2009 Iron Butt Rally - Official Daily Reports

[Duster19]

Not much to say on this topic, other then the official IBR postings are both informative and fun to read. I look forward to reading Matt's blog once he's finished and at home.

Good luck Matt.... and has you and Warchild have both told me "Don't Fuck Up"

Dave

 

[Badcat]

I enjoy the daily reports. Very well written and entertaining. The spot track site for the riders now requires a password. I can see why the IBA is doing this and I agree with it. While it would be great to have the posts, blogs and locations of the riders I am interested in watching the safety and integrity of the event take priority.

Good luck to all and be safe.

Burk

 

[Warchild]

Well, riders now have their Leg One Bonus listing, and I'll tell you what, I am glad I'm not riding in this one... Leg One Bonus Listing is 45 pages long.... well, well over 100 distinct bonuses.

Oy.... it's gonna be a loooooooong night for these guys doing there routing exercise......

 

[BwanaDik]

Can you give us a "nutshell" summary of the "no outside help" and minimum electronic tomfoolery for this years boni? I thought the rules for this year were changed to get more "back to basics".

 

[RenoJohn]

Well, riders now have their Leg One Bonus listing, and I'll tell you what, I am glad I'm not riding in this one... Leg One Bonus Listing is 45 pages long.... well, well over 100 distinct bonuses.
Oy.... it's gonna be a loooooooong night for these guys doing there routing exercise......

Jeezers ....nothing like starting an 11day 11,000++ mile ride after being up all night trying to make the most out of 45pages and (well, well) over 100 "distinct" bonuses (translation likely = read carefully)
Me don't need a satellite tracking scheme to know where all 100 riders are right now. ....They're somewhere right between "OH SHIT" and "YOU GOTTA BE F*CKING KIDDING ME" .....trust me, you can find that without a satellite tracking system.

 

[user 213]

Me don't need a satellite tracking scheme to know where all 100 riders are right now. ....They're somewhere right between "OH SHIT" and "YOU GOTTA BE F*CKING KIDDING ME" .....trust me, you can find that without a satellite tracking system.

Every rider should have been fully expecting at least that many boni. What would have really kept them awake is getting a rally pack with only 10 boni. 10 really, really, really nasty boni. That would have kept them awake wondering what hell was to be visited upon them for Leg TWO.

 

[Warchild]

Can you give us a "nutshell" summary of the "no outside help" and minimum electronic tomfoolery for this years boni? I thought the rules for this year were changed to get more "back to basics".

In a nutshell.... absolutely, positively NO routing assistance at all by anyone except the individual rider him/herself. There is NO non-rider assistance allowed whatsoever, under penalty of disqualification. Period.

Riders may - if desired - work as a "team" together, but if they do, they must "declare" this teaming to the rallymaster prior to departure. Further, the team MUST ride together, and score every every bonus together. If the team arrives at the next checkpoint and the "team" members do not have identical bonii collected, it's MAJOR, MASSIVE penalty points. Bottom line: if you team with another rider, than you "never, ever leave your wingman".

The bonus listing no longer has directions to locate the bonuses. They are provided street addresses (if the location has an actual address), and GPS waypoints for it. That's it. Now, overall, the bonus listing takes two forms:

i) a USB Flash drive containing over 130 bonus waypoints, in several file formats for popular mapping software.

ii) a traditional bonus listing that describes the bonus requirements, the points associated with the bonii, any time constraints associated with the bonii, etc, etc.

We gave the jump drives to riders about 2 hours before the Riders Banquet, so they could load the waypoints into their mapping software and see all the pushpins. When they received their actual bonii listing, each bonus has a three digit code associated with a pushpin waypoint. Now it becomes a more traditional bonus plotting exercise: see where the 10 most highest valued bonus is actually located, and begin to plot your route from there.

 

[BwanaDik]

We gave the jump drives to riders about 2 hours before the Riders Banquet, so they could load the waypoints into their mapping software and see all the pushpins.

Interesting! Thanks for the summary, really appreciate it. It does sound like more of a "back to basics"

Did anybody show up for the banquet?

 

[user 213]

WC - $50 to walk up to the podium at the riders meeting, smile your best evil smile, and repeat the opening lines from WORD!'s riders meeting. :swoon: But it's got to be on film to count.

 

[dcarver]

I will really miss the audio blogs I listened to last rally. Not knowing the entire story, and out of respect for the IBA organizers and riders, I'll keep my yap shut and not comment on the no blogs rule. I will say it has diminished my interest in following the rally since I don't have any 'insiders' to call and find out the real story, not the 'for press' story. And I understand why it must be done, given our current litigious society and all the risk-adverse people out there.

So, I wish all riders the best, especially FjrForum riders, and especially TurboDave, my personal hero.

Oh, BTW, and said with total respect and humor, I just gotta say that the CBA ain't got no such silly assed rules. On a CBA ride you can Tweet, Cheep, Spot, FaceBook, FacePlant, whatever! :lol: :rofl:

Once again, best to all IBR peeps!

