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The Iron Butt Rally (11,000 miles/11 days)

marsha is just outside of memphis, getting ready to run the last few hundred down to Lake City. she was fortunate enuff to miss a 2-truck crash last nite by just a few minutes (had been riding near them earlier), and didn't even get stuck in the aftermath. her spirits are good and bike is running like a champ.
 
Just got off the phone with Paul Pelland, he is in Texas heading for Florida and man has had a hell of a time:bliss

Paul decided to take the red pill and has been "hitting potholes the size of trashcans" , he has ridden over a thousand miles of dirt and gravel roads on his RT. His fuel cell mount broke, and at one point lost all of his lights and accessories on his way to his nightly checkpoint. Dark fell early on the way and a Maglight duct taped to his fender and the aid of another rider served as his headlight. The cause of the problem? All of his fuses vibrated loose!

He also told me of his trip over the Burr Trail
http://www.so-utah.com/hwy12/burr/homepage.html
at one point he was travelling straight down a loose rock hill and couldn't slow down because his ABS kept kicking out, not the stuff I would want to be doing on an RT!!

Then at another point he was faced with turning around and backtracking 100 miles or riding across a river, of course since this is Paul we are talking about he went across the river. That probably felt good after spending 5 hours in 118 degree heat in Death Valley the day before.

He also was telling me af a 1 lane dirt road around the side of a mountain that wasn't wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass so one would have to back up to a wide spot, oh yeah, no gaurdrail and a huge drop off the side. :eek

Total miles so far is over 5k with 6500 or so by the time he gets to the FL checkpoint. He is a little tired but has a room at the checkpoint and he figures to be in around 4 AM to get some rest.

:snore
 

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"Just to let you know that Chye just called me from New Mexico, he is presently on the way to Lake City, Florida right now. He said that he doing very well and feeling good, that's good to know. Will write again if I hear anything else.

Joann"

This was emailed to me from the other half of the K1200RS team from AZ. She is at home, 9 months pregnant. If she feels up to it she wants to catch a ride with another IBR wife and come to the finish in Missoula next week.
 
Just got off the phone with Rob, he has about 1k till he is in Florida and is having fun. Like myself when he had his little get off he discovered that there are a lot of people out there willing to lend you a hand when something bad happens to you.

He sounds good and really wants to finish the rally and have some fun doing it. He is hoping that there is some nice scenic bonuses up the east coast.

JB
 
KBasa said:
He says when he runs into other riders on the road it helps him feel like he's doing something right, especially if he runs into other folks that have done this before.


I found that to be a real adrenaline rush to meet other riders. When you're out there, and feel like you're behind or might not make it to the check or bonus in time...all you have to do is see another IB rider, and you know you're in it together!!

Thanks for the updates!
 
Bill Shaw

From Don Graling:

I posted this from my work account yesterday but for some reason that
account takes two days to get to the list.

I'm going to be sending the Higdon reports to the list but he has not
sent one on Friday morning yet.

Bill Shaw is running the Iron Butt and had an accident on Wednesday
afternoon.

Here are the details:

He was 3rd day in the Ironbutt - on I - 17 South in Phoenix. Car in his
lane 2 up from him had a blow out - Toyota Pick up - the car in front of
him slammed on the brakes and Bill swerved left to avoid the Honda Civic
in front of him. He contacted the left rear quarter panel. He went
down and then slid about 8 to 10 feet. The bike traveled further and
hit the Jersey wall before going off the road. Lots of damage to the
bike (K12LT) - impacted the front wheel - probably totaled.

It was towed to the BMW dealer - he's unhurt - thanks to his Rukka suit
- which has abarsions on it - he does not think he hit his helmet.

Police showed up and termed it a no fault accident - no tickets issued -
basically sucks for Bill.

He was trying to get back into the IronButt but bagged it and took the
red eye through Los Angeles last night - he should be back at
ArmoredVeh@aol.com today.

