FJRForum Official 2015 Iron Butt Rally Tracking/Analysis thread

[qkslver]

There is also a NP Gold, which I believe would be out of reach given the starting location and subsequent Check point. That would be an Alaskan NP.

I know of one person that did a NPG while the 2003 IBR was being run and made all the check points.

This unnamed rider was not even in the rally!

 

[HotRodZilla]

If you guys are talking about the Petrified Forest picture, every number is clearly visible, and the two up riders have both riders touching the towel. #56 has #67's head very partially in the way, but that's the photographer's fault, not the rider's. 56 is still clearly visible, so what's the debate?

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I'm trying to figure out why there is still a rider in Big Bend. That's a day ride from Albuquerque. He should have been out of there hours ago. Again, I'm thinking he knows something we don't.

He is actually in Del Rio not Big Bend any longer...just don't know why! :-\ That stretch of I-10 is 80 mph speed limit. The trucks run 80 and everyone else is pushing a ton.

he is still east bound...hmmm..at least the rain is at this point staying south of I-10 for his mad dash back to the west.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

how about the guys in the extreme west and north? Am I missing something? They are a ton of miles away from NM.

EDIT: I thought the check-in was tomorrow, July 1...it's not till Thursday, July 2...no problem.

 

[jwhite518]

So I don't know nothin' 'bout nothin', but just from the seat of my pants I'd figure that the West is where you scoop as many parks as possible and don't worry too much about collecting states. That part will work itself out. Then in the East it kinda switches around, get all those states. You can't second guess the changed points values for the same park in later legs - if you see points, get 'em.

Had a phone conversation with a rider this morning. All he wants is the finish, and he doesn't care about points at all. So his puzzle is a lot less complex. Colin's post was really insightful about the end of the 11 rally. If you're a "just finish" rider, you could conceivably be done early. Then you switch your brain off rally mode and coast home. I'm not a big fan of this psychology. When I rode in 09, you needed a minimum points to finish but the more you earned, the higher achievement level you got. I was planning every day, trying to squeeze in a little more points. That's what rallying should be.

 

[doug5551]

Don't forget your Gerlach Bed and Breakfast stay Jerry.

Or GZ'S Spa visit.

IBR can be many different things to different people.

 

[Uncle Hud]

jwhite518 posted: <snipped>... I'd figure that the West is where you scoop as many parks as possible and don't worry too much about collecting states. That part will work itself out. Then in the East it kinda switches around, get all those states.

Gotta say I agree. Collecting parks while in the west will get you all the big western states. You'd have to watch yourself in the east, as you travel from park to park, to make sure you're picking up enough states to meet the minimum.

Also gotta agree with RenoJohn in post #335. Love the clear-cut finisher criteria. If all you want is a 3-digit number, you know what to do. There's no worrying about whether you have enough points to hit a threshold -- especially when (as in past IBRs) the threshold isn't known until all the scores are toted up.

Of course, if you want to get on the podium, the full complexity of the puzzle is in play -- which may mean go east of ABQ a little bit during Leg 1, so you can go far away from Kingsport in Legs 2 and 3; to Biscayne or Everglades NPs, or maybe to a non-US bonus in Nova Scotia or PEI.

 

[hppants]

Could someone please re-post a link to the public spot page?

In the Warchild send off video, I was impressed with what seemed like a disproportionate number of FJRs in the rally - has it been established that this is the most popular make/model in the IBR? I did note 1 gen II bike that left the lot in 2nd gear (heard the cam chain rattle a little).

I'm enjoying this thread.

 

[rushes]

https://spotwalla.com/locationViewer.php?id=283

 

[jwhite518]

Don't forget your Gerlach Bed and Breakfast stay Jerry.
Or GZ'S Spa visit.

IBR can be many different things to different people.

My Gerlach stay was not really voluntary - it was necessary. But I get your point, different things to different people.

 

[BluesCruiser]

It looks like the list of participants include these bikes:

FJR = 13 (plus 3 more, an ST1300 and 2 Super Tenere)

BMW = 33 (including 1 C650 scoot, if you consider that a scoot!)

