2011 Utah 1088 (12 hour, 1 day, 3 day)

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Thanks for the info Steve.

btw, I thought your name was Matt?!?!
Some quote marks added for your reading enjoyment.

And you oughta try that 12 hour thing they're promoting. It's perfect for newbies and I put your name down on the app as a mentor to you and get $25 off my 3 day app fee. ;)

 
Sounds like fun, but 20111 is a LONG way off. Not sure I'll still be around then - especially with my motorcycle crashing habits.

 
My entry for the 1088 3 day rally is on it way. This will be my first multi-day rally and really looking forward to ride in it. The only type of multi-day LD ride I have done is a Ride Around Texas Insanity Gold, but then every time I have ridden the compete in the Utah 1088 it was always a 1000 miles to get there, then 1140 for the rally and another 1000 mile to travel back home the next day. So I'm pretty sure I can get a multi-day rally under my butt, I hope.

 
I'm in - Application sent 9/15.

Do not miss the opportunity fro a Multi-day rally that starts out west. They are few and far between. MERA puts on a good rally.

Of course, you can do a 24 or 12 hour as well. The 1088 has a lot of options this year.

 
I saw Steve's e-mail and my wife was reading over my shoulder. She said that looked like a fun one and she would like to try the 12-hr :huh: . So I never thought I would be saying this but we are entering the 12 hours rally, it should be interesting.

 
From the rally application:

"All riders in each of the events will be strongly encouraged to use Spot units for your safety and the rallymaster’s peace of mind. For those of you that are new to MERA events, when we say strongly encouraged we mean we will be offering big points for you to do so."

Does this bother anyone else? I mean, how would it feel to come in second without a tracker and have the margin of victory be less than the SPOT bonus? Seems contrary to the spirit of LD but I'm certainly no expert.

 
From the rally application:

"All riders in each of the events will be strongly encouraged to use Spot units for your safety and the rallymaster’s peace of mind. For those of you that are new to MERA events, when we say strongly encouraged we mean we will be offering big points for you to do so."

Does this bother anyone else? I mean, how would it feel to come in second without a tracker and have the margin of victory be less than the SPOT bonus? Seems contrary to the spirit of LD but I'm certainly no expert.
Rallymasters often offer bonuses to encourage safety and behavior. They could have easily said that SPOT units were mandatory. This gives you a choice.

BTW, This was done for the Ten 'n Ten, and it greatly enhanced the rally for participants, the rally team and "Spectators" alike. As it turned out, I don't think there were any riders without one. And since you end up riding around at all hours in areas with slightly better cell reception than Mars, a SPOT isn't something to be without.

 
You hit it right on the head. It should be mandatory like a helmet and riding gear. In fact there ought to be legislation that requires it for all of motorcyclists everywhere. :rolleyes:

All kidding aside, I'm an ATGATT guy but I don't like helmet laws. Let Darwin do his thing. For an Iron Butt rally though, it should either be required at the safety inspection or let people decide for themselves. What's next? More points for an Arai vs. an HJC? Extra points for a Leatt brace? It just doesn't seem right that you should be able to purchase points.

 
You hit it right on the head. It should be mandatory like a helmet and riding gear. In fact there ought to be legislation that requires it for all of motorcyclists everywhere. :rolleyes:

All kidding aside, I'm an ATGATT guy but I don't like helmet laws. Let Darwin do his thing. For an Iron Butt rally though, it should either be required at the safety inspection or let people decide for themselves. What's next? More points for an Arai vs. an HJC? Extra points for a Leatt brace? It just doesn't seem right that you should be able to purchase points.
I'll preface this with I have no first hand experience to draw on but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night.

Having a SPOT seems like a good idea to me and if everyone has one then everyone starts with the same number of points so no advantage over anyone else. Watching the 10n10 was great for everyone with all of the dots moving around the map. Doesn't seem like this has been taken to the level of absurdity of calling out one helmet over another so until it is, I'll play.

My application will be going in soon. I've never done a rally but I'm thinking about joining in on 3-days of fun. Don't think anyone can mentor me since I'm jumping into the deep end but I'll take all the help I can get.

 
You hit it right on the head. It should be mandatory like a helmet and riding gear. In fact there ought to be legislation that requires it for all of motorcyclists everywhere. :rolleyes:

All kidding aside, I'm an ATGATT guy but I don't like helmet laws. Let Darwin do his thing. For an Iron Butt rally though, it should either be required at the safety inspection or let people decide for themselves. What's next? More points for an Arai vs. an HJC? Extra points for a Leatt brace? It just doesn't seem right that you should be able to purchase points.
I don't know who you or the other poster are, or what your experience is with endurance rallying. First, the 1088 isn't the Iron Butt Rally. They are two different events - to give an analogy, you wouldn't call the NASCAR races at Bristol the Daytona 500, would you? So don't call The 1088 The Iron Butt Rally!

