Long Distance Endurance Motorcycling - 48 State Challenge Starts!
Introduction
I’ve been typing away on this topic for a long time. Many of you who read - and laugh at - my ramblings on the various forums I’m on are well aware of my questions on the topic to those that have ridden these types of distances in the past. I’ve gleaned from your wisdom; it’s appreciated.
Soon after completing the 50CC Quest in 2016, this 48 state ride had piqued my interest. I’ve been chipping away at not only understanding the history of the ride specifically, but also understanding a bit about cartography (map creating) as well as elementary routing topics.
The fact that there has been a desire to travel to our contiguous states quickly actually has been around for decades. Science does generally describe the gritty, gory details in what is known in mathematics circles as the “Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP)”
Sales? I don’t wanna sell anything, I want to buy something that gives me a valid receipt in 48 states.
There’s also discussion amongst those who would claim that the District of Columbia should not be included in this exercise. After all, it’s 48 STATES, right? Well, what’s another stop in the scheme of things?
Could I actually do this? Could I actually get onto a motorcycle and ride 8000+ miles in order to acquire yet another token of gratitude for a ride well done, and the admiration of my peers who also are crazy enough to ride long distance?
I’ve spent a multitude of hours assembling the data necessary to certify this ride. In doing so, the intent will now be to explain the ride as I rode it. Quickly, but not so quick that it’s a blur. Much of what I’m going to write in the prelude will be a few things recycled from some of those very discussions that happened in forums.
Prelude
In reality, there’s a lot of time that can be sunk into planning. Trust me, I did it. In reality, there’s only a few things that are necessary. For those that aren’t familiar with long distance (LD) riding, this segment of the ride report may have some items that may not be fully understood.
Whatcha really need? In a sentence...money, time, route. I had a monetary value in my head; my wife tells me I may have over-bid the cost associated with this ride. I stay in inexpensive places where possible, and on this trip, I really didn’t eat much. So, gas...and lodging were the big expenses. I’ve not yet added those values up as of this writing.
Thus, it’s really the route that is the heart of the solution to the problem of how to do this ride. There are plenty of resources, and in those locations on the Internet that discuss long distance motorcycling, there will be individuals out there who will know and readily share this information. Since I’m here in the southwest, ideally, I don’t pick a route that begins/ends in Kansas -- right??
One of the things that I have seen people struggle with was what I struggled with. These are the types of rides that may not start or end close to home, simply because you want your ‘on-the-clock’ route as efficient as possible. In my case, a 300 mile ride and an overnight stay, then a 40 mile ride to the actual starting point. The 550+ mile ride home will be an adventure in itself...stick around for that.
Finally, the ultimate location to learn more about this style of motorcycling, go see the web pages at the Iron Butt Association.
Equipment
2016 Goldwing, set up as I had my 2006 Goldwing. The really big helpers on a ride like this is some level of auxiliary lighting. Purchase the best light you want to have with you. Out here in the west, there’s a lot of pitch-black night out there. Well, in my case both late nights -and- early mornings benefitted from bringing my own ¼ mile of illumination with me. On many of these types of rides, you can get away with stock lighting. If you’re doing this more than once or twice, getting the lumens out there help - when you can get away with it. A lot.
I realize there may be states where having lighting on a vehicle such as these on a motor vehicle may be illegal - all of ‘em. The reader must recognize that a significant percentage of the LD riding community will be similarly equipped. They are considered personal safety equipment in these circles.
I’ve described the audio enhancements I’ve made in the past elsewhere. My phone is bluetoothed to the motorcycle audio system. I’ve also added the benefit of electronic detection of radio ranging apparatus that may be utilized by various law enforcement agencies. The phone provided entertainment (music, podcasts), conversations both by text and voice while underway, GPS tracking, track recording, and ride pace monitoring.
The motorcycle built-in GPS had the routing as daily segments. Thus the bike GPS was primary; for secondary GPS routing needs, the phone could pick up that task as required.
My equipment? Shoei Neotec helmet, EdSets audio with both built-in earpieces and an external jack to allow the use of inexpensive stereo earbuds. FirstGear Kilimanjaro jacket, LD Comfort undergarments, and because I’m a short, fat, sh!t I’m wearing Sedici Arturo mesh pants. They’re held up with a very recent purchase - HoldUp’s suspenders.
