Our Iron Butt 1000 Story
#1
11-18-2013, 11:55 AM
Our Iron Butt 1000 Story
Outside of trips around town for errands or for me to work, our normal riding is anywhere from 100 to 300 miles. These rides are typically west of Fort Worth where we have some acceptable state roads. We've done several longer trips from 300 to 800 miles but not for any official goal other than hitting the road. It was time for a longer ride, an Iron Butt 1000. This ride will get us a certificate that we can put in the “I love me” drawer along with other life achievements. This will also be a test ride as we plan to do the Iron Butt 48 in 10, except that we planned to make a couple stops along the way. This trip will probably be our last hurrah for this season.
My wife and I decided to do the ride on Saturday as weather looked decent and the Mother in Law could watch the kids. We spent a couple hours planning the ride that would take us from Fort Worth to Little Rock-Memphis-Jackson-Shreveport and back to Fort Worth. We kept an eye on the weather and it looked good with only a 20% chance of rain in Little Rock and 10% chance for storms in Jackson. All places showed an estimated rainfall of less than .01” of rainfall.
Friday afternoon and evening was hectic and we found ourselves picking up a few supplies later than expected. We were off to bed later than we had hoped for and 0500 came quick. We had a bagel and bottle of water while we packed up the bikes with the supplies. We stopped for gas and went in to our local Race Track for the official on the clock witness signature. We were pleasantly surprised that the Race Track employees were excited to be a witness and listen to our one minute pitch and story. We had the night manager sign as the first witness on both and we each had a different employee as a second witness. Cool, off to a great start. We officially clock on at 0615 and start the boring, dangerous drive across Dallas and on to I-30. I wish they would hurry up with all the construction on I-820 and TX-183. On our way to Little Rock.
We stopped in Texarkana, TX for our first gas stop and leg stretch, 199 miles in to the journey. I fueled up with 5.397 gallons at 36.9 MPG. Dang, how are these guys cruising at 75 and getting 40+ MPG? It’s going good, all be it a little cooler than had hoped for with the sun trying to break through the low clouds. No rain, just a couple areas of real lite mist and no traffic to speak of. Off to Little Rock where our next stop is planned.
We rolled in to, well kind of, Lander’s HD in Little Rock at 5 hours 22 minutes travel time for the obligatory t-shirts. The address in the GPS was about 2 miles further east of their actual location. We quickly realized that getting off the interstate and turning back was not an easy chore in that area. $80 dollars poorer and 3 t-shirts richer, we decided that we would find a subway for a quick bite to eat. Back on the road with full bellies and soon to be full bladders, we decided to get a few miles down before stopping for gas. We stopped in Carlisle with 388 miles down. I added 4.7 gallons of gas at 40.4 MPG. That’s more like it. With a speed 5 MPH less after the second fill up, I gained 3.5 MPG. This is because of the drop in limits at the state line of 75 down to 70. All is still going well and have only picked up a little mist and a few miles of very light rain. Off to the home of Elvis.
We stop at the last exit, ½ mile west of the Tennessee border, so we could put on helmets and then cross on in and head over to Graceland HD for another t-shirt. We drove right past the building expecting to see a dealership, not a small store in a strip mall. My wife said it best; “what a waste of time.” I guess we had higher expectations to see a dealership with Graceland themed stuff, not a 500 square feet store just selling overpriced clothing. We checked this one off the “had to do it, but never again” list and stopped for another fill up and show our corner turn to head south. At 9:07 clock time and 2.884 gallons in the tank I averaged 38.7 MPG for this last segment. I started to wonder just why the MPG is all over the place. I had cruise control on and the right hand management was always on my mind. We drove just a few miles south and hit the Southland Thunder HD in north Mississippi for more t-shirts. With the 20% merchandise sale, the cost was a little more palatable. This would be our last shirt stop, thank God, it is getting expensive buying overpriced shirts. As we are walking out of Southern Thunder, a grandma had her young granddaughter on a Heritage, a biker chic in training and would have made a great photo op. In the parking lot, we are invaded by hundreds of lady bugs. Strangest thing we’ve seen so far during this trip. Time for the push south with a 15 mph headwind.
Rain, mist, rain, mist as we push south and the only thing making it enjoyable is that my phone is playing some good tunes. As I am jamming to Metallica’s One, I remember just why I enjoy riding so much. Note to self, figure out how to come down easily on music. Going from One to a slow love song hurts your brain! We continue south in to Madison for a pit stop and show another corner at 681 miles down and 12:41 on the clock. With 5.3 gallons of gas, my MPG has dropped to 34.7, ouch. Must have been the wind, hills and we did bump up the speed by 4 MPH. We passed a group of 6 Harley’s headed in the same direction and this is when I thought to myself, self, where are all the bikers today? We had seen only a couple bikes and those were in the cities and at the dealerships. This must be fair weather rider country. We continue south a few miles in to Jackson and head west for the long push home.
