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Hello Kitty

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FJR wins! Congrats to our very own Mountain! All ready to be on the podium at the IBR...

 
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Although I have never met Josh, He seems to be the upcoming dominant rider.

His background produces podium finishers AND he has youth on his side.

Congrats and best wishes in the IBR !

I can't seem to find a MD2020 final riders list (?)

 
Kitty. I've plagiarized your sig format :)Gosh it was a really nice prep ride as I tacked on 2700 miles to Martinsburg after work Wednesday racing the clock the whole way to make it by last ODO check of 5:45 PM. Then rushed down to ATL This morning. Best prep I could hope for with the time I had available. As to the generous thoughts, thank you! Well I'm no Meese, Schmidt, or Iggy, but it's been a good year for sure.Perry, forgot all about changing money with you. Catch you in Pitt.Personal lessons learned:Grease pencils on windshield helps remember spurious things to do at stops (thanks Kitty)Radar detectors cannot be accessible by rider in Virginia. I had been unplugging in the past. Needs to be put away (or don't get stopped). $300 fine. Or casually flash military ID whilst searching for DL and hope he says, "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I wrote you two tickets on Memorial Day. Have a nice day." DAMHIKSeverely cupped front tires from superslabbing it for 15k (yuck) are a lot to handle at 3AM with a semi fatigued rider. More grip pressure to hold the tire's ridge, etcRick's trophies have improved since last year.Canada appreciation: Who knew I would be busting out electric socks Memorial Day weekend at 2k feet. Below 43 for many, many hours. YuckThanks again peeps.

Where did my Carriage returns go? Oh well, on device.

 
Josh,

Congrats and well done. I must apologize as several times I was going to track you down to say Hi but got side tracked in other visits. I will have your Cdn cash in Pitt.

The cold during this rally was unbelievable. My route had me in north Ohio for most of the night. The temps there were consistently between 34 to 36 degrees F. My electric jacket failed on the ride down to WV. The connector inside my Gerbings actually melted, burnt my skin and melted a portion of the inside of my jacket. I am just happy that it failed now and not during the IBR.

Riding for over 7 hours in low 30s at night without electrics did me in. By earling morning my teeth were chatting so bad that I thought I was going to break them or my jaw.
cold.gif
Ended up stopping for over an hour just to get some feeling of warm back into the bones.....never really felt warmed up until I stopped at the Indian Gap cemetary.

 
Congrats to Josh on the win. It was the first rally for my wife and I. Me on the FJR and she was the one on the Harley Superglide. Met lots of great people and will definitely do it again. BTW neither of us have heated gear! Good luck on the IBR Josh!

 
Wow, too many hours spent between 32 and 41. Yikes. On my early morning Martinsburg to Atlanta trip had to bust out electric socks on I 81 through Virgina. Nice steady 37 for the whole 4 hours.

 
Perry, I felt so bad for you when we were riding through Ohio about the same time, and then all morning Sunday.

I depleted my battery Sunday morning running my liner and gloves on high. Came back from that bonus south of Pittsburgh and my battery read 8.2 volts. Luckily we were at the top of a hill and I was able to bump start it. I then really felt your pain as I froze my *** off while letting my battery recover w/o electrics.


I meant to track you down and see if my liner would fit you, and if you wanted to borrow it for the ride home, but we never crossed paths after the banquet.

-MD

 
Oh you guys. . . .

I have to figure out how to stay motivated after the second checkpoint. That's where I see it getting very interesting. No real frame of reference for doing BBG-like pace beyond about 8 days. Hmmm. Any tips from the IBR experienced peeps?

 
Get your rest early in the game, you'll need your stamina later.

If they follow the same model, the points get bigger later - take a look at the 3 legs from 2009, you'll see what I mean. So, getting a bit more rest earlier, will allow you a bit more time later in the game to get some of the bigger points on the later legs, especially the third leg.