Don Graling
Centreville, Virginia
BMW 2001 R1150GS
 
Bill Shaw's account

Forwarded to BMW list from Bill Shaw via Don Graling

>
>All,
>
>I just returned home from my first unsuccessful attempt at riding in the IBR.
> For those of you who haven't heard, I was literally in the wrong place at
>the wrong time and was involved in an accident on Day 3 while driving
>south on
>I-17 in Phoenix. Here are the details:
>
>On Wed afternoon at about 1:15pm, I was in the far right lane on I-17
>traveling about 55mph. Unbeknownst to me, a red Toyota P.U. two cars
>ahead of me
>blew a tire (apparently) just when I was making a head check to move one
>lane to
>the left. When I looked forward again a split second later, all I saw were
>red lights as the Honda Civic in front of me had slammed on its brakes. I
>then
>immediately countersteered to the left but hit the Honda's left rear
>bumper/turn signal and went down. I estimate that my speed at impact was
>40mph...but I
>don't know. I only slid 8-10 feet and came to rest in the breakdown
>lane/shoulder. The bike continued sliding on its right side for about 30
>feet from
>where I stopped and the front end (apparently) hit the concrete Jersey wall.
>The Phoenix Sherriff who handled the accident did not cite anyone. As she
>said,
>it was just an unfortunate series of events that caused the accident. Truer
>words were never spoken.
>
>With the exception of two sore wrists and an abrasion the size of a dime on
>my right elbow (which I didn't notice until Terri showed it to me this
>morning), I am completely unscathed...Frank Cooper is going to get an
>excellent review
>of the Rukka suit when I right it up. :) The Phoenix BMW dealer estimates
>that the bike will be totaled.
>I have been riding motorcycles for 27 years. During this time, I never had a
>flat tire much less been involved in an accident. It's so unfortunate (on
>many levels) that it had to happen now during one of the major milestones
>of my
>life.
>
>Since this happened on day three, I had not even begun to come close to
>approaching my limits of endurance. I felt great and just stopped a half
>hour
>before for gas and lunch. The bike was running great. I even chose a
>relatively
>easy route to Lake City. So to be sidelined for something that happened
>outside of my control is truly disheartening. On the other hand, I have not
>forgotten for one nanosecond that I literally walked away virtually
>unscathed from
>being involved in an accident where my bike will probably be totaled.
>
>So the team of Taylor, Kessler and Shaw has not fared too well in this year's
>IBR (at least Dennis was able to recover thanks to the kindness of a stranger
>in LA who loaned him his ST1300). My efforts to push USAA to provide me with
>a definitive answer with respect to totaling my bike (so I could buy another
>one and continue the rally) were unsuccessful. They said I wouldn't have an
>answer for at least two weeks...and we are just not in a financial
>position to
>casually charge $13K on our credit card hoping that USAA will total the
>bike.
>Another alternative was to post a note to the LD list and attempt to borrow a
>bike. But familial commitments require me to be home on Sunday, Aug 24, and
>there's no way I could logistically get from Missoula to Phoenix after the
>rally to drop off the bike, and then be home in time. And Kneebone's
>excellent
>suggestion to get a loaner bike from MCN didn't materialize because I
>couldn't
>reach Searle or Rau. So I made one of the hardest calls I've ever had to
>make
>and told Higdon I had to pull the plug.
>
>After I spoke to Don Graling on Wed morning, he posted a note to a private
>list that we subscribe to and I was inundated with calls at the hotel and
>offers
>to help. Diaz was the first, and after I reassured him I was in fact OK, he
>then asked if I could salvage any usable parts so he could put them on his
>bike. :) Don then made arrangements to fly me home on his frequent flyer
>account -- this was after he offered to fly me home and loan me his bike
>so I could
>continue. Because of you guys (especially Don) and my family, I never felt
>alone or stranded even though I was ~2,400 miles away from home. Also, I
>honestly appreciate everyone who tried reaching me while I was on the road
>(the cell
>reception out west and Verizon are not sympatico). I got all the
>messages...sometimes a day or two later.
>
>In a world where people are measured by whether they pass of fail, I failed.
>This isn't easy for me to accept since I've never failed at anything before.
>I have a 2003 IBR t-shirt and hat that I have not earned the right to wear,
>nor will I wear, until after I successfully complete an IBR. So now the
>waiting begins. Will Kneebone run a 2005 rally and will I recieve another
>invitation? That's a long time to have this albatross hanging around my
>neck. One
>thing's for certain -- my next article for MCN is going to be interesting. ;)
>
>Toodles and warmest regards, Bill Shaw
 
