Iron Butt - SaddleSore 1000 Advice?

[cliff0529]

I know several of you have done the SS1000 before, so I was hoping that y'all could give us some advice.

Me and some friends are looking to do a SS1000 in late September, as we figured it cool off a little by then and the time will not have changed and we'll have a solid 12-13 hours of daylight.

The route we're considering is:

Leave Mall of Georgia Area (good central start point with big gas station)
I85N to Charlotte,NC
I77N to Charleston, WV
I64W to Lexington, KY
I75S to Atlanta (via Knoxville and Chattanooga)
I285E to I85N
End back at the same starting gas station.
~1040 miles via Google Maps.

I've got gas stops planned every 140-185miles as I don't know what bikes will be coming with us yet. So far we've got a Connie, my LT, a Valkyrie Interstate and a Wing that have expressed interest. So they should all be able to easily get 200+ miles from a tank. But if we have anyone that want's to go with a cruiser or sportbike, the 185 mile leg right before lunch is what has me worried. The next longest leg is 161 miles.

Also, on the gas stops, I'm figuring in about 30 minutes for gas, restroom and water, then an hour for lunch, gas, etc.

Any pointers for us?

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Take your time but be consistent, it's not too hard to do them in about 20 hours while taking a good break for lunch enough to site see. I've done them from 16 hours to 22 hours. Usually I will make one gas stop relatively quick, and the second gas stop more of a 30 minute break... then repeat. You're probably okay doing 30 minute and 1 hr stops, especially if you can go for longer gas stops. I usually stop around every 120 miles being on the bike that I'm on.


The gear you bring will also be important, as pulling over to adjust liners or zip up vents will slowly add up in your time. I usually shoot to wear something that is comfortable in varying weather conditions.

When you come up to traffic from construction... you'll wish you checked the traffic advisories on your route, LOL. Nothing sucks worse than sitting on the interstate, knowing you could have avoided it if you researched the construction before hand.

Usually I am faced with two options while doing them: Ride through the tiredness so you can finish sooner... or take breaks more often and push your arrival time closer to the 24h limit. Same goes with gas stops, you can either take more gas stops and do them in a shorter amount of time... or go a full tank and make up for it with longer gas stops. I'd go with whatever you are most comfortable with.

Do any and all maintenance and packing BEFORE the night before hand. Nothing sucks worse then getting to bed late before a Iron Butt ride. If you get it all done early, you can relax the night before hand and get to sleep a little earlier, makes a huge difference.

Some riders will get worn down quick near the end. Make sure they all recognize the drowsiness and not ignore it. There is a "wall" that you want to avoid, it is extremely tough if you hit it so resting often will help avoid it. Take a overnight bag just in case something happens (or someone just can't ride any more) in the event you need to pick up a motel room.

Enjoy yourself :) It isn't a difficult ride but certainly not easy, don't push yourself to make a particular schedule if it means you are not enjoying yourself.

[ugar-6]

I may be in. The wife's schedule should allow it but I have to make sure the little one will not be in one of his fussy modes, ie. teething.

[cliff0529]

I may be in. The wife's schedule should allow it but I have to make sure the little one will not be in one of his fussy modes, ie. teething.

"Running to the store...be back in a minute."

24hrs. later...

"Sorry, had to go to WV to get some formula. :D

[BlueLghtning]

Blake covered most of the important things. Definitely dress in gear that accommodates varying weather conditions. Definitely pay attention to road construction and bottle neck areas. You know that Chattanooga area can be rough sometimes.

A group usually does slow things down since you are always subject to who ever is the weakest link at that particular leg either gas or endurance, etc. Definitely bring a camel back to drink water and keep yourself hydrated. Stay away from a lot of caffeine or sugar that gives you that high then crash. Eat lots of small little meals instead of one big meal.

The group one we did in 07 with 10 of us was about 20hrs. Sarah and I did one 2up on the BMW K1300GT and did it just over 16hrs. Both of mine were done down to New Orleans and going around Lake Pontchartrain.

[cliff0529]

Okay, so it's only a few days away...any one want to join us? We revised the routes so that we'll stop at the "corners" of the route and also shortened up the legs that will be ridden in the dark.