As we head west for a few miles, we cross the Mi, crooked letter, crooked letter, i, crooked letter, crooked letter, i, hump back, hump back, i river for the second time, 250 miles apart. I look down the river and see all the boats and start thinking how nice it would be to head down there and have a couple beers and waste some money on the tables but I digress. A while later, it’s time for a pit stop and to stretch the legs and straighten the body out and stop in Monroe at 807 miles and 14:54 on the clock. We decide to take on gas and put in 3.193 gallons. Now, I’m scratching my head with 39.5 MPG. I give up at this point as my MPG by miles and gas input are matching the calculator and my PV data.
We continue west through Shreveport. We’ve been here once before on the bikes and remember just how bad the roads, at least the interstate roads. Dang, use some of all those tax dollars ya get and fix your dern roads. As we cross the Texas state line for the final push, we stop at the visitor’s center to remove the helmets. I guess those that wear them all the time, only like them if you happen to need it. For now, I hate helmets and will continue to wear one only when I have too. I hope I never need one or wished I had worn one. We stop in Kilgore at 980 miles and 17:40 clock time for a pit stop and the saddle time is catching up to us. We take on 4.999 gallons making this last leg a dismal 34.6 MPG. This will be our next to last gas stop. As we continue through East Texas, I see a field mouse scurry across the road. He didn’t have a chance and is the only critter I managed to splat. I was a little surprised that we didn’t see any deer other than dead ones on the side of the road. At this point, the road is starting to catch up quick; we are both fidgeting more and trying to get comfortable. I keep thinking to myself how nice an Airhawk seat would be right about now. More rain and mist. At this point, it dawns on me that we had rain in each state during our ride. The weather app has let me down once more.
The push back through Dallas to Fort Worth was uneventful other than really wanting to be off the bike at this point. I kept thinking to myself, are we there yet? As we roll back in to Fort Worth at 1139.3 miles and an ending time at 0138, we stop at a QT for our last gas stop and find someone to witness us off the clock. A Watauga police officer happens to pull up beside us in a parking spot. As he exits his SUV, we ask him to be a witness. He looks at us and says, “No, I can’t do that” and was kind of standoffish about the whole thing. He wasn’t the least bit interested in talking or even hearing our story and just turned and walked away. It just confirmed in my mind again why some everyday citizens have a **** poor attitude towards law enforcement; they have run in to this guy and he gives the rest of the LEOs a bad name. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of LEO. My wife and I are FFL holders and she’s a CHL instructor and we deal with LEO on a regular basis. Oh well, at this point, I know that my mother in law who’s watched the kids for us will sign off. Time to head home.
We logged 1139.3 miles for this trip and used 30.498 gallons of gas in my bike and about the same in hers. The gas number is pretty accurate as I verified my PV against the actual in tank numbers. We averaged 36.3 MPG for the trip and throttle management was all done by cruise. For the most part, speed was set at 77 for Texas interstates and 72 for the other states. We had an in saddle / moving average of 70 MPH with 16:19 in the saddle. Jokingly, I wish I had a larger fuel tank. One of my pet peeves is to pass a big truck, stop for gas and then hours later, have to pass the same truck again.
Overall, this was a very fun trip and we are thinking about doing the Butt Burner Gold before we do the 48/10. The OL had never been in Tennessee before so she can check that one of the list. She was happy because I decided that she will get a kiss in every state we go to. This was the most time she has spent with me without saying but a couple sentences. Not a small accomplishment for my wife I tell ya. Towards the end of the trip, she commented that I was a little more restrained and didn’t drive like a bat out of hell; I impressed her. Me on the other hand, I was impressed she didn’t lose a single bandana which is a common occurrence. During rides to keep us entertained, we like to play the slug bug game using hand signals to identify the elusive cars. I often wonder what the cagers are thinking when they see us waving cruising down the road. She’s a trooper as I always seem to win but she keeps playing anyways. Having a soft sided cooler in the right saddle bag worked great for easy access to water while on the road and we managed to master the water bottle handoff at 70 MPH. Overall, a great ride that was uneventful with very little traffic and no accidents along the way. Next time, we will get a little more sleep the night before and have Airhawks to sit on. Looking forward to the Butt Burner gold.
My wife and I decided to do the ride on Saturday as weather looked decent and the Mother in Law could watch the kids. We spent a couple hours planning the ride that would take us from Fort Worth to Little Rock-Memphis-Jackson-Shreveport and back to Fort Worth. We kept an eye on the weather and it looked good with only a 20% chance of rain in Little Rock and 10% chance for storms in Jackson. All places showed an estimated rainfall of less than .01” of rainfall.
