Dad turned me onto the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum, which is one of the largest online forums for the crazies that ride bikes loooooong distances. They host group rides a few times a year around the country for people that want to do Iron Butt rides, but never get around to it. This way you are motivated by a set day to do the ride and get it done. I signed up for the June 4th, 2011 Regional SS1000 out of Jacksonville. Normally for an Iron Butt ride, you need a starting witness, plan a sufficient route to do 1050 miles (50 more miles in case of speedometer inaccuracies), then find an ending witness. Fill out all the paperwork and submit it to the Iron Butt Association for review... Lots of stuff to figure out, and easy to screw up. But you can start from anywhere. With this scheduled group ride, it was all planned out. All you had to do was show up to the starting point. We were given the required route a few days in advance, which for this ride was all within the state of FL. The witness would be there with the required paperwork for the start and finish, review our receipts, and submit all the information to the IBA for us. How easy is that! You just have to start and finish at the same place. In Jax. 3 hours from the house. Dad said he'd ride with me, just for fun, so he signed up too. Neither one of us wanted to spend the $ on a hotel on Jax Beach, so we decided just to get up a bit early an ride out from his place in Daytona. Yes it would add 90 un-counted miles to the start and end of the ride, but after 1050, whats 180 more...
I left Tallahassee after work on the 3rd and headed to Daytona. Its a 4 hour ride, so made it in around 9. When I got there, dad's wife was really sick, and dad said he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to make the ride or not. He'd wait to see how she was in the morning. 4 am came quick, and he got me up. She was feeling worse, so he said they would be headed to the Dr. He gave me his SPOT GPS tracker, so he could track me on the ride. It also has an SOS button, so no matter where I was, I could hit the button and help would be sent. This is good if there is no cell reception somewhere in BFE, and the bike is broke... or wrecked. So a lil after 4:30 I headed out to Jax Beach for the start. The start window was 6 - 7am, at a Gate gas station. You use computer generated receipts to prove your start time, route, and stop time. Easiest place to get those is gas pumps, plus you need gas anyway... I figured if I get to the starting line just when the window opens, I'd just ride with the others doing the ride. I knew of 2 people doing the ride with touring bikes, and the others were on cruisers. I would just ride with the other touring bikes since our gas stops were less frequent than the cruisers. Plus one was on a Connie like me! I took it easy getting there, and saw the sign for the Gate at 10 mins after 6am. And I saw ALL the other riders pulling out starting their ride! They were not wasting any time.
I pull in and see Ray King who is the ride coordinator. I inform him dad wasn't going to making the ride, but he'd email him my SPOT tracking info so he could see where I was on the ride. He got my odometer reading, I signed some paperwork, he signed my trip log as the witness, I filled up, and off I went. I was about 10 mins behind everyone else, but I figured I could catch up before the first fill up. We were all on the same route so that should be easy enough. I just have to drive faster than them :) I had 200 miles until I needed gas, so that should be enough time.... Or so I thought. I put it on around 85 once I got outside of the city on I-95. The route was I-95/Turnpike South to Ft Lauderdale, Turnpike/Alligator Alley West to Naples, I-75 North to Lake City, I-10 West to Tally, and turn around and head back East to Jax. So it was around 330 miles to the first corner of the ride. I rode through St Augustine, Palm Coast, Daytona... and still no signs of the riders. (Dad later said he past me on the hwy when taking his wife to the hospital in Daytona) Finally, south of Daytona I see a group of bikes. The closer I got, I realized they were all crusiers. Not the tourers. Its Daytona... there are more bikes in Daytona than any other place I've ever lived. I have no idea if these guys are on this ride or not. But they all had GPS, and water bottles, so I figured they may be the other riders... just not sure. So I passed em and kept on going to still try and catch the other 2. At a little over 200 miles and still no sign of em, the bike stuttered. I put the tank on reserve fuel and it picked back up. Time to get gas and something to drink. I didn't pre plan any gas stops other than what we were given. Some people do this to be sure the find a gas station right on the exit to save time. We've all pulled off the interstate because it said Gas/Food this exit. Then have to drive 5 miles to the little town to find it. Thats a time waster on these rides. So I passed a few exits if