SFCJCA
It's a dry heat
This is my first ride report.
After following the Iron Butt Rally and reading garyahouse's ride report, I was inspired to attempt my first long distance ride. I have a 05 FJR with handlebar risers, seat beads, Denali DM1 leds, cramp buster, throttle lock and a techmount for my cell phone. I bought a refreshment system from gerauld and some undergarments from LDrider, and put a fresh set of PR2's on the bike for the trip.
After reading A LOT of posts on long distance riding, I keep repeating to myself, "plan your ride and ride your plan." I planned a route from Sierra Vista, AZ through Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and back to Sierra Vista. The route came out to about 1130 miles. I planned locations for fuel stops and made sure to include stops at each corner of the route.
A week before the ride, I went cold turkey on all caffeine and alcohol. This might be excessive. But, for my first long distance ride, I wanted to follow the advice I'd read online. I also made sure to drink a lot of water to hydrate.
The night before the ride, I loaded all my stops into my cell phone (CoPilot Live), set up a trip on Spotwalla (connected to Bubbler GPS on my phone), checked tire pressure, loaded my tank bag with powerbars, jerky, motrin, chapstick, and two bottle of 5-hour energy drink, and set my alarm for 2 am. Then I had my wife witness my odometer reading. I laid down at 7 pm to get a good night's sleep.
2 am came quickly. I filled the cooler jug for the refreshment system and made one last check of everything. When I filled up my tank at the gas station, it was 2:42 am and the clock started ticking.
I hit Phoenix just after 5 am for my first stop. Even at this time in the morning, Phoenix is still hot and filled with crazy drivers. The ice water in the refreshment system was awesome. I choked down a powerbar and headed for Flagstaff.
I made it to Flagstaff about 7:30 am. The cool mountain air was refreshing after almost 5 hours on the bike. I switched my clear faceshield out for a tinted one, gassed up, slammed another powerbar and was off towards Gallup, NM.
Lots of construction on I-40. Seems they are replacing every overpass between Flagstaff and Albuquerque. The Gallup stop was as uneventful as the others: gas, bathroom, jerky/powerbar, refill water jug, log in mileage, set next waypoint and go. i'm really enjoying the ride so far.
It was getting warm in Albuquerque - probably low 90's. Thank you again, Gary, for the refreshment system. As soon as I made the connecting ramp from I-40 to I-25, I starting looking for a gas station. There are short cuts to round off the corners in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. But I was taking the long way and wanted to document stops at the far corners. I found a gas station about a block from the highway and followed the usual pattern. This time I popped a couple of motrin since I was starting to feel a little achy.
I'd never been on I-25 before. It's a nice open ride with not a lot of traffic. The entire trip, I was running "with the flow of traffic," which is about 5-10 over. It was hard to resist running faster on I-25. But seeing the occasional NM tax collector with an unhappy customer on the side of the road kept me in control. By the time I hit Truth or Consequences, it was hot. I really wanted to stretch my legs at this stop. But, the heat and a homeless guy being herded off by one of T or C's finest motivated me to press on.
Next stop Las Cruces. Again, I avoided the short cut and went all the way into town to gas up and catch I-10. By this time, it was close to 5 pm NM time. I spent a couple of extra minutes chewing down some beef jerky and drinking water. I didn't have the urge to use the bathroom since Albuquerque. So, I knew I needed to drink more water.
Leaving Las Cruces, I crossed through a Border Patrol checkpoint and got back up to cruising speed. Now my knees started to feel uncomfortable and I needed to stretch out my legs about every 30 minutes. By the time I hit Lordsburg (about 6:30 NM time), I was really wanting to walk around for a bit. But there were storm clouds on the horizon and the next stop was the finish line. So, off I went into the setting sun. I did have to pull over in Benson, AZ to change back to a clear face shield.
I pulled into the start/finish stop in Sierra Vista at 7:45 pm. I was feeling pretty good considering I just rode over 1130 miles in 17 hours. I was home by 8. Had the wife witness my odometer and jumped into the shower.
My paperwork is now in the mail for certification by IBA. I'm already planning a BB 1500 in October and thinking about going to the darkside for these long distance rides. And I've got a set of highway pegs on order from Gerauld.
Lessons learned: Planning is key. Plan you route and always consider what is ahead of you before you leave your gas stop (rain, dark, heat, etc). Rehearse your routine at your stops. I had a check list in my tank bag; but after a couple of stops it became automatic. Carry extra water. Quitting caffeine and alcohol before the ride really helped; i didn't need the energy drinks and never felt sleepy. And most importantly, have fun!
My track is here: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=78bd52082ddd77be5
Thanks again to everyone who has shared their adventures and motivated me to try long distance riding. To anyone considering it, just do it!
