GOLD FINISHER!

The scores have been tallied, and he moved up from slot 61 at the end of Leg 1 to position 26 at the end of Leg 2. He was a gold finisher. He said he was listening to them call off the bronze and then the silver and when his name still hadn't been called he thought 'wow, I thought I had more points than that...guess not' and was feeling a little dejected that he hadn't placed in either the bronze or silver group and then they started reading the gold group. Even though he really wasn't listening, he managed to hear his name called! Number 26. Impressive, indeed for a newbie....especially after his Butt Lite last year ended with him breaking his foot and having to drop out. CONGRATULATIONS! :-)

Leg 2 total 167K

Well, he is all scored and total points for Leg 2 is 167,099....sounds pretty impressive to me. His mom said she didn't even hear him when he left (we are guessing about 2 am) and Claud said that he had been starving, having not eaten all day. So, they fed him, helped him organize his stuff and made him rest for a few hours. Thank you!!
So, he said someone asked if he wanted to do this again and he said he had not decided yet whether he wanted to do that or sell his bike! :-)

St. Louis Safe arrival

Got a call at 5:30 a.m. from the St. Louis Hotel. SAFE ARRIVAL! The 12 day trek is over and he has proved he really does have an Iron Butt! More to come later after the scoring.

Day 11: Getting closer!

As of 7:00 p.m. central time, he had collected his last bonus in King City, Missouri and was on his way to his mom's house in Kansas City. There he will get something to eat, organize 6 days worth of paperwork and grab a couple hour nap before heading out to St. Louis. She was pretty excited when he called and told her he would be there about 9 tonight. Now, he just needs to get all of his documentation in order, sleep for a bit, and drive safely the last 3 1/2 hours from her house to St. Louis. Then, he can finally relax and get some much needed sleep.

Day 10: Getting tougher!

Day 10 was really long, having started out 350 miles west of 'the plan.' By the time he got to the area with the 3 bonus locations in Wyoming, he was feeling the miles! This was especially apparent when he called and said he just realized that he had driven 65 miles past the first bonus location and 20 miles past the second one....ouch! The 3 were all daylight locations, so he backtracked and picked up the 2 he missed and then went on to number 3 and got some pictures that were less than optimal. He probably will not get the points for the 3rd location, but he wanted to try. Perseverance he has in abundance! Adding the unexpected 130 miles at that point, along with the extra 350 miles at the front end were taking a toll, and he decided he needed to rest although still 180 miles from his planned stop in Nebraska. Of course, there was nothing out there. As he said this morning, Wyoming is called God's country because nobody lives there! So, he pulled off the road and took a 1 hour catnap and then continued until he found a motel where he slept for 3 hours. At this point, 8:00 a.m. Mountain time, he has had something to eat and picked up the first 2 of his bonus locations for the day. After the next bonus location he can either head straight for St. Louis (another 850 miles) or pick up one additional bonus in King City, Missouri--which would add about 30 miles, but takes you off of the interstate for a few hours. I knew he was really hurting when he proclaimed "Thank goodness this isn't a 12 day rally!"
Well, it IS day 11 and he is still in it and has collected an impressive amount of points so far. He just needs to safely get back to St. Louis by 8:00 a.m. central time. Will update this later.

Day 9 and 50k points!

Day 9 started out tremendously....off to Lick Observatory to pick up the 24k, quickly north to Livermore and another 3k, then West to San Fran and a loop around the city collecting a total of 16k points, and off to Sacramento for another 1k...for a total of 44k points by 2:45 local time. Wowsa!! But all silver linings tend to have their clouds..... That tremendous push for the day took its toll and by 7:00p.m local he had only made it another 61 miles by my routing (map points not entered at quite the right location) but actually about 110 miles to get the Grass Valley locations. The goal had been to make it to Salt Lake City by 2:00a.m. and then get some rest. However, he only made it as far as Winnemucca, Nevada. So, as of 5:00 a.m. (pacific time) he is still 350 miles shy of Salt Lake City and he loses an hour there as the time changes. I hope he got some good sleep. This is Day 10 and the original plan had been to get as far as Alliance, Nebraska today....via 3 bonus locations in Wyoming and then Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is now out....and I will keep my fingers crossed that he can get to the Wyoming locations while still daylight (a requirement). It is doubtful at this point, but still possible. Did a quick calculation this morning and he has accumulated almost 119k in bonus points so far in this second leg, so he has done really well. Only 48 more hours to go.....hang in there!!

Day 9 : Lick Observatory

Oops...yesterday was Day 8 and today is Day 9! Ok, no excuse for me to be so tired that I am making mistakes, but that doesn't stop me.

