Am i the only one that missed the whole iron butt principal

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I'm off to buy a beret, appears it may be more of a chick magnet than a puppy dog!
Oh wait, "I unnerstan" this thread now, here's an update.

The reason I even have/wear a beret is because my daughter knitted mine for me. Would have never put it on my head otherwise? I usually wore a fidora as a citizen.

Who IS that Clement Salvadori dude pictured? :dntknw:

Guess he's some kinda celeb huh?

 
I get more joy out of puttering along daydreaming listening to the harmonious melody of my engine than I ever would in knowing that I have covered 1000 miles in whatever amount of time alloted.
no problems with "not getting it" as each rider does so for their own reasons. try to avoid getting on the bandwagon with those who slam LDRiding simply because you don't like it. we try not to slam casual riders because we understand "to each his own". my concern is the "daydreaming" comment. save the daydreaming for cars where you are armored up.

 
:fans: :drinks: :bike: :bike: :bike:

The bottom line is that no one will ever understand the Iron Butt Rally until they have done it. And when you do, you find yourself part of such a special part of the motorcycling community that you can never imagine your life without having done it.
 
How does riding about 670 miles from Denver to Ely, NV, getting to the motel at around midnight, qualify us as "CBA riders"?
Ya mean in addition to taking over 14 hours to do it? I really had to knuckle down in order to finish my SS1K with only ten minutes to spare! I had left the names out to protect the butt-candy, 'til you had to go pipe up and out yourself. You gonna throw Silent under the bus too? Oops!
Under the Qualifications:

4. One qualifies as a CBA Rider if one tends to stop (to take pictures, sight-see, rest ***, urinate, etc...) at least once between refilling each empty tank of fuel, or for more than 10 minutes total every 200 miles.
And:

5. One can also qualify for CBA membership under the "Fair Weather Flyers" clause, by traveling slower in the rain and/or dark than when in the clear daylight. Hard-core riders actually do the opposite.
Not to mention:

2. Automatic qualification is bestowed for any instance of passing up an opportunity to qualify for an IBA ride in favor of a good night's sleep.

The bottom line is that no one will ever understand the Iron Butt Rally until they have done it. And when you do, you find yourself part of such a special part of the motorcycling community that you can never imagine your life without having done it.
I understand the IBR enough to know I'm not cut from hearty-enough cloth to even attempt it, much less finish.

A man's got to know his limitations....
 
Iron butts..never heard of it till 3 years ago when I got the FJR. haden't road a bike since my '73 Z1 ..42k miles in 2 years many 8-900 mile days..whats the big deal? Did it winter summer on a antique without the gear and a modern bike...

 
I don't have my Iron Butt yet but figure I should get the plate for the fun of it. The funny part about this whole discussion for me is the fact that it's not common to be a candy *** iron butted fool :) I come from the type of cloth that believes that it's not the destination but the trip! That having been said I've taken slow 700 mile rides through the mountains (12 hours) and quick get there trips to the mountains (the midwest sucks!). I have this affliction that I can't figure out for the life of me where I got it, it's the how much can I pack into 24 hours virus. My wife hates it, the kids don't get it, the chores don't have a freaking chance. Maybe it's the ADD, maybe it's a passion for life, maybe I'm just a tad bit off.... What this ends up meaning to me is in a 700 mile 12 hour day I've had lunch at a beautiful vista, stopped and asked for directions when I don't need them, taken pictures of my bike next to something interesting, taken a quick walk along the road to stetch the legs, had a beer at a bar in the middle of nowhere to top off the day, camped in a run down barn - you get the picture. It never ceases to amaze me how you can smell flowers at 70mph, how you can distract hot cage drivers while you slide by, how many kids wave when you go through a little town, how many harley riders give you the peace sign, how many old men ask about the pretty rice burner! So I say it is possible to smell the posies, check out the hotties, hit the twisties, see the sites, drink with the locals, sleep in the wilderness, and knock down 1000 miles in a day... I hope to get my IBA# before the end of the good weather, and plan on doing some CBA riding along the way...

I know how to get the IBA, where do I apply for my CBA????

 
Nice retort Cal 24 Master - I of course agree with everything you said.

While the IBR is a special "happening" (and this was my third) it is really the skills that you learn in preparing for doing something like this. I can honestly say that I have very vivid memories of my big rides and because of my travels around the USA have a good knowledge of the whole country. Talk to me about your area of the country and I probably have a good recollection of the "lay of the land". It is a GREAT country (and I include Canada in this) and covering 1,000 miles a day (and 30,000 to 40,000 per year) lets me see plenty of it.

As I explain to new "addicts" (those who finish their first saddlesore and are ready for more) you have just opened a new door to the country. I live in Nevada and while it only takes an hour or so to get to the Sierras I will more often than not turn northeast and head for the Bitterroots. Just a nice day ride and I am in the best playground in the country for motorcycles. Sure I could take a couple of days to get there but there are chiliburgers to be eaten in Riverside, ID and Lolo pass calling to me to be ridden, a great little B&B run by a massage therapist in Stanley, ID with views of the Sawtooth mountains only 700 miles away and a terrific little spot just outside of Jackson where I can "Fill my cup" just staring at the Grand Tetons while enjoying a cigar.