John
After following the Iron Butt Rally and reading garyahouse's ride report, I was inspired to attempt my first long distance ride. I have a 05 FJR with handlebar risers, seat beads, Denali DM1 leds, cramp buster, throttle lock and a techmount for my cell phone. I bought a refreshment system from gerauld and some undergarments from LDrider, and put a fresh set of PR2's on the bike for the trip.
After reading A LOT of posts on long distance riding, I keep repeating to myself, "plan your ride and ride your plan." I planned a route from Sierra Vista, AZ through Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Las Cruces and back to Sierra Vista. The route came out to about 1130 miles. I planned locations for fuel stops and made sure to include stops at each corner of the route.
A week before the ride, I went cold turkey on all caffeine and alcohol. This might be excessive. But, for my first long distance ride, I wanted to follow the advice I'd read online. I also made sure to drink a lot of water to hydrate.
The night before the ride, I loaded all my stops into my cell phone (CoPilot Live), set up a trip on Spotwalla (connected to Bubbler GPS on my phone), checked tire pressure, loaded my tank bag with powerbars, jerky, motrin, chapstick, and two bottle of 5-hour energy drink, and set my alarm for 2 am. Then I had my wife witness my odometer reading. I laid down at 7 pm to get a good night's sleep.
2 am came quickly. I filled the cooler jug for the refreshment system and made one last check of everything. When I filled up my tank at the gas station, it was 2:42 am and the clock started ticking.
I hit Phoenix just after 5 am for my first stop. Even at this time in the morning, Phoenix is still hot and filled with crazy drivers. The ice water in the refreshment system was awesome. I choked down a powerbar and headed for Flagstaff.
I made it to Flagstaff about 7:30 am. The cool mountain air was refreshing after almost 5 hours on the bike. I switched my clear faceshield out for a tinted one, gassed up, slammed another powerbar and was off towards Gallup, NM.
Lots of construction on I-40. Seems they are replacing every overpass between Flagstaff and Albuquerque. The Gallup stop was as uneventful as the others: gas, bathroom, jerky/powerbar, refill water jug, log in mileage, set next waypoint and go. i'm really enjoying the ride so far.
It was getting warm in Albuquerque - probably low 90's. Thank you again, Gary, for the refreshment system. As soon as I made the connecting ramp from I-40 to I-25, I starting looking for a gas station. There are short cuts to round off the corners in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. But I was taking the long way and wanted to document stops at the far corners. I found a gas station about a block from the highway and followed the usual pattern. This time I popped a couple of motrin since I was starting to feel a little achy.
I'd never been on I-25 before. It's a nice open ride with not a lot of traffic. The entire trip, I was running "with the flow of traffic," which is about 5-10 over. It was hard to resist running faster on I-25. But seeing the occasional NM tax collector with an unhappy customer on the side of the road kept me in control. By the time I hit Truth or Consequences, it was hot. I really wanted to stretch my legs at this stop. But, the heat and a homeless guy being herded off by one of T or C's finest motivated me to press on.
Next stop Las Cruces. Again, I avoided the short cut and went all the way into town to gas up and catch I-10. By this time, it was close to 5 pm NM time. I spent a couple of extra minutes chewing down some beef jerky and drinking water. I didn't have the urge to use the bathroom since Albuquerque. So, I knew I needed to drink more water.
Leaving Las Cruces, I crossed through a Border Patrol checkpoint and got back up to cruising speed. Now my knees started to feel uncomfortable and I needed to stretch out my legs about every 30 minutes. By the time I hit Lordsburg (about 6:30 NM time), I was really wanting to walk around for a bit. But there were storm clouds on the horizon and the next stop was the finish line. So, off I went into the setting sun. I did have to pull over in Benson, AZ to change back to a clear face shield.
I pulled into the start/finish stop in Sierra Vista at 7:45 pm. I was feeling pretty good considering I just rode over 1130 miles in 17 hours. I was home by 8. Had the wife witness my odometer and jumped into the shower.
My paperwork is now in the mail for certification by IBA. I'm already planning a BB 1500 in October and thinking about going to the darkside for these long distance rides. And I've got a set of highway pegs on order from Gerauld.
Lessons learned: Planning is key. Plan you route and always consider what is ahead of you before you leave your gas stop (rain, dark, heat, etc). Rehearse your routine at your stops. I had a check list in my tank bag; but after a couple of stops it became automatic. Carry extra water. Quitting caffeine and alcohol before the ride really helped; i didn't need the energy drinks and never felt sleepy. And most importantly, have fun!
My track is here: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=78bd52082ddd77be5
Thanks again to everyone who has shared their adventures and motivated me to try long distance riding. To anyone considering it, just do it!
John
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I dig the route with the exception of that little anomaly between Gallup and Albuquerque.
