Martin Little and Rebecca McCallum have informed the RallyMom they have withdrawn from the rally and will be returning to Minnesota. Every rider must make their own choices, given their condition and circumstances. This was without a doubt a very difficult decision for them. We are sad they will not be at the finish.

Jim Abbott is back in the rally with a functional ST1300. We have not gotten the name, but someone from the ST1300 forum devoted enough of their time to get two tires and a wheel, drive 500 miles, help with the wheel swap and tire change, and then drive 500 miles back home. Just to get Jim back in the rally. Wow. Jim made some eastward progress, but apparently he has stopped at another hotel. It looks like he needs to do a a big ride to get to the finish. It is not easy, but it is doable, as many of us have accomplished similar long rides on our last day of the IBR. But he needs to get out of the hotel and get moving.

Speaking of not easy, but doable … convention wisdom says that Key West is always a sucker bonus. You see this phrase repeated often on forums and social media. A look back at the historical record paints a very different picture. The reality is that Key West is rarely, if ever, a sucker bonus. It is usually worth a lot of points because it can be a costly time sink. Unless the rider can time it to arrive in the middle of the night, it is likely to be a slog in slow traffic, as well as roast the rider in the unrelenting south Florida sun. But when it has been available, Key West has usually been a key part of an aggressive ride plan.

It is not a sucker bonus this year either. Several riders have it in their ride plans because it is worth 12,430 points. Somewhere around 20 riders have chosen to make the run to the southernmost point of the continental United States. But unlike prior rallies, the buoy shaped marker is not the bonus. The Key West Key Lime Pie Company is the bonus location. Riding to the Keys for some key lime pie sounds good, until you realize there is probably not enough time to sit on the beach and watch the surf as you enjoy a slice.

Jon Anderson was taking a route yesterday which made no sense to the rally staff, as it was adding over an hour to what he seemed to be wanting to do. He finally called the RallyMom this morning and explained. He needed a front tire and took the backroad detour to stop at his home in Colorado to change the tire. He is back on track and heading for the finish.

Eric Edelman was rear ended by a car a few days ago. It was a minor impact. The car had more damage than the bike and he did not go down. The car driver attempted to leave the scene by driving around Eric, but there was a police officer two cars back and immediately pulled the driver over. How often does that happen? Thankfully, Eric was able to continue riding. He called the RallyMom this morning to report that he was just “kung fu kicked by bambi” near Cumberland, Maryland. That sounds painful. Eric noted he was going to be lucky to get to Pittsburgh at this rate.

The staff tracks rider speed during the rally and riders who have dabbled with excessive speed are talked to and penalized if needed. So far, the riders are doing well with avoiding this pitfall. We hope that continues as the clock winds down and the pressure mounts to arrive without penalties.

We need to give some well deserved recognition to Jason Jonas, whose Spotwalla animations and tracking pages are always entertaining and informative for those following the rally from the sidelines. Even though we randomize the numbers on the public page to avoid particular riders from be identified and tracked, it is still fun to watch the riders spread across the country in search of points. Jason’s talent and effort is probably to blame for quite a few companies experiencing a drop in workplace productivity during the rally. Thank you Jason!

We can confirm that Ben Ernst is the first rider in the history to ride to the Northwest Territory during an Iron Butt Rally. In 2001, when riders knew there was a possibility of Alaska or Yellowknife being on the bonus list, a lot of us looked hard at the route to Yellowknife. It was not paved and had a ferry crossing back then. It is now paved and had a bridge. But it is still a long way to ride. Ben went there for the 20,818 points. Steve Eversfield also made the long trek to Sombe K’e Park. Will that long, lonely ride, combined with some other bonuses be a winner? We will see tomorrow night.

More than 10 riders liked the idea of 13,731 points in Meat Cove, Nova Scotia, combined with other bonuses on the east coast. Around half of the riders liked the west coast options, which had no huge anchor, but a buffet of smaller bonus values which could add up quickly. Will the west coast routes be better than the east coast routes? Was Yellowknife the right call? Will anyone get one of the combos Will anyone get more then one of the combos? Will anyone complete their entire bingo card for an extra 2000 points? Was there a potential winning route which even Jeff did not see? We will know the answers by tomorrow night.

It is always a frustration for the scribe to not be able to publish more details as they are happening about the massive rides being undertaken by some of the riders. The daily reports tend to highlight the problems and unfortunate things which happen to riders. The riders who are not having problems and who are executing brilliant ride plans do not get talked about during the time they are working their skills and magic across the country. The staff can see what is developing, but the scribe cannot identify the riders in the reports, nor share what we think their strategy might be. To do so would allow others to potentially adjust their routes to compensate for things they did not see, adding additional bonuses or combos to try and keep up with someone who initially found a better solution to the puzzle presented by Jeff. We will try to share more details of some of these well executed routes in the post rally reports, because these amazing riders deserve the recognition.

