Tick-Tock

Holy bajesus, waiting to find out what happened is killing me. Unfortunately I'm heading out of town in a few hours so by the time I hear what the results are they will probably be old news..

In the mean time here are a few more pictures to kill time with.

The bikes are too clean in this one to be the finish of the big-ride .

This one has pictures from the finish in Denver .

• Eddie has one heck of a grin on his face..
• Brett looks like he needs a crackopractor to get some flexability back..
• I'm wondering, what's the limit for a group on hitting deers? The MWC may have bagged it this year thanks to Marty.

Update on Rebecca and Pic's

Rebecca was in touch with her point man with an update on her status.

"Rebecca called to say she arrived in Denver at 3:30 this morning, and that her scoring (and riding effort, obviously) earned her a Silver ranking. The levels were Gold, Silver, and Bronze, so her score must've been in the middle or middle-upper third. I'm sure details will follow. Mike Kneebone (Iron Butt CEO) told her that she had an amazing third leg and did very well. She said his comments/praise was so uplifting that she felt ready to get on the bike and go again.

There were rumors of massages being offered at the hotel, so Rebecca was going to go searching for one, hoping to drain the rest of the tension from her body and then go get some sleep."

Duke got back a little before 3:00am safe and sound..

Still waiting to hear more about the MWC and some of the other riders we've been keeping tabs on..

Some pictures of the finish line were posted already and you can find them [ Here ]

Say it aint so..

Well, Reports and rumors have been confirmed. Jim "Take the lead and don't look back" Owen has unfortunately fallen victim to the same bad luck so many other drivers have. His bike has broken down in Elko, NV which is a little over 750 miles from Denver. He's got until 10 am on Friday to make it to Denver and avoid disqualification so we'll see what happens.

That and other information can be found in the Day 11 report on the IBR website.

Rebecca was caught on film NOT smiling, well kinda..

Kerry Church and Sean Gallagher have both arrived at the finish before 9:00 PM local time. Photo's compliments of the 250 Ninja gang.


It's going to be rough sleeping tonight knowing people are going to start trickling in.

More tomorrow I'm sure..

Back Stage Passes

Bob, a friend I met through Team Strange sent me his brush with the IronButt groupie life.

"by hook or crook I was able to find out the Sioux Falls location, and Saddled up the Ol' Mule to ride on down there.

I found Steve Stellar and Sludge this morning, he was well rested and in good spirit, scoot is working well, and looks like he will finish with alotted points needed.

Teresa and I also greeted several other riders, I will try with the names:Joe Manderville, had an incident with his bike at a lighthouse in Maine, but doing well today,looking forward to the ride in to Denver.

• Bill Thweat, also had an incident with a concrete lane divider, spent some time at a hospital in Wisconsin, he was n good spirits, and walking way better than he has a right to, his bike had some serious concrete rash on the left side.
• Vicky Johnson took her sleep bonus in Sioux Falls, seemed ready to ride it on home to Denver. No adventures that she let us in on.
• Kendall Anderson, who is riding the Butt, is also on vacation, he has been visiting relatives and old friends, while rally riding, now that is a cool customer. No incidents, actually visited Yellowstone park as part of his ride......well ya only get one vacation, might as well enjoy it!
• Toby Stevens, just plain enjoying his ride, looking forward to Denver!
• Rick Sauter from Canada, riding his Suz DL 1000, just enjoying a dry,calm ride,sure enjoyed the scenery in S FallsI think that was all the riders I saw.

It was very cool to meet the riders, awesome event.

Bob"

Thanks for the update Bob..

Rider Update

At this stage in the game I'm going to assume that no news is good news when it comes to the riders and their progress.

It's getting down to the wire and while some may be scrambling to grab that last bonus location

• Rebecca is on her way to Denver. She's got enough points to be considered a finisher so she's heading to the final checkpoint to dry out.
• Duke is also on his way back to Denver after enjoying a down home meal at McDonalds with some relatives.

