2009 Iron Butt Rally - Official Daily Reports

[mdisher]

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?

Being mentored by WC isn't enough?

They did OK in the MD2020, I thought they had scored well in the Rendezvous Canada Rally? More or less their attitude and demeanor. They aren't noobes. That CBRXX has over 250000 miles on it. Though their engrish is suspect

I don't think they are in the 'elite' group that can 'win' but figured they'd be middle of the pack finishers. But hey any given Sunday right?

 

[user 213]

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

Just to clarify, I'm not Bob W., I just re-posted his LDRider post here to further the info spread. Bob has been the head of the phone tree for IBR breakdowns and is helping tremendously in getting riders and help together as well as convincing dealers to help when he can. WC is likely on the road or sleeping, but I'm sure he'll give more details when he can.

 

[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?

Being mentored by WC isn't enough?

That old hack? Poor guy can barely ride any more I hear.

They did OK in the MD2020, I thought they had scored well in the Rendezvous Canada Rally? More or less their attitude and demeanor. They aren't noobes. That CBRXX has over 250000 miles on it. Though their engrish is suspect
I don't think they are in the 'elite' group that can 'win' but figured they'd be middle of the pack finishers. But hey any given Sunday right?

Thanks for the info. Anything is possible. Hopefully they do better on the second leg.

 

[BigSTom]

Attn: OCfjr

I looked up Sal's bike, it's an '02. I'm going to guess that the problem is with his add on's, not with the basic bike system. Honda rectified the base problem in '97. I have an '93, I have changed the alternator

I put the word out on the STOwners board, I think a local or two will be there.

 

[gts_rider]

Hey all,

Just joined to give a big thanks to WC and everyone else contributing updates. Glad to hear Dave Biasotti may be back on the road (long-time member of the GTS mailing list, maybe shoulda taken the GTS again this year).

Looks like the Weather-Gods are smiling down just a bit for the Santa Ana arrival. It's been pretty brutal-hot for the last 2-3 days in these parts (apx 110 where I live in the San Fernando valley last couple days), though the high is breaking down now, and only a high of 90 for Santa Ana tomorrow, trending towards cooler...Nice!

Quite a few wild-fires going on around LA. Checking out the mountain ranges from long-shot view in San Pedro today, it looks like the Station Fire above La Canada/Flintridge (Angeles Crest Highway area) is the one that's really still booming. Saw this photo online, looks about the same I saw from San Pedro earlier today:

 

[BwanaDik]

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

Just to clarify, I'm not Bob W., I just re-posted his LDRider post here to further the info spread. Bob has been the head of the phone tree for IBR breakdowns and is helping tremendously in getting riders and help together as well as convincing dealers to help when he can. WC is likely on the road or sleeping, but I'm sure he'll give more details when he can.

Thanks. I was a little hesatent (sp?) as I've followed your Darksider thread and something didn't match up. Keep 'em coming none the less!!!

 

[user 213]

More info from LDRider list via Dan "Maprider"'s recent post"

"Left David in the capable hands of Matt Parkhouse about 45 minutes ago. Matt's an excellent mechanic but can be easily distracted so I thought it best to get out of the way and let him do his work. Chris was waiting for us with the final drive when we arrived -- he beat us by 15 minutes as we needed to stop by my garage for a few extra RT parts that my BOSS so graciously donated to Dave.......

Here is a picture of of Dave supervising the repair:

Was glad I could help -- fingers crossed no further issues and he makes it to Santa Ana safe, sound, and on time!

Dan"

Looks like the RT's FD problem is getting fixed before the checkpoint. Great news for Dave Biasotti.

 

[rickcorwn]

The latest https://www.sierraresearch.com/mc/2009IBRDay6.pdf

 

[tcfjr]

Tom Austin's Day 6 Report is now available on the IBR web site:The Rallymaster’s Minivan Strikes Gold

 

[LD Hack]

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.