The rally staff is busy getting everything set up for the riders who are returning. Check in, scoring, verification of results, finisher banquet, awards, and the post banquet tire kicking sessions which will last well into the night for some. For others, they will get well deserved rest with a shower and a comfortable bed in a cool hotel room instead of a concrete picnic table out in the elements. Then it will be over.

Adjusting themselves back into the normal world after two weeks of intense rallying can be difficult for the riders. Some will have vivid dreams and wake up with a jump and wonder where they are. Some will wake up suddenly and wonder why their riding gear and helmet is missing. Some will be checking their watches to see how much time is left until the window closes. Eventually, they will return to the daily routine and have time to reflect on their time in the rally. Some will wish they had done better, some will be pleased, some will be elated to have a 3 digit number. Some will start planning for the next one. Some will decide this one was enough. We hope they can say they gave it their best shot and can be at peace with the outcome.

Lionel Ramos hit a huge pothole on I-80 west of Rock Springs in Wyoming. The front rim on his BMW was damaged and would not hold air. His towing policy proved worthless. Using the vaunted BMW Anonymous Book didn’t yield any offers of help. It was Sunday and took hours, but a friend from Ogden, UT was finally able to get there and haul the bike to his home while they tried to find a solution. IBR Vet DeVern Gerber provided the contact info for the General Manager of BMW of Salt Lake. Troy Barns, the GM, was two hours away on a family camping trip and came back early to open the shop on Monday (normally closed) to help Lionel. They did not have a wheel in stock, but they did have a used BMW on the floor with a front wheel that would fit. Troy chose to step up and help a rider in need and worked out a deal on the wheel (something few shops will do). The wheel was swapped from the used bike to Lionel’s bike to get him back in the rally. Lionel referred to Troy as his “guardian angel”. Kudos to Troy and BMW of Salt Lake!

Kurt Worden tried plugging his punctured tire, but it continued leaking. He was near Jackson, Mississippi. He contacted Lisa and she posted a call for help on social media. Nate Steuben called Lisa and said he was on the way to help. Some of you may recall that Nate stepped up to assist Tim Masterson when he had a crash three years ago in Louisiana. Nate drove Tim 230 miles back to his home in Texas. This time, to help Kurt, Nate first drove 100 miles to a friend’s home to pick up the correct tire, then drove from Louisiana to Jackson, MS to meet Kurt. Nate also brought a tire changing stand and levers. The good deed was done around midnight and Kurt was back in the rally. Nate had to drive back to Louisiana and be at work that morning. Nate’s generosity saved Kurt from having to wait until the next day for a shop to open and replace the tire, saving him at least 12 hours of on-the-clock rally time…assuming the dealer even had a tire and would even schedule the work. Nate’s karma bank is well stocked at this point.

Bucky Dent was in north Texas and had a flat tire with too much damage to plug. He called Lisa and she posted a call for assistance. IBR Vet Cliff Wall stepped up to drive 3+ hours to bring the correct tire. Lisa received a contact number for assistance near Bucky. She called what turned out to be a tow truck company. That gentleman referred her to the sheriff (and he knew that number off the top of his head). The lady at the sheriff’s department referred her to the brother of someone she knew who she said would help motorcyclists. The brother said to call Jimmy John’s brother Jeremy. Jeremy called back almost immediately. Jeremy was only 12 miles away and went to get Bucky. It was nearly 100F and concerned folks were taking pity on Bucky and stopping to give him water bottles. When Cliff arrived with the tire, they all got it mounted. Bucky was back in the rally.

Howard Phelps lost his rally packet somewhere between his last bonus and a rest stop. He eventually backtracked, but could not find it. He missed the second call in bonus. He has also lost the tracking bonus due to not having his tracker on for two days. He no longer has bonus instructions to go with the locations. We are not sure how he plans to finish the rally yet he soldiers on.

Nick Byrnes called the RallyMom to announce he is withdrawing from the rally. He is OK and plans to be at the finish.

Ted Capling is the rider on the K100 BMW with the SmartCar diesel engine. When I talked to Mike Kneebone about whether it should be classified as a Hopeless Class entry, Mike said it was definitely Hopeless Class. Some of us thought it might be sorted enough to not be completely hopeless based on how clean the installation looked and mostly because the engine is pretty decent and the bike itself is reliable, but no one was sure about the fabricated connections which join the two units. However, there was some speculation about the gearing not being ideal and not much testing time was available.

Mike noted the engine was turning relatively high rpm at highway speeds, which is typically not good for diesels. Today, we learned that the engine apparently “blew up” in South Carolina, somewhere near Oak Grove. Never doubt Mike’s intuition regarding the Hopeless Class!

Our info indicates Ted has a spare engine on the way and he plans to do the swap and get back on the road. While that might sound unprecedented, engine swaps are not new to the IBR. In 2001 Paul Pelland (LonghaulPaul) had an engine swap on his Ural performed by the infamous Russian Factory Support Team and Paul Meredith swapped the engine on his 125cc two-stroke Mitas. We will report on Ted’s diesel swap status as we know more. We love his dedication.

