My 1st SS1K
Ride Report
Recently I took a trip to Niagara Falls, NY and was hosted by a gentleman by the name of Sal, from the Motorcycle Forum I belong to (www.st-owners.com). Sal is a long distance rider who recently competed in the Iron Butt Association (IBA) Rally. This ride took him about 11,000 miles in 11 days. While I was in NY I had the great pleasure of helping Sal prep his bike for the rally. You can read all about the rally here. This sparked my interest in doing some long distance endurance riding of my own. I checked out the IBA site so I could learn more.
Well long story short I decided to try my hand (or butt) at the Saddle Sore 1000 (SS1K). This ride requires the rider to travel 1000 miles in a 24 hour period. This is clock hours not riding hours. Prior to this my max distance on the bike was ~500 miles and I remember how sore my body was. That was done on my old Honda Magna. My Honda ST1300 is much better suited to cover those miles thanks to little things such as a better seat and cruise control. If you wish to read the rules for this ride and what I have to do to prove I actually did it read here.
The first thing I needed to do was to pick a route. Since I live in Colorado and this is my first SS1K I decided not to head west because that would require me to ride through the mountains and on the return trip I did not want to chance the twisties at night. I opted for a eastern route from Denver, CO to Topeka, KS and then back to Denver, CO. This will allow me to maintain highway speeds for the duration of my ride. My friend Tony decided he would go with me.
Below is my planned route. The plan is to depart at 0430 hrs on September 26, 2009 and be done by 2000 hrs the same day. I do however understand that the best made plans never survive the initial contact with the enemy.
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So what actually happened?
09/26/09 All times are in Mountain Standard Time.
04:33 Started the official ride at the 7-11 located at E. 48th Ave and Tower Rd, Denver, CO. The morning started out at a crisp 48 degrees. Heated gear on and east we head.
06:40 157 miles down. We stop in Burlington, CO so Tony could but on his tinted visor. Note to self next time bring my sunglasses. I also picked up a bottle of Ranger Candy (Advil) since I forgot to pack any.
07:10 We cross into Kansas. 165 miles down, so far so good. My Spencer Saddle is doing great!! On the stock saddle I could not have gone this far without already being in pain.
08:05 246 miles in. We stop in Oakley, KS and fill up. I am starting to get a little sore but all in all I am doing great! I stretch out a bit and we get back on the road.
10:41 389 miles in. I70 near KS HWY 156. We stop at a rest stop to well um rest. I am very glad we did because I was getting a sharp pain in my left shoulder that I needed to work out. It was also getting warm so I needed to ditch my heated gear. Tony got a call that his daughter was in the hospital (she is fine now) and had to turn back. I saddle up and continue east alone.
12:21 516 miles. I was on fumes and stopped to fill up. This is over 500 miles so I could turn around but I wanted to get to Topeka and Topeka I will get to. I also wanted a little bit of overage so the IBA would have no doubt that I went over the required 1000 miles.
12:45 1001 Wanamaker Rd. Topeka, KS 532 miles. I get $1.52 in gas so I have a date and time stamped receipt and a can of chew and hit the road. Back east I go. I have no pains and I feel that I can easily go the distance.
14:48 664 miles in. I stop at the same rest area as before to rest and grab a bit to eat. I am starting to get sore again but all is good. Time for two more pieces of Ranger Candy before I saddle up again. So far I have seen some great Kansas scenery. Look a cow, hey another cow, is that a cow?
16:13 Hays, KS 733 miles under my belt. Almost done! Fill up with gas, stretch a bit more and clean the bugs off the wind screen. Oh my God the bugs!
17:43 Colby, KS 843 miles down!!!! Gas up and head home!!! The sun is now setting and looks like a fireball sitting on the road. What was that I said about sunglasses? To make matters worse I70 east bound is an obstacle course. There are more alligators (tire threads) on the road then Florida has real ones. Lumber! We are talking 2x4s and 4x4s and a complete sheet of plywood. Let's not forget the complete exhaust system in the left lane!
20:50 Back to the 7-11 to collect my last receipt. 1065 miles total. I was hurting from head to toe, but I had a great time and a great ride. This one is in the books.
Below is my GPS Spot Tracker pings during the ride. If you click on a flag it will show you the date and time of the ping.
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