Friday afternoon and evening was hectic and we found ourselves picking up a few supplies later than expected. We were off to bed later than we had hoped for and 0500 came quick. We had a bagel and bottle of water while we packed up the bikes with the supplies. We stopped for gas and went in to our local Race Track for the official on the clock witness signature. We were pleasantly surprised that the Race Track employees were excited to be a witness and listen to our one minute pitch and story. We had the night manager sign as the first witness on both and we each had a different employee as a second witness. Cool, off to a great start. We officially clock on at 0615 and start the boring, dangerous drive across Dallas and on to I-30. I wish they would hurry up with all the construction on I-820 and TX-183. On our way to Little Rock.
We stopped in Texarkana, TX for our first gas stop and leg stretch, 199 miles in to the journey. I fueled up with 5.397 gallons at 36.9 MPG. Dang, how are these guys cruising at 75 and getting 40+ MPG? It’s going good, all be it a little cooler than had hoped for with the sun trying to break through the low clouds. No rain, just a couple areas of real lite mist and no traffic to speak of. Off to Little Rock where our next stop is planned.
We rolled in to, well kind of, Lander’s HD in Little Rock at 5 hours 22 minutes travel time for the obligatory t-shirts. The address in the GPS was about 2 miles further east of their actual location. We quickly realized that getting off the interstate and turning back was not an easy chore in that area. $80 dollars poorer and 3 t-shirts richer, we decided that we would find a subway for a quick bite to eat. Back on the road with full bellies and soon to be full bladders, we decided to get a few miles down before stopping for gas. We stopped in Carlisle with 388 miles down. I added 4.7 gallons of gas at 40.4 MPG. That’s more like it. With a speed 5 MPH less after the second fill up, I gained 3.5 MPG. This is because of the drop in limits at the state line of 75 down to 70. All is still going well and have only picked up a little mist and a few miles of very light rain. Off to the home of Elvis.
We stop at the last exit, ½ mile west of the Tennessee border, so we could put on helmets and then cross on in and head over to Graceland HD for another t-shirt. We drove right past the building expecting to see a dealership, not a small store in a strip mall. My wife said it best; “what a waste of time.” I guess we had higher expectations to see a dealership with Graceland themed stuff, not a 500 square feet store just selling overpriced clothing. We checked this one off the “had to do it, but never again” list and stopped for another fill up and show our corner turn to head south. At 9:07 clock time and 2.884 gallons in the tank I averaged 38.7 MPG for this last segment. I started to wonder just why the MPG is all over the place. I had cruise control on and the right hand management was always on my mind. We drove just a few miles south and hit the Southland Thunder HD in north Mississippi for more t-shirts. With the 20% merchandise sale, the cost was a little more palatable. This would be our last shirt stop, thank God, it is getting expensive buying overpriced shirts. As we are walking out of Southern Thunder, a grandma had her young granddaughter on a Heritage, a biker chic in training and would have made a great photo op. In the parking lot, we are invaded by hundreds of lady bugs. Strangest thing we’ve seen so far during this trip. Time for the push south with a 15 mph headwind.
Rain, mist, rain, mist as we push south and the only thing making it enjoyable is that my phone is playing some good tunes. As I am jamming to Metallica’s One, I remember just why I enjoy riding so much. Note to self, figure out how to come down easily on music. Going from One to a slow love song hurts your brain! We continue south in to Madison for a pit stop and show another corner at 681 miles down and 12:41 on the clock. With 5.3 gallons of gas, my MPG has dropped to 34.7, ouch. Must have been the wind, hills and we did bump up the speed by 4 MPH. We passed a group of 6 Harley’s headed in the same direction and this is when I thought to myself, self, where are all the bikers today? We had seen only a couple bikes and those were in the cities and at the dealerships. This must be fair weather rider country. We continue south a few miles in to Jackson and head west for the long push home.
As we head west for a few miles, we cross the Mi, crooked letter, crooked letter, i, crooked letter, crooked letter, i, hump back, hump back, i river for the second time, 250 miles apart. I look down the river and see all the boats and start thinking how nice it would be to head down there and have a couple beers and waste some money on the tables but I digress. A while later, it’s time for a pit stop and to stretch the legs and straighten the body out and stop in Monroe at 807 miles and 14:54 on the clock. We decide to take on gas and put in 3.193 gallons. Now, I’m scratching my head with 39.5 MPG. I give up at this point as my MPG by miles and gas input are matching the calculator and my PV data.
