Iron Butt Rally

[Two Checks]

Yeth I did....

[charlie b]

I like following the IBR's.  At one time I thought I'd try at least one of the 'lite' versions.  Have done a few days of over 600mi and one 1200mi day.  Never strung them together all in one week.

The 1200mi day is what convinced me I'd never do one (that was at the end of a week of riding).  My ears were sore from taking helmet on and off.  Cheeks were sore from rubbing against the padding.  Doesn't even count the rest of the body.

Then I read one account.  Rider had met a fellow IBR at a gas stop about 7 days in.  They were comparing notes.  He made an off hand comment about ear plugs and how they made the ears bleed.  Take one out.  Clean off all the gunk.  Smear with Neosporin and put them back in.  That was what kinda the final straw.

It is also much more than just riding.  You can ride 15000mi in 11 days and still not finish based on points.

Worden is one of the more 'efficient' riders.  Has to be.  His bike is bone stock Kawa 250.  It is said he isn't even using a GPS, or at least he does not have one mounted on his bike (might have one in a tank bag, 'talking' to him).  Yes, the 'hopeless class' are my heros.  :)

This year's event is one of the most complicated as far as scoring.  Story is it was devised because of some rally software out there that made routing 'too easy'.  So, seems many are back to a lot of manual routing calculations.

PS there is also a sidecar team this year.  Father, mother and daughter.  Last I heard they were still on path to finish.

[Ncdan]

Two good reasons for me personally not to do an IB. First I'm don't think I'm physically capable of of sitting on my skinny butt that long and second I'm to tight to put that many miles on my bike just for bragging rights:(

[canuck750]

I can't imagine riding those distances day after day. A couple summers ago I did 1000 miles in a day on my KLR 650 from the California coast just below Oregon to Phoenix. By the time I got off the bike some 20+ hours later I was pretty much wiped out. The thought of repeating that for another 10 days is not going to happen for this out of shape old fart.

How these riders can maintain concentration with such little sleep riding day and night is beyond me.

How many crash each year from falling asleep or striking wild life at night?

[charlie b]

Interesting at how few do crash or have other incidents.  There are some every year though, including during the ride to the event.

I know there have been a few this year.  Low side on a greasy road (rain? don''t know).  Another clipped a dog.  A few others.  Consider that it is over 1mil miles of motorcycle travel?  Odds are things will happen even without the fatigue factor.

[kingoffleece]

I have a sponsored rider in this rally.  Using my SplitWeight(tm) waterproof seat covers over a custom BMS saddle.  As of leg two he's in 9th place.

Wolfe Bonham AKA El Lobo Loco.

[Lee Bruns]

The details escape me; it's an aging process. A fellow named Kruemke, or similar did huge miles rounding Salt Lake City for  iirc 36 hrs. non stop. He carried all the fuel he expected to use on board his Gold Wing.
The phrase, @ the time, was don't follow Kruemke. He was known to catherize himself for the ordeal.  R3~

Morris Kruemke was a friend of mine. He has since passed away. The 'catheter' he used was an EZ leaker. Not internal.

[Lee Bruns]

Sportster content for Kev..
1-moto pix 2017-6-6 049 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Third place in 07.

Brett Donahues bike. Great guy. Stock engine, slight change of final drive gearing and a larger alternator was only mod.

[Lee Bruns]

Where are the daily standings being posted?  I'd like to follow my buddy Scott Madsen.
He game me his Spotwalla so I know he's still moving.

Mike

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=14a5b59354e17a3472&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes

Is that the time delayed link or the current location link?

[Kev m]

Brett Donahues bike. Great guy. Stock engine, slight change of final drive gearing and a larger alternator was only mod.

Well and auxiliary fuel tank, probably seat and suspension modifications and a bevy of lights and electronics.

[charlie b]

It's over.  First two time winner.  First sidecar three person team.  First two up in top five.  First three bike team finish.

77 Gold Wing, Water buffalo and 250 Kawa all finished.  Even the Aprilla finished  :)  One person came in with crutches.  Maybe the first to hit two deer during the event? 

Lots of cool stories.  BMW seems to be dominant again.  Lots of GS models near the top.

