From the Middle of the Pack
My View of the 2007 Iron Butt Rally
Steve Branner
South Charleston, West Virginia
January 15, 2008
Although it may be hard to believe, this is a true story. It describes my participation in the 2007 Iron Butt Rally and is written to describe to non-riders and riders who aren’t aware of the sport of endurance motorcycle riding just what I did during my 2007 summer vacation. I’m sure that all Iron Butt Association members and rally participants who may read this will understand and recognize all of the mental, physical, mechanical, operational, financial, emotional, and spiritual issues that I dealt with as a result of the obsession to participate in this event.
Nothing contained here-in is intended to either promote or critically judge the sport of long-distance endurance motorcycle riding and rallying. It’s just something that a few crazed people with too much spare time on their hands enjoy doing. Some of the Polaroid photographs included with this report are the ones that I didn’t turn in at the scoring table because they didn’t show the bonus locations as well as the submitted photos and are, therefore, somewhat blurry. I wish that I had taken multiple photographs at each bonus location. After having read some of the IBR chronicles already submitted by other participants in the rally it’s obvious that just about everyone endured many of the same experiences. There is a common thread of redundancy in all of the reports including the reference to the very appropriate quote by Bob Higdon, below. Separately, we were all in this event together.
In response to the question of “why?” people participate in this rather obscure activity, Bob H., in the
Foreword of “Against the Wind”, an account of the 1995 Iron Butt Rally by Ron Ayres so eloquently
responded . . . “The answer could be, in this most sublimely solitary of sports, ironically a question of companionship. The riders rarely see each other, dancing as they do across the country in chaotic,
Brownian motion. They’re not talking to anyone, except maybe to themselves. If they’re not riding,
sleeping in the saddle on the side of the road, or eating dinner while standing next to a gas pump at three
o’clock in the morning, then they’re just wasting time.
But think of the end. Think how glorious it will be to get off the bike and not have to count the minutes until you have to strap yourself onto it again. When you turn off the key for the last time, there aren’t [300] people on earth who can seriously appreciate what you have undergone. About [70 of them] will show up at a motel west of [St. Louis], looking as pounded as you do. They are the only ones who really know. The rest of us can only guess. You ride this endless ride to be one of them.”
So . . . the urge to participate in this event began in 2001 after having done a number of Iron Butt *certificate rides* discovering that it was fun to go to faraway places on a motorcycle, and reading the on-line reports about the 2001 Iron Butt Rally. And I read the books by Ron Ayres, “Against the Wind” and “Against the Clock,” and knew that this was more than just a motorcycle riding event . . . it had the makings of being a lifetime benchmark.
I applied to ride in the 2003 and 2005 rallies and got “Dear John” letters from the IBR Rally Master, Lisa Landry that stated, “By far the most difficult part of my job is to notify those of you whose entry was not pulled in the draw. It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that I send this letter to you . . .” Oh, well, at least I could say that I tried to participate.
The IBA typically gets between 2000 and 3000 applications for the 100 spots that are available for each
rally. On a whim, I decided, once again, to apply for the 2007 Rally feeling that, due to my age, this may
be the last time that I may be physically capable of riding in the Rally. The logic, again, was that I could,
at least, say that I did everything possible to get into the IBR and knowing that the odds of getting
selected were pretty high I wasn’t planning on getting anything other than the previously received
rejection letter from the IBA.
*Bling, Bling* . . . “you’ve got mail.” June 14, 2006 . . . “Congratulations! Your application was drawn for
entry in the 2007 Iron Butt rally – the World’s Toughest Motorcycle Competition! . . . While those not in
the rally might be disappointed today, in August 2007 those of you with rally flags will no doubt be
questioning your sanity“. I had just been selected to ride in the 13th Iron Butt Rally, arguably one of the
most intense and demanding amateur motorcycle events in the world.
Oh, Shit!, what do I do now? I didn’t know if I should rejoice or cry. Watch out what you ask for ‘cause you just might get it.
The dog just caught the car. My bluff was called.