We're meeting at the QT off of Hwy 20 (near Mall of Georgia and Brandsmart) at 5AM this Saturday, hoping to be back between Midnight and 1AM on Sunday morning. :)

So far we've got the following:
BMW K1200LT (X2)
Kawi Connie 1000
Kawi Vulcan 2000LT
Honda Valkyrie Interstate
BMW K1200GT (???)
Honda ST1300 (???)

Sheila and I are contemplating getting a SPOT, so if I get one I'll throw up my link so y'all can follow our progress.

[The Lazy Destroyer]

I would let you borrow my Spot, but I had some problems with it on my IBA ride last weekend so I really need to get with them to make sure everything is okay with it.
They are great devices, especially if you have the Spot Tracking option added where you can get it automatically updating throughout the day.

Looks like a good group of bikes, just have fun and you will do fine :)

[cliff0529]

I would let you borrow my Spot, but I had some problems with it on my IBA ride last weekend so I really need to get with them to make sure everything is okay with it.
They are great devices, especially if you have the Spot Tracking option added where you can get it automatically updating throughout the day.

Looks like a good group of bikes, just have fun and you will do fine :)

Is the spot tracking included in their yearly fee ($100, or there abouts)? Thats the one where it updates automatically every 10 minutes when the SPOT is on right?

It's something we've talked about for a while, but the past few weeks it would've come in handy...so we might just bite the bullet and get it. :)

[signguy]

have fun.... just remember to dress/pack the right gear if the weather changes.... bring along music... and stay away from caffeine...

[Complecs]

Sounds like a really fun ride, don't know if i would have the time to do it though =[

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Is the spot tracking included in their yearly fee ($100, or there abouts)? Thats the one where it updates automatically every 10 minutes when the SPOT is on right?

The "Track Progress" feature is an additional $50/yr charge to the base $100. It allows the unit to update your location every 10 minutes automatically, and the "tracks" are available to view online to anyone that has access to your shared map.

With the regular $100/yr service you can manually send OK messages (and update the location to the map) whenever you want but the automatic feature is nice, especially if you plan on being in areas w/o cell phone service.

EDIT:
With tracking the shared map will look something like this:
https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?&glId=1Qk3yPqEHAEZgFM3E33aTXnrreAQZkFCX&linkPwd=shared
Otherwise there will just be "OK" waypoints at wherever you pressed the "OK" button.

[cliff0529]

Hey Blake, how long do the batteries typically last in your SPOT?

[The Lazy Destroyer]

A good while. I've done 8+ day trips having the Tracking function on the whole time and not had any worries. Then used the same batteries for a bunch of short trips after that. I typically replace the batteries before they die before long trips just as a precaution. I"ve had the same set of batteries last over a year of use.

Just make sure you use Lithium AA batteries (as recommended by SPOT) as regular Alkaline batteries (even the "advanced" type ones recommended for digital cameras) don't seem to last nearly as long. Technically the SPOT does not support alkaline batteries however they will work in a pinch. I've been using regular AA batteries lately and have noticed they don't last too long.

This is SPOT's estimate battery life with the various features:


– Power ON, unused: Approx. 1 year
– SPOTcasting tracking mode: Approx. 14 days
– 9-1-1 mode: Up to 7 consecutive days
– SPOTcheck OK/√: 1900 messages

Also make sure you put it out in the open, at least as much as you can. It is designed so that the face has a clear line of sight to the sky, so putting it in your pocket or in your luggage won't work very well. If I keep mine in my tank bag, some Tracking messages don't get through because I am hunched over it but for my last trip I attached it to one of the mirrors and it seemed to work well there.

On a touring bike the tankbag will probably work okay, on my GSXR I'm hunched over it so YMMV.

[cliff0529]

Cool, I used the arm band that was included in the box and attached it to my tank so that it faces upward, figured I could use the band to attach my iPod and camera to as well. So it should have good reception.

Sorry to pester you, but I know that you and Dan have used them extensively. I linked it to my FB page, will it update my status everytime a "tracking" message is sent, or just when a "check-in/OK" message is sent? Don't really want it to update FB every 10 minutes, LOL

[The Lazy Destroyer]

I would assume any "OK" messages would be updated to FB but the tracking ones probably not. The tracks don't get sent out to your regular contact list anyways (only to your Spot map) so it's probably safe to assume so. I don't use the FB option tho so just an estimated guess.

