My first Saddle Sore 1000

[Justin726]

July 1st, for the first time I attempted to do an
official Iron Butt ride. I’ve said to myself many times
that I was going to do one, but the plans always seemed
to get pushed aside for “better” things and summer after
summer would pass without a ride happening. I finally
just put my mind to it and said it’s now or never.

Another thing I’ve never done is to ride to the top of
Pikes Peak in Colorado. Even with at least a dozen trips
to the mountains I have never took the time to ride all
the way to the peak. When I was planning this ride, I
looked at Pikes Peak as a possible turnaround point and
found that it would be right about 507 miles from my
start location. Most of the route would be interstate,
but then would take a ride up some mountain roads to the
top. That was my plan. Hastings, Nebraska to Pikes
Peak, then back to Hastings.

I got up early and wanted to be fueled and ready to leave
the first gas stop at 5AM. By the time I bought a bottle
of water and some granola bars, got some cash for the
Pikes Peak toll, and made a Facebook post it was 5:10AM
when I officially filled the tank, printed my receipt,
and was now on the clock.

I lucked out with some good, cool weather especially
considering it was July 1st. Usually its 90+ degrees all
day long, but the first few hours of the ride stayed in
the 50’s. I was fighting a headwind so I knew my first
planned gas stop was going to be a stretch. I lowered my
windscreen to save a few MPG’s and rolled into to
Julesburg, Colorado with my low fuel light blinking.
Quick refill and was off again.

I made it to my second scheduled gas stop on the south
side of Denver without any incident. I fueled up, bought
a couple more snacks, and put on an extra layer of
clothing for the even cooler temps I was expecting up on
the mountain. It was finally into the 60’s, but with all
the cloud cover the ride up to 14,000 would be frigid, at
best. At this point I’m about 437 miles in and have put
in about 6 hours and 20 minutes of seat time.

I got up to the ranger station at the base of Pikes Peak
road and the lady in the booth informed me that the road
to the peak was not fully open all the way to the top
because of heavy fog up at the higher elevations.
Without a receipt from the gift shop at the peak I would
not be able to hit my 500+ mile make using this route and
I didn’t want to waste time waiting for the road to
reopen. I turned around, found and empty parking stall
and pulled out my smart phone to plan an alternate route.
It didn’t look like Woodland Park would give me adequate
miles. Divide might put me over the 500 mile mark, but
it looked like Florissant, Colorado was going to be my
actual turnaround point. Off I went to collect my
receipt.

I stopped at the same gas station just outside of Denver.
Once I got just east of Denver the clouds finally started
to break and temps got into the 70’s where they stayed
for the next 300 miles or so. A little more discomfort
was starting to set in around the 750 mile mark, but it
wasn’t more than I’ve experienced before so I just pushed
through it.

With a bit of a tail wind I was able to push past my
Julesburg, Co fuel stop and make it to Ogallala, Ne which
had better food options. At this point I was wanting
something warm to eat instead of what I had packed in my
tank bag. Still made it just a quick stop before the
final push home.

In the last 100 miles the temp started settling back into
the 60’s. With an awesome orange/red sunset flashing
between the breaks in the trees I made it back to my
original start location a little stiff and sore but in
good spirits. I was just after 9PM which put me under the
16 hour mark for the trip. I filled up the tank for the
last time collected my receipt to call an end to a long
day.

The bike was my 2010 Kawasaki Concourse. The
final tally was 1046.1 miles on the GPS (1040.5 on
the bike’s odometer). Total time was 15 hours, 55
minutes. Actual moving time was 14 hr 42min which
equated to an overall average speed of 65.7mph and an
actual moving average of 71.1mph. Looking back I could
have easily extended the gas stops to get a little more
rest, and even made an actual stop for lunch somewhere
and would still have made it home in a reasonable time.
Good to know for next time.

[Sport-Touring]

[DrMikey]

Well done!
Be advised: LD riding is addictive.

[rabbott5]

Congrats!  I've done two SS1000 on my 98 Concours.  The first was on a stock seat, the second was after Spencer seats did a modification.  I've done several long trips, with a couple of days over 750 miles with a Russell Day Long.  Yes long distance riding is addictive. Good job and welcome to the insanity.

[Doug Just Doug]

Congrats!  You sure minimized your stoppage time. I'm a little surprised your bike's odo was so close to the GPS; good to know they're making them more accurate lately.  

[Blue is Best]

Congratulations!! I've done the 1,000 miles but just because I had somewhere to be. Never had it officially recognized. Good for you.

[tjhess74]

congrats and welcome to the club! my first ss1k was on my 97 connie.  they are much easier on the 08! i went through the process of certifying my first one, but subsequent ones are just for personal gratification.  oh, and be patient on your certification, it can take a while depending on how buys mike and his crew are.

[kyzrex]

Connie's are great for this type of riding.....did mine on my 86.  Big tank, comfortable seat, big windscreen, some music from the XM, and a homemade cruise control ( rubber o-ring ). The end result....a good day of riding and a sense of accomplishment.  Congratulations on your success!

[squeezer]

Heh. My first was also on an '86.

Congrats on completing it! Be careful, though. That LD stuff is seriously addictive.

[RodBarnes]

Great write-up of your experience; enjoyed reading it.  I've been planning some trips for 2015 and I'm now giving serious consideration to fit in an SS1000 and BB1500.

[roadstar]

Concrats on your ride   Are you running a 55 rear tire or 50 , also what was your average fuel milage on the Concours . I have done all my big rides on my 07 FJR & own a 2012 Connie & looking at a BBG1500 this year, but not sure how far to streach it on fuel per tank full. 220 was all i pretty much got out of my 6.6 gallon tank on the FJR , hope to get about the same on the C14 with a 5.8 gallon tank.

[rony6ble]

Great ride, sad you couldn't go all the way up the peak. That was a fast ride!

The first SS1K I did was on my '09 C14 for my daughters 16th anniversary (we leaved when she was 15 and turned 16 on our way back). Leaved Phoenix heading West on I-8. First stop in Yuma with the warning light on. Next stop in San Diego for breakfast. Next to Newport Beach and HWY 1 to LA (very slow). Lunch in LA and North to Santa Barbara, our turn around point. Visited the pier, took some photos and back South to Ventura to meet a friend and his daughter (same age as mine). Long break. Back East with more than planned stops. Total time was 23:22 hrs for a total of 1,095 miles equals an average of 47 mph but with lots of fun stops, breakfast, lunch, ...

After this, I have had the chance to ride 6 more SS1K, two of them during the Tour of Honor Saddle Sore Extreme in Arizona and New Mexico. One BB (1500 miles in 36 hrs) and a SS2000 (during Tour of Honor).