2009 Iron Butt Rally - Official Daily Reports

[jmh_bhm]

RE-5 update:

Just heard that Alex has replaced his electrically dead RE-5 with an 85 Wing, which should technically keep him in the hopeless class.

Also saw some photos of Barry's dead RE-5 in FL. Looked like the drive chain came off and maybe broke the transmission case, dumping all the oil. Looks like it could have been worse, glad he did not crash.

And since I am a FNG, I screwed up and posted this as a new thread earlier. Doh!

I will try to delete it to avoid anymore confusion.

Move along people, nothing more to see.

 

[Rogue]

RE-5 update:
Just heard that Alex has replaced his electrically dead RE-5 with an 85 Wing, which should technically keep him in the hopeless class.

Also saw some photos of Barry's dead RE-5 in FL. Looked like the drive chain came off and maybe broke the transmission case, dumping all the oil. Looks like it could have been worse, glad he did not crash.

And since I am a FNG, I screwed up and posted this as a new thread earlier. Doh!

I will try to delete it to avoid anymore confusion.

Move along people, nothing more to see.

Just hours away from "Dog-Pile Friday"! :evilsmiley03:

 

[Lonerockz]

Is it just me or does this years rally seem designed to get more finishers? I didn't follow 07 as closely, but It seems that with the three leg format, people may get more rest, letting some of the more mortal riders finish. I'm not saying this is easy! I am in awe at anyone that has the guts to even try, let alone finish. Just from the ride reports it seems like riders with a good plan of attack and no bad luck should be able to get done with finishing points. Also I imagine that there will be a few more riders that bow out after leg 2. Folks that were in it to win that now realize they may not finish. In the 2 Leg or single leg formats I bet some of those folks took some risks they may have regretted.

I was surprised at how many riders went off to Florida. Just remember folks the Keys are a sucker bet every time. I have only been near Key West once. I started from Miami thinking hey looks like a 5 hour round trip. Got 25 miles away and realized that if I kept going it was a 2 hour trip back to the spot I was at. That was in a rental car, but I cant see doing it much faster on a bike, way too much LEO.

Steve

 

[Niehart]

"07" IB had one nasty bitch of a start because of the rain for days & days. Don't know that the setup is easier this time but the weather, so far, sure is.

 

[dcarver]

I'm heading out tomorrow on Wabs (DL650) to look at some property then will swing by CP2 Sunday. I have the camera, 1 big SD card and 2 batteries.

I hope to see my personal hero, TurboDave, then SkooterG, and all the other contestants. Will post up photos ASAP - of course I imagine this CP will have lots of folks doing the same thing..

I sure hope this illegal, immoral, and fattening activity doesn't hurt my current Prezidency of the Candy Butt Association, just sayin'... :****:

Hugs n' Kisses

Good luck all IBR riders and once again, GREAT job IBR organizers/volunteers/wannabees.. :yahoo:

 

[Cal24Master]

Is it just me or does this years rally seem designed to get more finishers? I didn't follow 07 as closely, but It seems that with the three leg format, people may get more rest, letting some of the more mortal riders finish. I'm not saying this is easy! I am in awe at anyone that has the guts to even try, let alone finish. Just from the ride reports it seems like riders with a good plan of attack and no bad luck should be able to get done with finishing points. Also I imagine that there will be a few more riders that bow out after leg 2. Folks that were in it to win that now realize they may not finish. In the 2 Leg or single leg formats I bet some of those folks took some risks they may have regretted.
I was surprised at how many riders went off to Florida. Just remember folks the Keys are a sucker bet every time. I have only been near Key West once. I started from Miami thinking hey looks like a 5 hour round trip. Got 25 miles away and realized that if I kept going it was a 2 hour trip back to the spot I was at. That was in a rental car, but I cant see doing it much faster on a bike, way too much LEO.

Steve

Actually this year is more like the traditional IBR's of years past. The real twist this year is that it is finishing in a different place than it started. This creates a whole bunch of logistical challenges. I am also thinking it may create more people dropping out. In previous years you had to get back to the start to retrieve your stuff. This time, I think it will harder for riders to ride past their homes when they are dog tired and things are going bad. There has not been a rally out of my 3 times that I did not want to quit at one point or another and had to find a way to suck it up and continue.

Another comparison to last time is that with 3 legs instead of two, you have an extra chance to totally screw the pooch. Of course, you also have an extra chance to move up if another rider screws the same pooch.

If you plan to ever ride the Iron Butt, and want to assume that Key West is always a sucker bonus, (It has in fact always been one!) You would be wise to look at the history of the rally in regard to Hyder Alaska. For many years Hyder was always a sucker bonus. It was in fact one the first IBR I rode in 1999. But starting in 2001 Hyder has always been really doable, if not necessarily the winning route. The thing about the IBR is that it is always different, and you never want to assume that if it was one way in the past, it still be the same way next time.

 

[TriggerT]

It will be interesting to see if the leg three bonus locations are pretty much all in the west, since the 1st leg was all in the East, and the 2nd leg keeps the riders in the center of the country. As I recall in years past there were some riders that crossed the entire US twice during the rally.

