I have high hopes!
I did my first Iron Butt ride this past weekend (Oct. 7-8). It was the SaddleSore 1000. That definitely gets peoples attention when I talk about it. Though my co-workers just kind of shake their head and conclude I must be slightly insane!
This weekend trip was a follow-up attempt to one I seriously tried Sept. 30th (and 'attempted' twice over the spring/summer). That trip was going to be to be through SLC to Denver and back, but I was forced to stop due to a massive temp drop in the high Wyoming desert. It just kept getting colder (mid-40's) and I wasn't dressed for it, so I turned around at Little America, WY, after a nice 'conciliatory' breakfast.
This attempt started Sat. morning and we were supposed to be seeing 70's in the SL valley during the day, and even better going south! But the morning was in the high 40's, so this time I was fully layered up and decked out in heated gear (undershirt, t-shirt, flannel shirt, long johns, then heated vest, chaps liner, insoles, and gloves! Oh, and a leather jacket & chaps, of course!) With my heated gear wired to the bike and dual adjustable (upper and lower)!
I hedged my bets against the weather by also choosing a southerly direction, where I knew it would get warmer as the day went on. I took off from Eagle Mountain and headed to Price, Utah. I started to 'un-layer' in Price and by the time I was south of Moab, it was in the mid-70's, and I was down to my t-shirt & jacket (I never had the desire to pull off the heated chaps, so I left everything on from the waist down). My turn-around was Grand Canyon HD, just outside of Flagstaff. Went in, grabbed a shirt & some poker chips, turned around and headed back. Gassed up in Flagstaff and I was leaving town as the sun was going down, heading into the Northern Arizona desert, aiming for Page and the Glen Canyon Dam!
It was a tough ride, mentally, from about 700 to 825 miles and I was ready to pack it in at the border town of Hildale Utah, but there was literally no place I could go; no motels, no camps, not even a lawn chair next to a store (that I could see from the main drag, anyway)! So, after talking to my wife for 15 min. and walking around, I pushed on to Hurricane, Utah. Once there, I got my 2nd wind (along with a '5hr energy' shot!), cranked on the hard rock playlist, and hit the highway again, pushing through towards Fillmore, Utah, which was near my 1,000 mile minimum.
As I headed north, I knew that the temps would be dropping, but they had help; a cold front was supposed to come into the area Sunday, and it felt like it got in a bit early, as temps dropped into the high 20's at some of the 6,000+ elevations going up I-15.
I made it into Fillmore and had a little relax time and celebration! By the time I got to Delta, I was over my 1,000 and it was only 105 miles to home, so I pressed on. About 40 mins. down the road though, I was starting to see colors and weird things, so I pulled off at a small rest stop on Hwy 6 (Silver City view area) for an hour to nap. Then I got back on the road for the remainder. That last bit was the coldest; the cold front that was coming into the area Sunday, came in hard! 30 mph winds from the northwest and high 30's to boot, and me with a 65 mph wind chill!
I waffled a bit on whether I would stop for a 'final' receipt, thinking that I might be over time (I already had my Delta receipt, insuring that I had my 1,000+), but I stopped anyway! With 9 minutes to spare on my 24 hours, I had 1,117 miles at the end! You can check out my trip here. I have an app called 'Bubbler GPS' (pro edition) that uploads GPS data once every 10 min., and I can then plot it to a map. That, along with my gas receipts and my trip log, will allow me to have this ride certified by the fine folks at the IBA!
This was something I've wanted to do for about 20 years, so I'm super-stoked to have finished it in one piece! Map and data here!
I did my first Iron Butt ride this past weekend (Oct. 7-8). It was the SaddleSore 1000. That definitely gets peoples attention when I talk about it. Though my co-workers just kind of shake their head and conclude I must be slightly insane!
This weekend trip was a follow-up attempt to one I seriously tried Sept. 30th (and 'attempted' twice over the spring/summer). That trip was going to be to be through SLC to Denver and back, but I was forced to stop due to a massive temp drop in the high Wyoming desert. It just kept getting colder (mid-40's) and I wasn't dressed for it, so I turned around at Little America, WY, after a nice 'conciliatory' breakfast.
This attempt started Sat. morning and we were supposed to be seeing 70's in the SL valley during the day, and even better going south! But the morning was in the high 40's, so this time I was fully layered up and decked out in heated gear (undershirt, t-shirt, flannel shirt, long johns, then heated vest, chaps liner, insoles, and gloves! Oh, and a leather jacket & chaps, of course!) With my heated gear wired to the bike and dual adjustable (upper and lower)!
I hedged my bets against the weather by also choosing a southerly direction, where I knew it would get warmer as the day went on. I took off from Eagle Mountain and headed to Price, Utah. I started to 'un-layer' in Price and by the time I was south of Moab, it was in the mid-70's, and I was down to my t-shirt & jacket (I never had the desire to pull off the heated chaps, so I left everything on from the waist down). My turn-around was Grand Canyon HD, just outside of Flagstaff. Went in, grabbed a shirt & some poker chips, turned around and headed back. Gassed up in Flagstaff and I was leaving town as the sun was going down, heading into the Northern Arizona desert, aiming for Page and the Glen Canyon Dam!
It was a tough ride, mentally, from about 700 to 825 miles and I was ready to pack it in at the border town of Hildale Utah, but there was literally no place I could go; no motels, no camps, not even a lawn chair next to a store (that I could see from the main drag, anyway)! So, after talking to my wife for 15 min. and walking around, I pushed on to Hurricane, Utah. Once there, I got my 2nd wind (along with a '5hr energy' shot!), cranked on the hard rock playlist, and hit the highway again, pushing through towards Fillmore, Utah, which was near my 1,000 mile minimum.
As I headed north, I knew that the temps would be dropping, but they had help; a cold front was supposed to come into the area Sunday, and it felt like it got in a bit early, as temps dropped into the high 20's at some of the 6,000+ elevations going up I-15.
I made it into Fillmore and had a little relax time and celebration! By the time I got to Delta, I was over my 1,000 and it was only 105 miles to home, so I pressed on. About 40 mins. down the road though, I was starting to see colors and weird things, so I pulled off at a small rest stop on Hwy 6 (Silver City view area) for an hour to nap. Then I got back on the road for the remainder. That last bit was the coldest; the cold front that was coming into the area Sunday, came in hard! 30 mph winds from the northwest and high 30's to boot, and me with a 65 mph wind chill!
I waffled a bit on whether I would stop for a 'final' receipt, thinking that I might be over time (I already had my Delta receipt, insuring that I had my 1,000+), but I stopped anyway! With 9 minutes to spare on my 24 hours, I had 1,117 miles at the end! You can check out my trip here. I have an app called 'Bubbler GPS' (pro edition) that uploads GPS data once every 10 min., and I can then plot it to a map. That, along with my gas receipts and my trip log, will allow me to have this ride certified by the fine folks at the IBA!
This was something I've wanted to do for about 20 years, so I'm super-stoked to have finished it in one piece! Map and data here!