SaddleSore Failed Attempt - Lessons learnt

[Naufal Jamal]

Hello Riders,

So yesterday I made an attempt for SS1000. My route was a loop as below

Fremont-CA -- Los Banos -- Bakersfield -- Death Valley -- Beatty -- Tonopah -- Hawthrone -- Reno -- Sacramento -- Fremont CA

I started the ride at 3 AM but had to call off after 600 Miles. Here are some of the points I noticed that I could have done better. These are just my views

My experience as a rider: I have been riding for 10+ years now and done many cross country motorcycling trips along some tough hilly terrains in the himalayas.

Avoid rides in winters : If you are a relaxed rider like me who likes to cruise at 60mph sipping a drink, then avoid rides in winters. You hardly get 10 hrs of proper daylight. In SS rides, you need to clock maximum miles during the day. At nights, it got really chilly and windy with dropped visibility and my speed went really down. I reached Beatty as per my schedule at 4 PM but after that visibility dropped very low. I was on US95 to Tonopah which is a double lane freeway. Got a lot of truck road rages because I wasn’t able to cruise. It was bone chilling cold. I had heated liners on which kept me warm but yea no more winter night rides!

I noticed that I hardly saw any biker in my entire trip which made me realize that maybe it’s not a riding season.

Death valley: I think adding death valley to my route was a blunder. I spent close to 2 hrs of daytime cruising through the valley at slow speed. It’s scenic but wont suggest it for time based rides. Moreover when you are in a place like death valley riding solo with no mobile reception, thoughts of if the bike breaks down in this desert etc, i think it affects the cruising mindset that you need to have in these rides.

Finally I stopped at tonopah and stayed in a motel after 600 Miles into the ride. I wasn’t too tired and was pretty well on track as i had planned but yea learnt few lessons

Stick to the freeways for such rides. Study your route clearly and if possible don’t include 2 lane freeways which you may have to ride at night. But yea in daytime US95 was really good.

Maximize daylight riding. Make sure you clock at least 150 miles before the sunrise so start early. When you have 150+ miles done and you see sunrise, it brings the best in your mood and you are so pumped.

Avoid riding in winters.

From this experience, i am confident that its doable but need to choose the right time

Next attempt I am planning for a straight route from Fremont CA till Albuquerque, New Mexico. Let me know if you have any tips for this route..

 

[paulcb]

Next attempt I am planning for a straight route from Fremont CA till Albuquerque, New Mexico. Let me know if you have any tips for this route..

IMO, no need for a hotel on an SS1000. Just leave early (5am) and finish late (9pm). Pick the right route (start and finish points right off the highway), and it's easily doable in 16 hours or less with only stops for fuel/pee/snack. The route below starts close to Freemont and ends in ABQ. 1,029 miles <15 hours, no stops, running the speed limit.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/37....5,-106.6530632,17.97z/data=!4m2!4m1!3e0?hl=en

 

[Shawn K]

I'm glad to see that the OP had the good sense to wave off and get rest if things weren't going optimally. Shows good self-awareness.

The basic principles of finishing an SS1000 aren't that difficult. A lot of it is effective route picking, which the OP has learned firsthand.

As to some of the other issues he mentioned:

* Doing most of your riding in the day - Now you've experienced why so many LD riders have so much additional lighting

* Riding in cold weather - I recommend heated clothing. My personal preference is Warm-'N-Safe, but there are many others.

* Cruising through Death Valley at slow speed - Don't cruise so slowly.

 

[EricV]

@Naufal Jamal - Glad to read you are safe and sound. @paulcb - Nice clean route. Good idea to start the clock on 580 instead of Freemont proper. I find it easier to start a little earlier to minimize night riding, but it might be better to time the start to avoid rush hour traffic in Bakersfield if done on a week day.

And make no mistake, it will get cold going through Flagstaff this time of year, it's at 7000' elevation. The high today is -2C(28F) and the low tonight is -13C(8F). Every night for the next week is below freezing with daytime temps below 10C(50F).

 

[Russ Black]

Remember, if these ride were easy, everyone would be doing them.

When I plan rides for a local group I usually ride it the day before the actual ride only to have the Hi-way department decide to close some of it down for some reason the day of the ride. It happens.

The cold is not what I worry about, it's the precipitation below freezing that is my main concern. As long as the roads remain dry and Ice/snow free, I'll drive. I've only driven my bike once in single digit temperatures and I did that as a teenager. I can count on one hand the times I've ridden it in the teens. However, I do ride in the mid to upper 20's quite a few times each year and not just during the day. The only peice of heated gear I have is grips (the bike came with them). The army taught me how to operate in cold weather. It's mind over matter... The Army doesn't mind, so it doesn't matter. Seriously, the keys are; layers, block the wind and keeping dry. In cold weather I usually have 3 layers on the legs (Long underwear, jeans/riding pants, rain paints) and 4 on the top (Long underwear, long sleeve shirt (usually flannel), riding jacket, rain top), and my gortex gloves. The rain gear does double duty, it blocks the wind and keeps me dry. If I do need to add or remove a layer I try to do it on my first stop after the sun has come up and my last stop before the sun goes down. My girlfriend didn't believe me at first, but she's on board now.

 

[c10]

I recently drooped out of a SS1000 with my friend for his first attempt on his HD Ultra classic . His stop times were far to long and @ 682 miles in I was in a safe place to stay the night 386 miles from home . We had been on road officially @ 4:49 a.m. from first fuel up, but up since 3 am . I dropped out @ 8 pm in Sonora Tx . My main reason was he was going 60 mph in a 80 mph zone on I-10 in West Texas . We were getting passed by Amazon trucks . I had a good two hours left in me , but that wouldn't get me home , and hotels would not be as good of choice for safety or vacancy avaible . We were slowed down with border patrol checks by 45 minutes .

Alex did make his SS1000 in time barley 23hrs 43 minutes for 1030 miles I think . Glad you called off your run too for saftey .

 

[Bruce Thomsen]

At nights, it got really chilly and windy with dropped visibility and my speed went really down. I reached Beatty as per my schedule at 4 PM but after that visibility dropped very low. I was on US95 to Tonopah which is a double lane freeway. Got a lot of truck road rages because I wasn’t able to cruise.

395 between Reno and Vegas is such a wild card. I live in Carson City and commute to Vegas a lot through the year for various work and have quickly grown to prefer night driving. The idiots factor goes up exponentially in daylight. Yeah, you have critters to deal with at night, but at least you can see vehicles miles away from you on most stretches.

I did my first SS1000 ride in September from Carson to Black Hawk, CO. My last leg of the entire trip coming home was Vegas to home. About 15 miles north of Tonopah I saw two oncoming cars a good two miles out. Just as I got to them, one decided to pass the other and did not relent even though he was in my lane. Love taking the shoulder at 70. Many people die on that stretch every year. It's much safer when the bad drivers are done for the day.

Tonopah is not a bad place to stop for the night if you have to. Good job there.