Way to go gang, the end is near..

More Bad Luck

Well gang Brett Donahue, the last Harley Davidson left in the rally had another run in with bad luck. We already know that a cager tried to take him out before the Maine checkpoint.

Now, the bottom end of his sporty decided to try and take him out of the rally by puking on him.

Two blows like this might dampen the spirits of a normal rider but Brett, part of the MWC, isn't going to let it keep him down.

He's now headed to Cape Disappointment and then back to Denver on a rented Ultra.

That's two strikes so far Brett, lets go for the home run now..

Bob has posted the day 10 report .

We're getting close now.. This is where, as spectators, we move to the edge of our seats waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

Wrecking Crew and Weather..

Ron and Carrie Hanson posted some pic's they took of the Minnesota Wrecking crew during their visit to the Maine Checkpoint.

Joe from Tuscaloosa, AL posted some interesting info about traffic patterns as states try to dry out from Katrina.

"On the national TV news this morning, a correspondent reported that they left Tuscaloosa, AL for New Orleans, normally a 4 1/2 hour trip on I-59, and spent 17 1/2 hours getting to the New Orleans region. Because he was reporting from southern Mississippi, I surmise he never made it to New Orleans proper.And that route is all interstate.

He said I-59 was so cluttered with downed trees and other debris that it took them 4 times as long as that trip normally would take."

Lets hope that none of the IBR riders are taking that route.

Countdown

By Friday the riders and their bikes have to be back in Denver for the finish of this years rally.

It seems that it's been quiet on the newsfront for everyone as Bob Higdon compares the coordinators to mushrooms in his latest update.

Rider Paul Allison is trying to get his BMW repaired thanks to a clutch that didn't want to finish the rally. He's currently in Cabano, QC which is just north of Madawaska, ME. Today he's looking to get the bike towed to Quebec but that may not leave him enough time to get back to Denver. Let the coordinators know if you can do anything to help.

Duke and the 250 ninja are forging ahead despite a, likely, broken rib which resulted from a parking lot wrestlting match with his bike.

The sport-touring group has published some pic's from the main checkpoint for our viewing pleasure here .

More as it comes in..

Personal Ironbutt

Sorry about the lack of posts since Sunday. A server meltdown at work has kept me busy day and night doing my computer IronButt.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program :-)

The web is filled with updates today but I tell ya, with all the gadgets this gang has on their bikes I thought there would be more real-time updates.

Some of the updates that have been posted are..

• Bob has Updated us with the Day 8 Report
• We also get to see the Leg 2 Bonus listing from their site or a converted .pdf file.
• They also posted the most recent Scorecards for us to see.
• The second leg statistics Ted compiles are now online.
• Bob Lyskowski posted a bunch of pictures of the riders at his gallery.
• Another gallery has been posted from the Maine checkpoint.
• The Ninja 250 gang has posted some pic's from the Main checkpoint also.

One thing I noticed is that there are going to be some hefty bonii grabbed on this last leg. Each rider needs to have 60,000 points to be considered a finisher. There are 15 riders with under 30,000 points after the Maine checkpoint. These folks are going to have to grab some serious points to wrap this up.

Rebecca is one of these 15 riders but she's still smilin . She also had a nice "Where is your KEY?" reminder written in grease pencil . She was also quoted as saying "my waterproof jacket, my waterproof riding pants, and my waterproof boots all leaked during the hardest rain I've ever ridden in. I actually poured water out of my boot! Luckily, it wasn't windy." All that and she's still smilin.

Rob Nye's hair seems to be growing back after his pre-rally shave.

Duke is movin right along on his 250 Ninja and is heading west out of Canada.

Tom and Rosie Sperry have dropped quite a bit from the first scorecard so we'll probably see one heck of a charge from them on this leg.

The Minnesota Wrecking crew is running for the front positions. Eddie James is sitting up in 5th place and a lot of the gang has moved up to the top 15 positions (sawwweeet).