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
--Eleanor Roosevelt.

Best Regards to ALL

Lisa Stevens
 
Higdon Report - Day 3

From Bob Higdon, forwarded by Don Graling:

>Subject: Iron Butt Rally: Day 3
>
>In a Van Named "Moron" in a Louisiana Swamp in the Middle of the Night
>August 14, 2003
>Day 3
>
>The Spider's Web
>
> As noted yesterday, the 110 riders who survived the desert's
> oppressive heat to arrive at the first checkpoint in southern Nevada had
> a serious choice to make for the following leg: If they wanted to win
> this rally, they would take the red route package. If they wanted simply
> to finish with a gold, silver, or bronze medal, they would take the blue
> route. There was one other problem: They weren't permitted to see either
> package of bonuses before making a choice. Mike Kneebone took questions,
> but it all came down to asking yourself whether you wanted to win or
> not. When the dark muttering subsided, 30% of the field was seeing red
> and the rest were turning blue.
> With a pack now divided, most of the blues headed to Mt. Evans
> (west of Denver, Colorado), the highest paved road in North America, and
> then would complete a downward arc to the southeast and the checkpoint in
> Lake City, Florida. A few of the blues, mostly those in the Hopeless
> Class of underpowered bike or rider, would aim straight for the East
> Coast, where a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico is wobbling around,
> not sure where to strike next.
> For the red group, life was about to become more intricate
> still. Between 6:00 and 9:00 this morning all but a few of the 33 reds
> met legendary motorcyclist Dave Barr at a Korean war memorial northeast
> of Bakersfield, California. Years ago Barr lost both legs to an Angolan
> land mine. That slowed down, but hardly stopped, his big rides. First
> he rode his Harley around the world, then he crossed the width of Europe
> and Russia with a sidecar in the middle of winter. Meeting someone like
> Barr would be worth it for even negative bonus points.
> From there the group headed for the leg's largest bonus,
> "Kiecker's Nightmare," a serpentine, bumpy road that crawls up into the
> Sierras and dead ends at Mono Hot Springs. The final 13 miles are single
> lane with rumors of guard rails. Don't miss a corner or you and the bike
> will reach terminal velocity long before you impale yourselves on the
> rocks below. On the 2001 IBR, after reaching the Springs, Mark Kiecker
> called the rallymaster's cell phone and left this impression of the trip:
> "Kneebone, you suck."
> The last worthwhile bonus of the day required showing up at Pat
> Widder's vacation house in Lake Isabella between 6:00 and 9:00
> p.m. Having worn out their spirits in the Sierras and their tires in the
> scorching heat of the San Joaquin valley, all 33 members of the red
> brigade found themselves at day's end not eight miles from where they had
> met Dave Barr that morning. This perfectly illustrates the Iron Butt
> water torture: Wander around for the entire day only to realize as the
> sun goes down that you have not advanced so much as one inch toward your
> goal in Florida.
> But was the goal still Florida? At Widder's house the reds were
> handed another set of route instructions. The choices in that package
> --- pick just one --- were:
> 1) Aim due east for the Florida checkpoint and
> congratulate yourself for a good day's work. You'll be ahead of all the
> blue riders, but this route will not win the rally.
> 2) Show up at Ira Agins' house in Santa Fe, New Mexico
> on the evening of Thursday, August 14 and receive still another set of
> route instructions. Those will tell you to:
> a) Continue on to Florida as if nothing had
> happened, in which case you'll still be ahead of the blues but will have
> no chance to win the rally; or
> b) Point your motorcycle north for a couple of
> bonuses near Anchorage, Alaska and then, skipping the checkpoints in
> Florida and Maine, return directly to the finish in Missoula. This route
