Dedicated to my late father, Paul Wiltshire – without his support we would not have made it to either of the IBRs, thank you Dad.
Paul Wiltshire, Dec 1944 – Apr 2025.
This is the Iron Butt Rally. For most, it is a defining experience in life. It builds character and also life-long friendships. It shows the world that somewhat ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they just believe they can and don’t stop until it is done.
(Paul Tong, 2025).
This is a meandering account of our Iron Butt Rally in 2025, written by Chris Wiltshire, expressing the
perspective of Chris (and Stella) while partnering with Dr Bill Karitis in Team FA-FO.
“11 days, 11,437 miles”
There is so much more to say than I can put down in words, here.
Links:
YouTube channel playlist for 2025 Iron Butt Rally content:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4OP4xZZoK31AnkvbEIospl5tm_8Wm9rD&si=OxbqIL9AsoQsscyy
Introduction: The Unfinished Business of 2023
When we did the Iron Butt Rally in 2023, my biggest regret from that event was that we never managed to write it up and share the experience properly with people.
This time around, I’ve been determined to do better, and so while this is still fresh in my mind, I’ve made this effort to provide a bit of a write up. Beyond this, I invite anyone who has any questions about this to get in touch and ask. One of my strongest hopes is that we might perhaps inspire others to look at this and to perhaps set some goals to give this a go.
Participating in the IBR is a life-changing experience, whether you finish or not; the commitment it takes to get to the start and to roll out of that carpark as one of the Iron Butt Rally competitors is an achievement in itself.
If you manage to achieve finisher’s status, getting your three-digit IBA number, then that’s the cherry on top, and it makes you a part of a very special extended family. There’s a certain bond which the IBR finishers share; although we all go our separate ways and we travel our own journey, there are enough shared experiences that we each know what it took to get through, and that’s enough. The three-digit number is more than just a recognition of the effort, rightly so—it becomes a sought-after and hard-earned status symbol.
Most of that had remained unsaid since we finished in 2023.
The Birth of Team FA-FO
For 2025, Stella and I were returning to the Rally as a 2-Up partnership again, but this time we were also teaming up with Dr. Bill Karitis as a formal Team entry into the IBR 2025. Team FA-FO was formed in 2024 when Bill and I rode around the USA and Canada together on a 16-day tour. The name of the Team reflected what we were doing during that tour. In the 2023 rally, we had been conservative and had a number of constraints which we applied to our planning decisions: avoid the big cities, avoid the heat of the southern states, don’t cross into Canada unless the points made it highly important… In 2025, we all wanted to medal, and we knew that the key to finishing in a medal position would be to undertake things which made the ride harder and less comfortable. 2024 was all about experiencing those things head-on—so, FA-FO was to Find Out what we would be comfortable doing.
The 2024 tour took us through New York City, across the Brooklyn Bridge, down onto street level, and through the Bronx at night. We crossed the USA/Canadian border four times; we went coast to coast in Canada from Nova Scotia, around the Cabot Trail, and across to Vancouver. We travelled through California, lane-splitting, down to the Mexican border at San Ysidro; we went through the Californian deserts, crossed the southern states in August in the middle of the heat, and ventured into Florida and did the Florida Keys while on the clock (Key Lime Pie SS1000 certificate). In doing this, we completed the SCMA 4 Corners Tour, the Trans Canada Quest, and a number of IBA certificates. Most importantly, we learned that we could ride together for extended periods, and we learned what wrinkles we needed to smooth out to try to make that kind of extended exposure to each other tolerable.
So, Team FA-FO was established. We talked about things, made decisions about how we would approach things, and agreed to enter the IBR 2025 as a team. That’s a pretty massive commitment to make! Both Bill and I can be pretty strong, Type-A personalities. We’re also both fairly self-aware and can, when needed, tone things down, but there was a real risk there and Stella would clearly have a part to play as a mediator at some point, and so it was pre-agreed that she’d have to be an impartial tie-breaker as and when required. Most importantly, we all pre-agreed that friendship was most-important and that we would only enter into this if we could agree that we’d prioritise that over results. And that was it—a pretty basic framework under which we agreed to enter and give this a go.
The Long Game: Prep, Gear, and Friendship
Bill and his wife Debbie have been amazing friends to us over the past four years. Our relationship has grown to the point that we think of each other as family, not just friends. They have been so very kind to us in terms of their assistance, their hospitality, and their generosity over the years. To get to this point, I’ve been back to the USA each and every summer since 2022:
- 2022—Senior Butt Rally and bike prep.
- 2023—Iron Butt Rally.
- 2024—FA-FO Tour.
- and now 2025—Iron Butt Rally.
This has been a long game and for all of us a pretty significant investment in terms of focus, effort, time, and finally, money.
Another thing which we did in 2024 was to develop a rear-mounted aux tank, build it and test it here in NZ on my Blue C14, then take it in check-in luggage to the USA and mount it for the FA-FO Tour.
It had been failing to transfer in the final days of that tour in 2024, so this was still very much in ‘development and testing’ as we went into 2025. Without being hands-on with that bike in the downtime periods between trips, there’s little to nothing I can do to move those things forward. For an overseas entrant, this is one of the hardest things to deal with—the prep and testing time you’ve got is limited to just those few days before each event.
The combined capacity of my main and aux fuel tanks is 10.5 US gallons. This can provide between 390 and 420 miles of range depending on the type of riding. The construction of the rig to hold this aux tank is pretty impressive; it’s a frame which also holds the hydration system’s jug behind the bike, beneath the number plate. It braces back to the bike and mounts to the tip-over bars to create a pretty rigid and supportive frame. Personally, I wouldn’t have been happy to mount that tank on the back there without this additional frame. A lot of work has gone into each and every aspect of this. To develop this stuff, it was important to have a like-for-like platform here in NZ. So, after the SBR in 2022, we invested in all of the same gear for my NZ bike, including the Denali Aux lights, the T-Rex tip-over bars, the T-Rex highway pegs, etc. Dual GPS mounts, the same switch positions for the electronics, etc.; any muscle memory developed here should be applicable to the USA setup. Each and every part of this has been for some form of benefit or improvement.
