White Pine Fever

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Warchild

Benevolent Dictator
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
5,190
Reaction score
1,257
Location
Tri-Cities, WA
Note: this is a x-post from the LDRider list, since the winner of the event rode a FJR, as did FOUR of the top 7 riders!

/*----- start of reprint ------*/

All -

Exactly a decade ago this month, a group of hard-core Long Distance Riders met in Ely, Nevada to ride in a event called "Miles, Inc.", the brain-child of Jan Cutler and Steve Losofsky. It was a 36-hour event; rider returning with the most miles gets the bragging rights. That's it. "Miles, Inc." was as raw as it was pure. The very first "2K-Day" was achieved during this event, way back in July, 1996.

To acknowledge the 10-year anniversary of that epic run, a somewhat similar event took place in Ely last weekend, July 7-9, 2006. The Cognoscente Group came out of hiatus to host "White Pine Fever", a 24-hour event where riders would attempt to achieve their own "personal best" mileage in a 24-hour period. Towards that end, riders could ride the route of their own making. All routes had to be submitted to one of the two White Pine Fever "GateKeepers", HMarc Lewis and Chuck Hickey, during Check-In/Odo Course.

In order to ensure a certain level of demonstrated rider ability, and by our preference, all Cognoscente Group events are strictly "by-invitation" only. We only send invitations to those we know are capable of Handling the Load. 179 invites were bulk emailed out to the Endurance Riding community last winter.

All 50 available slots were filled within 36 hours.

Some of the very best talent we have in the LD community - former IBR winners/Utah 1088 winners/Cal 24 winners/etc - signed up for this event, so we knew there was a good chance the Cognoscente might possibly add a couple of names to the Secret 2K-Day Society roster. But, we were wrong.

We more than DOUBLED the names on the list!

"White Pine Fever" produced no less than seven (7) new riders earning 2K-Day status. The following names will be forwarded to Michael Kneebone for inclusion into the Secret 2K-Day Society:

:: Greg Marbach - 2004 Yamaha FJR1300

:: Gary Eagan - 2004 Ducati ST4 "Italian Valdez"

:: Matt Watkins - 2005 Yamaha FJR1300A

:: George Zelenz - 2005 Yamaha FJR1300

:: John Parker - 1994 Honda ST1100

:: Mike Hutsal - 2000 BMW K1200LT

:: Ian Laing - 2004 Yamaha FJR1300

Six more riders earned their way into the sparsely populated 1800+Mile Club:

:: Bob Bacon - 2000 BMW K1200LT

:: John Harrison - 2003 Honda GL1800

:: Tom & Rosie Sperry - 2001 BMW K1200LT

:: Tom Austin - 2003 BMW K1200GT

:: Mac Macfarland - 2004 BMW R1150GS

With very few exceptions, almost all riders who completed White Pine Fever were successful in achieving their own "Personal Best" 24-hour ride. Congratulations to all White Pine Fever players who achieved the goals that they were after.

Note: For obvious reasons, we are not going to discuss the actual details of White Pine Fever in a public forum, nor will participants discuss them even in private email. Please don't bother to ask them. However, if you see someone wearing a White Pine Fever rallyshirt at a future gathering, you can certainly ask them questions if you like (though they may or may not answer them).

Congrats again to all White Pine Fever players. And the next time any of you see Greg Marbach, you should immediately go up and shake his hand. Trust me.

/*----- end of reprint ------*/

Note: there were four more FJRs competing in White Pine Fever; one was time-barred (Doug Banfelder), the three others rode a successful 1700+ mile run (Lisa Stevens, Tobie Stevens, Art Montoya)

Pictures and write-ups:

Phil Kopp's Official Photos

H. Marc Lewis Write-Up and Pictures

Matt Watkins and Tobie/Lisa Stevens Photos

John Parker's Photos

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Very nice showing by the boys on the FJRs.... quite a lineup we've got going!

Great job guys... ! :clapping:

 
3 weeks ago, he came in 2nd Place in a very tough Utah 1088 Endurance Rally, beating some very notable veterans, including previous IBR winners....
Second place is the first loser. Skooter fits that bill well!

But a WIN??!? :blink: :blink:

I ... guess... :unsure:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :lol: :blink:

I'm still confused...

 
Congrats to all the crazies. :clapping: . maybe White (or Yellow ) LINE Fever is more like it ! ( in reference to the 70's mopar movie )

 
Note: this is a x-post from the LDRider list, since the winner of the event rode a FJR, as did FOUR of the top 7 riders!


