[aprssig] 2005 Iron Butt Rally

[James]

If this had said or showed a single thing about Ham Radio and APRS it would 
served and quite a positive relevant story, but since it does neither I am 
wondering what the point of this was..




KB7TBT
http://www.qsl.net/kb7tbt
DM33

Remember :  When the pin is Pulled Mr. Grenade is NOT Our Friend.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <AA3JY at Winlink.org>
To: <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 1:46 PM
Subject: [aprssig] 2005 Iron Butt Rally


> Message ID: OBWGO98H01OF
>>Date: 2005/08/22 20:43
>>From: AA3JY
>>To: AA3JY
>>Cc: SMTP:aa3jy at juno.com
>>Source: WMBO
>>CMS Site: Detroit
>>Subject: 2005 Iron Butt Rally
>>
>>Iron Butt Rally: August 21, 2005
>>
>>Day 0: Launch Pad
>>
>>        Ninety motorcycles and their owners have gathered over the course
>>of the
>>past few days in the Doubletree Hotel parking lot east of Denver, Colorado
>>for the running of the 2005 Iron Butt Rally. The ninety-first entrant,
>>Don
>>Arthur, a man on almost everyone's list of potential Top Ten finishers,
>>was seriously injured on August 17 en route to the event. Everyone
>>associated with the rally --- organizer, worker, and contestant --- sends
>>their combined best wishes to Don and his family to aid in his speedy,
>>complete recovery. He is one of the sport's great, tireless friends.
>>
>>        Lisa Landry, who supervised the 2003 rally as well as the weekend
>>gathering of long-distance riding enthusiasts earlier this year in Omaha,
>>is once again at the helm of this massive enterprise. Iron Butt
>>Association president Mike Kneebone, for years in charge of every aspect
>>of the 11-day event, has found a simple way of indicating his abdication
>>of power. His name tag now reads: "Ask Lisa."
>>
>>        Assisting the rallymaster is a crew of dedicated IBA employees
>>and
>>volunteers. They have spent days stuffing envelopes and cranking out route
>>packages, releases, name tags, ID tags, and toe tags. They stack up rally
>>identification towels. They check riders in and wipe their bitter, salty
>>tears away. They sell t-shirts, pins, hats, and assorted swag. They
>>conduct seminars on how to deal with the media, videotape the riders
>>signing away their lives, liberties, and sacred honors, and run up and
>>down and in and out and around and about until you just want to sit them
>>down and shove a bucket of Xanax down their sweaty throats. Still, they
>>move on.
>>
>>        Iron Butt veterans Dale Wilson and Tom Austin run the technical
>>inspections of the motorcycles, a job that for years I (in my capacity
>>as
>>the association's director of legal affairs) have repeatedly begged Mike
>>Kneebone to abandon for reasons that any attorney even modestly attuned
>>to
>>the liability arts would instantly applaud. I am heeded not. Wilson,
>>Austin, and their associates thus proceed to poke, prod, and probe the
>>bikes, paying particular attention to auxiliary fuel containers. A good
>>chunk of the rally's rules deal with just this arcane subject.
>>
>>        All but two of the machines have additional fuel tanks, enabling
>>the
>>riders to travel for six hours or more without stopping. It might sound
>>like torture to you, but for the endurance rider, it's a virtual
>>necessity. A minute spent sitting still at a gas station is a minute lost
>>to your competition, a minute thrown away, or, worst of all, a minute lost
>>to precious sleep. Texan Morris Kruemcke, a mechanical engineering
>>graduate from SMU, once strapped 38 gallons of high octane fuel to his
>>Gold Wing and rode from Butte, Montana to Wichita, Kansas --- a distance
>>of over 1,200 miles --- without once putting a foot on the pavement.
>>
>>        The thought of such gasoline bombs running around the country in
>>an Iron
>>Butt Rally must have kept Mike Kneebone awake at night. A rule was
>>instituted years ago that limited a bike's total fuel capacity to 11.5
>>gallons.
>>
>>        Now the game is to see how close you can get to the edge without
>>exceeding it. Eddie James, endurance riding's Dennis the Menace, came in
>>at 11.47 gallons during inspection. Another rider beat that by
>>two-hundredths of a gallon. Rick Mayer overslopped at 11.79 gallons and
>>was instructed either to find a "displacement device" or go home. Mayer
>>returned with two empty, capped Snapple bottles, slipped them into the
>>fuel cell, baffled them with pieces of foam, and smiled happily when the
>>tank retested short of the magic limit. NASA engineers should be so
>>resourceful.
>>
>>        Eventually all the motorcycles survived inspection. Tonight they
>>sit in
>>the impound lot. When you look at them, you are stunned by gadgetry run
>>amok. The fuel cells are just the start. These bikes carry global
>>positioning satellite receivers, eye-searing driving headlights and fog
>>lights, CB and XM radios, cell phone mounts, flexible map lights, reader
>>boards, and scrollers. They have tank bags and saddlebags and top bags
>>and
>>bags to hold other bags. Mr. Harley and Mr. Davidson might recognize the
>>normal bike on the road today, but I promise you that to their eyes the
>>endurance rider's machine might as well be from Planet X.
>>
>>        Beyond the basic cost of the bike, this kind of improvement over
>>the
>>manufacturer's original concept has a price, easily the most significant
>>percentage of the costs associated with the rally. Paul Taylor, the winner
>>of the 2003 Iron Butt, estimates that he spent more than $8,500 in entry
>>fees, preparation of the bike, and expenses on the road.
>>
>>        Still, he was able to recoup some of that when he sold his
>>bike this year
>>to Sean Gallagher for $12,000. Not satisfied that Taylor's winning bike
>>was really up to his specifications, Gallagher immediately poured another
>>$11,000 into the BMW for further modifications and alterations. Gallagher
>>laughs that while the bike may not return to the winner's circle this
>>year, it will easily win the prize for the most expensive mount to leave
>>the paddock.
>>
>>        Which it will do tomorrow when the hammer drops at 10:00 a.m. 
>> Tonight
>>it
>>sits, patiently waiting. Its owner sleeps, or tries to, also waiting as
>>patiently as possible through a long, chilly, Rocky Mountain night.
>>
>>Bob Higdon
>>Denver CO
>>
> http://rally.star-traxx.com/rallyview.asp?Rally=30
>
>
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