Are you thinking because you have only done a 7 day rally that 11 days will be different? In my experience, it really isn't. In 2009, I took good care of myself from the beginning and on the last night of the rally I was on the phone with Chaz Fisher and said quite sincerely, "If they hand me another bonus pack in Spokane, I'll go back out!" I really did mean it at the time, I felt great and was having a fantastic time. Of course, when I got to Spokane and all my friends were there, I didn't want to leave anymore, but that shows what taking good care of yourself does for your spirits. By 'taking care of yourself' I mean - adequate sleep (only you know what that means precisely), adequate nutrition and water, adequate hygiene. The hygiene is oh so important. All that sweating etc in your gear can lead to all sorts of skin and private issues that will drive you INSANE.

In 2011, I was not so careful with my basic needs and, well...

Another thing to be mindful of is your emotional health. This may sound touchy feely, and maybe it is, but here's what I mean. The IBR, for most if not all people, produces the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Sometimes within moments of each other. So, you need to have 'conversations' between your emotional self and your logical/rational self sometimes. If you need to actually speak in your helmet, or the corner of a truck stop, go ahead. (everyone in the truck stop already thinks you're insane, so why not add to the evidence) If you can do this silently, that's okay too. But do not beat yourself up too much ever, that will not be in your best interest. If you **** up, so be it. Move on. Don't let that carry over and cause future mistakes because you're too busy punishing yourself for past mistakes that you can't fix.

I hope that helps. If not, you paid for my advice what it was worth. You know you can talk to me if you want me to elaborate on any of that stuff. For the easily nauseated, I spared some of the details in the 'hygiene' segment - but I'm not embarassed by them, so have no problem telling you if you think it'll help!

 
Hmmmm.............

Interception complete!

Thanks kitty!

And Josh - if you are wondering if heading out AWAY from your final destination (Home) after check point 2 will come into your thoughts-

I think it will, but after you find out how well you are doing, you'll love the homestretch!

 
I find after doing a good solid 100 miles, I like to stop for a nap.

After waking up, I'm ready to do that solid second 100 miles for the day.
punk.gif


...ooops. Wrong forum.

With all the gray hairs, I thought this was the AARP site.

 
+1 on what Kitty said. Excellent advice.

Athough you have heard it before, mentally prepare yourself for the highest highs and the lowest lows....particularly on day 9ish.

The only thing I could add is that you (aka - Iron Mountain) will want to ensure that you finish behind older farts like me at each checkpoint and the finish......other than that there is nothing more I can add.

 
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"But do not beat yourself up too much ever, that will not be in your best interest. If you **** up, so be it. Move on. Don't let that carry over and cause future mistakes because you're too busy punishing yourself for past mistakes that you can't fix."

Easier said than done. I tend to ride harder, faster, and longer after a mistake. Usually beating myself up for it all the way. I kinda have a feeling Josh does the same :)

 
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Nice job Mountain!

What Kitty said about the mental work is spot-on. This is very similar to running a marathon, the conversations you have with yourself can make or break you. You have a choice as to how feel about events that happen along the way and even "mistakes" can be turned into a positive experience or at least seen as an opportunity.

 
"But do not beat yourself up too much ever, that will not be in your best interest. If you **** up, so be it. Move on. Don't let that carry over and cause future mistakes because you're too busy punishing yourself for past mistakes that you can't fix."


Easier said than done. I tend to ride harder, faster, and longer after a mistake. Usually beating myself up for it all the way. I kinda have a feeling Josh does the same :)
Most people, especially those who would ever enter the IBR, do the same. But if you want to succeed, this is very important. Spending too much time dwelling on past mistakes is completely counter productive. You need to focus on the next task at hand, not dwell on something else.

That said, if you can formulate some kind of plan to try and compensate for having missed some points or something, fine, go for it. But to continually rehash woulda shoulda coulda could lead to problems with what you have ahead of you. DAMHIK.

I had 'inspirational' notes on my windscreen during the IBR:

"One bonus at a time"

"Meet each challenge gracefully"

"If that doesn't work, reach in and grab a set"

Words to live by for me and many others.

In other words, focus on what you need to be doing now and don't turn into a bull in a china shop, unless you have to.

 
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