2007 Chilly Bun SS1000/BB1500 IBA Certificates

The Iron Butt Association has worked through the backlog of applications and are certainly back on track .  I mailed in the certification applications for my "Brace of Chilly Bun SS1000/BB1500 Runs" on January 2nd and the certifications arrived in the mail on March 5th.  They all came in the same envelope so they were obviously processed together.

This is the Bun Burner 1500 (BB1500) certificate for the 1553 mile ride from Issaquah, WA to Rancho Mirage, CA.   A BB1500 is a ride of at least 1500 miles completed in 36 hours or less. I completed the ride in a leisurely 33 hours 18 minutes.

The IBA rules allow for multiple certificates to be issued for a single ride in some situations.  For example a BB1500 can be accomplished without ever having ridden 1000 miles in a 24 hour period.  The only certificate this would qualify for is a BB1500.  A BB1500 could also be accomplished by completing a ride of 1000 miles in less than 24 hours as part of it.  The IBA will certify this Saddle Sore 1000 (SS1000) because it is an extra effort that is above and beyond the basic requirements of the BB1500.  There are many IBA ride combinations that can fall into this same multiple certification situation.

This is the SS100o certificate for the Saddle Sore portion of this ride.  The 1041 miles ending at Gustine, CA was completed it in 17 hours 59 minutes. 

The policy of issuing two certificates for one ride is not without controversy.  In any endeavor involving more than one person there will usually be differences of opinion .  There is a faction within the IBA membership that have the opinion that only one certification should be received for any ride.  In spite of the fact that this is contrary to the written rules and policies of the IBA, they persist in criticizing people or calling people names like "certificate hog". 

There is another contingent that criticize people for putting an IBA logo on a motorcycle that they haven’t ridden an IBA ride on.  By logo I mean an IBA license plate backer or medallion.  Again this is not an IBA rule, it’s just some people’s opinion. These are periodically recurring topics on some of the online forums or mail lists where the IBA is commonly discussed. 

I certainly am not going to try and tell people what they should think or do, but I would also hope to receive the same courtesy.  A pathetic hope I am sure .

The good news is that endurance riding is a rather solitary activity.  Not that you have to ride alone but in many ways it is the easiest and most convenient way to get down the road.  If you choose to ride with others you can certainly pick who you want to ride with.  I personally don’t have much interest in the scavenger hunt oriented long distance rally events.  Because of this the odds that I will meet, let alone have to associate with, any of these folks is rather small.  

I really didn’t want to sound negative about the endurance riding community.  The vast majority are just nice folks fitting their passion for riding into a normal hectic life.   I have gotten a lot a good information and had nice discussions with too many people to count.  I should just be hitting my delete key a little more often . 

This is the BB1500 certificate I received for the 1564 mile ride from Lake Havasu City, AZ to Renton, WA.  I completed this ride in 33 hours 51 minutes

The SS1000 portion of this ride ended in Brookings, OR.  I completed the 1069 miles in 17 hours 25 minutes. 

Now that I have received more than one ride certification I guess I can call myself a Mile Eater.  I personally think it is one of their better logos.  I’ve already ordered a pin .