2009 Iron Butt Rally - Official Daily Reports

[user 213]

Yep. It was explained at the banquet in Spartanburg. I will leave it to Warchild to make that funny tidbit public.

All riders were told of these negative point values at the Rider's Meeting.

In a nutshell... some of these crime scenes were so gruesome, the Rally Mistress told Bob Higdon: "Forget it, I am not sending people to that sick crime scene". Bob took umbrage, and threaten to quit if she did not include them in the bonus listing. "Fine", she said, "I'll make sure they are in the bonus listing."

She kept her word... all these gruesome bonii were included in the bonus pack.

But she assigned them a NEGATIVE point value, which will ensure they are not visited by anyone.

Don't **** with the Rally Mistress.... you'll lose every time. :lol:

Too bad LL is so genteel. And that there's a minimum point level for being a finisher. Otherwise you could pull a Mario and go for max negative points. Not that anyone will every beat Mario's score...

 

[Groo]

In a nutshell... some of these crime scenes were so gruesome, the Rally Mistress told Bob Higdon: "Forget it, I am not sending people to that sick crime scene". Bob took umbrage, and threaten to quit if she did not include them in the bonus listing. "Fine", she said, "I'll make sure they are in the bonus listing."

Was wondering as I was flipping though them if Norris Hall in Blacksburg would show up... (note, I'm a Virginia Tech grad, and will be passing through Blacksburg on my way to EOM in a couple weeks...).

 

[Indian Scout]

I was looking at the photos of the St Charles check point that Paul & Voni Glaves posted on LD Riders Forum and noticed one of Turbo Dave holding up his hand with bruses on it. Does anyone know what it is from.
I will say that he is smiling, so it can't be to serious.

I saw that too, but it looks like ink from his red gloves IMHO.

Yes, that is from his gloves. I wore that same pair for 6 days in 2006, and you woulda thought I'd contracted something unmentionable...

Thanks guys for the conformation that nothing was wrong. I talked to his wife yesterday and see said he was doing fine. But I dought he would tell her even if he wasn't.

 

[Warchild]

Sounds like there may be issues with the other RE5
https://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index....ic,43660.0.html

We are hearing that it appears to be a fried CDI unit. The LD Community is trying to find the first Rotary that failed in Florida and maybe cannibalize that part.

Bummer if neither bike finished, but... that was the challenge....

 

[Warchild]

Turbo Dave calls up the Rally Mistress on her cell phone....

[TD] "Hello Lisa, this is Turbo Dave"!

[RM] "Hi Dave... what's up?"

[TD] "Well, I was headed to this XYZ bonus you gave us, but the road comes to a good bit of construction, and the road has turned to dirt"!

[RM] {pregnant pause} "Uh... yeah..... and?"

[TD] "Well, I can't take a dirt road; I am on my FJR"!

[RM] {pregnant pause} "Uh... yeah..... and?"

[TD] "Well.... how do I document this bonus, then"?

[RM] "If you find the road impassable, Dave, then do the normal routine of photographing the spot where construction stopped you, etc. However, if others ride right through this dirt and get the photo, or go around and get the photo, you won't get points for this".

[TD] {pregnant pause} "Oh."

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Whether Turbo risked the dirt section or not, I have no idea....

 

[vectervp1]

:lol:

Thats sad and funny at the same time.

 

[user 213]

I tried to convince him to run a CT at White Stag. He even took mine for a short ride. Oh well, I hope he got the points w/o incident, or wisely bailed if he wasn't up to the conditions.

 

[Bill]

Turbo Dave calls up the Rally Mistress on her cell phone....
[TD] "Well, I can't take a dirt road; I am on my FJR"!

[RM] {pregnant pause} "Uh... yeah..... and?"

[TD] "Well.... how do I document this bonus, then"?

Whether Turbo risked the dirt section or not, I have no idea....

OMG!!! Good thing that the Ancient Bristlecone Pines probably won't be a bonus location in 2009.

 

[user 213]

OMG!!! Good thing that the Ancient Bristlecone Pines probably won't be a bonus location in 2009.

