Fifteen years ago I attended my first IBA Party. During one of the breaks, I found myself standing next to a guy who introduced himself to me as Jim. Being a newbie, I asked him if he had done much riding. “Yes, I’ve done some” he said. “Have you done any rallies,” I asked. “A couple,” Jim responded I followed with about twenty minutes of questions about fuel management, heated gear aux lights and other topics, and Jim gave me his ‘secrets’ of what, and how and when to do things. I still use many of those tips in my riding today. It wasn’t until a year later that I found out that Jim was really James Owen, the winningest motorcycle rally rider of all time. Why do I tell this story? It’s so you know who we are—what makes the IBA a great organization. Most of our riding is non-competitive (unless you count competing with ourselves) but some riding, in rallies, is competitive. Yet almost all IBA riders are willing to share their experiences with others to enhance the sport. Several Gold Medal rallyists, like Tim Masterson and Greg Rice developed computer spreadsheets to help plan rally routing, and they published these aids, with instructions, for everybody (including their competitors) to use. Black Mile Eater certificate holders like Lionel Ramos and Brian North routinely mentor new riders. They do these things because that’s who we are. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an assemblage of top level rallyists and certificate riders in one place as we will have at the Big As Texas Part in Allen, TX on September 22. Some of these experts will be giving seminars on how, why, and when to do things with your riding. All of them will be available during the off-time to willingly help less experienced riders. So if you want to learn—if you’re a newbie or an experienced rider – come to the BAT and share the fun. There will be a special 1,000 mile ride, a 24 hour rally, and lots of exciting activities. See here for more info. Register at the ibaestore—look for BAT2026. Questions? Write to us at [email protected] |
