IBR 2015 Part 2 - Goals and Needs

My Personal Goals 

My goals were simple, after applying to the IBA for a position to compete, were:

1.     Come back alive

2.     Have some fun, seeing as much of the USA and Canada as I could fit into the ride

3.     Be an official “Finisher”.

4.     Hidden agenda; it was to be above the halfway position on the list – 45 at the start.

I achieved all my goals, and made a Bronze Medal position. I am very happy with this and my three digits IBA number (#517), for the first event.

Ten Critical Things You Will Need to Enter

You need these things, not necessarily in this order:

1.     Mental Strength: this is one tough event, even to get to the start – most of the riders are “Type A” personalities for whom small obstacles are to be blown out of the way and the scent of competition is fought for, on a daily basis. Stuff breaks all the time.

2.     A Personal Desire; burning in your soul to ride motorcycles in a very tough event. No will power, no need to enter.

3.    Riding Skills and a License: Once you ride with these guys, you will see that they would be generally in the top 1% of riders in any bike club. They are genuinely world class. They see no problem with riding at 80mph on a gravel road, doing a U turn in a narrow two-way country lane, picking up a fallen bike with one heft, or auto-counter steering around a huge elk at 2am in the morning. One hundred degree heat and driving rain, 60 mph winds do not faze them much. These riders are not just 10% better than a club rider, most are three times better. Be realistic about your skills and improve them if you are not there yet.

4.    A suitable Bike; LDR motorcycles are not standard. They may not be new, many are more than 10 years old, but they are highly modified to fit the particularly rider perfectly – remember this will be your “office” for 20 hours per day and you better love it! Such bikes do not come cheap.

5.    Money: this will cost a serious amount. The old rule was “Take a number you first think is reasonable, triple it, then bring ten times that amount!” A budget is attached, but typically $20,000 to $60,000 is in the ball-park, depending on where you are coming from.

6.     Time Off Work: Every year their employers threaten some riders such that they cannot take the 11 days, let alone the 14 required including the pre-inspections. Two people I know personally have resigned from their work, just to compete. You may have to tell the boss to stick it. Such commitment is not unusual.

7.     Navigation Skills, including in IT; if you cannot drive a GPS or basic computer skills, forget it. Navigation is fundamental to this rally.

8.     A US Passport or Appropriate Visa: strangely this is important, particularly when you have to front the Border Control and answer the question, “Are you a US Citizen?” – Which happened four times to me in south Texas and NM.

9.     Suitable Health; this event is physically demanding. Despite many of the riders being over-weight, you must be in good health and strong enough to manage a heavy motorcycle to ride.

10. An Offer of Entry; if you don’t have this, then you will not be able compete. To get it, you must be an IBA member and done a range of qualifying rides – otherwise – nada.