By Liquidsilver on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 08:07 pm:

I used to love (haven't been there lately) reading about your exploits on the Iron Butt circuit!

Do you still have that site up? Really fun tales, very creatively written, too... even for those of us not thinking of riding 3500 miles in a weekend!

Cheers! 

By Warchild on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 09:51 pm:

Here's the story about BLISTER Endurnace Rally held last May... 3147 miles in 48 hours over four Western states.

BLISTER

Incidently, 7 FJR1300's entered this event, all but one finished (the sole FJR that did not finish was simply due to rider fatigue; the FJR's all ran splendidly)

- Warchild 

By Dougc on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 10:15 pm:

Warchild-

How about posting the: "BLISTER: Riders/Results" that you posted on LDRiders?

Fits in perfectly with this thread...

dougc
--
Dougc's Gallery 

By Warchild on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 10:35 pm:

OK, here it tis....

First posted to LDRiders list on 28 MAY 03

- Warchild


-------------------------------------------------
BLISTER is now history.

It's hard to adequately describe the events that transpired this past weekend in the High Desert of Nevada and Utah. 21 riders set a World Record Group Ride for the most intense, hard-core "Extreme" ride the IBA sponsors, the "BBG3000", two back-to-back BunBurner GOLD's. BLISTER consisted over 3100 miles of 2-lane roads in the desert outback; less that 4% of the routing was on divided highways, and only then to connect to other 2-lane roads.

BACKGROUND:
==========

BLISTER is the most extreme, hard-core event the Cognoscente Group has ever sponsored, even more intense than Dawg Eat Dawg, so it was determined early that BLISTER would be by Private Invitation only. The Cognoscente Group Inner Council selected 164 names from the Endurance Riding community, men and women who have a demonstrated, proven portfolio of LD accomplishments.
Only the very best were invited to BLISTER, because we knew this event would be unlike any other, and require more out of the
rider than traditional rallies.

164 riders were extended personal invitations; 69 of them responded with keen interest. Those 69 folks were sent to this web site to learn about BLISTER and see if they actually wanted to accept this challenge:

http://www.warpages.com/cognoscente/blister/welcome.cfm

After reading what was entailed, 31 of the most insane, hard-core riders on the planet accepted this challenge. None of the riders were aware of who was attending BLISTER, yet four distinct groups soon emerged from the entrants: The FJR Boyz, The Old School, the Fast Movers, and the Riff-Raff:

/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/


The FJR Boyz:
============
The FJR1300 is fast becoming a mainstay within the Endurance Riding community. If there was a machine tailor-made for BLISTER, it's the FJR1300. It's extremely fast, has excellent gas mileage, and excellent rider protection. It also has one of
THE FINEST stock headlight systems of any modern motorcycle, a feature critical to staying alive in heavy deer country found thought the various BLISTER routes. 25% of all BLISTER Starters were riding the FJR1300. It is interesting to note that 3 of the FJR pilots had minimal LD experience (though all possessed substantial motorcycling experience).

All but one FJR finished, as follows:

Doug Banfelder - Finisher. Doug was one of just a handful of relative newcomers to LDRiding who nonetheless possess the Right Stuff to handle this event. Doug rode a helleva ride, and provided many hours of free entertainment with classic newbie errors and behaviors, the stories of which will undoubtedly come out over the next few days/weeks. Doug's only significant "faus paux" during BLISTER was that he was caught cleaning his FJR several times over the weekend. Fortunately, Tom Melchild and Roger Van Santen quickly corrected his behavior. :^)

Tom Melchild - Finisher. A seasoned veteran of Cognoscente events, Tom was instrumental in helping out the FJR newcomers and providing tips on running in Nevada rallies. :^)

Doug Chapman - Finisher. Another relative newcomer to LDRiding, Doug proved he definitely had the Right Stuff. He never was without a perpetual grin the entire 4 days in Ely. Make no mistake, this guy can make that FJR fly!!

HMarc Lewis - DNF: fatigue. Most unfortunately, HMarc Lewis, admin of the FJR1300 email list and owner of the MASSIVELY informative FJR1300.info web site, suffered from serious fatigue and wisely elected to halt his efforts when it became apparent he was no longer safe to continue. While he is surely disappointed, he of course made the right call, without question.

Todd Witte - Finisher. Todd's BumbleBee paint job on his FJR was the talk of the FJR crowd. I understand that Todd particularly liked taking his FJR over that most wonderful of motorcycle roads, HWY 168 as it passes Bristlecone Pine and launches you over Westgard Pass. Heh. :^)

Rick Martin - Finisher. Rick is another Cognoscente veteran, having completed MASS GOLD. Rick is one hard-charging Endurance Rider who rides that FJR like a man possessed.