 

[TriggerT]

While I agree with the no blogging, or anything else, it seems to me this could be a fine line to tread. What if a rider was calling home to a family member and they were posting up on a blog for the rider? Would the rider be in the wrong for calling home and checking in with their loved ones while during the ride? I know if I were to ever get the chance to ride the IBR, there is no way I couldn't check in with my family once and awhile, and i know they would be sending out E-mails and updating their blogs on my progress. Again, I agree with the rider not taking the time to do it themselves, but I see gray areas that could be a problem for everyone.

 

[rickcorwn]

While I agree with the no blogging, or anything else, it seems to me this could be a fine line to tread. What if a rider was calling home to a family member and they were posting up on a blog for the rider? Would the rider be in the wrong for calling home and checking in with their loved ones while during the ride? I know if I were to ever get the chance to ride the IBR, there is no way I couldn't check in with my family once and awhile, and i know they would be sending out E-mails and updating their blogs on my progress. Again, I agree with the rider not taking the time to do it themselves, but I see gray areas that could be a problem for everyone.

The problem is not with the riders contact with loved ones it's the post on a public forum ie. blogs, facebook twitter and the rest even the FJR Forum. The less this sport is on the radar the happier I'll be about it. IMO, maybe I'm getting old but the IBR on facebook and twitter is soooo wrong on so many levels.

 

[TriggerT]

I agree that the less the even is in the public eye, the better, but I am glad I don't have to make the call on where the cut off is. in this day and age, keeping this even on the down low is going to become more an more difficult.

 

[dcarver]

While I agree with the no blogging, or anything else, it seems to me this could be a fine line to tread. What if a rider was calling home to a family member and they were posting up on a blog for the rider? Would the rider be in the wrong for calling home and checking in with their loved ones while during the ride? I know if I were to ever get the chance to ride the IBR, there is no way I couldn't check in with my family once and awhile, and i know they would be sending out E-mails and updating their blogs on my progress. Again, I agree with the rider not taking the time to do it themselves, but I see gray areas that could be a problem for everyone.

The problem is not with the riders contact with loved ones it's the post on a public forum ie. blogs, facebook twitter and the rest even the FJR Forum. The less this sport is on the radar the happier I'll be about it. IMO, maybe I'm getting old but the IBR on facebook and twitter is soooo wrong on so many levels.

I'm having trouble keeping my yap shut.

Pithy response deleted. I'm proud of my self-discipline at this moment, it doesn't happen all that often!

 

[Sportster]

It's a shame the lawyers have dicked this all up.

Not saying all lawyers, but those lawyers of the mindset that have these billboards here in South Florida that say, and i quote: "whocanisue.com".

Sportster

 

[boogahboogah]

Here's hoping all the riders get through safely & that all the FJR's finish high (I admit some bias). Go Iggy !

 

[DABRIT]

Thanks for the updates once again Warchild,

My admiration for the IB rally competitors has just rocketed,(as if was not high enough already).

While I understand the reasons for doing the "clampdown", it just makes it a bit harder for us outsiders to follow which is a bit of a shame. Still it should take away some workload, now all they have to concentrate on is doing the rally, if that's not enough.

Good luck to them all, it sounds like they are going to need it !.

DB

 

[mdisher]

While I agree with the no blogging, or anything else, it seems to me this could be a fine line to tread. What if a rider was calling home to a family member and they were posting up on a blog for the rider? Would the rider be in the wrong for calling home and checking in with their loved ones while during the ride? I know if I were to ever get the chance to ride the IBR, there is no way I couldn't check in with my family once and awhile, and i know they would be sending out E-mails and updating their blogs on my progress. Again, I agree with the rider not taking the time to do it themselves, but I see gray areas that could be a problem for everyone.

The problem is not with the riders contact with loved ones it's the post on a public forum ie. blogs, facebook twitter and the rest even the FJR Forum. The less this sport is on the radar the happier I'll be about it. IMO, maybe I'm getting old but the IBR on facebook and twitter is soooo wrong on so many levels.

Actually that's not the issue at all.

I spoke with or rather exchanged emails with an IBA person, who as you could imagine was a little busy. He was however kind enough to respond to my email and answer my question(s).

It's not an issue of publicity at all, nor does it appear to have anything to do with team shenanigans.

I do think this is a very fine line, and given the age of the majority of the IBA rule makers may be a misunderstanding of technology (That's the politest way I could put it).

That's about all I can really say without stirring up a shit storm as Warchild would say. It's best to let the rally run it's course and this can be debated later after the event. Certainly nothing is going to change it for this running of the IBR and since I'm not in it, doesn't really affect me other than making my week all that much more boring.

I do wish Iggy, Derrick, TurboDave and the rest of the IBR participants good luck. But more luck to my fellow FJR riders

 

[Canadian FJR]

On the riders list, all the U.S. riders are listed by state. Why are the Canadian riders just listed as "Canada"?

Canadian FJR

 

[Warchild]

On the riders list, all the U.S. riders are listed by state. Why are the Canadian riders just listed as "Canada"?

Hey, now..... Canada doesn't have states!

Truthfully, I dunno.... but no slight was intended. We love our Canadian contingent. I'm pulling hard for Maura Gatensby to become a Finisher this time around. Go, Maura! B)