World’s Toughest Riders… Iron Butt… because it really is all about the ride… 1100 miles in 17 hours

We had all been talking about this for some time. Actually, since the day we first all met. So you can say this has been an obsession going back several years. Then in the first week of June this year when we were riding the Pacific Coast Highway up to Washington state we had one particularly grueling day where we rode from 6am to 9pm. On that day we rode through rush hour traffic in San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge. Through tight twisting roads along the coast of California and Oregon, the PCH 1 and 101, in and out of rain and Redwoods, finally rolling in to Coos Bay Oregon after dark, it was so late, all the restaurants in town were closed. Earlier that evening, while stopped in Newport Oregon , home to Rogue Brewing Company, one of the exhausted members of our group remarked “I can do this, I did an Iron Butt, I know I can do this!”. Later that night in Coos Bay, with the idea freshly implanted, and over a few Rogue Brewing “Dead Guy Ale’s”, the plan was put in to place.
We decided to leave at 2am and ride to Lake Havasu and back because we only had one day to do this and lots of projects at home, with kids moving out and going off to college, birthdays, and all the usual things that get in the way of both long road trips and short rides. A couple of us also wanted to get home before the wives got off of work and realized we ditched work to go on an 1100 mile ride, without them! hah!
We only made gas stops in Gallup, Flagstaff (Bellemont), Lake Havasu and then Bellemont and Gallup coming back, other than the start and stop gas slips in Albuquerque. We only grabbed snacks, drinks and bathroom breaks during our brief gas stops except when we stopped in Houck AZ to throw on rain gear and rode through several hours of heavy rain and than lighter rain from Gallup to Grants. What a ride!

I’ve got to cut this short, I’ve got another ride to go on!

 

Good job!!!

 

Ride, rain or shine, the love of riding is the key. Man I could go on, but good on yeh for the big ride! Shinny side up!!!

 

I made 1160 miles in 18 hours a few years ago (some rain and temps from 20 to 120 deg along the way), and swore I'd never do it again.... I'm going to do the same run 2-up as soon as my 2013 Ultra comes in.

A terrible and wonderful experience. I am proud of anyone who has the determination and the ***** to pull off thhe 1000+ ride.

 

what kind of storage is that on top of your trunk? It looks good and I need a bit more storage. I ran out of space on my last week long 2up trip with camping gear.

 

It's a bit easier to cover a lot of ground in the western states with the higher speed limits and less traffic. I did my Iron Butt from Sierra Vista, AZ to Peco, TX and back. 75 & 80 mph speed limits. Of course I never exceeded the speed limit.

 

Great Job!
Doesn't get any better than that.
A fun filled, safe, ride with friends.........

But with traffic around here during rush hour, you might make 5 miles in an hour..

 

Great job! I have found that it ain't about how many miles as it is time in the saddle. I prefer 8 hours and 250 miles than 8 hours and 400 miles. Never cared much for superslab riding, but then I'm a hillbilly and feel at home in the Mt. Still recovering from shoulder surgery and I rode 50+ miles yesterday and I was thrilled at my skill of long distance riding!!LOL

 

I have done long days, never a iron butt ...i have done about 750 but some back roads and mountain roads....I don't have to do it no more butt know i can.

 

Congratulations! Every rider should do an Iron Butt ride sometime!