National Parks Tour Question

CB650F

Premier Member
#1
I've always liked visiting the country's national parks and recently got into motorcycle riding. Even more recently, I found the IBA, and just got finished with my first SS1000 ride. It was a blast and so I'm looking to do more with the IBA rides in the future. The National Parks Tour seems like an obvious next step for me, but I have some questions. I'm a full time RVer, so I move all over the country on a regular basis. Getting to the more remote places isn't a problem for me at all, but I typically do the bulk of my traveling with the bike in the bed of the truck and the camper in tow. I wouldn't be leaving from a normal home base to visit the parks, but would be doing it from a relatively nearby campground. I noticed that the paperwork for that particular tour requires "miles ridden according to motorcycle odometer", but that doesn't make sense to me. Many of the miles put on the bike won't be for this particular ride, and sometimes the bike will be in the bed of the truck at least part of the way to some destinations.

Can I just keep track of the miles between wherever I'm camped and the parks, or would me relocating without using the bike be a game killer for that tour?
 

Ira

Staff member
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
IBR Staff
#3
I would tend to agree. Parking the camper a mile outside 50 parks in at least 25 states and then riding the last mile into the park is not exactly what Dave McQueeny had in mind when he originated the ride. But technically, I think it would meet the letter of the rules. Just record the miles between your camp sites and the parks and include a note regarding your unusual situation.

Ira Agins
Iron Butt Association
 

CB650F

Premier Member
#5
I agree. I wouldn't be parking outside the parks like that. That would definitely be cheating and isn't what is intended by the ride. Let me give you an example of what I anticipate would happen. Right now, I'm in Southern Louisiana. From here, I can easily visit parks from between Corpus Christi and Tampa and up to Hot Springs. There's quite a few parks in that area. It would take a week or so simply because I'd want to at least check out the parks while I"m there rather than just roll up, get the stamp, then roll on to the next one. It seems like a total waste to go there just for the stamp. I actually enjoy the national parks. Doing this tour is just a little icing on a cake I'm already going to eat.

Early next year, I'll be going up to Delaware for work. From there, I could take a little time after that job is over and get parks from Acadia national park in Maine down to the Carolinas and over to Indiana. Not long after that job ends, I'll be headed to the Los Angeles area for my next one. From there, Oregon to Colorado and down to El Paso would be within relatively easy riding distance.

The issue I see is that I'll end up getting stamps from Dry Tortugas (which I actually already got last weekend after I completed my SS1000 ride) up to Acadia in Maine without actually riding from one park to the next purely on the motorcycle. I'd certainly visit each park on the bike and try to spend some time there. After all, with a full year to get all the stamps, I'd have plenty of time to check them out.

I checked out that link Kwthom. Part of it mentions Bob flying to LA and getting on a bike there to get stamps, so I think I'd be okay as long as the bike is the main transportation and my "home base" just happens to move around a bit. I think I'd be okay, but wanted to run it by the more knowledgeable people here.
 

Ira

Staff member
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
IBR Staff
#6
I don't see any issues at all with what you describe. There is no expectation that one would ride from park to park. Happy to hear you plan to spend some time at the parks - that, and motorcycle riding, is what the NPT is really about.

Ira