Day 8: Lick Observatory

Yesterday was a ROUGH day! After picking up the Bristlecone Pines bonus, he went on to Glacier Point where they had to a hike after getting to the lookout (and the Ahwahnee hotel I had him stop at was apparently a 'rat hole' with having to deal with Yosemite Village and all the crowd), and then on to Mono Hot Springs. By the time he got out of the twisty mountain roads with all the hairpin turns it was 9 at night, but he had picked up 46,000 points along the way! WOW, great job! He was sore, tired, and ready to stop. He went on a ways and called me (finally got cell service back), ate something and decided to go ahead and stop at a motel. It was probably in Madera California, but he wasn't sure.....hmmm, a wee bit tired? He is up and getting ready to check out and head to Lick Observatory up on Mount Hamilton, just outside of San Jose. He is hoping to be there by 9:30 this morning. Then he will head on to Salt Lake City, collecting some bonus locations that are 'roughly' along the way. Day 7 was strenuous. Hopefully, Day 8 will be a bit less so (after the initial bonus location at Lick Observatory).

Bristlecone Pine Forest...and BEYOND

OK, so the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest was just the stepping off point for where he had to go. Once you got to the visitor's center, there was another 15 miles or so of harrowing, non-paved roads....the kind that would have given me a heart attack had I been along. One biker went down in the sand and gravel. Another one was having some difficulties. One who had been ahead of Mike earlier today was just coming into the correct area as Mike was leaving. Heck, the actual location wasn't even in California.....it really was in Nevada....you just had to go through california and a million miles of harrowing roads through california to get there! But by 10:30 a.m. (local time) he was out of it all and back on a real road. As he put it, you "earned those 18k points."
Just wanted to mention that he said that last night heading into Vegas the San Rafael Swell was an incredible site. http://www.sanrafaelswell.org/about/about.php
Then, still going into Vegas, he was impressed with the Virgin River Canyon. It was like 60 as he entered and 95 as he exited! Then on 95 out of Vegas and headed up to Beatty, where he spent the night, he noticed a sign that said "OPEN RANGE NEXT 20 MILES"....OK, lots of deer but he was watching out for them and was ok..then a chipmonk ran in front of him, and later a mouse! They didn't fare so well. :-(
Today has already been rough, but hey, he is an IronButt rider. He is on his way to Glacier Point and if he makes it there in time to do the Mono Hot Springs, that is next on his list. I forgot to remind him that today is the call in bonus day. Guess that is for the next call.
Later

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

Just spoke with Mike and he left the motel in Beatty Nevada a couple of hours before I anticipated.....and being pitch dark, he missed the turnoff to get to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest (what is it about this 18k bonus location that is giving him fits?) and went 40 miles to far. When he reached Bishop California he suddenly understood why he was passing motorcycles going the other way! duh
So, now he is headed back the other way and hopefully will be in the forest in about an hour. I reread the Ironbutt report to see if there were any other major oops that I could discover, and the only one I saw was that he missed plotting a hotel that is only 4 miles from Glacier Point in Yosemite (his next stop after the pine forest) and it is an added 4500 points. So, now he knows about that.
Things always mount up....he just informed me that he had a message from T-mobile that he is about out of money and needs to add...something I don't know how to do since the phone came from Jacob at Christmas, so I will be waking Jacob up shortly to help out. This endurance rally stuff is really a group effort! This will be a 45k day if he makes all of the National Park stops that we have routed. Good Luck, Mike!

Colossal OOPS!! Which National Park?

Well, let's see....Mike was headed out today to the Great Basin National Park to pick up 18,000+ points. After picking up 8k in Leadville, Colorado and environs, he was not going to make it by dark (daylight only bonus) so I talked him into skipping a 9k bonus so that he could make the 18k bonus by dark and head on towards a couple 10-12 k bonus locations for tomorrow. All well and good. Made sense. Then this afternoon, Jacob called and said that the Ironbutt site had updated their site..................well, being the acute observor that he is, he noticed right away that there was no 18k bonus location in Nevada....but there was one in California....about 350 miles further west. Called and left a message for Mike to call me when he was stopped and could look at his routing sheets....and sure enough, he had put the bonus location in the wrong National Park, in the wrong State! OOPS!! So, quick change of plans and he is now headed towards Las Vegas (he is about 300 miles away) where he can pick up a small bonus and get a few hours rest before heading out to the right location.

As if that was not enough, he called earlier today to let me know that his heated handle grips were stuck on hot and he couldn't turn them off. So, I had to look up in his manual and see which fuse supplied current to the handgrips. Sure hope I gave him the right fuse! Forgot to ask when I just talked to him. All in all, an eventful day. OH...IT IS RAINING AGAIN! :-(
More tomorrow.

Day 7: Denver to Great Basin National Park

Just got a call from a motel in Denver, where he shared a motel room with David Derrick (the surprise number 1 finisher in Leg1). David got up early and headed out. Plans are to get to Baker Nevada tonight and get some rest in order to be at the Bonus location at first light in the morning.
Pretty impressive.....on Day 7 already (not counting the day to get there!).

Westward HO!

Well, the new bonus locations were handed out at 4:00 a.m. and then the planning began. I am now back in Raleigh and Mike was near Olathe Ks when he called Nicole about 30 minutes ago. I think he left St. Louis about 10:30 ...but I could be mixing up time zones...probably 9:30 local time.
Hoping for Denver tonight. He finished the first leg in the top 2/3 and was actually only 6,000 points below the number 29 finisher on Leg 1.........so there must have been a lot of people concentrated in that same 75k to 82k range. 6 people so far are out of the race. Kudos to all who are still in!! Go, Mike!

