Iron Butt Rally, Check Point2, Santa Ana CA 8-30-2009

[dcarver]

Fairlaner and KaitsDad bench race. Of course, only Fairlaner is on the bench..

IronMaiden, Fairlaner and Silver Penguin wonder where all the riders are? It's about 100F, or at least it sure feels that way.

IronMaiden - she's really cool.

Our very own ChrisW! Nice guy, working hard, 'sleeping waay too much' he said. The parking structure was hot and humid.

His Feejer really wanted to be a Harley..

I like this attitude..

Custom 'Busa fabrication by WarChild Industries, Inc!

Toby demontrating his *pressurized* hydration system to Ray? And I thought it was my idea first...

KaitsDad and VecterP chow down waiting for riders.

Wing riders have ez aux fuel tank installs; two straps, a pad, connect, go.

Ray grills another arrival.. 'So what was your top speed?' followed by 'Let me see the GPS reading...'.. RuhRoh-Rollie!

Good to see Doug again, and the feller in red suspenders I know too but for the life of me can't think of his name right now. VectorVP1 in the blue shirt, IIRC. I rode 250 miles home along the beach and now I'm fried..

Ahh, CP2!

This guy, I have to hang out with sometime. Bob Collins. What a hoot. 'My routing is killing me' he said, 'I need to talk to Kneebone for advice. I can ride all day long, but I'm late to the boni.' I fixed the tank bra for him, and some other nice guy and I got his left saddle bag open. This guy must be from Texas - friendly, to the point, and having a blast.

I later saw him talking to Mike...

I think is Bob StGeorge?

This guys wife was really happy to see him, her face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when he arrived.

Inside, the IBR carnival was well underway. Boy, talk about a class system. They wouldn't let the CBA Prez into the room.. just sayin'.. I like 'period piece' photos... and so took these pix..

The 'Rider Confessional Room' had bright interrogation lights to pry the truth from tired and weary riders..

My bud, MCML; it's OK Joe, stay seated!

GunMD arrived to take much better pix than me..

-------------

Down in the basement, a flurry of wrenching was going on. This is Jennifer, one of the two Canadians, working on her blue BlackBird. She has a very easy smile, knows how turn wrenches, and rides great too!

Her riding bud, sorry, no photos of the dude, had a clever way of working on his Quacker.. Bungee cord to hold the front brake..

And lift arm for the rear. Clever.

This guy rode from Portland to give up his new tires and wheels to his bud riding the rally.

Ok then, too hot downstairs. I had helped Mike change several tires and was hot and sweaty, a perfect time to hit the lobby and hang out with rich Santa Ana clients..

Here's Mike, of Mike and Wendy (BionicPelvis, who is running the rally)

JdWhite arrives!

And then came SkooterG! GsJane, this is your man, just sayin'... :rofl:

Once you've ridden with Poncharello, you never go back, eh Skoot? Nice glasses. You going to give me a ticket or check in now, eh bud?

Oh, quit trying to hide your Michael Jackson imatation right hand huh? OK, you lost your glove. 2 hours later you realize 'hey, my glove is gone?' :lol:

Ray asks 'What was that top speed again? Must be a GPS error or something..'

LOL - fried baby, fried. What thoughts lie behind them pin-point pupils, eh?

Preparing paper..

While thinkg of...

Down in the basement, the maintenance frenzy continued. Here Mike and Wendy (BionicPelvis) put new tires on her FJR, and I helped! These are two really good peeps. Mike drove a truck and trailer down, had a hitch mounted NoMar tire changer, and was changing tires for folks, providing tools, compressed air, etc all freakin day long in that hot garage. They now have shop in Kernville, and I'm going to visit them when this is over - they are really good folks.

Mike, polishing on the *left* side of Wendy's bike, LOL.

Wendy, wrenching..

Two friendly competitors. I have to say this event is so very unique. Everyone is nice to each other, helping out, sharing stories and advice. I sincerely hope this event never goes commercial.

This is the lone Harley rider. He has over 130k on this bike, and 'the valve gently "kissed" the piston dome.' A new used head, some push rod troubles, 145 bucks later (cheap) and he was back on the road. Great guy, great story.

Gotta love a 500k mile AirHead..

And I'll sign off with pix of my personal hero, TurboDave. He arrived tired, dehydrated, but still kicking and full of spunk. His first words, upon seeing 03SilverBullet was 'Hey, when are we going to do a track day again?'. Look at his eyes, and right here he is FRIED, muscles cramping, 69 years young... I sure wouldn't have wanted to fight with him when he was 23, if you get my drift. Dave told me he was 'So proud just to have participated with these fine folks.'

All pix located here..

 

[BwanaDik]

Outstanding Don! Great commentary and pics, thanks :clapping:

 

[GunMD]

Great photos Carver! Thanks for sharing. And thanks for taking the time to put a story with each photo. That makes all the difference in the world and makes you photos much better than mine!

(But thanks for the vote of confidence)

 

[wheatonFJR]

good job Don! :clapping:

 

[GunMD]

All pix located here..

It seems to be asking for a password...

 

[madmike2]

Great story about some truly amazing people.....well....except for Richard. :blink:

 

[frogpirate]

Wonderful pics, thank you!

Your right, that IS Bob St. George. Great guy,

And the guy from Portland is Mike Collins, another Nice Guy.

The guy standing next to Wendy (When she is holding the Styrofoam food container) is Mike Langen from CA. He has done a few IBR's.

 

[Fairlaner]

Nice Don.

And thanks Mike.

R

 

[Old Michael]

Thanks dcarver. You got a gift.

(Red suspenders is eeksnake.)

 

[Indian Scout]

Don,

It was good to see and talk to you at the check point.

Thanks for sharing your photos and as Richard said the commintary makes them special.

 

[dcarver]

I don't know who she is, but she was full of energy after the long day.

I think she was riding with the gent on the right. The guy on his left was his Marine bud from back in the day. Really good folks, wish I knew their names.

 

[dcarver]

All pix located here..

It seems to be asking for a password...

I can't figure out how to make share a subfolder without sharing the parent.. :angry:

 

[GunMD]

I don't know who she is, but she was full of energy after the long day. Sylvie Torter

I think she was riding with the gent on the right. The guy on his left was his Marine bud from back in the day. Really good folks, wish I knew their names. Bob Torter (I don't know who the bald guy is)

Names inserted above....

 

[dcarver]

Some of the bikes..

Bob StGeorge's special hidden super secret storage area..

Jennifer's blue BlackBird

Jennifer's riding partner. I believe they 'Teamed Up' for the ride.

Anyone know this bikes owner?

And, finally, the sidecar entry..

 

[escapefjrtist]

Thanks for the pics DC. Can't wait for Friday to come and witness the finish in Spokane.

--G

 

[C&C]

Love the pictures, love the captions. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Panman]

Thanks Don, good write up and shots. I'll be riding over Friday to watch them come in it will be fun.

 

[colin]

thanks for the pics! nice to put faces to names.....

 

[doug5551]

Turbo,

What are you doing looking at these pics???

Hope all is well