Alan Doak asked whether someone would be able to do the IBR on a rental bike, simply turning up and riding. Well, the answer would be yes, I’m sure it’s possible, but if you want to enter this event on a level playing field with the others and to compete in it, rather than just survive and finish it, then that’s when these things become important. Do you NEED heated gear? Do you NEED aux lights? Do you NEED an aux tank? Do you NEED two GPS mounts? Do you NEED a hydration system? You’ll not have any of those on a hire bike, and each of them makes a difference in terms of how easily you can operate and keep moving comfortably and safely through all hours of the day. So, yeah, while you could do this on a hire bike, powered use of a phone for navigation, some degree of heated gear, and waterproof riding gear would be the absolute minimum to get through this. I digress.
The Road to Iowa
The pre-prep was all done. We’ve flown over to the USA, we’ve got about six days before we need to leave for the IBR, we’re adjusting to the time zones, and getting over jet lag, performing final physical prep on the bike.
This all went pretty smoothly and were done in time for us to head out on Monday, June 9th for a shakedown ride. We’d pre-planned a route from Charleston, SC, to Charleston, WV, largely a 500-mile out-and-back. Given ‘the Charlestons’, we did some research on the Roaring ’20s and located surviving speakeasies along the route. We found six of them which we incorporated into the plan, which made the ride a little more interesting. It also got us off the main highways in WV and into some nice rural riding roads. Everything went well; the aux tank performed flawlessly, giving us the potential for fuel ranges greater than the mandated maximum of 350-mile stops during certificate rides.
So, we’re almost ready to go. We’ve had the shakedown ride; it’s now time to change the tyres before we head out towards Coralville, Iowa for the start.
In the 2023 IBR, we strongly suspected that we wouldn’t make it around 11,000+ miles (including the distance to and from the start), so we bought a second rear rim, mounted a tyre, and shipped it to the CP2 location (thanks, Ken, for your help with this!).
This year, we really wanted to avoid the time required to change the wheel, along with the cost to ship. In the lead-up to 2025, I had been testing a weird and wacky rear-tyre option for the C14. The C14 normally takes a 190/55-17 size tyre. Commonly I’d use a Michelin Pilot Road 4 or 6 GT, but I knew that was unlikely to go the distance on the rear. So, I had trialled fitting a non-standard rear tyre option here in NZ: a Dunlop Trailmax Mission 170/60-17. A narrower-than-standard tyre for this bike, also a cross-ply and not a radial tyre. The ratings, both for speed and load-bearing, were within reason, so I figured if it mounted, then it would be a reasonable thing to try during the IBR.
I ran this for two months in NZ before ordering one to Bill’s house for the IBR. This tyre is narrow, to the point that we needed to use a ratchet strap around the circumference (along with plenty of lube) in order to get it to seal and bead. Once it started to go though, pop-pop, no problem!
Bill shook his head looking at the rear end of my bike, saying that there’s something wrong with that type of tyre on the back of that bike! 🙂 Well, if it was going to help us to get through the mileage on one single tyre, it’d be worth it!
It certainly got scrubbed in on the way up to Iowa. The three of us planned a meandering route up to Coralville. The route naturally passed through West Virginia and Tennessee; this is the land of the various Dragons. In 2023, we did the Head and Back of the Dragon on the way to Pittsburgh; this time, we had a perfect opportunity to do the Tail of the Dragon. We planned on doing it, coming back through, and going again. We stopped at Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort for lunch before we headed out. Thursday, just after lunch, turned out to be a good choice—not too many lunatics on the road, not too many grandpas either.
At the end of the third pass, we had to get off the road and shelter from a massive downpour and thunderstorm, but we were lucky enough to get almost all of our three runs in during the dry weather. This deluge was enough to soak Bill’s gear on his bike, costing him his iPad and some trouble with his charging circuits for the next day or so. There are some videos of our Tail of the Dragon experience on my YouTube channel here:
Overall, we took our time to get up to Coralville, stopping for two nights out on the road on the way up there. We arrived in Coralville on Saturday the 14th, early afternoon, to be greeted by some friendly faces and some big hugs from friends we’d not seen in a few years. Reef gives excellent hugs, and so does ‘Rally Master Extraordinaire’, Paul Tong. Arrival in Coralville as a Rally Vet felt quite different from 2023, turning up as a Rookie. This year, I felt a sense of calm and excitement, whereas in 2023 it was more trepidation and excitement. Having a better idea of what to expect and knowing that we were very well prepared this time was the key difference. This was further aided by the changes which the Rally staff had made to the registration processes this year. Almost all of the registration work was completed before the event. The only things left to do were to sign a release in person, pick up swag, have some photos taken, record a bit of a video message, then head out for the ODO check. All of this happened on Sunday this time around, and with less to do, there was less stress and more free time to see people, to catch up, and hang out.
So, on Saturday night, there was quite a congregation of riders in the hotel bar. I got to meet a few new people and catch up with some friends we’d not seen in a couple of years. Notably, I want to give a shout-out to Stephen Johnson, whom I met for the first time, another C14 rider in his rookie year. Apparently, he’d seen a number of my posts and YouTube videos showing some of the prep work I’d done; he was aware of the 2024 rides we’d done, etc. That was kind of surreal for me to meet someone from the other side of the world who knew who I was through some of the stuff I’d put out there. We chewed the fat for a fair while that night; little did I know at the time that our chat would go some way towards influencing his approach as a rookie in this Rally. He’s a young fella still (at ?32?) and while he could play it safe just to get his number, we’d talked about how he was young enough to get another shot at it again, and that another approach would be for him to put himself out there and go hard. 🙂 Which is what he did, and while I can’t claim any further credit for his finish, I was incredibly pleased that he managed to come 5th overall in his first-ever IBR!!! WOW, well done, Stephen, I’m so pleased for you! 🙂 (Stephen’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@steveo555234)
The Iron Butt Rally 2025: Origins
This year saw a number of changes from previous years, ushered in by the new Rally Master and his staff; Paul Tong brought his own flavour and approach to this event. One of these changes was that we didn’t get the Rally Book or the theme released to us until Monday morning at 5 a.m.; previously, this had been done on the Sunday night after the banquet, providing time on the Sunday evening to kick off the planning effort. Previously, we were due in the carpark, checked out of the hotel by 8 a.m. on Monday. This year, we’d be starting formally at midday, expected in the carpark at 11 a.m. This meant that we had a limited period for planning, shorter than the overnight period from previous years. All is fair; we’re all in the same boat.
