Author: johnthetommy

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Robert is safely back at the finish control and he’ll be a finisher for sure, with just the “colour” of his finish now to be decided.

I’m sorry that this years commentary has not perhaps been as entertaining as in 2013 or 2017, but as you’ve seen, by IBR standards, it’s been a fairly mundane ride for Robert.

However, I will say this, it has got me thinking about 2025 ……

He’s in Somerset …..

Ah, no, it’s Somerset PA, USA

Humour intended for British readers only …..

Just 70 miles to go. By the time I get back home in a couple of hours, he’ll be there and tucked up in bed no doubt …..

What he will have though is the “Post IBR Blues”

This is what I wrote about how I felt at the end of the 2011 IBR :

Dismounting and taking off my helmet and jacket, I was immediately presented with
an ice cold beer and I sat down on the floor talking with various folk as they offered
their congratulations. Jeremy who had arrived half hour or so earlier, came over and
we talked for a while. It was during those few words that we exchanged that so many
stories that I’d read from people who had completed an IBR suddenly made sense.
Most ride reports of IBR finishers end with the words (or variations thereof) “you
can’t really truly explain what it feels like when you cross the finishing line of an
IBR”. Up to this moment, I’d thought “What a load of bollocks !!” ☺ How can you
not be able to put into words how you feel ?

But it’s true – you cannot describe the feeling. It’s a strange mixture of elation for
having done it, depression for it having finished, exhaustion for what you’ve been
though and in my case happiness for seeing Sonia again. In short, it’s something that
I’ve just never experienced before.

Robert already knows how this feels and he is about to experience it again ….

He’s just 200 miles from the finish now with about 8 hours in hand.

He could virtually push the bike home from there !!!!

….. and I know it’s day 10 of an eleven day rally, but I have finally managed to catch up and are now posting “as it happens” ….. Lol !!

Well, he’s just finished his Day 10 ride and he’s in Charleston.

He’s just about to take his 8 hour break and when he wakes for day 11, he will have 26 hours to ride 1200 miles, pretty straightforward stuff really. The only potential hiccup is that his last “loop” takes him back in New York for a few hours, but barring a total calamity, he has so much time on his hands, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this could could wrong now.

Day 10 was another totally forgettable days ride primarily along Interstates. Robert is fine, the bike is fine, the traffic is freely moving and from what I can see, the only really notable this that happened was that not long before he stopped for the night, he rode past a town called “HURRICANE”

He has even commented to me today, just how “relaxed” this entire rally has been – and that must present a problem for the organisers, in that if someone from overseas can come to the IBR (admittedly a very good rider on perhaps the most suitable type of bike you could use) and have a relaxed IBR, then that cannot be good. It’s a dilemma though across the world for IBA rallies where organisers have to balance the “challenge” of an IBA rally against the requirements of an ever increasing safety conscious world that we live in.

I’m glad it’s not my problem ….

When the highlight of the past 2 days was taking pictures of the worlds largest Pistachio nut and the worlds largest Chilli (and they weren’t even bonuses), you know that it’s been boring ….

And that’s been the story of day eight and nine, Robert just heading east towards the finish. He has plenty of time in hand even though he knows that he will lose a few hours doing one last loop before arriving at the finish control (exactly where he started from). He also knows that barring a disaster, he has enough points to be a finisher already

He’s managed to dodge the bad thunderstorms that have been been moving across the central belt of the USA from west to east but didn’t manage to dodge the truck fire that temporarily halted progress along I-40.

But these last two days have been indicative of what happens, I guess, when you are an extremely competent rider, using an extremely competent motorcycle and you ride well within your limits on an IBR – it just turns into a long ride.

Roberts 2013 IBR and 2017 IBR when he used extremely unsuitable motorcycles, were full of adventures, full of many highs but also many lows and also full of many comedic moments for a “commentator” like myself to seize upon. This time, a large chilli and an equally large nut are about all this is to laugh at !!

As enjoyable as the 9 day ride will have been, it has been devoid of excitement – rather like my reporting – and indeed the lack of comment from the readers of Roberts (my) blog this time seem to reflect the mundaneness of the ride.

Now, I’m really hoping that I haven’t now jinxed Robert for day ten and day eleven, but I suspect when he’s got this IBR done and dusted, in many years time, when he’s an old man (mmmm … should that be “older” man), smoking a pipe, sitting in his rocking chair in his Bavarian cottage, he’ll look back at his 3 IBR rides and of the 3 rallies, he’ll barely remember the 2023 ride – apart from the big chilli that is ……

I haven’t spoken to Robert about Day 8 yet, but I can see that he reached San Francisco and is now heading east again and into the Mojave.

