As Robert has got into the cooler air of Colorado, the bike is not misbehaving quite so much.
I’ve spent most of this months profit for my firm in telephone conversations with him today ….. but I am now trying to get him some technical help at the checkpoint.
The plan is, if possible, to rest during the heat of the day and ride through the (relative) cool of the night, get the bike back to the checkpoint and see what can be done …
Bloody Hondas !!!!
Robert is very tired after the first day of leg 2
His ride was good, but the bike continues to give problems. The engine has now started cutting out in the cold as well as in the heat
At one stage whilst crossing the Texas Panhandle. he had to push the bike 400 metres to the nearest tree – the only shade around. In the heat that Robert will be riding through, you cannot imagine how energy sapping that can be.
Purging the fuel pump helps in the heat, but not in the cold.
At the start of the day, everything went well but as the bike began to give problems, Robert began to suffer and worse still, he still does not have any idea of what is causing the problem – there’s just no clear picture
He is struggling but somehow he needs to get through this leg, score as well as he can and give himself as much time as possible once back at the checkpoint to try to solve the issue. Leg 3 will have very big points value and as long as he is still in the rally and assuming he can get his bike running correctly, he WILL be able to score the necessary points to get a finish by the end of the 11 days, of that I am sure.
BUT – he has to get to the end of this leg, score as much as he can and get to the checkpoint so that he can sort this problem
This is a low point for Robert – he’s tired and probably a little bit angry with both himself and with his bike. If necessary, he can probably sacrifice any great plans for “leg 2” and just get to the sanctuary of the checkpoint. The longer he leaves himself to sort the problem, the better.
He can still get that finish – but, he has to get the bike working properly ……
….. but I’ve just realised that I haven’t given Pepa (Roberts better half) a name check yet in my reports …..
So Pepa – this one is just for you !!
I know that Robert reads this blog each night. (He doesn’t want his mobile filling up with messages – that is for emergencies only)
Give him all the encouragement that you can.
It might not seem like it to you, but when you are on your own, riding in the IBR, supportive messages really do help – even from 7000 miles or so away …..
So any “lurkers”, hit the key board for him ….
So, lets just review where we are …..
Most of you will by now know that Robert is in 11th place after Leg 1
The moment I found this out, I was on the phone to him, stressing that under no circumstances must he try to either hold or better that position.
It is great that he has had such a good first let, but ONLY because it will relieve some of the pressure on legs 2 and 3. No-one ever asks WHERE you finished in the IBR, they just ask IF you finished the IBR. Whether Robert finishes 11th or 111th, IT DOES NOT MATTER.
I know that I am beginning to sound like an old woman here, but I suspect, that no-one currently reading this has ever ridden the IBR. Most of you will never have ridden a multi-day rally. A few of you may have ridden a 36 hour rally and some of you will have ridden a 24 hour rally ……
Robert is ONLY 3 days into an 11 day rally. He still has one and a half IBA European Tours to do, he still has five Brit Butt Rallies to do or, he still has eight German Butt Rallies to do …….. Think about that …….Then imagine at the start of one and a half ET’s or five BBR’s or eight GBR’s you are sitting on a bike that is not running 100% ………
That is the position Robert finds himself in ……
HE MUST PROTECT HIS BIKE !!!!
Right …… so these are Roberts (very sensible) thoughts ……
He knows that this is a very tricky leg to plan.
Key West is massive in points, but also crazy – it’s 1000 miles down and 1000 miles back ….in heat, in traffic, very few places to overtake, lots of cops …….
So he’s not going there. Instead he’s heading west to Colorado, again planning to have an easy ride with lots of rest breaks. (Let the rest of the fools burn themselves out)
He does have to go across the pan handle of Texas where he will experience temperatures well into the forties, but it’s going to be hot everywhere in the south and once he’s through that, he can escape some of the worst of the heat in the Colorado mountains
Day one of leg 2 is a very unpressured day for him – just in case (actually probably when) the bike gives problems
He’ll be returning back to the end of leg two on a more northerly (cooler) route
The points values are ramped up for this leg – if four points categories of 4 subsequent BPs are different, the fourth one counts triple …. a tricky calculation to make
Back to me again …..
