Intech
Mr. Camping Meet
I will start by saying that I have been terrible about ride reports. I haven't even done a ride report from our NAFO trip across country last year. I took a butt ton of pictures on that trip too. They are now nostalgia, I guess. I didn't take any pictures on the SS1K except for evidence (odometer and GPS). The reason I bring up the NAFO trip last year is that my plan was not an Iron Butt ride, but it was very agressive. 7500 miles in 12 days. We ended up doing 7500 miles, but in 14 days. 2-up! We took the extra time due to the "accident". It was a setup for doing this ride. I couldn't get Spanky to go with me, though.
I started at 1421 EST (that is 2:21 P.M. for you non-military or non-power plant types) on 9/11/13. Back tracking... the day before I stopped at this station and talked to the owner. It is right across from the plant where I work. I told him his computer clock was off by almost an hour (39 minutes to be exact). I explained that I wanted to officially start my IBA ride there and needed an accurate receipt. He changed the setting right then and there. Cool guy.
My mind was very focused on the trip I had planned, but I was very aware of the date and it's significance. I was also very aware of what mother nature had in store for me. Here is a picture of the odometer at take off.
Notice the temperature. Well, it went up to 97 until just before Accident, MD and my first gas stop. I was travelling on 68W and could see the storm clouds along with lightning. Still about 94 degrees, so I wasn't putting on rain gear until I had to. First rain spatters occurred about the same time I started seeing small debris blowing across the road. There is your sign. I pulled over and donned the rain gear. about a mile later I was in a wonderful rain storm that included wind, debris, lightning, water sheeting across the road(even on inclines), and both lanes open. Why, you ask? Because it was bad enough to make almost every car pull over. Here I was was rolling along and waving to a few motorcyclist that were under overpasses. There were other bikes that I passed, but they were parked alone near cars. The cars must have provided shelter to the bikers. Good on them! I got to the gas station in Accident and two of the bikes that I had beeped and waved to at an underpass pulled in. One said, "that is the worst I have ever driven through". He hasn't seen anything! First gas stop done and rain gear removed.
I continued through the panhandle of West Virginia and into Ohio. Next gas stop was Thornville, OH. The reserve F thing had been flashing for quite some time. Having taken the bike to almost the limit I knew I was still in good shape. I put in 4.963 gallons. That means I still had 1.637 gallons left! Next stop will be my only break for the ride.
I stopped in Richmond, IN just over the Ohio border. Checked in at 2338 (figure it out on your own!). My next receipt is from the gas station next door to the hotel at 0320 on 9/12. I got a $15 per hour room! I had some fun with that. It was a Super 8 and only cost $45 and I was there for just under three hours. Do the math. I had planned on SLEEPING for 4 hours. I checked the weather and found that mother nature had left me another message. There was a pretty good storm cell coming from the west. I felt great and could have continued and missed it completely. I decided to take a little rest and stick as close to the plan as possible.
Rolling at 0320. Dark. Very little traffic. Good. Lightning. Not good. I was travelling I70 west and the weather was to my NE. It was still warm, so I didn't have my rain gear on. I figured I would do the same thing that I did earlier. Good plan, but sometimes even the best plans...well, dont work. There was wind and a lot of dark. Not enough visual clues before the water. All of a sudden there are these HUGE raindrops almost horizontal in front of me. I pulled over immediately. The wind was strong. Took my gloves off and lost one. ****! I figured the wind took it and it was now across the road. Cussing ensued. Looked and looked. Did I say it was dark? Oh and, yeah, my gloves are black. I walked around the bike and found that it had dropped right next to the bike and was apparantly shielded from the wind. Big break. (I did have other gloves, though) By this time, and I am talking seconds, the rain has really picked up. the size of the drops has not changed either. I put my rain pants on over my riding pants. I then took my jacket off and put the rain liner on. My shirt was soaked before I accomplished that. I had taken my helmet off too, so my head was soaked. Of coarse I don't have much hair, but just putting the helmet back on on a wet head was not very comfortable. Under way again. This rain storm was not as bad as the one the day before, but the lightning was impressive.