I’ve just had this message :

“Yuma, AZ. 7.00pm and still 40 degrees. F**k”

I think he hurting, but if he can just get through the next few hours, he will be back into more pleasant temperatures

You know sometimes when you do one thing and EVERYONE else does something else and you question why ? Well that is how Robert is feeling right now.

On leg 3, the riders seem to have split into 4 groups. Three of those groups have gone their own 3 separate directions and are more or less of equal numbers. And then there is the “solitary wolf”, going in a totally different direction to any of the other groups – a man on his own. Time will tell if Robert is a genius or a dumbass !!

I have to say, given what he’s told me about leg 3 (and assuming he’s not missed something obvious), it’s what i would have done. Sometimes you fine high points in the most unusual of circumstances …

So, what else happened on Day 7 ? Well, he screwed up with one bonus in his planning – he had marked it as a “daylight” when in fact it was a “restricted” bonus. He reckons though that it shouldn’t be too much of a disaster though.

Oh and for the first time in his riding in the USA, he got pulled by the police (for speeding). What a lightweight – I got stopped THREE times just on my 2011 IBR ride (although I guess as much out of sympathy that anything)

Anyway, fortunately for Robert he was just let of with a warning.

And for the first time, he is now considering the possibility of finishing and is hopeful (but not yet confident) of a “Gold Medal” finish. In fairness and I know that some have been speculating of perhaps a top ten finish, Robert is very doubtful that can be achieved.

If you look at the Day 7 report on the official site (link below), he’s made the picture :

Day 07 – Main Course

So, a little more of Roberts plan for leg 3 …..

From Denver, he headed north for a while before turning east and heading for San Francisco. He’s resting here overnight before heading south down to San Francisco on day 8 and then, unfortunately back then west again across the Mojave. Let’s hope that the weather is kinder to him this time.

Mmmmm …. that last line reminds me of a German/English joke :

Who are the more generous of German and English children ? Well as generous as the English children are, the Germans will always be kinder ……

I’ll get my coat …..

I cannot lie in that I feel more than a little embarrassed finding myself in this position again.

I feel very honoured that for a third time Robert has asked me to be his mouthpiece for an IBR, but there’s far more qualified people out there who should be doing it in my opinion.

Yes, I’ve ridden the IBR (and finished) and I guess that certainly for his 2013 and 2017 attempts where his choice of bike was “unusual”, I suppose I was the obvious choice, but not this time.

So, when you’re reading my deep and philosophical ramblings, please just remember, they’re just my opinions and thoughts. Other opinions (and probably far more relevant ones) are available !! Lol !!

He’s on his way.

He has a plan and it’s a good one.

He also has a couple of “issues” – one associated to the plan, one not. Neither are show-stoppers but both will need to be managed

I’ll be able to reveal more as the leg develops

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I guess most of you won’t know that actually I am on a riding trip myself. Nothing like the IBR, although I’ll have covered about 4000 miles by the time I get home tomorrow on my 1969 T150 over the last 10 days and believe me, that’s tough !!!

However, that’s just so you can understand the sometimes haphazard and necessarily brief reports I’ve written so far.

From tomorrow (Monday), I’ll be able to devote a little more time to the daily updates

Apart from a “f*uck up” when he forgot to make the call in bonus, day 3 of leg two (day 6 of the rally) went well.

During the night between day five and day six, he was riding in the Rocky Mountains – quite a contrast to the previous two days of desert.  For the last 15 miles to his scheduled overnight stay, he had to stop and put on warmer gear because the temperature had dropped to 6°.

After four hours he left again the motel knowing that he still had to do another 600 miles. He had one hour of buffer but an open road. The speed limit was increased to 80 mph which meant that he could coast nicely at about 99 mph – Naughty !!!!

He tells me it was quite cold and the temperature hit a low on this rally of minus 2° – as I say, quite a contrast ……

He had one small “fuel range” scare – he was checking how far the next fuel station would be and the GPS told him it was in about 100 miles but the computer of the motorbike told him that my range was also about 100 miles. He had to slow down and to save fuel until I was safe to actually reach the station.

As he was making good time he knew that he would make it to Denver in time. He visited another restaurant bonus point location and arrived Denver right on time and luckily found that the BMW dealer where he had the service scheduled was actually right opposite of the checkpoint hotel. Somehow he’d misjudged exactly where the dealer was – very un-German like  !!  I would strongly suggest a DNA test when he returns home to ensure that his German parents were really his biological parents and that he wasn’t adopted ……

By 5 o’clock I could roll out the garage with new tyres fresh motor oil and filter – a perfect service from BMW of Denver.

He checked in very early and he had his papers already prepared for scoring  He believes that he lost no points at the scoring table

He suspects leg three will take him first to the north-west of the US.