Earlier, I mentioned that I spoke to Robert once I’d found out that he was sitting in 11th place. After we’d had a chat, I tried to think of what sound advice and great wisdom I could offer him and leave him with. I decided on this …..
DO NOT F*CK THIS UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, leg 1 is done and dusted.
Robert arrived at the checkpoint well before the cut off point
He lost no points at the scoring and got what he feel is a good score given that he had a relaxing ride – bike issues apart. The scores will no doubt be announced in due course on the IBA IBR pages and it would be wrong of me to post them here, but you may be surprised at some of the people who have not scored as well as him …..
Over the course of the first 3 days he’s managed to take almost 15 hours of rest breaks and tells me that he feels good and not too tired – unlike many of the other riders ……
The day 3 ride itself was good – perfect weather and the bike initially ran fine. As those of you who have his Spot link will know, he passed through those famous “country music cities” Nashville, Jackson and Memphis and he says that he needs to come back some day (well, Mr Koeber – extend your break next year and you could ride to them with me !!!!!!)
He even managed to pick up BP’s that he hadn’t originally planned to do
But, the “bad” news is that the bike has again given problems – I knew he should have used a Triumph …….
As he crossed the MIssissippi and the bike cut out – again. He was already riding with the tank filler cap open in case it was an air lock but the bike wouldn’t start
He got himself off the highway, and a friendly Harley rider (is there such a thing ? I thought all Harley riders were “bad-ass mutha-f*ckers” Lol !!) stopped to help. Whilst he was unable to help, he at least directed Robert to the next gas station. Robert has noticed that the problem doesn’t happen if the tank is full ….
At the road side, he gave the bike a quick check :
He filled up quite close by was on his way but didn’t use the auxiliary for the remainder of the day
As the main tank capacity dropped to 1/3 full, the bike sputtered again – so he now fills up every 160 miles to keep the bike running
Given the temperatures (32C) – which actually is not that hot given what he’s about to experience – he has concluded that the problem is probably vapour-lock, due to the heat. There’s little he can do about it, other than try to find “cooler” routes. If the aux tank works, then he can switch to putting petrol at 450 km instead of 600km which is the only thing that helps. He has also discovered that the flow from the auxiliary tank was obstructed which was probably soft tubes due to the heat, but he has managed to get it flowing again
Given the huge range of BP’s available, he should be able to re-plan a route to keep him out of the real heat of either the Mojave to the west or the deep south to the east of Texas – but that obviously isn’t good for scoring – HOWEVER, THAT IS UNIMPORTANT. THE SOLE OBJECTIVE IS TO FINISH AND ANYTHING ELSE IS A BONUS. If Robert finishes in last place (and he won’t), then this rally is a success. Nothing matters other than to come back to Europe with his 3-digit number. There will be other opportunities to show the USA what he is capable of …..
This next leg may present a few challenges with the bike – it will be the hottest of the 3 legs and so ALL Robert needs to achieve this leg is to score enough points to still be on target for a finish and most importantly, still be in the rally by the end of the leg ……
So, let’s leave on a positive note …….
Robert says that the Pan is so much more comfy to ride than the XBR – not shit, Sherlock !!!
Are you all shy ?
The bike stalled and cut out again today …… thankfully it’s going again
More to follow later …….
Day 2 has gone well for Robert and he is now about an hour into an 8 hour rest break – he is ahead of schedule at the moment.
He started the day after a long sleep in a library in Cincinnati (sorry I was 24 hour early in my report yesterday about when he would be arriving there) where he had to take a picture of a VW Beetle-Dinosaur. Germans are naturally drawn to VW’s ……
He’s had good weather today as he rode through the Appalachians
He is now in Tennessee and tomorrow he should be at the first leg checkpoint in Texas (visiting Memphis on the way)
There appears to be one rider at least who is following a similar route to Robert as he has met this rider continually over the first two days – I do hope that my favourite Bavarian has not found himself another “partner” as I will be jealous …… Lol !!