> is geared for those who hate the traffic, politics, and power outages of
> the East Coast. Successfully completing this ride will beat the blue
> guys but it won't win the rally. Still, if I were an entrant this year,
> I might take this route just to minimize the chances of running into
> Hillary Clinton.
> 3) Visit Goose Bay, Labrador. The ride to there from
> Pat Widder's front door is just over 4,000 miles, the last 550 of which
> run over bad dirt. Did I mention that Goose Bay is also at the end of a
> dead end road? Add another 550 miles of ugly dirt for your retreat. In
> heavy rain, and there's always heavy rain at the latitude of Hudson Bay,
> the road can be impassable. This route isn't worth quite as much as
> option #4, but it's about 300 miles shorter. Take this ride and two
> things will happen: 1) You can legitimately skip showing up at the
> Florida checkpoint and 2) You will be behind any of the riders who have
> succeeded in completing the fourth, and mercifully last, route.
> 4) Take a ride to Bella Coola, British Columbia. "Bella
> Coola" is an Eskimo phrase meaning "Please stop beating me with that
> caribou horn." If you are a crow in Vancouver, Bella Coola is just 266
> flight miles to the northwest. The distance by road exceeds 600
> miles. Because of road construction near the destination, there may be
> delays of up to four hours. Like option #3, if you take this route, you
> are permitted to skip the Florida checkpoint. But, and that's a big
> "but," survive the trip, avoid the caribou horns, make it to Maine on
> time, and you'll be leading the 2003 Iron Butt Rally with just one leg
> remaining.
> Fun, huh? At Primm the field was divided into potential winners
> and everyone else. At Widder's the winners were further divided further
> still. Tonight the Butts are crawling around a dozen routes like spiders
> in a web. The strands cover the four corners of North America, but
> eventually they will all lead back to the center of the web, Missoula,
> where the two biggest spiders of all --- Landry and Kneebone --- await.
>
>The Falling, the Fallen, and the Revived
>
> Alan LeDuc and Jack Tollett, enormously popular riders from
> Indiana and Texas, experienced rally-ending accidents during the first
> leg. Alan encountered an especially bad section of the notorious Jungo
> Road in Nevada and went down. Jack is believed to have been the victim
> of a catastrophic rear tire failure. Both were banged up and lost some
> cosmetic points for their experiences but are expected to make quick
> recoveries.
> A truck blew a tire in front of Bill Shaw, causing a
> three-vehicle crash in Phoenix, Arizona. In a couple of seconds his
> gorgeous BMW K1200LT rearranged itself into the world's largest
> paperweight. Unable to find a replacement ride, he has been forced to
> withdraw.
> BMW's relentless drive to shut down dealerships in North America
> in the face of a free fall in sales came home to roost with Jeff Powell
> when the charging system in his R1100RT blew up in Needles,
> California. Before the shop in Las Vegas was shut down, that would have
> been the closest dealer, a 114-mile haul. Now he faced a tow of twice
> that distance either to Pomona, California or to Phoenix. Cost: A mere
> $700, plus whatever it takes to fix the machine.
> A trail of dripping oil from a truck brought down Rob Nye, the
> Yankee Beemers' favorite son, in Moab, Utah. A truck's oil filter
> apparently had not been tightened properly by a mechanic during an oil
> change. Nye got a lift to a welder who repaired the shaved-down valve
> cover. In his last report, Nye said that he was up and over Mt. Evans
> and heading for Florida.
>
>Bob Higdon
>www.ironbutt.com
>
>
 
I'm just off the phone with Rob. He's on his way to FL and doesn't anticipate and difficulty making it in there. I told him about the folks that took the other pill and he sounded pretty relieved that he'd gone the way he did. The heat has been kicking his ass and the temp behind the KLT's fairing was about 104, while it was 90 on the other side.