I couldn't see a gas station on the right side of the exit. Luckily on 95 there are exits every 5 miles or so. I had 30-40 miles to run on the reserve tank, so I knew I was good. I finally saw a Flying J sign... which are ALWAYS right off the exit. I pulled off the exit ramp and took a right to get to the station. It was off a side road, off the road, off the exit. There was a "Roach Coach" as we called it in the Navy, (restaurant on wheels) that had been smashed by a semi truck on the left side of the intersection. No biggie. Cops were there handling it. I get in, gas up, store my receipt, and run inside for a bottle of water. While in the store, I called the wife to let her know dad wasn't with me, but get in touch with him for the GPS tracker site. And to talk to my sister to give her the tracking site, and my estimated arrival time in Ft. Lauderdale, since Sis and the fam were meeting me to say hi at the gas stop. I didn't eat breakfast, so I grabbed a Cliff Bar to to eat on the ride and some water. I paid for it all and headed out. I was one of those obnoxious people on the phone, in a store, checking out... I open the cliff bar and put it in my tank bag (much easier than trying to do it while riding and with gloves on!) I get out the the side road to head back to the intersection, and wouldn't you know it. The cops decide to block it off so they could do some measurements, and to get the wrecker in there. I was stuck at the light, waiting for them to let us all out. Good time to eat!Finally after about 10 mins they start letting people through the intersection. But NOT back to the Interstate. They ran us down a parallel road to 95. At least it was the same direction! But still I'm loosing time. I still had hoped to catch the other 2 riders... but that idea was now squashed. Guess I'm on my own all day! I finally get to the next town, and back on 95. I was about 100 miles to the first required gas stop... a Sunoco right off 95 and near the Turnpike. My GPS wanted to take me on the turnpike, but I ignored it since I didn't have the EZ Pass, and didnt want to fool with the tolls. I kept on down 95. I was running with traffic for the most part, 75 - 80mph. Then I got passed by 2 cars running a bit faster, so I pulled in behind them. We ran most the way trough West Palm, in all the traffic, at about 85. I was making good time. I got off the exit, and the Sunoco was on the left. My sis, her husband, and my twin nieces were there waiting for me. I gassed up while talking with them (don't want to break my rhythm ) then got off the bike to go inside and get a Gatorade. I asked for the receipt just in case. Which was good... since while talking to everyone, I'd forgotten to press YES for the gas pump receipt! Butt saved there. We all chatted for a bit, took some photos, and I was off. Maybe 20 mins stopped time. You don't have to drive fast to finish a SS1000. You just have to keep the wheels moving. BUT... the faster you drive, the shorter the amount of time in the saddle. I was feeling really good at this point considering I was 330 miles into the ride, and over 400 for the day so far! But if I could spend less time on the bike, then I'm all for it. I jump on the turnpike, and head for Naples across Alligator Alley. Its around 11am.
Again... I'm running just a tad faster than traffic, so I don't have follow anyone. I get passed by a car, so I fall in behind him. He was doing 90. Then 85. Then 75... No cruise in the beat up Malibu! So I passed him. He passed me back. He slowed, so I passed him again... we did this 5 or 6 times. Finally we both got passed by another car. I was hoping the BMW had working cruise. Which it did. Set at 100!! We slowed down a few times when his radar went off, but we never saw a cop. So I made the 100 trip across the state in about an hour. Drove to the required Shell station (good thing for GPS, cause it was hidden and only a tiny sign on a fence to say where it was). I gassed up, GOT THE PUMP RECEIPT, and went inside for a drink and some jerky bites for a snack. I grabbed 2 drinks this time because it was now about 95 degrees! I pretty much finished one off on the way from the door to the bike, and used what was left to wipe the bugs off the wind screen. I got back on the bike cranked it up, put in the next stop in Lake City on the GPS and was about to pull out. Then I looked at the SPOT tracker. It was off. There were no lights blinking at all. So I pressed a few buttons but couldn't get it to do anything. So I called dad for technical assistance. He said it quit tracking as soon as I got to the Ft Lauderdale stop, and maybe the batteries had died, so I could try to replace them. He asked if I was with the other 2 since he saw on the GPS tracker I was right with them in West Palm. Apparantly, they were on the Turnpike, and I passed them while on 95. Oh well. I'm not going to wait for them, or change the batteries. Got to keep rolling. So I headed out with no tracker. Stop time about 15 mins. North bound 75 about 1pm!
Once I got settled in on the road again... I started fiddling with the SPOT again. I was able to get it to power up finally, but the lights that were flashing didn't seem right to me. So I kept pressing buttons until it flashed like I thought it did before. Who knows if its actually working. I was 330 miles from Lake City, so instead of running the tank dry at 200 miles, I would split the difference and stop at around 150 miles, then go the other 150 to Lake City. Plus at 95 degrees, I would need the hydration by then anyway. Where the hell are the afternoon rain showers!!! I need some relief! This was the uneventful part of the trip. I eat my jerky, finish off a Gatorade, and begin wishing I had an MP3 player. I was getting bored. I was finally starting to feel the effects of sitting on this bike for so long. I started doing motorcycle yoga and stretching as much as I could. Then I figured out if I lay down on the tank and put my legs out behind me, the wind would keep them from dragging the ground and I could stretch out all the way. This became my goto position when my knees would start to ache. I kept the speed around 75 - 80 as I-75 is bad for hwy patrol. They love picking off the college kids headed to UF, and the families to and from seeing the mouse. And holy shit the # of Crown Vics and Mercurys that look like cop cars in the deep south of FL. You never know if they are unmarked cars, or blue hairs on the road. But I made it about 160 miles and stopped off at another Shell station for gas and water. I was sweating pretty good. I took everything off this time, gassed up, got my receipt, and went inside. I looked in the mirror once in the bathroom (1st potty break all day) and I was beet red. I ran some water over my face and arms for a bit to try and cool off more than the AC was doing. I looked like I had a sunburn on my face...which is not the case since I have a full face helmet with built in sunshade. I was just that hot. I took a few mins and wandered the store after I got 2 more drinks. I finished one off, and finally headed back out. I suited up as fast as possible and got moving again. I needed the air to be moving to try and keep cool. If 95 degree wind could be considered cool. But its better than nothing. I continue up 75 to Lake City, and finally see some rain clouds. I had forgotten my waterproof GPS cover (ziplock bag) so right before it looked like it was going to rain, I got the exit # off the GPS and stashed it in the tank bag. It never rained on me, but it had rained in Lake City before I got there. I got to the required Shell station, swiped the card at the pump, and... DECLINED. Crap. I've heard of cards being cut off after being used at too many gas stations. So I swiped another card and it worked. Filled the tank, grabbed the receipt, and.... NO ADDRESS on the receipt. I stowed it away anyway, and went in for some more bottles of Gatorade. This receipt had the address so I was good. The weather was still looking wet to the west, so the GPS was not to be used on this leg. Good thing I'm from Tallahassee, and knew exactly where the next stop was, so no big deal. I pulled it out to get an ETA to the Tallahassee Shell station. I texted the arrival time to the wife to let her know when I would be there if she wanted to drag the kids out to meet me, and headed back to the interstate. Its around 6pm.
I missed every rain shower! Usually that would be good. But I wanted to get wet to cool off. The roads were wet the entire way to Tally, but I never got rained on. At least now it was overcast. 88 degrees and 100% humidity wasn't a whole lot better. But at least I wasn't sweating as much anymore. Another uneventful trek to Tallahassee. I get to the Shell station and see the wife and kids parked on the side of the building. I parked the bike at the pump, took everything off, and went over to see them. We chatted for about 15 mins, and the kids were begging me to come home. I was 11 hours, and 800 miles in, so there was no chance in hell I was headed home. We said our good byes, they pulled away, and I went back to the pumps. I swiped the card that was declined before... sure enough... declined again. Worth a shot. So I swiped the other one.... DECLINED! WTF! Maybe the reader is bad... there is a sign on another pump that says that. So I moved the bike to another pump. I tried both cards again... DECLINED. Ok. I have a Mastercard. Didn't want to use it, but now I have no choice. DECLINED!!! Oh Shit. I count my cash. I have $11 dollars. That would get me, with the gas in the tank.... maybe to the finish on fumes. But then what? I'm sure Ray would fill my tank to get home, but I don't want to risk running out 10 miles from the end, nor do I want to expect a handout. I'm way good on time to figure this out. Its around 7pm so I have 11 more hours to drive 200 miles. But I can't leave town knowing the bank has shut off our cards. The wife may need to use it. So I call the only # on the back of the bank cards... the lost or stolen hotline. That in itself is stupid. If I really had lost my card... the # on the card would do me no good... SINCE I DON'T HAVE THE CARD! But I called it since I did have it. I'm on hold for 30 mins!! But I sat inside in the AC. Finally a person answers. "Thank you for calling. I see you have been on hold for 30 mins. I just want to apologize. Someone from the Lost or Stolen Card Division will be with you shortly." I told him that my card was not lost or stolen, but probably flagged as stolen and I need that fixed. So I may not need to talk to the Lost and Stolen div, just customer service. "Sir. I'm just the operator. I can't do anything. You will need to talk to the Lost and Stolen Division". OK... just thought I'd save myself some time if they weren't the folks I need to really talk too. "Sir. I can't help you. You will have to talk to the Lost and Stolen Div." F'N TRANSFER ME THEN. Back on hold.... 15 mins later someone answers. Yep... they cant' help me. I need to talk to Customer Service. He transfers me. "Thank you for calling. Please enter your 16 digit account #. " which I did. "Thank you.............. Our systems are currently down. Goodbye." MOTH*** FU*** SHI*** I JUST WASTED ALMOST AN HOUR ON THE PHONE AND IT HANGS UP ON ME!!! WTF!! Now what. I'm stranded. Called the wife... she didn't answer. Do I drive home? Do I beg for gas? What the hell. I'll try the Mastercard again. It works fine. Whew... STILL PISSED!!! But I throw all my stuff on and head out. I don't know if the rain knocked out communications somewhere, if my cards were locked... But I was not wasting anymore time. Its now around 8pm. Still no sign of any of the other riders.
About 50 miles out from the gas stop, I passed the 2 bikes I thought I was chasing all day. So they were 100 miles behind me. Then 80 miles out, just before I-75, I passed the group on the cruisers. So they were 160 miles behind me. Wow... Not that its a race, but I was way ahead of everyone. Even after the CC fiasco. Roads were drying off and the clouds were long gone, so I reattached the GPS. I had no issue getting to Jax, but wasn't too sure I could make it back to the Gate. I was getting a bit tired, and my legs were aching a bit... but still I felt OK. I think the hour off the bike helped more than thought it did. But I was still nowhere ready to quit. It was dark by the time I hit the outskirts of Jax. I knew from the last time I drove through down town, that the new configuration of the I-10 & I-95 interchange was not in my GPS. It hadn't been updated in 3 years. No way was I going to pay $79 to update a device I paid $97 for new. So once I got close in, I knew I had to follow the signs and ignore the Garmin until I got back on 95 south. And since I was tired, and it was dark... I was driving very cautiously. Plus there was a lot of construction still. So I eased it through downtown Jax, and made it back to the Gate. Of course Ray King was there as the ending witness, but Dad had showed up too!! They did put his wife in the hospital, but gave her something to knock her out all night. So they told him he could go home if he wanted. She'd be out for 12 hours. So he rode up to meet me and the rest of the riders at the end. He and Ray had been watching the SPOT tracker which apparently I did get working right again. I pulled up, got my $1 of gas, and more importantly... the ending receipt! Officially, I rode 1060 miles in 15hrs 11mins. My odometer said 1052. I was done!!
I talked with Ray and dad for a few minutes. Got something to drink, and started on the paperwork. Ray and the MTF made it pretty easy. I had to tape all the receipts to pieces of paper and he photographed them, so we didn't have to send them off. I filled out the rest of the trip log and witness form, and handed them to Ray. That was it. He would collect them all and send them to the IBA for review and certification. Now I just sit back and wait for the certificate. ( for 2 months!!)
I called home to say I was done. The wife told me the kids had been sick all night, and if at all possible... head home. Sure why not! I've only ridden 1150 miles today. Whats another 200! I should have planned on it and completed a Bun Burner Gold... 1500 miles in 24 hrs. I hung around about an hour longer hoping the other guys had picked up the pace so I could chat with them. But I called it around 11pm and headed home. I passed one guy, who ended up riding the whole day by himself also (Rony or Tony Baenzinger) a mile or two down the road, and the other two touring bikes (David Gillespie and Bobby Downhill) a few more miles down the road. I never saw the cruisers again (Joe Merkt, Timm Indoe, Greg Haines). But they all finished! Now I get to really see how tired I am, and start the 3 hour ride to the house.
I get out of Jax and was just cruising on desolate I-10. About an hour into the ride home, I'd pulled over in to the left lane to pass a car I was catching. I have a flip face helmet, so to drink, I have to flip it up, take a swig or two, put the bottle down, then drop the face shield back down. I had just put the shield down and barely got my hand down on the handle bar and WHAM!! I ran over a retread off a semi. Apparently bikers call them "road gators"... because that's what it looked like the millionth of a second I saw it before I hit it. A 4 ft alligator. I heard it hit the underside fairings before it went under the rear tire. I slowed down to see if the tires were going down, or something dragging, or anything out of the ordinary. Everything felt OK so I kept riding. I didn't want to stop on the side of the hwy if I didn't have too. Plus I was tired and just wanted to get home. A ways down the road when I hit the FL mountains and curvy part of I-10, the bike felt a bit... heavy. Like it didn't want to go where I wanted it to go. It was drifting, and hard to keep in a straight line. I figured I was either tired... or did have a tire going down. I pulled off at a rest stop and checked everything out. Tires were up, nothing leaking, nothing falling off.... I walked around a min, used the restroom, and headed back out. As soon as I hit the throttle to get back on 10, it felt really weird. I stopped again on the on ramp. Checked the tires again since it felt like a low tire. Nope... all good. I know I'm not thaaaat tired. But it feels weird the whole ride home. In the city it really felt weird. But tires were fine. I got home around 2 am, and fell into bed. I'm home, and if something is broke, I'll figure it out tomorrow.
I called dad the next day to ask him his opinion since he's on Connie #2... he immediately said tires too. Then he said check the shock. Sure enough... it was down to 20lbs of pressure, from 45-50. I had to buy a new pump that would fit the short valve stem, but I pumped it up to 50, and the problem was gone. Apparently there's a pressure relief valve on them, so if they get hit hard, the seals don't pop. Good to know. But all is better.
It was a long ride. A HOT ride. But I finished in good time, learned a few things, and will add that too my Rally/Iron Butt database of knowledge. But overall it wasreeally not that bad. I never felt like I wanted to quit... I never felt like I needed to stop for rest. I was a little sore, but the re-cushioned seat helped my ass. My legs will just have to get used to it. There is not much I can do about the seating position. I don't think I want to do the 100 hr Jax to San Diego, back to Jax Coast to Coast to Coast ride anytime soon. But I Think the 1500 miles in 24hrs is easily doable. Just not until it cools off!!
Miles Lee
Iron Butt Association Member # 46560
Got the license plate mounted to the bike already!!
found your posting interesting. your card experience would have done me in.had i known of your problem and you being next door to me i certainly would have got to you and got gas for you there but it wouldn't help you down the road with the same cards thanks,grandad
ReplyDelete