The Father & Son SS1000 - The Review
We got started fairly early, 5:06am on Monday, and headed out from the gas station were the manager wouldn't witness for us, but the 50-something lady clerk said, "I will. I have done a couple of these." Apparently Ankeny Iowa is a regular launching pad for IBA rides. Our weather was fantastic, upper 60's heading out, might be called even a tad cold. The nite before we were informed that our intended route had an overnite closure and wouldn't be available at departure, luckily the crew finished up early and we were able to use the north bypass around Des Moines. For a SS1000 we couldn't have asked for better conditions. We had overcast and temps in the high 70's and low 80's all the way to Sterling, CO. Getting across Nebraska in July with temps like that was a blessing. We were making stops around the 180 mile mark, ride for a couple of hours and stop for a little break and fuel. The temps rose into the high 90's as we approached Denver. We made it through Denver before the afternoon rush, we had no slow down in Denver for once. Speaking of slowdowns we had remarkably few the entire trip. The longest slow stretch was 1-80 near Big Spring, NE. Major construction there but only for 9 miles.
We stopped in Roggen, CO for fuel. As we were fueling we were visited by a group of 20 or so members of the Hell's Angels as they pulled in to fuel also. Surprisingly a couple of the Angels struck up a conversation with Jack about his bike and he mentioned we was doing a SaddleSore 1000. The one Angel immediately spoke up, "Double check your receipts! Make sure they have the time and date. You're going to do fine." Apparently there are a few HA folks who are also IBA certified.
Coming up on our next fuel stop in Glenwood Springs, at about the 800 mile mark, I got the call I dreaded in the SENA...."Dad, I am going to need a little encouragement to finish this thing." OK, time for Dad to do something instead of just ride along side. I told him we would make two more stops and I would help him get through it. First stop was the Springs. I made him put down a little more fluid at the stop and gave him a little shoulder and neck rub down as he was starting to get the pinch at the base of his neck between the shoulder blades. (We will be addressing the seat/bar position before the next extended ride.) He soldiered on until Grand Junction and the heat was on. At that stop I pushed more fluid on him and slapped on a wet vest soaked in cold, cold water. That really seemed to pep him up. We hit the Utah border and it was off to the races. Dad was chasing him down. We did hit a little weather right on the border, high cross winds out of the northwest and a little sprinkle. We got of the slab at Cisco and made our way down 128 along the Colorado River.
We rolled up to the pumps at 8:14pm in Moab. His odometer read 3150. That was 1,055 more miles than when we left Ankeny. Paperwork goes off to the IBA this week, but I am pretty sure I have a 17 year old IBA member in my house!