Ride reports on the all the different States in 10 days.

JON12A

JON12A

IBAUK's retired Shop Keeper
Premier Member
IBA Member
I'm looking for information and ride report on doing all the States in 10 days challenge.
I tried the search tool but found nothing. Coming in from the UK next year and would like to have a go at this. Any help or advise much appreciated.
 
My lengthy ride report begins here: https://kwthom.blogspot.com/2018/08/long-distance-endurance-motorcycling-48_20.html

Clarification: Two different rides - 48 contiguous states *and* there's a ride where you do *49* states (Alaska...) also in ten days. My presumption is you're considering the 48 state version, which is what I did.

I've included several earlier blog entries (search my blog...) with the prep work I did as well. As I prepared, I didn't find a lot of discussion about this part of the journey, which I found out later was helpful in it being successful.

At the time, the old Iron Butt forum was still available. There was quite a bit of details there. Some of it was useful, other things, not so much. A search for "48 State Ride" on Google will bring up others that have done the ride, and documented it for others to read.

Any consideration to what time of year you're thinking about?

EDIT: Consider finding a copy of the late Ron Ayres book 'Against the Clock'
 
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Thank you for the great ride report. Interesting and most useful.
 
JON12A said:
Thank you for the great ride report. Interesting and most useful.
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Glad it was useful...that was the intent.

Honestly, with as much effort as I put into researching the route and the stops along the way, not to mention getting timing for the northeastern area (being there on a weekend...), I'm convinced that for every hour that I rode that ride, I may have logged 90 minutes of reading, research, and plotting.

Now, all of that planning *did* come in handy when I submitted the ride for review and approval. That was a pretty effortless report...which then made me go and write that ride up the way I did.

It also was very useful for when I did the National Parks Tour ride a couple of years later. Using the same process to research locations, routes, etc. made that ride really enjoyable. I blogged that ride as well.
 
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I'm registered to run the H.O.T Heart of Texas Rally in late April and the plan is to ride the 48/10 a week after that. I did the Coast to Coast last year and really enjoyed the experience. My other concern is that many unmanned US fuel stations in the early hours don't take UK card payments ( because it asks for your zip code to confirm its you paying ) so I'm going to have to find 24 hour manned fuel exclusively. Just more planning required.:)
 
John,
In the US you can buy a pre-paid credit card. Put a $100 on it and keep it for times when your UK card does not work. Walmart would be a place you can get one...
 
igneouss said:
John,
In the US you can buy a pre-paid credit card. Put a $100 on it and keep it for times when your UK card does not work. Walmart would be a place you can get one...
Click to expand...
Yes you can but when you come to the unmanned service station and put your card in to the pump first thing it does is ask for your zip code to confirm its you. Our UK zip codes are different ( 7 letters and numbers ). When you buy the pre paid card your home zip code is checked to a database. If as in the UK you could just enter a PIN number that would be great.
I will have to put some extra planning in to it and make sure I do most of my miles on the Interstate highways and have spare fuel on the bike.
 
JON12A said:
Yes you can but when you come to the unmanned service station and put your card in to the pump first thing it does is ask for your zip code to confirm its you. <...>
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Eh, not always. Depends on how things are configured...

I took three active cards, and a bit of cash on my adventure. I had also contacted my primary credit card company (Citi) card security number prior to my trip and told the person there what I was doing. They were then able to ease the 'security hold' on that card until my adventure was done. Yeah, had to occasionally enter the home ZIP code, but I think a part of that was when I had been in three or more states in the same day kind of situations. Letting them know that a card could be used five to eight times in a 24 hour period across several states lets them know that flags for typical fraud use could be ignore. Now, completely on you for keeping the security contact number available in the event of card loss.

Again, not completely cognizant of UK banking laws, especially when out of country, but there might be some workarounds you could explore.

best of luck!
 
kwthom said:
Eh, not always. Depends on how things are configured...

Again, not completely cognizant of UK banking laws, especially when out of country, but there might be some workarounds you could explore.

best of luck!
Click to expand...

The merchant and the CC processing company determine when a second authentication is required (i.e. zip code). The merchant does it to reduce the % of the sale he has to give the processing company.


John,

Looking forward to more post about the 48 state ride.


-Mark
 
Worth remembering is that when you don't have a US zip code and are prompted for one at a gas pump, often you can use 00000 instead. If your card doesn't have a US zip code associated with it, that usually works. From a search for how to pay w/o a zip code:

What to do if you don't have a ZIP code?
ZIP Code is only used in the U.S. You can use your own postal code. If your country does not use postal code for mailing, you can use 00000 when a postal code is required.