We continue west through Shreveport. We’ve been here once before on the bikes and remember just how bad the roads, at least the interstate roads. Dang, use some of all those tax dollars ya get and fix your dern roads. As we cross the Texas state line for the final push, we stop at the visitor’s center to remove the helmets. I guess those that wear them all the time, only like them if you happen to need it. For now, I hate helmets and will continue to wear one only when I have too. I hope I never need one or wished I had worn one. We stop in Kilgore at 980 miles and 17:40 clock time for a pit stop and the saddle time is catching up to us. We take on 4.999 gallons making this last leg a dismal 34.6 MPG. This will be our next to last gas stop. As we continue through East Texas, I see a field mouse scurry across the road. He didn’t have a chance and is the only critter I managed to splat. I was a little surprised that we didn’t see any deer other than dead ones on the side of the road. At this point, the road is starting to catch up quick; we are both fidgeting more and trying to get comfortable. I keep thinking to myself how nice an Airhawk seat would be right about now. More rain and mist. At this point, it dawns on me that we had rain in each state during our ride. The weather app has let me down once more.
The push back through Dallas to Fort Worth was uneventful other than really wanting to be off the bike at this point. I kept thinking to myself, are we there yet? As we roll back in to Fort Worth at 1139.3 miles and an ending time at 0138, we stop at a QT for our last gas stop and find someone to witness us off the clock. A Watauga police officer happens to pull up beside us in a parking spot. As he exits his SUV, we ask him to be a witness. He looks at us and says, “No, I can’t do that” and was kind of standoffish about the whole thing. He wasn’t the least bit interested in talking or even hearing our story and just turned and walked away. It just confirmed in my mind again why some everyday citizens have a **** poor attitude towards law enforcement; they have run in to this guy and he gives the rest of the LEOs a bad name. Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of LEO. My wife and I are FFL holders and she’s a CHL instructor and we deal with LEO on a regular basis. Oh well, at this point, I know that my mother in law who’s watched the kids for us will sign off. Time to head home.
We logged 1139.3 miles for this trip and used 30.498 gallons of gas in my bike and about the same in hers. The gas number is pretty accurate as I verified my PV against the actual in tank numbers. We averaged 36.3 MPG for the trip and throttle management was all done by cruise. For the most part, speed was set at 77 for Texas interstates and 72 for the other states. We had an in saddle / moving average of 70 MPH with 16:19 in the saddle. Jokingly, I wish I had a larger fuel tank. One of my pet peeves is to pass a big truck, stop for gas and then hours later, have to pass the same truck again.
Overall, this was a very fun trip and we are thinking about doing the Butt Burner Gold before we do the 48/10. The OL had never been in Tennessee before so she can check that one of the list. She was happy because I decided that she will get a kiss in every state we go to. This was the most time she has spent with me without saying but a couple sentences. Not a small accomplishment for my wife I tell ya. Towards the end of the trip, she commented that I was a little more restrained and didn’t drive like a bat out of hell; I impressed her. Me on the other hand, I was impressed she didn’t lose a single bandana which is a common occurrence. During rides to keep us entertained, we like to play the slug bug game using hand signals to identify the elusive cars. I often wonder what the cagers are thinking when they see us waving cruising down the road. She’s a trooper as I always seem to win but she keeps playing anyways. Having a soft sided cooler in the right saddle bag worked great for easy access to water while on the road and we managed to master the water bottle handoff at 70 MPH. Overall, a great ride that was uneventful with very little traffic and no accidents along the way. Next time, we will get a little more sleep the night before and have Airhawks to sit on. Looking forward to the Butt Burner gold.
#2
11-18-2013, 12:44 PM
#4
11-18-2013, 04:22 PM
Mental, I use a program called Ulysse Speedometer on my Galaxy. It has the ability to record your ride and export the file in GPX format. I then just open the GPX file in Google Earth and turn on the speed and elevation overlay. I log just about every ride we do and it is neat to plot all the data on the map.
#6
11-18-2013, 10:53 PM
#7
11-19-2013, 09:17 AM
Mental, I use a program called Ulysse Speedometer on my Galaxy. It has the ability to record your ride and export the file in GPX format. I then just open the GPX file in Google Earth and turn on the speed and elevation overlay. I log just about every ride we do and it is neat to plot all the data on the map.
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#8
11-19-2013, 09:34 AM
Sure!!
In google Earth,
Click on Open
In the open dialog box, select GPS - to the right of file name
Browse to your file name
Click Open
Select Create KML Tracks and Adjust altitude to ground
Right click on the line the shows up on the map or on the left side, the "track" and select Show Elevation Profile
Once it displays, you can click on the elevation or speed rectangle to show or hide it. Mine happen to be red and blue.
I can make some screen shots if you need.
In google Earth,
Click on Open
In the open dialog box, select GPS - to the right of file name
Browse to your file name
Click Open
Select Create KML Tracks and Adjust altitude to ground
Right click on the line the shows up on the map or on the left side, the "track" and select Show Elevation Profile
Once it displays, you can click on the elevation or speed rectangle to show or hide it. Mine happen to be red and blue.
I can make some screen shots if you need.
#9
11-19-2013, 09:57 AM
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