Next planned stop was El Paso. Huh? Ilinois, that is. That was the stop that I had planned to call Tom(Tango Sierra) and let him know I was there. By this time the sun had come up and I realized that I was almost 2 hours ahead of time, because I had curtailed my planned rest stop. I gassed up and then pulled over. I went in and grabbed a coffee and a snack. I felt I had the leisure of time, because I was way ahead of schedule. Almost done with the coffee, I called Tom. I said I was sorry for calling early. He said no problem and that he had gotten up and looked at my spot tracker and said I had made good progress. Well apparently It hadn't updated my location, becasue he then said call me when you get to El Paso. I laughed and said, "Dude! I am in El Paso!". He said, "Damn, we better get moving!" I finished my coffee and then hit the road. About 40 minutes later I puled into the rest stop on 39 and Tom and Abe(Linc) were there to meet me. We exchanged introductions, as we had never met in person, and mounted the bikes and headed for Wisconsin. Marty(Oface) and Jeff(Hollywoodgt) met us at the first rest stop in WI and we continued to just south of Madison. We stopped for gas and I was at 1041 on the bike and 1021 on the GPS. OK. SS1K done. 1042 CST 1142 EST or 19 hours and 21 minutes.
Marty looks at me and says how do you feel. Sun was out. I was with 4 other riders. I felt great, but I hadn't had a MEAL since lunch the day before. I said, "let's eat and then get the hell off the highway." We had a great lunch and then did 200+ miles on alphabet roads to the Days Inn in La Crosse. Had a blast. Got to the hotel and saw that I only needed about 260 miles to complete a Bun Burner. I felt great, but I chose beer at that point.
I know this has been a long disertation, but I will summarize my experience.
Weather was the biggest factor for me. You always have to be prepared to slug through less than favorable conditions. It was 97 degrees for the first third of the trip. I was longing for some altitude in WV and when I got some the temp dropped to 93. Unreal how good 93 can feel after riding at 97 for 3-4 hours! As for the miles, no big deal. I have a Corbin seat that has been the answer for me. I can easily go tank to tank. I could go further. I knew I could have continued another 260 miles and done the Bun Burner. That is pretty much it. Could I do more IBA rides? Probably. Will I? Probably not. Here are my recommendations for anyone else considering an IBA ride.
1. Plan your route and use the resources here for input. Planning includes considering traffic around metropolitan areas. A lot of people asked why I started at 1421. If you look at where I was starting and where I would be starting early in the morning, I would have been dealing with commuter traffic. Again, plan considering everything. Including weather.
2. Don't be afraid to bail. There is no shame in staying alive. The IBA guidlines emphasize this and rightfully so.
3. If your plan puts you in areas there are other riders welcome them to join or involve them somehow. You never know when you might need help. There are a lot of people out there that would go out of their way to help another rider out on one of these rides.
That's it for me. Had a great time. Now that I have that under my belt I think smelling the roses along the way is in my future. Thanks to everyone that offered advice, assistance, witnessing, and riding along.
I started at 1421 EST (that is 2:21 P.M. for you non-military or non-power plant types) on 9/11/13. Back tracking... the day before I stopped at this station and talked to the owner. It is right across from the plant where I work. I told him his computer clock was off by almost an hour (39 minutes to be exact). I explained that I wanted to officially start my IBA ride there and needed an accurate receipt. He changed the setting right then and there. Cool guy.
My mind was very focused on the trip I had planned, but I was very aware of the date and it's significance. I was also very aware of what mother nature had in store for me. Here is a picture of the odometer at take off.
Notice the temperature. Well, it went up to 97 until just before Accident, MD and my first gas stop. I was travelling on 68W and could see the storm clouds along with lightning. Still about 94 degrees, so I wasn't putting on rain gear until I had to. First rain spatters occurred about the same time I started seeing small debris blowing across the road. There is your sign. I pulled over and donned the rain gear. about a mile later I was in a wonderful rain storm that included wind, debris, lightning, water sheeting across the road(even on inclines), and both lanes open. Why, you ask? Because it was bad enough to make almost every car pull over. Here I was was rolling along and waving to a few motorcyclist that were under overpasses. There were other bikes that I passed, but they were parked alone near cars. The cars must have provided shelter to the bikers. Good on them! I got to the gas station in Accident and two of the bikes that I had beeped and waved to at an underpass pulled in. One said, "that is the worst I have ever driven through". He hasn't seen anything! First gas stop done and rain gear removed.
I continued through the panhandle of West Virginia and into Ohio. Next gas stop was Thornville, OH. The reserve F thing had been flashing for quite some time. Having taken the bike to almost the limit I knew I was still in good shape. I put in 4.963 gallons. That means I still had 1.637 gallons left! Next stop will be my only break for the ride.