This year’s theme was ‘Origins’; they paid homage to the history of the event, some of the previous great riders and their efforts, reusing some of their previous favourite bonus points to construct ‘Loops’ from which we could choose. These loops were not pre-prescribed routes but a collection of bonus points which together formed a ‘combo’ where all of the bonus points became the mandatory elements of a base plan. Once we fulfilled the base mandatory bonuses, we could then add to them from any of the other available bonuses. This was a true smorgasbord on offer. When looking at what was available for Leg 1, the first thing to do was to wrap our heads around each of the base loop options. Not all of them were achievable within the timeframes provided for Leg 1.
The shape of this year’s rally in terms of the legs was also slightly different from previous years. This time around we had 3.5 days, 2.5 days, and 4.5 days out on the road between the checkpoints; previously this had been 2.5, 2.5, and 5.5. You might add them up and say, “but that’s not 11 days, it’s 10.5″—well yes, once you take into account the dead time at CPs, you do lose at least a half-day of riding. ‘11,000 miles, 10.5 days’ might be a fairer reflection of the time available to do it in. 😉
On offer this year for Leg 1 were two special ‘extended loop options’, called the 1991 loop and the 2011 loop. We were told that in order to finish this rally, we would each need to ride a minimum of ~9,500 miles. The 1991 loop was roughly this distance; the 2011 loop was estimated to be at least ~11,250 miles or thereabouts. These two loops were offered with some very special considerations: if you went to each of the mandatory bonuses on either loop, you were guaranteed a ‘finisher’s status’ in the rally. If you did the 2011 loop and successfully claimed all of the mandatory bonus points, then you were guaranteed a Gold Medal-level finish in the Rally. For both of these, there was a special allowance that we could head out and stay out for the entire 11 days, not having to return to Coralville for the intermediate checkpoints.
The 2011 loop caught our attention. Remember I’d said that we were all clear on our objectives this year and that all three of us wanted to medal. This felt like a gift, and with the option to head out and stay out, well, that suited us too. It’d mean that we’d have to make one single decision now, then commit to it, but that we’d then avoid all of the complexity of having to work through two further planning periods (as a team). Given that we knew full well how that becomes much harder at the checkpoints once you’re tired, and knowing that we would have to be making group decisions at that point about what we wanted to undertake two more times, this really did seem like a gift option.
Remember that Senior Butt Rally from 2022, the one I was lucky enough to be able to ride with Sir James Owen? That 6-day rally had us out from TX for five solid days on the road before returning back to the hotel and then out for a final day in TX across that 6-day rally. Those first five days had James and I heading out to the far reaches of the North-Eastern states, collecting state capitol buildings as bonus points. The 2011 loop was 42 state capitols, 17 of which I’d already done with James. The direct experience of heading through those tightly packed North-Eastern states proved highly useful. Bill rode in the SBR that year too, so we had a lot of shared knowledge around those cities. We knew which ones were going to be the hardest to capture.
Honestly, we felt like the stars had aligned for us, and while we did explore other loops to look at what kinds of routes we might build, we committed to the 2011 loop pretty easily. Once we had, all focus went on to trying to get as much of that planned to the highest possible level of detail we could before we were due back down in the carpark at 11 a.m. Our mission was clear: make sure we collect ALL of those mandatory bonuses first and foremost; everything else would be a nicety. Our route fell out at 11,400 miles; we were happy with that. We’d need to be knocking out 1,000 miles each and every day, with a few 1,200-mile days thrown in here and there. We’d plan our nightly stops on the fly, and as long as we could see the required distances being covered each day, we would know that we were tracking along on target. Honestly, things became that simple for us from a planning perspective.
Executing the Plan: The First Half
We were a team of three people and so we had preagreed that in order for us to stand the best chance of operating well together, we could not afford to get too tired because that was when friction would likely become an issue. We planned to try to be off the road by 10 p.m. each night, take approximately six hours off the bike, and be back on the road by 4 a.m. That would form our base, nominal plan from which we would vary as needed. Some nights required us to stop for longer, and on some others, we would choose to stop for less.
There were rest stop requirements in the Rally, which were grouped together as ‘minimum hours required’ per leg, along with ‘minimum hours required’ per stop, and a minimum count of those stops per leg. The requirements were flexible enough that you could shape the rest stops across a leg to suit the kind of riding you wanted to do. You could, of course, take more. We did take more than the mandatory minimums; that was in line with what we had aimed to do to keep ourselves operating well together.
We also had a few ‘bucket list, tick-off items’ we wanted to do during the IBR. Firstly, we really wanted to be able to say that we had achieved the tagline of ’11 days, 11,000 miles’. It’s not a fixed requirement for the IBR, and in 2023 we completed it with 10,315 miles. This 2011 loop was going to provide that for us! Another thing we really wanted to do so that we could say we had done it was to use the IBA hotel during the IBR. For those who don’t know, the IBA hotel is simply somewhere to sleep while on the road. It’s commonly a park bench, but if you can find something with shelter too, then that’s a bonus. With this in mind and knowing that we needed a couple of extended days where we would cover ~1,200 miles, we figured the IBA hotel would provide a reduced overnight stop period, allowing us to net some bigger distances for those days.
Catching 40 winks at the IBA hotel.
When the other riders were back at the hotel in Coralville for the checkpoints, we were forced to mirror their compulsory stopped-time too. We had a drop-dead, DNF-based stoppage time of 8 p.m. – 4 a.m. This was mandatory, and we all knew that if we failed to log our stopped time on this night for that extended period of 8 hours, we would be disqualified. Well, to do that safely, you figure out where you’re staying that night, get there with a margin, and stop a little early. We got into our hotel in Yonkers, NY at around 7 p.m. and stopped for a total of 9 hours that night (Thursday the 19th).
At the pub next to the hotel in Yonkers…
The night following that stop seemed to make good sense to us all as being a good choice for our ‘IBA hotel night’, since we were on the back of one of the best and fullest rest nights we would have, and it was still in the first half of the Rally. It seemed to make good sense for us to have a good hard push at getting ahead while we were still fresh enough to do it as easily as possible.