75,000+ points and beautiful country

Points have now been scored and the total was over 75,000. Good job! Low points of the trip were day 1 and day2 with all of the rain and flooding and soaked gear... and Day 4 with the no plan and the endless trip to Niagara Falls on no sleep. Highlights of the trip were day 3 and the gorgeous countryside getting to Perce, Quebec, Canada...north of New Brunswick. Another highlight was day 5, today...with the beautiful countryside of Northern Ohio and the pristine land and gorgeous homes. There was even a covered bridge outside of Marysville, Ohio.
Lesson learned: the days after getting a motel and 6 hours of sleep were the best days!
Oh, and having an E-Z pass to get through the toll roads is invaluable! :-) I will post again later tomorrow after I am back in Raleigh and Mike is well into the next leg of this trip.

St. Louis Safe Arrival!

Arrived at the mid rally checkin point back in St. Louis at approximately 3:00p.m. central time.
He will call later with details. 5 days down and still going..woo hoo!

Honda dealer in Marysville, Ohio

Well, he stopped at a motel and got some rest after missing the daylight bonus in Cleveland by a mere 30 minutes...ouch! But at least he got some rest. As of 7:30 am central standard time he was at the Honda dealer in Marysville, Ohio collecting the daylight bonus and has 430 miles left to get back to St. Louis. No more bonus stops....just get to the hotel by 5 and remember to fill out the paperwork correctly before checking in. Then a nights rest at the hotel before being handed the next set of locations at 5 a.m. tomorrow. 4 days down and exhaustion is already taking its toll.

Falling a wee bit behind plans

Well, Niagara Falls by 7:30 this morning was a bit optomistic! He was actually almost 400 miles shy of Niagara at 7:30 this morning....tired, but persevering. Rain is due all through the toronto, cleveland,chicago area dna we will have to see about routing the last part of this leg a bit more southerly! For updates on what is happening with others on the rally, you can check the following link:
http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2007.cfm
Some people gave up on the northeast route to Perce after the first day of maximum downpour!

Perce Rock at low tide

Well, made it to Perce Rock at low tide and was able to grab the big points. The last 350 miles is pretty remote and rural canada....it was a push to make it in time.....then, when he encountered road construction, he also encountered two other rally participants (one of them canadian) who knew a short cut that saved them 45 miles! He must be living right! :-) So, with 6 hours sleep under his belt (there were bonus points for sleeping 6 hours today) and the big bonus collected, he is enroute to Niagara Falls, Canada and is hoping to be there by 7:30 in the morning. Of course there was no cell service in any of this remote New Brunswick and the out reaches of Quebec, but he did call in the minute he had cell service. I was talking to him as he was whizzing down the Canadian highway with his two fellow rally members. He may be riding like crazy, but at least I can sleep tonight! :-)
Will update this tomorrow when I know more.

Maximum Downpour from St. Louis to Connecticut

Well, this is the first time I have had internet service up here in DC, so I will update everyone on the great IronButt rally! Rain, Rain, and more Rain! Cold, Cold, and more Cold! Wet clothes and cold bones....hmmmm....does this sound like fun to anyone? I think the first 32 hours of the rally have been bone chilling and exhausting and making time is almost impossible. So, Mike is behind the curve, but the weather is looking up....it may be cold, but it is supposed to be clear all of the way from Maine up to Nova Scotia where he will be headed. Ultimate goal is on up past Nova Scotia and back into Quebec...a place called Perce, Quebec, Canada. He MUST be there by 1:45 tomorrow afternoon to collect the big points...that is when the tide is low and he can walk out to the rocks he has to take a pic of...if he is too late and the tide comes back in....well, let's not think of that! Then back to St. Louis, via whatever points we think can be collected along the way....but probably Niagara Falls and some northern Michigan areas. He must be back in St. Louis Friday afternoon. If the internet service holds up, I will update this tomorrow....God willing, and the creek don't rise.

Testing to see if I can post for Mike

Mike is in St. Louis busy doing all those "rally" things and this is a test to see if I can post for him to this blog. :-)

Down to the Wire

Here it is Friday already and I am still packing up. The new Soltek HID gave me some wiring problems and I didn't get the bike reassembled until Wed. night. Makeing sure I have all my paperwork in order and all the accouterments of rallying properly packed and stowed.
I have some pix of the new light and the final packed up bike posted on my web album.
Plus last week on a business trip to Tampa I took a detour to Key West to "practice".
http://picasaweb.google.com/IBPete/IronButtRallyPrep

Last Minute Prep

Never make changes before a rally. Yep, that the conventional wisdom but what do you do when the goods ordered weeks or months before come in the last week? Suck it up I guess and make the changes. The shock that finally came in this last week and it didn't fit.  Luckily (for logistics not price) the Oehlins plant is only about an hour away, so I am picking one up Monday. The Soltek came in this last week too. Have the brackets 90% complete and wiring to go. 
The GPS was flaky and Garmin wanted 225 for a repair.  
GPSEdge has refurbished (I think they are new old stock) for 199.
Pix to come.
Pete