Also more US gas stations are now equipped with contactless pay, (tap to pay), which -usually- doesn't prompt a zip code request.
1731257284107.png
 
Thanks for the input Eric.
I'm thinking of the many unmanned pumps during the night.
They I believe don't use contactless outside, so the store has to be open .
I did not know about the 00000 , I will definitely try that out. We do use the postal code but it is a mix of letters and numbers so wont work on your pay at the pump units.
Kith said:
https://forum.ironbutt.org/index.php?threads/alaska-is-an-island-48-plus-ride-report.1481/

here's mine from May 2017. 49Plus!
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Thanks for an excellent write up Kith, I learnt a lot from the report.
I do need to sort an EZ Pass before I set off.
Cheers John
 
I'm familiar with UK post codes. Canadians also have a mix of letters and numbers. They can often use the three numbers from their post code followed by zeros for US zip code verification.

As I indicated many more PUMPS in the US have contactless tap to pay readers on them now. Especially at newer stations. No need to go inside or for the business to be open. You can still swipe/insert the card too. Tap to pay is nice because the card skimmers that steal your info don't work with the tap to pay function. I'll take a picture later today and post it.

Check out the Florida E-Pass. Works everywhere except CA/OK/TX/KS, no annual fee, super easy to change vehicles, easy to pre-load with funds and re-load, etc. We have an account for the car. The bikes are still on older combo of Pike Pass and I-Pass< (E-ZPass), transponders which cover everything except FL. From the FL E-Pass website:

Where does my E-PASS work?
E-PASS works on all toll roads in Florida and is accepted everywhere SunPass and LeeWay are accepted. This includes toll roads operated by the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX), Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA), Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) and the Cape Coral, Midpoint Memorial, and Sanibel Causeway bridges in Lee County.
E-PASS is also accepted in Georgia and North Carolina everywhere PeachPass and NC Quick Pass are accepted.
Uni, formerly E-PASS Xtra, is accepted everywhere E-PASS and E-ZPass are accepted including 19 states from Florida to Maine and west to Minnesota.

TheNC QuickPass is also a very good option. Covers 19 states including FL. Again, doesn't cover CA/OK/KS/TX.
 
"A couple days ago" I took a long ride. It was a scouting ride to prepare for a certified ride. During that ride I ran into a pump, in a remote area, that declined my card. I had to wait for the station to open [just under three hours] to resolve the problem by paying with cash. That was before I mounted a fuel cell and I had pushed a little too hard to keep going. Lesson learned; I went to my credit union when I returned home and opened another account, and requested two more debit cards on that account.

I still carry three debit cards daily [even as an old fart with some health issues that can't handle long rides any longer]. During the IBR, that proved to be 100% on point to what could happen, and it did during the IBR. Another card was declined but one of the spares let me keep going. When I got home, I went back to my credit union to find out WTH happened. Turns out the card company the CU, used watched for "small charges" as a sign of a compromised card and shut it down to prevent fraud.
 
Worth restating is that debit cards get a "hold" for larger amounts when you make a purchase. Like $50 to $75 for one small transaction. It takes a while for that to come off after your lower cost gas fill charge hits. While you'll never see the "hold" on your account, it impacts your daily limit. Make a few purchases close together and you can end up with a card that says "insufficient funds" even though you have funds on the card or in the account. I'm not sure if this occurs on pre-paid cards as well.

edit
Looked it up. It's called an Authorization Hold and is usually for the amount of the purchase, but some businesses do larger holds than the purchase and it comes off, usually, within 3 days. Rental car companies will do 30 day Authorization Holds in many cases.

Before the IBR and other long rallies I always called my Chevron, Amex and Visa and let them know I would be having unusual activity, often multiple states away from the last charge, at all hours of the day and night. Never had an issue. My current Chevron-Texaco cards, (non Visa type), also read in most gas pumps as a Discover card, so I can use the Chevron-Texaco card in nearly any brand pump as well as purchasing food/items inside the station at a Chevron-Texaco. I think it works inside at other gas stations too, but I have heard it won't work -everywhere- a normal Discover card works.

