Saddle Sore 1000 Planning

I’ve decided to try and achieve a certified Saddle Sore 1000 in the next month or so. Ok, so what’s a Saddle Sore 1000 (SS1000) and what does it mean to get certified? The Iron Butt Association (IBA) promotes and organizes long distance riding. They have various challenges, such as the Saddle Sore 1000 which requires you to ride 1000 miles in 24 hours. Other crazy rides include 1500 miles in 24 hours, 5000 miles in 5 days, and a more long term goal of 100,000 miles in a year. The IBA’s website has the details of all these rides. Riders can obtain a certificate that is verified by the IBA for any of these rides. The SS1000 is the “easiest” one, so I’m starting there. Rides are require witnesses at the beginning and end of the ride along with various documentation proving that you were at locations on your route at the times that would make sense had you ridden 1000 miles in 24 hours.

So far here is my route that I’ve come up with. I’m sure it will change 10 times in the next month, but here is the general idea. The first half consists of state roads, which will keep me in the mindset of “hey this is just another ride.” After that I hit the Interstate the rest of the way. I would like to continue on desolate two lane highways that I love, but I fear that winding through podunk town after podunk will slow me down. So I’m playing it safe in hopes that I will be successful on my first attempt. I still need to figure out my overall strategy for the day, determine how to accurately calculate my average MPH over time and prep my bike (new HID bulbs, general maintenance, ect). I’ve got a lot to do.

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Now I feel I have to explain a couple things to friends and readers who wonder how crazy I’ve gone over this motorcycle riding “stuff.” Thoughts that I imagine come to mind are:

• Speeding on public roads for that duration of time is too dangerous, you’re stupid and reckless.
• That’s too long to safely travel on a motorcycle, you’re stupid and reckless.
• What the hell is the point? …you’re stupid and reckless.

Covering such distances is not a matter of speed, but of time management. To travel 1000 miles in 24 hours only requires an average speed of 42 MPH. In fact, if I were to speed, my gas consumption sky rockets and I have to make more stops for gas, which eventually slows me down so it doesn’t help to speed. For the past two years I have incrementally increased the amount of distance I’ve allowed myself to travel in a given day. I have enough experience to know when it’s time to stop and I’ve safely logged 750 miles in 16 hours in the past. I’m shooting to finish in under 20 hours. The toughest question to answer is the “why?” To that I have no answer I can communicate and chances are that if you are asking that question then there is no way of understanding.

So! With all that aside, wish me luck!

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