Now he is resting.  Leg 3, the five day leg will require a ride on a minimum of 4000 miles and possibly (probably) more ……

I guess you’ll also notice that this report is a little more detailed than my previous ones.  I have reconsidered what I can and can’t write and still comply with the social media rules on the IBR.  It’s a case of me doing exactly what you should do on IBA rallies – “Improvise, adapt, overcome”

I think that I am still inside the rules …..

and he’s on his way back to Denver for a tyre change and scoring.

It looks as though, assuming he’s not done anything too daft that the inconvenient tyre change appointment may not cost him too much. We will see when the results are published for leg 2 sometime on Sunday

He will then be faced with a dilemma : Play it safe and get a respectable finish (he’s already well ahead of the scheduled points requirement after leg 1) or go for broke and see how high he can be placed.

Difficult decision …..

I again managed to catch a few words with Robert between “day four” and “day five”. Remember in the world of the IBR, day six will just be getting underway. The time zone that RTK is currently riding in, is 8 hours behind European time.

When he received the rally book for leg 2, Robert tells me it was a straight choice between heading northeast and Wisconsin or south west and California. Each route had it’s merits and the weather would play a factor in whichever choice was made – the searing heat of the Mohave desert to the south west of storms to the northeast

He chose the heat, not least because there were slightly more points to be had but also because it fitted the tyre change schedule slightly better.

So, that’s what he’s now doing – Tulsa to Los Angeles and then all the way back to Denver.

Leg two is another three day leg and he’ll need to be back in Denver by the time you all wake up on Sunday morning (“you” being the people in Europe that is)

Leg three will be the defining leg for Robert

And now a further explanation of what I mean by the heat of the Mojave …..

It’s been fairly hot in the UK and Europe the last few weeks with some places hitting the mid thirties during the day. In the Mojave it doesn’t DROP to those temperatures even in the dead of the night. Robert will have faced temperatures of mid to high forties, in his riding gear, with no shade available to give some relief from the heat. If you lift your visor up, the wind is so hot that it burns your face. If you take your gloves off and ride “gloveless”, the backs of your hands burn.

The only way to describe what riding across the Mojave feels like, is imagine you are cooking a Sunday roast and you open the oven door. That “blast” of heat you get is what you get in the Mojave – except it’s from every side of you, not just the front.

In 2011, I spent 36 hours hiding behind the screen of my Windjammer as I trundled across the Mojave from east to west. The temperature never dropped below 100 degrees fahrenheit for 48 hours. Each and every fuel stop is a welcome break from the heat as you pay for your fuel in the airconditioned gas stations. In short it is Hell !!!

But there’s points to be had !! Lol !!

The problem is though with Leg 3 being a 5 day leg, he may have to go back again …

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Well I guess most of you will know by now that Robert is in 37^th place after Leg 1.

I managed to have a very brief chat with him after the scores had been announced and he confirmed that the route that he had taken was the one that I guessed.  His placing therefore was to be expected.

He also confirmed though that many (obviously not the top riders) of those above him appeared to be rookies who came in exhausted have ridden hard during the first leg.  Robert is very relaxed and riding well inside his comfort zone at the moment

He’s ahead in points of where he thought he’d be because he was able to pick up several extra bonuses.  The scoring went very well and he did not lose any significant points – only about 0.05% of his total point value because he had made a typo in the bonus code.

On the downside, his rear tyre (or should that be “tire” ?) has lost pressure over the last three days and after pumping it up, his compressor then promptly failed !! – bloody German rubbish !!

Hopefully the leak will not increase and in any case, it only needs to last a day or so as he has a tyre change booked in Denver on Saturday.

However, that in itself will be a problem as he will need to plan his entire route for Leg 2 around that tyre change appointment.  It means that whatever route he plans, unless he is REALLY lucky, it will not be the optimum route.  It’s probable therefore that he will slip down the rankings by the end of leg 2.

I’m guessing he will head west and then do the tyre change on the “way back” east towards the leg 2 checkpoint.  Of course, if that is the case, then he’s heading to the one state in the USA where “lane-splitting” aka “filtering” is legal – California.  Robert, unlike many of the USA riders  should be able to take advantage of this.

And that’s about it for now. When I spoke with him, the leg 2 bonuses had not yet been released so it’s just speculation what he’ll be up to as yet.

Leg 2 therefore will be a “holding leg” for Robert.  He just needs to make the best of it because of the scheduled tyre change and then really go for it on Leg 3 ……

I’ve just had word that Robert has checked in on time at Tulsa to complete Leg 1

I will post more later once I reach tonights (Thursday) hotel.

