Day 5 going into day 6 ……..
At 4.00pm this afternoon (9.00am “ish” depending on exactly where Robert is), Robert stopped for an hours rest having ridden through the night. It seems for this leg he’s staying at the “Iron Butt Hotel”.
He is now 1400 miles away from the checkpoint with 34 hours to go.
It will be tight for him, but he will do it, I know he will !! These damn Germans are tough S.O.B.’s
As he rides into the desert he will need to keep hydrated. In 2011 Lisa Landry pulled me to one side immediately before the start of the third leg to give me this advice “when you ride through the desert, if you are not peeing at every fuel stop, you are not drinking enough”
That advice got me through my tough last leg. I have passed the advice on to my Geramn friend ……
More later
hutzlmandl on tour 
Looks like he chose not to visit Pikes Peak then so is he going for the big combo bonus? Am guessing so from number of riders on the same route – seems to be towards the back of the middle of the pack.
If Robert has chosen not to visit Pikes Peak, then he has probably chosen wisely.
I’m not sure what the bonus instruction was at Pikes Peak other than get something from the very top which is over 14000 feet. The last time I rode up to the top of Pikes Peak (and we were just on holiday), I was riding a friends 883 Harley Sportster – a carburated version.
By the time I reached the top, I reckon I was riding the equivalent of a 250cc bike in terms of engine performance from that bike at that altitude.
Roberts bikes, for all the fact that it has overheads cams, presumably balancer shafts, electric start etc is fundamentally a simple 500cc single fuelled by a carburetor. It would not have been happy at 14000 feet and it would have been an unnecessary strain on the bike. If there’s an alternative to Pikes Peak and I was competing in this years IBR, I would have taken it too. Plus the fact, the Pikes Peak summit takes absolutely ages to get to as the road winds its way through the National Park – mind you, it’s a helluva view from the top !!