2021
IBR – Day 3
All
Quiet on the Eastern Front
It
has been a noticeably quiet three days for the Iron Butt Rally. Lisa’s phone is
normally ablaze with questions and problems that seem impossible to overcome,
but that hasn’t happened this year, or at least not
yet. We have had a VERY distinct level of calm here in Rally Central and we
hope that keeps up for another 9 days.
Lisa
did get a single call in from Peter Green and Dannette Sifford. They said they
were beat up from the heat and winds they had been fighting and were going to
get some extra sleep. They realized they were starting their break before the
rest bonus (details in the next paragraph) but were tired and needed to get
some rest. You should see the smile on my face right now; I call this making
good decisions.
Peter Green and Dannette Sifford at the start in Provo, Utah.
The
rest bonus has become a critical part of the Iron Butt Rally as the organizers
have created incentives to encourage riders to take this safety precaution.
Like I said before, the best way to get riders to do something is award them
points for doing it. This leg’s rest bonus starts at midnight the morning of
Wednesday June 23rd. The requirements are to stop in one place,
presumably to sleep and recharge for 4 or more hours, up to a maximum of 8
hours, and earn 6 points per minute. That is a big bunch of points while you
are doing something beneficial to all. If
you start sometime on Wednesday, you can continue to earn points into Thursday as long as you remain stopped, but points stop accruing
after 480 minutes. So, while you are looking at the public SPOT map and see
riders who are not moving, keep this in mind they are probably resting, as they
should.
Deluxe
accommodations at an Iron Butt Motel.
Anybody
who has spent any time on a motorcycle knows the dangers of large animals. Now
think hard, what is the worst, the scourge of riders everywhere, what comes
into your mental view? Of course, the little puffy-tailed Bambi, so cute in the
movie but so deadly to motorcyclists. Commonly referred to as forest rats, the
critters dart out of nowhere to jump right into the path of your motorcycle.
Even if you spot them from a long distance, you have no idea what they will do
as you approach. If you haven’t hit one or had one hit
you, I’m sure even your most recent close call is an easily recallable mental
image (mine is the first real-life test of my ABS system on Hwy 50 in Colorado).
David
Uhl had an unfortunate encounter with one last night.
David sent us a picture of the ex-deer (always a good sign when the rider is alert
enough to document the incident), told us he is fine, and the bike is OK. Sometimes
riding a Harley without all the plastic cowlings and having forks that are
about 3 inches in diameter and some stout crash bars, pays off. Then again, “OK”
to an Iron Butt Rally rider can mean “The wheels are still mostly round.” We’ll see when he checks in, but he sounded good and is
moving along.
Al
Greenwood called and has had a flat. He said he’s OK, but he is literally in
the middle of Montana, 60 miles from civilization, in an area with no cell
service. Al’s dilemma: it is 1,600 miles back to Carmel and as of now he has
about 35 hours before penalty minutes start. Al is a truck driver and to meet
that deadline after taking the time for a tire change/repair on his wing, he
might have to break the 11 hour a day rule (Sing it with me kids: “East bound
and down, Gold Wings wheels a rolling, we gonna do
what they say can’t be done. We got a long way to go and a short time to get
there”). If I were Al, I would be
sleeping while waiting for the tow … tic toc, tic toc.
Jim
Burress had front brake problems and went looking for a shop to help him fix his
Victory Cross Country. He found a Victory shop that didn’t have time to help him,
but another shop an hour away told him to “Come on
Down!” and they’ll fit him in. Cudos to Sport Rider
in Altoona, Wisconsin for taking care of Jim and getting him on the road as
quickly as possible.
Meanwhile,
one nameless rider is making tracks for the Florida Keys, which I guess should
be expected. No matter how many times we put The Keys out there as a bonus, despite
common knowledge that it’s a fool’s errand to go
there, somebody goes for it. I just hope that this time is not like 2005 when
Michael Smeyers rode from Denver directly to Key West
for a single bonus and forgot to put his flag in the photo, meaning that his only
bonus for the leg was denied. That is one way to get mentioned 16 years later, but
probably not the best way.
You
might be wondering to yourself, “How does this reporter come up with all this
information”. Well, here you go. Thanks
to the tireless efforts of Dave McQueeney there is a wealth of Iron Butt
tidbits available at:
https://www.ironbutt.org/IBRhistory/index.htm
Go
down to the “Iron Butt Rally Facts and Finishers” page for a plethora of useful
information:
https://www.ironbutt.org/ibrfacts.htm
Still,
some things like Michael’s fruitless 4,600 mile ride
are just unforgettable. He did make it back to Denver even though he didn’t get any points. For the record, he would have scored
more points sitting in the swimming pool at the host hotel, since he would have
had time to bag the sleep bonus. Time is
running out quickly on Leg 1 for our 2021 riders, especially with the rest
bonus still open. The little dots on the SPOT page will soon start to turn and will
converge on Carmel, Indiana tomorrow after noon.
This
report is all about the low drama in this rally so far, and rally staff is
incredibly happy about that! I think that might be about to change. The country
has been in an unusual dry spell so far this week and the temps here in Indiana
are simply perfect for riding. About the time the riders are released for Leg 2
on Friday morning, the whole Midwest should be drenched with rain, but it will
be a warm rain (can you hear my sarcasm?).