As I arrive in Graz (my hotel), Day Four and Leg 2 for Robert will just be starting – now it should get interesting

As suspected, the group of riders that Robert is clearly amongst have now set out en masse west and towards Tulsa.

Although he has plenty of time, clearly Robert will want to mop up as many bonuses on his way as possible, without putting himself under too much pressure – that can wait for Legs 2 and 3. Generally, the points available for legs 2 and then leg 3 tend to increase, so only a mug “rides himself (or herself of course) into the ground” on leg 1

As he leaves the east coast, the traffic will ease – and the roads get better. The roads in the USA especially around the cities are in poor condition, but the Interstates tend to be much better. His only real concern will be roadworks as in the USA (well most of the USA), filtering is not allowed meaning you just have to sit and wait in jams along with the other traffic.

Looking at the weather forecast, he should enjoy nice weather over the next two days. Indeed as long as he stays “north”, the weather forecast looks “okay” for most of the rally In the south of course, the heat is always a real killer.

Still at least this time unlike 2013 and 2017, he can just “ride his rally” and enjoy it without having to worry about his bike.

More to follow ……

This is the official IBA report from midway through Day 2.

Fortunately Robert does not appear in it, but note the paragraph towards the end of the report about a rider posting to Social Media.

It is difficult to comment on Roberts progress “blind” as I am, however it is even more difficult ensuring that nothing I say should harm Roberts participation in anyway whatsoever.

My “IBR Blog” this time therefore will necessarily have to be vary different from 2013 and 2017. Please understand that

IBR HQ Report :

There are days when the scribe must sigh deeply and report on things which are unfortunate. It is particularly unfortunate to have to post such things when bringing you news of Day 02. But this is not the first time, nor is it likely to be the last time the scribe is faced with such a task.

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©

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 …..

….. in my reporting. Once I get to my hotel tonight (which should just about be at the start of Day 3 for Robert), I’ll post up my thoughts so far

…. and the good news is that he is conspicuous by his absence in the early day one reports – other than a picture at the start

More later ……

Welcome to Day 1 of the “Johnthetommy Blog” previously known as “Hutzmandl on Tour”.

I spoke to Robert about three hours before the rally books were given out and I can see from his last posting that that he has already planned Leg 1 but like all of you reading this, that’s all I know for now.

I guess he will be asleep now as the rally is due to start in a little over 7 hours time at 16.00 European time (15.00 BST)

Fortunately for Robert, “the heat is off” this time. In his last IBR in 2017 he achieved his main objective in obtaining his “3 digit” IBA membership number. For those of you that don’t know, in the IBA, you are allocated a membership number when you complete your first qualifying ride. I guess it must be up to around 80,000 now. However, the first 999 membership numbers are reserved for any rider that has been an Iron Butt Rally finisher (I am number 458) and it marks you out amongst other IBA members as “one of THOSE guys” ……. Robert has his now – higher than mine I might add …. Lol !!

So he can approach this rally differently – however there is his dilemma. He is no doubt capable of achieving a top place, but as a famous racer once said “to finish first, first you have to finish”. Coupled with that, for any European (and especially a European shipping his own bike over to ride), the financial cost is enormous and so “crashing and burning” on the first leg (pardon the pun) is both counter productive to both ending in a high position or indeed from the “value for money” angle.

For that reason, I expect a fairly conservative first leg. It will ease him into the rally and allow for any “heroics” in legs 2 and 3.

So that’s all from me for now. By this time tomorrow, armed with what I know, i should be able to work out what he’s up to on the first leg

What a glowing tribute from Robert there – even if there was a “sting in the tail” …. Lol !!

So, to clarify what Robert has already said, there is effectively a social media “blackout” during the rally and that even extends to me, his co-blogger. My job therefore is, each day to try to make sense of what Robert is up to and, as best I can, work out what is plan is as the rally develops.

I’ll probably be way off the mark most of the time as Robert’s kind of rally planning is still much of a mystery to me. I’ve never been one for the meticulous Germanic approach to deciphering a rally book – most of the time, I just “wing it” and see what happens. From our past “rally battles”, I’m still not totally sure which method is best. What I am sure of though, is that our respective approaches to rally planning, perfectly reflect the perceived national traits of the English and the Germans !!

So, you’ll not be hearing from me again until the end of day 1 of the rally, when I’ll have my first stab of what the “Kraut” is up to !!!

…… as once he’s scored Robert will be able to post on here again.

Thank you all for reading all of my “stuff” over the past 11 days.

Thank you all of your comments and I hope you have enjoyed my (admittedly) light hearted approach to IBR reporting.

But most of all, thank you to Robert, for asking me (and giving me the privilege of ) keeping his IBR blog for him again.