I stopped in Richmond, IN just over the Ohio border. Checked in at 2338 (figure it out on your own!). My next receipt is from the gas station next door to the hotel at 0320 on 9/12. I got a $15 per hour room! I had some fun with that. It was a Super 8 and only cost $45 and I was there for just under three hours. Do the math. I had planned on SLEEPING for 4 hours. I checked the weather and found that mother nature had left me another message. There was a pretty good storm cell coming from the west. I felt great and could have continued and missed it completely. I decided to take a little rest and stick as close to the plan as possible.
Rolling at 0320. Dark. Very little traffic. Good. Lightning. Not good. I was travelling I70 west and the weather was to my NE. It was still warm, so I didn't have my rain gear on. I figured I would do the same thing that I did earlier. Good plan, but sometimes even the best plans...well, dont work. There was wind and a lot of dark. Not enough visual clues before the water. All of a sudden there are these HUGE raindrops almost horizontal in front of me. I pulled over immediately. The wind was strong. Took my gloves off and lost one. ****! I figured the wind took it and it was now across the road. Cussing ensued. Looked and looked. Did I say it was dark? Oh and, yeah, my gloves are black. I walked around the bike and found that it had dropped right next to the bike and was apparantly shielded from the wind. Big break. (I did have other gloves, though) By this time, and I am talking seconds, the rain has really picked up. the size of the drops has not changed either. I put my rain pants on over my riding pants. I then took my jacket off and put the rain liner on. My shirt was soaked before I accomplished that. I had taken my helmet off too, so my head was soaked. Of coarse I don't have much hair, but just putting the helmet back on on a wet head was not very comfortable. Under way again. This rain storm was not as bad as the one the day before, but the lightning was impressive.
Next planned stop was El Paso. Huh? Ilinois, that is. That was the stop that I had planned to call Tom(Tango Sierra) and let him know I was there. By this time the sun had come up and I realized that I was almost 2 hours ahead of time, because I had curtailed my planned rest stop. I gassed up and then pulled over. I went in and grabbed a coffee and a snack. I felt I had the leisure of time, because I was way ahead of schedule. Almost done with the coffee, I called Tom. I said I was sorry for calling early. He said no problem and that he had gotten up and looked at my spot tracker and said I had made good progress. Well apparently It hadn't updated my location, becasue he then said call me when you get to El Paso. I laughed and said, "Dude! I am in El Paso!". He said, "Damn, we better get moving!" I finished my coffee and then hit the road. About 40 minutes later I puled into the rest stop on 39 and Tom and Abe(Linc) were there to meet me. We exchanged introductions, as we had never met in person, and mounted the bikes and headed for Wisconsin. Marty(Oface) and Jeff(Hollywoodgt) met us at the first rest stop in WI and we continued to just south of Madison. We stopped for gas and I was at 1041 on the bike and 1021 on the GPS. OK. SS1K done. 1042 CST 1142 EST or 19 hours and 21 minutes.
Marty looks at me and says how do you feel. Sun was out. I was with 4 other riders. I felt great, but I hadn't had a MEAL since lunch the day before. I said, "let's eat and then get the hell off the highway." We had a great lunch and then did 200+ miles on alphabet roads to the Days Inn in La Crosse. Had a blast. Got to the hotel and saw that I only needed about 260 miles to complete a Bun Burner. I felt great, but I chose beer at that point.
I know this has been a long disertation, but I will summarize my experience.
Weather was the biggest factor for me. You always have to be prepared to slug through less than favorable conditions. It was 97 degrees for the first third of the trip. I was longing for some altitude in WV and when I got some the temp dropped to 93. Unreal how good 93 can feel after riding at 97 for 3-4 hours! As for the miles, no big deal. I have a Corbin seat that has been the answer for me. I can easily go tank to tank. I could go further. I knew I could have continued another 260 miles and done the Bun Burner. That is pretty much it. Could I do more IBA rides? Probably. Will I? Probably not. Here are my recommendations for anyone else considering an IBA ride.
1. Plan your route and use the resources here for input. Planning includes considering traffic around metropolitan areas. A lot of people asked why I started at 1421. If you look at where I was starting and where I would be starting early in the morning, I would have been dealing with commuter traffic. Again, plan considering everything. Including weather.
2. Don't be afraid to bail. There is no shame in staying alive. The IBA guidlines emphasize this and rightfully so.
3. If your plan puts you in areas there are other riders welcome them to join or involve them somehow. You never know when you might need help. There are a lot of people out there that would go out of their way to help another rider out on one of these rides.
That's it for me. Had a great time. Now that I have that under my belt I think smelling the roses along the way is in my future. Thanks to everyone that offered advice, assistance, witnessing, and riding along.