Although I still had the opportunity to give up my spot in the rally by not sending in the entry fee deposit it
only took about 15 seconds to make up my mind to get on with it. I sent in the required registration forms,
deposit, and release forms within a few days. I was officially entered in “The World’s Toughest
Motorcycle Competition.” Practically every spare waking moment from that time until the end of August,
2007 was spent thinking about the Rally and how to adequately prepare for and participate in it.
I needed
to get into better physical shape. I needed to get mentally prepared. I needed to get the right bike for the
job. I needed to prepare and accessorize the bike for the rigors of the Rally. And, because I had never
participated in a motorcycle endurance rally, I needed to enter as many rallies as possible prior to the IBR
to get a sense of how to efficiently plan and ride in a rally so that I might have a respectable chance of
finishing the IBR.
Where to start? Where to start? I sold a 1996 BMW R1100RT in 2004 because, at the time, I was trying to simplify my life by getting rid of stuff that I had collected over the years. The RT was a good bike but I didn’t need two bikes (the one I kept was a Harley Super Glide T-Sport). When the “Congratulations . . . “ e-mail arrived the bike I had at that time (and still have) was a Harley Road Glide . . . a decent enough touring bike but not, in my opinion, a bike suited for the rigors of endurance rallying.
So, because of the good luck and satisfaction that I had with the R1100RT, I bought a new 2006 BMW R1200RT from Holt BMW in Athens, Ohio (where I had previously purchased the R11RT). This was the ideal opportunity to get the new sport touring bike that was getting all of the great reviews in the bike press and was, in my opinion, the right *tool* for the job at hand. I immediately began to think about what I needed to do to get the bike where it needed to be to do the rally.
Modifications / accessories to the RT included the following:
Aftermarket Sargent seat
Beadrider seat cover
Barbacks to reposition the handlebars
Foot peg lowering brackets
HID headlight bulb replacements (later changed back to the stock H7 halogen bulbs . . .
the HID’s were incompatible with the BMW computerized electrical system)
Hella FF50 driving lights
Motolights
GS mirrors
4 gallon Tourtank gas tank (mounted on the luggage rack) with pump (under the seat)
Pelican Case top box (mounted on the passenger seat)
J & M CB radio
XM radio
Countdown timer
Garmin Zumo GPS
Garmin 2730 GPS
Touratech tank bag and side bags
Centech accessory fuse panel
EZ Pass toll booth transponder
Panasonic Toughbook laptop computer with “Streets & Trips” mapping software
Two Polaroid 600 Cameras
Most of the electrical work was done by Roger Sinclair, the Irish Spanner, in Richmond, VA who I met at the Jacksonville Iron Butt Dinner in March, 2007. Roger had helped to prepare several bikes for endurance riding and the Iron Butt Rally in the past and he impressed me with his knowledge of BMW’s (he was a former BMW mechanic) and what would be required to get my bike set up properly. He was also a great cheerleader in helping me to get mentally ready for the IBR.
In an effort to become comfortable with the BMW I knew I needed to ride it . . . a lot. The first long distance venture was a shake-down ride in March that took me to Jacksonville (to the IBA annual Bike Week dinner) and then to Phoenix, AZ and back home to South Charleston, WV. The distance traveled during the six days I was on the road was 4900 miles. There were no mechanical issues with the bike and I felt good (although a little tired) when I got back home.
By the end of January, I had submitted applications for three shorter endurance rallies . . . all in an effort
to get prepared for the IBR. The first one was the Cape Fear 1000, a 26 hour event in April that had four
starting locations with all riders ending up in Wilmington, NC. I started in Cairo, Illinois and rode 1300
miles through KY, IN, TN, and VA to NC in addition to the 900 miles I rode getting to Cairo and back
home from Wilmington. Being the first endurance rally I ever attempted I didn’t plan a very efficient route,
but I learned a lot from talking with several participants at the end of the event. I finished 36th out of 81
riders. Respectable, but I knew I could do better.
In May, I rode in the Mason-Dixon 20-20 rally, a 32 hour event that started and ended in York, PA. The route I chose wiggled thru MD, VA, WV, and back to PA. The route length was 1100 miles plus 600 miles getting to York and back. Using what I learned from the CF1000 I planned a more efficient route and ended up in 20th place out of 57 riders.