H-D = 8 (including an '06 Sportster)

Honda = 21 (mostly wings but also a couple of NC700s)

Then there are 5 Triumphs and 3 Kawasakis (including 1 Ninjette 250)

I think I counted them all.

 

[BkerChuck]

Don't be hating on the Sportster! That's Chris Comly from PA and that bike left PA showing almost 148k miles! Chris has done the Tour of Honor the past 3 or 4 years and has Tour of Honor flag #3! Chris did the Butt Lite last year and has done pretty well in The Void rally and the Mason Dixon 20-20 rally.

 

[Peter Murray]

Wendy I agree with you they should award the bonus. But unless the judges go soft at the scoring table the criteria was not met by the rider. The number must be clearly seen.

2007 IBR I lost the Bean bonus in Chicago because the scorer said he could not clearly read my number . BTDT it sucks.

 

[STL FJR]

When I look at the list of National Parks, in order to get 50 in 25 states ( excluding Alaska) you would have to do the following;

1) Hit Yellowstone in all 3 states that it lies in; Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

OR Smoky Mountains in both TN and NC along with Yellowstone

OR Death Valley which is in both CA and NV.

This is assuming IBR rules allow taking credit for a single park in multiple states.

2) Get Acadia up in Maine, which I assume would be perhaps on the East Coast leg

3) Get Isle Royal in Michigan, which is only accessible by Ferry. This one will take some considerable planning, to catch the ferry on the most efficient schedule during that leg.

Yes, this will be very interesting on legs 2 and 3!

Smarter folks on here than I can shoot holes in my theory, but me thinks Alaska might have to come into play on Leg 3???

 

[SFCJCA]

I see there's a rider hanging out at the Grand Canyon Harley Davidson dealership near Flagstaff. I don't think they're buying a T-shirt.

 

[marcusorelius]

Better be one of the Harleys if they are lookin for help, HRZ stopped there with a tire problem coming back from SWFOG & they didn't help him,

 

[Randy]

Just curious...when it says "“To be a finisher of the 2015 Iron Butt Rally, a rider must visit 50 US national parks in 25 states before 10 AM (MDT), July 10, 2015.”, they wouldn't be so cruel as to mean that absolutely literally, would they? Or did they somewhere say that was a minimum?

 

[LowAndSilent]

Could someone please re-post a link to the public spot page?
In the Warchild send off video, I was impressed with what seemed like a disproportionate number of FJRs in the rally - has it been established that this is the most popular make/model in the IBR? I did note 1 gen II bike that left the lot in 2nd gear (heard the cam chain rattle a little).

I'm enjoying this thread.

I don't know why anyone would chose the FJR for an IBR...
2013 IBR results:

1) Derek Dickson - 11,799 miles - 92,524 points - 2005 FJR1300

2) Josh Mountain - 12,963 miles - 90,065 points - 2006 FJR1300A

3) Wendy Crockett - 11,363 miles - 89,217 points - 2005 FJR1300

5) Matt Watkins - 11,621 miles - 85,615 points - 2005 FJR1300

6) Tim Pawlowski - 11,075 miles - 85,260 points - 2006 FJR1300A

2011 IBR results:

1) Peter Behm - 13,544 miles - 24,428 points - FJR1300

2009 IBR results:

5) Greg Marbach - 11,931 miles - 122,021 points - FJR1300

That's not including other rallies in the past few years where the FJR have done quite well. But, the machine is only a part of it. Those riders piloted those bikes to those positions. I guess smart LD competitors choose the FJR.

 

[RenoJohn]

Just curious...when it says "“To be a finisher of the 2015 Iron Butt Rally, a rider must visit 50 US national parks in 25 states before 10 AM (MDT), July 10, 2015.”, they wouldn't be so cruel as to mean that absolutely literally, would they? Or did they somewhere say that was a minimum?

dialogue on topic here

 

[Randy]

Just curious...when it says "“To be a finisher of the 2015 Iron Butt Rally, a rider must visit 50 US national parks in 25 states before 10 AM (MDT), July 10, 2015.”, they wouldn't be so cruel as to mean that absolutely literally, would they? Or did they somewhere say that was a minimum?

dialogue on topic here

Zoomed right over that one....sorry. But we are still assuming it's a minimum, right?