I once had a fraud alert kick in and cut off my Chevron card because I filled all three tanks on my Chevy C10 Camper Special in Alturas, CA. I'd never filled all three tanks before at the same time. That was 50+ gallons and enough to get me home, so I didn't know about the fraud alert until I got the message on my answering machine at home. This was probably around 2006 or so. :p
 
EricV said:
<...>
As I indicated many more PUMPS in the US have contactless tap to pay readers on them now. Especially at newer stations. No need to go inside or for the business to be open. You can still swipe/insert the card too. Tap to pay is nice because the card skimmers that steal your info don't work with the tap to pay function. I'll take a picture later today and post it.
<...>
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Agreed...a nice feature for those places that get the business volume to support the install of those devices. Seem to recall not long ago (a year or two?) that the big payment brokers (Visa, et. al.) were really pushing vendors to update those for the safety and security improvements to the system as a whole. Even little rinky-dink places off the beaten path are now having contactless tap to pay readers available...saw one at a Circle K in Mammoth, AZ just this past weekend.

When I did my ride, the NC Pass worked out well in the northeast. Still had it when I did the NPT ride a few years later. That may or may not make sense for our OP; that'll be one of the things to consider.

EDIT: Back to @JON12A initial comment about advice...

On the old IBA forum, there were a few ride reports that I gleaned info from. In more than a couple of them, the riders were successful, but just barely (with respect to the time needed...) due to any number of off-nominal events that can and do happen during a ride.

So, one of the thoughts that I had in my preliminary planning (and mentioned a bit in my prelude discussion on the blog) was baking in some time 'just in case'. Yes, you have a full 168 hours to sleep, ride, and accomplish all of the other tasks needed.

In planning the ride for *nine* days (rather than ten) there was a full 24 hour period (or 14%) savings in time that could be available for those 'oh, shit!' moment that tend to happen on rides like these. It was my noting that more than a few riders didn't do that, and some barely made the ride, while others failed simply to things beyond their control.

The way my route was planned, I was getting about half of the states in the first four days...by riding an average of a SaddleSore each day for those four days. I'd also planned to hit the northeastern region on a weekend, in an effort to mitigate traffic woes.

The addage "plan the ride, then ride the plan" worked out well, knowing that I'd probably only do it once - I wanted to be certain that I could succeed at the first attempt.

I'm *really* happy I did, and wouldn't really change a whole lot if I was to do it again.
 
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To echo the above comments, carefully and fully pre-plan your route, with the thought in mind you are "on the clock for ten days", minutes saved are more important than miles ridden. Sometimes the most direct route might be the slowest route due to traffic congestion, road construction, small towns, etc.

By asking other riders, a recommended alternate route helped me to avoid most of New Jersey and the New York City area. That saved me a lot of time and stress.The only states where I needed an EZ tag was in New York & Conneticut. I could pay on toll roads with no card.

Using google maps you can plan every gas stop: knowing the exit #, which direction to turn to gas station, knowing which Gas Brand, knowing which way to turn to get back on your route. Sometimes it is not obvious which is the correct access road. I'll never forget the IBA rider who did not discover he was heading the wrong direction after a gas stop, until 50 miles later.

If a gas station is closed and the gas pump is out of receipt paper, take a photo of the place, then look for a nearby business. Buy a piece of candy there, get their printed receipt, that is acceptable.

Pre-plan your motel stops for several days at a time. I had a list of several alternate motels for every night, just in case. I did not actually make any reservations because if, for any reason, I did not show up, my credit card would be charged. I relied of having several motel options for each night. It was needed out west. When I arrived at the first place, a wedding party had booked the whole motel. Forget about trying to camp. That wastes your time, and you will not get a much-needed night's sleep.

Set up your bike so you can drink water and snack while riding. Staying hydrated out west is critical, even when the temperature is not extremely hot. It's just dry, very dry for anyone from Europe.

Good luck with your ride; it is quite an accomplishment if you do it.

CCjon
IBA #42825
 
Got busy yesterday. Here is a photo of the tap to pay reader on a local pump. You can see the phone scanner and normal card insert slot too. This is at a supermarket gas island.
8C53FE4D-E447-4CD2-A175-74BE86E6A02D_1_105_c.jpeg
 
Too many gas stations no longer provide receipts at the pump. My recent ride on Veterans Day in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas only one out of seven stations had a gas pump receipt, I had to go inside the stores to get one. Unless it is a real small town most of the cities have truck stops or other manned gas stations open 24 hours.

One caution with your ride planning. Never pick a convenient solo gas station in the middle of nowhere. It will be out of gas, no electricity, or closed. Always look for multiple gas stations, better to be safe fueling early than sorry.
 
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