Lap Around the South...ignition switch is armed

#1
Afternoon all. Tomorrow morning at approximately 0500 I will be leaving my home in Burlington, NC in an attempt to ride this ride: Lap of the South (ironbutt.com). I'll be doing the seventy-eight hour version. In additon, you may track my progress with this link: Trip: Lap Around the South (spotwalla.com). It will not be active until approximately 0500 EST tomorrow. That's all for now...
 

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#8
He was on the clock from his start point in Burlington, North Carolina and he has to return there to complete the lap.

"You may start anywhere in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi or Alabama (the South). You must start and end the ride at the same location, i.e. same DBR."

His plan was to start and end near Burlington so he did not have to make the slow road to Rodanthe, North Carolina again.

It is going to be real tight to cover that distance. Natchez to Greensboro via Union City, TN is roughly 1000 miles and 17 hours.
 
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#11
Happy Sunday afternoon everyone! Close, but no ceegar she said. Three minutes late and in the eyes of the IBA I did not finish within the allotted seventy-eight hours. Yep, seventy-eight hours and three minutes completion time. My departure time was on 11/1/2022 at 05:12 EST and ending time was 11/4/2022 at 11:15 EST. Disappointed, oh heck yeah but not defeated. Going to regain my three minutes in mid March 2023. Many lessons learned and will be put to good use in March. Set cruise control to 75mph during the first leg instead of 70mph. Drink more water. Yes, yes I have a water blader mounted directly in front of me on my tank bag-just never felt thirsty the entire ride. If possible, start and end the ride in Key West, Fl. in order to start at night and return at night in hopes of not dealing with heavy and slow traffic. Note: the entire 127 miles is heavily patrolled, maximum posted speed limit is 55MPH with a large portion posted at 40-45 MPH, limited opportunities to legally pass. In IBA parlance; Key West, Fl. is a huge Time Suck>I knew that prior to starting the ride.

A lettle about me and my preparation so as to let fellow members know what I did to prepare for a successful ride. Before I begin, to the best of my knowledge there hasn't been anyone to do a certified 78 hour ride yet. However, there are two idividuals that have done the 65 hour version-they have my utmost respect, had to have been traveling at mach II ! Okay, here goes: retired from work on Friday May 30, 2022 and on Monday June 3, 2022 started going to our local YMCA every Monday Wednesday and Friday for a vigirous two hour workout consisting of cardio, streaching, resistance training and jogging-2 miles/day. I live about 2.5 miles from our YMCA and rode my bicycle to and from the Y each day. Three weeks prior to the start of the ride I voluntarily stopped drinking beer, coffee and reduced my intake of bread. In the whole process I lost a whopping 4 pounds. From 172 to 168. But I felt good about myself and my prospects. My bike is a '2020 BMW R1250 GS and is in perfect condition and it showed during the entire ride-not a single problem whatsoever. I bought it new and it's never been to a dealership since purchase. I do all of my own maintenance. Having a Handy lift, Dereck Weaver pneumatic tire changer and a GS-911 tool makes some tasks easier. Plus, I enjoy the work. New tripple A batteries were installed in all electrical devices requiring same, i.e. flashlights, Spot Gen3, Heat troller for heated liner. In a nutshell and to the best of my ability I tried to 'blue print' all of my equipment and myself. In spite of all the effort I was still three minutes past due. Such is the IBA and I love it. For me and I'd like to think others as well, the IBA requires one to "Try their Best to do their Best" all of the time.

Lastly, I'm seventy-years old, have successfully done seven prior IBA certificate rides and have hopes to do four more. Thanks again for following along with me. I appreciate it all...
 
#12
Man, to miss it by less than one stop must be frustrating.

You did a great ride! I told several people at work about it nd they were IM'ing me to check on you ;)
 

MidTNJasonF

Premier Member
#13
Well I know that has the be a bit of a disappointment to miss it by such a small margin but You completed the ride safe and made it back home with no major mishaps so it is a win by every other measure.

I knew it was going to be tight when you pulled through Natchez with just over 1000 miles to go and about 17 hours. I thought it was going to be a long hard night for you to make it back with time that tight.

Hopefully you can check that box when you ride it again in the spring. Thanks for sharing the tracking link and letting us follow along.