We just hadn't had a matching schedule to make this a reality until this past weekend. For one of my vacation weeks, I flew to Washington state to pick up the rest of my belongings from my parents home and drove it back to Los Angeles. My father came with me and I had thought he was going to stay for 3 weeks but after 3 days he wanted to go home. With this 3 week unexpected freedom and having the weekend off from work, my friend and I discussed going. Then another biker friend who had never gone on an Iron Butt wanted to join.
I had prepped my bike a few days before - she got the works done... as much as I think I ride, I've come to realize that my bike (named Gray because of the color) doesn't get out too much. As a 2001, Gray only has 30,000 miles on her. I had the 30,000 mile service done with complete oil change, brand new front and rear tire, new front and rear brakes - the first time I've ever changed the brakes! It was a good thing I took Gray in because I didn't even notice my rear brake light was out. I had told the mechanic I was doing this competition and asked him if 3 days was enough to fix everything. I think he was so excited about this competition for me, that he wanted me to break in the new tire before I left on Saturday. Dropping Gray off on Tuesday evening, the mechanic was super fast and Gray was ready to pick up Thursday morning.
The 3 of us - Boo, Judy and I - decided to leave early Saturday morning and for sure complete the 1,000 mile Saddlesore ride within 24 hours... and if we felt up to it and had enough time left to ride another 500 miles within that same time frame. If worst came, we decided we would get a hotel and finish the remaining 500 miles the next day... as long as it was within 36 hours - and that would definately not be a problem!
Since this would be my second Iron Butt, I wasn't as anxious and actually slept 4 hours, which is about average these days. The last ride I was so excited I couldn't sleep and only napped 2 hours before the ride. I had completed it in 18 1/2 hours, which is about average timing according to the Iron Butt forum. But with this 4 hour sleep and having two other buddies to ride with, I thought it would be no problem at all. Boo had mapped the route following Interstate 5 all the way South to the California and Mexico border... exit 1B the ride all the way up to the California and Oregon border... exit 796 at Hilt. We decided to leave my place since there was a fuel station and easy access to the Interstate. That receipt print out began our ride... 4:33AM Saturday... so we had to be finished with the ride at 4:33AM Sunday... or at the very latest 4:33PM Sunday.
I had purchased some new clothing attire with the new bike I got last month. You can't really wear Harley-Davidson stuff while riding a Ninja so I got textile jacket and pants for riding this bike. I debated whether to ride with Harley leathers which have been tried and true or the new textiles. In the end, I decided to wear my new helmet I got last year with the cool sun visor and the leathers. I didn't want too many new variables that hadn't been long distance road tested and I wanted to be familiar with my equipment.
Boo figured out the gas stops should be around 7 minutes long and no longer than 10 minutes per stop in order remain on schedule. So we would gas up, hydrate, snack and restroom break all within that 10 minute time frame. She had made the gas stops roughly every 120 miles since my bike empties quickly. I must have felt a bit rushed since I forgot my wallet at home. It was a good thing our first stop was only 2 blocks from my house! I had to return home and fetch it.
Of course, the iPod was ready to go too. Now, I haven't had time to change the songs since I uploaded it over 3 years ago. And I really don't use it much since I haven't found time with this new job for gym time. Anyway, almost the entire ride to San Ysidro I was thinking what the heck kind of music is this?!? OMG! Some music was good classics but some wow! I didn't think my music taste has changed much over the years but perhaps they have abit. Course, it was either listen to the whistle of the wind in the helmet (I thought it was fixed but apparently not) or listen to music, so music it was. Then after a while the tunes kinda just grew back on me with the likes of squeaky high pitched women singers No Angels, Britney Spears, Evanescence, etc and lots of techno. The only worry I had was I would get bored in silence. The iPod's battery life is about 14 hours so if we completed the ride in 24 hours, I would be riding in silence for the remaining 10 hours. My best thinking and brilliant ideas have come from long rides and inspired by music. But these days I'm not sure if I have enough active imagination and thoughts to tide me over for that time frame. I haven't had much time to daydream these past few years... just no time after moving to LA.
Anyway, our next stop... San Ysidro near the Mexico border... It was a bit chilly out and I was glad I chose the wear my leathers. I wished I had bundled up a bit more but knew it would get warm once the sun came up. I went ahead and took lead but Boo took over once we got near the border. I didn't know the exact location of our stop and the Interstate split between I-5 and I-805. Usually around 1/4 tank, I get nervous and begin searching for fuel but I trusted Boo enough to know we would make it to our destination plus I had about a 1/2 gallon of emergency gas in my saddlebag. 6 miles before our scheduled fuel stop, I ran out of gas. Yup, there we were chugging along then all of a sudden no power. I knew it would be a close call but I figured the reserve tank would get me there. So the debate was should I honk and notify the others I'm out of gas or hurry and switch to reserve? No honking... and no switching to reserve... clumsy me, my glove got caught twisting the reserve valve and by the time my finger got free, the girls were long gone. Then I found out I don't have a reserve! The motorcycle manual states my tank is 4.9 gallons and holds a reserve of .9 but that's not true. But now that I think about it, my reserve valve could have been switched along time ago and perhaps I've forgotten to return the switch? I'll actually have to go check. Anyway, pulling over to the side of the road, I was quite thankful I brought emergency fuel - enough to make it to the next gas station.