So, he’s on target, taking plenty of rest and should arrive at the checkpoint early – which is all good ……
BUT – on the afternoon of day 2 he had a problem with the bike – or rather the bikes fuelling system.
The bike stalled, the cause being low pressure in the tank (again – he’s had this before) but he dealt with the issue and was soon on his way.
Now, this is actually a good thing. The fact that he’s had this problem and has successfully dealt with it will (even if only sub-consciously) increase his confidence. I know this feeling as back in 2011, I was almost waiting for the first problem to occur with my bike. Once it had and it had been dealt with, I can remember thinking “is that the best that you (the bike) can throw at me” . Now of course it wasn’t as I had far worse later in the rally to deal with, but the point was that having dealt with the (relatively easy) problem just increased my belief in getting a finish.
At some stage over the next 9 days, Robert (as indeed will all of the riders) will ask himself “Why am I doing this ? Why am I putting myself and my bike through this ordeal ? Can I really get to the end ?” He is going to hit “the wall” at some stage in day 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or maybe earlier ……. that point when you realise that you been on the road “forever” and against the clock and it seems like that you still have “forever” to go ….. Little victories like solving this fuelling problem, no matter how trivial are then the things that you look to for “moral” support.
So 2 days into an 11 day rally and 1 day away from the end of the first leg.
So far so good ……
However, I am reminded of a story told by Steve McQueen to Yul Brynner in one of the scenes in the film “The Magnificent Seven”. It concerned a man who fell from the top of a very tall building. As he fell past each floor, people inside the building could hear him saying “so far, so good. so far, so good ……” Lol !!
I spoke with Robert, late on Monday evening (very early on Tuesday morning here in the UK – yes, it looks like I too am going to suffer during the IBR …. Lol !!).
Day 1 objectives have been achieved and he is now taking a 6 hour break.
Full update later today
This has the “official” daily reports on there (not as good as mine obviously !!)
It also has the public SpotWalla pages
http://ironbutt.com/2017ibr.cfm
Right, he’s finally away …… and so for the next 11 days you’re all mine !!
Seriously though (and this will probably be the last time for a while) I feel very honoured that Robert has asked me to do this again. It was surprising the first time he asked me to keep his blog for him during the 2013 IBR as I had only known Robert for a couple of years, but since then our friendship has continued to grow and so it’s a real privilege to be back here “in the hot seat” again. This blossoming of our friendship is all rather surprising to me as (1) he’s German (well, okay Bavarian) and (2), the biggest crime of all, he rides a H*nda. Of course, this didn’t stop a Polish hotel receptionist asking last year if we were “partners” (in “that” kind of way) – but that’s another story ……..
There’s not much to tell at the moment as Robert has only been on the road 4 hours or so, but I did have a long “fatherly” (well I am just about “biologically” old enough) conversation with him yesterday about making sure he finishes. I know that Robert wrote about this yesterday, but no-one should necessarily expect Robert to be up there near the top places. He’s right – until you’ve ridden in the IBR (and I bloody well have so there !!) you cannot begin to imagine what it’s like. Robert has the additional pressure of already having one IBR DNF behind him, so it is really important that he gets a finish and his “3-digit” IBA membership number. To anyone that doesn’t know about this, the first 999 IBA membership numbers are reserved for riders who have finished an IBR. After 17 rallies, they are still only up to about number 500 or so – it’s a rather “exclusive” club !!
Anyway, he’s now off on leg one which will take him to Texas. He’s chosen a relatively safe route for this first leg, allowing himself plenty of time for rest breaks. If he wants to risk things, leg 3 is the time to do it and not on the first leg.
For those of you that have access to his private Spot link, don’t be alarmed if you see him going in circles, it is part of his leg 1 plan.
Cincinnati is his next planned rest break – but that’s a good 36 hours away at the moment
That’s all for now ……
Perhaps “he” will stop posting on my blog now for a while ….. Lol !!
