Here are a few thoughts. They may also be useful for folks doing SaddleSore or BunBurner rides.
PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHTS
1) We live on a beautiful continent. Go see a little of it. Lots of people have made long-distance rides, so you probably can do it, too.
2) The bike does all the work, you just have to stay awake. (Thanks, rpm.)
3) No matter where you are in the USA, you are never farther than 60 miles from an Interstate Highway Construction Project.
PRACTICAL THOUGHTS
The Iron Butt Association has excellent advice for all long distance rides. Read it a few times and make sure you understand it. Maybe some of the pointers apply to you and maybe they don’t, but why learn a lesson that’s already been learned by someone else?
1) Read the IBA rules. Know the IBA rules. Follow the IBA rules.
2) Realize that a 50CC is a serious undertaking. It’s far more than simple back-to-back SaddleSore rides. Almost all of this ride is non-stop between gas stations, so your bike, your body, and your mind should be fit.
3) Doing it alone is probably too much. Consider a riding partner you know and trust.
4) Make sure you have these locations written/printed somewhere, entered into your GPS, and stashed on your phone:
hotels in Jacksonville, San Diego, and wherever you choose to sleep in between, and,
locations of gas stations at appropriate intervals. (FJRs need gas at 200 mile intervals.)
This list should include some combination of location info (lat/lon, street address, exit number) and be on more than one storage media (paper, gps, emailed to yourself) so you can recover the information if one list is lost. Phone numbers are also good in case you can’t find the hotel immediately.
5) Riding after dark – especially on unfamiliar roads – increases your risk, but you cannot avoid it on this ride. Consider starting an hour before sunrise when animals and humans are less active than they are an hour after sunset.
6) My statistics:
distance (odometer readings on witness sheets): 2,423 miles
time (from gas receipts, therefore includes all rest periods): 44 hours, 26 minutes
total fuel amount (receipts): 62.654 gallons (15 gas receipts)
overall gas mileage: 38.7 mpg
total fuel cost: $130.84
highest fuel cost: $2.99 per gallon (Shell, Ocean Beach, CA)
lowest fuel cost: $1.69 per gallon (RaceTrac, Hammond, LA)
7) Each of us carried snacks and drinks in an easily accessible place. Stops became very efficient: fuel the bike, get and check the receipt, pee, eat, drink, identify a leader for the next leg, and vrrooom.
8) We discussed two items before leaving: How fast will we go? Will we have sit-down meals? There may be other questions you feel should be discussed with your teammates prior to departure. (What happens if someone wants to go home, or has to go home? Do those two situations have different answers? How bad does the weather get before we pull off the highway?)
9) Be open to the little things that make the trip unique:
- meeting the Sons of Hell motorcycle club from Ventura, CA in the gas station at Gila Bend, AZ (they made the prospect gas up all four bikes);
- shouting and gesturing at each other – so we could be heard – in the middle of a dead-stop traffic jam in east Texas, discussing whether we should stay put and be patient, or exit and find an alternate route;
- finding another bathroom when the gas station’s bathrooms are out of order (that happened twice, can you believe it?);
- rolling through downtown Houston at the posted speed limit (!) just after rush hour and just before the rain; and
- marveling at the fabulous weather and equally fabulous terrain across southern Arizona and New Mexico.
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