Initial Planning: Iron Butt California BunBurner 1500 Gold

This is a quick writeup on an idea that I've been brewing since I came back home to California two years ago.

In July 2011, I attempted an "extreme" Iron Butt BunBurner Gold 1500 (riding 1500 miles in a 24-hour period) from Columbus, OH to Rock Springs, WY en route to the Women On Wheels® International Ride-In™that took place in San Jose, CA that year. This was partially motivated by the lack of vacation time that I had (a.k.a. I had none, basically show up or don't get paid so I had to get the distance done quickly) and that I had successfully completed two Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 rides (riding 1000 miles in a 24-hour period) and wanted to see if I could pull off an even longer ride.

Unfortunately, I was unable to complete "Gold" part of the BunBurner due to a major closure on I-29 and 50 MPH cross-winds raging through Western Nebraska. However, with the distance I was able to cover in the initial attempt, I was still able to add 450 more miles to complete a SaddleSore 2000 with a standard BunBurner 1500 certification, continuing from Nebraska to Elko, NV in less than 44 hours.

Now that I am back in California, a state known for temperate weather for most of the year, I want to attempt the ride again during a comfortable time of the year and complete it within the state itself. Now that I'm back here, I've been able to give Eleanor the maintenance and care that she's needed after near five years in the Midwest, and I think she and I will be able to complete the ride with minimal issues. Of course, this is assuming that motorcycle, road, and weather conditions remain in my favor.

But that's the thing about these kinds of long endurance rides. There are so many variables within them that all you can really do is be prepared for anything that can be thrown at you. The map below is the proposed map of the ride from start to finish. It's a giant loop with the exception of sections of I-5 that are basically traveling up and down.

At the moment, this is in planning stages, but I hope to get some more prep work into this throughout the course of the year.

For more information about the Iron Butt Association, visit http://www.ironbutt.com/.