Soooo, in one hour from now, there will be the riders meeting, very early at 2:30 p.m. I had to attend the rookie meeting (haha), as I was considered “technically” a rookie (no previous finish). It was a very good presentation by route master Jeff Earls who reminded the audience what will be ahead of us the next 11 days. I took notes of ideas for the rookie meeting of the Alpenbutt Rally later in July.
Jeff stressed many things that confirmed my views on this rally: the only objective is to arrive safely at the finish and to be (hopefully) a finisher. That’s all. After my DNF in 2013, that’s the only goal for me. I know that many people in Europe think that after my track record in Europe lately, I should do very, very well in the Iron Butt Rally. Well, this is absolutely nonsense. This is a totally different story. As they say: “you only know what the IBR is about when you have ridden it”. So I will try to stay as relaxed as possible in Leg 1 and Leg 2. I want to have a good time and I don’t care which standing might come out of it in the end. Period. The weather waiting for us will be an enormous burden. Fatigue and exhaustion will build up over the 11 days which could get very dangerous. And I agree with Jeff Earls, in the end it doesn’t matter which place you achieved; being a finisher is a huge achievement. There are only a handful of guys who can win this and they’re completely nuts. That’s not my thing. I will stick to the speed limits, for this reason I have installed the cruise control on the bike. I want this to be a ride of a lifetime and not be ruined by some over-pacing.
I don’t know if I will be able to post more tonight or if I will be barred from social media already. In this case, talk to you in 12 days and I wish you fun with the entertaining posts of John Young. However, I must warn you: you might be exposed to hard-core British humour, you better be prepared for it…. :-)
More info under
http://ironbutt.com/2017ibr.cfm
PS: I got interviewed yesterday :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_vJImjTJss&sns=fb
Yesterday morning, I packed my stuff and moved 10 miles north to the rally hotel. I checked in and started to exchange all the broken spare part that still needed to be changed after the drop of the bike during the Brit Butt Rally. I mounted a new right mirror together with its housing. I installed the fixed, big 2×7500 lumen LED Sevinas that Gerhard had brought from Clearwater Lights for me. I also swapped the clutch lever switch so that the cruise control will work again.
I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with other fellow European and American riders. I convinced a pack of people to visit a special place in the evening: The Bauhaus Brew Labs, a small microbrewery in Minneapolis.
It produces a lot of German style beers and seems to be a special meeting place for the younger part of Minneapolis. A colourful place with music from the seventies, an open space where people can bring their own food or buy s
omething from a food truck and drink the beer in the brewery. I tried the Münchner Helles, Bohemian Pilsner and German style Schwarzbier (sic!) and they all were very good. The beer mats/coasters explained German words and how to pronounce them. We really had a good time and a good laugh. We even entered the wrong taxi, but the driver noticed immediately when he heard us talking German. Unfortunately, there won’t be another opportunity to come back to this funny place.
This morning, I got up in a good mood and before going to breakfast, I wanted to collect all the papers I needed for today’s registration day. I looked for my bunch of papers and documents – and found only a part of it! I searched everywhere, no stone unturned, until I had to conclude that I had left back papers in the hotel room yesterday! The problem was: I was missing the contract of my medical repatriation insurance that is mandatory. I started to panic. Without a proof of this rally, I could not start the rally on Monday! I called the Allianz hotline in Belgium…as it was Saturday today, the normal help desk was not open and the medical hotline did not have access to the data base. Then I called the last hotel, they did not have anything, but they promised to ask the cleaning lady and to call me again (which never happened). Now I really had reason to panic. I had been stupid enough not to make an electronic copy of these papers, something I usually do before I go on long trips. Damn! In a desperate mood, I went down for breakfast. I met Lisa, the rally master and confessed my problem. She told me to stay cool, I still had two days until the start tot find a solution. At the breakfast table, I discussed the problem with the other European riders. Kevin told me that he had an insurance from Geos that was obtainable online. Hm, I could try this. I looked up the website and indeed, the conditions seemed even to excel the required ones.
