2009 Iron Butt Rally - Official Daily Reports

[BwanaDik]

Here is what happened, I have this from a very reliable source who is riding the rally this year:
First, there have been problems in the past with people who have an agenda to hurt, or discredit the Iron Butt Rally and LD riding in general. It started first in a rally a few years ago when a reporter from the LA times sneaked into the riders parking area and started accessing riders GPS data without their permission. Then they interviewed a few riders and asked them leading questions to make it all sound much more dangerous than it is. After all that, they wrote a scathing article and put it in the paper that made all the riders seem like a bunch of maniacs out riding around the country without ever sleeping, speeding and endangering the lives of every law abiding citizen in the country. After that, the organizers have been very careful to make sure riders don't fall into the same trap.

Any link to the article? I've done the google thing and searched the Times but can't find it

 

[Cal24Master]

Here is what happened, I have this from a very reliable source who is riding the rally this year:
First, there have been problems in the past with people who have an agenda to hurt, or discredit the Iron Butt Rally and LD riding in general. It started first in a rally a few years ago when a reporter from the LA times sneaked into the riders parking area and started accessing riders GPS data without their permission. Then they interviewed a few riders and asked them leading questions to make it all sound much more dangerous than it is. After all that, they wrote a scathing article and put it in the paper that made all the riders seem like a bunch of maniacs out riding around the country without ever sleeping, speeding and endangering the lives of every law abiding citizen in the country. After that, the organizers have been very careful to make sure riders don't fall into the same trap.

This year, some person, or person's put out some blogs that were not well thought out. It really upset the people who organize the rally. Their solution was to stop all public communication from the riders, and public access to the satellite tracking pages until after the rally.

People may not agree with it, but they are not the ones who stick their necks out to put on an event like this. It is the way it is, and it is not going to change.

Now that has the ring of truth !!!

Jim Puckett

Beaumont, TX

Except for the part about accessing GPS info without perrmission. In riding circles that I know, and espesially one so tight knit as the IBA, a stranger messing with someones bike gets noticed and challenged. Just about everybody knows everybody who is part of the event I'm guessing. The part about the reporter and a misleading story sounds very true. I want to hear the part of the story where the reporter got beat up for messing with the bikes, leading to a negative story. (pretty sure that wouldn't happen though)

At checkpoints there are so many people milling around the bikes and taking pictures, a person who knows what they are doing changing a screen on a GPS doesn't draw a lot of attention. At least it didn't then. Since this happened, most riders are careful to clear the GPS before the checkpoint.

In hindsight, it would have been nice to see the reporters throttled. You have to remember though that these people did not come to the checkpoint and say "We hate what you're doing and we are going slam you and put an end to this crap!" They smiled and said "Wow, what you do is SO interesting! I'm sure our readers would love to have more information about it!" So when a cute little blond reporter comes up to you when your tired and smiles at you and says "I really like your bike. You guys are so great! How fast to you figure you were riding the last few days?" It isn't hard to imagine saying stuff like "Man, I was hauling ass!" Then when she winks at you and asks: "How much sleep have you gotten the last couple of days?" the rider says "Sleep is for wimps, we don't need no stinking sleep!" Then she asks "How fast have you had this motorcycle going?" The answer ends up being "Hell, I've had it up over 150mph!"

Now the article comes out and says: "These riders go for days on end with no sleep. They travel at speeds over 150mph for days at a time. Obviously they are endangering the lives of every man woman and child in the entire country. They also hate dogs, cats and little children." Then they look at a GPS that says the average speed ridden over the last 2 days was 70mph, they do not explain that the two days were riding on I10 through Texas, Arizona and Ca where the speed limits for most of it are 75 and 80 mph. The question never got asked about how long do you stop for gas, or do you stop at a motel, have dinner and see a movie before you go to sleep?

So yes, after that the organizers and riders are paranoid about media coverage, and what is likely to happen.

 

[rickcorwn]

A cross post from Team Strange, Curt G says;

"Derek lost his flag today and traveled 214 miles back to get it losing about 8 hours. He didn't realize that you didn't need it if you put yourself in the picture.

He's kicking himself but he is going to try and make some of it up. I hope he can and still stay near the top ten. I told him there is still plenty of rally left but he'll have to focus and get back in the game.

Never give up. Someone will screw up worse than you did. That's what I always tell myself when I sit down to breakfast at Waffle House.

Curt"

Followed up with this from IBR vet Mark Kiecker;

"Curt, yes definitely tell him to keep his head in the game. 2003 when I in the playa of Gerlach with a non-driveable motorcycle (burned out clutch) less then 24 hours after we started, I watched all my competitors come in and out. To say I was a bit upset is putting it lightly. Luckily after a talking to someone he helped put me back in the mental game where I fabricated my own clutch plate, get back on the road, still make the check point, and pick up bonuses along the way.