Roger Van Santen - Finisher. Roger is a multiple veteran of Cognoscente events, and his FJR was about as tricked out as you can get. He had many intriguing farkles on his bike, all clean, sanitary, and extremely functional.

/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/


The Fast Movers:
===============

These guys were riding fast bikes and were all business, and many had there own personal agendas that they wanted to perform.
Some astounding performances were made by these men. 'Nuff said:

Bob Hall - Finisher. Winning the 2001 IBR made Bob Hall a household name in the Endurance community, and he was invited to join the Cognoscente Group upon the retirement of Don Moses. Bob's BMW RT once again gave him some trouble on this event (on Day Two), robbing Bob of several hours in completing his final 1500 miles on Day Two. This didn't appear to bother Bob; he still finished with time to spare. (!)

Eric Jewell - Finisher. Riding a BMW RT similar to Bob Hall's, Eric Jewell finished with plenty of time as well. There aren't many riders who can keep up with Eric Jewell; this man is a Force. Quiet, unassuming, Eric doesn't say a whole lot, he just goes out there and consistently turns in a staggering performance in every event he enters.

Ron Mozer - DNF: tire. Ron Mozer rides a lickety-split 2001 Kawasaki ZX-12R Ninja that gained a lot of notoriety last year. Unfortunately, Ron suffered from a rear treadlife issue that caused him to bow out after Day One, when his brand new Metzler ME880 was showing steel cords after only 1500 miles. Ron had a super-trick GPS Transponder mounted on his bike that allows you to track him in real-time on the web; it's unfortunate that his tire went so early in the event.

Dale Wilson - Finisher. I could have *easily* been a DNF-mechanical. On Leg one of Day One, I was leading Bob Hall and the Insane Canadians, Lee Myrah and Mike Hutsel, down HWY 50, and this little run at an assertive pace evidently completely zapped my chain. Very, very uncool. :^( It caused a big segment of the chain to stretch. Pulled up at the first Mandatory refuel, and heard the distinctive "slap-slap-slap" of a chain that is out of adjustment and smacking the undercarriage. I immediately knew it was completely toast. Got off the bike and tried to adjust it, to no avail. Fûckit, nothing to be done now, except to just keep moving.... so I did, and finished despite the chain. This story will be the subject of another post.

Brian Roberts - DNF: fatigue. I did not get all the particulars about Brian's ride, but he evidently thought the fatigue factor was excessive for him, so like HMarc, he *wisely* called it for himself at the end of Day One. This was unfortunate in that Brian was the only other Blackbird entered in the event. Still, Brian's excellent headwork here leaves him alive to ride another day.

Mike Hutsel/Lee Myrah - These two stated up front they would like to ride together, though Mike was quick to point out that "We're not gay... we're Canadian"! Lee and Mike hold many serious Records within the IBA, and like Eric Jewell, they never talk about their exploits, they just do it. Riding a pair of ST1100s, these two gents were about the hardest riding entrants we had; only Mac McFarlane finished ahead of them.

/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/


The Old School:
==============

A full 25% of all BLISTER Starters were from the Endurance community's "Old School", guys that were out cranking out the miles before anyone even knew what LD Riding was all about. These grizzled veterans ran the Iron Butt in the early days of the late 80's/early 90's. Many of these names are true Endurance Riding living legends... yet, all did not finish BLISTER, which is indicative of how tough this event really was:

Jan Cutler - Finisher. Little needs to be said about this man. A previous Iron Butt Rallymaster, the previous owner of Reno BMW (legendary for it's own insane LD events over the years), and co-Rallymaster for BLISTER, Jan Cutler is one of the founding members of the Cognoscente Group.

Judge Joe Mandeville - Finisher. Judge Joe Mandeville is a true IBR legend, and he is as tough a rider today as when he was riding to glory in the early days of the Iron Butt. They don't come any tougher than 'Da Judge, that much is certain.

Dave McQueeny - DNF: time-barred. There is probably no else on this planet with more documented miles that Dave McQueeny. Dave was riding the Iron Butt back in the mid-late 80's, long before anyone even knew such a thing existed. Dave ran BLISTER on a 1989 BMW R100GS, and couldn't maintain necessary speeds at night due to heavy deer presence on the Utah-north loop, and ran about a hour late for Day One. Dave certainly has nothing to prove to anyone, so he just shrugged it off, and happily volunteered to perform staff duties the second day. Dave is a Class Act that is hard to follow.

