healey, Jim Bain, Don Jones, Dick Peek, Mike Evans, Jim

and Donna Phillips, Stephan Bolduc, and Eric Jewell.

Dean Tanji reports that everything ran very smoothly at the checkpoint.

It took less than a minute per rider for check in. There was,

however, a minor mishap on the twisty 2-lane road leading to the observatory.

Doug Bailey and Dick Peek bumped together on a tight turn and both

bikes went down. There was no major damage and both riders are

continuing on.

IBR veteran Dave Biasotti also gave me a report from the observatory.

Dave talked to Jim Owen, who told Dave that he had already been to

Vancouver, Mt. Saint Helens, Gerlach, and all of the San Francisco bonuses.

Jim said that he was headed for the Sierras (no surprise). He

covered 3,000 miles in 48 hours before getting 6 hours of sleep last night.

Dave said that Jim looked well rested and his bike has been running

great, but he is having one problem: he is running low on Polaroid film

because he has taken over 120 pictures!

Service Bay Action

Leg 1 leader David Derrick broke down a second time. The same problem

that BMW of Las Vegas was supposed to have fixed cropped up again in

Yosemite. Arrangements were made to get the bike towed for a second time

to a dealer in Modesto, 90 miles away.

Glenn Pancoast spent most of the day in Salt Lake City waiting for a

new final drive to be installed in his R1200GS.

Mark Collins’ problem was a broken rim on the rear wheel on his 1972

Harley. Luckily he was able to obtain a new rim in Missoula, Montana.

He’s back on the road today, but his chances of making the West

Coast on time were shot.

Rick Neeley was at BMW of Las Vegas tonight to get a failed odometer

replaced on his R1200GS.

Calls From the Road

Rebecca Vaughn may have set a new Iron Butt Rally record with her hotel

stay last night. Yesterday, while scoring her call-in bonus, she said

that she was on her way to Big Sur where she would try to find a place

to stay for the night. As soon as Lisa Landry heard the recording,

she said, “She won’t find anything.â€

Sure enough, Rebecca called in this morning to report that she

couldn’t find a place to stay in Big Sur. She ended up going to Carmel,

which is not exactly known for economical accommodations. She found a room

for $400. But, hey, the rest bonus was 7,723 points. 19 points per

dollar is a bargain on this rally, especially for the many riders

visiting BMW service departments throughout North America.

1999 IBR winner George Barnes called in from Homer, Alaska. He’s

there with rally newbie Don Kulwicki. They have a 4,000 mile ride to get

back home and, at the time of the call, they had only 65 hours left

before the final checkpoint opens. That requires just shy of a Bun Burner

Gold pace for almost three full days.

Rob Nye called in today to report that his first bonus after the repair

of his failed final drive was Custer’s Last Stand. This rally has

given Rob an appreciation for how Custer must have felt at the bitter

end.

There was no call today from Jim Frens. That’s probably a very good

sign. Jim is probably way ahead of George Barnes and Don Kulwicki and

on schedule to make it back from Homer in time. If Jim stays on

schedule, he will be going to the scoring table with a huge point total. But

will it be enough? As best we can follow Jim Owen via Star Traxx, he

seems to be snagging an amazing number of high point bonuses all over

the Western U.S. Several other riders also have the potential to score

more in the West than is available on the way to Homer and back.

We may know a bit more tomorrow when we start getting information from

the second call-in bonus on this leg, but it’s likely to be late

Friday morning before we know who is going to win the 2007 Iron Butt Rally.

Tom Austin

August 28, 2007

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