Originally posted on FJRForum.com November 18th, 2007.
IBA 50cc attempt Ride Report
Since I was heading home to South Carolina from San Diego, I decided to see if I had what it would take to qualify for membership in the Ironbutt Association. I realized that the 50cc ride is a stretch for a novice or rookie LD rider, but circumstances were right for the “attempt”. I figured that I would go for the saddlesore 1000, and anything past that was a bonus. Oh, and you can read about my trip to California here.
I got the green light to leave San Diego anytime after Thursday, 8 Nov 2007. After some research on the IBA website, I email a couple of members to find asking for someone to sign my beginning witness form. This had to be either a Firefighter, Police Officer, or IBA member. Jamie Edmonds responded and was very willing to assist. He enlightened me to some tips and suggestions and signed my witness form Thursday afternoon. I packed the bike and got some sleep.
I was up 4 a.m. Friday, and headed for the start point near the beach. Actually, the 1st stop was the beach to collect sand & water from the Pacific, and a picture or 2.
At the Beach:
Sample from the Pacific:
I fueled up at the 24hr Shell station at the corner of Sunset Cliffs Blvd and Voltaire St., which provided me with a receipt & official ss1000/50cc start date & time. 4:55 a.m. PST, Friday, 9 Nov 2007. Time to roll. The early start ensured little to no traffic on the I-8 east heading out of San Diego. There were some nice twisty segments of I-8, and lots of scenery to enjoy (rocks & sand!) as I moved east. I encountered my first border patrol check point as it was getting light out. They had the road closed and were checking every vehicle. At first, I didn’t know what was going on as traffic was just stopped, but got waved through once at the check point. I went through another more checkpoint before my 1st gas stop in Yuma, AZ. Gas, restroom and breakfast (powerbar & Gatorade) took 15 minutes. I’d have to work on being more efficient with gas stops, as it felt like I fumbled through the entire process.
Entering Arizona:
Arizona and New Mexico pass with a couple of fuel stops. I got through El Paso before the evening rush hour, but just barely. I discovered that the speed limit on I-10 in Texas is 80mph during the day, which doesn’t help me much because the sun was just dropping below the horizon. So I’m forced to run closer to the 65 mph night limit. My goal for the 1st leg or day was to reach San Antonio. That would be about 1300 miles, which set the bar pretty high, but the pay off would be a 1000 mile or less day 2. The exit that I had planned on stopping at for the night did not have one hotel (Thank you very much, Mr. Garmin!). Doubling back was not an option, so 20 miles east to Sequin, TX and a La Quinta Inn. It was 2:30 a.m. when I hit the rack. The time change is kicking my butt, I “thought” is was 1:30 and that I’d be getting 5 or 6 hours of sleep. Instead, 4 hours would have to do the trick, and it did.
New Mexico:
Gratuitous FJR picture:
Entering Texas:
7 a.m. came in a single blink, but I was wide awake. By 7:30 I had the bike loaded, eating breakfast while I got ready to go. Houston was a quick 200 miles, and the weather was great. There was some fairly heavy traffic entering Houston due to construction. An hour or so later, I finally got out of Texas.
NOT in Texas anymore!:
Out ran the rain:
Louisiana past with out incident, but there was scattered rain showers in the area. I seemed to be moving around them, luckily. More of the same in Mississippi and Alabama. Boredom had set in pretty hard by Pensacola, FL. I stretched the last 2 fuel runs in order to make it to the beach without having to stop for gas 20 miles short of the beach.
Mississippi (getting closer):
The last fuel stop would be just east of Tallahassee, which would leave only 175 miles to the finish. I had a little bit of excitement as I closed in on Jacksonville, with the RD chirping a couple of times. I had managed to hold my pace at +10mph over the posted limit, but it was nice to know where the LEO’s were sitting and avoid having a conversation with one about slowing down.
Ride Forest, Ride!!:
Florida, last state:
I arrived at the Shell station at the corner of 3rd Ave and 16th street safely, with my ending gas receipt showed 12:24 a.m. I went to the end of 16th street to the beach. A short walk to the beach to collect a bottle of sand & water to go with the one from California and it was officially over!
A piece of the Atlantic:
Does it look like I just rode 2400 miles in less than 50 hours?
The day after, and this is how I still felt:
Jacksonville Beach Fire Department for my ending witness form:
And RedDiver met me in JAX Beach to ride back to SC with me. Thanks!!
Just a short, 180 mile run to the house, back in SC!
Doing the math, I had traveled the 2411 miles from San Diego to Jacksonville in 40 hours and 34 minutes. Along the way, I successfully met the criteria for a Saddlesore 1000, Bunburner 1500, and the 50CC. I’ve made copies of the documentation and it will go in the mail on Monday. Then I will patiently wait for Mr. Kneebone and company to validate it, cash my check and send the certificate (I hope I didn’t miss anything).
Thanks for reading along, hope you enjoyed! And I think I’m ready for Alaska next!
-wr