Spring Equinox SS1000
Attempt
March 19, 2024
Attempt
March 19, 2024
This ride is my 3rd installment of the Ironbutt Association’s 4-seasons award. I had previously succeeding in riding the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice Saddlesore 1000’s on their respective dates in 2023 so the next logical and available season is the Spring Equinox on March 19, 2024.
The result of this attempt was me calling off this ride about one-third of the way in. Here is my story:
My plan for this ride was to ride to three cities in Texas with ‘spring’ in their name: Springtown, Spring, and Big Spring. The route would be from home in Levelland then clockwise to each city in turn before returning home. I would leave at around 1am and return about 9pm. Starting this at this time of day was done on each of the previous rides and I did well.
The weather forecast for the ride should start out in the mid 40s then dip into the upper 30s before dawn then rising to the 60s in the afternoon. I dressed accordingly with an extra thermal base layer, heated vest, and insulated gloves.
The day before leaving out was a workday but I managed to get a few hours sleep before suiting up and heading out. I got my Start receipt at 12:22am so I am leaving out a bit earlier than planned. It’s 187 miles to Seymour for the first fuel stop and is along a road I have ridden many times before. About 100 miles into the ride, near Dickens, the temperature has already dropped into the 30s. I was expecting this and dealt with it by turning up the heat on my vest. When I stop in Seymour 3:20 the temperature is 36f. It feels colder than this though probably due to it still being dark.
Continuing east on TX114 the riding is good but the temps continue to drop. In Jacksboro I take TX199 before stopping in Springtown at 5:17. It is 32f. Here I get a breakfast burrito for nourishment and to document the stop. I get back on the road about 20 minutes later heading towards Fort Worth. I decide that since it’s still early that I will shoot through the city instead of taking the 820 loop around. I end up taking a couple of wrong turns but easily got through.
Finally south of Fort Worth I am on US287 towards I35E to continue south towards Spring, TX. I am feeling drowsy and the traffic is very heavy so I look for a place to get off the highway and take a nap. I quickly spy a residential development area that has the streets in place but no construction started just off the highway near Midlothian. I pull off and lay down. I don’t set an alarm because I’m not having a good feeling about things.
After about 20 minutes I wake up, get up, mount the bike, then take a look at all the traffic going by. I take stock of my state of mind, my state of physical well being, and the status of this ride. I am 351 miles into a 1,100 mile route and I am already feeling beat!
My state of mind is that I have been stressing with the temps, heavier traffic than I was expecting, and clothing fitment that is irritating my fingers and feet.
My physical well being is that parts of me are much colder that I was anticipating, especially my feet and fingertips. For some reason the silk glove liners that I have worn for many years are now irritating my fingertips. My feet are uncomfortable due to the sock setup that I have chosen. It is a thick oversock from Klim that I chose for its perceived warmth with a Noru base sock. But they are now irritating my feet. (I later discovered that all that thickness was pushing against the boots causing them to compress my feet. Lesson learned, I need larger boots.) I ended up turning my glove liners inside-out to stop the seams from pushing on my fingertips. That helped lessen the fingertip irritation. Also I found that I was pulling my insulated gloves up harder that I had realized, again causing the fingertip irritation.
The status of this ride was actually quite good in terms of timing. In fact even with all that had been happening I had only delayed about 20 minutes from my schedule. And due to me leaving earlier than planned I was right on time to the original plan.
But I knew that I could not keep up the pace with the way I was feeling. Add to that I was concerned about my performance in the interstate highway traffic for the next few hours. The short rest I had gotten the evening before did not appear to be helping now.
So, with that realization I call my wife, tell her of my status, and announce that I am coming home early. The time is 7:30.
I reset the navigation units to lead me home. But all units want me to turn back around to the metroplex and its highway system. No Thanks! I see a route on US67 south and west of the metroplex with a few small towns on the way and decide that it is perfect for my situation. The exit to US67 is only a couple miles away.
Once the pressure is off to meet the ride’s schedule I begin to relax a bit. Around 8:40, near Glen Rose, I spy a nice picnic area and pull in to enjoy the relative seclusion and greenery of the trees. The thirty minute break did me good.
During the break I decided to make ‘lemonade’. I am also participating in the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas which has stops all across the state. There are two stops near my route home, so during the above break, I added them to my route.
Continuing on I take TX8 at Stephenville to eventually connect to I20. The temps are rising nicely and my stress levels are down so I am feeling much better. I feel that I can be safe on the interstate now.
Southwest of Abilene is the community of Buffalo Gap and is the first MCGTTX tour stop today. It’s an old courthouse and is in a historic village complex. Also nearby is the famous Perini Ranch Steakhouse. My wife and I have wanted to come here to eat after seeing it on a Food Network program. They are not open but now I know how to get to it. It’s 12:35.
Back to I20 I continue west then exit on US84 towards Lubbock. Again, this is a road that I have ridden many times and know how much longer to get home.
In Snyder is another MCGTTX tour stop of a historic Sinclair Gas Station at the triangle intersection of US180 and Coliseum Dr. It’s 14:45.
Now it’s only a few hours to home but I must have some celebratory ice cream first. Post, TX, has a McDonald’s so I get my ice cream in the form of a McFlurry.
I have not been documenting my fuel stops since ending the SS1000 attempt but I stop for fuel for the last time today at 17:00 in Smyer, about 15 miles from home, to end on ‘not empty’ tanks.
I arrive Home at 17:20.
Today I covered 751 miles in about 17 hours. I got cold, uncomfortable, and sleepy. I made the decision to end an Ironbutt ride because I did not feel safe to continue at that pace. I made alternate plans on the fly to continue to be safe. I made ‘lemonade’ from the aforementioned decisions.
I also made it Home Safe! And that, my readers, is the First Goal of Any Ride!
I’m Happy To Be Home!
