Yesterday i realized The IBR had came and went without me knowing. I feel like I slept through Christmas! I just read the IBA daily reports but I missed watching this thread this year. I shall now go to page 1 and try to see what all i missed!Man, did I screw the pooch or what!?
Don't feel too bad about not keeping up with the daily postings here during the IBR, I too had to start from the first page to see what all I missed. It woulda been a good one to sit back each day trying to figure out what the riders were thinking during this very unique jeffearlish rally. However I would have to say that if a person were ever only going to do one IBR, this one was a great one to ride. Jeff Earls absolutely crushed it out of the park with the bases loaded.
Having had the fortune of riding a JE rally once before, WOTR, I anticipated that this IBR would be like none other before it. Man did I have fun. With the total changes in points and objectives in each leg, it seemed that Mr Earls had come up with 3 separate rallys. It was easy to get up out of bed at 3:15 am on the morning of each new leg to see what else he came up with. It amazed me that no matter what the leg's objective was and that the location and names of the bonus' never changed throughout, rarely were the bonus' ever close enough to one another that you could build a thread without big miles between them.
The IBR truly is an amazing event to be a part of and am truly grateful that I finally got to experience and ride in one. Lots of memories to take away from it. I learned that riding through Manhattan during the early business hours is an absolute blast on a motorcycle. Oh Yeah, I also learned that no matter how small Manhattan may look on a mapping program on my laptop, it is NOT a small neighborhood with bonus' located close to each other. LOL Another highlight was seeing a black bear standing next to the road as I rode the Tail of the Dragon. I got to ride through Nova Scotia again, always a pleasure. Ride down through the Everglades and Keys during the daylight, not a pleasure. Got a bad case of trench foot during the second leg, most certainly not a pleasure, but in a weird way worth experiencing anyways. This also taught me that waterproof boots may not keep water out, but they do a splendid job of keeping water in.
I learned that the LD community of riders is an awesome collection of people. I kinda knew this already, but the IBR ratcheted up this level of knowledge tenfold. I always wanted someday to have Warchild point to me that it was my time to go. What I learned was that I got nervous as heck as he was getting closer to me. Gotta say though, it was pretty cool. And I finally got to ride in the IBR! I learned that if you are a rider with a less than overzealous right wrist, you can ride and complete the IBR with just one set of tires. I learned that there are some border patrol who keep up with the IBR when it comes along. I was being grilled when I was re-entering the states and trying to explain why I was in Canada for such a short period of time, when a superior of his popped his head out of another window to ask if I was in the IBR. When I said yes, he told the other agent to let me pass, like right NOW. It was awesome. But since I never considered myself a contender in this rally, when this superior agent asked if I'd like something cold to drink, i said sure. So he escorted me to their kitchen for a cold soda and we chatted for several minutes. I learned yet again that there are so few places on this continent that are not a pleasure to ride in. We are truly blessed.
I hope for those who did not get drawn for this rally will get their ticket punched for the 2019 IBR. In a perfect LDriders world, everyone who wants to ride in an IBR, should get that shot. But with that said, I hope I get a chance to ride it a second time. When a person has that much fun doing something, you just can't help wanting to do it again. Were there times I hated it? Oh heck yeah. But it's how I feel at the end that matters most.
I am an IBR finisher. To many outside the LD realm, that means nothing. And even it means very little within the LD community, so what. For my personal sense of accomplishment, I appreciate it more now than I did on the day the rally ended. So with that and 2 bits, I should be able to buy a cup of coffee. Hopefully for those who DNFed, especially the rookies, they'll get another opportunity to git 'r done in '19.
OK, I'm done rambling.
