Physical training and motorcycle maintenance for long distance

cacomly

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#42
Not offended at all. They've enlisted me to help them accomplish their goal. In a way, I'm their conditioning coach.

I never imagined any IBA ride would be anything but intense, but yeah, our ride route up Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) from Petaluma, CA, to Crescent City, CA, isn’t on many, if any, IBA ride routes for a reason. It is demanding, intense, and over-the-top gorgeous. It is the one THEY chose above all the other proposed routes we’ve discussed. It’s this ride or bust, for them. I’m just their chaperone, pace keeper.

Well, I've found that the easiest and most enjoyable way to accomplish such rides, is through physical conditioning, eating right, and extensive planning...something that when it comes down to it, they will not do.

They’ve also restricted our criteria. No riding pitch black tree-line two-lane mountain highways after dark. Before dawn on multi-lane I-80 over Donner Summit is okay, but we see too many deer and forest animals wandering near the roads at dusk on two-lane highways.

Any freeway IBA is out of the question for us. Bigger bikes make it look easy. But for us, it’s our Achilles heel. It takes a pretty special sportbike rider to ride LD on one without shifting riding positions. And I’d argue, there isn’t a freeway IBA I’d care to do anyway.

It is in this regard that I'm watching them head down the road of turning their IBA quest ride into a disaster death ride of mind over matter. I've never gone cold turkey into one of these rides and I've already witnessed their miserable failure to even accomplish 400 miles, doing it their way.

Our clockwise twisty road route is a shorter version of an annual two-day Oregon or Bust group ride we once loved doing. I often find myself questioning whether to scrub my IBA ride so I could stop and soak it all in. But ironically, it is because I don’t that not only do I go back for multiple overnight coastal trips, but other riders enthusiastically want to join in too.

The 2018 SS1K. The one they have their sights on.

Reno, Petaluma, Bodega Bay, Fort Bragg, Leggett, Orick (redwoods), Crescent City, Fortuna, Mad River, Red Bluff, Chico, Belden, Quincy, Hallelujah Junction ==> Reno or Sierraville, Truckee ==> Reno. (Google Maps)

And what it looks like from my sportbike.
Just an opinion, a SS1K can be a difficult ride for someone not accustomed to such rides. Adding in all the requirements/conditions is making a tough ride even tougher. The concerns are sound, however it is making for a very difficult ride.

I wish all of you well.
 

IBA ZX-9R

Well-Known Member
#43
That looks a bit intense for a rider's first SS1K. Why are your friends wanting their noob IBA experience to be so difficult?
I'm getting the distinct impression from them that they don't see riding beautiful coastline, mountains, and brief stretches of freeway as being that difficult, just something some riders (you IBA guys) dedicate the time to do. Heck, that's not hard. You set your mind to it and get it done. They can do that! And they're not so much interested in getting an IBA under their belt so much as they want to take in a 1000 miles of scenic curvy roads and get a piece of paper for their troubles...b/c mind over matter; they've got this handled, they've got willpower, even if it takes them 23 hours 59 minutes to accomplish it.

Piece of cake. :mad:
 

Stephen!

Flivver Flyer
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
#44
I'm getting the distinct impression from them that they don't see riding beautiful coastline, mountains, and brief stretches of freeway as being that difficult, just something some riders (you IBA guys) dedicate the time to do. Heck, that's not hard. You set your mind to it and get it done. They can do that! And they're not so much interested in getting an IBA under their belt so much as they want to take in a 1000 miles of scenic curvy roads and get a piece of paper for their troubles...b/c mind over matter; they've got this handled, they've got willpower, even if it takes them 23 hours 59 minutes to accomplish it.

Piece of cake. :mad:
Are they wrong?
 

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#45
@IBA ZX-9R - For those that have mastered the challenge multiple times and understand what works for them, no, it's not intense at all. I've done a SS1K on a 150cc scooter. I've done them on bikes I just bought that day and was riding home. No prep, no nice add ons, no fuel cell, just a stock bike, sometimes with an ill fitting seat cut for someone else. I grew up in OR and have ridden the West extensively. The main issues with your route is traffic along the coast that forces a slower pace over what your riders can do.

They chose a scenic route that doesn't make much sense for several reasons. First and foremost, it's exactly what you described it as, "1000 miles of scenic curvy roads". That is a route to be enjoyed! Not one to ride in the dark or when you're tired, or when you're on the clock and can't stop and take in the scenery, talk with each other about that last 20 miles of road that rocked your world or what you saw 10 minutes ago.

It's not willpower. That's a really, really bad concept. It makes it sound like someone that failed did so only because they couldn't suck it up and get it done. That is foolish to believe or suggest. What it's about is learning how to do it. You don't learn how by jumping in and attempting to ride 1000 miles in a day on any route. You work up to it and learn what made a ride harder or easier, then try and solve that riddle to keep making longer rides easier and easier. The bike more comfortable, even if only for the few long rides. Learning how hydration or lack there of helped or hurt you.