/*----- start of reprint ------*/

All -

Exactly a decade ago this month, a group of hard-core Long Distance Riders met in Ely, Nevada to ride in a event called "Miles, Inc.", the brain-child of Jan Cutler and Steve Losofsky. It was a 36-hour event; rider returning with the most miles gets the bragging rights. That's it. "Miles, Inc." was as raw as it was pure. The very first "2K-Day" was achieved during this event, way back in July, 1996.

To acknowledge the 10-year anniversary of that epic run, a somewhat similar event took place in Ely last weekend, July 7-9, 2006. The Cognoscente Group came out of hiatus to host "White Pine Fever", a 24-hour event where riders would attempt to achieve their own "personal best" mileage in a 24-hour period. Towards that end, riders could ride the route of their own making. All routes had to be submitted to one of the two White Pine Fever "GateKeepers", HMarc Lewis and Chuck Hickey, during Check-In/Odo Course.

In order to ensure a certain level of demonstrated rider ability, and by our preference, all Cognoscente Group events are strictly "by-invitation" only. We only send invitations to those we know are capable of Handling the Load. 179 invites were bulk emailed out to the Endurance Riding community last winter.

All 50 available slots were filled within 36 hours.

Some of the very best talent we have in the LD community - former IBR winners/Utah 1088 winners/Cal 24 winners/etc - signed up for this event, so we knew there was a good chance the Cognoscente might possibly add a couple of names to the Secret 2K-Day Society roster. But, we were wrong.

We more than DOUBLED the names on the list!

"White Pine Fever" produced no less than seven (7) new riders earning 2K-Day status. The following names will be forwarded to Michael Kneebone for inclusion into the Secret 2K-Day Society:

:: Greg Marbach - 2004 Yamaha FJR1300

:: Gary Eagan - 2004 Ducati ST4 "Italian Valdez"

:: Matt Watkins - 2005 Yamaha FJR1300A

:: George Zelenz - 2005 Yamaha FJR1300

:: John Parker - 1994 Honda ST1100

:: Mike Hutsal - 2000 BMW K1200LT

:: Ian Laing - 2004 Yamaha FJR1300

Six more riders earned their way into the sparsely populated 1800+Mile Club:

:: Bob Bacon - 2000 BMW K1200LT

:: John Harrison - 2003 Honda GL1800

:: Tom & Rosie Sperry - 2001 BMW K1200LT

:: Tom Austin - 2003 BMW K1200GT

:: Mac Macfarland - 2004 BMW R1150GS

With very few exceptions, almost all riders who completed White Pine Fever were successful in achieving their own "Personal Best" 24-hour ride. Congratulations to all White Pine Fever players who achieved the goals that they were after.

Note: For obvious reasons, we are not going to discuss the actual details of White Pine Fever in a public forum, nor will participants discuss them even in private email. Please don't bother to ask them. However, if you see someone wearing a White Pine Fever rallyshirt at a future gathering, you can certainly ask them questions if you like (though they may or may not answer them).

Congrats again to all White Pine Fever players. And the next time any of you see Greg Marbach, you should immediately go up and shake his hand. Trust me.

/*----- end of reprint ------*/

Note: there were two more FJRs competing in White Pine Fever; one was time-barred (Doug Banfelder), the other a successful 1700+ mile finisher (Art Montoya)


Thanks, that kind of riding is almost unfathomable for most......If you could at least give us some of the issues encountered during that length of a drive.......We'd be most grateful...like do you ever eat, sleep or ---you know ? 2,000 miles in a day? that's riding an average of 84 mph for 24 hours.....Is there something I'm not figuring in here ?

I'd love it if the FJRFORUM.COM would arrange a couple of ride around the country for us VIRGINS, something like where we could do 400 miles a day for like 2 days just to get our feet wet.....

Curious minds want to know!!!

 
Holy Mileage Batman...

That's an impressive average you have to maintain. :yahoo:

My hat's off to Skooter if he's number 1, no doubt. Good On Ya. :D

 
Thanks, that kind of riding is almost unfathomable for most......If you could at least give us some of the issues encountered during that length of a drive.......We'd be most grateful...like do you ever eat, sleep or ---you know ? 2,000 miles in a day? that's riding an average of 84 mph for 24 hours.....Is there something I'm not figuring in here ?
I'd love it if the FJRFORUM.COM would arrange a couple of ride around the country for us VIRGINS, something like where we could do 400 miles a day for like 2 days just to get our feet wet.....

