Ray's Iron Butt Ride #16
Bun Burner #7 (Silver)
1,504 miles, 24 hr 30 min
Oct 25-26, 2024
The nice folks at Viking Bags offered to send a tank bag (unsolicited) and I'm looking forward to trying it out.
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"
My objective for my sixteenth Iron Butt ride is another Bun Burner Gold (1,500 miles in 24 hours) passing though Tuscon AZ, San Diego CA, Riverside CA, and Phoenix AZ.
Google Map 1,504 miles
Actual ride, as recorded by the GPS
Iron Butt Motto: "World's Toughest Riders"
"Ridiculously Tough." Jenny says. "I don't know anyone else who would try something like that."
While riding my motorcycle, I've had three encounters with the New Mexico police - and so far they have been remarkably pleasant. That is to say: encounters with rural NM police, rather than Albuquerque police which I imagine would be a whole different can of worms, like those from any big city. Two of these encounters were for speeding, slightly, in the wee hours of the night. The officers simply flashed their red and blue lights as a warning, without stopping me. The other encounter was an officer who stopped along the road and asked whether I needed help. "No, thank you very much sir. I have parked my bike in the shade and I'm just resting." After a friendly wave, he departed.
Well, today was a different story.
Proceeding along the highway, I suddenly noticed red and blue lights flashing in my rear view mirrors; and very shortly a New Mexico police officer pulled me over. As I was braking to a stop, I waved - to signal my compliance. I shut off the engine and removed my helmet to reveal my gray-white hair - in hopes that he would be more lenient of an old guy who should have been home reclining on a rocking chair, instead of tooling down the highway on a big and powerful motorcycle. Rather like an attractive young blond removing her helmet to reveal her striking blond hair to elicit some sympathy.
The police car was large and new, and a young woman in a freshly pressed uniform approached saying, "You were going ninety nine."
"Yes," I replied sheepishly.
"Let's see your paperwork: driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance."
I reached into my jacket and fished out my pouch, and handed her the documents, which she then took to her vehicle.
While waiting for what seemed a long time, I thought: Dang, I've been had. This will cost me dearly." However, in retrospect she will not find any trace of criminal offense in my records, nor tickets in the last fifty years. So far, I'm clean as a whistle - although that was about to change.
Back at my bike, she asked, "Are you with any other riders?"
"No ma'am," I explained, "I'm riding solo."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm making a loop from my home to Phoenix and back." (I would be passing though Phoenix, alright, but I left out the other details of my Iron Butt loop which would sound like I'm either lying or flat-out crazy.)
"That's a long ways, all the way to Phoenix! Well, here are your papers, and please slow down. This highway can be dangerous in high winds."
I'm waiting for her to hand me the ticket, but she simply returned to her patrol car, saying "Don't ride so fast. Slow down."
"Yes Ma'am. Thank you very much."
And with that, she got into her vehicle and politely waited for me to get safely back on the highway. Once under way, she passed me and soon pulled over a Mexican hauling the typical load of discarded items headed for Mexico.
Note in retrospect (after the trip): I will be changing focus for these Iron Butt rides. No more BunBurner Golds (1,500 mi/24 hr) - at least those starting from our house. Our urban roads are slow going, and take valuable time, so they call for some speeding on the rest of the route. Speeding can be dangerous, especially in traffic; and I don't want any speeding tickets. In future, I'll stick with the Saddlesore's (1,000 mi/24 hr) where the rider has lots of time, and speeding is not necessary. More info
Planed Itinerary
Arrive Quemado 9:15 am MST, 49 deg
Quemado to Hatch 213 mi, 3 hr 13 min
Arrive Hatch 12:35 pm MST, 79 deg
Hatch to Benson 217 mi, 3 hr 7 min
Arrive Benson 4:51 pm AST, 92 deg
Benson to Dateland 217 mi, 2 hr 57 mim
Arrive Dateland 7:55 pm AST, 86 deg
Dateland to San Diego 231 mi, 3 hr 21 min
Arrive San Diego 9:18 pm PST, 61 deg
San Diego to Moreno Valley 89 mi, 1 hr 23 min
Arrive Moreno Valley 10:51 pm PST, 60 deg
Moreno Valley to Salome 210 mi, 3 hr 8 min
Arrive Salome 1:58 am AST, 66 deg
Salome to Payson 187 mi, 2 hr 52 min
Arrive Payson 4:53 am AST, 56 deg
Payson to Springerville 137 mi, 2 hr 40 min
Arrive Springerville 7:35 am AST60 deg
Departing from home, I soon encountered my first elk. Half a dozen were crossing our driveway and required my stopping for a minute to let them pass. These elk are beautiful and stately animals and we absolutely love them.
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.
Before leaving on the trip, I posted my SpotWalla map ahead of time, so people could check my progress in real time.
Email received from Jason D.: subject "Ray's Ride though the Inland Empire" Message: "If Ray needs anything while he's in and around Riverside, tell him to give me a call. My wife and I live in Riverside right nearby where he'll be passing through; I'd be more than happy to help out if I can." Jenny replies: "Hello Jason, Thanks very much! I will let Ray know. Best regards."