Stay in the Game!"

Yes you read that right "fabricated my own clutch plate" out on the playa of the Black Rock Desert. McGuiver would be jealous.

So just when do you think Mr. Kiecker had time to tweet :glare:

 

[jmh_bhm]

snipSo when a cute little blond reporter comes up to you when your tired and smiles at you and says "I really like your bike. You guys are so great! How fast to you figure you were riding the last few days?" It isn't hard to imagine saying stuff like "Man, I was hauling ass!" Then when she winks at you and asks: "How much sleep have you gotten the last couple of days?" the rider says "Sleep is for wimps, we don't need no stinking sleep!" Then she asks "How fast have you had this motorcycle going?" The answer ends up being "Hell, I've had it up over 150mph!"

Now the article comes out and says: "These riders go for days on end with no sleep. They travel at speeds over 150mph for days at a time. Obviously they are endangering the lives of every man woman and child in the entire country. They also hate dogs, cats and little children." Then they look at a GPS that says the average speed ridden over the last 2 days was 70mph, they do not explain that the two days were riding on I10 through Texas, Arizona and Ca where the speed limits for most of it are 75 and 80 mph. The question never got asked about how long do you stop for gas, or do you stop at a motel, have dinner and see a movie before you go to sleep?

So yes, after that the organizers and riders are paranoid about media coverage, and what is likely to happen.

With all due respect, I think you may be confusing two separate events in IBR history. There was a ZX11 rider that got into trouble for talking to a reporter and bragging about some of his claimed exploits. It is my recollection that the resulting damaging and inaccurate article that was published is what precipitated the IBR staff instituting the media relations seminar to remind riders of the potential for reporters to sound friendly and then write negative things about them and the IBR, or take them completely out of context, or even quote them accurately if the riders said something really stupid.

But that incident did not have anything to do with the LA Times reporter as far as I know. The LAT reporter was covering the event with the IBR's permission. I was one of the riders that helped her out when she ran out of fuel around midnight on the second leg after leaving Gerlach. And FWIW, she was not a blonde.

 

[jmh_bhm]

After reading the Day 5 report, and talking to a couple of riders I can tell you that the format of the rally, and the weather have beaten many of the riders severely. The large number of people missing, or messing up the call in bonus is not a reflection of any extra activities they are doing. It is just a grind.
snip

I don't remember a rally that has taken it out of riders this early in the rally like this one. It is going to be a real gut check for all of them before they are done.

When I referred to the riders missing the call in bonus, I was agreeing with your point that it is a grind and for any rider to try and add blogging or tweeting to the already high level of difficulty the riders are experiencing would be unwise. I was in NO way implying that they missed the call in bonus by frittering away their time with silly distractions. The IBR is hard enough without letting unnecessary distractions cause a rider to lose focus.

I don't know how much rain they have gotten this year, but the deluge of rain during the first leg of 07 may have been even worse. I will be interested to see a comparison from the riders that experienced both when they have time to report on it. If you have a chance, take a look back at the DNF list from 07. Some riders never recovered from the first leg, it was a very punishing rally.

 

[Sportster]

So, after all this keyboard debate about Spots and Blogs, I wonder if an '09 IBR rider will post up something to the effect of: "OMG, I am SO glad they banned Blogs/Spots/Twitters, it made the most positive impact on my ride"

:innocent:

Sportster

 

[kaitsdad]

Turbo just called me - he sounds really good, says he's feeling good, and will see me in Santa Ana tomorrow.

GO TURBO !!!!

 

[Niehart]

Gunny for "Go Turbo"

 

[tcfjr]

Start photos of all the riders leaving Spartanburg are available here:https://www.fratellibrothers.com/Rallies-an...R-Start/9394474

 

[frogpirate]

I still find the out rite ban, with the excuse "You won't be competitive" somewhat hypocritical and let me explain.
There's a "hopeless class" fer krist sake. Out of the 101 riders, the IBA freely admits there's only 10-12 "Capable" of winning. There are a bunch of riders, nay the bulk only in it to finish it, or to not DNF.

Hi Matt,

You don't know me ( I think) but I do have a little insight into this. Even though there are only 10-12 "capable" of winning - and I tend to agree - that doesn't mean it's any easier for the other 90 riders. Since the format change in '05 when riding checkpoint-to-checkpoint was no longer a viable option for finishing, everyone is under a lot of pressure - yes, even the guys at the bottom of the field. They aren't there because they are kicking back and cruising, they are there because either that is the level of rallyist they are, or bad luck, but may times those guys are more wiped out and busier than the guys at the top.

