Iron Butts and Rallys

Fast Forward a few years, and changing family dynamics.... my dad bought a new motorcycle.  His girlfriend didn't mind too much.  It was Vulcan 750 cruiser.  Neat little bike.  Fun to ride, looked like a Harley... w/o all the problems :)  He was back on a bike after a long time off of them.  Awesome.  Fast Fwd a couple more years... that lil 750 wasn't enough, and the newest girlfriend wanted to drive one, instead of ride on the back.  Along comes a Victory 1300cc... The Beast as I call it.  It is still the largest bike that I have ever ridden.  Windshield, saddle bags, shaft drive... Really Awesome.  This bike was made to ride.  And with bags, you could ride all day and carry stuff with you. So what do you do with a bike that is comfy, and you can carry stuff on it???

IRON BUTT Rides.  WTF is that?  Somehow my dad heard about the Iron Butt Association, and their sanctioned rides.  He decided this was something he wanted to try.  The "entry level" ride you can do, and get a certification is a Saddle Sore 1000.  SS1000 is a 1000 mile ride to anywhere, completed in 24 hrs or less.  He did one... and another.. then a 1500 miler... then a Lap Of Florida... 1850 miles in 32 hours or less,  touching Perdido Key (Pensacola), Amelia Island, Key West, Naples, and back to Perdido Key... he was the 4th person ever to do it.  Needless to say he's hooked on Long Distance rides.  I'd hear the stories of the rides and the issues that pop up, the paperwork nightmare they are to get them certified.... and wonder why would anyone do this.  Whats the fun in it?  There has to be a reason to do this!  Well there is.  The Iron Butt Association hosts, every 2 years, the Iron Butt Rally.  It takes place over 11 days, and is around 11,000 miles.  And to qualify for the IBR, you have to have completed a select few of the IBA rides, and/or competed in other multi-day rallies and placed well.  A typical rally, unlike the IBR, is 10 - 36 hrs.  Some start and end at the same place like Eds Last Resort Rally, and some start in multiple locations and end at the same place like the Cape Fear 1000.  How a Rally works is its pretty much like a scavenger hunt, but on a motorcycle.  The rally master hands out a list of places you can go see, called bonus locations.  Each location is given a different point value, generally based on how far away it is or how hard it is to get to.  Most bonuses are something like... "In Smalltown, Nowhere, on the corner of 1st and Main is the Courthouse.  In what year was the building built. " And generally the GPS coordinates are also given.  Your goal is to plan a route to drive to the most bonus locations, collect the required info, and get back to the end location before the time is up.  He who collects the most points wins.  Easy right.  Wrong!  They also throw in "Wildcard" bonuses like: get gas in 3 states, get a Vidalia onion in Vidalia, GA, eat a hotdog at three different hotdog stands in 3 different towns... stuff like that.  Those bonii make you have to think, and strategize a bit more than just drive 2000 miles to 50 places.  The fastest rider doesn't usually win.

There is a large size cult of motorcyclists that partake in these rallys.  Some just stop at the IBA rides.  And some get creative with the rides.  I talked to one guy that did a SS1000, 1000 miles in 24 hrs, all within the city limits of NY city.  One of the rides is 10 SS1000's in 10 days.  Enough people did that, so one guy got a bit more creative.  He did 10, 1000 miles rides in 10 days, each day on a different motorcycle (Richard Buber).  But the most extreme ride I know of, and met the rider (same that did the NY Ride) is a trip from Prudhoe Bay Alaska, to Key West.  To get the certification, you have 30 days (720 hrs) to complete it.  John Ryan did it in 84 hours (3.5 days).  Why?  Because someone else did it in 92 hrs and thought he could do better...  What did he get for it?  Nothing.  These rally guys are from all walks of life, electricians, lawyers, mechanics, computer geeks... but they all share an un-natural love to ride motorcycles.  For any reason... or no reason at all.  They just want to ride.

FWD a bit...  Once dad completed a few of these rides, he decided it was time to try his hand in a rally.  Then another.  Then decided the Vic was not a good rally bike.  1.  Its HUGE.  2. The gas tank is too small so it take a lot of gas stops.  3. Its V-Twin vibrates A LOT.   This means he needs something smaller, bigger gas tank, and a smoother ride.  So he bought a Kawasaki Concours, 1000cc, the largest tank on a bike, and somewhat smoother ride.  He slaps on a GPS and is ready to rally for real.  While at these rallies, he meets Ed Tillman, who hosts his own rally every year or so.  Dad asked for the web address so he could look it up, but he didn't have one.  Technology is NOT one of Ed's strong suits.  Lucky for him, my dad's son knows how to build and host websites... And does it pretty cheap!  So he contacted me about doing the web site and email stuff for Eds Last Resort Rally.  I took on the duties, long before I understood the rally stuff and Iron Butt stuff.  I needed diaper money, and I liked motorcycles, so why not.  I found a photo of a really cool chopper online and doctored it up,  made it look really sweet... showed it to Ed, and he laughed. 

"Well son... You don't quite understand what a "Rally" bike is.  Take a look at your dad's bike, and you'll know what I mean."  So then I Googled around for pictures of rally bikes, and started getting my feet wet in this crazy sub-culture.  And I asked dad to send my a picture of his bike to add to the website.


Bike Differences:

Basically,  choppers ( like most bikes at bike week I saw)  are low, loud, and really cool to look at. They have a speedometer, and maybe a tach.  But they SUCK to ride more than an hour or so because they are uncomfortable, and are probably needing gas already.  The rider has on cowboy boots, bandannas, black everything, and maybe a skull cap helmet.  They may have a map stashed somewhere.  Who cares where you are.  They can get directions from the next bartender. (I may be over exaggerating a bit just to make a point... I still want a chopper one day).

A rally bike is a taller bike, wrap around fairings, big gas tanks, windshields, and TONS of electronic gizmos.  1 to 3 GPS units, satellite trackers, satellite radio for weather and traffic.  Spare gas tanks, extra saddle bags, hydration systems. The riders (generally) have full body protective suits that are everything proof... rain, hail, snow...  Can have heated gloves, seats, grips, vests, pants.... for cold weather rides.  Helmets generally have Bluetooth earphones to listen to all the gizmos.  Some even have iPads and netbooks installed in water proof cases.  Knowing where you are and where you are going is king. (I may be understating a bit).

Ed liked the new rally bike picture, and was happy.  Then he invited me to the next rally to experience the rally culture.  Hey why not.  I told dad I'd probably go with him to see how it all operates and get some good photos for the website.  Then the light bulb came on.  Since dad still had the Victory... He offered it to me to actually participate in the rally. Sure!  Why not.  I haven't ridden a bike in 6 years, and my ass was numb after 6 hours on it (dads Vulcan 750).  Whats 12hrs on a Victory?   So I went.