Ignacio In the Iron Butt Rally

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I'm here in Spartanburg now... that was wild running into Slap for 30 seconds at DFW (I was running in between flights).

A good number of riders are here already.... Turbo Dave and Bob St George are the only FJR pilots I have seen thus far.

 
Thanks for the update, Mr. Wilson.

If you see Turbo again please tell him "Hi" for me.

 
Good luck to all the FJR riders...Definitely will be watching all the web action from the side lines.

 
Sorry about the Missouri alarm clock guys I tried to get them to hold off for a few more hours so you guys could get a decent nights sleep.

The good news is you guys took all the rain and humidity with you so if you come back through this way it should be a lot nicer.

Good luck fellas

 
You're right, Eric; I won't call HotRodZilla. Skooter is in really great spirits, we just shot the breeze about things in general.
He should be in good spirits, a solid day of riding and he's made it to the next state! ;) He'll be in Spartanburg in no time.

This should prove to be a very interesting IBR. Skoot and Iggy have experience now, and there are others too that are looking good. Despite Iggy's "I just want to finish safely" crap, the boy will ride to win, as will Skoot. The weather is going to suck from the looks of things, hurricanes and tropical storms are lined up big time.
Atleast that weather is heading east and they are going to be heading west and north up to Chicago. So they should get a few hours of sun in between storm fronts. Not like last year where they ran with the storm system all the way from Missouri to Maine.

 
Atleast that weather is heading east and they are going to be heading west and north up to Chicago. So they should get a few hours of sun in between storm fronts. Not like last year where they ran with the storm system all the way from Missouri to Maine.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Good one Wheaton! You kill me. Sure, eventually, they'll be heading to Chicago, but first they have to pick up bonus locations as yet unknown. Safe bet Key West will still be a sucker bonus, and maybe Nova Scotia or San Diego. Only Lisa Landry really knows what sick, twisted locations await the riders. :dribble:

 
post removed...just read that spot tracking won't be visible to the public.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, I couldn't blog during the rally, but starting up some post-rally reporting I at least have the routes I took on the legs.

Leg 1 was about 40th place....not inspiring, but then I didn't want to run the second leg already wasted.

Green = 24 hour a day bonus, Yellow = daylight, and Red = special hours

Flag = Large point bonus, Triangle = Medium-large, Square = Medium, Circle = Small, Small Circle = Really Small point bonus

For specific details of each bonus read the actual bonus listings here.

09IRBLeg01Actual.jpg


Leg 2 I got maybe 4th or so for the leg and brought my overall status to 6th place. The jog into Nebraska and Kansas were where I rallied hard. Points were worth roughly double this leg...and it was longer.

09IRBLeg02Actual.jpg


And Leg 3 where I hit the wall several times and made the best out of what I had. Going through the Tietons of Wymoning was probably less wise than dipping to the yellow flag in Colorado...or had a road not closed I might have gotten the yellow triangle in South Dakota.

My shock blew after #12 and I was pretty bummed and slept 7 hours at #13...Bemedji, Minnesota. Fatigued with a bike riding oddly it wasn't until I was rested and a beautiful day heading back towards Spokane that I veered towards Minot and decided to salvage what I could of Canada and headed towards Saskatoon and Edomonton. I ended up doing 1600 miles my last day of the rally in the largely wide-open prairie expanses of Dakotas and Saskatchewan!

12,500 miles is not the most efficient ride to be sure, but after Leg #2 I saw my strength for this one was using the FJR to get between distant points with regulalirty. 1146 miles a day for 11 days straight...it makes me tired just thinking about it. ;)

The sum of these legs equals a 13th place finish.

09IRBLeg03Actual.jpg


 
Last edited by a moderator:
Iggy,

The effort put forth by all of you IBR riders is just totally outside the realm of my comprehension, and admittedly way beyond my physical and mental abilities. To say it was an outstanding ride is an understatement. Congrats on your accomplishment.

 
[SIZE=12pt]Way to go Iggy,[/SIZE]

You doing this again next time?

A few observations from my couch:

Now next time don't loose your flag = tenth spot

Don't be afraid of the president = 8 spot

Don't break your shock = 5 spot

And just think if Owen gets a flat....

Thanks for the write up!

 
[SIZE=12pt]Way to go Iggy,[/SIZE]
You doing this again next time?

A few observations from my couch:

Now next time don't loose your flag = tenth spot

Don't be afraid of the president = 8 spot

Don't break your shock = 5 spot
Sigh. While your observations are very astute (although my stellar Leg 2 was largely because I didn't tempt Chappaquidick and was well rested).....I feel like I just had a 9 pound baby with no epidural. Asking if I want to do another before my rally uterus heals....is a bit premature. Also, I haven't reconciled Davo's death yet....or the other accidents.

Maybe ask me in a few months. :)

Otherwise, I figure I've now finished two IBR's.....a distinction that I'm guessing only about half of the smallish current finisher list can claim. I still want to beat Marbach though...

Oh...and I still haven't even gone to therapy yet for all the crime scenes I've been to. The fact 101 riders dabbled around anywhere near the headspace of rally creator, Bob Higdon, is a recipe for multiple prescriptions to SRI's. I don't know why, but this bonus still haunts me as somehow representative of the worst of the human condition:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Middlefield Village Apartments 111 points Anytime

16129 East High Street

Middlefield, Ohio

N41 27.692 – W081 03.979

Take a photo of the sign at the entrance to the complex reading ―Middlefield Village Apartments.‖

Category: Elder abuse, reckless homicide.

In 1993 Jim Mason, age 57, was a friend of the Vallandingham family, with a special fondness for their son, John, then 26. Mason, somewhat mentally challenged, married John in 1993 when she had a sex-change operation and began to call herself Christine Newton-John. Alas, the marriage was not blessed. Christine had long been suspected of abusing her aging husband. Thus, when Mason was found dead in a swimming pool on 6/2/2008, authorities investigated. A surveillance camera's film proved Christine had exercised her frail husband to death. On 43 separate occasions Mason had struggled to leave the pool that day. And 43 straight times Christine pushed him away from the pool's edge, forcing him to do even more laps and dragging him around by the head and feet until he stroked out, so to speak. Newton-John pleaded guilty to reckless homicide. She is serving a five year prison sentence but is not in charge of the pool.

Date: ________ Time: _________Odometer: ________ Code: ONJ Approved: _________

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Iggy, did you leave any points at the table?
A fairly small amount. 141 points in Leg #1 was the total of what I left at the scoring table.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Municipal airport 141 points Anytime

2431 State Road 39 S

La Porte, Indiana

N41 34.296 - W086 44.261

Take a photo of the exterior building identified as ―La Porte Municipal Airport.‖

Category: DUI, theft.

Up, up, and aw — Oops! Michael Santos stole a plane in a drunken attempt to impress his girlfriend and accelerated it half a mile down the runway before crashing into a soybean field and doing $180,000 in damage to both plane and plants.

Date: ________ Time: _________Odometer: ________ Code: LAP Approved: _________

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was a downpour that was making it so my Sharpie wouldn't write on the paper....and I didn't linger to reread the bonus (you can see I had my tank bag cover partly off) and took a picture of the sign instead of the building. Rookie mistake that fortunately didn't impact my standings any.

P8260791.JPG


 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top