If possible, we ask your forgiveness with the long delay with your ride documents.
In mid-May we lost our two best ride verifiers. Both had been with us
over 10 years and suffered extreme burn out. When one left, the
other did not want the pressure of breaking in new people at the
height of motorcycle season. It was simply too great a loss for the
IBA to suffer within days of each other. Obviously, we replaced both
within a few weeks. However, this is a very demanding job and more
importantly, as these are important records to us, a job where short
cuts cannot be taken. Unfortunately, over the summer, we had to
hire, let-go and rehire employees until we found the right mix of talent.
I want to let everyone know that obviously I press our staff to
hustle, but I personally review each and every ride before it leaves
so I can also be a big part of the bottleneck as I work a full time
day-job and try to monitor e-mail (even with Ira Agins answering all
the mail that comes in through the web site, I still get 50 to 100
messages per day that I obviously try and route to whom ever can
answer them), various long distances lists and obviously the Iron
Butt Association board at www.ironbutt.org.
On that note, the real value of these certifications are that they
are reviewed. You are not really paying for the 75 cent sheet of
paper. You are paying to know that when you see an IBA plate back
(our default membership card) that the rider you are meeting had to
go through the same intense process your ride went through. That is
what gives the certification real value.
Believe me when I say it would be so easy for us to rip open your
envelope, cash the check and issue a cheesy certificate. But so long
as I am breathing, each ride has to go through the process. That is
why I keep my (very good) day-job. I go to that job day in, day out,
so that I am not tempted to move rides out because I need to make a
living doing this. On the other hand, no one realizes more than I
that we need to work on speeding up the process. I thought the two
replacement employees would serve us all well, but I never
anticipated finding the right mix of people would be so
difficult. The problem on our side is that that I cannot train
someone in how to do a verification in two weeks, so adding last
minute help to get us through a trying period like this is nearly impossible.
Thank you again for your patience with our lengthy process. You are
now part of not only the toughest riders on earth, but a member of
perhaps one of the toughest Associations of which to become a member!
Welcome to the insanity.
Michael Kneebone
President, Iron Butt Association