[Eagalicious]

and stay away from caffeine...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Musssssst haaaaaaave jaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Why do you say that, if I may ask?

[SKnight]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Musssssst haaaaaaave jaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Why do you say that, if I may ask?While the caffeine is in your system you feel fine but your body is still getting tired in the background and the more tired you are the faster you burn up the caffeine. Once you run low on caffeine you can suddenly get very tired which if you're flirting with being up 24+ hours can lead to impaired judgement, motor skills, etc. Just sets you up for potential trouble.

The IBA strongly recommends no stimulants of any type for these reasons.

[Eagalicious]

Thank you very much for the info. I learned something new. :D

[cliff0529]

WooHoo! SaddleSore 1000 is in the bag! All 6 starters finished, one of them nursed a punctured tire for 750 miles or so, but we all made it in before the 24 hour cut off. I was going to do a little ride report complete with pictures, but apparently, I fat fingered the camera and took videos instead of pictures. So, I'll just post the two group pictures my wife took of us. 1 at the beginning and 1 at the end.

Overall, it wasn't as hard as I had thought it was going to be. We all met at the QT in Buford at 5AM and gassed up, got my wife to sign off as witness for everyone and chit chatted for a few minutes before hitting the road. We pulled out around 5:30AM instead of my guessed 5:15AM, so we were already 15 minutes late from the beginning, no biggie...I just figured we'd make it up on the road or cut lunch a bit short. First leg went by great, 87 miles to Anderson, SC for gas and food. I rearranged the trip midweek last week to make the legs a little shorter as there was some potential concerns that one of the cruisers that was planning on coming wouldn't be able to make the one 190 mile leg we had planned before lunch. Also, to be safe, we wanted to stop at every single "corner" of the route. So the first leg was short and we stopped for gas and grub at 6:30AM.

After eating, we mounted up and hit the road to Charlotte. 120 miles, 30 miles in moderate to dense fog and the last 10 or so in a torrential downpour, we made it to the Exxon for gas. Despite the rain and fog, we actually made decent time. With bladders emptied and full tanks, we pull out of the gas station headed towards the interstate. I pulled up to the light at the interstate and checked to make sure everyone was behind me, and noticed my friend (co-organizer) had pulled off about 1/8th back down the road and was kneeling beside the bike poking around. So we flipped a U turn to go check it out. He had a flat tire. No problem, one of the other riders and good friend is an mechanic by trade and a master wrench. So we got back to the station and looked at the tire, it was off the bead so our little compressor wasn't gonna work, but their big compressor at the station would. So we wheel it over there, set the bead and start looking for the leak. We found it and plugged it but the plug wasn't sealing well, so we put a can of fix a flat in it. (My friend hates fix a flat and loves SLIME, but the station didn't have any). After an hour of futzing around with the bike, it was holding air. So we suit up and head out, now in the bright sunshine instead of dreary rain. Turns out, the tire might have been some divine intervention, as we passed no less than 5 seperate accidents heading out of Charlotte! And I thought Atlanta traffic was bad.

We made good time and pulled into Fort Chiswell, VA around 11:52AM. We had planned on this just being a gas stop, but since the gas station had a Wendy's in the parking lot, we went ahead and opted to eat since we were now 1.5 hours behind. We checked the tire when we pulled in, it was at 31psi. Down from the 42psi we'd put in it some 135 miles ago. But it wasn't horrible, so we pumped it back up to 42psi before walking into Wendy's. After eating, we checked the pressure and it was now at 20psi!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME. We all consulted for a few minutes, the rider with the leaky tire was saying to leave him there, as our policy going in was "if we can't fix it, we'll get you to civilization and then you're on your own to get home or a hotel (I was willing to go get them in my truck on Sunday, if need be)," but my other friend was adamant that SLIME would fix it. So I broke out the iPhone and found that there was a NAPA just .3 miles up the road. It was over a hill, so we couldn't see it from the service station. I ran up and bought the biggest bottle they had (16oz) and returned to the group. We put the slime in, pumped it up and didn't see any leak from the plug, so we took off to our next stop.