 

[Cal24Master]

The second BMW failure happened this afternoon. Dave Biasotti's is down in Colorado with his R1150RT. Hard to believe, but another final drive failure. His waiting to get his bike towed and see if there is anything they can do.

 

[Cal24Master]

Here is what happened, I have this from a very reliable source who is riding the rally this year:
First, there have been problems in the past with people who have an agenda to hurt, or discredit the Iron Butt Rally and LD riding in general. It started first in a rally a few years ago when a reporter from the LA times sneaked into the riders parking area and started accessing riders GPS data without their permission. Then they interviewed a few riders and asked them leading questions to make it all sound much more dangerous than it is. After all that, they wrote a scathing article and put it in the paper that made all the riders seem like a bunch of maniacs out riding around the country without ever sleeping, speeding and endangering the lives of every law abiding citizen in the country. After that, the organizers have been very careful to make sure riders don't fall into the same trap.

Any link to the article? I've done the google thing and searched the Times but can't find it

That article was written about 12 or 14 years ago. I doubt you can find it again. I hope it stays buried.

 

[FJR-RemingtonRider]

This IBR is :yahoo: exciting to read about. Guts and Glory, these guys and gals are stellar.

Heck, it's a brain tease just to read the bonus structure of the events; better not get sleep deprived, you'll be spinning good rubber on the road for naught, if you miscalculate. Such heartbreak, when you read the reports of how bonuses are just being missed, and those are the ones that the riders told on themselves about.

Great photos, thanks for the fratellibros link; saw a guy and a gal on some sport foward-leaning bikes, God Bless 'em; comfort has to be hard to come by. Great to see the folks cheering them on, I know that helps them out a bunch. One rider-by accident; prayers for him and a speedy recovery.

Love the report links, keep'em coming. :clapping: :clapping:

 

[jmh_bhm]

snipsaw a guy and a gal on some sport foward-leaning bikes, God Bless 'em; comfort has to be hard to come by.

snip

Love the report links, keep'em coming. :clapping: :clapping:

The sport bikes are being piloted by two French Canadians, Jacques Titolo on the ZX1200 and Jennyfer Audet on the CBR1100-XX Blackbird (which is actually blue).

Tie in to this forum: the aux fuel tank on Jennyfer's XX is one of the aux tanks that carried Warchild and his XX to seven BBG's during Hell Week.

I believe that they were the only declared "team" on the first leg. They were listed 76th and 77th at CP1.

Note that declaring yourself a team is a tough pill to swallow this year. Teams have to be declared to the RM. If any member of the declared team cannot make it to all of the bonus locations and finish the leg with the rest of the team, then EVERY team member gets a 10,000 point hit on their total score. Does not matter what the reason, accident, mechanical, or to quote a staff member at the rider's meeting, even "alien abduction".

 

[mdisher]

snipsaw a guy and a gal on some sport foward-leaning bikes, God Bless 'em; comfort has to be hard to come by.

snip

Love the report links, keep'em coming. :clapping: :clapping:

The sport bikes are being piloted by two French Canadians, Jacques Titolo on the ZX1200 and Jennyfer Audet on the CBR1100-XX Blackbird (which is actually blue).

Tie in to this forum: the aux fuel tank on Jennyfer's XX is one of the aux tanks that carried Warchild and his XX to seven BBG's during Hell Week.

I believe that they were the only declared "team" on the first leg. They were listed 76th and 77th at CP1.

Note that declaring yourself a team is a tough pill to swallow this year. Teams have to be declared to the RM. If any member of the declared team cannot make it to all of the bonus locations and finish the leg with the rest of the team, then EVERY team member gets a 10,000 point hit on their total score. Does not matter what the reason, accident, mechanical, or to quote a staff member at the rider's meeting, even "alien abduction".

Any news if they 'teamed up' for the 2nd leg too?

Those two are like glued together Both are a hoot to be around and both even though they are on sport bikes sure can ride and those ergos don't seem to bother them in the least.

I think given the rules is that they (given the way they ride) have to declare as a team as they ride together and will likely attempt the same boni and run the same route.

What happens if one drops a boni at the scoring table?

Given how competent they are I was a little shocked at their under 9000 point status after leg 1.

 

[user 213]

More news from the LDRider list, thanks to Bob W at Atlanta BMW:

The good guys have come out of the woodwork today!!!

Dave Biasotti had his final drive go out a few hours ago in Cripple Creek

Colorado. We managed to find a new final drive at Foothills BMW. Chris

Lawson saw my call for help and is on his way there to pick it up and

deliver it to Matt Parkhouse's home in Colorado Springs. Matt will do the

change out for Dave. Meanwhile the towing company Dave called is about as

usefull as tits on a bullfrog. Jim Weaver in Atlanta saw my post and called

his buddy Dan Huber who happens to live about 20 miles from Cripple Creek.

