Bun Burner Gold - if the fates allow

JAORE

Premier Member
#1
BBG Attempt (?) May 2018

I say attempt because, at this time I have not, even submitted my documentation to the IBA. Partly due to procrastination, partly due to a family trip right after this ride and partly due to my primary computer taking a dirt nap after the latest Windows 10 update. But, at least all my info and pictures are backed up and my paper receipts are safely sitting in a plastic bag.

First let me say a Bun Burner Gold was a big step up from a Saddle Sore1000 for me. Not to belittle the SS. As an indication of my respect for the SS 1000, I'll note that in my former, working, life, I was an engineer. My loving wife had my diploma and Professional Engineer License beautifully framed. Nice. Those are on a shelf in the garage. The two IBA certs I currently own are both SS 1000's and they are on the wall of my den.

Of course I read the Iron Butt Rally reports, or the ride reports of guys that do other INSANE things like the SS 40/40 and can't even wrap my head around them. Like watching Olympic gymnasts I see it, I recognize we are the same specie, but …. can't even imagine.

Still, as Clint Eastwood says, “A man's got to know his limitations”. So, considering all the limitations of this 66 year old man, I'm proud of accomplishing the BBG (presumptuously assuming I pass muster with the IBA powers that be). I've read numerous reports of others that have finished this ride. They over came obstacles like weather, construction zones, traffic accidents causing delays and other hurtles.

I was lucky. The construction zones were free flowing even if signed for a slower speed. The weather was good absent a brief rain and the concern about dark clouds and lightning in the distance. The only bad accident I saw that delayed traffic was in the other direction. And I even breezed through the urban areas without substantial congestion due to the hours I chose to ride.

[As a side note I was aided by high speeds in Arkansas. Though signed for 70, if I hadn't cranked it up substantially I'd have been road kill. I can only assume lots of Arkansas Momma cooked Sunday dinner and the cars contained hungry kids flying towards home.]

I only had one major obstacle to overcome. That was me. Decisions made on the fly nearly sunk me. And I had a few other problems pop up. But, this time, luck won out over stupid.

So, what did I do/what went wrong?

Time for gas stops:
I'm in awe of the guys with 12 second stops. I've read the reports. You know, the guys that don't slow for the ramps or turns into the stations, slide sideways to the pumps, tires smoking and kickstand showering sparks as it is extended on the fly, stopping with less than an inch to spare. They have opened the gas tank before the bike comes to a stop. Credit card in hand they somersault over the bars and insert the card in a single motion, simultaneously grasping the nozzle with the other hand.... well, you get the point.

Not me. Nope, nope, nope. I come up to the pump slow and steady (OK, at the 22 hour mark, make that much slower and really unsteady). Searching the ground for evidence of diesel fuel or kitty litter – I have old, embarrassing stories about these.
I always park a couple of feet from the pumps and dismount. My old hamstrings thank me for this little courtesy.
On this ride I think I averaged about 12 -15 minutes per stop. But that included some not-the-way-I'd-hoped-this-would-go stops including:
Credit card canceled. Luckily I carried more than one. But I tried the card two or three times before it was sent to the dugout.
At one stop all pumps had 2 or more vehicles waiting except pumps on the far side. I scooted over there, dismounted, removed my helmet and.....they were Out Of Order. Mount back up and off I go to the station across street.
There were no receipts at pump on two occasions. One with no one behind counter. I called out a bunch of times. A woman, obviously irritated, came out of the back room. I requested a receipt and told her I was heading to the restroom. When I returned she was gone and no receipt in sight. I call out again. She returns even more obviously upset. "It's on the counter", she snarled. Oh, I see it now. On the counter, behind and mostly under the rack of butane lighters cleverly styled to look like fishing rods. Thanks, thanks a lot.
Another station had the only counter person chatting with what must have been her best friend. They had a LOT to catch up on.
At my turn around point I exited to a mall on the frontage road. Backtracked a bit to the WalMart gas station. Only 87 octane available! Back track some more and find a Phillips 66 station (I think) at the prior interchange. A few miles rolled off my documented distance, a few more minutes lost.
And one where some old, fat guy in motorcycle gear chased a wind blown receipt across the parking lot. Quite humorour, I'm sure, to those watching me.

Pic a little, pic some more:
Another, cumulatively substantial, delay was because several where my receipt photos took multiple tries (more on – as in moron – follows).