I immediately bought the policy for $175 and was happy that I was back on track. I joined the other riders and passed through the different stations…paperwork, video recording of my acknowledgement of the liability specs, GPS Spot track, rally pack, camera and SD card check….then I met Lisa again and told her my positive news. She said that the insurance from Geos was not acceptable for there were some issues with the transport by airplane. We sat down and I tried to find the right terms and conditions, but I failed. I was too nervous.
Did I already mention that rallying is an emotional rollercoaster? My mood was close to zero again. Lisa suggested to print the conditions so they could be studied. With desperation, I tried to find the documents online and luckily the computer in the hotel lobby had a printer connected. What I found in the made me hope for a happy ending: the conditions seemed to fulfil the rules so I was slightly optimistic.
However, the check of the insurances would be right at the end of the whole exercise. I had to do the tech inspection next. The bike was checked and everything was fine except the fuel tank. WHAT??? It was not compliant (you bet where my mood was in that moment…). However, the “problem” was easy to solve…the venting hose that I placed next to my number plate needed to be extended below the number plate. I received a piece of fuel hose and attached it with zippers.
Another issue was that the bike had “commercial” stickers….there are from the previous owner and were Castrol Oil stickers and the name of the bike dealer….I had to cover them with tape….The next thing was the odo route to check the accuracy of the odometer. A 28 mile ride later, I returned back and had finished the technical part. Now I had to do the final part: the SPOT check again WITH some data points in it, the insurance and medical repatriation coverage. SPOT was fine (I had to engage the “show speed” option), the repatriation was barely looked at (!) and my tourist motorbike insurance received the exemption for foreign riders as a domestic insurance is not legally to obtain with the required insurance limits. And than I had to talk to Jeff Earls, the Rally Master who checked last things and welcomed me as a starter of the 2017!! Yes! I did it! But mentally, I was exhausted. This was an unnecessary stress that normally would not have happened. I needed a rest…But first I filled up the bike and bought some food reserves.
In the meantime, my new wind shield had arrived on time and I mounted it. I had some lunch and after that, Peter tried to help me to get me the North America map in Basecamp on my computer, because I don’t want to connect the GPS device all the time when I want to do the routing. We struggled a long time, but in the end it was Gerhard who had the solution: he gave me his SD card with an old map on it, this seems to work. Excellent. Fewer worries.
Finally we gathered for a self-paid dinner of dubious quality. Some of us Europeans decided to go to the bar instead. So the day is over and tomorrow morning, I have to go to the rookie meeting for I was not a finisher last time. In the afternoon, the rider meeting will take place.
And on Monday morning, I will be among the starters of the Iron butt Rally 2017!
OK, I’m back in the hotel. As John has correctly put it, today’s objective was to get my bike through customs and out of the warehouse.
I got up early and prepared again my papers. I had been instructed by the shipper that it was extremely important to obtain a stamped form 7501 from customs, otherwise the bike couldn’t be re-exported. I had a broker in stand-by in case customs would insist on a broker. So in a nervous mood, I went by taxi to the US customs and homeland security office in Bloomington.
It was a very quiet place, I sat there some minutes before somebody passed by and asked me if I was being served. I heard this question another four times and I realised that these people were very friendly and helpful. A friendly officer took my papers and took them to his office. There were no other customers. A quiet place. Finally, the officer returned. He had retyped all my documents and stamped also form 7501. That was very quick, after 45 min I was out again. Wow. This went quite well. I called the same taxi driver again and he drove me to the warehouse near the airport. I presented my papers and waited, reading a book. I was relaxed, this went much better than expected. Then a girl explained me that the customs clearance was not in the electronic system. I explained that I just had been to the customs office in Bloomington. The warehouse looked puzzled and told me that the correct customs office was in the airport terminal! But…..my mood changed rapidly. This was just a small glimpse what will be ahead of me during this rally: the usual emotional rollercoaster. Great. Get a taxi first. This almost failed as I was waiting at one entrance of the compound without realising there was another one where the cab would wait…but the driver found me. In the airport, I went to the CORRECT customs office where a massive officer took my papers. When he asked for the purpose of my stay, it turned out he was a biker as well and knew about the Iron Butt Association. We had a nice chat and finally I received the correct form 7501. He told me that there was an issue: the shipper had deleted an intermediate transport from Chicago to Minneapolis, this still needed to be fixed. Great….I took another taxi back to the warehouse where the validation of the change took ages, I felt. In the end, I could pay the warehouse fee and access the crate.