Jim Abbott hit a huge pothole on I-80 east of Rock Springs. Both tires were flattened and both rims were bent on his ST1300. The rear wheel is in the worst condition. He is waiting for help and has removed the wheels from the bike to have it as ready as he can for replacement wheels. He is hoping to have wheels available sometime this evening, but we do not have details yet on what is happening. More as we know it.

Update: An ST-Owners’ Club member in Utah (500 miles away) is bringing two rims and a back tire. The local Honda shop manager will do what she can to get them mounted/balanced ASAP. Because the Honda shop was non-committal, the tire was mounted and balanced first, before the journey. Beth Madson, who is on vacation nearby, will help Jim get around as needed to get the bike prepped. He is still hoping to make it to the finish. 

Your scribe and the rest of the rally staff fully understand that everyone following this rally wants to know what is happening with the riders on this very long Leg 3. Unfortunately, the dynamics of the rally prevent your scribe from posting details of what each rider is doing, their apparent strategy, and what we think they plan to do, simply because posting such info could affect the strategy of other riders. We will post information as it is available, but only as long as it does not compromise the integrity of the rally.

Breakfast was served at 3:45am and the rider meeting started at 4:00am on Sunday morning. Jeff has served up 34 pages of deliciousness for the riders to consider. Who will suffer from biting off to much, or over eating, or indigestion? Who will be satisfied with a safe choice and who will take the spicy adventure? Who will order the best dish and be ready for the dessert awaiting them at the finish? For a historical culinary tidbit, the riders who took the Alaska option in the 2001 rally were served Baked Alaska at the finish. It was delicious and your scribe enjoyed it immensely.

The staff was interested in several things regarding the riders in the meeting. For instance, what their reaction might be when the standings were announced and the shake up, with some riders dropping significantly and some gaining places significantly became apparent to everyone, especially the leaders. Another topic of speculation was how long would it take riders to plan a route for such a long third leg, with a lot of bonus opportunities and combinations available all across the country… and beyond.

Leg 2 rider standings may be seen here: Rally Data > Standings

Riders who left the hotel lobby after less than 1.5 hours of planning time:

There were still bikes in the parking lot and riders trying to plan routes well after 10:00am.

Leg 2 leader Steve Gallant was eating pie in the middle of the leg. The Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pie bonus, worth 884 points was the deciding difference between 1^st place and 2^nd place standing at the end of Leg 2. We are guessing that the memory of eating that fried pie will be even sweeter for Steve than how it tasted the first time.

As we have often noted, points tend to increase as the rally progresses. Point values for bonuses available in Leg 2 were around 100% greater than the values available on Leg 1, effectively doubling the potential value of Leg 2. To be a finisher, the rider’s target for the end of Leg 2 to be on track to become a finisher was a total of around 36,000 points.

Group bonus photo:

Dennis Bitner reported that all riders were signed in at the photo bonus before 10:55am. The bonus was the birthplace of Kool-Aid in Hastings, NE and was worth 3,668 points. 37 flags were there to collect the points.

An update on the photo bonus from Leg 1: The bonus was located across the street from the Coffeyville, KS newspaper office and a reporter came over to see what was happening. Staff member and IBR Vet Dennis Bitner gave the reporter a brief interview and we are checking to find out when it will be published.

Wolfe Bonham was on the way to Santa Monica. He found himself on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and realized he was riding the struggle bus, instead of a flatbed Ford. His ankle was swollen and he had a case of trench foot from riding three days in the rain. He stopped for fuel and a paramedic truck pulled up to the pump next to him. The medics were asking about the bike and all the farkles, so Wolfe chatted with them for a few minutes. They were interested and friendly, so he asked if they had any meds or treatment for his ankle and foot. They got his boot off, saw the condition of his foot, and immediately proceeded with treating him and getting the ankle wrapped. He reported feeling better at the checkpoint. While Wolfe may think of medics instead of a girl in a flatbed Ford the next time he hears that song, he is unlikely to forget Winslow, Arizona.

Wolfe also had a close call when braking outside of Denver. He suddenly found he had no rear brake and a super sensitive front brake, which almost caused him to crash. Once safely stopped, he found that a tool container became dislodged from his motorcycle and jammed itself between the frame and the rear brake caliper, damaging the caliper and causing the rear brake to fail. The local BMW of Denver dealership was closing when he called them for assistance. They were only a half mile from the checkpoint hotel. He let them know the situation and that he was on the clock in the IBR. They agreed to stay open to get the bike repaired so he could make the checkpoint on time. He not only got a repaired bike and a free t-shirt, he made it to the checkpoint on time and is good to go. He said they were the most friendly and accommodating dealership staff he had encountered while traveling. Wolfe is looking forward to the media blackout being over at the end of the rally so he can give BMW of Denver kudos on social media. Note, there were no tools in the tool container when it caused the damage and resulting brake failure. Wolfe is into mead and found an interesting bottle of it somewhere while bonus hunting. It fit perfectly in the tool container. Not sure where the tools went. Don’t worry, the mead survived the chaos intact.