We’d made some good progress through the Eastern states; the first three days had some pretty serious wet weather mixed in. As we were heading into our fourth day, we were hoping for a break in that weather as the boots were soaked. We had limited sets of changes of clothes that we’d been washing at night; none of these were drying in the wash bag since it had been raining on it. We were getting to the point where we said, ‘If this continues, then we’ll need to go to Walmart to buy some dry socks’. I’d even unsuccessfully tried plastic bags in the boots to try to shelter my feet from the puddles which had taken up residence in them. Thankfully, this was largely the end of the continuously bad weather. Looking back at this period, I’m amazed we managed to make the continuously good daily progress that we had.
Meeting up with Rob and Yarddog at the Capitol in Alabama.
A highlight of our night was to catch up with Rob and Yard-dog in Alabama..
So, back to Friday the 20th and our ‘IBA hotel’ night. We were pretty relaxed about this plan; we wanted to play things by ear and to only do this if it made sense (with the weather, etc.). If it hadn’t worked out, then we’d have happily grabbed a hotel for that night too. It wasn’t worth risking too much for the tick in that box, certainly not worth doing anything which might jeopardize the rest of the rally or how well we had been making progress. Turns out, all we had to do to make this work was not book a hotel, to push on until we got to the point where the first of us said, “OK, I’m getting tired enough to stop now,” then find a suitable rest stop to park up in. The state-sponsored rest stops in the USA are excellent. They follow a pretty common layout/set of facilities, and the toilets are often clean and open 24/7. There are sheltered picnic benches which at night, no one else needs to use, so there’s often a good choice of bench. It’s good to get off the floor if you can, as the insect levels are reduced somewhat. Sleeping on top of the bench or on a bench seat can provide quite a good degree of rest.
Stopping on the side of the road for 8 mins while we came up with a plan of somewhere better to stop.. Between this stop and our rest stop it PISSED it down and soaked our washing again!… We stopped for a brief break (8 minutes on the shoulder) at 2:43 a.m., then found a rest stop to use a little further down the road. Through our tour in 2024, we learned just how valuable even 15 minutes of downtime and shut-eye can be. If you can get a solid few hours, then it’s even better. This is what we were aiming for at this stop, but it didn’t work equally well for all of us.
There was a lot of noise from the trucks which were parked nearby, running their generators for their refrigerated containers, etc. I slept OK, and I think Stella did too. Bill, on the other hand, didn’t appear to get much. We stopped there from 3:14 a.m. to 5:26 a.m. Still, we’d stopped and taken a break at least, and by the time we were ready to head out again, we were good to go for a good few hours. Importantly too, we were off the road during those horrible early hours where fatigue can creep up on you.
We pushed on through the morning hours, stopped for coffee refills at the gas stops, filled the tank bags with some decent food from the stations, and carried on. We made it through until early afternoon when we stopped again at another rest area for another 25-minute snooze. I didn’t sleep at this one, but both Bill and Stella caught some ZZZs. And that was it; from that point, we were able to stay rolling until our normal stopping time later on that night at 9:41 p.m. in Amarillo, TX.
This push was a major boost for us. Here’s the summary of that effort:
- Total routed distance: 2,346 mi
- CENTRAL TIME: Track start: 2025-06-20 03:03:06
- CENTRAL TIME: Track end: 2025-06-21 20:41:31
- Overall AVG Speed: 56.3 mph
- Track Duration: 1 day, 17 hours, 38 minutes, 25 seconds
This point in Amarillo was particularly significant for us. It represented the halfway point in the rally. It was a stocktake point in our ride. We were 5.5 days into the 11 days we had out on the road. Here’s what our figures looked like at that point:
- Total routed distance: 5,803 mi
- Track start: 2025-06-16 11:59:43
- Track end: 2025-06-21 20:41:31
- Overall AVG Speed: 45.1 mph
- Track Duration: 5 days, 8 hours, 41 minutes, 48 seconds
In our minds, we had done the ‘harder half’ of our route. From here, the speed limits were increasing, the frequency of the bonus stops was decreasing, the miles should be getting ‘easier’, and while we might be starting to accumulate some tiredness, we had another 8-hour rest stop coming up on the following night.
Simply put, if you take the mileage we’d done already and double it, we got 11,606 miles, which meant that even if the second half of this wasn’t going to be easier riding, we were more than halfway through the distance at the halfway point! Our pacing had been excellent to this point.
On the 22nd June we took a little time for ourselves along the route and stopped off in Tucumcari for the Route 66 monument, and then Winslow, Arizona, so we could take it easy, hanging out on a corner… Photo credit to Bill for both of these, thank you Bill! 🙂
The Second Half: Pushing to the Finish
We were buoyed up by positive comments coming in from those back at home and some kind words from Mike Kneebone, who said, “You guys are making this look easy!”, high praise indeed from someone who’s seen a lot of these rallies unfold. While Amarillo was just a convenient place for us to stop—there wasn’t anywhere ‘just a little further down the road’ for us to stop at—we were happy to be off the road before 10 p.m. We stuck to the plan and were back on the road by 4 a.m. the next morning.
Riding through the Texas panhandle, the winds whip through there with no shelter offered to the road; we were riding for at least a total of 10 hours with crosswinds of 35 mph and gusts blowing well and truly beyond that. There’s no good way to get through that apart from keeping on moving. As we got into New Mexico and started to head northwards towards Santa Fe, the winds finally subsided. Santa Fe ended up being one of my favourite capitols on the trip, a most unexpected gem; very small in size and quite quaint in terms of the architecture. It felt more like a fair-sized town than a city. I liked it a lot.
Later on that day, we entered Nevada and found a high-value bonus that happened to be on our route, worth 75 points. We had to take 10 minutes or so to collect that one. The Death Valley Inn, not in Death Valley, but instead in the Nevada Desert—odd, but okay. 🙂
This was mid-afternoon, and we’d been jostling with decisions on where we should try to make it to that evening. This was again one of those compulsory nights where we had to be firmly off the road by 8 p.m., or we would DQ. We set our sights on Tonopah, a small town in central, southern Nevada.
Bill did his usual fantastic job of finding and booking the night’s accommodation, and then we were on the run to get in by the required time. As we turned up in town, we had a little bit of spare time before we needed to stop, so we stopped at a gas station which sold beer and liquor, grabbed a small bottle of bourbon, a couple of beers, and headed to the hotel. We got the clock stopped in time and ordered pizza delivered to the room. This was another good decompression night, and the pizza was AMAZING; we almost got through two 16-inch pizzas!