Because of my "addiction" I have seen/done things that most motorcyclist would consider "the trip of a lifetime" and I have been able to do them more than once. I have ridden to the four corners of this country, watched the tide come in at Perce Rocks in Eastern Quebec, ridden to and around Alaska twice, been up the Haul Road to Prudhue Bay, ridden the ferry across the Yukon River in Dawson Yukon, used the Rastafarian Computers for communications in White Horse Yukon, been bored by the Plains of Alberta, sweated across Death Valley, Enjoyed a sunset in Monument Valley, been through pouring rain in Lake Charles, LA, shed tears at the battlefield in Vicksburg, watched a harvest sunset on the wheat fields of North Dakota, ridden through the Appalachians, taken a ferry across Lake Michigan and braved New York City traffic. Somehow I still come home with many stories of interaction with locals and it is those that my wife really enjoys. In other words I am finding time to smell the flowers but maybe not spending as much time in hotels as some others. My outgoing nature lends me to have short but meaningful (at least to me) interactions - so my experiences are still full. Just I can do them on a nice weeks vacation anywhere in the continental USA. It is a new world when 800 miles becomes an easy day.

Cal 24 Master - you were missed this year.

Brian R.

 
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Brian,

That was awesome and I agree 100% I think you did an excellent job explaining why we do the distance. Now can you call my wife and explain to her :rolleyes:

I also wanted to say thanks for all the help this year getting ready for the IBR.

Ride safe

 
"Here is something for you to think about. If you get up early, and get on the road before 6, then put on 100-200 miles before breakfast, then put on another 300-400 before dinner, then ride till the sun comes down, you can put on close to 1,000 miles a day without riding in the dark, and getting 8 hours of sleep a night. You don't miss anything, but you see a lot more in a much shorter amount of time. That is what we do."

I couldn't agree with that more!

Although I haven't done an IB yet...when folks ask if it's hard to ride that long...

simple, get up and ride 100 miles before bkfast, do a couple hundred more and have a late lunch/ dinner ride some more, then sack out.

although I admit my longest day was only about 750 miles, but hey, does pouring rain count? <G>

sitting in a motel watching nothing on tv is not my idea of an enjoyable time. Unless I'm at a beach/ocean somewhere... whole nuther story <BG>

Oh, late lunches and/or early dinners are cheaper...

Takes me about 100 miles in the morning just to get settled on the bike for the day...can you tell I'm not morning person? <G>

and I've also met tons of cools folks who were just curious about riding, although I pbly look a little scary at times.

mary

 
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Thanks to Camine for bring this subject up. This subject is both interesting and engaging. Thanks to Cal24Master and Brian R for their so intriguing & expressive way of describing what it means to be an Iron Butt Rider, and I want to give my thanks to Dcarver and the CBA. By the way Dcarver, I'm still waiting for my official letter of acceptance and license frame for the CBA.

Being that I really didn't hear about the IBR until a friend entered and was accepted, did I really take notice. At that time I had the same questions that Camine has. After that, I started to run into a number of people that participated in the IBR. Then I got a FJR and low and behold I was more or less immersed into the Iron Butt momentum at the WFO events. What the heck?

For years I thought of myself as a long distance rider because I would take 3,000 to 8,000 mile motorcycle trips. My wife and I road our Viragos 6,600 miles from Arkansas to Key West to Portland Main to Niagara Falls to the Blue Ridge Parkway and back to Arkansas. Does that make me a long distance rider? I believe it does, and I am proud of it too. But this is only good enough for me to belong to the CBA, which just about anybody can belong to. :yahoo: Only problem with the CBA is that they are even slower at getting out the Certificates then the IBA.

Therefore, lets me make it clear here, that a long distance rider (LDR) doesn't necessarily have to be an Iron Butt Assoc. member or someone that has ridden a SS1K once in their lives. There are plenty of riders that ride many miles and multiple days and are surely long distance riders.

So until Dcarver gets his act in gear, I will continue to use my CandyASS LDR plate:

License.jpg


 
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S.O. and I once attended a relative's wedding one summer in San Francisco (if there is a summer in S.F.?). To really enjoy the trip we rode our bikes from (and back to) the Midwest. When, at the wedding, she was asked if/how she rode her bike all that way? (many possible answers for that....) -- she replied, "Well, we rode some every day and, pretty soon, we were here...!" :)

 
So until Dcarver gets his act in gear, I will continue to use my CandyASS LDR plate:
License.jpg
Where, oh WHERE!?!? :hyper: That is awesome! The hubby has been wracking his brain for a good, honest, awesome answer to my IBA/IBR plates. He pledged his unflagging committment to the CandyAss credo the moment he dragged himself out of bed at at the crack of noon and I showed him this discussion. Someone's got to capitalize on this...

 
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Therefore, lets me make it clear here, that a long distance rider (LDR) doesn't necessarily have to be an Iron Butt Assoc. member or someone that has ridden a SS1K once in their lives. There are plenty of riders that ride many miles and multiple days and are surely long distance riders.
I fall into that category and I remember asking earlier on if I could be a CBA member...I think it might have been the night I had two glasses of sherry :blushing: and expressed my fondness for a distinguished gentleman wearing a black beret.

Nice work Ken but how about a CandyAss decal? I've already got a keeper license plate frame.

Kasey

 
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