After San Ysidro, we would be traveling North. Seemed like an easy thing to do... stay on I-5 and keep going. Traffic was quite foul around LA and we lost about 10 minutes. Almost every stop we were about 10 minutes behind schedule. Now this Bun Burner Gold, it seems like everyone that has completed has come within 15 minutes of that 24 hour mark, so we knew it would be a close call and it was quite pertinent to stay on track. Eventually the traffic cleared and we made up for lost time going alittle faster since the legs were shorter. I came close twice more on running out of fuel. I was nervous but I knew I had back up. At one point we were almost half hour ahead of schedule!
We had made a pact to remain together. Anyone could call off the ride, if safety became an issue. Come to find out one of the women was having bike problems in San Ysidro. Maybe I wasn't listening but I didn't become aware of it until several hundred miles later. She had added some sort of additive when we re-fueled and it seemed to have helped her bike performance. In hindsight, had we known of the throttle problems were going to be that bad we could have called it off when we were still in SoCal. The throttle continually worsened and by the time we got to Hilt, the bike could only go 50mph. with some unexpected bouts of going 80mph. The exhaust was horrid smelling like the gas was not combusting correctly. Thankfully, we had plenty of time and less than 50 miles to finish the 1,000 Saddlesore. We actually went 1,144 miles in 16 hours 35 minutes. At least we got one ride pin and will have to attempt the Bun Burner again.
We made it to Hilt, CA... the very last exit before you get to Oregon. This was our turn around point to return to LA. We arrived at 7PM and was quite lucky! They were just shutting down and we were their last customers. Not to fret, if they were closed we would of had go 20 more miles to the next fuel stop.
Only 2 pumps in Hilt, CA. Last customers of the day.
We ended up spending the night in Willows. We thought rest was needed and maybe Boo's bike would recharge and be ready to go in the morning. We didn't know what was wrong with her bike - she checked the air filter and spark plugs. It was good we packed over nighter clothes just in case. And I was glad to bring the cell phone charger. We used up alot of phone battery trying to contact any truck rentals and even hotels! There was some local race and lot of the hotels were booked full. I'm so glad I have this cell phone... it truly was a life saver as far as finding hotel phone numbers via the Internet, instead of driving to each hotel checking on vacancy.
We were also lucky one U-haul location was open until noon. Every single moving truck place was closed on Sunday. We had to return 30 miles north to Corning but we made it, putting along at 50mph. It took over 3 hours to load and tie down the bikes. We were all wondering why we weren't feeling so good also... but it was because we hadn't had a decent meal since the night before and on the dehydrated side. By the time we had lunch and hit the road it was past 1:30PM and we were worried traffic would be horrible.
Quite the mess huh? But we got the bikes all tied down... until there was a test hard brake check which the side wood slats broke letting the back bike crash into the two front bikes. My bike (front right bike)got the brunt of it with a dented in fender and a foot long scratch on the left saddlebag. Judy's bike (front left bike) somehow did not get a scratch even though Boo's bike (back middle bike) had the foot peg stuck under the fender.
Boo (left) and Judy (right)
Boo was really lucky. It was a good thing her throttle had problems. Imagine having the rear tire blowout going 50-80mph, in the dark and on a mountain! Yes, that would be a bald tire and that's the actual fabric inside the tire showing. And imagine still having to go 600 miles on that bald tire. All I can say is wow! As much as the broken bike was a hassle, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.
So we got the U-haul and check out the door panel. Do those moving boxes look real to you? OK well maybe I'm just more gullible than everyone else. It was my turn for the junk food run while someone else filled gas and the other one checked the tie downs on the bikes. I came out of the store and missed the U-haul. When I left the U-haul the back door was open and the bikes were showing. When I returned, in my delirium, I thought those boxes were real and wandered in circles looking for the truck not realizing it's just a picture on the door...yeah, I could probably dye my hair blond and get away with it at times (if you follow blond stereotypes). Actually, I thought they pulled out and was hiding around the corner and magically another U-haul took that gas pump...until Boo stepped out from the vehicle asking me what I was doing. But to my credit, there really were quite a few U-hauls on the road.
South of Sacramento, there was a fire on the side of the road... rubber neckers almost caused a few accidents applying their brakes at the last moment. I later learned this fire was about 750 acres... it was really smoky.
It took about 8 hours to get back to Los Angeles. It took another 1 1/2 hours to unload the bikes. Fortunately, friends of mine were in Sacramento returning to LA, so they trailed behind us the whole way in their vehicle and helped unload. 3 others arrived to help also. I was home by 1145PM and was glad to finally be home. What a weekend! Perhaps, I'll attempt the Bun Burner Gold before the year is out... I'm just not quite sure of my work schedule and cooperating weather. If not this year, then next year... we had made plans to attempt again in June.
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