Someone posted a link to a webcam at the Confederate bridge. The Bridge joins the provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada. Random sightings of riders have been flying around so sit back an keep your eyes open..

I know what I'll be doing now that the server is back up and running ;-)

More pic's

Bob Lyskowski places some pictures of the Maine checkpoint for us to look at.

What's with everyone smiling?? It looks like they might have taken Lisa's advice and gotten some rest on that leg.

Latest news

The Day 7 update has been posted at the IronButt Site.

Brett Donahue was run into a median last night by a truck. I was at the Team Strange night in Niobrara when Brett won the brightest lights contest. If those lights were on there is no way that driver can use the excuse that they didn't see him.

David Mishalof has retired for personal reasons but was kind enough to post his pictures for us to view.

With all of the warnings about rest before this last leg, it will undoubtedly be the hardest and where we may see the largest shuffle in standings.

Farewell and Flashbacks

Farewell: Today Mike Sentry has decided, for safety sake, to end his 2005 IronButt ride. Below is the notice that was posted on LDR. He had already had the wheel welded but was having problems with wobbles.

"Mike Senty, riding a 1981 Goldwing with EML sidecar and a cracked rear wheel has decided to head for home. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions for a new rear wheel.

He decided to be safe and call it a day. He made a monster ride from Denver to Key West to Denver and on to St. Louis, all with a cracked rear rim! That's riding in the true IronButt spirit.
Good Job, Mike!"

Flashbacks: The gang over at the ADV riders has posted an interesting series of photos taken at the start of the original IronButt event .

How about in the 2007 IBR there be a class for any of these guys that want to come back and try it again?

Rally Mode

I realized last night that, although I'm not riding in the rally, my mind seems to have nothing but this years rally, motorcycles, and riders on it.

I watched a movie this weekend titled "The Ring 2" which is of course a sequel to "The Ring". I won't go into details but at one point some scenes took place at a lighthouse. Immediately my mind began to wander. Wondering if it was a bonus location, picturing Rebecca, Tom, and Rosie running back and forth as the tide rose to try and get the bonus points. Good thing there were no shark, right RV ;-) ..

Then, last night going to meet some friends from Montana for dinner I had to turn and check every motorcycle I saw for fuel cells or any hint that the driver may be on the IBR. I'm about 40 minutes from Madison WI and according to some of the Star-Traxx tracking some of the riders were headed this way. As of now, one bike still seems to be sitting in Madison, hopefully just taking a rest bonus.

According to Bob's report of day 6 Eddie James is in some serious pain. It makes you wonder if riding the GS would have been a better mount considering the injuries he sustained in the last IBR. If one thing is for sure about the selection, Eddie will give 200% to make it work. While we are on the subject of Eddie, does anyone know who's driving the GS in this picture? It looks alot like Eddies but he's driving is K1100RS.

Tom and Rosie Checked in from the road on the way to Maine and pleased with their effort so far.

Duke Dunsford has paired up with Brian Boberick since they are riding the same route to Maine.
This leg seems to be just a slab-blast out to the checkpoint with few options for bonus points. The basic route is about 2075 miles and 32 hrs according to Mapquest. According my my math they have 62 hours to get there so any bonus point would probably have to be close to the route.

Of course, being directionally challenged I could be completely wrong. We'll know more by 11am on Monday.

Moving Right along

Reports in for Duke Dunsford from the 250 Ninja gang at about 11am:

"I spoke with Duke a few minutes ago. He is halfway across Kansas, and things are much better today. He's still getting passed by bikes in the field, but he's quite happy with the speed he's making. His last tank of fuel produced 49 mpg, so he does have to stop more often for fuel. Last night he was complimented by George Barnes (1999 IBR winner) about how organized his fuel log was. Today he's riding tank to tank at around 300 miles per tank. "

Some energetic fans filmed Duke at the start of the rally.

