Wow, what a ride. I have not looked at all my times yet, but I think I completed all my personal goals I set out to do on this trip. I think I completed a Bun Burner Gold getting to Winnie Tx, I know I completed two Saddle Sores and the Coast to Coast. My start time was 11:11 PM PST in San Diego, and my end time was 10:16 PM EST here in Neptune Beach, Florida.
When in San Diego I located my starting point, Ocean Beach and verified the fuel station I would use would work. I used the 76 station at 2305 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, which was less than a mile from the beach.
I got some sleep and awoke at 10 PM, loaded the bike and hit the beach to grab some water and sand from the Pacific Ocean.
I found some people on the beach and had them take my picture, I don't think they believed me when I told them what it was that I was attempting. I then hit the gas station for my start time gas receipt. Over the hills going towards Arizona the temp dropped down into the 40's. Then it warmed up as I got into the flats, about 80, which wasnt bad. Into Arizona without incident, and then I hit the first bit of rain outside of Tucson. The sunrise was spectacular, As I was in iron butt mode I did not stop to take many pictures, sorry. At the fuel stop right before the first rain:
I continued through Arizona and into New Mexico, the temperatures were surprising mild and comfortable. I hit El Paso and then someone had turned on the furnace. On fuel stops I would use the restroom, buy a bag of ice, fill my cooler, my camel back and my jacket. I put ice inside the vents and it would cool me off while also getting my shirt wet which would also help with some evap cooling. Worked pretty good.
The west part of Texas is not much to look at, the San Antonio area was better, and the humidity was turned up in Houston. Somewhere in between El Paso and San Antonio was where I had my first hick up. My GPS decided it did not like the heat and shut off. I had a print off of my stops somewhere that I had planned out, so I used those somewhat. I pushed through to my rest stop at Winnie Texas. Grabbed fuel and then hit the hotel. I awoke to noisy people outside the room, so I got up and started again after about 7 hours of sleep. I planned on sleeping longer, but once I am up, I am up. So off I went. The humidity here was thick! Every window was fogged up like a bathroom window after a long hot shower. I felt like I could drink the air.
I did not try and even start the GPS on leg two. It was still hot, and knew that it was going to rain pretty good. I kept to my planned fuel stops pretty well, until later in the ride. As I said I was in iron butt mode, so I also did not stop to eat at nice restaurants. I ate on the go, I had packed bags of a fruit trail mix, granola bars, crackers and the like. I also had coconut water, apple juices, and V8 juice energy drinks to consume along with my water. So with that in mind here is the obligatory food **** for a ride:
As I said I would use bags of ice to top off my cooler, camel back and jacket.
How do you make it rain and cool off 20 degrees in Mississippi or Alabama? Fill your jacket with ice and then ride onto an Interstate with no where to stop. I hit rain right after that stop above. They were isolated cells that packed a punch. It was neat to see pockets of heavy rain, and I mean pockets. At times I could see a patch of rain that was really heavy that was only about 50 feet wide. Sheets. There was a bit of lightning in the storms as well. I moved right on through, with no help from some of the locals. One lady slowed to 20 mph in the travel lane, put her hazard lights on and had a death grip on the wheel. As I said, I could see past the rain area, I am not sure why they slowed that much. There was not much water on the road yet, as they were just pockets. But anyway... I pushed into Florida. I got off track in my stops here, and my brother called me to see how I was doing, while on the phone we discussed the stops and he helped my find a common ground that would fit my needs. My second hick up was with my DeLorme tracker, in my haste to sleep the night before, I had forgot to shut it off while I slept, the battery was getting low. I was concerned about it shutting off and that would cause my wife a fit, and I also wanted the electronic track to submit to the IBA along with my gas receipts, but I worried about nothing it did great.
I made it to Jacksonville and rode into Neptune Beach. Found the last fuel station, pumped a couple of gallons. Receipt said 10:16 PM. I then rode to the end of Atlantic Blvd and parked in a hotel entrance, the door man approached me and I asked if I could park there for a couple of minutes while I grabbed some sand and water, he said that would be fine. I then found a couple of people who followed me to the water and took my picture.
They asked if they could pray for me and I figured it couldnt hurt, not sure exactly what they saw in me that made them want to do that, but as I said, it couldnt hurt. I then thanked the door man and left. I figured I would find the hotel, and then maybe look for a witness. I found both. When I pulled into the hotel there were four cop cars out front. I wondered if this hotel was a good choice to hole up for a day to rest. After they were done dealing with their customer I asked one of the officers if he had a minute. His first question was 'doing an iron butt?' He said that he has signed about eight of those this year so far, I asked about the hotel and he said it was okay, just a knuckle head this time. So within about an hour I had gotten my end receipt, got my souvenir water and sand, checked into my hotel, had my witness paperwork completed, ordered a pizza to eat, and grabbed a beer (or so) to celebrate.
The ride was good, the FJR performed flawlessly, I like my PR4's, the room is cool and rest is going well. Did my laundry and now going to do a little bit of homework, and then going to take the next six days to drift back home.
In the end, I had plenty of time for more stops or breaks, but I am satisfied with what I had done, it fit me, and I felt good.
So more to come, and hopefully more pictures now that I can stop and smell the smells and see the sees'. Happy riding, cheers, B