Advice on my first SaddleSore 1000

planning to try next Sunday June 28 Thur, June 3

My Tentative Route

New Orleans north on I-55 to Memphis and then east toward Nashville to like Buffalo, TN and return same way

non holiday Sunday

looking for advice, construction knowledge, slow downs etc on my attempt of a SaddleSore

worried most about Memphis

planning to go with Jeff Q

any advice on anything here is welcome

perusing the IBA web sight as we speak

thanx

let's ride safe and be careful out there,

Mike in Nawlins'

Advise please

Jeff Q said:

Advise please

Click to expand...

Make a route that goes in a loop. Less boring. You then have an alternate route each way to avoid traffic and weather conditions.

Be well rested. And remember, it's not a race B)

Best wishes!

Keep focused. Try to minimize stopped time as much as possible. Keep hydrated. No caffeine. Snack on nut/beef jerky/granola bars at gas stops.

If you start feeling drowsy - STOP. Try walking around for 5 minutes. If that doesn't cure it, time for a short nap at the Iron Butt Motel. Sour hard candies like lemon drops can be good for drowsiness too.

Make sure you move around on bike periodically. Move those arms, legs, hands. Stand-up and down several times every hour or two.

Most importantly - have a good attitude and ENJOY!

After your first SS1000, the USA won't seem so big anymore.

Circular route down here is hard when trying to aviod the bigger cities as much as possibe.

You really want me to give routing advice? Well OK.

1. First one? Stuck to the interstate thats good, you get to get a feel for what your doing and rest areas are plentiful, most with vending, cold drinks, snacks. Don't eat heavy that's going to put you to sleep.

2. If I put New Orleans and Buffalo, TN into S&T I get 620 mile, or 1,240 round trip. I've found S&T to be pretty accurate, lose the extra 200 mile, your going to really feel them later. You only need a 1,000 an extra 40 or 50 mile will be plenty of insurance.

3. Go Walmart they have hydration packs (like a camel back)cheap.

4. Rain Gear, any long ride figure your going to get wet at some point.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. It's easy to overlook the simple things when you're so focused on a goal. Ride the bike.

Looks like we will stay on 55 north the exit 58 in MO, Flying J there. 517 miles from starting gas station on Mike's Zumo

Jeff Q said:

Circular route down here is hard when trying to aviod the bigger cities as much as possibe.

Click to expand...

True...I tried to route to shreveport, jackson, ms; meridian, ms; mobile, AL to home and couldn't get to 1000...

ish... as long as you're not heading into those larger cities during peak traffic...I would avoid Memphis like the plague though....

twistedcricket said:

Jeff Q said:

Circular route down here is hard when trying to aviod the bigger cities as much as possibe.

Click to expand...

True...I tried to route to shreveport, jackson, ms; meridian, ms; mobile, AL to home and couldn't get to 1000...

ish... as long as you're not heading into those larger cities during peak traffic...I would avoid Memphis like the plague though....

Click to expand...

Our route is around the West side on Sunday. I think its the best route of the available options this time...

You can still do a circle route .. just go on past your original starting point to get the needed miles. A friend and I just did our first official SS1000 Saturday June 20th. We started in Eau Claire WI...if we would have come back to the same spot to end we'd have been about 5 miles short...we simply went on to Menominee WI giving us 1,014 total (GPS miles, 1038 odometer). It's all about having a start receipt for location and time, corner receipts to show your turns, and a end receipt with location and time...if you overlap a little bit of your route it's okay.

All the advice above is right on the money, plus this time of year is the absolute best time to do a SS1000...max daylight. I can't really add much to what's already been said other than make it fun! My friend rode his Royal Star Venture and I rode my FJR...he "thought" he was more comfortable and would pick on me at our stops; my FJR got significantly better gas mileage and I picked on him because we made two of our stops earlier than I wanted to (at least that's what I told him).

We started at 4:15 AM and ended at 8:45 PM, 16.5 hrs total time, 14.5 hrs riding time. We took decent breaks at each gas stop, plus a 1/2 hour for a lunch stop. But....relatively speaking our route was easy compared to trying to do elsewhere in the USA ... We started in Eau Claire WI, I-94 west to Fargo ND, I-29 south to Sioux Falls SD, I-90 east to Tomah WI, and then back on I-94 west to Menominee WI. Plus we had an added benefit of a 75 mph speed limit in SD, however some of the benefit was wiped out because of construction knocking the four-lane down to two for 50 miles plus. The weather was great (but we did go prepared for afternoon T-Storms) and traffic was light...I think St Paul/Minneapolis roles up the sidewalks Friday night/Saturday morning, I don't think we saw more then 15-20 cars on I-94 through the cities at 6 AM Saturday morning. While I-90 westbound was pretty busy, not much traffic on I-90 east. Busiest chunk of road all day was I-94 west from Tomah to Menominee to finish the ride out.

One secret ... lemon drops!

Good luck, enjoy!

Curt (07 FJR and 06 RS Venture)

We post-poned a while due to heat an other stuff.

Good call. Best to go when you're mentally and physically ready, than go by some arbitrary schedule.

Get some Art's Tender Salt sunflower seeds and figure out how to eat them while moving. For me, works as good as anything to keep the drowsy away.

And what everybody else said....

I followed Toe thru Nevada. Amazing how many sunflower seeds my bike collected

airboss said:

You really want me to give routing advice? Well OK.
3. Go Walmart they have hydration packs (like a camel back)cheap.

4. Rain Gear, any long ride figure your going to get wet at some point.

Click to expand...

The hydration pack is a must in my book. Made my SaddleSore ride much more comfortable and enjoyable.

Wild bill highway pegs

nofreeride said:

Jeff Q said:

Advise please

Click to expand...

Make a route that goes in a loop. Less boring. You then have an alternate route each way to avoid traffic and weather conditions.

Click to expand...

+1.

• Boredom makes long distances mentally draining and that can become dangerous. Don't ride back the way you came if you can help it.
• Stay away from long stints on twisties or 2-lane county-type roads as your average speed will fall. You'll end up in the saddle longer than you would otherwise.
• Make some simple rules about how often to take a breather and stick with 'em.
• It's better to gas up earlier than later if you're unsure about where your next station might be.
• Long distance riding can be more risky to the rider than short trips for a number of reasons. This is especially true for riders new to the long distance game. Some build-up rides can help prepare. i.e., 2 x 300 mi then 1 x 600 mi, then go for it. If you're already seasoned then just be aware that you'll be at some additional risk and up your caution accordingly.
• If you begin to get tired, find a safe place & take a rest. Don't just sit...get up & around. Get the blood flowing. I'll do a brisk walk for 5-10 minutes. Busy yourself mentally to get the noggin back in gear.
• The IBA website has a number of tips like this that you can review as well. Clicky.
  

Good luck, be careful and have fun.
Cheers,

W2