I'm a premier member. Good stuff. Even without the benefits I think I'd pay up because I get a lot from the IBA and I like to carry my share of the load. But couple Premier with electronic submission and SHAZAM, welcome to the World of Tomorrow. That means taking pics of the receipts. I have an X mount on my left handlebar set up where the cell phone is aimed at the odometer. That way all I have to do is hold the receipt steady and punch the phone. Easy Peasy. Except just before the ride I thought to myself that at SOME of the stops I'll be using the rest room and I'd hate to leave my camera so exposed.

That leads me to brilliant decision number one. I decided to keep the phone on a charger in the top box. Hey, how long can it take to pop the lid, pull out the camera, take the pic. Place the camera back on the charger and close the lid? Actually not too much. But what DID take time was trying to hold the paper receipt in place by the odometer while the other hand held the camera steady (yeah right) and hit the take-the-picture spot on the screen. I think I took, reviewed and rejected 3 or 4 pictures at each stop before I was happy. It was well into the return ride when I had that d'oh moment when I started putting the phone in the X cradle (about 3 seconds), snapping the picture with the now steady phone camera and pulling the phone from the mount. Be honest, only 90-95 percent of you would have thought of that immediately, right?
 
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JAORE

Premier Member
#2
Two, not quite fatal, errors:

Use your GPS, trust your GPS, but pay attention!
This goes along with Plan Your Ride, Ride Your Plan.
These are related, trust me.

I'd planned this one out in fair detail (for me at least). I'd plotted every gas station using 150-175 miles as my general template. Knowing I could stretch this out a fair bit. Every station was open during the times I would be in the area. Every station was near the Interstate and the ramps were conducive to. getting on and off the route. My turn around point was roughly half of that distance from the prior fill up.

So I planned my ride and rode my plan.... to the turn around point. Then it was Plan My Ride, Discard My Plan. Even though I was ahead of schedule a bit my mind started playing “what if” tricks. You know, what if there's an accident. What if there is bad weather? What if..... the list is endless in my fertile imagination.
So the BRILLIANT idea came to me. I'd seen lots of gas stations along my route. I could skip the half distance station, cruise the 150-175 miles and just gas up there. Might even be able to skip a fill up and gain time. For the slower thinkers reading this, it was a BAD idea.
Oh, at first it seemed OK. But without a target station, I began searching for gas nearer 150 miles than the 175. That killed any chance to eliminate a stop.
Worse, it caused me to dump my GPS routing which included gas stops......
That is when the not so great idea became a REALLY, REALLY bad idea.
How can that be, you ask? After all it is a pretty simple route and I'd just done the route, what could go wrong?

OK, here's what. Going through Memphis you use I-40 to I-55 and then I-40 again. So, coming back it should be I-40 to I-55 to I-40 again. At least that seemed right to me.
I'm cruising towards Memphis on I-40. My mental math – getting a bit fuzzy by now – said I was doing great. Might have substantially more than an hour to spare. So I see I-55 South exit. In a bit I think, “This doesn't look right”. But I attributed that to going in the opposite direction. I cross a large, truss bridge. Good! I crossed a large, truss bridge on the way out. Then the interstate was going through West Memphis and definitely not the path I'd taken on the outbound leg. Stopped on the edge of a ramp and put Montgomery, AL in the GPS. It said go left, ride a bit and take US 78 South. Whew, I thought. I can't be far off track. I'd used US 78 on the way up so the WORST is I'll be on a US highway a fraction of the way across Memphis.

That was true, and, in fact I caught tantalizing glimpses of the Interstate I should have been on as I proceeded. But not signs for how to get back on there.

Much of what I'm relating is worthy of the yet to be established IBA Archives of Dumb. But here's a hint worthy of the Archives of Wisdom. DO NOT TAKE US 78 through Memphis at night. At first it was fine, excusing the numerous traffic signals, slow speed limits and slick pavement from a light rain and rising concern over lost time In fact I rode through a neighborhood with pretty, well kept Craftsman style houses.

Then I entered an area seemingly devoid of any human occupied structure. I usually decide on the “sketchy” scale of an area by the number of tattoo/piercing parlors and bail bond signs. No problem there, this area was too scary to open up those businesses. Any homes looked abandoned. Any commercial buildings appeared closed and boarded up. But they were fine graffiti canvases. For many there seemed not a single inch not subjected to the art of the spray can.

Worse, far worse in my mind was the thought, “Holy Crap, I'm going so SLOW!!!!” Finally, mercifully the US 78 I was on became the US 78 I arrived on. I figured the difference in distance was minimal, heck I may have even added a bit. But the time, the precious time I'd lost.

Back on track I tried to calculate my estimated arrival at home. I lost some of my cushion, but SHOULD still be OK.... whew.