The last endurance rally before the IBR was the five-day Beast in the East (BitE) rally. This rally, during the week of the July 4th holiday, started and ended in Statesville, NC with a mid-rally checkpoint in Wilkes Barre, PA. This would be more like the IBR than the previous events in that sleep management would be vitally important to do well. The first leg of the rally had several bonus locations that were at the end of dirt, mud, pig shit, gravel, and generally non-existent roads leading to obscure cemeteries and other rural *attractions* literally in the middle of nowhere.
The most *memorable* road to a bonus was the 12 mile
rock / boulder / gravel / log strewn trail across two ridges of the Appalachian Mountains in Tazewell
County, Virginia from VA-42 to Burkes Garden. Up until this time I could count the number of minutes I
had ever ridden on non-paved roads on the fingers of one hand. Although I survived the travels across
these “goat paths” I didn’t particularly care to ride on them. The first leg took me through NC, SC, TN,
VA, WV, and PA. The second leg of the BitE route went thru MD, VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, MS, LA (to
Venice, about 60 miles south-east of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River), and FL before
returning back to NC.
Thankfully, there were no *questionable roads* on the second leg. I rode 4,700
miles plus 450 miles to get to Statesville and back during the BitE and finished 10th out of 32 riders. Were
it not for a transcription error in documenting mileage on a receipt, attributable to lack of adequate sleep, I
believe, (that cost me several thousand points) I would have finished 4th. Anyway, I was getting better at
this “rally thing” and felt that I was about as ready as I could be for the Iron Butt Rally in August.
Statesville, NC parking lot after the Beast in the East rally
While all of this riding activity was going on I was spending an hour or so three days a week (since
January) at Innovative Fitness, a local health club, where I was doing an exercise program with various
work-out routines intended to get me in shape and to build up the stamina to be able to sit, for days, on
the motorcycle without getting sore or overly tired.
The other help I was getting there was in the area of diet, with recommendations on what and how much to eat and drink during the rally. Basic instructions were to eat adequate protein and keep hydrated with plenty of water. Caffeine and starchy foods were to be avoided. The huge issue for me was how to get adequate sleep / rest during the eleven day event while still covering the distance required to get enough points to be considered a finisher of the rally. I was going to have to drastically reduce my normal eight hours of sleep every night and, although I managed to get by on reduced sleep during the shorter rallies that I did earlier in the year, still remain alert for eleven days . . . and nights.
As increasing numbers friends and acquaintances learned of my upcoming participation in the rally I kept getting the “why?” question more frequently and no matter what I said or how I tried to explain the event I could tell by the vacant stares that ensued that they just didn’t understand. This was especially true, more so, from friends who rode motorcycles than from those who didn’t.
The first week of August I took the bike back to Holt BMW for a final service, oil change, final drive lube
change (more about that later), and new tires. The second week in August was spent getting all of my job
obligations for the next few weeks resolved so I could fully concentrate on the IBR. Trying to determine
what to pack in the way of clothes, riding gear, tools, and repair supplies was also consuming a lot of prerally
spare time.
I also spent a lot of time during the summer months reviewing the bonus locations of previous Iron Butt
Rallies in an effort to get a sense of what I might expect in this 2007 event. There was a lot more to
getting points than just riding from place to place. Qualifying for the credit for visiting most of the bonus
locations required getting off the bike, possibly hiking a distance to the specific attraction, taking a legible
photo of the attraction with your rally flag / number clearly visible, and documenting the date, time,
mileage, location, and other specifically required information on the photo and in the rally book. Lots of
points could also be earned by keeping an accurate fuel log of gasoline stops. The more fatigued you are
the easier it is to forget any one of the documentation details. Incomplete record keeping will lead to nonacceptance
of the points associated with the bonus location.
So . . . it was finally time to set out on this great adventure. I had done about everything that I knew to do
to be as prepared as possible. Hopefully, nothing was forgotten.
Friday, August 17, 2007, 8:30 AM
Remainder still under Construction, will finish asap