Rider Update: Kerri Miller was about 40 miles west of the checkpoint with a flat tire. That was the bad news. The good news? Mike Loomer, aka Mr. Wendy Crockett, was on his way to the checkpoint and was within about 4 miles of Kerri when Wendy contacted him from the checkpoint. He found Kerri and helped plug the tire. Mike followed Kerri to the checkpoint, where a new tire was installed. The answer to “How many people can it take to change a tire?” was apparently answered in the Sheraton parking lot. There is a rumor that Guinness may have been contacted…

Rally staff opened scoring early this afternoon, just after 4:00pm local time, to start processing riders who arrived early at Checkpoint 2.

Ben Ernst found that his rear tire was worn more than expected at the checkpoint. His friend, fellow Texas rider and IBR vet, Matt Wise was doing a ride plan which was easier on tires than Ben’s plan. As a result, Matt’s rear tire showed very little wear. They both ride BMW GSA motorcycles. They determined that Ben’s tire should have enough tread remaining for Matt to finish on it and Matt’s rear tire should get Ben to the finish. The solution seemed obvious to them, so they agreed to swap rear wheels to avoid losing sleep time trying to access and mount a new tire. The nice thing about the BMW single sided swing arm is a rear wheel removal is just five lug nuts, so the swap is super quick and easy, NASCAR style. The only issue is Matt found a nail in Ben’s tire right after doing the swap. Fortunately, when removing it, he found it had not gone deep enough to puncture the tire, so neither plugging nor tire replacement was necessary.

Conventional wisdom would hold that stopping at home, or elsewhere, to visit with one’s spouse or significant other is almost always a bad idea during the IBR. Especially when a rider is tired and in need of comfort. More than one rider over the years has stopped at home or at a hotel to visit with family or a spouse and overslept, missing a bonus or checkpoint. They just decided to drop out of the rally and stay comfortable, rather than resume a trip while exhausted, or riding several thousand more miles in the heat, or cold, or rain. Bob Bowman has apparently made a habit of spitting in the face of this conventional wisdom. In his last IBR, he stopped in Kentucky to have lunch with his wife and managed to tear himself away from her to continue riding. In this rally, he stopped on Leg 2 to meet her again for lunch, this time in Minnesota. He again managed to tear himself away from her to continue to the checkpoint. He let me know that his route for Leg 3 will take him just a couple of miles from his grandchild, so he plans to stop there too.

John Coons was riding at night, near the I-57/I-80 interchange in Chicago. He was short on time to get to a Schoop’s bingo location, which was about to close. Riding in traffic, he hit a large pothole and heard a “thunk”. He caught a glimpse of one of his phones bouncing off the bike. He marked the location with a waypoint pin, but did not have time to stop and look for the phone and still collect the bingo receipt. After riding the 25 miles and collecting the Schoop’s receipt and a photo of the bike and flag at the location, he backtracked 25 miles to try to retrieve his phone. No way he is going to find it, right?

Except John is a police officer. Crime scene investigation is his specialty. John has a reputation of staying on scene and finding things no one else can find, not giving up until everything pertaining to the case is found. He almost immediately spotted the phone, which was amazing since it was face down so he could not see the screen light up when he called it from his other phone. It was missing the protective case and mount, just sitting there on the shoulder of the interstate, on a bridge no less. On retrieval, he found the screen was cracked from the impact, but it had not been run over, and it was functional. He still needed to find the pink Otterbox case because he needed the mount to re-attach the phone to the motorcycle (at least until hitting the next massive pothole). He turned on all his driving and fog lights and rode slowly on the shoulder for about 400 yards, but he did not see anything. He rode to the next exit, turned around, and rode back to the location. Then performed the same search on the other shoulder. He found the case about 300 yards from where the phone was found. With just a 50-mile round-trip backtrack and some dedicated, sharp-eyed searching, John had his phone back on the motorcycle and functional. He has always been a never-give-up kind of guy. With such amazing results, maybe he should have been looking for bonuses in Vegas?

Scoring

Volunteer and IBR vet Gary Huff checking in the riders in Denver as they completed Leg 2.

When riders sit down at the scoring table, they are asked if they have everything they need to be scored. Once scoring begins, they are not allowed to go and get anything they may have forgotten, overlooked, or dropped on their way to scoring.

Unfortunately, Steve Eversfield lost the rest bonus at the scoring table. He had receipts for a rest bonus in his packet, but they were for the Leg 1 rest bonus. He also had receipts for he Leg 2 rest bonus, but they were in his hotel room. He had put the wrong receipts in his packet and did not realize it until he was at the table and scoring was underway. As a result, he was not able to retrieve the correct receipt. A painful loss of 4,800 points.

Scoring at Checkpoint 2 was completed by 9:00pm.