I disagree with your thought that Steve's offering points for SPOT isn't appropriate. First, there was at least one rider - perhaps more - who didn't use SPOT during 10 n 10. He happens to be a member here, but I'm not gonna out him if that's not what he wants. As someone else pointed out, some safety is negotiable, some isn't. Most rally masters require helmet use, regardless of the laws in a particular state in which a rider may be. Some rally masters - though this seems to be getting less and less - seal your drivers license in an envelope. If you can return the envelope unopened, you get points. In otherwords, an officer of the law has not asked for your license. There's bonus points for calling in, resting, etc. Some of these things are worth enough points that you'd be stupid to not take advantage of them. Actually all of them. Why leave easy points on the table?

Your comment about 'buying' points doesn't wash with me. Yes, the SPOT unit costs money. YEs, the service costs money. But so do a whole lot of other things in motorcycling. How much you pay for your helmet? Your boots? And so many people have a SPOT, if anyone wanted to borrow one for a rally, it wouldn't be hard to do. I've loaned mine out to people who were going on a trip and wanted to use it for a week to keep the family happy, but didn't want to invest.

Steve really, really, really, really wants the riders to use the SPOT. However, he's not requiring it. There are a few people around who don't like the 'big brother is watching' angle - so making it optional, but attractive is quite appropriate, in my opinion.

 
Thanks for the input Kit. I had thought the 1088 was an IBA sanctioned event - I appreciate you clearing that up for me. Not sure what NASCAR is but if they're both cage races where nobody makes a right turn then I'd probably lump the two into the same category as well. Guess I need more education there.

I like the sealed license idea as it doesn't cost the riders anything and it leaves them on a level playing field (like the rest and call-in bonuses). As for helmets, boots and other safety gear I think you missed my point. They should either be required or not, they should not be the basis for awarding points.

We can argue over whether it's inappropriate or not till the cows come home but rewarding SPOT users is paying for points plain and simple.

 
rewarding SPOT users is paying for points plain and simple.
Get over it. There are so many of these examples in rallying that pointless to infer it's somehow unfair or something.

Steve also offers several bonuses that require GPS use to score. That's paying for points plain and simple too.

People that have laptops tend to do better than people with paper maps...more paying for points . And people who buy paper maps score FAR better than people who don't have any maps. More paying for points plain and simple....just not that expensively.

And riders that run on FJRs tend to do better than other people riding Ninja 250s. More paying for points plain and simple?

People with cell phones, riders who can afford hotel rooms instead of camping, fuel cells, radar detectors, people who have jobs and vacation time to take away from work all are paying for points...plain and simple.

It's all par for the course and people without SPOT, GPS units, or myriad other things can still rally, still have a tremendous amount of fun, and still be competitive. You can have a person show up with all those tools and place near the bottom and a person with none of the goodies and place near the top...the Utah 1088 is special that way. ;)

 
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Get over it.
Thanks for your concern.

Other than the GPS requirement (which I also believe lacks sportsmanship) I think your analogies are inaccurate. SPOT isn't something you spend money on to improve your performance. You're simply awarded points because it's bolted to your machine. I don't think that's the case with fuel cells, laptops or radar detectors. I believe there's a difference between paying for performance and paying for points. The latter is generally frowned upon in competition.

In college my university announced a policy to suspend financial aid to anyone who hadn't registered with the selective service. The affluent could still attend as well as the underprivileged (so long as they paid up) but it seemed rather Un-American to me. I would have supported them if they'd just denied admission altogether. Maybe that's still stuck in my craw.

 
In college my university announced a policy to suspend financial aid to anyone who hadn't registered with the selective service. The affluent could still attend as well as the underprivileged (so long as they paid up) but it seemed rather Un-American to me. I would have supported them if they'd just denied admission altogether. Maybe that's still stuck in my craw.
I'd absolutely agree with that!

But, as we both know a publicly funded institutions aren't at all like a privately held motorcycle rally.

I'm guessing you haven't or won't be applying for the Utah 1088 so not sure why you're in this thread. Why not just wander other parts of the forum and contribute to other FJR-related threads? Crapping on something you're not involved seems rather Un-American to me. ;)

 
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