Thank you my Bavarian friend …….

…….. and it was most definitely a limp across the line but who gives a flying f*ck ?

I of course have given him one last piece of advice ……….

Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check one last time all of your paperwork before going in for scoring. (That’ll be in the morning now)

 

 

…. and that was 50 minutes ago.

He is still riding because I have just tried to call him, but he must be very close now …..

 

Stupid, stupid Robert ……

After all of the talking that we did yesterday, he went and ignored it all ……

In his words :

“OK, here it comes:

I WAS WRONG! MEA CULPA! MEA CULPA! MEA MAXIMA CULPA!!!

You told me not to be cocky!

You told me not to do anything stupid!

And you were right!

And was does stupid Robert do?

I thought the Honda overheard our conversation, because “she” ran very nicely afterwards. Really nice. So nice, that I started to make plans….

I could do the detour and go up to Michigan and bag a big bonus at the Lake Superior. Why being 24 h too early at the finish? The Pan was running so fine and I had so much time left …”

And guess what happened ?

He decided to try it, if the bike did not give any problems until the where he needed to turn north at about 3:30 p.m.  As he problems occurred daily always between 2 and 3 p.m. he felt that this was a good decision.

The thing is see, that after 10 days on the road, it’s very difficult to make “good decisions”.  That’s why it’s quite useful to speak frequently with people who HAVEN’T been on the road 10 days, who ARE getting plenty of rest, who ARE getting plenty of sleep and who ARE therefore capable of offering GOOD & RATIONAL advice.  Now if that person has actually ridden the IBR themselves,  then they are definitely capable of giving GOOD, RATIONAL & RELEVANT advice ……

So, everything was apparently going well and at 3.30pm he turned north.

Two hours later, the bike started to misfire badly.

This time filling up didn’t help …..  This time a damp shirt over the tank didn’t help ….. This time even a bag of ice on the tank didn’t help ……

He gave up on the idea of “one last big bonus” and headed west – at 55mph flat out with a badly misfiring bike

He reached the town of  Durand and luckily, Quality Inn had a room. The idea was to continue after 3 a.m. after the rest break.

As it was still early,  he wanted to check plan B – connecting the aux tank directly and let it feed by gravity.  He finally did manage to connect it (leaving a big petrol mess on the car park), but a test ride revealed that the height difference is too small so there is too little pressure. This won’t work …….

He connected the tank and the fuel pump again, rode a short distance and it seemed back to normal simply because it had cooled down for about an hour.

Roberts words again ……

“When you’re riding, you think it’s warm, but not THAT hot. But it is still over 30C. When I touch the motor, you feel how many energy is stored in there. It seems that it’s not the daytime, but the operation hours (8 to 9 hours) that triggers the problems. After that time, the tank (where the pump is located, that’s the problem) is heated up so much that the fuel pressure falls below a critical point.”

So, because of his stupidity, he lost 200kms today and whilst the problem would have still occurred, he would have been 2 hours and 200kms closer to the finish.

He has to be back at 8 a.m. at the finish on Friday. Considering the time difference, he still has more than 29 hours to do the 1100 km, and taking the two penalty hours into accounts, he has actually 31 hours before DNF “ing”.

However, he has wasted the last 17 hours to effectively cover 400kms …….

Oh and he left his “toilet bag” at the last hotel – no great drama, but this just goes to demonstrate how muddled your mind gets after 10 hard riding days

Right, for 10 days I have been nice.  For 10 days, I have been supportive.  For 10 days, I have said nothing offensive towards (or about) Robert – other than in jest.

That now changes …..

Being “Mr Nice Guy” hasn’t worked.  It’s time for some hard cold truths …….

Robert, you spent a lot of money in 2013 for nothing more than a failure.  Glorious as it may have been and “dress” it up however you want, you still failed ……

You have spent another huge amount of money in 2017 to enter the rally again and at the moment, there are lots and lots of people willing you to succeed.  You appear to be doing your very f*cking best to disappoint them !!!!!

GET TO THE FINISH.  IF THE BIKE STARTS TO PLAY UP AFTER 6 HOURS, THEN ONLY RIDE FOR 5 HOURS BEFORE LETTING THE BIKE COOL DOWN.

DO NOTHING THAT PUTS THE BIKE UNDER ANY MORE STRESS THAN IT NEEDS TO BE.

YOU HAVE 29 HOURS TO COVER 1100 KMS.  THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF LESS THAN 40KPH.  IF YOU GET TO THE FINAL CONTROL WITH 1 MINUTE TO SPARE, IT DOES NOT MATTER.  JUST GET THERE ……

 

Okay, one very last piece of “encouragement”.