Why not? There were many crimes committed there. Not in the least, the attempt to burn the forest down with a Aprila Caponord! Isn't that where RJ stuck his FJR between the posts like a stump broke sheep?

 

[RenoJohn]

Isn't that where RJ stuck his FJR between the posts like a stump broke sheep?

LOL, no, I did that(clicky)on the '07 SPANK rally. Taught me that saddlebags on the fat FJR are not good for rallying. Have hardly used them since. BTW if you go to that spot, you can still hear my cuss-words echoing through the canyon, it was no fun pushing my bike out of that mess. Bristlecones pines is a good road -and I always assumed free from crime. Uhhh, until we got there anyway. Not familiar with the Caponord story.

 

[tagline]

Yep. It was explained at the banquet in Spartanburg. I will leave it to Warchild to make that funny tidbit public.

All riders were told of these negative point values at the Rider's Meeting.

In a nutshell... some if these crime scenes were so gruesome, the Rally Mistress told Bob Higdon: "Forget it, I am not sending people to that sick crime scene". Bob took umbrage, and threaten to quit if she did not include them in the bonus listing. "Fine", she said, "I'll make sure they are in the bonus listing."

She kept her word... all these gruesome bonii were included in the bonus pack.

But she assigned them a NEGATIVE point value, which will ensure they are not visited by anyone.

Don't **** with the Rally Mistress.... you'll lose every time. :lol:

Too bad LL is so genteel. And that there's a minimum point level for being a finisher. Otherwise you could pull a Mario and go for max negative points. Not that anyone will every beat Mario's score...

I guess I will hold that score until another entrant rides with the Mighty Joe Z. (Still giving him some of the credit. )

 

[doug5551]

Not familiar with the Caponord story.

https://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2003.cfm?DocID=7

Speaking of fire, Dennis ("Sparky") Kesseler saw enough of it this morning to last him a lifetime. He and Paul Taylor had just bagged the large bonus in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, the home of some of the oldest living things on Earth. Kesseler suddenly noticed that both he and his Aprilia Capo Nord were on fire. He jumped away from the flaming machine and rolled in the dirt to extinguish himself. The bike's tank then exploded. A moment later his four-gallon fuel cell also erupted. A ball of blistering, stinking, black smoke shot high into the air. Could Kesseler's day possibly get any worse?

Yes. Before he could regain his footing, flames from the bike started a brush fire. Think of it: For 4,500 years those aged trees have withstood everything the planet could throw at them --- rain, hail, lightning, snow, and sandstorms. Then an Iron Butt rider shows up on his blazing steed. The horror, the horror.

Fortunately for everyone, the fires were quickly controlled. Dennis headed for Los Angeles in a rental car to borrow a bike and rejoin the rally. He was time-barred at the checkpoint tonight, lost all the points he had accumulated during the first leg (including the points in the bristlecone forest), and will be barred from chasing any bonus points on the next leg. Then it gets worse: Changing machines in mid-rally invokes a 10,000-point penalty. When Dennis arrives at the second checkpoint in Florida in a few days, his total score will be -10,000. It is the rare and nightmarish triple crown of Iron Butt disasters. And it's no wonder those old trees have lived so long; they always get the last laugh.

 

[kaitsdad]

Turbo Dave calls up the Rally Mistress on her cell phone....
[TD] "Well, I can't take a dirt road; I am on my FJR"!

[RM] {pregnant pause} "Uh... yeah..... and?"

[TD] "Well.... how do I document this bonus, then"?

Whether Turbo risked the dirt section or not, I have no idea....

OMG!!! Good thing that the Ancient Bristlecone Pines probably won't be a bonus location in 2009.

Turbo and I have ridden dirt roads on our FJR's that would have been fun on a bulldozer. He's being careful about dropping the bike - he'd be hard pressed to upright it himself. He's just being cautious.

 

[Warchild]

Turbo and I have ridden dirt roads on our FJR's that would have been fun on a bulldozer. He's being careful about dropping the bike - he'd be hard pressed to upright it himself. He's just being cautious.

