Greenville SC – Southeast MA
Fri June 28 – Sun June 30, 2019
(~1004 miles)

I showed my ID tag (already out and ready) to the rally staffers who greeted me at the line. My number and ODO reading were recorded, while I tried to process the fact I was actually here. Then Charlotte was there beside me, having been held back by friends until I was ready, with a big hug and kiss, trembling with emotion and saying, “You f’ing made it!”

Then the staff told me I had just over 20 minutes to get myself presented to scoring…shit! Looks like the rally is not quite over. I quickly pulled over by the sidewalk and got off the bike. I gathered what i needed, while still trying to appreciate all the good folks clapping and offering words of congratulations.  Char helped me carry my stuff at a brisk pace into the hotel and down the hallways to the scoring area, where we were shown a quiet room with tables where I could get things in order.

Thankfully, I had already filled out the Claim Form for the mini-leg out west during the Kennewick bonus rest. I’d filled in most of the final leg while drinking coffee the previous morning in Canada, since I knew I’d be running late into the finish. So there were a few blanks to fill in, photos to upload, and receipts to verify, then I presented myself to the scoring table. They showed me in to the scoring room and after another quick visit with Ira, I was shown to my scorer, Kevin Craft.

I received points for all claimed bonuses except REST3, which I figured was worth a try with the starting receipt from 00:02 on the 27th. Turns out Kevin is from Quebec and I told him I could have used his help yesterday on the phone. I made sure he knew about the receipt discrepancy. Jeff came over to make a ruling, heard my explanation, and said, “Sorry, it’s just not documented that you were there on time.”

I had expected as much, so I signed off on the calculated total, minus 1800 in penalty points for being 90 minutes late. Not for the last time, I wished I had those four wasted hours back from attempting KROCK on the Keweenaw Peninsula! I thanked Kevin and chatted with Jeff a bit on my way out, thanking him again for a masterful rally design and awesome ride.

Back outside the scoring room, Char was waiting to help guide me and carry stuff. We went back out to the bike for my things and then up to the room. The shower was good, but nothing compared to getting in that comfortable Marriott bed, knowing I didn’t have to ride again until tomorrow. I told Char to wake me at 17:00 to get ready for tonight’s finisher banquet and set my alarm as well. Then nothing.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I was awakened at 16:00 by my cell phone ringing, and I didn’t know where I was. The cell phone alarm tone usually jolts me right awake, ready to ride, but the ringing was something unexpected. It was Lisa Landry.

“Um…hello?”

“Steve, this is Lisa Landry.”

I tried to rouse myself to pay more attention. “Uhhhh, um hi Lisa what…what’s up?”

“We need you to come down and meet us in the Bordeaux Room at five o’clock.”

Confused silence. “Uhhhh…um. You want me to do…?”

She repeated herself.

“Uhhh, Lisa I’m in Canada, I can’t meet you.”

She chortled. “Um, no, no you’re in the hotel up in your room right now.”

Confused silence. “I…. I’m in my hotel in Canada.”

She finally convinced me I was indeed at the finish hotel. I repeated her instructions aloud to ensure I had it right and we hung up. My wits began to return to me slowly. OK, wow! Either this was really good or really bad, but my conscience was relatively guilt-free, so I hoped for the former.

I’d heard from other riders that top finishers often had to face a serious interrogation by the rally organizers before the banquet, to ensure the rider had accomplished their feat without undue outside help and that everything was on the up-and-up. I took another shower and had some coffee, then found my way downstairs. I chatted with a couple other riders for a few minutes, before Lisa came out to get me.

Rather than facing a line of frowning rally gods, I sat down with Lisa and Jeff in comfortable armchairs around a small table. It was a quick and friendly meeting. I answered a couple questions they had and let them know how impressed I’d been with how professionally everything had been done, and how amazing each and every staff member interaction had been. The rally design had been masterful, and the rally had been the absolute toughest thing I’ve ever done, and so much fun. They seemed pleased.

Then Char and I hung out the lobby telling more lies with other riders until it was time for the banquet feast. The Marriott kitchens really outdid themselves again, with a prime rib station, fish, chicken and lots of fresh veggie dishes. We found seats with our friends and enjoyed a wonderful meal – I even had my first chocolate cake in I don’t know how long and didn’t feel the least bit guilty.

All the riders were tired, that was obvious, but there was a lot of excitement and pride in the atmosphere at what we had all just been through, and a sense of relief that it was now over.

At the appropriate time, Mike Kneebone took the podium. There were some comments I didn’t quite catch, but he did launch into an enthusiastic explanation of the “KTS Hilton” bonus, back west in Nevada. There was an affectionate back-and-forth with Kirsten Talken-Spaulding, who had inspired the bonus (see 2017 IBR reports) and added color commentary.