You see, at the moment, there’s this fat, balding, middle-aged, accountant from the UK who’s typing these reports.  He’s already ridden the rally and he’s already got his 3-digit number and at the moment he’s laughing at the stupidity of this German guy he knows.

He’s laughing not because he wants this German guy to fail but because this German guy is riding a Honda and this German guy rode a Honda last time too – and he failed then as well ……

This accountant fella, thinks that Hondas are shite and to prove it, when he rode the rally in 2011 he rode his 50 year old Triumph to a finish ……

Robert – please, please, please, wipe the grin of this guys face and get to the finish ……..

I spoke to Robert at 10.00am (his time) on Day 10.

He has exactly 48 hours to get to the finish control before he is classed as DNF.  His Garmin is showing that 1500kms (950 miles) stand between him and his 3-digit IBA membership number.

He tells me that my advice “DO NOT FUCK THIS UP”, is the only thing in his mind.

There will be no more bonus collecting (other than the sleep bonus this evening), there will be no more detours, there will be no more chances taken.

A nice straight forward 1500kms ride over 2 days to glory …….

He is nearly there …..

BUT – he has been on the road for 9 days and he has had constant issues.  950 miles over 48 hours is normally “a walk in the park” for IBA riders and for Robert in particular.  This will be the most difficult and fraught 1500kms he has ever ridden.

In 2011, I was 600 miles from the finish.  I had 30 hours to do it.  I could already “see” the “ticker-tape” parade awaiting me ……

Then I ran into the worst sand storms Arizona had witnessed for 50 years and my world collapsed around me.  Fortunately, I managed to get my bike going and limped over the finishing line with around 4 hours to spare ….

And that is what the IBR does to you.  Like some beautiful siren, it suckers you in.  It lets you believe that you have the measure of it …….

THEN IT KICKS YOU FAIRLY AND SQUARELY IN THE BALLS !!!!!!!!!

So, wish him luck and keep posting those comments (he reads them all)

The morning started well – Robert went to NYC as planned and visited four locations.  One proved awkward – a statute of Alice in Wonderland in the Central Park – but the rest was easy and it was a big points score

To be sure of enough finishing points, he “popped up ” to the Lake Placid area and bagged another big multiplier bonus

It was much cooler today, but the bike now runs rough whether it’s hot or cold – this really has become a limp to the finish

He has bought a few parts to see whether he could get the bike to run better t and put a new filter in, just on the off-chance that might have helped – but, unfortunately not

Robert – just face it, Hondas are shite ……… Lol !!!

As I mentioned earlier, Robert has taken great pains to point out that “he did not say that I was wrong – just that he was not right”  These apparently to a German (oooops !! – Bavarian) are very different things ……. LOL !!

It was day 9 and there is the wall – a soft one, but a wall nevertheless …..

For Robert this means dropping the plan to go to the Lake Superior and instead, plotting a route directly back to the finishing control – he knows that taking the bike up there is too much of a risk.

Physically, he’s fine, but mentally, he’s exhausted and is now starting to experience slight vision issues (he will no doubt explain more when he writes his full report)  However, the main thing is that he knows how to recognise it and then control it so it does not (in his words) “freak me out anymore”  He does comment though that it is strange to see a sloping lake !!!!.

So from tomorrow on he will take his time to get back in a relaxed manner

He will have a good nights sleep – he stopped earlier than planned in Syracuse – but that is no bad thing.

This close to the finish, he should take no chances ………..

 

…… two quick points for now :

1. He knows that he now has enough points for a finish and is beginning to head for the final control.  There are still lots of points that he could get, but apparently the “Little John” in his head keeps telling him that he shouldn’t do anything stupid ….
2. He also clarified something ….. In his words ”  Btw: I have not said that I was wrong LOL!  I said I was not right which is different ………”

   I somehow knew that a German (Bavarian) couldn’t possibly have admitted that they were wrong …………. Lol !

   Keep those good wishes coming people – he’s nearly there …..

 

 

So what happened on Monday ?

Well, it was my first day back a the office after riding in the national rally.  In the morning I had a doctors appointment to finally cure this “ear” problem I’ve had for a while now and then in the afternoon, I had to go down to Coventry to meet with a client to go through some tax papers.

Sonia had a busy day too – gym in the morning, spa in the afternoon. Lol !!

It was the first day of Wimbledon and the defending champion, Andy Murray successfully negotiated the first round.

Yesterday evening, I started booking hotels and ferries for my next trip.

What else happened ?  Oh yeah, over in the USA, the IBR continued …….

 

So first things first, Robert sent this message :

“No, I will NOT buy a Triumph !!!”

Mmmmmm …… Lol !!