The problem was that the bike still was in the crate. I had to rip the box open and with the help of the warehouse people I managed to get the bike out of the crate. I attached the screen to the bike, mounted the panniers and put on the rain suit. The workers refused my tip and wished me good luck. I went back to the hotel in the rain and I was happy the the whole thing took less than 5 hours.
Yes, it is cool and rainy today. We soon will miss this mild weather. Checkpoints 1 and 2 are located near Dallas, Texas. Massive thunderstorms are happening now between Florida and Texas and in the South-West, thermometers are reaching temperatures of 45 to 50 degrees celsius!!! If you want to do well in rallies, you cannot consider what weather you will encounter. But in this case, I think I will have to monitor the elements very closely. The heat wave in the South is just too much. To be avoided.
People have been asking me about the password for the link to my GPS track. But the link for the track is still missing. Here it comes:
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1463f5922cb53d4e29
It will be active from Monday onwards. The start will be 10 a.m. local time.
I also learned some things today:
I have another night booked here, but I might pass by the rally hotel this evening….
Well, he’s in the air somewhere over the Atlantic at the moment and should be landing in just over 3 hours.
He’s got his riding gear, he’s got his route planning hard software, the sat navs are loaded with the latest USA maps, credit cards are ready to use – what else can he possibly need ?
Oh yes, a bike …….. but there’s that slight “issue” to overcome – the U.S. Customs …..
So here I’m sitting at Brussels Airport, killing time before I take off for Minneapolis via Amsterdam. The first obstacle is past me: I arrived here without problems. After yesterday’s terror attack at Brussels Central Station, it was questionable if the trains would run normal, but luckily they did. I also passed the security check at the airport, despite my bag full of cables and electronic devices. Suspicious, isn’t it? In the end, the security guy was only interested in one item…..”It’s a motorcycle mirror!….”???”…..Apparently it was deemed inappropriate to blow up a plane so I was waved through.
Yesterday I received my second Sat Nav from my GPS shop; they had managed to install the North America map properly on it. After more than two weeks of struggling with the Garmin support (the map had been assigned to the wrong GPS device), I gave up and bought another map that I installed on the Zumo 350….and it didn’t work properly. But in the end, it seemed to work yesterday. The problem is that I can’t transfer the maps to Basecamp on my computer, the monitor is too small (that’s difficult to explain now), so I need to have a device connected to the computer in order to see the map in Basecamp. But this wouldn’t work yesterday! A brief moment of shock. Without a GPS map, there’s no rally. In the end, a re-boot seemed to solve the problem….
My biggest concern is now to get the bike out of customs tomorrow in Minneapolis. Air freight is usually straightforward, but I have been told by my shipper that US officials increasingly insist to deal with a broker and not a private person. In this case, I’d have a problem. I have Thursday and Friday to get the bike back, if I don’t manage, there’s no rally for me. I want to think that I have seen worse and even getting the bike out of Dubai harbour did not take more than two days…Let’s keep fingers crossed.
As usual, I will provide a link to my GPS track the next days….if you want to know the password, contact me and I will send it to you.
Heading for the gate….
Only 36 hours to go before I take off to the US….
After 2013, this is my second attempt to become a finisher of the notorious Iron Butt Rally, the toughest long-distance motorcycle rally in the world. I will leave on Monday morning, 26th June from Minneapolis and will return 11 days later, after some 11.000 gruelling miles, having seen many corners of North America. This time, I start this adventure with a “proper bike”, i.e. the Honda ST1100 Pan European. I bought it in 2014 for very little money with the purpose to ride the Iron Butt Rally 2015, but in the end I cancelled my participation back then.