Dan is on his way post haste to pick up Dave and the crippled RT at Cripple

Creek and get them to Matt's home.

With any luck Dave and the RT should be on the way to Santa Ana this

evening. He has plenty of time, but he does need to stop at the Santa Ana

dealer and do a final drive fluid change tomorrow nite.

The folks at Colorado Springs BMW which now has been renamed, explained that

it has been a long week and they won't be staying late to help out a fellow

BMW rider!

Thank God Matt Parkhouse is just down the street and was willing to help

out. The folks at Foothills BMW were most helpful.

-----------Just got a phone call as I was about to send this off that shows

just how generous our crazy LD riders can be. Jim Bay is from Arvada Co and

he just offered up his fully fueled and ready to ride RT with brand new

tires. He's camping this weekend with friends up in the Rockies but has cell

coverage. A friend called to tell him about Daves misfortune. He called me

and says the bike is Daves if he needs it, he'll give me the code to his

garage door, and just leave the other bike there. He only asked that whoever

takes the bike leaves his LaVerde alone )) Now thats a nice guy!

--------------------------

---------------------

Bob Muchler had his rear tire showing cord in Lacrosse Kansas. He has a

spare on board so we found a Harley dealer in Garden City Kansas that would

do the change. Bob called a few hours later and reported all was well and

he's heading west. Thanks to Vernon, Service Mngr. at Clark Motorsports in

Garden City.

--------------------

Joel Rapaport had his sidestand/foot peg issues last nite. Today he was just

into Texas on I-20 and his left saddle bag fell off. Luckily he has these

huge rear brake lites mounted in the rear of each bag and has some good

sized wire that must have held the bag to the bike. A car was honking at him

and pointing at the back of his bike, he looked over his shoulder and said

"Holy SH*!". So what does he do, he stops and calls me .. I say, get out

the damn duct tape, wire and rope and tie the sucker back on. I checked back

with him a few hours later and he had some spare nuts and bolts and big

washers so he managed to get the bag remounted safely and on his way. The ol

R60 is purring along fine and Joel is taking it all in stride and feeling

very positive.

--------------------

Bob Elliot thought he had a clutch going out earlier today coming down thru

Colorado so we had him swing into the Denver BMW dealer at Aurora. They

checked the bike over, test rode it and could find nothing wrong. I had them

take the slave cylinder out and inspect it but all was well. Bob's out

getting boni on his way south. I think he was just getting a little sketchy

after four day of hard riding. He is a rookie ya know!! Thanks to the folks

at BMW of Denver for being so helpful and patient.

--------------------

Charlie Clemmons(sp) was in Golden Colorado and called with a few questions

abut his R12RT, Said the rear wheel felt like it was dragging and the

voltage seemed to be dropping off on the bike. He swung into Denver BMW and

they couldn't find anything wrong after going over the bike. He's back on

his way south by southwest. I did forget to ask him if he was taking a wee

nip at the brewery in Golden which might have explained the two phantoms he

was experiencing Again, thanks to the folks at Denver BMW.

-------------------

Kevin Smart was in Hayes Kansas and decided to get an oil change. When they

put the oil filter back on his GL1100 they found the oil filter sump was

screwed up and they couldn't close it up. One of the shop dudes father is

supposed to have the correct size tap "out at the farm" and he was going to

bring it in so they could clean up the threads and get him back on the road.

-------------------

Sal Terranova is still having problems with his ST1100 electricals. If some

of you ST1100 guys can meet him at the BMW dealer in Santa Ana tomorrow

afternoon/nite and maybe have some of the parts he might need it would be

great. Idon't know squat about the ST1100 but do know there is a component

that is prone to going out in the charging system.

Thats all the news for now -- Film at 11:00

Bob W

 

[BwanaDik]

Thanks for the updates Bob, updates were getting a little sparse around here! :clapping:

 

[BigSTom]

Quote by OCfjrSal Terranova is still having problems with his ST1100 electricals. If some

of you ST1100 guys can meet him at the BMW dealer in Santa Ana tomorrow

afternoon/nite and maybe have some of the parts he might need it would be

great. Idon't know squat about the ST1100 but do know there is a component

that is prone to going out in the charging system.

I'll look up Sal's bike and cross post this to the STOwners list. If it's what I think, nobody will have a 40 amp alternator laying around. Maybe a STock 28. I can't imagine that he hasn't done the change....

 

[user 213]

Given how competent they are I was a little shocked at their under 9000 point status after leg 1.

Just curious, what results/info do you base their competence upon?

 

[Big-B]

Thanks for the detailed post.

Much better information than the blog/twitter debate.