James Owen did not have a fall, but he did manage to twist his ankle and was having difficulty walking on arrival at the checkpoint. He planned to ice it and elevate it overnight.

Lionel Ramos had some assistance in the parking lot with an aux fuel tank pump swap. The original one failed, but he had a spare so it was just a remove, disconnect, install, connect procedure to correct the problem.

A few riders arrived looking pretty fresh and rested. But a lot of them resembled the proverbial “fried meat on a stick”. Fortunately, almost everyone looked rested and ready by the time they departed on Leg 3. Quite a few riders had tire changes and other maintenance scheduled for the Checkpoint 2, before starting the very long Leg 3.

Sometimes even the bike needs to take a nap. The result of loaded bikes on warm soft asphalt. Some riders might prefer to be loaded with a warm, soft cookie right now…

Your scribe fielded a few calls from Troy Martin with concerns about his Triumph puking coolant. Advice was offered, accepted, applied, and he got moving again. We did not hear from him again until this afternoon, when he had a sliced rear tire on I-10 near the La Brea Tar Pits and needed a replacement. Thanks to Greg Barrett for the assistance. Greg has detailed the story on his Facebook page. Today wasn’t Troy’s best day riding, but it might have been his best day fixing stuff. He has reportedly recovered and regrouped, hoping to continue with better results.

Chris and Stella Wiltshire came from New Zealand to ride the rally. They apparently had some extra time in their schedule on Leg 2 and decided to do some sightseeing. They took a side trip to take a photo of the Iowa Iron Butt sign near Webster City, created by IBR vet Dennis Powell. Since it was not a rally bonus, not having their rally flag visible in the picture is not an issue.

Rider Update: Gerry Arel is scheduled for a medical transport flight to Connecticut, thanks to MedJet.

Rider Update: See Appetizers for the story on Chris Comly’s unfortunate mechanical failure on the mega mile Sportster.

The day was unusually uneventful for the most part. Enough so to make the RallyMom a bit uncomfortable. I may have heard her say “My phone is not ringing much today…” perhaps with a tone of trepidation. Or, maybe it was just a case of 20+ years of successfully running this rally and waiting for the other shoe to drop, or the dam to break, or the sky to fall. Don’t worry, it is bound to happen, sooner rather than later!

This edit is being finalized on Day 06, so we can state the Day 06 report is going to be rather long. Not sure if it was a shoe dropping, or a dam breaking, or the sky falling. Perhaps the perspective on Day 06 will depend on which rider you are talking to…

Stay tuned!

Sometimes, riders are reminded in no uncertain terms that what the staff has been seeing or what has been reported is unacceptable behavior on this rally. The rider meeting at Checkpoint 1 was one of those where riders are admonished and reminded of the consequences. Riders heard some strong admonitions from Lisa and Jeff during the riders’ meeting that started the clock on Leg 2.

Rally Flag 101 instructions were reiterated. Wow.

Having respect for the rally and for property was also reiterated. WTH? Apparently, during Leg 1, someone rode their bike THROUGH the cornfield bonus instead of parking and walking to get the bonus photo.

It did not take some of the riders very long to find a route they liked for Leg 2. Several riders began departing the Checkpoint 1 hotel in Tulsa very soon after receiving their rally packets and coordinates at 4:00am.

Mike Brooke 4:48am
Keith Underhall 4:50am
Dan Stephens II 4:52
Scott Eve 5:06
Reef AsSadiq 5:10am
John Andrews 5:11am
James Owen 5:14 return 5:20 depart 5:24
Ben Ernst 5:16am
Bob Lilley 5:18am
Mike Heitkamp 5:21am
Eric Buskell 5:24am
Mark Beaulac 5:30am

We will know soon if they should have taken more time to plan their routes, or if their apparent “see it and go for it” strategy was the right choice. We are guessing that some will go North, some south, some east, and some west. Which route will work best for each rider? Are they so similar that it will come down to which rider can stay focused and ride their plan, or will some riders overlook options due to not taking enough time to think things through? It can be challenging to know when it is time to fish or time to cut more bait.

It was interesting to see the level of involvement of the pillion riders of the two-up teams. Most of them appear enthusiastic, willing to help with loading the bike, doing some routing, and helping the rider go through checklists. Jon Kerr and daughter Caleigh have a particularly methodical and efficient system of loading the bike, getting set, high fiving each other, and rolling out quickly.

Your scribe got behind on writing, partially due to being summoned to help with scoring to alleviate the backlog of riders arriving near the start of the penalty point window. Only one rider was in the penalty window, which was a minor miracle, given how far out some of the riders on the east side of the country were just a few hours earlier.

The scores and bonuses each rider collected have been posted at this link to the Iron Butt Association website.

As usual, several riders lost points at the table. Reading comprehension still counts. Minor penalties for an error on their bonus log sheet, major ones for missing the call-in time window, or forgetting to turn on their satellite tracker, or not realizing the tracker battery died and losing their tracking bonus. There were some receipt issues and photo issues as well.

