stay hydrated. try not to ride west when the sun's setting. stay hydrated. don't trust your bike's odometer.

 

Made this mistake (setting sun) when I did my BunBurner Gold, and that will never happen again. FT

 

One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was this: For the first 500 miles, ride it like you stole it. This will give you plenty of time in the later portion for more stops for stretching. By the last 300 miles you will find yourself stopping A LOT! FT

 

Sit down and go through the ride in your head and ask your self what could go wrong and have an option for every thing, think about the weather, road construction and wild life you may encounter. Keep meticulous documentation and if something doesn't add up explain it in the notes, make the run easy to verify. Make sure your first and last gas receipts are accurate check the time and date stamps when you get them. I would suggest you read the riding tips section on the IBA site it may help you avoid some problems. Have an enjoyable run and keep moving.

 

Fathertime500 - 1500 in 24 is real riding, congrats. i'm thinking of giving it a shot, maybe in the next 2 weeks. how many stops did you make? what was your average speed while running? did you take any longer breaks to nap, or just gas and stretch? i'm thinking palm desert, ca to clines corner, nm.

 

Nevermind, you were asking about the BBG.

 

Mountian Cruzer from Tonopha Nev to Ash springs Nev on the Extraterestial Hwy is about 186 miles without a gas station

 

I thought the IB patch was a bit larger than what I wanted to put on my cut, so I had this made. If ya know what it means, good. If ya don't, ask.

 

Have to agree with everything except the "run from fuel stop to fuel stop."

If you're going to do a circle tour, or an out-and-back, I can see doing this. However, every one I've done has been one-way trips (Chesapeake VA to Sault Ste. Marie MI, see family, reverse order to get back to VA); had a destination and it made the trip much more bearable.

-Didn't bother with planning gas stops since the bike gets a little over 250 miles per tank and between VA and MI is pretty well settled (gas stations nearly every exit); when I hit 200 on the odometer, I stopped at the next gas station. The only change to this rule was when I saw a "next service station xxx miles" at which time I subtracted that xxx from 250--if the answer was ten or less, I stopped. If I was riding in an area that was sparsely populated, planning gas stops would have been a priority.

-Granola bars are great when riding. Have a mix of the hard and the chewy ones, and get a good mix of flavors; can help with some of the boredom.

-Although I don't have them, I can see how those windshield pockets would give better access to the granola bars and give a place for the trash.

Best/worst 1k+ rides are written up in either this forum or the touring forum.
-Best was VA to MI; Awesome weather, amazing sunset (too bad I needed to get to the destination or I would have stopped for pictures), and a fireworks display for the last eight miles to welcome me home (Canada was celebrating some holiday).
-Worst was the return trip to VA and was completely unexpected: Dropped in behind a derocha that had just passed through Columbus OH and followed it all the way back to VA. 100k+ people without power in OH alone, WV not much better, and Western VA took a pretty hard hit as well--no gas for miles (no power) so stopped at every gas station I could find open along the way. It made for a really long night.

 

1. Take some form of hydration. Drink often.
2. Check the weather ahead of time (see the Bunburner link in my sig for reference)
3. Make sure your route doesn't put you in big cities/congested areas at rush hour. (not a SS killer, but it's really annoying)
4. Know what you're mileage is at different speeds - plan gas stops accordingly.
- at 55~60 i'm good for 250
- at 85 i'm on fumes at 200 (checked several times on I-10)
5. Take some power bars / granola bars to eat on the road.
6. Take a tylenol/ Ibuprofen at the start and the half-way point.
- especially good if your butt isn't used to long days
7. STRETCH before you start. hamstrings, glutes, quads, lower back.
- This is often overlooked, but really makes a difference
8. Dress for the weather... 1000 miles away - not where you're starting
9. take some basic tools with you for small repairs if needed.
10. Goes without saying, but check the bike over first. - oil, tire pressure, tire tread, battery etc. something small going wrong 500 miles from home sucks compared to something across town.

All that and 1000 miles in a day is very do-able. Preparation is the key, after that its all in the mind.