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Published: September 9th 2011
Iron Butt SS1000
My family and friends thought I had lost my mind when I announced at dinner a few weeks ago that I was planning an Iron Butt ride.
I am sure that not many people have ever heard of or even knows about the Iron Butt rides but since I am sharing this link with friends and family I thought I would take a quick second to explain what the SS1000 is. To qualify for a SS1000 (Saddle Sore 1000) you have to not only ride your bike for 1000 miles in under 24 hours but you have to document your ride.
My ride actually started several weeks before I left. I had to make a few changes to my bike. The two biggest things were that I added a Versa Cruise Control and a luggage rack to my Honda. I don’t think I could have made the trip as easily as I did if it would not have been for the Versa … what a life saver!
When I mentioned the ride at last month’s Blue Knights meeting my fellow rider Tom said he wanted to go with me. Great …
the more the merrier.
Tom and I agreed that we would meet at Bunky’s Market on Saturday (09-27-08) morning at 08:30 for a hearty breakfast before we hit the road. Our wives came to see us off and witness our start. All day on Friday it had rained and most of the night. Here is what my driveway looked like as I was leaving the farm to meet Tom.
At 09:15 we hopped on our bikes and got our first gas receipt to document the start of our first IBA ride. Tom was riding his 2008 HD Ultra Glide Classic, a Lazy Boy on wheels and I was on my very basic 2007 Honda Shadow Spirit 750.
We got back on the interstate and checked the next exit. Gas was found and life was good. We decided to go ahead and continue on and hope that there is enough gas to get us to Florida and back home.
Our next stop was Florence, SC were we got gas without problem and headed south on I-95 The trip through the rest of South Carolina was without incident and we saw plenty of beautiful country side along the way.
But mostly I saw a lot of the back of Toms Harley.
Then came Georgia. The ride was not nearly as nice. Over 75% of I-95 was under construction. This slowed our progress but did help us conserve gas, which was a good thing. It would appear that there is no gas for sale in the state. I was scared that I might end up becoming a life time resident of Georgia. I was on fumes when we finally located gas at a “Flying J” truck stop just outside of Brunswick. We were not the only ones that found this gas, the lines were long and slow.
To top off our troubles in the peach state was that the “Flying J” does not have time stamps on their receipts at the pumps. I went inside to get a duplicate, because I have not yet wasted enough time, and cashier Brian was unable to provide me a duplicate nor could he comprehend why I wanted it. It took an act of congress to get him to sign my receipt and hand write a time on it. Good luck Brian with your career at the “J”!
We made it out
of Georgia … thank God! The next big city we came to was Jacksonville, Fl. What a nice city! I really enjoyed the ride through the city and would love to came back to explore it when time was not of essence. The rest of Florida was uneventful and we made it to our turn around spot in Titusville. Titusville is just down the road from the Kennedy Space Center, which is another place I would love to come back to when I was not pressed for time. Tom and I were starved so we road down Garden St a little ways and found a nice pizza joint with a police car parked outside. Food and a witness for out IBA paperwork. We stopped and got the officer to sign our paperwork.
The officer introduced us to Nick the owner who was really interested in our trip and asked all kinds of questions. When we got up to pay we found that Nick had left a message with the cashier that our meal was on the house. Thanks Nick!
After an hour we were headed back. I had noticed during dinner that Tom was looking a little tired
and sure enough when we hit St. Augustine he motioned for me to pull off. Tom was sad to say that he was finished and that he was not going to be able to finish the ride. I told him that it was ok and we would try again when he felt up to it. Tom grabbed a room at the Comfort Inn and I continued north on I-95.
I was smart and filled up at the same “Flying J” just as I crossed into Georgia so that I could make through the rest of the state on the gas I had in my Shadow. I thought the road coming down was bad, but this side of the interstate was even worse. I thought I was going to be beat to death. On top of that the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and I was getting cold fast. I found a station to pull over at and put on some cool weather gear.
The other thing I noticed while in Georgia and in South Carolina is the large number of deer I saw at night grazing on the side of the interstate. I counted 14 total deer, 11
living and 3 dead. It is hunting season and the hunters need to get busy.
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way until I started looking for gas near the end of my run on I-95. I switched over to my reserve tank and started the hunt. Nothing was open or if it was they had no gas. Finally in the little town of Timmonsville I found a tiny little station that had some gas and filled the tank. Glad my Honda did not hold more than the 10 gallon max. that the station had.
I made a turn onto I-20 and was just a little over 1 and quarter hours from home. Then I drove into a very heavy fog and all I could think of was all those prior deer that I had counted earlier. I prayed that there were none in the area because if they were I feared that I would not see them. Well I made it home without hitting Bambi and was really finished earlier than I thought. I had figured that the trip would take most of the 24 hours and it was just a little over
5 a.m. and there was no one at Bunky’s to sign my witness form. So I filled the tank and called the Sheriff’s Department and asked them to send me an officer out. It was taking for ever so I woke my wife and asked her to drive out and meet me at the station. Need I say that she was not happy? Both she and the officer showed up at the same time, I got my signatures and headed home. The officer wished me luck with the wife and all was good. It has been three days and she is over me waking her up … I think.
Official Stats:
1059 miles
19 hours 58 minutes
14 deer
21 cop cars … what was up with that!
I would also like to thank all the bugs that gave there life to make this trip a success.
The paperwork has been completed and mailed to IBA and I will plan my 1500 mile ride while I wait for the IBA to certify my SS1000.
Thanks to everyone that help me plan my ride and Tom we will do it again, just let me know when you
Half Way
Eating ... What I do best!are ready.
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Charlie
non-member comment
Thought the Shadow was a total?
I would love to do what you just did, tho I think my butt would give out as my seat is not the most comfortable seat on the planet. :-) In the story you said that you provided a link, yet I do not see it, can you send it to me please via my email attached to this comment?