Exactly so. Too, let's not forget that piece of crap he's on is a Girlie-Electric FJR with no friggin' clutch to feather and ease in, etc. Wouldn't be my first choice for dirt, by far.

Further, in rally configuration, the bike is clearly laden and top-heavy... definitely not an optimal platform for a stubby little 69-year-old coot to try to muscle-**** around in soft dirt.

Turbo knows it's asphalt time for now.... he is smart to avoid potential trouble like that.

 

[mxvet57]

the RE5 is down but not out yeat. comon Alex

https://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.....html#msg999673

 

[johnny80s]

I just read all 18 pages of this thread. Gotta say I agree with Shiney (el Grande) Parts Up and say this is great. Thanks WC for the coverage!

 

[Warchild]

for losing the last Rotary....

The second Rotary looks to be TU (Warchild)
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The second RE-5 is indeed toes-up!!

Alex is in Kieler Wisconsin about 25 miles NE of Dubuque Ia. The RE-5 went

dead and it appears to be an indispensable part of the electrical system in

the engine. Anyway, he is safe and trying to make a deal on a local 1985

GL1100 so he can soldier on. There is also an 85 Honda 700 Shadow at a

dealer in Dubuque and a 71 Harley Sporty at another dealer so he has several

possibilities going. He's not trying to get off easy by buying a new bike

and finishing, he's doin it "Hopeless Class" all the way.

There is a nice 1400 point boni not too far away that he is going to wait

for that opens up early tomorrow morning so its not all negative. His

attitude is good and he wants to finish the rally, Dammit!!!

I'll let you all know when he gets back on the road and headed for CP2.

Bob Wooldridge

But for the WAY POSITIVE ATTITUDE HERE!!!

GO, ALEX!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tcfjr]

The IBR 2009 Leg 1 Bonus Locations can now be viewed on a Google Map:

https://tcfjr.goption.com/ibr2009-leg1.html

A list of the Leg 1 bonuses is available for download:Leg 1 Bonus Zip FileThe zip file contains the bonuses in CSV, Excel, and OpenOffice Calc formats, and contains the bonus description, point value, time restrictions, and lat/long in degrees-minutes (as published by the IBA) and in decimal degrees.

 

[user 213]

I guess I will hold that score until another entrant rides with the Mighty Joe Z. (Still giving him some of the credit. )

And rightfully so!

The Bristlecone fire story - In leg one of the '03 IBR Dennis Kesseler riding an Aprilla CapoNord had a fuel issue riding back from bagging the Ancient Bristlecone Forest bonus. The issue was that he suddenly noticed he and his bike were on fire. This caused Dennis to dump the bike and remove himself from the danger zone, immediately pondering what the fine would be for burning down the Ancient Bristlecone forest..... (IIRC, this was also the impetus for the ban on vented fuel caps)

Bob Higdon's words:

edit: I see Doug 555 beat me to it, but here is the end of that story:

However, "Sparky" found a replacement bike, and made what for most would be an unimaginable effort on the following legs.

"Now consider Sparky Kesseler's final leg. He burned up the highways from Maine to Montana, raking in an astonishing 58,826 points, a score that was enough to take home a gold medal on that leg alone. I can't even imagine such fiery determination. He finished 49th, with half of his points taken away because of the bike swap. In my opinion, that ride deserves something in addition to a gob of metal. Sparky deserves to have his name back: I salute you, Dennis. I knew you were good; I didn't know you were that good."

 

[Silver Penguin]

This is amazing stuff! I'm totally hooked on the progress of these crazy people. Thanks to all, especially Warchild for the information.

Has this thread set a record for the forum yet? Surely it will, by the end of the rally if not before.

I spent some time at a BMW dealer in Orange, CA today. Talk naturally turned to the rally. Irv Seaver's will have special Sunday opening hours for Iron Butt riders, headed towards nearby Santa Ana. (Guess they're stocking up on final drives?)

They also have a pretty blue FJR for sale, with their used bikes. Might prove tempting for a rider who is struggling along with a lesser machine.