Day 1: Innovations and Inventions

If you are new to rally watching – strap in.  The launch of the 2021 Iron Butt Rally was yesterday (June 21) at noon Eastern, 10 a.m. local in Provo, UT.  IBR veteran Hammy Tan streamed it on FaceBook live for those of us in remote viewing locations– thanks again Hammy!  And within an hour the public SPOT on the IBR page showed the starburst of riders heading out to ride the rides they planned Sunday night for this first leg. 

The heat spreading across the country is certainly influencing some riders’ choices, but the Tetris game of routing and riding makes for complex planning with the hope it all falls into place.  Riders are mentally moving the blocks of bonus locations, daylight only bonuses, planned stops and rest bonuses, while the clock ticks away the hours until they must arrive at Checkpoint 1 on Thursday evening in Carmel, Indiana.

This year’s theme Miles of Progress – will take riders to “bonuses with historical significance in innovation and progress for the human condition.”  I anticipate lots of “oh! I didn’t know that!” moments, which is part of the fun.  The official Iron Butt Rally site is your home source for all things IBR including the official blog and photos taken from the checkpoints.  

Day 1 is always a push-pull situation.  Riders are READY to go, then they question their route, then there's the wait to launch, then remembering to turn right or left out of the parking lot….  For those family and friends watching, it’s a mix of happiness, excitement and emotion.  It’s a big ride.  The biggest.  The excitement about what the riders will experience is there, as well as a prayer for smart safe rides.  Mostly, I watched this launch and thought of all the friends out on the road for the next 11 days.  And one friend who isn’t, but his bike is.  Tom Loftus, 10 time IBR veteran (with 7 finishes), great guy and friend, is in the hearts of many today.  Tom’s ST1100 was ridden first out of the lot this morning by Danny Dossman to much cheering and a few tears.  I’m so happy Tom’s bike is in this rally, and I’m glad Danny is riding it. 

Kirsten is Rider #8 in this, her 4^th Iron Butt Rally.  The full list of riders and their trusty steads can be found on the IBR page.  Going down this list just makes me smile.  The SKILL of these riders is fantastic.  The IBR is not something to approach lightly and these folks, and the rookies too, come to the gate with their full selves ready for action. 

Behind the scenes, riders have shared their route plans and SPOT tracker links with family (aka rally home crew).  For the safety of the riders, we can not share specific locations, plans, direction, or any other routing information publicly while they are riding.  But I can say that Kirsten is riding her plan and managing the heat.  Hydration system!  Electrolytes!  Wetting the LD gear down 3 times for motorcycle air conditioning!  (wet wicking shirt + open vents in jacket + ride = evaporative cooling)  And she’s picking up bonuses along the path of innovators that have come before, already making miles of progress. 

It’s a Plane, It’s a Train – Can You Feel the Buzz?

This week saw Kirsten and all the Iron Butt riders making their way to Rally HQ- Provo, Utah through temps across the country in the high 90s and 100s.  It was definitely a shakedown ride for many as riders reported some bike issues on the way (better now than later).  Kirsten had a comms breakdown on the first day between the In Reach and the Spot, now sorted out.  And then I started to get the texts.  “Saw my first antelope.”  “Mountains ahead with snow.”  The road was opening up and it was starting to feel like rally time. 

When I called her later in the week, Lisa Landry answered the phone.  What can I say – it’s so good to hear her voice...before the rally knowing that she and Kirsten were standing right next to each other.  Later, another text, “Wendy is here.”  Then a photo with Kirsten and Jon Good came through and I felt it, the pieces starting to fall into place.  Riders were gathering, friends we haven’t seen in a couple of years.  But outside our wonderful friends and family COVID pod, this is the first time in a long time to gather with our larger circle and the time apart FEELS so much longer.    

Kirsten was up and at ‘em to beat the heat for tech inspection and odometer check early yesterday morning.  By the time she was back from the odo ride, it was already in the 80s.  Dale Wilson himself completed her tech inspection, giving the aux fuel tank a good shake as per norm.  All secure, she presented herself to Jeff Earls and Mike Kneebone, who welcomed her as the first rider to complete check-in for 2021.

