ISDE Competition Bulletin

March 21, 2008

The 83rd ISDE in Greece this year is posing several challenges on us as a team. I want to make everyone aware of the hurdles we are facing since once the team is announced, selected riders must be able to act instantly.

The first deadlines we must adhere are entries and the shipping of the container. To start, we must have our entries into the organizer by June 4th which puts a lot of pressure on you the rider since the Idaho Qualifier is May 31/June 1. We must have our team finalized by June 2 to get our entries in on time. We were not made aware of the aggressive deadlines until after the qualifier schedule was set in October of 2007. When dealing with government land in NJ and weather/snow in ID we just cannot change dates once they are set.

Second, the container must be picked up in Oregon on June 16th to begin its journey to Greece to insure that it arrives on time. The reasons for the early pickup is due to the fact that Europe considers August their “vacation" month and it will be difficult to guarantee timely unloading and delivery at the port if it arrives any later. There are also some difficulties at the main port in Greece and a lot of ships are diverting to Thessaloniki which is our port of entry, creating even more congestion.

We are also experiencing unprecedented increases in all event and shipping costs. The shipper is currently imposing a 31% fuel surcharge driving our container shipping costs to over $33,000 at this point. Gasoline in Greece is currently $8.00 a gallon for 97 octane which will put our gas expenses over $12,000 for the 34 rider team. The weak dollar and expected increases in the cost of oil may drive these expenses higher.

The rider support fee covers container shipping, gasoline, van/truck rentals for use at the checkpoints, snacks, spaghetti and water for riders, checkpoint cell phones and many other miscellaneous expenses required to run the team for the week. At this point, based on the fluctuating shipping and gasoline costs we are looking at a Rider Support Fee of $1450.00.

On Thursday March 20th the ISDE Advisory Board met to discuss our options in dealing with the deadline situation. It is the Boards recommendation that we keep our existing Qualifier schedule intact, but make riders aware of the tight deadlines they must meet to be part of the 2008 ISDE Team.

We will begin calling eligible riders on June 2nd and you must be able to confirm immediately your ability to be on the team. Be sure you are available to take a call.

We will require a $1,000.00 non-refundable deposit towards the Rider Support Fee and $750 ISDE entry fee when confirming. We accept all major credit cards.

Your crate must be received at the container in Portland no later than June 13th to be loaded. Any later and it will miss the train.

Your maximum allowed crate sizes are as follows:

Shipping a bike: 75" L x 24" W x 45" H including skids of at least 1.5" in height
Not shipping a bike: 38" L x 24" W x 45" H including skids of at least 1.5" in height

All of your gear, including tires, must fit within your crate.

Both KTM and Gas Gas will have bike rental programs and due to the tight schedule from when the teams are announced to when your gear must be at the container, we are strongly encouraging riders to rent a motorcycle.

Timeline recap:

June 2nd: Confirm your spot on the team
June 2nd: $1,000.00 Rider Support Fee deposit due
June 2nd: $750 ISDE Entry fee due
June 5th: Packing list of gear being shipped in container. If you are shipping a bike we will need your original title or certificate of origin along with a photocopy of your drivers license.
June 13th: Your gear must be in Portland, OR at the container

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at (614) 856-1900 x1245 or cweir@ama-cycle.org

If you have any questions concerning your gear and the container, contact Gunny at (800) 929-1044 or RClaypoole@bhy.net

Sincerely,

Chuck Wier
Off-Road Racing Director
The American Motorcyclist Association