I find endurance events fascinating. Whether it is ultramarathons, century bicycle rides, or any other crazy made up tasks that human invent to push our limits, it blows my mind as to what the human body can endure and accomplish. I feel the same way about machines. I have the same innate feeling deep down inside when I think about pushing them to their limits. I love the patina of higher mileage machines, baked by the sun and worn by rain and tens of thousands of miles. Maybe it is some type of anthropomorphism but I see motorcycles like humans, pushing themselves to their limits and exceeding what many think is possible.
2011 Iron Butt Rally
The stamina and perseverance displayed by both the rider and motorcycle while completing in endurance motorcycle events is for me the sans peril. I imagine that I am not the only one who thinks this way, as evidenced by the popularity of the Iron Butt Association, Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge, and Cannon Ball Run Coast to Coast Motorcycle Challenge.
This is why I find the video above are so entertaining. The video feature icons circumventing the United States, as they race from location to location to accumulate as many points as possible, before finishing exactly where they started. The amazing thing is that each icon represents a single rider. Each rider maps their own route and then sets out to cover approximately 11,000 miles in 11 days. Now that is endurance for both man and machine.
If you haven't yet check out the video above of the 2011 Iron Butt Rally, as well as the link to a similar style video of the 2013 rally here. Then as always tell me what you think.
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