The staff strives to make the scoring process efficient, allowing the riders to get more sleep time prior to having to be at the rider meeting at 4:00am, then start planning their routes for Leg 2. However, staff did not anticipate the riders’ voracious appetite for Bingo bonuses and the required receipts. And receipts are a time suck; some did not have locations on them, only store numbers or phone numbers, so staff had to spend time to look up the numbers for location verification. This resulted in a longer queue than is typical. Steps are being taken to hopefully avoid this at the scoring for Checkpoint 2.

Jeff’s rally design appears to be working really well to challenge the riders, no matter what their level of experience or goals might be for this rally. The spread of points between riders is very small and competition is tight. Apparently, at this stage of the rally, every point is valuable due to the small points spread. It remains to be seen whether the points will increase on the next legs or whether there will be some shiny large-value baubles to temp riders into ignoring other options. Will the point spread remain tight, or will someone pull off a massive coup by grabbing a seemingly impossible bonus?

The staff was interested to see how many riders took time to collect a lot of Bingo points and go a long way toward filling their cards. The number choosing to collect these locations was higher than anticipated. The swirl of rumors regarding what might happen in Leg 2 for the Bingo aspect of the game were rampant and amusing. Readers may find both the bonus locations and the Bingo choices for each rider by clicking on their scorecards.

Lisa Rufo and Molly are recovering after a deer strike totaled their motorcycle, but they are out of the rally. After making sure Lisa was released from the hospital and all was well, Steve Rufo is continuing the rally solo. He has unfinished business. Steve had entered the 2021 IBR but was unable to ride due to having back surgery before the rally. He will have a penalty assessed for their team not staying together, but still has an opportunity to become a finisher. Continuing without the rest of his team was no doubt a difficult decision, but we wish him well.

Gerry Arel had an accident on his GSA in South Carolina and is out of the rally. He is in the hospital with some broken bones. Medjet is arranging to transport him to a medical facility near his home in Connecticut for the recommended surgery. SCHP and an eyewitness reported Gerry’s front tire hit some construction debris during a rainstorm, and the bike went down hard. Gerry was somehow able to scamper to the median and out of traffic. He called the RallyMom yesterday and apologized for causing her to have to open the Red Book. We are very thankful he is in good spirits and getting the care he needs to recover. IBR Vet Dan Crowley unselfishly drove several hours to be with Gerry at the hospital, something for which we owe him a debt of gratitude. Gerry’s awesome wife Nikki rushed to the airport and is now on scene, allowing Dan to head back home.

Troy Martin rode his Triumph Trophy off a curb and damaged the oil sump, creating a leak. He patched the leaking aluminum with some J.B. Weld and is back on the road. So far the repair is holding.

Rob Griffith had a fuel pump failure on his GoldWing in North Carolina. The pump has been replaced. Rob is making his way to the checkpoint.

Too Much Too Soon?

Conventional wisdom holds that going too hard on the first leg of the IBR is not a good idea. Traditionally, the number of points available per mile ridden increases throughout the rally. The point values available on Leg 3 will typically dwarf the point values available on Leg 1. Ideally, riders still need to be relatively fresh on Legs 2 and 3. However, should they bite off too much from the menu on Leg 1, they might not be fresh enough to route efficiently or ride their plan effectively. In light of that, a conservative approach would seem more appropriate.

Reality is a bit more nuanced. Riders competing for a gold medal finish, especially those in the hunt for the top ten, cannot really afford to pass up points on Leg one. Having noted that, they still need to allow for enough rest to be fresh and ready to plan their routes at the first checkpoint.

It is also a harsh reality that riders looking for a top five finish are operating at an entirely different level and every point they can collect on every leg is important. Riders who breathe that rarified air tend to push the envelope from the start. But even they need to manage time carefully.

There are often bonuses with big point values placed in locations designed to tempt riders to take a big bite which they may ultimately find too difficult to swallow. These are usually referred to as “sucker” bonuses. The points may suck the rider in with dreams of a big score and when it is too late to recover, they find the difficulty of collecting it simply beyond their capability. Maybe it is too far away for the time available. Maybe it is in a difficult to access area which required triple the amount of time to collect it than they budgeted in their route plan. Maybe it is on a rough dirt road which becomes a muddy mess after a rain. Maybe it requires hiking across a land bridge only available at low tide … and low tide occurs after the time a rider would need to leave to get back to the checkpoint. Maybe it is doable, but not if the rider spends too much time collecting smaller bonuses on the way. Maybe it is doable, but is it smart and how does it impact the rest of the rider’s rally? Maybe it is just not doable at all.

In any case, rally architects have a habit of inserting such temptingly shiny baubles into their rallies to see who will reach for them. I would not say it is for sheer amusement, but it probably contributes to the term “rally bastard” being tossed around by certain riders. In addition, what might be a “sucker” bonus for a rookie might be entirely doable for a top tier rider.