 

[jmh_bhm]

If you plan to ever ride the Iron Butt, and want to assume that Key West is always a sucker bonus, (It has in fact always been one!) You would be wise to look at the history of the rally in regard to Hyder Alaska. For many years Hyder was always a sucker bonus. It was in fact one the first IBR I rode in 1999. But starting in 2001 Hyder has always been really doable, if not necessarily the winning route. The thing about the IBR is that it is always different, and you never want to assume that if it was one way in the past, it still be the same way next time.

Well, not exactly. In the '01 rally, Key West was worth nearly 30,000 points and was definitely not a sucker bonus.

While Bob Hall won the rally by doing the nearly impossible and getting Prudhoe Bay on the third leg of the rally, for all of the other riders that took the Prudhoe Bay option on the first leg of the rally, it turned out that Key West was very important. In fact, to get into the remaining top five places it was essential to get Key West. After getting Prudhoe, those riders had to return to the states, bypass the finish in Madison, AL, go to Key West, then return to Madison. If you did not do that you did not make the top 5.

 

[RenoJohn]

I'm heading out tomorrow on Wabs (DL650) to look at some property then will swing by CP2 Sunday. I have the camera, 1 big SD card and 2 batteries. I hope to see my personal hero, TurboDave, then SkooterG, and all the other contestants. Will post up photos ASAP - of course I imagine this CP will have lots of folks doing the same thing..

I sure hope this illegal, immoral, and fattening activity doesn't hurt my current Prezidency of the Candy Butt Association, just sayin'... :****:

Hugs n' Kisses

Good luck all IBR riders and once again, GREAT job IBR organizers/volunteers/wannabees.. :yahoo:

Perhaps we'll cross paths Don. Yep, me thinks your CBA prezz days might be in jeopardy -but you never know, some of these riders might just be tired and vulnerable -and perhaps ready to just kick the bike over and walk away. Maybe you can actually recruit. I'd take a sign-up sheet if I were you.

 

[Warchild]

Well, it's All Quiet on the Western Front so far this morning.... we'll see how long this lasts.

I am marginally surprise how (relatively) well all the bikes are doing mechanically... based upon what I saw in the parking lot of the Start Line, I expected a few more problems with the machines that what has been reported thus far.

OTOH, we are only starting Day 5, so... lots of time left.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Well, it's All Quiet on the Western Front so far this morning.... we'll see how long this lasts.
I am marginally surprise how (relatively) well all the bikes are doing mechanically... based upon what I saw in the parking lot of the Start Line, I expected a few more problems with the machines that what has been reported thus far.

OTOH, we are only starting Day 5, so... lots of time left.

I love optimists

 

[Warchild]

As of 7am PDT, Ignacio is clearly ahead of a pack of a half-dozen riders who did the Minot, North Dakota bonus. Jerry White is with this group, as is Sal on his ST1100.

A crapload of riders elected to do the southern track of boni for Leg 2, including NMdcporter, SkooterG, Davo, Rick Sauter, Thane Silliker, cdog, Greg Rice and many others.

Davo is near West Des Moines, Iowa.

SkooterG is around Topeka, Kansas.

NMdcporter is on the border of Nebraska and Kansas.

Greg Rice is somewhere south of St Louis.

Rick Sauter is closing in on Oklahoma City.

 

[Dan S]

How many riders have a SPOT? Are they all on a single composite screen like Jason had or do you have to go looking at several sites to find all fo them? Any report on how Catfish likes that rear tire?

 

[JimNtexas]

It looks like the University of Texas Tower and the Branch Davidian compound may be bonus locations.

 

[TriggerT]

How many riders have a SPOT? Are they all on a single composite screen like Jason had or do you have to go looking at several sites to find all fo them? Any report on how Catfish likes that rear tire?

All SPOTs are password protected per new rules.

 

[Dan S]

How many riders have a SPOT? Are they all on a single composite screen like Jason had or do you have to go looking at several sites to find all fo them? Any report on how Catfish likes that rear tire?

All SPOTs are password protected per new rules.

I know. What I intended was a question for WC. How he (and the IBR staff) are tracking riders and to what extent. How many of the riders have a SPOT? Do they have a composite for all or do they have to go to several sites to see what's going on? Do they check on the current location only or are they watching the tracks of any specific riders? Just curious.

 

[pmeysemb]

How many riders have a SPOT? Are they all on a single composite screen like Jason had or do you have to go looking at several sites to find all fo them? Any report on how Catfish likes that rear tire?

All SPOTs are password protected per new rules.

...and I am stuck watching one measly icon slowly move across the screen because I only have one password.

Maybe next time, we could have a lottery to see who gets the password for the comprehensive SPOT page? (hint, hint)

Don't know how long I can keep playing these lame Facebook games instead.

...... I NEED SPOT ICONS!

 

[Warchild]

...... I NEED SPOT ICONS!

This is all I can provide.... snapshots in time only.

This is just before 9am PDT, Friday, 28 August 2009:

MCW = Matt Watkins

JW = Jerry White

GM = Greg Marbach

DHJ - Davo the Aussie

DCP = NMdcporter

RS = Rick Sauter

TRS = Thane Silliker

 

[TriggerT]

Well, a taste is better than nothing.

 

[Groo]

Didn't know this leg had any Bonii in the Carolinas...?