All went well for many miles and I'm back in Alabama. Riding I-22/US 78 I am making up a bit of time without excessive speed. I'm starting to relax again. Hey one more fuel stop will get me home, then one to stop the clock. There is the first exit to Jasper, AL Highway 69, a fairly large city for this part of Alabama.

Perfect! Well, no. I exit on a loop, the sign said gas was that-a-way, so I turn that-a-way. A pet peeve of mine is exit guide signs where they say gas is available, but it is, in fact, miles down the road. That means my usual habit is to NOT believe the signs until I can see the station or I know the exit. Apparently 20+ hours in the saddle leaves me vulnerable to tossing out these common sense guidelines. The gas station is well off the highway. I pull in pump the gas, dump the urine and out I go to the bike. The highlight was an attractive woman in the parking lot commenting on the great lights on my bike. Seems she followed me for some distance used my lights to supplement hers.

Good looking woman, but I'm on the clock and don't have time to chat. Plus I'm the most married man in Alabama (and happy about it).

But, in another brilliant move I fire up the GPS for home. It says turn left, the opposite way from the exit. OK, the GPS knows all, I'll bet AL 69 ties right back to I-22.

Another bet lost.

My GPS, henceforth to be called Thelma and Louise, routed me through an unlit, unmarked, narrow, semi-paved neighborhood road with 90 degree turns and steep, deep ditches. It occurred to me that 20 mph was less than BBG pace. Just the ticket when tired and worried about time. After what seemed an eternity in this dark little hamlet I'm routed to AL 269, a short hop then back on I-22. No substantial lost distance if any, but time, more of that precious time!

I approach Birmingham. Mentally I calculate I still have a cushion, but it's much smaller that I'd wanted. That's where foggy brain syndrome really hit. I'd taken I-65 to I-22 on the way north. It's an easy, quick path home.

But Thelma and Louise spoke up and said exit on US 78. I don't know why she said it, but she did. Maybe she said take I-22, US 78, but te US 78 was all I heard. So I exited to US 78.

Wow, another mistake. More traffic signals, more non-Interstate speed limits. Aaaaaand, just as I'm about to get on I-65 to home, the ramp is closed. The I-59/20 and I-65 interchange is being reconstructed leading to a series of ramp closures and openings as needed. There I am, Interstate in sight, time pouring away rapidly and “Ramp Closed”. OK, what now? The Alabama DOT (I worked at an agency that worked closely with them for years) is notorious for lousy detour signage. I had glimpsed a single Interstate sign with an arrow pointing left. So left I go despite the protests of Thelma and Louise. FWIW, left is back is North and home is South.

I finally get to a road I know will take me to the Interstate and T&L agree. A block and a half or so later I come to rail road tracks. Rail road tracks with a train parked on them. Not a train moving slowly. Not a train temporarily halted while something is worked on. A train parked with all appearances of staying that way until at least Monday. Monday won't work for me, so I dog paddle the bike into a U-Turn and go another half mile or so and a working ramp. Oh happy day!

More mental calculations. The squishy computer I keep in my skull isn't working as well as I'd like, but I think I can still make it. No more events, no more drama, please. And so it was. I pulled into the same gas station I used for my starting spot, fueled up and got my receipt. Should be plenty of miles and several minutes to spare.

Of course I forgot to hit send on Bubbler in my excitement, but I have the receipt in hand.

Still, I had one more poor decision in my supply.

I thought, maybe I can add some insurance miles just to be sure, since I have time. Up US 231 I ride, onto AL 14 to the gas station at High Tower Road. It's closed, but I've used the pumps at night. Dismount to add a pittance of gas and the pump message is, "Off line". What? Well, poop! Ah well, what's a few more miles, and a bit more frustration at the end of a BB Gold?

Off to home. Into the garage and into bed.

Other items:
"Bubbler/Spotwalla. Worked great. I need to upgrade to the pro app and slip that guy a few bucks. Good stuff.
I've been using it for a short time but was pleased with the map generated. A couple of notes, though, driver error, of course. Discarded my first stop and added one a mile or so down the road. Off the clock, thank goodness. The reason was the receipt was approximately 74 yards long. Address at the top, time and date at the bottom. It turns out, when I reviewed my photos, that I got a decent photo by folding and holding. But the frustration led me to changing my official start point.

At my final receipt point, the same one I started at, I failed to hit Bubbler to anchor the point.... sigh. And, of course I failed to hit “stop” so I show three more points. One is the normal Bubbler timed point. Right next to that is the gas station I was going to add at nearly the 24 hour mark.

The final was my house and I'll post it on the IBA Facebook page if/when I'm certified (now that you all know where I live, don't be strangers).
 