If an IBA ride is intense, you're doing it wrong. It's just a puzzle to solve.

Have the guys that want to do a SS1K gotten comfortable riding 500-800 mile days yet? It wouldn't be wise to take anyone on a SS1K ride that hasn't worked up to it. Successfully doing one longer day isn't the same as getting comfortable doing longer days.

I get that your group enjoys sport bikes. No harm, no foul. But sport bikes also aren't designed to be ridden hour after hour either. Never mind 16-24 hours with only short breaks. The average speed for a SS1K is 42 mph. Everyone reads that and thinks, well how hard can it be? The reality is that's for 24 hours and includes zero stopped time. Endurance rides are all about managing the stopped time, not the riding time or even the moving average. Failed attempts are often all about poor management of stops or too many of them.

Just spending the time to figure out how many gas stops you need, and how much time that will eat up often helps a rider get their head around how much time is left and how quickly any other stops can eat into your time.

If they want to succeed, help them plan a route that does semi boring stuff the first few hours in the dark, then gets to the fun, scenic part for the day time and ends with a nice big freeway for the last part when they are tired, sore and just wanting to get it done.

I would offer that you're making it harder than it needs to be a setting them up for failure. Adjusting sleep schedules doesn't work. I'm not suggesting to you it doesn't work, I'm telling you. 30 years of shift work behind me gives me the experience to know that. Getting up a little early is no big deal. Trying to get a good sleep cycle before a ride can be a challenge for anyone. Trying to get them on the road at 1:30 am is not productive. They will be at low ebb in their normal sleep cycle and not able to function well, or stay at higher functioning levels over the day, will display fatigue quicker and have difficulty staying focused.

You've got 8 stops on the clock, just for gas. Depending on the route, maybe you can trim that down to 7 stops on the clock. For unpracticed riders that's easily 70-140 minutes of stopped time with that alone. Lets just call it 120 minutes. So now you have 22 hours left to do the riding in. You're not set up to eat or drink while riding, that's going to cost you in several ways. It's ok, you have time for a nice lunch stop. Take an hour for that and you're left with 21 hours. Now you need to average 48 mph. The average speed on US-101 in Oregon is 50 mph or less on a good day. If you're riding all on roads like that with curves that keep your average speed down, you've already failed the SS1K.

OTOH, many PacNorWet curvy roads have corners posted 30-45 and don't require slowing down from 60ish on a capable bike. Mid week traffic is often low and it's just luck if you get stuck behind someone and how long before you can safely, (hopefully legally), pass. Getting a road side encounter sucks your average speed down too.

Here is a route out of Blackfoot. LINK Some of the distances between stops might be stretching your fuel range, but the general idea is for a 4am start and finish by midnight. The last part in the dark on the interstate. If you were able to ride tank to tank w/o needing breaks and having quick fuel stops you could be done by 10pm or so. You need a corner receipt in Idaho Falls, but there are options there on route.
 

HACKLE

Well-Known Member
#46
IBA ZX-9R, just to add a small comment about prior preparation. Some years ago, a much younger me was training a small group [five] runners to complete their first marathon run, 42.2 kms. My first comment to them was, "you'll never run a marathon till you've run a marathon". In other words, you won't know what it's like to stay on your feet for 42 kms. until you've trained over that distance. They all had thoughts of completing the distance in under 3 hours. After 12 months preparation building up to that distance from 5 km. runs I'm happy to say that all achieved their goal. Preparation is the key to completing any given task. As I said just a small bit of advice. Cheers.
 

TomMcD

Active Member
#47
I agree with the mindset. But I don't think a SS1k is nearly on a physical level of running a marathon. OTOH, the IBR would be an ultra endurance race on the order of the Leadville 100. (THOSE folks are crazy) An out and back Interstate SS in the open, western plains is honestly a simple as it gets. A full fairing, good range per tank, XM radio and cruse control don't make it any harder. This is exactly how I did mine. Creating the environment for success using the tools available.

When you start sheparding others in to a ride, it very much becomes a case of looking at the rider and looking at how much they know themselves. If someone is a 100 mile and done for the day, rides some nice weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day when it's not too hot. Even a 500 mile day is a completely different ask. My RT is a 2017, and I bought it in July of last year with about 3500 miles on it. This is something I'm having to be aware of as I've ended up planning local rides for a group with about 10 active members and they keep putting me out front. o_O

QUOTE="HACKLE, post: 70363, member: 250"]IBA ZX-9R, just to add a small comment about prior preparation. Some years ago, a much younger me was training a small group [five] runners to complete their first marathon run, 42.2 kms. My first comment to them was, "you'll never run a marathon till you've run a marathon". In other words, you won't know what it's like to stay on your feet for 42 kms. until you've trained over that distance. They all had thoughts of completing the distance in under 3 hours. After 12 months preparation building up to that distance from 5 km. runs I'm happy to say that all achieved their goal. Preparation is the key to completing any given task. As I said just a small bit of advice. Cheers.[/QUOTE]