At this point, we’re well and truly getting on with things. We know where we’re going and what we have to do. We have a reasonable idea of where we’re going to end up night to night, although we’re still leaving those details each day to sort out while we’re on the road. Setting out at 4 a.m., we’d be checking on progress by midday, looking again at 2 p.m., then looking to lock things in and book something by around 4 p.m. each day.
This next morning was pretty special. We got on the road again at 4 a.m., then rode through the remainder of the Nevada Desert. The scenery through there was stunning; we had an amazing sunrise which Bill insisted on stopping for (thank you, Bill, that was a great idea)!
We were feeling good and ahead of where we needed to be, so we felt like we had some breathing space now to opt into more of the optional bonuses, like the audio bonus that day, which was the ‘Photo of the Bike with a flying American flag’. I captured a nice photo of Stella, the bike, and a big flag that day, and we made it into the dailies. 🙂 At this point Larry, our Lobster was starting to really stink..
Later on that morning, we crossed into California by Lake Tahoe. Wow, stunning! That scenery was spectacular; I can see why it’s such a popular place. I started to have a few issues in the previous 24 hours with my aux tank delivering fuel properly and a very strong smell of fuel, ever since we left Amarillo. (I had taken it apart to try to figure out why it might have been delivering fuel slower than before). I was getting a little frustrated by the horrid smell of fuel and a little concerned by it. So, we used some time for a dual-purpose stop and logged a Meal Bonus at Becca’s Cafe in CA. While the food was being prepared, I took 10 minutes to disassemble the fuel cap and to remount the seal which I had incorrectly fitted in Amarillo. It was a simple fix which cured the fuel smell immediately.
I-5 North in CA is pretty through the hills, and Oregon is generally very pretty too. We pushed on and had a fairly late stop that night, then up early again the next day. This top-left turning point on the map really felt like we were on the way back to the barn. We were still three days out at this point, but the direction had changed, and we were heading east again. Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were left. We’ve got this. The rinse and repeat had again turned into scattered showers through some of these states. As we neared the end, we were figuring out the likely timing of our arrival back at the barn. At one point, it looked like it would be around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night. We knew we had some buffer time—we had known this instinctively all the way through from Amarillo—but to be able to determine when exactly was a real boost.
On that final Thursday, this buffer came in extremely handy. As we traversed down from Minnesota through to Wisconsin, we were following a really intense storm front, one which we really didn’t want to have to ride through and was wide enough that there was no option to ride around it. We just paced it and sat behind it as it moved in the same direction we were heading. We decided again to use some of that time to stop, remove ourselves from the shoulder area of that storm, and grab a meal bonus. We found this brand-new Mexican restaurant which had only been open for around a month. It was brilliant, one of the best Mexican meals we had had. And since the rain hadn’t stopped when we were done, we took a further 30 minutes and grabbed some ZZZs in a booth in the restaurant. The lunch rush had finished, and the staff didn’t mind us doing it. Bill crashed out on the floor behind the booths, and he managed to grab a few ZZZs.
That afternoon was spent riding and stopping, riding and stopping—staying out of the storm. We had time to do this, so why not use it? It did, however, make for a long day, and we’d not reached our final capitol in Wisconsin yet.
It was getting super late, the conditions were still challenging, and I called for a rest stop in a rest area. Bill seemed reluctant to stop, feeling like it would only take one incident on the Interstate beyond Madison, WI, to derail our effort to get back to the barn. But I was bushed. I fell asleep within minutes at the rest stop, and when Bill saw how tired I was, he simply got on his phone and booked a nearby hotel for a more proper, off-the-road stop.
We did that hotel stop before we hit the capitol bonus; we left that for the early morning. We didn’t take any of our gear up to the room. The plan was to simply crash on the beds, then get back on the bikes and ride back to the barn. I think we stopped for around 3 1/4 hours. That ended up being such a good stop. By the time we were up and out in the morning, the weather had changed significantly. It was a pleasure to ride (with my soaking wet boots) to grab our final bonus stop of the rally.
We submitted that, then remembered to submit the final Loop bonus claim, celebrated on the pavement with a little dance, took some selfies, and then headed off with about 3 hours to go. The finish opened at 7 a.m.; we were due in just after 8 a.m. The penalty window started at 11 a.m. We still had ‘some buffer’. All we needed to do from here was not fail at the 11th hour.
The Finish Line and Final Thoughts
We rode carefully and sedately, not taking any risks on the way back. As we neared Coralville, we stopped in a gas station/liquor store and grabbed some bourbon and beers, then rode the final 20 minutes back to the hotel. We arrived back at 8:34 a.m., after almost 11 full days, and having completed 11,437 miles we pulled into the hotel in Coralville.
At scoring, we had no bonus claims declined; and we ‘left nothing in the tank’. We paced ourselves close to perfectly and as a team made consistently good decisions all the way around.
The three of us got Gold Medal Finishes and were incredibly proud of the effort which we put in, and of our execution. I can report we are all still very good friends, and that Stella and I are still happily married.
The tyre looked like new when we got back to Coralville.
The tread still measured 6mm when we got back to Bill’s house in SC. Between the finish of the IBR and Bill’s house, Stella and I rode back through Kentucky and stopped off at the Jim Beam Distillery for a tour. We also rode the Cherohala Skyway (1 1/4 hours of lovely twisties)—this, I think, shagged that rear tyre. The blocks of tread on it were cracking away from the carcass when we arrived back at Bill’s. The bike was very heavily loaded on the way home, and we didn’t hold back, 2-Up on the twisties on the way home.
That tyre, while it was used ‘out of spec’, did everything I needed and wanted it to; it got us around the ~14,000 miles on that trip safely, without needing to be changed. I don’t fault that tyre at all in terms of the final degradation which it suffered; that’s down to our use of it. I’d do it again, and I’m still riding in NZ with one on my NZ bike, but that tyre in the USA is munted; it’s toast.