If you're in FL and you're going to be at the checkpoint, he'd love it if you have a Sony MemoryStick reader so he can get some of the pictures out of the camera. If you do, let me know. I've got a site you can load them to and we can hang them up here.

PM me if you can help. That's it for now.
 
marsha is just outside of memphis, getting ready to run the last few hundred down to Lake City

I'm following this thread with new interest. First, I met Alan LeDuc in NS for lunch over July 4 weekend, then my Bro and I were lucky enough to meet Marsha on 7/30, on her way from Madawaska to Key West, before she went on to Missoula. We were on my first IBA Saddlesore and Bunburner ride, on our way out to Sturgis, and she flattered us with the comment she liked our pace so fell in and rode with us for a while. Good luck Marsha!

Dave
K12LTC
 
Message from WCI

A message I received tonight from Ron Smith:

"A little more news from the wet coast:

John Bolin is out of the hunt. He made a gallant effort but received a call that his mother was taken to a hospital and may not make it through the night. He did a quick turn around and is heading back to the coast. I think she is in California but can't be sure. This is a heart breaker since John chose to take early retirement in order to make this memorable ride. His company would not give him the time off. Ride swiftly John, we are waiting for your arrival back here at home.

Rody Martin is doing well at the hospital and the nurses will kick his sorry butt out as soon as they can. The last time I called they said he was named wrong, it should have been Rowdy!!!
I knew he would be O.K. then. Rody went down after a car turned left in front of him. The driver had passed Rody a few minutes before and Rody had slowed to about 30 mph to look for a turn to a boni. The cage had gone ahead, made a "U" turn and came back and turned in front of Rody. Rody tried to dodge to the left but almost made it, taking out the tail light with his knee---and a few parts of the bike. The bike is totaled as I understand

John (it won't rub out) Langan is doing well. At the last call he said he was sore Thursday but feeling good today after hitting the deer on Wednesday. Now I wonder if John has ever completed a ride on an intact bike? He seems to be better off with one that shows some battle scars.

More as it comes in.

Respectfully
Ron Smith
Bothell WA"