Lisa then got up and thanked all the volunteers and staff that made the rally run so smoothly, giving the riders such an awesome experience. They got a standing ovation, as did Jeff Earls for his outstanding work and masterful design of this rally. Then Lisa started calling up this year’s finishers, starting with highest place to come up to receive their goods: a Finisher’s Plaque, a nicely printed spiral bound copy of the rally book, and that oh-so-coveted license plate backer, “Iron Butt Rally, 11,000 miles in 11 days”. Every single rider got applause and the well-deserved respect of his/her peers upon making that short walk up to the front. I was honored to be there to witness it all and so proud of all my fellow competitors.

When only the top 10 finishers remained, Jeff took over from Lisa and we all stood again in an ovation for her amazing work managing and preparing for the rally over the past two years. Then he called the 10 podium finishers to the front, in no particular order. I was humbled to be included in that small group with some of the biggest names in the sport, along with a couple other rookies with impressive rides. We were all grinning like fools and shook hands with everyone else as we arrived in the line-up next to the stage. The feeling standing up there side-by-side with those riders, in that moment, in front of THAT room is indescribable.

Jeff had prepared some really nice intros, saying something about the rider and/or their ride as he called on each one of us to receive our trophies. By now of course, the word was out about all the troubles the Alaska folks had experienced, slowing down their progress at racking up the points. Therefore, I was still betting the bank on Wendy to be the overall winner, knowing first-hand what she had just accomplished, riding ahead of me these last four days. But when there were just three of us left up there… boy that was something else.

Then Jeff began to describe my route, and I knew I’d gotten third place. He brought up my call with Lisa earlier about thinking I was in Canada still, for a good laugh, and ended with “…and rookie no more!” I was ecstatic and couldn’t stop myself grinning from ear to ear, as I shook Jeff and Lisa’s hands and accepted my award. It probably looked like a grimace of pain, I was so tired.

Mike Heitcamp’s finish was extremely impressive, taking second place without having done either the Great Lakes combo or gone to Alaska. When I had a chance to review his route later on, I was amazed at the amount of points he’d seen hidden in the scatter pattern, and been able to claim them all very efficiently, really grinding it out to collect a big number of individual bonuses while logging about 900 miles less than I rode. He had a very productive Leg 2 including successfully claiming that damn KROCK bonus in the UP, plus both Mississippi River combos. That was some hardcore riding, and with no penalty points.

Wendy, of course, won the damn thing, making history as the first woman to win the Iron Butt Rally. The crowd went wild, and did she ever deserve it! The more I looked over her route after the rally, the more amazed I was at her riding and endurance. After riding to the tip of Florida AND to the southern border of Arizona in Leg 1, she followed up with a very productive mini-leg, hitting the Mica dam and Vancouver bonuses up in Canada before claiming the huge points back in Kennewick.

I think she outscored me by over 2500 points for those couple days, even after getting a late start like I did. Then, of course, we both ran the Great Lakes combo, but it turns out she also stopped to pick up three bonuses during her BBG out to Split Rock Lighthouse and arrived basically the same time as me. She skipped the “large shiny object” bonuses during the combo, took a shorter rest on the Gaspe, then scooped up both Bass Harbor Lighthouse in Maine and Mt. Washington before heading back to the barn. All without any penalty points. She planned and rode well the entire rally like the veteran she is…simply an amazing performance.

credit: Steve Hobart

The banquet and rally came to an end soon after this, to more rounds of applause. Char and I hung around to socialize for a while, and do a little post-mortem with some of the other riders until the banquet hall was well emptied, and the adrenaline was gone, then headed up to get a full night’s sleep.

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Breakfast was leisurely and fun the next morning (alas, no waffles!), sitting around and telling new lies. Char was flying back home today, while I made plans to caravan home with Ken, with his wife Felicia following in their car. We left late morning and stopped at the nearest gas station. We both needed to add some oil to our bikes, only about half a quart for me. We took it pretty easy on the highways in the sweltering southern heat and rode a tough 450 miles for the day, stopping off in Winchester VA for the night. There was pie and life was good, if a bit sore!

The following, day we rode together another 200 miles or so before splitting up. I had arranged to meet up with my nephew in Hamburg PA, hiking his way north on the Appalachian Trail. I had nice lunch with him before swinging back up to I-84 to continue my way home.

When I finally pulled onto my street, I saw two figures jumping up and down in the road with signs reading “Welcome Back, IBR FInisher”. Char, my sister and brother-in-law were there to greet me, almost three weeks after leaving, as I pulled back into the garage. And that was the best reward of all.

Trip Stats
Total Days: 18
Total Miles: 14,463
Rally Miles: 12,370
Ferries taken: 6
Bonuses Visited: 22
Lighthouses: 6
Rally Fuel Stops: 34
Tip-overs: 1
Pieces of Pie: 1

**** Click here to view my full gallery of IBR trip photos, including many that didn’t make it into any of the blog posts.****

My Iron Butt Rally track, courtesy of spotwalla.com