Iron Butt Rally 2015

[GarminDave]

On Monday in Albuquerque NM the Big Dance kicks off and our IBA UK President will be riding his Triumph Explorer in this edition of the Iron Butt Rally.

Here's a link to their first report:

http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2015/Day-3.pdf

I noticed amongst some of the photos a slightly modified TTSE cockpit!  Last I heard about the TTSE in this years rally was it was 750 miles away from the start with plastic to be fitted before leaving.

They say this scatter rally is THE scatter rally and taking 11 days, covering about 11,000 miles and an estimated cost to compete of $11,000 it takes some commitment just to get to the start line, let alone the finish line.

Later

Dave

[GarminDave]

Here is our leaders bike in the 'Parking Lot' at Rally HQ's.  This is all Phil travels with and I think he'll be away about three weeks; I guess he may smell a bit on the flight home!

Later

Dave

[atrophy]

Here's the link to the 2015 Home page.

http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/2015.cfm


On the home page there is the Spotwalla link where you can see where riders are.

[GarminDave]

The starting line up for today has been announced and there are five Triumphs on the start line, two Tigers and three Trophy's, looks like two SE's and one in standard trim.

I wonder how they will do over the next eleven days?

The other marques that these five Triumphs are up against are:

33 x BMW
22 x Honda
16 x Yamaha
8 x Harley-Davidson
5 x Triumph
3 x Kawasaki

I'm also wondering how the European riders will do.

Phil Weston the IBA UK President represents the hopes and aspirations of all those in IBA UK.
Chris McGaffin is the IBA Eire President, he actually lives in the North of Ireland so also a UK rider, he carries the hopes and dreams of our Irish friends.
Gerhard Memmen-Krueger is President of IBA Germany and is a long time IBR (Iron Butt Rally) competitor and will be riding his Bavarian Moto Werks GSA so all eyes in Germany will be on Gerhard
Micheil Kerkhof, from Belgium, is a true European and as the organiser of the European Ride to Eats so will have a pan-euro support network.  Micheil has recently had an off whilst riding in China so this will be a particularly tough test so soon after an incident.

Let the fun begin.

Later

Dave

Later

Dave

[malcolm]

Whats the piont  Just seems like a very dangerous thing to do on public roads. If they were professional drivers it would be ilegal

[GarminDave]

The point is Malcolm that it is a challenge.  Safety is emphasised and there is a whole lot of data on tiredness, ways to spot it and what to do about it on the IBA web page of wisdom.  Rest stops are encouraged by giving them large bonuses.  Speed is also closely monitored.

The analogy I'd use is it is like climbing a mountain, I would not do it but I think those that chose too it's fine to test themselves.

I took part in the first Iron Butt Rally in the UK which was a 36 hour event.  It was not for me but I'm glad I tried it and if someone wants to test their skill at working out a route and riding it then it's fine by me.

Later

Dave

[Volfy]

Not my cup of tea either, but more power to those who find this sort of thing challenging... as long as it's done safely.

Dave, that Trophy cockpit is almost as bad as what some GW drivers do to their.  Almost.

[azgman]

Holy sh#t batman!