Iron Butt Rally 2021

Thanks for the post Rich. Awesome ride by Mike Brooke, an IBR Rookie, but not a rookie rider by any stretch of the imagination!

Congratulations to Ken Aman for finishing 10th, and . . . all the other Finishers.

Lots of information about the bonus's on the site Rich posted. It'll be interesting (and challenging) to see what I can develop for a route plan once all the Rally information gets posted up.

Shuey
 
I saw a couple shots by Tobie at checkpoints, but I don't have a good idea of how he carried his stuff.
I know i didn't see saddlebags on it.
Rummaging through a duffle bag or two, doesn't seem to be time effecient at stops. But he obviously made "something" work for him.
 
If I can find the pic I saw... I'm pretty sure it is a Laam.

OK.... found it... posted on Facebook by Cletha Walstrand Vaillancourt...

Brooks IBR.jpg

I kinda' like the set up. At a fuel stop he has a little office desk with laptop for recording specifics without having to get into anything else.
 
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A 13 year old, chain-drive, Hayabusa won.
Only 1 Honda in the top 12.....and it wasn't a Gold Wing.
A Versys 300 placed 35th.
A 2 stroke KTM put in over 7300 miles.
6 BMWs in the top 12.
6 BMWs did not finish.

Sorta blows the excuse of 'I don't have the right bike to....'
 
There are many, many bikes that "could" be competitive in the IBR, if properly maintained, especially by an involved and committed owner / rider.
The Honda ST-XX00 has long been high on the list of favorite, and have seen their fair share of competition and top finishes, but each Rally is its own animal, and a degree of favor by Lady Luck is not to be discounted.
Animal strikes, car crashers, and all types of misfortunes are but around the next bend, even without actual pilot mistakes or mechanical meltdowns.
My helmet is off, to all who enter, finisher or otherwise.
 
scootac said:
Sorta blows the excuse of 'I don't have the right bike to....'
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It's always been the rider. Don't they say, "May the best person win...?"

I will add something and I don't mean to take anything away from the Iron Butt Riders who participated. There has to be a certain amount of luck in the mix as evidenced by the facts that they are a. depending on a complicated piece of machinery and b. that no one person has repeated wins IBA rally after rally. Look at sports and how some athletes dominate their sport for years. These riders are clearly all world class, yet few have repeated a podium place let alone coming in first place more than once.
 
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SMSW said:
b. that no one person has repeated wins IBA rally after rally. Look at sports and how some athletes dominate their sport for years. These riders are clearly all world class, yet few have repeated a podium place let alone coming in first place more than once.
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But you leave out a vital difference in this analogy:
In traditional sports, the rules are the same, year to year.
The Big One has a different bonus structure and varying routes, aka Themes every time out.
And different people selecting the bonuses and checkpoints every running.
Forest fires.
Hurricanes.
Mudslides.
Heat.
All these factors play a part, and no two rallies are ever the same, for these reasons and more.
It's not the same as two world champion tennis players meeting again at Wimbledon, or even two college football teams with new players in the Sugar Bowl from year to year.
No, @SMSW, this is an entirely NEW game every two years.
That's why there are few back-to-back first place winners.
 
SMSW said:
I will add something and I don't mean to take anything away from the Iron Butt Riders who participated. There has to be a certain amount of luck in the mix as evidenced by the facts that they are a. depending on a complicated piece of machinery and b. that no one person has repeated wins IBA rally after rally. Look at sports and how some athletes dominate their sport for years. These riders are clearly all world class, yet few have repeated a podium place let alone coming in first place more than once.
Click to expand...

Jim Owen has won twice, the only one to win more than once, and . . . many have been in the top 10 more than once and some several times. Your point is well taken and certainly has some merit, but I would place less emphasis on luck being responsible for placing high in the standings. The luck the winners have is the lack of bad luck along the way.

My 2 cents,
Shuey
 
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