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jeffrey gebler

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#4
Thanks for the very entertaining ride report.
Good luck with your submission, i am sure the certificate will be worth all you went through.
 

Scott Parish

Premier Member
#5
Congratulations on completing one of the most challenging IBA rides. I understand your point regarding fuel stop times. I always input 15 minutes in my calculations/routing for fuel stops as I count ramp-to-ramp time versus time at the pump. I find planning a few extra minutes at each stop to ensure nothing is missed is worth it; and allows some cushion for contingencies if necessary. Thank-you for sharing your experience - great RR.
 

kwthom

=o&o>
Premier Member
IBA Member
#6
Okay...I don't feel so bad now, as others have those same 'brain cramps' as I do on those incredibly long rides. :D Nice recoveries, but I'm a big believer of that planning that is done also gives you at least a small amount of wisdom to at least be able to go off-script if necessary to keep things moving.

Kudos on the ride - but also, kudos for taking the time to write the "Epistle of JAORE's BBG."

You'll look back on it - one day - and go "I'm glad I took the time soon after the ride to write it all down!"

Congrats!
 
#7
Thoroughly enjoyed your write up! If we can't poke fun at ourselves who can we poke fun at!

The tip on using the x-clamp to hold the phone aimed at the odometer is probably an old staple around here but as a noob it is the first time I picked up on it. So thanks.

The BBG is one of my next goals. Congrats on your's!
 
#8
Very entertaining. Some of your decisions and reflections sound so familiar to me. What 24 hours on a bike can make of a reasonable and respected member of mankind.
 

bikerbill

IBR Finisher
#9
Thanks for the entertainment.

After attempting and failing twice at a BBG I fully understand the mental calculations/decision processes that can happen when under pressure and on-the-clock. I still want to complete one but life gets in the way.

Good job on completing a very tough ride!
 

Roadglider

Premier Member
#11
I rode a Summer Solstice SS 1000 today. When I got home, the lovely Ms. Judy handed me the Bun Burner Gold certificate! Woo hoo!
Congrats on the BBG and finishing the Sum Sol1000.

I literally just got home from my summer Solstice 1000. No BBG cert for me tonight. In the near future though. I am planning a BBG and a Lap of Florida Gold. Just need to figure out which one for July and August.
 
#13
Congrats on the BBG and finishing the Sum Sol1000.

I literally just got home from my summer Solstice 1000. No BBG cert for me tonight. In the near future though. I am planning a BBG and a Lap of Florida Gold. Just need to figure out which one for July and August.
Stay hydrated - it'll be hot and humid both months as you probably know.

I attempted the Lap of Florida Gold this past May - I got hung up in traffic in and out of Key West and lost time on the way to Marco Island, as well. Once I got behind and couldn't hope to recover, I slowed down and my Gold attempt morphed into a Lap of Florida minus the Gold.

I started at Amelia Island and rode clockwise - it's all interstate except for into and out of the Keys, of course, and the way to Marco Island, which is mostly multi-lane but was somewhat slow moving due to access roads and traffic lights. South Florida was somewhat painful as well.

There was a lot of construction on the roads, but due to the times I went through, mostly it was just signs and barricades and no activity.

If you can get into and out of Key West quickly, you should be able to do the Lap of Florida Gold. If not, there's plenty of time to complete the Gold-less Lap of Florida.
 

Roadglider

Premier Member
#14
Stay hydrated - it'll be hot and humid both months as you probably know.

I attempted the Lap of Florida Gold this past May - I got hung up in traffic in and out of Key West and lost time on the way to Marco Island, as well. Once I got behind and couldn't hope to recover, I slowed down and my Gold attempt morphed into a Lap of Florida minus the Gold.

I started at Amelia Island and rode clockwise - it's all interstate except for into and out of the Keys, of course, and the way to Marco Island, which is mostly multi-lane but was somewhat slow moving due to access roads and traffic lights. South Florida was somewhat painful as well.

There was a lot of construction on the roads, but due to the times I went through, mostly it was just signs and barricades and no activity.

If you can get into and out of Key West quickly, you should be able to do the Lap of Florida Gold. If not, there's plenty of time to complete the Gold-less Lap of Florida.
Thanks for the info. I figured Key West would be my make it or break it stop. I am trying to figure out which way I am going to approach Key West. One way was suggested that I travel from homestead around 6 or 7 am towards key West to avoid traffic going to and returning from KW. The other thought I had was going in the middle of the night, 11:30ish or so. But if it does not happen, I will happily accept the gold less cert, it is still an accomplishment.