With any competition there are rules and there will always be folks who look to exploit the rules for an advantage. This is what I learned from my time managing high end racing sailboats for the uber rich. I also learned that the rule book is a good way for someone new to the game to figure out what can provide a competitive advantage. For example in the Iron Butt Rally we are allowed a maximum amount of fuel. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that carrying as much fuel as possible can be advantageous.
Rules with absolute values (like 11.5 gallons) are easy to understand and enforce. It is the rules with terms open to interpretation that can cause problems for both the competitors and the people enforcing them.
The theme of the IBR is one rider, one bike and one ride. Over the years technology has enabled riders to use computers for mapping and planning, GPS devices for positioning and cell phones for communication, however the rule states that:
“Riders will not receive undue assistance during the event. In determining what constitutes “undue assistance,” the rallymaster’s determination shall be final. Close questions in the interpretation of this section shall be construed against the rider. See, §IV.A.4 for further details.”
The IBR staff has a policy that they will not have a rule they can not enforce. When I first started paying attention to the rally (2001) a rider wrote about calling a friend who ran some “what-if” scenarios on the computer which he incorporated into his ride. From what I had read I thought this was against the rules or at least pushing the envelope a bit. In 2005 we were told that it was permissible to fax our route sheets to our support team with the stipulation that if any of the information were to become public and traceable back to any rider, said rider would be tossed from the event. With riders sending their actual bonus listings to friends the possibility of having someone plan your route is a real possibility. Also in 2005 there were a few “teams” were veteran riders who were not riding the rally were on hand to couch their charges and assist with things like bike maintenance and pre-scoring.
Personally I don’t see an advantage of planning in a team setting and while I do see some advantage to having a coach on-site I think this is pushing the limits of what the rally is all about. I have to be careful about being a bit hypocritical is my bike and the effort of people like Max could also be seen as pushing the envelope, however it is something that is available to any rider, unlike the team gig.
So last night my ribbi, lifeline, coach, mentor and general all around good guy Pete Withers came by. Pete has ridden four Iron Butt Rallies and has retired from competitive events, except when I drag him out for one more rally. Pete is going to be my lead support call during the rally so we wanted to get together so I could give him copies of the latest mapping software. We also needed to discuss how we were going to handle file transfers.
Pete brought over his wife’s nifty brand new Dell notebook running (more likely crawling) Microsoft’s new OS, Vista. As an IT manager I have managed to avoid Vista, however now I was forced to watch it suffer as we discovered that Street Atlas 2008 (can’t get much more current) won’t load. Too funny.
To me it actually is comical because in the grand scheme of the ride weather or not Pete and I can exchange map files is meaningless, yet come next week people will look at my bike and think that Pete can ride it form his couch. The entire idea of having someone plan my route from the comfort of their couch is comical. My experience has me thinking that my best chance for a great ride involves doing my planning alone.
What is important is that when I have a question I know who to call for an answer. The question about where to go and how to get there will be answered on the bike, but trick questions like the local sunrise at the summit of Mt. Evens Co can be answered by anyone, even someone who doesn’t even ride a motorcycle. That and mechanical help at the checkpoint is the extent of my plans for outside assistance.
Gimmie the Book!