And the poster was revealed!  This is always a much anticipated reveal as riders search the nooks and crannies for clues as to the rally theme.  Planes, trains, rockets, George Washington Carver, Genesis… oh the places they may go!

Today will find riders re-packing, setting aside “extras” to store in Provo until the finish, and making those final, final bike checks.  For rookie riders, they will get the full download on what they are in for at the rookie rider meeting.  Then there is a mandatory rider meeting for all 2021 Iron Butt Rally riders – no phones or media allowed.  The start banquet is this evening and riders will get their rally packs.  And the rest of the evening will be full of thinking, routing, and planning.  Rally start is, gulp, tomorrow morning.  The buzz of excitement is building.

Shaking Out the Cobwebs

HoooooWee Y’all!  I think that the effects of spending 14 months in a COVID quarantine loop have taken a toll in more ways than one.  There are cobwebs in many places – including my blog materials.  I had to find my notebook, the files, how to connect to digital images, the log-in information…. After the 2017 IBR I went into a bit of a post-rally, blog silence.  We did the MD 2020 and the Minnesota 1000 in 2018 – which were awesome!  2018 rolled into 2019 and then last year…. Well THAT was a crazy year.  You all know what happened – first the Mason Dixon 2020 in its 20^th year, had to postpone its much anticipated final Memorial Day weekend rally, then the final Butt Lite took the next hit from COVID travel restrictions.  By the fall, Rallymasters Scott La Shier and Rick Miller decided to team up and offer the Co-Void – a fantastic solution to combine the MD 2020 and the Void into an anywhere-start rally that went all virtual.  The “Finisher’s Banquet” found all of us sitting in our own living rooms celebrating the riders via ZOOM.  It was a strange new world. 

 

And now it’s – can this be right ?!– 2021.  We have been debating all year whether or not we could do the Iron Butt Rally – what will travel look like?  How will the vaccine situation shape up?  What about the continuing weird world of work, remote work, and other commitments as things start to come back online?  Well, we are both vaccinated and marinated.  And we are looking forward to finally seeing some friends and family, and as they say, getting back on the horse.  This year, Kirsten is riding a dark grey 2015 R1200RT, with the aux tank and some farkles from the warhorse 2009 R1200RT that gave everything she had during the 2017 IBR.  Despite having gotten the BMW GSA in November 2020 and sending all the information to the remote DMV, after 4 months they mailed it back without completing the title transfer.  For goodness sake.  So –turns out the GSA was not to be the rally bike as planned for 2021.  But maybe that’s for the best, as one social media friend said upon hearing the news of the GSA, “but Kirsten rides an RT!”  In this time of uncertainty, we need to keep our touchstones solid.

This year Kirsten is running with a Nav5 and a backup Nav5 (#oneisnone) and an old trusty Montana with a delaminated screen (for your not so easy viewing pleasure).  Like most pre-rally prep, she got a new cell phone a couple weeks ago… actually two.  The first one worked fine and then happily froze half the screen every so often, so it went back and the new new Samsung Galaxy 9 phone arrived for action.  In another stroke of awesome COVID shipping timing, new the QuadLock phone mount, with charging puck, is going to arrive on Wednesday….3 days after she leaves home and the day that she should be arriving to Rally HQ-Provo.  But - Good news!  She just found her rally cameras (I mean literally, JUST now, as I’m typing this at 7:30 pm the night before she leaves).  “Shockingly, it’s dead,” she said.  “Let’s just plug this in.”  Seems like only a week ago another IBR veteran (and I’m not naming names here Eric Bray) texted to say he pulled out his cameras and none of them were holding a charge.  Meanwhile two-time IBR winner Jim Owens has been on the road for a couple of days and has racked up a pre-rally win at the Minnesota 1000.  Calm and cool as usual.  Greg Blewett helpfully advised everyone on social media this week that it was time to stuff it all in a sock.  Tic tock.  And brush off those cobwebs.  It’s time to go.