The bike is optimised for long distance rallying and has an impeccable track record: out of nine rallies since 2015, it came second once and won all the rest of them. A good recommendation for the Iron Butt Rally. In the last months, I optimised many features and spent a lot of money to revamp the bike. With support from Mart!n, Bavaria’s best motorbike mechanic, the bike got a complete make-over: a new (almost new) motor, a new drive shaft, refurbished alternator, new brake discs with brake pads and refurbished pistons, new water pump, new wheel bearings, refurbished fork, steering bearing, a new cruise control, and and and….not to mention all the improvements (farkles) I had installed earlier: the highest wind shield, a day-long Russell seat, a new, smaller auxiliary tank, handle bar risers, heated gear, improved suspension, 14000 lumen LED headlights, 15000 lumen auxiliary Clearwater LED flood lights….
I will write more before the start of the rally, but I want to take the opportunity to introduce my back-up writer for the duration of the rally: my friend Mr John Young, probably the fiercest Triumph fanatic east and west of the Mississippi. He did the blogging four years ago during my first Iron Butt Rally. I will be banned from social media during the rally so he will keep you updated on my adventures. Knowing John, this could be quite entertaining…
and for the next couple of weeks will be reporting on the adventures of my favourite Bavarian, Robert, as he again takes on the challenge of the Iron Butt Rally – an 11 day, 11,000 mile scatter rally ….
Despite my pleadings that he should use a Triumph, he has again chosen to attempt this rally on a Honda, albeit a different one from last time. For 2017 he is using a Pan-European.
he is attempting to convince all and sundry that this particular bike should allow him the “privilege” of being in the “Hopeless Class”.
Huh ??? It has indicators and an electric start for goodness sake ….. How can that ever be considered a “Hopeless Class” candidate …..
OK, the Brit Butt 2017 is over and finally find some time to write some lines. This is what I had prepared before the rally:
Well, here I am. Sitting in the hotel room, trying to work out the challenge that the rally master of the 2017 Brit Butt Rally has thrown at us.
We left at 6 a.m. as usual and I headed for Wales. In some villages, no signs were available, so I had to take a picture of a town sign, knowing that only a total of five town signs were allowed. In Wales it was cool and cloudy.
After three hours, I parked my bike in front of the Yarpole parish hall. I was sure that the bike was standing safely. Five seconds later the bike had crashed into a railing, smashing the windshield and right mirror. I need the help of two men to get it upright again. I quickly taped all the broken parts and continued the ride, much more chilly without the big windshield.
In Exeter it was clear that I wouldn’t get to the hotel before 3.a.m., so I asked in a Travelodge motel for a room. Fully booked. I checked the booking.com website: In Exeter, 100% booked. OK, let’s continue. I bagged many points near Yeovil, but the fog was very nasty. Finally, I arrived at the hotel at 4:30 and spent my 4 hour rest break there. After a refreshing 2 hour sleep, I had a quick breakfast and continued my ride. I knew that my initial plan to go to Yorkshire was impossible, but I wanted to continue it as far as possible.
I visited Oxfordshire, rode on the M25 and visited Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. I realised that I could not get more counties so I decided to sit down in a Costa Cafe in a shopping mall and did my paperwork, as it had to be presented at the finish before 5 p.m. The scoring was not perfect, despite my double checks I missed to claim one county and some more points. I had visited more than 60 locations. But 13250 points sounded not too bad, should be good enough for the podium. Unfortunately, John Young had to drop out due to an infection, but there were still enough rivals for the top. At the ceremony, I was called with the Horsefall brothers to the podium. They both had formed a team and had obtained about 8200 points….oooops, this meant….I had won the Brit Butt for the third time in a row! Unfortunately, I had no time to celebrate, as I had to hit the road for I had to work the next day.
Hutzlmandl On Tour 