Sport Classic Ironbutt 2011: AZ-CO-UT-CO-NM-AZ: 24 hours of pain & glory

[Dietrich]

The Official "Hey, I know we're in Phoenix, AZ, but let's go for a beer in Durango,CO and be back by morning" Ride of 2011 



What can I say?  We did it.  We'd been talking about it, and postponing it, and it was time.  My friend Justin and I have been tossing this idea around for a while now. The concept? An Ironbutt ride on our Sport Classics that would qualify for the Ironbutt Association's Saddlesore 1000 - 1000 miles in 24 hours and get the certificate, an Iron Butt Association pin and a plastic license plate frame.  Minimum gear, no windscreens, no GPS, no heated suits....Just a quick jaunt from Phoenix for a beer in Durango, CO and back by morning.

I wanted a route that would cover secondary but fast roads. Minimum or no superslab, but posted speed limits of 55-75 MPH.  Throw in a couple destination points to keep things interesting.  We decided on a route that went from AZ-CO-UT-CO-NM-AZ.  Gas-n-go for 24 hours straight with a couple longer stops to rest. Guys- This was it.  I'm sure Justin will chime in and add some comentary, but here's my few notes, a little disjointed perhaps, and a bunch of pics:

Preparation:
Once a route was picked out, I fine tuned it for gas stops and total length.  Added in a stop at the Four Corners National Monument and picked out a mid-point stop for dinner.  Did some maintenance on the bike - new chain/sprockets and a new rear tire. A bit more planning to estimate total travel time and time at stops.  It was going to be close.  The balancing act really was: practical vs. conservative vs. smart vs. stubborn vs. stupid.  I wanted it to be fun with just enough sense of adventure.  We bit off a lot, but not more than we could chew.  Tried to get as much riding in as possible before the launch date, but have been so busy with work, etc. that is was pretty much just my normal routine leading up to the ride. We decided to leave Saturday morning, April 30th, around 8am and be back in town by Sunday morning by 7am.  I had all the forms for documenting the ride including a ride log and witness forms for the first and last gas stops. Printed a couple maps. A coupe last minute purchases for cameras, fuel bottles, and clothing layers. Crossed our fingers.

 

 

[Dietrich]

Characters:
It seems when you're traveling by motorcycle you always meet people who are interested in what your doing, ride themselves, or are just plain characters.  The gas station attendants were particularly amusing.  We spent quite a bit of time with them with 13 gas stops.  Most people thought we were crazy when they found out what we were doing, especially when riding off into the darkness at wee hours of the morning and in below freezing temps.

 

Weather:
I was a little nervous with the timing.  Springtime means different things in LA and Phoenix than it does in Utah & Colorado. While the forcast looked clear and sunny, the route had us going into elevations over 6000 ft. and with overnight temps in the low 30's.  The plan was to time the ride so that we would be getting out of the coldest parts of the ride before they hit the low.  I need to work on my planning.  We rode through desolate lengths of road with not a soul in sight, in complete darkness, where the temperatures got as low as 25 degrees. F-ing cold.  This was easily the hardest part of the trip, just dealing meantally with the cold.  We had several layers of thermals, etc, but when it's below 30 there's not much you can do to stop the nubness.  Luckily the gas stops were no further than 50-90 miles apart so it was mostly a matter of getting warmed up, being strategic with layers and toughing it out.

   

[Dietrich]

Desolation & Critters:
On these kind of rides, when you're out of the city, you see things most city dwellers don't see. Desolate sections of road that make you wonder why they decided to cut them through in the first place.  Crazy sections of pavement that test your suspension and trust in tank slapper resistiveness. Small towns completely abandoned with nothing left but shells of residences, cafe's, bars and general stores.  Those always freak me out a little.  Horses, cows, the occasional wafting smell of rotting road kill.  At several stops on the indian reservations we encountered packs of rez dogs.  A strange mix of all breeds - poodles, labs, who knows what, that lived in the ditches next to the freeway and came crawling out several at a time, moving slow, obvious battle wounds from getting hit by cars, like some strange canine zombies. The night was the most stressful with Two main legs of the trip  heavily populated with elk. We were warned every time we stopped for gas about them and I saw a few on the side of the road as we cruised much more slowly than durring the day trying not to outrun our single round headlights. The nocturnal jackrabbits in New Mexico stood two feet tall, easy, caught out of the corner of your headlight beam on the side of the road.  The great thing about this time of year? NO BUGS!

