Almost 18,000 k’s in 11 days

[janejohnstewart]

#2189

Whilst having a mooch about on Advrider over the weekend, I came across this little story.http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2007.cfm?DocID=4311,000 miles in 11 days, which sounds amazing enough to me, and there’s more than a friar share of BMW’s in the list and so I think it warrants a mention here.  The overall winner was a guy on a 1200GS, so obviously the early reliability problems have been sorted.  However, for me the most amazing result for me is the guy who finished in 67 place.  Apparently he was riding an R60/6 that had a mere 435,000 miles (a whisker off 700,000 k’s) on the clock at the start of the rally.

[Anonymous]

#8358

What a great event. I was reading the daily posts and you have to laugh and feel sorry for some of the riders at the same time. I thought the “sucker” bonus destinations would always get someone. What a brilliant idea.THE DAY 6 REPORT2007 Iron Butt Rally, Day 6Saturday, August 25, 2007At 4:00 a.m. this morning, the 35-page bonus listing for Leg 2 of the 2007 Iron Butt Rally was handed out. There are 134 separate bonuses to choose from. "IMPORTANT CAUTION: The following Potential Bonus locations are like a restaurant menu. If you order everything on the menu and eat it, you are going to get sick and perhaps die. Please pick and choose bonus destinations carefully!"This morning, most of the riders were having trouble with the menu. Three hours after the bonus listing had been distributed, only a few riders were on the road. Even routing guru Jim Owen spent more than six hours planning his route.Eric Jewell got out of the parking lot before Owen, but then returned in less than half an hour. I asked Eric if something was wrong with his bike. He said the bike was fine, he just decided that he needed to spend more time working on his route. Eight hours (!) after the bonus listings had been distributed, Eric finally got back on the road. He was not the last rider to leave.In the history of the Iron Butt Rally, never have riders had so much difficulty planning a route. This was the bonus listing from hell.There are 6 days and 4 hours between when the Leg 2 bonus listings were handed out and when the final checkpoint opens next Friday at 8 a.m. That's 148 hours. At a 1,000 mile per day pace, it's 6,167 miles.A quick scan of the bonus listing shows the highest point bonus is Deadhorse, Alaska (Prudhoe Bay); a whopping 161,014 points. Trouble is that the round trip to Deadhorse is 8,300 miles, 800 miles of which are over the treacherous Dalton Highway, otherwise known as the Haul Road. Given the roads involved, the required 1,350 miles per day average pace is almost certainly beyond the reach of even the top riders. Forget about it. The second highest bonus on the list is Homer, Alaska at 142,501 points. Homer is a 8,000 mile round trip, requiring about a 1,300 mile per day average. To average just four hours per day off of the bike, you would have to maintain a BBG pace (63 mph) while on the bike, riding over less than optimum roads. No one has ever averaged 1,300 miles per day during the Iron Butt Rally.If your name isn't George Barnes, Homer, Alaska should probably be considered a sucker bonus. If you name IS George Barnes, it should probably be considered a sucker bonus. But several riders are bound to try it. I'll be surprised if Dick Fish isn't one of them.The DAY 7 REPORT starts with; Do You Know the Way to San Jose?Apparently Rob Nye and Jim Frens don't, or at least they don't care. Early today, I received a report of their whereabouts. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is not on the way to San Jose; it's on the way to Homer, Alaska. Tomorrow, we should learn who else thinks they can average 1,300 miles per day over less than optimum roads for 6 days.Everything has to go perfectly to get to Homer and back in six days. You can tolerate little or nothing in the way of bad weather, road construction zones, traffic congestion, bike problems, and encounters with animals on the road. Under the best of conditions, you aren't going to get much sleep. It will take a really tough rider with really good luck.I had just finished writing the above paragraph at 2:30 p.m. Central Time when my cell phone rang. It was IBR veteran Paul Meredith, who is getting periodic updates on Rob Nye's progress. Rob is in Edmonton, Alberta. That's 1800 miles from Chesterfield, MO, and the bonus listings were handed out only 34 hours ago. Rob has been keeping a pace that is sufficient to make it to Homer and back.Unfortunately, Rob's chances of scoring the Homer, Alaska, bonus have just vaporized. His BMW R1200RT, the one with the all-new, never needs maintenance final drive, is puking rear end lubricant all over Public Highway 16. Dammit! It's bad enough that Rob's valiant effort has to end this way; what's worse is that I am going to have to listen to that cackling witch of a rallymaster reminding me of our side bet on the percentage of BMWs that would finish without mechanical failures. She will laugh about it later, but it's not funny right now. We truly feel sorry for Rob because we know he was giving it his all._________________________What a stunner of a challenge and clearly insane. It would be great to see a similar theme run down here. Those out of the way bonuses would be tempting. But internet based updates would also be great. I think the event could do without the back up planning teams for riders.But still a stunner. Thanks for posting.

[2bjr]

#8359

Very good for the R60 😀 😀

[dave.valma]

#8360

Those airheads just keep on going, even the seat or the early R60's and 60/5 and 6's allowed you to ride a tank of gas without needing a break. 😉 😀

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