Lisa & Tobie Stevens
Tieton, WA
 
Bob Higdon - Day 4

> Lake City, Florida
> August 15, 2003
> Day 4
>
> Road Trip
>
> I think this is true: On Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. we were eastbound
> from Albuquerque, New Mexico in Moron, the van from Hell. That was the
day
> I thought I'd left my cell phone in the motel room, but it turned out
> instead to be buried under 40 miles of wires and connectors, 12-volt
> inverters, a surge protector or two, liters of diet cokes and bottled
> water, clothes that haven't been washed since the Crimean War, and a few
> pounds of pistachio nuts.
> Twenty-seven hours after leaving Albuquerque we rolled into the Holiday
> Inn in this hot, incredibly humid town in north-central Florida, a
> certified cross-country-all-nighter accomplished by four people who are
> clearly old enough to know better.
> As I said, I'm hazy about those details, but this I know for certain: I am
> beginning to remember how miserably tired I was during the 2001 Iron Butt
> Rally, a sort of fatigue that leaves scars on the soul. Still, Moron
beats
> any motorcycle ever made on a day when the heat is setting the highway
afire.
> I don't know how they do it, these crazy riders. I really don't.
>
> The Red Guys
>
> Thirty-three had chosen the red route package out of Las Vegas, had all
> completed a tough ride into the western Sierras, had all showed up for the
> last bonus at Pat Widder's house, and were now deciding whether to ride to
> Canada or back to Florida. If they went north, they could skip the
> checkpoint in Florida and rejoin the rally in Maine. If successful, they
> would be at the head of the pack with only the final leg back to Montana
> remaining. If they opted for Florida, they'd at least be ahead of the
blue
> route riders and more rested than their friends on the red route.
> Leonard Roy was the first to call late Wednesday night. "The rules
> require that I notify you if I will miss a checkpoint," Leonard told
> rallymaster Lisa Landry. "I hereby announce my intention to miss
> Florida. I will bring you a post card from Bella Coola when I see you in
> Maine." Alan Barbic and Dick Fish called a short time later to advise
that
> they too were skipping Florida. They didn't say where they were headed,
> Bella Coola or Goose Bay, but for Fish it can't be anywhere but up. For
> losing his rider's card during the first leg, he sacrificed all the bonus
> points he'd earned during that section. His score in Primm stood at
> 0. That put him about 3,500 behind the leaders but 10,000 points ahead of
> Sparky Kesseler.
> Other riders bound for Canada began calling in: Will Outlaw, Peter
> Hoogeveen, Paul Taylor, Mike Hutsal, Lee Myrah, Mark Kiecker, and Marty
> Leir. Landry received a garbled message that we think might have been
from
> Bob Hall, the 2001 IBR winner. If others intend to skip Lake City, we
> haven't heard from them yet. At least three riders we had thought would
be
> northbound --- Eric Jewell (the first-round leader), Eddie James, and Tom
> Loftus --- decided instead to point their bikes to Florida.
>
> The Attrition Continues
>
> On Thursday morning Kyle Crippen's rear-tire went to heaven. He was
> trying to find a tow. He may not make the Florida checkpoint. In such a
> case the rider, unless he wants to give up completely, must ride to the
> checkpoint city, obtain a receipt that proves he was there, and arrive at
> the following checkpoint on time. If he makes it, he still loses all
bonus
> points on both legs and receives no points for making the first
> checkpoint. For scoring purposes, the only thing worse --- aside from a
> DNF --- is switching bikes.
> The bike-swap penalty is informally known as "Taking a Manny," after Manny
> Sameiro, who wrecked his Gold Wing on the first leg of the 1997 rally and
> finished on a Honda 500cc Magna. For those of you not familiar with these
> machines, it's comparable to moving from a Ferrari to a Dodge Neon. Sure,
> they're both cars in a metaphysical sense, but those good-looking dates
you
> used to have don't seem to be returning your calls now that the Neon's in
> your garage.
> Sameiro's was an heroic ride. It took him the remainder of the rally, but
> he eventually crawled up into positive numbers. Two years later, riding
> with Harold Brooks, he tied for third overall.
> He'll be close to the bottom of the standings this year,
> unfortunately. His Wing apparently washed out in gravel in a corner on
the
> way to the Primm checkpoint. The abrasions on his right forearm were bad
> enough for the New Jersey prosecutor to call it a day. At least he'll be
> symmetrical now; six years ago it was the left arm that took the hit.
> A couple of days ago the plastic radiator in Dave Tyler's BMW K1100LT
> started to melt in the desert. He made it to a big bonus in Leadville,
> Colorado, at which point the radiator began leaking. Tyler nursed the
> machine south to Tucumcari, New Mexico, looking for replacement parts all
> the way but finding nothing. This morning, he was forced into retirement.
> John Bolin, whose wife Karen is the president of the Motorcycle Riders
> Foundation, left Salt Lake City at 5:00 p.m. yesterday after having made
> frantic repairs to his bike. As he hurried toward Florida, he was called
> back to San Francisco today because of a family emergency. Our sympathies
> go out to John for a courageous ride under such daunting conditions.
> This afternoon a sixteen year-old driver turned in front of Rody Martin's
> '87 Yamaha Venture, a bike formerly owned by Michael Kneebone. The
> accident happened just twelve miles north of Mamou, Louisiana, a large
> bonus that was available to riders on both red and blue routes. Rody had
> an improbable rescue by the Wild Pelican Iron Butt Club, whose membership
> includes only riders who have completed an IBA-certified ride. They had
> been manning the Mamou bonus location. So well known is the club that
word
> of mouth about Martin's wreck reached the Pelicans before even a telephone
> call could. Fortunately, Rody didn't break anything but was admitted to a
> local hospital for overnight observation.
> When we last saw Russell Stephan, he had finished off both a deer and the
> front-end of his motorcycle in about three-fifths of a second on U.S. 395
> in Oregon. If that weren't enough, I negligently referred to him as
> "Stephan Russell" in that day's report, which is the sort of thing that
> must happen fairly often to people with two first names. With his rally
in
> the tank, Russell bought a $2,000 truck to transport his mangled machine,
> drove to Las Vegas and dropped the bike off for repairs, sold the truck,
> bought a better one, and is now sightseeing somewhere in the West, waiting
> for the rally to return to him. He paid a lot of money for that final
> banquet ticket; he might as well stick around to use it.
>
> Bob Higdon
> www.ironbutt.com
>
>
>
 