I’d like to finish by congratulating my two teammates, Bill and Stella, on a job well done and an excellent result. I’m so very proud of us and the way we worked through this. I’d also like to say congratulations to all of those who participated in this year’s event and especially those who finished and who finished well. There were some amazing rides by some IBR rookies this year. Notably, Nichole Meuse, Alex Alpert, Stephen Johnson and Del Meyer stood out for me. Well done, you’re all legends, and I’m super proud to have a lower IBA number than y’all. 😉
An enormous, heartfelt ‘Thank you!’ needs to go out to the IBA and IBR staff for running this event, and special mentions to Paul and Tara Tong, Nancy Oswald, Ira, Tobie, and the rest of the IBR staff who make this event possible and put on such an amazing event. Thank you!
Finally, we need to thank Tania, Luke and their wonder-dog Bobo for their help in looking after our place and animals while we were off joy-riding around the USA! Thanks, guys!
Day by Day, the numbers:
(All times shown are CDT)
Day 0 – 16-Jun-2025, Monday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/acd3-de75a4-1cbe/view
Start: Coralville, IA End: St. Louis (West)
Via: Des Moines, IA; Lincoln, NE; Topeka; KS; Jefferson City, MO;
Capitols Captured: 4
Total routed distance: 799.6mi
Track start: 2025-06-16 11:59:43
Track end: 2025-06-17 00:26:05
Overall AVG Speed: 64.3mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 12hrs 26mins 22secs
Running Total: 799.6mi / Capitols: 4
Day 1 – 17-Jun-2025, Tuesday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/8479-34c5cac-520e/view
Start: St. Louis (West) End: Columbus, OH
Via: Springfield, IL; Indianapolis, IN; Nashville, TN; Frankfort, KY.
Capitols Captured: 4
Total routed distance: 1038.1mi
Track start: 2025-06-17 05:26:47
Track end: 2025-06-17 23:45:46
Overall AVG Speed: 56.7mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 18hrs 18mins 59secs
Running Total: 1837.7mi / Capitols: 8
Day 2 – 18-Jun-2025, Wednesday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/1d94-4229ec-3d34/view
Start: Columbus, OH End: Montpelier, VT
Via: Columbus, OH; Charleston, WV; Harrisburg, PA; Albany, NY; Montpelier, VT.
Capitols Captured: 5
Total routed distance: 1013.5mi
Track start: 2025-06-18 05:33:39
Track end: 2025-06-18 22:13:09
Overall AVG Speed: 60.8mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 16hrs 39mins 30secs
Running Total: 2851.2mi / Capitols: 13
Day 3 – 19-Jun-2025, Thursday – CP1 Stop by 8pm local time (CDT+1)
https://spotwalla.com/trip/d3cc-216b1c-eb93/view
Start: Montpelier, VT End: Yonkers, NJ
Via: Augusta, ME; Concord; NH; Boston, MA; Providence, RI; Hartford, CT.
Capitols Captured: 5
Total routed distance: 639.6mi
Track start: 2025-06-19 03:55:44
Track end: 2025-06-19 17:08:08
Overall AVG Speed: 48.4mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 13hrs 12mins 24secs
Running Total: 3490.8mi / Capitols: 18
Day 4 & 5 – 20 & 21-Jun-2025, Friday/Saturday
IBA Hotel was used here which is why we’ve joined these days together
(1.5hrs rest taken at Rest Area).
https://spotwalla.com/trip/3bf3-225d254-0326/view
Start: Yonkers, NJ End: Amarillo, TX.
Via: Trenton, NJ; Dover, DE; Annapolis, MD; Richmond, VA; Raleigh, NC; Columbia, SC; Atlanta, GA; Montgomery, AL; Jackson, MS; Little Rock, AR; Oklahoma City, OK.
Capitols Captured: 11
Total routed distance: 2340.4mi
Track start: 2025-06-20 03:03:06
Track end: 2025-06-21 20:41:31
Overall AVG Speed: 56.2mi/hr
Track Duration: 1 days, 17hrs 38mins 25secs
Running Total: 5831.2mi / Capitols: 29
Made up of the two following ‘riding days’:
Total routed distance: 1327.9mi
Track start: 2025-06-20 03:03:06
Track end: 2025-06-21 02:14:52
Overall AVG Speed: 57.2mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 23hrs 11mins 46secs
Total routed distance: 1012.5mi
Track start: 2025-06-21 04:26:04
Track end: 2025-06-21 20:41:31
Overall AVG Speed: 62.3mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 16hrs 15mins 27secs
Day 6 – 22-Jun-2025, Sunday – CP2 Stop by 8pm local time (CDT-2)
https://spotwalla.com/trip/2fea-180b4cc-685a/view
Start: Amarillo, TX End: Tonopah, NV.
Via: Santa Fe, NM.
Capitols Captured: 1
Total routed distance: 1140.8mi
Track start: 2025-06-22 04:00:17
Track end: 2025-06-22 20:54:25
Overall AVG Speed: 67.5mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 16hrs 54mins 8secs
Running Total: 6972mi / Capitols: 30
Day 7 – 23-Jun-2025, Monday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/371d-187159c-33fa/view
Start: Tonopah, NV End: The Dalles, OR.
Via: Carson City, NV; Sacramento, CA, Salem, OR.
Capitols Captured: 3
Total routed distance: 1029.2mi
Track start: 2025-06-23 06:20:18
Track end: 2025-06-24 00:17:24
Overall AVG Speed: 57.3mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 17hrs 57mins 6secs
Running Total: 8001.2mi / Capitols: 33
Day 8 – 24-Jun-2025, Tuesday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/fb57-101e00c-83b7/view
Start: The Dalles, OR End: Idaho Springs, ID
Via: Boise, ID; Helena, MT.
Capitols Captured: 2
Total routed distance: 1122.2mi
Track start: 2025-06-24 06:04:14
Track end: 2025-06-24 22:55:51
Overall AVG Speed: 66.6mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 16hrs 51mins 37secs
Running Total: 9123.4mi / Capitols: 35
Day 9 – 25-Jun-2025, Wednesday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/6854-15bfe5c-8a94/view
Start: Idaho Springs, ID End: Murdo, SD.
Via: Salt Lake City, UT; Cheyenne, WY; Denver, CO.
Capitols Captured: 3
Total routed distance: 1231.2mi
Track start: 2025-06-25 05:05:30
Track end: 2025-06-26 00:55:36
Overall AVG Speed: 62.1mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 19hrs 50mins 6secs
Running Total: 10354.6mi / Capitols: 38
Day 10 – 26-Jun-2025, Thursday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/a377-3a78c6c-51ba/view
Start: Murdo, SD End: Madison, WI.