We ran 155 miles through VA and WV, up I77 and the W.VA Turnpike, which is an absolutely gorgeous road. It's a toll road, but a 70mph speed limit and nice long sweepers meant this would be most fun road of the trip. Cruise control at 80mph, we made it to Hurricane, WV at 3:55PM. Our goal of a 12:15AM return time was now a pipe dream, but we were having fun and the plug seemed to be holding air better now, it had bled down to about 28psi. So we pumped him back up and set out across I64. It was deserted, which was good and we flew across to Lexington, KY.

We made the 150 miles to Lexington, in a right at 2 hours and pulled into Wally World for gas at 6:24PM. We aired back up, topped off and then decided to try to get through the mountains and into TN before nightfall. This almost worked, we hit the TN state line just as darkness settled in, but we still had the big mountain on the border to traverse. We crossed it a little cautiously and pulled into a Pilot Truck Stop in Pioneer, TN at 8:35PM. Now, we had an issue. The tire was now down to 15psi. After a little debate and lots of quiet prayers, we decided to add more slime and give it a whirl. We also decided that as long as we made the 24hr limit, we were good. So after tire repair and gas, we found the nearest Zaxby's and headed there for dinner. :crackup:

After a delicious cajun club sandwich, we topped his tire back up and hit the road, heading for Ringgold, GA some 140 miles away. On the way there, we had our biggest scare of the trip. We had slowed to about 65mph to try to baby the tire and had just been passed by a diesel superduty with some mud tire and a small lift, so it wasn't exactly quiet. He flew by us and got back in our lane and within about 5 seconds I saw them. Three sets of blue eyes peering out of the darkness at me. CRAP!!! I flashed the brakes to alert everyone behind me and rolled off the throttle. As I did, the deer closest to the road popped her head up. So I now instinctively rolled back into the gas. If she bolted and I hit her, I wanted to be on the gas and have the weight on the back wheel. Luckily, she stayed put as all 6 of us went by. *WHEW*

We pulled into the RaceTrac there and you could now see that the tire was not looking good, down to 15psi... So again, gas, bathroom, slime, suit up, air up and roll out immediately for the 90 mile run to Atlanta. By now, we had slowed to about 60 and were staying in the slow lane in case he had to hit the emergency lane. As we neared Marietta, I slowed to 55mph to let the group bunch back up. It was 2:00AM at this point, so traffic was light. When we all bunched back up I counted 6 headlights in my rearview. So we exited 75S to 285 and jumped off at Northside for gas. I filled up, made my log entry and went to check on my friends tire...."Hey, where's Kevin?" dunno..."Is he on the other side of the station?" NOPE. OH NO!!! I pulled out my cell phone and saw that he had just texted me...he stopped at Windy Hill for air. I told him where we were and he said he was on his way. So about 10 minutes later, he pulls in and again, the tire doesn't look good. We talk for a few minutes. At this point, we're past the 1000 mile mark. I think we were at like 1009 or something. However, we had no witness to sign off on his paper work and it was only 35 miles back to Buford and my wife, who was going to meet us and sign off as our witness. So we took a gamble, we had 3 hours and 36 miles to go, we could him there under his own power, even if we had to stop and fill up the tire every 5 miles. :crackup: So we air him up to 52psi!!! (bias ply tire, definitely wouldn't do that on a radial) and hit 285. 60mph and in the slow lane. He's doing good and we pull into QT in Buford at 3:05AM!!!

1047 miles in 22 hours and an adventure that none of us will ever forget! Sheila signs all of our paperwork, we take a group photo, say our good byes and hit the road for home/hotels.

BTW, Kevin made it the 10 miles back to his house, another guy on the trip followed him home before heading back to Marietta! Great guys, this group! :up:

The picture with Valkyrie Interstate is the before picture, we look a little more bright eyed and bushy tailed there. :crackup:

[The Lazy Destroyer]

Awesome, congratulations! Glad you guys had a good time!

[Eagalicious]

That is awsome! I would like to do that one day. I am glad you guys made it back safely and had fun, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Wish I had cruise control on my bike :crying: