Sport-Touring.Net - CA in-state BBG Ride Report -- Simi Valley to Blythe and Redding and back

CA in-state BBG Ride Report -- Simi Valley to Blythe and Redding and back

For my second Iron Butt ride, I decided to take on the BBG. Last year, at the end of my SaddleSore 1000, I felt I could have gone further. I rode 1060 miles in 16 hours, so at the time I thought a simple out and back to Sacramento was all I needed. However, I only had one witness see me off (not the required two) and the IBA strongly recommends doing a SS1K before attempting other rides. So I stopped my ride. But completing the BBG festered in my mind all year. I knew I could do it but felt cheated.

My planning for the BBG began in earnest in March. My stock 1100 Multistrada did a terrific job on the SaddleSore, so I wanted to keep it basically stock. The only items I purchased for this ride were a throttle lock and some backup MSR fuel bottles. 11 stops on my SaddleSore wouldn't cut it for this ride. I had no idea how far my Multistrada would really go on a tank of gas, so I packed up my fuel cells, threw on the throttle lock and took a took 400 mile test ride to Coalinga and back. That's when I learned about how a steady throttle hand and planning your ride around the wind patterns could vastly extend the range of my MTS. Into a steady 10 mph headwind with a steady throttle (the throttle lock is a godsend), I was able get eek out over 200 miles. On my SaddleSore, I was reluctant to plan a route over 160 miles...that's when the low fuel light would flash because I treated the SS1K as a race. With the same 10 mph wind going with me instead of pushing against me, I was able fly up the Grapevine pass and extend my range to well over 250 miles! I was in business. All I needed now was a route.

There were several factors that came into play when I planned my route. The two biggest were weather patterns and my own reluctance to do this ride. With the SaddleSore, I was more worried about boredom, so I picked a scenic route that ran through the Sierras and down the backside of California via the 395. This ride would not be like that. It was an all highway damn-the-distractions-I-need-high-speed-limits ride. From Simi Valley, that left me with three good routes to choose from: Simi to Canyonville, OR and back, Simi to Elko, NV and back or Simi to Ogden, UT and back. Each had their flaws and all of them completely committed me to doing this ride. The Oregon route suffered lower speed limits and lots of state troopers. The Elko route suffered a lack of services, and the Ogden route was going to be HOT! None of these routes allowed me to fail. And by that I mean that I couldn't change my mind 500 miles into the trip and just go home. Though I thought and thought about this ride, I had serious doubts about my ability to stay awake, stay focused, and deal with unfamiliar territory. So I devised a route that allowed me an out. If something went wrong, I would be relatively close in case my wife needed to rescue me.

I looked at the possibilities and spent hours on mapsonus.com. Redding was a simple 500 mile out and return. That's great, but I still needed another 500 miles to make this a BunBurner. Within 20 miles or so, Blythe was 250 miles to the east. Connect them together and viola! a 1500 mile route of familiar territory that would allow my wife to pick me up (or visit the accident scene) if needed. The only thing that really scared me was the Blythe heat. 110s in the day. The central valley wasn't much better, but 90s are tolerable. What time of day should I travel these? Blythe at night and the valley in the day. My other concern (becoming sleepy on the road) would be taken care of with a midnight departure time. Looking at the wind patterns, I could avoid the strong afternoon northerly winds in the central valley by riding North in the morning and use them to my advantage by riding South in the afternoon. The real beauty of this route is that if I wasn't physically or emotionally into the ride, I could simply scoot home.

The ride went exactly as planned. I departed Simi at midnight after 7 hours of sleep. I was wide awake and riding a small adrenaline high. At 4am, heading past the wind turbines near Palm Springs, I began to feel drowsy...a few yawns here and there. I thought about pulling over, but the sun was coming up soon. Sun up, me up. I was fine after that. Fatigue never played a part in the ride. After making it back from Blythe, I felt great, so I continued on to part two of my ride.
The second 500 mile leg from Covina to Redding was the most painful. Specifically at the 750 mile mark. My neck, butt, hands, shoulders, and core were all painful. A couple of aspirin in Sacramento solved that and kept me relatively pain free for several hours. That's when I really began to enjoy the ride. I was committed, I was cruising at 80 mph, my bike was running great, and the weather was perfect. Watching my trip meter count away the hundreds of miles was a joy.

At 1,100 miles, it finally hit me...I'm going to complete this ride. And it was at the 1,100 mile mark that I witness a guy in a car drive up the center divide against traffic and intentially ram another vehicle parked in the center divide. This happend literally about 30 feet from me. I saw the driver's face and there was complete anger and rage in his face as he did this. Luckily, I escaped unscathed. 200 miles later, there was car that caught on fire on the side of the road and set a few acres of farmland ablaze. I passed through the smoke only to see another car fire 50 miles after that. That really brought it home to me that I still wasn't finished with this ride. In order complete this ride, you need to ride all 1500+ miles and still make it in one piece. I ended up back in Simi at the 22 hour mark with 1,520 miles. I took no extended breaks, ate two power bars the entire trip, and stopped about every 200 miles for gas (8 stops excluding start and finish).

Notes and random thoughts:

Every single contact point on by body hurts. The area where my jacket touches my neck, my ears where my helmet touches them, my neck where the chip strap touches, my throttle hand has a big blister (the Ducati grips felt like cheese graters after 1200 miles), my heels where my boots touch, my knees, my neck, my elbows and shoulders, and especially my butt. I am a complete wreck this morning.

I purchased an arm mounted map holder. I left it at home. I knew where my gas stops were. GPS? I'm still on the fence. I guess it's nice to have when riding in unfamiliar places, but I view it as an expensive gadget that spits out numbers to those that are addicted to statistics.

Unless I get a chance to do an Iron Butt ride with a group of friends, this will probably be my last IBA ride. Multi-day trips don't appeal to me, I'd rather spend vacation time viewing vistas at a leisurely pace, or carving canyons. Miles for miles sake...still scratching my head. But you never know. I'm glad I took this journey.

Lunacy? Been there, done that, got the license plate frame to prove it.

Topic: CA in-state BBG Ride Report -- Simi Valley to Blythe and Redding and back (Read 923 times)