Pelland update

Just received an enthusiastic voice mail from Paul chockfull 'o good news.

Heading to the Keys, then the Outer Banks, and he's currently in first place. Really happy for him!

On a side note Bob Lyskowski hit a car on I95 and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance, Paul and Rob stopped and said he seemed alright but had a fair amount of road rash, Bob unfortunately wears a half helmet and jeans usually, thats what happens, at least he had a Stitch jacket on.
 
Talked to Rob and Paul, both went for the Key West bonus but are plannig different routes of attack heading Rob will be getting a sleep bonus tonight and plans to keep plugging along tomorrow. Word on Bob L is that he will be fine, that is great news, Bob is a great guy, just wish he wore more gear when he rode.
 
Bob Lyskowski

Report from the road:

I just got off the phone with Rob Nye who called to give me an update on Bob Lyskowski. Yesterday heading down the interstate in Florida Bob was travelling in the left lane in traffic. Further up the road there was an accident and traffic came to a halt. Bob realized that he probably wouldn't be able to stop without hitting the car in front of him so he saw a hole to his right that went straight to the shoulder and he went for it. Unfortunately the left side of his fairing grazed the right rear of the car that was in the right lane and caused enough of a wobble that put him down.

Bob has some road rash but otherwise okay, he even said to Rob that he wishes he could find a bike to finish the rally.

Good luck Bob
 
From Greg Roberts:

Just got off of the phone with Joe Colquitt, who is riding an R1150GS. He
is just outside Bristol, TN, heading north.

Following a re-wiring of Joe's accessories by John Harrison at the Florida
checkpoint Joe once again has use of his two GPSs, CB radio, driving lights
and XM radio. He said it makes it MUCH easier to find some of the locations
with the GPS.

After a couple of rough legs (new helmet lost the chinbar & visor hours into
the rally, loss of all electrical accessories a few hours later, loss of
driver's license in Las Vegas (dropped it and didn't notice it was gone) &
loss of the top of his water bottle) Joe has decided he's going to cherry
pick on the third leg, going after just the higher valued bonuses.

He is in good spirits, the bike is running well and he's having a good ride.

After getting to the Florida checkpoint about 4 hours later than planned due
to heavy fog and no aux lamps, he said he intends to get to Maine in plenty
of time to catch some rest before the final leg.

Greg Roberts
Wadley, AL
 
Pirate John took these at the FL checkpoint. Rob's bike is looking pretty well thrashed.

This is the side he went down on. The passenger peg has been appropriated for the rider peg. The big ol' Hella is gone. The top light gets adjusted with a pair of Channeloks.
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Ouch.
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Ugly, but effective.
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Dahs eeet bozzer yoo zat I am weenking at yeoo?
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Do you think the folks that loaned him the tablet are going to be mad about the grind mark?
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