Look at all those words…tell me a story!!
Not quite yet. So, our little story is going to be words - and pictures. (Oh, good - walls of words suck!!) I've got a point-and-pray Nikon on a lanyard used to grab pictures as I see 'em rolling down the road. This is also my primary camera for taking images of receipts and odometer readings at each fuel stop.
A second camera is positioned on the left-side aux light bracket. The GoPro is set up to take an image every 30 seconds. What am I going to do with over 19,000 images? I'll show you a few of them that will enhance the story - I hope.
A sample of the perspective:
Day -1 - Tucson, AZ to Kingman, AZ
I’ve taken this portion of the ride about once a year to either see family in the Vegas area, or to do a small weekend motorcycle ride in the Death Valley National Park in the middle of winter - a great time to go.
(L) Picacho Peak, Arizona - The American Civil War's westernmost battle happened there in 1862.
Forced gas stop outskirts of Phoenix metropolitan area
I came here to buy a gas gift card...they don't sell their brand of gift card here.
A totally uneventful ride to Kingman. The big thing is I practice my receipt gathering skills; I’ll go into those details a bit later in the story.
Every one of these needs to be readable - even if I can't see it in the camera display.
The "200 mile trees"
Along US-95 in the Joshua Tree National Forest, there are two huge cottonwood trees on each side of the highway. On one of our earliest motorcycle rides on this road, I’d noticed that these trees were almost exactly 200 miles from home. In five days, I’d be a LOT farther than 200 miles from home - if all goes right with me *and* the bike.
One of the early topics that new LD riders are exposed to is the Archives of Wisdom (AoW) http://www.ironbuttrally.com/tech/aowprintout.cfm
I thoroughly recognize the article for what it is; don’t be stupid and do these things before a big ride. Think I’m smart enough to learn? Naah…
I wrote several ride preparation posts on my blog to document a lot of this. I’m not going to rehash everything, but go back and read the Day -4 post about the water jug implemented at the last minute. It *did* work well on the 100° temps for most of the ride to Kingman.
https://kwthom.blogspot.com/2018/07/48-in-10-ride-day-4.html
A quick bite to eat, then early in the room to cool down and focus on getting that sleep I really want. I’d managed to get to sleep about 8pm. I’d planned to be rolling no later than 3am local time; this was to make sure I got into Idaho with some daylight left.
298 miles...time? I got all day to do this. Short day; enjoy it!
Day 1 - 31 July - Pre-ride start to Lake Havasu City, AZ
I had pondered this problem up until the last week - do I just start this ride here in Kingman, or do I save myself a few minutes of that 240 hours I have to do this ride? I finally decided to start in Lake Havasu City - or at least a place that has that as an address. In reality the intersection of AZ-95 & I-40 is 20 miles from Lake Havasu City proper, but...it’ll work for me, as I’m only 21 miles away from my *second* state and stop, California.
The 40 miles to ride there to the ride start made me consider just how lucky I am to get to run off and do this ride. My wife had mentioned wanting to go, but I said that I loved her waaaay too much to abuse her like that on a timed trip of this length. Thanks, love!
There’d been rain on-and-off throughout the afternoon and into the night. The clouds were periodically lighting up from thunderstorms in the mountainous areas...and it would seem to also be in the direction I’m going. Every good ride has weather, right? A few sprinkles as a prelude there was just the beginning. Looks like mine might get me right out of the gate. That may not be such a bad thing, as it’s still a bit muggy out here.
I pull up to the fuel islands; desolate as you'd expect a place would be in the middle of the desert at nearly two in the morning. I take a minute to grab a photo, then another couple of minutes with a final rehearsal of the steps I need to do.
Deep breath...let's go! Put the card in the pump, fuel the bike. Take the receipt - get a good clear photo of it (it took a few times...)
Got it! The ride has begun...but, I gotta be in New Mexico - by way of Maine and seventy-odd other stops in ten days? What was I thinking!
