Vacation planning has been in the works over the past several months. The most logistically involved portion is the opening frame from LA to Casper, WY to be completed within in a 24 hour window to earn a BunBurner Gold 1500 certification. Worst case scenario is that I complete a BunBurner 1500 Silver, the same distance but within 30 hours, which would make it my second one of that type of ride lifetime. (I completed one in 2011, but the Silver certification didn’t come around until several years later, so it’s still labeled as a standard BB1500.)
Several factors are in play including start/end times, weather, and pacing. To pull this off, there needs to be very few issues so lots of prep is involved. Also, my stops must be calculated and quick while factoring in documentation.
There is a science to all of this. Perhaps this is why I enjoy the mental challenge. Also, I have a lot more technology tools at my disposal than I had when I first started doing these types of rides so it helps a lot. This is also one of those times when having both iOS and Android devices proves advantageous due to the types of apps I need both for planning and for tracking the ride.
Planning software: InRoute (route planning) and WeatherOnTheWay (real-time weather tracking based on traveling route)
GPS Tracking: Real-Time GPS Tracker, Garmin inReach
On-bike navigation and trip computers: Google Maps, DMD2
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| The entire route laid out. Stop points were approximately 125 miles apart. |
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🎶She packed her bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hour, three AM.🎶
This is another trip planning app I use called Weather On the Way, only available for iOS. It's how I can appropriately schedule departure times for the mildest weather.
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| Weather was relatively mild for the most part, but there were a couple surprises in Colorado. |
The nice thing about most Iron Butt rides is that you set your own parameters so that the ride is more likely to have the least number of complications. Based on data, I'd rather find myself at a Denny's early on Sunday morning, hours before check-in to my hotel, than baking in the heat during the day. And I did check that there's a 24-hr. Denny's in Casper, WY.
It's not my first time here, but the very first time I arrived in Casper in 2007 resulted from a scary experience of accidentally riding US-16 through the night. I underestimated my distances between cities. In that part of the US, everything is pitch black once the sun goes down because you're in the middle of nowhere. Alternatively, I can probably chill in a park with my camping chair.
Anyway, I'm leaving four hours earlier than originally planned. Because research and experience.
So that part where I said that I'm riding straight from LA to Casper, WY in 24 hrs. to kick off my vacation? Just did that and it was a hell of a journey.
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This Iron Butt attempt was a doozy, but I was trying for a pretty challenging achievement, 1500 miles in 24 hrs. I left a little after 3 am and just kept moving east. Temps ranged from 52°-98°F but the winds were cooperative. I even set a personal record for the fastest completion of SaddleSore1000 of less than 15 hours. However, there were several factors that I couldn't control that affected my BunBurner Gold attempt. Some of these things included a traffic jam on I-40 that cost me over 20 minutes in standstill that I couldn't lane split, a rain storm at the New Mexico/Colorado border on I-25, and some aggressive dick in a car who brake checked me on I-25 in Thorton, CO and proceeded to drive their car straight toward me as I was speeding toward the nearest exit and then swerved away at the last second to continue down the road. I didn't even have enough time to use my horn.
The last incident with the car affected me mentally and I had to refocus to complete the remaining 250ish miles to the finish line. But I did. And with time running out, I made one last valiant effort to make up for lost time with a spirited run through the Wyoming section of I-25 in the night. Despite all the crap that hit me, I only missed BunBurner Gold certification by TWO MINUTES. Not even joking.
But I'm okay with this. I earned a second lifetime BunBurner certification and lived to tell y'all about it. You can't keep a motorcycle girl down, even with a little rain and attempted vehicular assault.
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| Two minutes too late for the Gold status, but I got here alive and that's the most important part. I know what I accomplished. Paper is paper. |
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