Motorcycle Mania heads East

With leg one behind them most riders pressed on last night or in the weeee hours of this morning. Unfortunately, Bill Crittenden on the Boss Hoss would not be one of them. Unfortunately he overslept to a point where there was no possible way he could make it back to Denver. If the Screaming Meanie wasn't on Bill's list of must haves, it may be now. I was really looking forward to what, in my memory of the iron butt would have been the first Boss Hoss to finish.

The IBA has posted the Day 5 report along with the first legs Rider Scorecards for our viewing pleasure.

The MN Wrecking crew is moving right along with one if it's founding fathers, Eddie James, running all the way up in 4th position. Mark Kiecker is followed closely by Jim Winterer on his Suzuki DL650, a far cry from his Yamaha SR500.

Hey Jason, do you see who else is in the top 10? That's right Tom and Rosie Sperry, riding two up, are in 6th place on their BMW 1150GS.

This next leg will be interesting. It's quite obvious that organizers have obtained some antimatter from some unknown source, combined it with the phrase made famous by journalist Horace Greeley "Go West, Young Man", and come up with bonus locations that are causing the motorcycles to Go East.

Personally, I'm excited to see them swarm to the East in masses. This means there is a possibility there may be some bonus points in my area and I may actually have my house used as a resting/refueling station. Time to turn the volume up on the phone..

Ted Timmons has posted some interesting statistics of the first leg. He's compiled a list of rider efficiency and a number of different statistics compairng the bikes. BMW has the greatest number entered with Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Harley, Kawasaki, Boss Hoss, Triumph, and Vespa following in that order.

More to come I'm sure..

Leg 1 update on Rebecca

Well gang, she made it back safe, sound, and probably smiling. Those of you familiar with motorcycle endurance rallies probably know a very important rule about preparing for a rally such as this. The rule, which is important enough to be in the top five of the IBA's AOW, is very simple "Avoid adding accessories or doing maintenance immediately before a trip."

If anyone is keeping track, she has mounted new driving lights, torn her fuel cell apart to have the frame welded and re-installed, continued problems with her directional, and now had a key cut. To most the key may seem like a small deal, but when combined with the other misfortunes, it's just one more thing to add to the mental stress of the rider. Let’s just hope that they tested the key after making it..

Enough of me typing what happened.. Here is her report of the events thus far.

"My first leg route took me through Washington, Oregon, and down the Pacific Coast to I-80 and then back to Denver. The redwoods and the ocean were beautiful and I had a great time. Everything is all happening so fast and I really need to work on my riding efficiency for the next leg. So far, I've ridden 4029 miles and I have 19480 points. The only bike issue is another turn signal bulb went out. So far, so good.

I'm pleased to be surrounded by such incredible people. I lost my ignition key (more on that in a second) and Paul and Voni Glaves found a key blank and had my spare duplicated while I slept at the checkpoint in Denver. Thanks!

The lost key is, indeed, quite a story. The rally book clearly stated that the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, CA would only be accessible until 1:30 due to low-tide, but I showed up at 1:45. Tom and Rosie Sperry arrived too, so the three of us shucked our riding gear as best we could and waded across to the lighthouse. Getting there, we realized that we had forgotten our rally flags, so we had to wade back to get them. Once we were in position again, we realized that we had no film left in the cameras. It took another trip over and back to finally snag the bonus picture. Then, we still had to cross the water once more. By this time, the water was up to my hips!

This excursion left me with wet clothes to complete the rest of the first leg. Ugh. I was tired, wet, and grimy, all of which led to increased fatigue and diminished mental alertness. I missed a later bonus because of this.

Oh, and the key? It was in my pocket with my flag, so when I pulled the flag out, the key dropped to the ground and was never found. I got back to Denver early and tried to get some sleep, but I kept imagining that was hearing sirens, but when I got up to investigate, there was nothing there. I'll plan my route for Leg 2, and then decide if I need more sleep or whether to push on.

Thanks to everyone who is following my progress and wishing me well! I'll try to provide more frequent updates."