[Adk.IBO]

I saw a motorcycle parked near one of our local gas stations this week, looked like he was working on it so I stopped to assist if I could. He was an IBer just in from Nova Scotia taking a picture in front of the Saranac Lake Carousel. 1994 BMW R1100RSL just about to turn 200K miles. Said he had to be in Minnesota by the next morning or be eliminated, grumbled about road construction. My '94 R1100RSLA was a mile eater and maybe my favorite road bike out of 9 or 10 I have owned. I did an 1100 mile day with it and don't care to do one again.

[Lannis]

Interesting at how few do crash or have other incidents.  There are some every year though, including during the ride to the event.

I know there have been a few this year.  Low side on a greasy road (rain? don''t know).  Another clipped a dog.  A few others.  Consider that it is over 1mil miles of motorcycle travel?  Odds are things will happen even without the fatigue factor.

Interesting to me too, how few crashes there are.   I wonder what the crash rate per million miles traveled is for the big IBR as opposed to bikers in general?

Considering that the riders are (A) Very experienced  (B) Sober  (C) Riding good equipment, it probably indicates that very very many bike crashes are due to inexperienced drunks on badly modified customs .....

I couldn't do an IBR.   It's just excessive.   I enjoy eating lasagne.    A nice square of lasagne (I like my own best, although I've had some good ones elsewhere) is a pleasure to eat and linger over.

But if someone said "Come on, let's have a contest doing something we like!   For 11 days, we'll eat lasagne morning, noon, and night, try to eat at least 3 pounds a day!   And for bonus points, we'll have loaves of garlic bread, and cannoli, and tiramasu that we'll eat on the side.    Yes, we'll get sore and sick, but we'll use lotions and creams and Neosporin where it hurts, and swallow bottles of Tums, and see who's still standing at the finish!!"

Talk about a way to turn a simple pleasure into a nightmare ....

Lannis

[PJPR01]

That's one hell of an analogy...maybe it's wrong though, although I was almost sucked in by the Tiramisu!

Perhaps the IBA riders ONLY ride long distances and never short ones...so their pleasure IS long distance riding!

Let's go for lunch Al!
Where?
Oh...there's a nice lunch spot about 500 miles from here...we can be there in 8 hours...
Perfect...let's go!

[Chuck in Indiana]

so their pleasure IS long distance riding!

I think that is *probably* right.

[SmithSwede]

ADK.ibo:

The rider you met must have been John Coons.  He was riding a 1994 BMW; went past 200,000 miles during the rally.   He wound up taking an impressive 6th place. 

Kurt Worden was the fellow on the near stock Kawasaki Ninja two-fiddy.   He had over 100,000 miles on it.  He took an impressive 21st place. 

Jerry Anderson rode a 1974 two-stroke GT750 "Water Buffalo" to the finish, in 78th place!

Kev's friend, Chris Comly, too 31st place riding a Harley Sportster.  Well done.

Oh.  And Jim Owen won it this year.   He's the only rider to ever win the event twice.

[Lee Bruns]

Someone rides their motorcycle different than I do. They are doing it wrong.

[charlie b]

LOL, I liked just droning along for long distances.  Straight, twisty, made no difference.  I just found out the little things ruined it for me.  The raw ears from taking helmet on and off.  Sore neck and shoulder muscles from not staying in riding shape.  Not enough time to do the miles to stay in shape.  I would not like the scavenger hunt and points deal for an IBR.  And the lightning :) 

That is one aspect that probably adds to the crash per mile for these folks.  Riding 24/7, serious storms, serious heat.  One guy did low side due to slick roads (oil and rain).  Not sure how many others did.  Seems like more animals hit this year.  Maybe due to the number of miles done up north?  Don't know.  They ride through some storms that would make me stop my truck for the day.  IIRC in 2015 some rode in rain for two or three days straight.  Can't imagine doing that.

Yes, I think in some ways these folks are a bit crazy.  But, much more crazy that any of the rest of us that ride/rode motorcycles regularly?

[rocker59]

They ride through some storms that would make me stop my truck for the day.  IIRC in 2015 some rode in rain for two or three days straight.  Can't imagine doing that.
 

I rode the SPANK Arkansas Edition 24-hour rally back in 2009.  It rained on me for something like 17-hours.  Heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning, water running across State Highways.

Great fun!

[Adk.IBO]

SmithSwede,
      Thanks for the update! It is an intriguing competition. My life's circumstances don't match with it, but I get why someone would want to participate.

[Lannis]

Someone rides their motorcycle different than I do. They are doing it wrong.

No, just different.