Curious minds want to know!!!
The location has a lot to do with it. I would never try these kinds of averages except in the remotest of places. There was a 265 mile section that I literally passed only one car! We're talking some seriously barren places with LOTS of long straight aways. 16 miles of dead straight road, 2 miles of sweeper curves over a little mountain, repeat endlessy.

That said, it's about bike preparation, personal preparation, and mind set. Custom seat, fuel cell, XM radio, fresh rubber, credit card pumps, about 6 of the stops included a quick pee. No #2 because I only ate a banana, one granola bar, and one protein bar all day. And the only caffeine was about 3 a.m. when my natural internal clock dragged the most....that one Red Bull got me through until dawn.

Truth is that the 800 mile ride home the next evening was WAY more tiring and long. I had to pull over and sleep 3 different times.

You want to try.....seriously try a Saddle Sore 1000. Many finish in the 19 to 21 hour range. It's just a LONG day of riding and gets infectious. It's doable in any place in the country and our FJR makes it easier than most bikes.

Do one of those and then the next big jump is to try a Bun Burner Gold 1500 in 24 hours. That is a serious accomplishment.

 
Warchild seriously knows how to throw a great event.
Here are some pictures of the frivolities.
This one cracks me up..... SkooterG and Skyway discussing throttle technique while winding down from their runs....

20060710_051.sized.jpg


It was pretty funny watching these two try to speak in coherent terms in the hours following a 2K-Day.... :lol:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You want to try.....seriously try a Saddle Sore 1000. Many finish in the 19 to 21 hour range. It's just a LONG day of riding and gets infectious. It's doable in any place in the country and our FJR makes it easier than most bikes.
Do one of those and then the next big jump is to try a Bun Burner Gold 1500 in 24 hours. That is a serious accomplishment.
A 1,000 mile in one day? My god man, get real! We need to get used to this type of riding before we go kill ourselves....I was thinking about maybe a 200-300 miler would be nice ride, that way we'd have time to stop for a few beers, BBQ and a couple of bong hits along the way...If we get the munchies, maybe we could send our wives out ahead to set up a nice picnic with finger sandwiches for us somewhere along the route, that way I could get my Dr. Pepper fix. Got have a DP around 10, 2 & 4!!! And oh, need to stop for pictures to celebrate first 100 miles!!!!! Maybe we better make this a 2 day ride.....

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Holy Cow! You guys ROCK!!! I'm sitting here considering getting into a simple Iron Butt ride and you're busting 1700, 2000 etc miles!

WOW

hats off gents!

 
:: Greg Marbach - 2004 Yamaha FJR1300:: Gary Eagan - 2004 Ducati ST4 "Italian Valdez"

:: Matt Watkins - 2005 Yamaha FJR1300A

:: George Zelenz - 2005 Yamaha FJR1300

:: John Parker - 1994 Honda ST1100

:: Mike Hutsal - 2000 BMW K1200LT

:: Ian Laing - 2004 Yamaha FJR1300

Note: there were two more FJRs competing in White Pine Fever; one was time-barred (Doug Banfelder), the other a successful 1700+ mile finisher (Art Montoya)
Congrats to all the those who participated in the event. :clapping: I'm sure there will be many stories to tell. It's always good to hear about folks expanding their horizons and endurance limits being tested, with no major mishaps. I'm sure a good time was had by all. Wish I could have been there.

Assuming the order listed reflects mileage covered....and knowing how Gary Eagan can ride...I'd say a huge CONGRATS is in order for ScooterG! :yahoo:

 
Nice work you crazy bastards.

Oh, and GZ...you know how you've been putting off washing that windshield? Don't worry 'bout it.

 
Frigging Wow!

As a wannabe LD rider, I think I got a long way to go before I'd even attempt a 2000/24. Bit out of my league. I take my hat off to you guys.

I remember first meeting Skoot in Idaho (WFO3), he'd just finished his first SS1000, or was it a BB, can't remember, the sense of achievment he had was electric. He's moving on - great job Skoot. oh and I'll echo a previous poster and look forward to seeing only 2000 bugs (as against, 2 million) on George's new screen in Reno.

Congrats to all the riders.

tel

 
Top