Do the top tier riders sometimes bite off more than they can chew? Yes, they do. And sometimes, so do riders who are just looking to finish. Can those elite riders pull off a massive ride that sets them up for a point lead going into Leg 2? Yes, that is possible. Can those riders create an impressive point lead on Leg 1 and then find themselves too fatigued to ride their plan on Leg 2? Yes, that is also possible.

It remains to be seen if any of these scenarios apply to Leg 1 for the 2023 IBR riders. As this report is being written, there are a few riders who appear to be far enough out to place their arrival time at the first checkpoint well into the penalty points. It will be interesting to see how their rides and bonus claims work out if they can get to the checkpoint before being time barred.

As always, we watch and wait.

Other riders are taking the more conservative approach and are on track to arrive at the checkpoint hotel well ahead of the opening of the checkpoint window. Rookie riders are usually better off following this strategy, for multiple reasons. They should be able to get enough points to hit the finisher target for Leg 1 and still arrive with a time cushion at the checkpoint, which reduces stress. They can arrive with time to rest and sleep before the next leg bonus list is handed out. They should then be well-rested when planning their Leg 2 routes, assuming they don’t spend their rest time hanging out in the lobby talking to everyone they see. They should also be rested to start riding the second leg and collect the higher valued points.

Tuesday was a travel day for the rally staff, moving the rally work room from the hotel in Pittsburg to the hotel in Tulsa. Some of the staff made the trip riding, some were driving, and some were flying. There are always issues with any form of travel, but everyone made it to Tulsa. The preparations for the riders to arrive Wednesday evening began late Tuesday night. We will post more details of the Tulsa checkpoint in tomorrow’s update.

There is a group photo bonus Wednesday, north of the checkpoint, and we expect a lot of riders to show up for an easy 1632 points. They must sign in before the deadline to collect the points and be in the photo.

It is disturbing that information about this bonus, and information from another bonus, was posted to social media on Tuesday. That information could have only come through a rider in the rally to the person who posted it. The integrity standard for this group is simple: Do not do anything during the rally about which you would be unwilling to stand up in front of your peers and admit to. The rider meeting at the checkpoint, where the Leg 2 bonus list will be distributed, should be interesting. It is also disturbing that a rider posted a photo of bonus information to Facebook on Wednesday. The rules are clear on these things, and they were covered in depth during the rider meeting. What are these folks thinking?

We posted the following update on Monday under the headline “Rally 101”:

“At 1:07am, Landry received a photo text, showing flag 88, hanging on a pole in Bar Harbor, looking so sad and abandoned by its hapless rider. Oh well. 
Then, at 3:01am, another rider came upon the lonely flag and texted the RallyMom, asking if should they bring it back. Really?!
When no text response came from a sleeping Landry, and no phone call to verify the basic rules of rallying, at 3:07 the rider announced in another text they would bring it back to Tulsa… The riders have managed to connect and they are working on a handoff location to return the wayward rally flag to its owner. Hopefully, this will be resolved without further disruption.”

Unfortunately, Dan Duvall not only chose to take a rider’s flag, costing the rider hours and aggravation, he also chose not follow Jeff Earls’ specific instructions on how to proceed. The scribe predicts the next rally will incorporate a new rule and painful penalty for similar transgressions.

John Harrison
IBR Scribe
Iron Butt Rally©

The riders all were required to be at their bikes at 8:00am with the key in the ignition for their starting odometer recording and getting their ID card punched.

Two riders were not with their bikes at 8:00am. Unfortunately, Cory Ure and Matt Hube were not in position when the staff came around for the verification. They both found themselves moved to the last starting spots in the field. To their credit, they both took it all in stride. Jim Craig was delayed until the main group departed and Jeff filled him in on what was missed because Jim was late to the rookie rider meeting. Oh well, someone must be last.

Just doing what one is supposed to do, such as arriving on time for the starting procedure, typically does not rate a mention in the limited space of a daily report. However, dropping your bike on the starting row of the IBR and creating a domino effect that takes another rider down IS something that is certain to get some exposure. This seems to happen at every IBR start and efficient scribes have the paragraph pre-written, only needing to fill in the names.

Sjef Vanderaa did just that this morning. Sjef’s BMW GS got away from him and fell onto Morris Cox and his Triumph Tiger Explorer. Both bikes went down on the pavement. Steve Gallant stepped in to help Sjef lift both bikes off the pavement. Fortunately, no one seemed to be hurt. The bikes involved did not appear to suffer significant damage. Both riders were able to depart under their own power.

Once Dale pointed to the first rider and waved them out, the start crew was able to get 105 bikes out of the Marriott parking lot in 6 minutes and 5 seconds. Ken Andrews was waved out first, completing a parade lap through the impound area, to the cheers and honking horns of everyone. Kerri Miller was directed out, followed by Bob Lilley, followed by the rest of the riders in turn.

