In prep for the IBR I have been reading everything ever written about the rally. I read this before but just reread it.
Taken from here: LINK
Ed Otto rode a Honda 250cc Helix in the 1995 IBR and finished.
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I am happy to report that, with superhuman effort, Ed Otto finished the rally and became my hero. He did what everyone said was impossible, and he did it with style. But doing the impossible is what heros are all about.
"Congratulations Eddie! You achieved a real milestone in your career. We're totally proud of you" I told him excitedly on the phone.
"It's really nothing," he replied, the Helix is the real star. It was like the train in The Little Engine that Could.
"Nothing?" I said in amazement. "You just circumnavigated the United States on a 250cc scooter in 11 days. You call that nothing? You're a hero. You're going to be famous."
"Lee, you're telling me that I'm going to be famous for sitting on my ass with a bent wrist for a long period of time. What kind of a thing is that to be famous for? Nobody is going to be impressed by that." he said.
"Well I'm impressed," I added. "Not to mention all of our subscribers who got to see you in action and called us up to report on your progress. Or all of our readers who keep calling and faxing us wanting to know when the Iron Butt story is coming out because they can't wait to read it. Or American Honda who wants to display your bike in their corporate office. Do I need to go on?"
"I don't know," he continued, "it just doesn't seem like a big deal to me. A big deal is how you racer guys drag your knees on the ground without falling off. To me, that's impressive."
"I know lots of guys who can drag their knees on the ground. But there's only one person who ever completed the Iron Butt on a Helix, and that's you, Mr. Edward Otto," I said, sternly. I'm afraid you're just going to have to live with being my hero. And the more you try to tell me it's nothing, the more heroic you will become."
When you really think about, motorcycles offer a unique accessibility to heroism. As motorcyclists, we epitomize the American independent spirit. It's easy to forget how lucky we are. There are millions of Walter Mittys living in quiet desperation out there. But how many people get to experience the freedom and joy we receive from riding?
When we ride, we're just doing what we love. To us, it is nothing special. It's just what we do an expression of who we are. But to an outsider, motorcycles are an unknown in their lives. There seems to be both an inherent fear and excitement that people experience whenever dealing with something new. Some lean more toward the fear side, while others are drawn toward the excitement. In either case, there is a tendency to look in awe at those things that we are either afraid of, or unable to do. Such is the stuff heros are made of.
We are fortunate that the sport of motorcycling takes so many different forms, because we each have our own things that we are good at, and we can look to ourselves as each other's heros. This is why Ed and I can both be in awe of each other's ability as motorcyclists even though we are so different. And if either of us wants a new challenge, we can simply try a new form of riding.
So long as we just keep doing what comes naturally to us, we can't help but be heros to ourselves and others.
Because the best heros are those who are just being themselves.
Lee Parks
Editor
Motorcycle Consumer News