Introduction
I’ve been typing away on this topic for a long time. Many of you who read - and laugh at - my ramblings on the various forums I’m on are well aware of my questions on the topic to those that have ridden these types of distances in the past. I’ve gleaned from your wisdom; it’s appreciated.
Soon after completing the 50CC Quest in 2016, this 48 state ride had piqued my interest. I’ve been chipping away at not only understanding the history of the ride specifically, but also understanding a bit about cartography (map creating) as well as elementary routing topics.
The fact that there has been a desire to travel to our contiguous states quickly actually has been around for decades. Science does generally describe the gritty, gory details in what is known in mathematics circles as the “Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP)”
Sales? I don’t wanna sell anything, I want to buy something that gives me a valid receipt in 48 states.
There’s also discussion amongst those who would claim that the District of Columbia should not be included in this exercise. After all, it’s 48 STATES, right? Well, what’s another stop in the scheme of things?
Could I actually do this? Could I actually get onto a motorcycle and ride 8000+ miles in order to acquire yet another token of gratitude for a ride well done, and the admiration of my peers who also are crazy enough to ride long distance?
I’ve spent a multitude of hours assembling the data necessary to certify this ride. In doing so, the intent will now be to explain the ride as I rode it. Quickly, but not so quick that it’s a blur. Much of what I’m going to write in the prelude will be a few things recycled from some of those very discussions that happened in forums.
Prelude
In reality, there’s a lot of time that can be sunk into planning. Trust me, I did it. In reality, there’s only a few things that are necessary. For those that aren’t familiar with long distance (LD) riding, this segment of the ride report may have some items that may not be fully understood.
Whatcha really need? In a sentence...money, time, route. I had a monetary value in my head; my wife tells me I may have over-bid the cost associated with this ride. I stay in inexpensive places where possible, and on this trip, I really didn’t eat much. So, gas...and lodging were the big expenses. I’ve not yet added those values up as of this writing.
Thus, it’s really the route that is the heart of the solution to the problem of how to do this ride. There are plenty of resources, and in those locations on the Internet that discuss long distance motorcycling, there will be individuals out there who will know and readily share this information. Since I’m here in the southwest, ideally, I don’t pick a route that begins/ends in Kansas -- right??
One of the things that I have seen people struggle with was what I struggled with. These are the types of rides that may not start or end close to home, simply because you want your ‘on-the-clock’ route as efficient as possible. In my case, a 300 mile ride and an overnight stay, then a 40 mile ride to the actual starting point. The 550+ mile ride home will be an adventure in itself...stick around for that.
Finally, the ultimate location to learn more about this style of motorcycling, go see the web pages at the Iron Butt Association.
Equipment
2016 Goldwing, set up as I had my 2006 Goldwing. The really big helpers on a ride like this is some level of auxiliary lighting. Purchase the best light you want to have with you. Out here in the west, there’s a lot of pitch-black night out there. Well, in my case both late nights -and- early mornings benefitted from bringing my own ¼ mile of illumination with me. On many of these types of rides, you can get away with stock lighting. If you’re doing this more than once or twice, getting the lumens out there help - when you can get away with it. A lot.
I realize there may be states where having lighting on a vehicle such as these on a motor vehicle may be illegal - all of ‘em. The reader must recognize that a significant percentage of the LD riding community will be similarly equipped. They are considered personal safety equipment in these circles.
I’ve described the audio enhancements I’ve made in the past elsewhere. My phone is bluetoothed to the motorcycle audio system. I’ve also added the benefit of electronic detection of radio ranging apparatus that may be utilized by various law enforcement agencies. The phone provided entertainment (music, podcasts), conversations both by text and voice while underway, GPS tracking, track recording, and ride pace monitoring.
The motorcycle built-in GPS had the routing as daily segments. Thus the bike GPS was primary; for secondary GPS routing needs, the phone could pick up that task as required.
My equipment? Shoei Neotec helmet, EdSets audio with both built-in earpieces and an external jack to allow the use of inexpensive stereo earbuds. FirstGear Kilimanjaro jacket, LD Comfort undergarments, and because I’m a short, fat, sh!t I’m wearing Sedici Arturo mesh pants. They’re held up with a very recent purchase - HoldUp’s suspenders.