Frank "Old Phuck" Taylor - Finisher. This guy is my personal hero. Stories of his incredible exploits in the early days of the Iron Butt are the stuff legends are made. Without any fanfare or drama, the "Old Phuck" just hoisted an arthritic leg up over his Kawasaki Concours, and rode the dog-shit out of it to finish with not a lot of time to spare.

Steve Chalmers - DNF: birdstrike. Steve Chalmers is the *original* RallyBastard, a former IBR Rallymaster, and Chairman of MERA, the Motorcycle Endurance Riders Association. His annual "Utah 1088" rally is considered the Crown Jewel of 24-hour Endurance Rallies. Sadly, it was reported that Steve struck a large bird that took out his Gold Wing's headlights, and that was the ball game for this event.

Mac McFarlane - Finisher. Mac was not even sure if he could participate in BLISTER due to a broken throttle hand he suffered while mountain biking in early April. Yeah, that broken throttle hand really hurt Mac's ability to perform.... NOT! Mac was the *first* rider back from Day One... and also the *first* rider to come back on Day Two! I probably should list him under the "fast Mover" section.... :^)

Bill "Nasty" Newton - Finisher. It still amazes me to watch Bill handle that Wingabago of his like he does, given the fact that Bill can hardly walk. In desperate need of two new hips (and a spinal column), he walks with a 20-degree list to starboard. Yet few can match his performance on the bike. Nasty holds the MERA record for 30 SaddleSores/30 Days, is a
previous winner of the Utah 1088 and a multiple Cognoscente event veteran. The Cognoscente loves Bill Newton. He sorta looks like a cross between Gandalf and Yoda. On a good day. :^)

/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/


The Riff-Raff:
=============

These BLISTER entrants don't really fit in the above three catagories, so I'll lump them all together and call them the "Riff-Raff":

Holly Harrison- Finisher. One of the original "Narley Boys", Holly rode with Ray Blair and Lisa Landry. Holly traded in his ST1100 for a Wing a while ago, and appears to really like the bike. Those three get on their CB radios and entertain each other the entire run.... a technique that appeared to work well for them.

Lisa Landry - Finisher. Lisa has been just a *little* bit busy these past few months, performing her duties as the 2003 Iron Butt Rallymaster. Thus, she did not have the opportunity to get in a lot of riding in order to prepare for BLISTER and was pretty concerned about her riding condition. Her concerns proved unfounded; using her rolling-sofa 2002 Wingabago to coddle her, she finished the event with time to spare.

Ray Blair - DNF-mechanical. Holly Harrison and myself are to blame for Ray not completing the event. At the end of Leg One, he told Holly and I that he experienced severe fuel starvation problems on his ST1100. Sadly, at the time, Holly and I were suffering badly from the "Fog of War", having just stepped off the bike after 1500 brutal miles, and NEITHER one of us recognized that Ray was *exactly* describing the classic failure of the ST1100 vacuum-actuated fuel shut-off valve! :^( We did the next day, so Ray removed it, and the bike ran fine afterward! :^( Sorry, Ray.... :^(

Marty Leir - Finisher. Since he lives in Minnesota, the Cognoscente had no direct knowledge of Marty, but a background check with our Team Strange brethren indicated that Marty was indeed a player. And he was, too, riding a BMW 1150GS "Atomic Cockroach" to an excellent finish. This was Marty's first time through Death Valley, and it proved to be a learning experience. Perhaps Marty will visit Death Valley again during a little ride around the country this August.

Joe DeRyke - Finisher. Another multiple Cognoscente veteran, Joe DeRyke rode his 2000 BMW 1100RT to an uneventful finish. Or, at least, I didn't hear about any particular drama about his run. :^)

Kerry Church - DNF-tire. Kerry should be considered certifiable for even attempting to run this event on a KLR650 toy-bike. Sadly enough, his rear tire had a bad (heavy) spot in it that eventually started to cause the rear tire to "hop", and wore down the tread at that spot. There was no way for him to continue, which was truly unfortunate, as Kerry would have been the Hero of the Day if he had finished BLISTER on that thumping KLR! :^)

John Lagan - Finisher. Missing several phalanges from his throttle hand has not slowed down John Langan one bit. John is a veteran of multiple Cognoscente events. He was enjoying HWY 168 perhaps just a little too much, and ended up bounce-checking his Wingabago. The bounce-check performed as expected, but the bike finished the event without most of the right-hand side Wingabago amenities. :^) John is a perpetually upbeat guy, and a hard-core rider to boot.


