Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 IRON BUTT MAGAZINE | Winter 2014 — Inaugural — EUROPEAN TOUR 2014 RALLY — — BY CHRIS MCGAFFIN A s I sit beside my motorcycle a few miles from Cairnryan, Scotland on my way home from Ger- many to Ireland, I can’t help but reflect on the events that led me to this point. It’s a beautiful sunny day in September. I take another bite of my sandwich and watch some swans gracefully swim by while my bike pings as the engine cools. I can see my ferry is in port a few miles away. In a few hours I will be home and the journey will be over — a journey that’s lasted two years and involved countless hours of work, thousands of miles traveled, hundreds of emails,and moments of frustration,despair,anticipation and inspiration. This is the story of how the first European Tour was conceived and completed. Planning and Preparation Several years ago, IBA Germany President Gerhard Memmen-Krueger, staff member Frank Schubert, and I got together in Germany for a strategy meeting. Our goals were simple: to design a five-day rally that would offer value in the form of fun and entertaining bonus locations through- out Europe, a rally format that would challenge competitive and recreational riders alike, and deliver good food, first rate hotels and, of course, quality rally swag. By the end of day two we had developed a basic concept s I sit beside my motorcycle a few miles from Cairnryan, Scotland on my way home from Ger- many to Ireland, I can’t help but reflect on the events that led me to this point. It’s a beautiful sunny day in September. I take another bite of my sandwich and watch some swans gracefully swim by while my bike pings as the engine cools. I can see my ferry is in port a few miles away. In a few hours I will be home and the journey PHOTO BY KEVEN AND LYNN WELLER