Look at all those words…tell me a story!!
Not quite yet. So, our little story is going to be words - and pictures. (Oh, good - walls of words suck!!) I've got a point-and-pray Nikon on a lanyard used to grab pictures as I see 'em rolling down the road. This is also my primary camera for taking images of receipts and odometer readings at each fuel stop.
A second camera is positioned on the left-side aux light bracket. The GoPro is set up to take an image every 30 seconds. What am I going to do with over 19,000 images? I'll show you a few of them that will enhance the story - I hope.
A sample of the perspective:
Day -1 - Tucson, AZ to Kingman, AZ
I’ve taken this portion of the ride about once a year to either see family in the Vegas area, or to do a small weekend motorcycle ride in the Death Valley National Park in the middle of winter - a great time to go.
(L) Picacho Peak, Arizona - The American Civil War's westernmost battle happened there in 1862.
Forced gas stop outskirts of Phoenix metropolitan area
I came here to buy a gas gift card...they don't sell their brand of gift card here.
A totally uneventful ride to Kingman. The big thing is I practice my receipt gathering skills; I’ll go into those details a bit later in the story.
Every one of these needs to be readable - even if I can't see it in the camera display.
The "200 mile trees"
Along US-95 in the Joshua Tree National Forest, there are two huge cottonwood trees on each side of the highway. On one of our earliest motorcycle rides on this road, I’d noticed that these trees were almost exactly 200 miles from home. In five days, I’d be a LOT farther than 200 miles from home - if all goes right with me *and* the bike.
One of the early topics that new LD riders are exposed to is the Archives of Wisdom (AoW) http://www.ironbuttrally.com/tech/aowprintout.cfm
I thoroughly recognize the article for what it is; don’t be stupid and do these things before a big ride. Think I’m smart enough to learn? Naah…
I wrote several ride preparation posts on my blog to document a lot of this. I’m not going to rehash everything, but go back and read the Day -4 post about the water jug implemented at the last minute. It *did* work well on the 100° temps for most of the ride to Kingman.
https://kwthom.blogspot.com/2018/07/48-in-10-ride-day-4.html
A cool room on a hot day - good times!
So, I tend to forget at times this is there. There will be others with debris on the lens, promise!
A quick bite to eat, then early in the room to cool down and focus on getting that sleep I really want. I’d managed to get to sleep about 8pm. I’d planned to be rolling no later than 3am local time; this was to make sure I got into Idaho with some daylight left.
298 miles...time? I got all day to do this. Short day; enjoy it!
Still from thunderstorm video taken the day before my 48 state ride.
Day 1 - 31 July - Pre-ride start to Lake Havasu City, AZ
I had pondered this problem up until the last week - do I just start this ride here in Kingman, or do I save myself a few minutes of that 240 hours I have to do this ride? I finally decided to start in Lake Havasu City - or at least a place that has that as an address. In reality the intersection of AZ-95 & I-40 is 20 miles from Lake Havasu City proper, but...it’ll work for me, as I’m only 21 miles away from my *second* state and stop, California.
The 40 miles to ride there to the ride start made me consider just how lucky I am to get to run off and do this ride. My wife had mentioned wanting to go, but I said that I loved her waaaay too much to abuse her like that on a timed trip of this length. Thanks, love!
There’d been rain on-and-off throughout the afternoon and into the night. The clouds were periodically lighting up from thunderstorms in the mountainous areas...and it would seem to also be in the direction I’m going. Every good ride has weather, right? A few sprinkles as a prelude there was just the beginning. Looks like mine might get me right out of the gate. That may not be such a bad thing, as it’s still a bit muggy out here.
I pull up to the fuel islands; desolate as you'd expect a place would be in the middle of the desert at nearly two in the morning. I take a minute to grab a photo, then another couple of minutes with a final rehearsal of the steps I need to do.
Deep breath...let's go! Put the card in the pump, fuel the bike. Take the receipt - get a good clear photo of it (it took a few times...)
Got it! The ride has begun...but, I gotta be in New Mexico - by way of Maine and seventy-odd other stops in ten days? What was I thinking!
Last edited: