Bun Burner Gold = 1,500 miles in 24 hours

"Ray, as I have said before, you are an inspiration to all of us!" -Michael Kneebone, President and Founder: Iron Butt Association - "World's Toughest Motorcycle Riders"

Ray's Iron Butt Rides

My objective for this forth Iron Butt ride was to ride my first Bun Burner Gold (1,500 miles in 24 hours)

(Actual ride stats: 1,504 miles in 23hr 13min)

Google Map 1,504 miles

GPS Log Map (More accurate)

My shop is not heated, so when I want to work on a bike during the winter months, I bring it inside the house. I worked on this bike a few months, getting it ready for a slug of IBA-type riding.

Jenny is signing my IBA (Iron butt Association) witness paperwork the morning of February 23rd

Setting off in several layers to help combat the cold.

Fuel Stop 1: Quemado

An Iron Butt ride begins at the first gas station, with a Dated Business Receipt (DBR) showing the date, time and location. The rider photographs the DBR against the bike's odometer, as an indication of the running mileage.

DBR Start time: 9:38 AM

Fuel Stop #2: Socorro, NM

Fuel Stop #3: Gallup, NM

Half way to the next fuel stop, I took a five-minute break at the Meteor Crater Rest Area, to get off the bike and stretch the legs.

Fuel Stop #4: Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff

On my way to Kingman the sun was in my eyes, hanging low against the horizon. So for almost two hours I rode with my left hand raised to shield my eyes. My helmet has a drop down sun visor, and next time I will have a darker band across the top of it.

Fuel Stop #5: Kingman, AZ

Kingman

It's almost dark, and I have a long night ahead.

For the best results, I should have ridden this stretch before - Kingman to Gila Bend. It was slower that I had imagined, and more fiddly. I had driven it before, in a car long ago, but now, in the black of night, it was strangely unfamiliar. And when finally I arrived at the junction with I-10, the highway became a bowl of spaghetti with exits and on-ramps going all over the place. I didn't know which one to chose, and for some strange reason neither did my two GPS's. I selected the wrong exit and found myself headed for Phoenix. Then one of my GPS's kicked in, and led me to the next off ramp, and then to a turnaround underneath an overpass. And before long I was on I-10 again headed in the correct direction.

Fuel Stop #6: Gila Bend, AZ

Gila Bend

Fuel Stop #7: Willcox, AZ

Willcox

The stretch from Willcox to Las Cruces, along the I-10, was extra cold. For two hours the temperature was 17° F. I relied on the heated jacket and gloves for about 90% of the ride.

Fuel Stop #8: Las Cruces, NM

Las Cruces

Fuel Stop #8: Socorro, NM

In Socorro I somehow smeared the camera lens. And due to fatigue I didn't notice.

Fuel Stop #8: Quemado. BBG Finish at 8:51 AM

9:38 - 8:51 = 23hr 13min

Jenny drove to Quemado to meet me, and we enjoyed a nice breakfast.

Back home, Jenny signing my IBA witness paperwork.