Via: Pierre, SD; Bismarck, ND; Saint Paul, MI.
Capitols Captured: 3
Total routed distance: 947.8mi
Track start: 2025-06-26 06:01:51
Track end: 2025-06-27 00:34:36
Overall AVG Speed: 51.1mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 18hrs 32mins 45secs
Running Total: 11302.4mi / Capitols: 41
Day 11 – 27-Jun-2025, Friday
https://spotwalla.com/trip/c92f-219d404-010d/view
Start: Madison, WI End: Coralville, IA
Via: Madison, WI
Capitols Captured: 1
Total routed distance: 203.9mi
Track start: 2025-06-27 03:45:29
Track end: 2025-06-27 08:34:16
Overall AVG Speed: 42.4mi/hr
Track Duration: 0 days, 4hrs 48mins 47secs
Running Total: 11506.3mi / Capitols: 42
The numbers in graph form:
Capitols snagged per day:
Distances and Avg Speeds for each day:
Riding duration each day:
Our Scoring Sheet:
Photos logged to SpotWalla
https://spotwalla.com/trip/51d7-23cb1cc-5503/view
2025-06-16 11:31:49 – @00:00:00h after the first photo
Location: 41.68848,-91.56544 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Ok
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/c06b71419f2e2c48a5bab4cbc1051f72.jpg
2025-06-16 13:38:20 – @02:06:31h after the first photo
Location: 41.59005,-93.60815 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/81fb6fcb66e136bc55c31b93f528966d.jpg
2025-06-16 16:13:00 – @04:41:11h after the first photo
Location: 40.80802,-96.70153 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/3aa9-3d6f8-d88c.jpg
2025-06-16 19:07:45 – @07:35:56h after the first photo
Location: 39.04700,-95.67791 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/bb15-5c166-fa6c.jpg
2025-06-16 19:54:04 – @08:22:15h after the first photo
Location: 39.08746,-94.88322 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Food
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/c8916f282fadb3baec1706ea7a6c5467.jpg
2025-06-16 22:54:23 – @11:22:34h after the first photo
Location: 38.58003,-92.17200 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/35cf-0ba4-81b3.jpg
2025-06-17 00:26:05 – @12:54:16h after the first photo
Location: 38.71663,-90.70817 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Hotel / Lodging
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/31eab8fcb9f19f2ac730dc6a248923f2.jpg
2025-06-17 07:21:59 – @19:50:10h after the first photo
Location: 39.79920,-89.65333 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/bc08-6ff4a-86a7.jpg
2025-06-17 10:44:10 – @23:12:21h after the first photo
Location: 39.76882,-86.16180 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/3f6cae406c462cd148a2acd3375d0ea2.jpg
2025-06-17 16:36:06 – @05:04:17h after the first photo
Location: 36.16671,-86.78612 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/bdef9a5c4411280b129ae3a34f1ac75c.jpg
2025-06-17 20:21:26 – @08:49:37h after the first photo
Location: 38.18794,-84.87605 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/55a6d15a266e416e1cbedeeeb2c2f79b.jpg
2025-06-17 23:44:48 – @12:12:59h after the first photo
Location: 39.98076,-83.15256 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Hotel / Lodging
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/2db4080af7403c31fe02993921abadf5.jpg
2025-06-18 05:48:41 – @18:16:52h after the first photo
Location: 39.96182,-82.99977 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/6677-63164-c367.jpg
2025-06-18 08:23:59 – @20:52:10h after the first photo
Location: 38.33557,-81.61255 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/83dd-22f7e-ba0e.jpg
2025-06-18 10:44:10 – @23:12:21h after the first photo
Location: 39.64756,-79.89120 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/84ad-63f6a-33cf.jpg
2025-06-18 14:03:01 – @02:31:12h after the first photo
Location: 40.26307,-76.88107 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/96ee-3d720-8e98.jpg
2025-06-18 14:23:43 – @02:51:54h after the first photo
Location: 40.30303,-76.84582 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/88ebbb2b97534918b2642461f5942ed4.jpg
2025-06-18 19:02:50 – @07:31:01h after the first photo
Location: 42.65253,-73.75632 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/6c12-77bc8-b85f.jpg
2025-06-18 22:03:51 – @10:32:02h after the first photo
Location: 44.26237,-72.58059 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/bf1eeb0140bf341034e81d25e4be718f.jpg
2025-06-19 07:46:30 – @20:14:41h after the first photo
Location: 44.30828,-69.78392 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/f3ac20ba51b3c9e9a8c7dd60c21147a7.jpg
2025-06-19 08:42:46 – @21:10:57h after the first photo
Location: 43.64919,-70.25829 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/ff2658d0017dbcca02a5aec631ba40ed.jpg
2025-06-19 10:30:19 – @22:58:30h after the first photo
Location: 43.20674,-71.53759 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/d65a33f642c21999b21ebb6812834fe6.jpg
2025-06-19 11:51:02 – @00:19:13h after the first photo
Location: 42.35938,-71.06366 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/d953e76bf711b6ff981ccbbae62db327.jpg
2025-06-19 13:24:21 – @01:52:32h after the first photo
Location: 41.83028,-71.41477 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/de20-7e946-39b3.jpg
2025-06-19 15:04:29 – @03:32:40h after the first photo
Location: 41.76254,-72.68176 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/f2e1-9bcc6-3d7a.jpg
2025-06-20 04:28:15 – @16:56:26h after the first photo
Location: 40.22103,-74.77006 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/b205-3b3d0-b5a1.jpg
2025-06-20 06:29:33 – @18:57:44h after the first photo
Location: 39.15647,-75.52112 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/a6fc-8968e-f4b7.jpg
2025-06-20 07:49:41 – @20:17:52h after the first photo
Location: 38.97935,-76.49020 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/d081-3c73a-b4a2.jpg
2025-06-20 10:19:55 – @22:48:06h after the first photo
Location: 37.54005,-77.43453 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/bc0f-4707c-1ac7.jpg
2025-06-20 12:55:40 – @01:23:51h after the first photo
Location: 35.78037,-78.63835 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/d4fa-167d8-174d.jpg
2025-06-20 16:26:03 – @04:54:14h after the first photo
Location: 34.00109,-81.03174 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/3f04-20d1e-58cc.jpg
2025-06-20 19:52:43 – @08:20:54h after the first photo
Location: 33.74967,-84.38804 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/f375-7fcd8-be46.jpg
2025-06-20 23:04:11 – @11:32:22h after the first photo
Location: 32.37775,-86.30096 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/a3f9-7bc1e-97a3.jpg