We definitely saw a UFO dart out of the sky in NM.  Not sure what that was about.

 

   

[Dietrich]

Sustinance:
We figured on eating minimaly on the road.  A quick coffee and breakfast burrito at Macy's European Coffeehouse in Flagstaff in the morning for the first leg/shakedown run, maybe lunch or just clif bars on the road, then with the main stop in Durango for dinner and a beer or two. We ended up eating quick stop sandwiches at the four corners monument for lunch.  Rolled into historic downtown Durango about 6:15pm and asked the locals where a brewery was...ended up at the recommended Steamwork Brewing Company - Awesome beer and food, a great stop.  Then we wandered around to seek out some espresso before hitting the road again just before 9pm.  As the night wore on I drank coffee to stay warm and even an uncharacteristic smoke break at one stop.

 




Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:
The bikes were absolutely GREAT. They didn't miss a beat. I will admit that I had a spare voltage regulator with me, but very minimal tools. Besides regular maintenace items and keeping the bike in tune like always, nothing special was done onther than hitting hte starter button. Both of our bikes are fairly modified with performance and cosmetic parts including custom and one-off stuff.  My ducshop intakes were not bad at all with earplugs. Perfect cruising speed seemed to be 90-100 MPH, that's where the bikes settle down and get smooth & quiet. They started on the first try, every time, no matter the elevation or temperature. Only issue on the entire trip was Justin completely getting his money's worth out of his rear tire, but even that got us home.  The first leg of the trip was a test on mileage - It's ~140 miles from my house to Flagstaff.  We ran out of gas at about 128 miles (maybe due to a strong headwind on the way up the hill?)and had to use our 20oz fuel bottles to get into town (Thanks Justin for suggesting we get 'em!). That was a test to see how far we could get and was the only time we needed the extra fuel. I remember thinking on one stretch of road at about 2am that if anything happened to the bikes we might not be discovered until morning...but damn if the bikes just kept asking for more. Mine has never had the engine opened up and now has almost 57,000 miles on it.

 

 

[Dietrich]

Success:
By the time we got back to Phoenix, rolling in around 7:30am for our final gas stop we were pretty beat. My body and head were buzzing, fingers stuck in a semi-permanent grip-curl with after effects from the freeze/thaw cycles overnight.  The crooks of my legs and elbows sore, and neck still braced for a head pointed in the wind.  Overall though, felt pretty good considering. Mind was still alert and all body parts were working. We crashed for a couple hours and then loaded Justin's bike up for his drive back to LA the same day.
 
I'm not sure I would recommend this kind of thing for everyone, but I'm glad we did it. I'm pretty sure it changed my perceptions a little. Another tick mark on the toolbox of life.  We're already talking about the next one.

 





(Photo gallery: IronButt 2011 - gerhartdesign's Photos)

[happily everafter]

thanks for sharing your adventure super LOVED it 

[Howie]

There should be a special no slab IronButt certification.  CONGRATS

[Buckethead]

 

Hell.

Yes.

 

Strong work, guys. 

[pennyrobber]

Good to hear everything went off without a hitch. Next one, 2000mi.? Diggin' the SC in gold. 

I guess I better get my own thousand done so I can join in next time.

[WarrenJ]

Fantastic Trip guys!  Thanks for the writeup and Pics!

[Mhanis]

 

[Slow Guy]

Just make the beast with two backsing awesome Dietrich!!!!!!!!!!

[77south]

I am pretty sure my back would detonate if I tried to ride my Sport 1000S 1000 miles in 24 hours.  Congratulations, and I need more pics of both bikes.

[bevel]

F'n awesome!
 

[671M900]

Is that the new rear tire after 1000 miles? Must've been a REALLY fun 1000 miles, haha!