 

So, whilst I was at the doctors, Robert rode the “Tail of the Dragon” road again, bringing him lots of points.  He is beginning to tire now after 8 days on the road and he was not really awake for the first three hours so rode nice and slowly.

He went eastwards through Tennessee and made a detour through the mountains to bag a big bonus, but that included 8 miles of gravel road – not welcome when you’re tired.

Of course, he had the usual issues with the bike – and it’s now becoming more frequent.  As soon as the fuel becomes too low in the main tank and the pump has to “work hard”, the problem returns.  The “useable” range of the bike before top-up fuel is now needed is down to 100km (60 miles).  He then adds fuel from the auxilliary tank and off he goes again.

He discovered a new “string” of five points on the road, adding more points to the route but it has become very hot again as the USA heat wave moved north. He is slowly “cooking” …….  I wonder what a “Medium Rare Bavarian” actually looks like ?

On the positive side, he doesn’t have to keep stopping to put his thermals on !!!!

It’s around 2.00 p.m. when the bad heat starts and that just slows him down so he stopped for his rest break earlier than expected in Harrisburg

Tomorrow, early in the morning, he will tackle New York (city) before moving north east into New York state.

The extra couple of hours rest time has given Robert the ability to check his planning to ensure no last minute mistakes.  He has less than 3 days riding ahead of him.  He is nearly there ……

Tomorrow (Tuesday), he has one time restricted bonus to ensure he makes and then he begins to head for the finish and the “Holy Grail” of that three digit membership number …..

Nearly up to date again …..

He only has 10 magic 12 rallies to ride now …….

He had an early start to the day and headed back over to Memphis, Nashville & Knoxville where he thought he deserved a 4 star cozy hotel with good bar food ….

WHEN HE GETS THE EXTRA LEAVE FROM WORK NEXT YEAR FOR OUR TRIP, HE CAN TAKE ME THERE.

Who knows, with the relaxing of the German law, we may be a married couple by then ….

As has been the case for the last few days, the Honda worked fine in the cool, but as soon as it became hot, the problems returned – at least he knows how to sort it and be back on the road very quickly. He ran into a huge thunderstorm In Nashville, which was very welcome.

He’s removed the side panels off the bike to try to keep the pump cool and this has helped apart from the fact that his legs are now slowly cooking – I had this in 2011 crossing Texas.  it’s STILL an unpleasant memory, 6 years on ….

And then he helped to further worsen relationships between the USA and Europe ….

He tied the sidepanels onto the luggage rack of his bike – except they had no intention of staying there and nearly hit another rider as they made their bid for freedom ….

I wonder what Donald Trump will “tweet” about that ……

At least the thunderstorm proved that his electrics are waterproof, even without panels.  Of course that’s because no-one had the opportunity to sabotage them (like a “certain Bavarian” did to my Tridents electrics last year …… )

After 1400 km, he called it a day as he thinks he has a cunning plan (who does he think he is, Baldrick ? Lol !!)  that should give me easily finisher status.

Leg 3 is all about the multipliers and if you apply them cleverly, you get lots of points.

With the lack of pressure for anything other than a finish now being the goal, he tells me he feels like he is on vacation – obviously a rather shitty vacation though !!

hey have fantastic cheesecake here! This morning, I just planned for the first two days, I wanted to leave as early as possible.

 

Right, that’s just about bringing everything up to date other than (and I may have already mentioned this), ROBERT – BUY YOURSELF A TRIUMPH ……..

 

Keep those messages of support coming (and spread the word).

He is nearly there – just 4 days to go (4 German Butt Rallies, back to back ….. sounds easy doesn’t it ?)

 

 

 

Remember this was written a couple of days ago …..

 

Robert has decided to go northeast, visiting some points from Leg 1 and he will go to New York – but during the night

He feels after the first two days of Leg 3 that he should have enough points to be a finisher already

New scoring rules : Full House: three of one, two of other category, last one gives quadruple points

But – will the bike survive?

 

As many of you will already know, Robert has dropped to 50th place

WHO CARES !!!!!!!

He is on course for a finish – that is ALL that matters …..

 

….. but first a quick and (very) recent update from Robert.

I spoke to him les than an hour ago – I guess it must have been about 5.00am  on Day 8.

He’s fine and the bike is doing “okay”.  He’s still having a few issues with the bike (he’s told me that next time, he’ll be using a nice reliable bike – something like a Triumph … ), but his route for leg 3 has taken that into account.  Now, the sole target is to finish.

Do not be surprised if on day 9 you see him on his Spot starting to move towards the finish.  He’s done the calculations and can probably arrive on Day 10 and still have enough points for a finish.  As soon as he knows he’s got enough points bagged, he will take no chances  as he knows that fuel pump could give up at any time …..

