Day One – Running with the pack

To begin with, apologies for the delay – I hope to have caught up be the time Robert starts Day 4

Like all rallies, but especially with the IBR, it is all about pacing yourself.  

Looking at the global Spottracker page for Day One, it seems that the riders have split into 3 main groups.  One small group has headed west, another group has headed south east, but the big group has headed first northeast before then turning south at various points.  Given what Robert has already told me, I expect Robert to be amongst those riders as it’s clearly the “middle way” for this leg

The east coast has far more traffic than other parts of the USA and certainly when I rode the rally in 2011, the “east coast” leg seemed to create unrest amongst many of the American riders because of the congestion.  Being used to riding in Europe, this should be no problem for Robert.

It’s very difficult to comment without actually seeing the rally book but Robert did tell me that there is a “group photo bonus” that is worth a lot of points just before the end of the first leg (The checkpoint is Tulsa), so I expect he will stop over somewhere around New York at the end of Day One, before heading in a more westerly direction the following two days.

He’ll have a “neutral” day on Day One, making up time to begin with before losing some time in and around New York.  Day Two and Day Three will no doubt be on interstates with small detours to collect bonuses and so he should make good progress.

It is highly likely that he will arrive in the Tulsa area well before the checkpoint closes as he’ll not want to miss those points.  

More to follow …..