/*----------------------------------------------------------------------*/


Final BLISTER stats:

* 31 paid entrants
* 28 actual starters
* 21 completed this event, effectively doubling the number of BBG3K finishers in the history of the IBA
* Established a new World Record Group Ride for the BBG3000
* Riders rode over a combined 66,000 miles in less than 48 hours


- Warchild 

By Fjrider on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 01:30 am:

Wow...all I can say is wow... 

By Gr8eyes on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 04:49 am:

Do these guys have surgically placed steel plates in their butts? How do you do that?

Glenn 

By Liquidsilver on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 05:18 am:

Thanks for the tales, Dale! You IB guys are truly amazing!

Now fellas, aren't ya glad I asked?

BTW - Dale just a teeny request - could you try to keep the colorful metaphors to a minimum on fjrowners.com? Not that they bother me... and your creative use of them is funny as heck, but my 7 and 8-year-olds are starting to want to check out this site with me, occasionally. You can ignore this request if you think I'm being a ninny, but whatever, just keep those posts coming. I take it, you're a waiter, then?

 

By Hobo on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 12:10 am:

Oh yeah, and 'child, could you do something about the facial hair...my wife doesn't like it. Oh, and I'm not big on Honda, so about the XX...
And finally, about that wardrobe..?!
[joining in the Great American Warchild Makeover, 2003 version 1.1] 

By Liquidsilver on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 01:30 am:

Spoken like a true vagrant, Hobo. 

By Hobo on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 04:20 am:

By Bounce on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 12:10 pm:

Someone asked for a copy of the original ride report. Warchild posted it in its original form. To "edit content" would have completely changed the flavor of it. It also would have taken time to weed through the post and do all that work.

I, for one, disagree with the PC crowd that would even consider asking such things.

As a 3rd party I would post this advisory:

Warchild trip reports may be hazardous to children and thin-skinned adults. Read at your own risk. 

By Rogdeb on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 07:12 pm:

Truly an amazing guy
An amazing bunch of guys
Kudo's to the FJR
Oh -- Hobo doesn't look like a vagrant, but I know what Hobo really stands for 

By Bobvail on Monday, July 28, 2003 - 07:44 pm:

Ninny? No comment other than maybe redirect the kiddies to the SpongeBob site

I'm not sure this reader would be pleased to see the site edited or censored to the 7-8 year old level

Great post Warchild! 

By Liquidsilver on Monday, July 28, 2003 - 08:17 pm:

Oh jeez, now I'm thin skinned. Okay, but PC?

Bite me!

Sorry I asked. 

By Torch on Monday, July 28, 2003 - 08:28 pm:

"Bite me"? Did your kids teach you that expression? 

By David1300 on Monday, July 28, 2003 - 11:35 pm:

Now you're all making me wonder about who should read Warchilds other exploits - like his famous "Deer Strike". Read it again last night, and laughed as much as ever. Great reading, but not for sensitive kiddies. Warchilds Deer Strike - NO ENTRY FOR ANYONE UNDER 18 YEARS

Oh - and not recommended reading for Tree-Huggers; Bunny-Huggers; Anti-Gun Lobbyists; Bambi-Brigade and sundry others groups  

By Liquidsilver on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - 12:33 am:

Do they have those down under too, David?  

By David1300 on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - 01:03 am:

Those and more

Way back when we lived in South Africa, carrying a handgun was not unusual (remember those days, Bernie ) and I always laugh out loud when I read of Warchilds 'therapeutic emptying of his clip' because I can see the picture so clearly. I mean, he had to show the deer how he felt, didn't he . Can you imagine a tree-hugging, bunny-loving, card-carrying member of the Bambi Brigade, complete with anti-gun bumper sticker, arriving on the scene at that moment  

By Bernie on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - 03:03 am:

Do I remember? Went to a bike rally in Bloemfontain once. When night fell, some idiot started firing parachute flares into the sky, and all 3500 drunk bikies started firing their pistols at the flares. Sounded like WW3 had just started. I went and hid under a big truck until they ran out of ammo. What goes up must come down again. It was raining bullets for miles around.

On another occasion, at a rally in Rhodesia, it was dawn after a heavy night on the booze, and as the sun touched the tree tops, a bird started singing its morning chorus, until some one with a mighty hangover staggered out of his tent and fired at it with a 9mm. Missed thankfully. 

By Marcusfdajare on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - 03:20 am:

Mr. Wilson:

That is one hell of a funny story! I can not believe you had the machine repaired($3700)or was the bike totaled? I`m still laughing about the dullop on your `stach.

Hard & crusty,
-Mark  

By Warchild on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 - 02:45 pm:

---

Quote:

That is one hell of a funny story! I can not believe you had the machine repaired($3700) or was the bike totaled?

---