Right, now I’ve told you what’s actually happening now, he’s what’s been happening over the last two/three days (and remember these were written “at the time” so may have been overtaken by events ….)

 

Day 6 :

His day started well, continuing his trip to the planned bonus point, through Kansas and Oklahoma.  He was more than one hour early at the timed bonus, a gruop picture in a big whale but he had previously cut my sleep bonus by one hour to make sure that he would be thereon time

Then it got hot again …….  Two hours later, the bike “conked” (again) and he had the same trouble as on Thursday.  He did manage to get to the checkpoint on time though

However, the biggest news of the day was this message I received from him …..

“My theories were obsolete….it IS a failing pump at heat….”

No shit, Sherlock – and just as I said …..  But, look at what he said again, he admitted he was wrong ….  A German, no, a Bavarian admitting he was wrong.

THIS IS THE BIG STORY OF THE 2017 IBR.  

In years to come, people will have forgotten who won …..  People will have forgotten about the heat and the storms …..  People will have forgotten the concept of the rally …. Hell, people will have even forgotten who was the USA President at the time of the rally ….  No, all they will remember is “that time a Bavarian admitted he was wrong” Lol !!

Okay, serious stuff again …..

His route did not bring very many points because he wanted (no, needed) to avoid the heat. Going to Colorado area gave him at least a couple of days relief from it.

This rally has now turned into what I faced in 2011 – a battle for survival …..

He did not lose any points again, but he made a bad error in the planning for leg 2 (understandable really as he had “other” things on his mind – a failing Honda …..

NOTE TO ROBERT : BUY YOURSELF A TRIUMPH ……

In short, get four bonuses of different categories and the fourth one counted triple. His route was based on that. However, he overlooked that the first combination had two of the same category….a bitter pill to swallow and cost 2500 points…

The call in bonus however had worked. In total he only got 12400 points, under the finisher mark but his good 1st leg means he is still on target.

Now the task for leg 3 is clear – get just enough points to be a finisher. The issue is the fuel pump, it is clear that is struggles in the heat.  The forecast sees rising temperatures everywhere. He thinks the best is to escape to the Northeast, but even there, temps will be above 30C

At the checkpoint, there were plenty of people offering to help.  Allen Dye thought he had a replacement pump and they decided to change the pump as he assured Robert that he could get one, but it was the wrong model pump.

He has to continue therefore with the one he has fitted …..

Now it is all about survival.  He hopes to “escape” quickly to the northeast, maybe riding at night. He doesn’t want to kill the pump.

He really appreciates your comments and support – so keep wishing him well, but as he says, for all of your kind words, you cannot understand what this is about.

DO NOT LET THIS PUT YOU OFF FROM WISHING HIM WELL THOUGH !!!

Apart from the pump issue, he is fine. Mentally good, physically as well. He knows that he will not get much sleep at the leg 2 checkpoint as he needs to leave early tomorrow

He does have a few health issues – rashes due to the heat and a painful irritation of the outer right ear due to the earplugs and he may have to ride without ear plugs for a while…But in principle he is relatively fit after day 6.

So the next few days will be about disaster management. Just getting out of the brutal heat that will come in the south and the west and to keep the bike running.

It’s not over until the “fat lady sings” ……

He expects to drop considerably in the ranking, but this is no longer a concern. Just get to Minneapolis with enough points, that’s all ……

NOTE TO ROBERT : BUY YOURSELF A TRIUMPH ……

 

3rd leg planning and day 7 reports later ……

 

…. I’m back and the latest report will be up will be posted before lunchtime today

Robert is moving – which is good.

Yesterday, the bike had less problems in the cool air of Colorado and the even better news is that the IBA world is now aware of Roberts issues and hopefully, there’ll be answers and a solution waiting for him when he gets to the Leg 2 checkpoint later today

Now, I’m going to go missing for 30 hours or so as I’m off to ride in the ACU National Rally – an 18 hour, 600 mile “ish” very mild scatter rally here in the UK – “easey-peasey” compared with what Robert is facing over there in the USA …..

Well yes, ….. apart from the fact that the bike I’m riding. my X75 Hurricane, has a “useable” fuel range of around 50 miles …..

I will be visiting lots of fuel stations over the next 30 hours or so ….

I’ll update you all on Roberts progress tomorrow by which time hopefully, he will have a bike that works and will be planning his leg 3 route

 

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 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

….. including pictures of Robert ……

https://goo.gl/photos/zkZPy9xfMftpmRWu8

 

 

 

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 :

1. Checked the fuel pump – working
2. Disconnected the automatic fuel tap – no change
3. Disconnected the fuel filter – bike started !!

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 !!

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 …..

 

 

 

 

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 …..