2025-06-21 05:51:14 – @18:19:25h after the first photo
Location: 32.30294,-90.18331 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/db69-47e28-37fa.jpg
2025-06-21 10:35:47 – @23:03:58h after the first photo
Location: 34.74675,-92.29045 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/c1a6-21de0-b356.jpg
2025-06-21 16:19:38 – @04:47:49h after the first photo
Location: 35.49119,-97.50303 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/888fad39c40a97c282bd9f7cef34800c.jpg
2025-06-22 05:34:42 – @18:02:53h after the first photo
Location: 35.14907,-103.78381 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/a583fbaad60484843924ea491a50085e.jpg
2025-06-22 08:27:10 – @20:55:21h after the first photo
Location: 35.68223,-105.93867 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/dd0f-51482-a8bf.jpg
2025-06-22 13:24:38 – @01:52:49h after the first photo
Location: 35.02344,-110.69837 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Sightseeing
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/545b9b816eebf42ebff5e0f249cbd97c.jpg
2025-06-22 13:55:45 – @02:23:56h after the first photo
Location: 35.16633,-111.31785 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Sightseeing
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/f4067c024eeaf0af06bcb3c3d7043398.jpg
2025-06-22 19:34:53 – @08:03:04h after the first photo
Location: 36.90835,-116.75912 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/af1ff427bafb226385d4fa7b02ebfc42.jpg
2025-06-23 10:00:42 – @22:28:53h after the first photo
Location: 39.16291,-119.76667 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/cd1e-527c4-e314.jpg
2025-06-23 12:30:55 – @00:59:06h after the first photo
Location: 38.57700,-121.49533 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/ab38-33860-dd82.jpg
2025-06-23 22:05:28 – @10:33:39h after the first photo
Location: 44.93867,-123.02887 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/6a89976f66f12b3e620bb875a8bb193b.jpg
2025-06-24 11:10:37 – @23:38:48h after the first photo
Location: 43.61682,-116.20056 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/590e-2fb70-4a4e.jpg
2025-06-24 18:26:24 – @06:54:35h after the first photo
Location: 46.58603,-112.02008 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/a5cb52004df87f67c56978a13e52a265.jpg
2025-06-24 22:03:09 – @10:31:20h after the first photo
Location: 43.50009,-112.04668 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Hotel / Lodging
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/c4d4a58096692a36db96952235eadd3a.jpg
2025-06-24 22:55:51 – @11:24:02h after the first photo
Location: 43.49796,-112.05576 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Hotel / Lodging
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/80d4fffc31e6e94bfd12bebcc4b3856d.jpg
2025-06-25 08:25:01 – @20:53:12h after the first photo
Location: 40.77648,-111.88675 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/d64f-1e30c-ccf4.jpg
2025-06-25 15:21:12 – @03:49:23h after the first photo
Location: 41.13987,-104.82131 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/89b981e2c43244d9cab410dd501a17e4.jpg
2025-06-25 17:25:07 – @05:53:18h after the first photo
Location: 39.73926,-104.98385 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/71f3-69db6-b874.jpg
2025-06-26 07:06:23 – @19:34:34h after the first photo
Location: 44.36750,-100.34417 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/0862bce9c79fcf66cde4819d3d0d1b3d.jpg
2025-06-26 10:55:13 – @23:23:24h after the first photo
Location: 46.83128,-100.76414 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/99cd74cea90a9dd5ec1966d0d2b8dc7d.jpg
2025-06-26 19:06:32 – @07:34:43h after the first photo
Location: 44.95440,-93.10356 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/4014fe331126947174a0984dd5e8ac28.jpg
2025-06-27 04:33:28 – @17:01:39h after the first photo
Location: 43.03896,-89.38362 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Bonus Location
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/918f009030f4166f08e7f57b46fd198d.jpg
2025-06-27 08:34:11 – @21:02:22h after the first photo
Location: 41.68808,-91.56612 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Sightseeing
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/c2dedc506a697e2aad4a00b1f779c08f.jpg
2025-06-28 19:50:22 – @08:18:33h after the first photo
Location: 38.25745,-85.76341 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Tracking
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/2bc6-6b620-8def.jpg
2025-06-28 20:38:14 – @09:06:25h after the first photo
Location: 38.23457,-85.57612 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Food
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/953e6e5ade365154c0393c19cdf97f3a.jpg
2025-06-29 10:50:36 – @23:18:47h after the first photo
Location: 37.92475,-85.65969 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Sightseeing
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/65bfb7975766813b1e64286397996e9f.jpg
2025-06-30 06:11:58 – @18:40:09h after the first photo
Location: 35.46506,-84.64598 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Food
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/c9d500cc0cc85b083e96026e87e0344f.jpg
2025-06-30 07:57:05 – @20:25:16h after the first photo
Location: 35.34363,-84.03263 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Sightseeing
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/3ad99343d32582cd257f7ab8d7d1af46.jpg
2025-06-30 08:05:11 – @20:33:22h after the first photo
Location: 35.30335,-84.02375 – Click for map
Source: SWConnect
TZ: America/Chicago
Type: Sightseeing
IMG URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage-public.spotwalla.com/prd/pics/108/3457bbc928d61524cd51f0003cdea0f2.jpg
Final closing remarks:
Do you have what it takes to compete in the Iron Butt Rally? Do you think you could finish it? What would you have done differently to our 2025 effort? What would you have done the same? What do you think are the key attributes to succeed in this?
For me, the key is tenacity. Preparation before hand, and flexibility during the event are important; but without tenacity it’s too easy not to finish. I called this ‘stickability’ in our debrief interview; I meant the ability to simply stick to it, get up each morning, bounce out of bed, accept that you’re doing this again, then get on with it. Then keep doing it until you’re finished.
If you think you might have what it takes, then line yourself up on that starting line and give it a go. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. Set some goals, get out there and do it.