Bob was clearly on a mission and some of us thought he might pass Kerri on the inside of a turn before leaving the parking lot. By tradition, the last two riders to leave the parking lot with the main group were James Owen, the only two-time winner of the rally and Mike Brooke, the winner of the 2021 rally. The Moon Township and Finlay Township Police Departments provided traffic control to assist the riders in getting to I-376 without having to deal with traffic. You can click on this link to see photos of the riders as they rolled out this morning: The First Course is Served.

A casual survey of the riders before the start indicated that maybe half of the field had plans to go to the Field of Corn bonus this afternoon. It is worth 1267 points.

Troy Martin called in this evening to let Lisa know he rolled off a curb at a bingo bonus and scraped a hole in the oil pan of his Triumph. We advised him on a J.B. Weld fix and at the last word from him, it was working.

Robert Long dropped his bike on wet trolley tracks this afternoon, but at last report was continuing his rally.

Kristen and Chris (Inspector Gadget) had an issue with their GPS and his thigh gadget thingy. They got a replacement GPS and were on the road again at last report.

Screen grabs showing rider locations after two hours and thirteen hours:

This rally is shaping up to be perhaps the best rally Jeff Earls has ever designed. His latest puzzle should allow a rookie to come up with a plan to collect enough points to be on track to finish. There are not a huge number of bonuses available to pick from in Leg 1, so evaluating route options should be somewhat simpler, compared to having a hundred or more.

There are also several options for experienced rallyists to consider for big points. But there is a twist for all the riders: a bingo card for riders to fill out along their chosen routes by getting receipts from certain restaurants. The bingo points are not as great as the bonus points, but could become critical as potential tie breakers for competitors who are close in total points. All bingo locations for the ENTIRE rally were given to the riders today. All bonuses available on Leg 1 were distributed, along with point values. 

To this rally vet, at least regarding riders looking for a respectable placing somewhere below the top ten, it appears having a more conservative bonus collection plan with some bailouts might be better than having a big bonus route plan with limited bailouts, especially on a leg as short as Leg 1. The points for Leg 2 and Leg 3 are expected to increase, perhaps significantly, so finishing Leg 1 without being exhausted from reaching for too much seems like a good idea. But there seems to be something for everyone, which is part of a great rally design and the signature of a great Rally Architect.

But before getting too deep into the rally details, let’s back up and review what has been happening at the Rally hotel today.

Because the registration process was completed on Saturday, many of the riders enjoyed a somewhat relaxing morning visiting with old friends, making new ones, and even enjoying the great weather. The Rally Mom must be saving the weather card for later. Although, there have been news reports of 100mph wind damage in Tulsa, OK within the past 24 hours.

The mandatory rookie meeting took place at 10:00 a.m. Arriving late or missing that meeting carried a penalty of having to attend a second meeting, which would start AFTER all of the other riders departed Monday morning. Only one rider missed the meeting. Jim Craig will be having his rookie meeting on Monday, slightly after the other riders leave at 10:00am.

All riders attended the mandatory rider’s meeting at 2:00 p.m. The same penalty assessed for missing the rookie meeting also loomed over the rider’s meeting and proved effective, as everyone was present to hear some serious straight talk from Dale Wilson, Bill Thweat, Lisa Landry, and Jeff Earls.

Tobie Stevens assembled the riders after the meeting for a group photo. Most riders headed Dale’s advice and re-positioned their bikes in the parking area during the break between the meeting and the banquet.

The names of the riders who picked up their packets and are expected to start on Monday morning, their rider numbers, steed of choice for this rally, IBA #, and home location, are listed on page 2023 IBR Riders.

There are currently 42 BMW’s, 24 Hondas, 16 Yamahas, 11 Harley Davidsons, 4 Kawasakis, 4 Triumphs, 2 Victory motorcycles, and one each Suzuki, Indian, Ducati, Husqvarna, plus a homemade BMW/diesel expected to start the rally. The most prevalent bike model of choice seems to be the BMW R1200/1250 GSA, followed by the GoldWing 1800.

These tires will not be looking quite as fresh in just a few short days …

The riders were anxious to get the banquet started and just get on with the evening. Anticipation was running at full steam as the riders speculated on what manner of mayhem was about to be revealed. Jeff did not disappoint them.

Rally Chef Jeff Earls was in character as the food theme was revealed and the riders received their packets containing a smorgasbord of bonus opportunities after the banquet.

The visibly anxious riders did not hang around to socialize after receiving their instructions. The game is on now. Efficient evaluation, strategizing, and smart routing choices are their priorities, before getting a few hours of rest. It did not take long for Lisa to start receiving calls for help from riders. Unfortunately, the night before the start is not the time to realize one is unable to get GPS data uploaded to their mapping program. Nor is it the time to realize one may not have practiced their routing skills enough to be proficient under the pressure of the relentless clock.

It is a tradition for Lisa, Jeff, and your scribe, accompanied by Tobie and his camera, to visit a few riders after they have had some time to evaluate their rally packets. It is always fascinating to see the different approaches to planning and get some feedback from the riders.

The 2023 IBR start is imminent, and we wish the riders safe adventures and all the best!