Hard to compare, and I think it depends on the rider. In the excitement, it's easy to screw up on leg 1 and not get enough sleep. It's really easy to do as a rookie to multi-day rallies. I did it on my first 7 day rally, and I suffered from it. Lesson learned very painfully by the end of the rally. One of the kazillion skills needed for IBR is knowing one's personal sleep management strategy, including experience with one's own body and fatigue on multi-day events. "Stop to rest or sleep, in order to ride farther"; simple mantra but it takes riding to learn the subtleties, since it's unique to each individual. 11 days is a long time to ride hard, and be safe.

Lisa, Mike, Dale, and crew put on a great rally. They know full well what's happening to riders, mentally, and they know how to play with that. In fact, I suspect they love playing with it - it's what this game is all about. I'd not be surprised that the upcoming leg has some difficult routing challenges. It's time. Like Tom Austin said on the day 6 report, which applies to not only the top 10 finishers, but all finishers, "Leg 3 is not only the longest leg of the Rally, it has the highest points available per hour. Riders hoping for a top ten finish will need a clear head to prepare the optimum route plan." After that, they also need enough rest to be able to ride it too.

That's why blogging is not allowed. There's too much else to focus on. It's also a safety issue, big time, whether voice to text or otherwise. There's enough multi-tasking while riding - no need to add blogging.

MikeS

IBA 352

 

[Rogue]

...."The Rallymaster reports that “Turbo” Dave Hicks is ahead of John Langan in the category of the lamest request for a favorable rules interpretation. Headed for a bonus down a dirt road, Turbo called to ask if would be okay just to take a photo of the beginning of the dirt road rather than ride to the bonus because he is riding an FJR1300, not a dual-sport. Questions like this are what the IBR staff lives for. What makes Hicks’ request for relief especially lame is that we have pictures of him on the same bike in the middle of the Black Rock Desert."....Tom Austin

August 29, 2009

Copyright © 2009, Iron Butt Rally, Inc., Chicago, IL

Although I agree with his decision I think we should make Dave a plaque! :lol:

 

[Chris Lawson]

More info from LDRider list via Dan "Maprider"'s recent post"
"Left David in the capable hands of Matt Parkhouse about 45 minutes ago. Matt's an excellent mechanic but can be easily distracted so I thought it best to get out of the way and let him do his work. Chris was waiting for us with the final drive when we arrived -- he beat us by 15 minutes as we needed to stop by my garage for a few extra RT parts that my BOSS so graciously donated to Dave.......

Here is a picture of of Dave supervising the repair:

Was glad I could help -- fingers crossed no further issues and he makes it to Santa Ana safe, sound, and on time!

Dan"

Looks like the RT's FD problem is getting fixed before the checkpoint. Great news for Dave Biasotti.

Dave's RT was buttoned up shortly before 9 p.m. with a new rear drive. Matt's shop was filled, so we (primarily Matt) swapped drives on the patio. And eventually in the rain. Yes, it sounds like a country song. Dave's plan was to catch a few hours sleep at Matt's house, then collect some more Colorado bonii and get to Santa Ana.

-Chris Lawson

 

[gts_rider]

More info from LDRider list via Dan "Maprider"'s recent post"
...Dave's RT was buttoned up shortly before 9 p.m. with a new rear drive. Matt's shop was filled, so we (primarily Matt) swapped drives on the patio. And eventually in the rain. Yes, it sounds like a country song. Dave's plan was to catch a few hours sleep at Matt's house, then collect some more Colorado bonii and get to Santa Ana.

-Chris Lawson

Hey, I'm cheering the 'new rear drive' , but seriously... is he really gonna get from Colorado to LA with *that* rear tire?

I'm assuming the new rear tire was included with the rear drive replacement and just not mentioned in the post...

