All In!

January 15th was the deadline for the final portion of the IBR entry fee, so that was "D" day or the last change to back out without significant loss of money. My payment went in on the 13th, so this ride keeps on going.

Sounds like most of the other riders also stayed in, I'm only aware of one rider who backed out, although a few commented that there could still be some backing out before the actual start ... as the cost of tires, hotels, GAS, etc is still looming out there on the horizon.

Still ... with the final payment mailed in, I've got a hotel room booked for the start, and it's time to get cracking on wrapping up those loose ends before April.

More to come ...

New for 2009!!!

Wow ... and I thought it had been too long between posts when I made that last post in April.

2008 is in the past, and while I didn't think it turned out to be such a good riding year for me, I was pleasantly surprised to see when checking my odometer that I still managed to do over 11,000 miles last year. But this year will be different, I promise.

The ride calendar is already packed for the year, and 2009 is only just getting started. I'll still have a couple of my favorite rallies this year ... returning to the Cape Fear after missing it in 2008, and once again participating with the Void ... but this year also has the biggest ride of my life planned for August; the 2009 Iron Butt Rally.

My goal is to use this blog to record my final prep work on the bike and myself as I get ready for the IBR, and then also to leverage the site during the IBR for tracking purposes and updates on how things are going. It's getting to crunch time as my goal is to have the bike pretty much finished and ready for a final test by the time the Cape Fear comes around in April, so I gotta get a move on. Still, hang tight, there will be much more to come.