At the city of Benson AZ, there were signs on the gas pumps advising customers to prepay inside the store. going inside might take up valuable time waiting behind another customer wanting to buy cigarettes and lottery tickets. So back on the highway, I proceeded to the next exit and rode around the pumps at the first gas station, finding them all occupied. At the next station, Maverick, I found that the pumps were not working yet because the station was brand new, and the vehicles parked at the pumps belonged to the workers rather than other customers. Then finally at the third station, I managed to get gas - at the loss of 15 minutes of wasted time; not good on a BBG, but such is life.
On the 15 and 215 from San Diego to Moreno Valley the traffic was really intense. My mistake for choosing Friday evening when lots of people are going who knows where - without much heed or consideration for others. It was more like a free-for-all.
I got off the freeway at the Whitewater Exit to have a look around and take some photos. The night was pitch dark, and there were a bunch of semi-trucks parked there, with the drivers sleeping. I parked the bike but didn't get off because another semi pulled behind me and pretty much demanded I move. So that was a short stop. However, back a short distance, the highway crosses over a draw where the PCT goes through. And that underpass is where Jenny and I quit our PCT hike in the year 2000. And that's why I named this route "Whitewater." When I see this "Whitewater" story in my archives years from now, I will remember that trip exactly.
At the city of Payson AZ, the gas pump failed to give the needed receipt, so I had to go into the store and ask for the receipt. this is a common occurrence and is caused manly by the gas pump's printer running out of paper. People were lined up in front of the cash register waiting to pay for their items, but a clerk was nowhere to be seen. Finally I got some service, but the clerk couldn't work the printer, so had to go in the back room to get the supervisor. I burned another fifteen minutes of valuable time on that stop. Not good on a BBG, but such is life.
A few notes about how I plan a ride:
During the planning stages I formulate the ride with Google Maps. This gives me a route and its distance overall. For example, I wanted this route to be 1,500 miles. And also, I wanted to use high-speed freeways in order to cover that distance as fast as possible (while traveling at the speed limit). Speed is necessary when trying for a whopping 1,500 miles in only 24 hours.
With the route formulated, I copy the URL and feed it into maps to gpx, to give me the GPX data for my ride, which I then feed into IMGfromGPX to give an IMG image file. (Note: IMGfromGPX is a 32-bit program so it requires a 32-bit version of Java.)
Next I plug in my Garmin GPS unit into the computer, and paste the IMG image file into the Garmin GPS Maps directory. (If your Garmin GPS doesn't have a "Maps" directory, then simply create one.) That gives me a line to follow on the GPS screen.
Back at the computer: with Google Maps I zoom-in to my first gas stop, and place a reference point by clicking on the area. I then click the "share" icon, and copy the coordinates in decimal form. Then I open Basecamp, make a waypoint anywhere, and give that waypoint a town name and it's coordinates. I repeat for all my gas stops. Then I use Basecamp to download the waypoints into the GPS unit, (first removing the old waypoints).
Finally I use the "Trip Planner" app in the GPS to make a route, based on the saved waypoints. When I'm actually riding the route, the GPS Trip Planner gives a line to follow on the screen, but more importantly it shows the distance to the next turn. For example, the distance to the next turn-off to the gas station.
I buy old Garmin GPS units for cheap (about $20 each - something like the Garmin Nuvi 2597LMT) on eBay, and carry two of them on each ride - using one, and carrying the other as a spare. In addition, my bike came with a Motorrad Navigator, and I use that also.
Before departing on the ride, I have all three units programmed with my route data. But I turn off the Trip Planner on the Motorrad Navigator V, and I turn off the IMGfromGPX on the Nuvi's. So both GPS units are working, but doing different things. And if needed I can turn back on the closed apps.
Some people might ride the same route using paper highway maps, and some people would not even use maps. Some people would use expensive GPS units, and some would go with even more expensive tablets. To each their own. I have used the same cheap Nuvi's for years, so my method is really economical. And because I don't use tracks or routes, I can have an unlimited amount of data consisting of umpteen thousands of data points. And memory of the GPS is free, and ready to be used if I ever need it during a ride. And also, the IMGfromGPX overlay never crashes because it's not part of the Garmin software.
I'll move all this to another page when I return from the ride.
During this BunBurner Gold attempt I lost a bunch of time at the gas pumps, trying to get the needed gas receipts. On a SaddleSore, lost time is not much of an issue, but during a BunBurner Gold, the lost time cost me the gold. The SaddleSores are easy; the BunBurner Golds are incredibly difficult; they can sometimes be dangerous; and they require expensive radar detectors (such as the Valentine used by some Iron Butt riders).
Bottom line: my BunBurner Gold attempt was a 30 minutes beyond the 24-hour cutoff. The riding was pretty straightforward, but the gas stops were sometimes not. I'm calling it a "BunBurner silver."
That's about it for now; until the next one ...
Lead singer stops the concert to comfort a little girl. We all need to hear this: "We are one."
Therapist gets Down With The Sickness by Disturbed. (Watch to the end)