 

[doctorJ]

"Hey, I'm cheering the 'new rear drive' , but seriously... is he really gonna get from Colorado to LA with *that* rear tire? "

That is just what I thought also but didn't post since figured he had made a plan. Maybe they stuck a car tire on the RT, hehe.

doctorj

 

[Cal24Master]

"Hey, I'm cheering the 'new rear drive' , but seriously... is he really gonna get from Colorado to LA with *that* rear tire? "
That is just what I thought also but didn't post since figured he had made a plan. Maybe they stuck a car tire on the RT, hehe.

doctorj

I have a new set of tires for Dave in my truck if he needs them. I talked to him while he was at Matt's and asked how his tire looked, and if he wanted me to drop the tires off at Seaver's for him. He told me thought he was looking good, and he didn't think he needed them.

 

[jmh_bhm]

...."The Rallymaster reports that “Turbo” Dave Hicks is ahead of John Langan in the category of the lamest request for a favorable rules interpretation. Headed for a bonus down a dirt road, Turbo called to ask if would be okay just to take a photo of the beginning of the dirt road rather than ride to the bonus because he is riding an FJR1300, not a dual-sport. Questions like this are what the IBR staff lives for. What makes Hicks’ request for relief especially lame is that we have pictures of him on the same bike in the middle of the Black Rock Desert."....Tom Austin

August 29, 2009

Copyright © 2009, Iron Butt Rally, Inc., Chicago, IL

Although I agree with his decision I think we should make Dave a plaque! :lol:

On more tidbit about Turbo Dave from the starting line:

The morning of the start, he got in to a mild panic because of the ticking sound that his FJR was making. He soon had a crowd of FJR folks over to listen to it. As some were debating between valves and camchain tensioners, I think it was Warchild that noted that the idle sounded low. I checked and it was around 800 rpm. Turbo was pretty hyped up and was having difficulty finding the idle control knob, so I reached under the fairing and twisted it up until 1100 rpm was showing on the tach. Wah La! Much better sounding engine and a huge sigh of relief from Turbo.

 

[gts_rider]

Decided was thread hijack, found edit and not delete.

 

[Warchild]

Well I am here in SoCal, at my sister's in Redlands, getting ready to head on over west to the checkpoint in a while.

Mighty warm here.... it was 113 degrees on the interstate yesterday afternoon (I-215, near Redlands) when I arrived yesterday afternoon. Supposed to be cooling off to 104 degrees here today. Santa Ana is supposed to be a pinch cooler, we'll see.

Damn shame about Dave Biasotti's final drive going on his beemer..... but I'll be surprised if his beemer is that last one with any issues these next 5-6 days.

 

[Warchild]

LATE-BREAKING NEWS:

Margaret Peart is having clutch problems on her GS and is concerned that she will not get in on time. She didn't say what the problem might be other than the clutch.

Rick Neeley needs a replacement bike to ride the third leg after an unfortunate encounter with a deer. He rides a wing but isn't picky but he's a tall guy. Anyone willing to loan your bike to Rick, please shoot Lisa Landry an email at lisa AT ironbutt DOT com.

 

[Chris Lawson]

More info from LDRider list via Dan "Maprider"'s recent post"
...Dave's RT was buttoned up shortly before 9 p.m. with a new rear drive. Matt's shop was filled, so we (primarily Matt) swapped drives on the patio. And eventually in the rain. Yes, it sounds like a country song. Dave's plan was to catch a few hours sleep at Matt's house, then collect some more Colorado bonii and get to Santa Ana.

-Chris Lawson

Hey, I'm cheering the 'new rear drive' , but seriously... is he really gonna get from Colorado to LA with *that* rear tire?

I'm assuming the new rear tire was included with the rear drive replacement and just not mentioned in the post...

Nope, no new rear tire. What you perceive from the pic is much worse than reality. Dave had been riding a dirt road just before a few paved miles and the contrast between the dusty outer areas of the tire and the dirtless, squared-off section of the tire just make it look scary. After Dave washed the wheel and tire with soap and water to remove gear lube, it looked better. Not new. But certainly okay for another 1,000+ miles.