my solo (2nd) Iron Butt © 2004
(written by rudeboy)
September 10+11, 2004
This actually all started right after i finished the first Iron Butt in 2003,
i was already pretty sure i would do it again.. not knowing it would be
the very next year. Still being active on the "lively"
VRCCC forum,
Ronnie
(well known from the first Iron Butt, 2003)
asked me to come to St. Louis - Missouri to have lunch. Why we
never did during the summer ? beats me.. anyway we decided on this weekend
(september 11+12) because my parents & my
oldest sister are flying in from the Netherlands to celebrate Max'
(our son) first birthday, so this was the
last weekend before fall with a fair chance for good weather. The initial
plan was that i would go to Louisville - Kentucky where i would be accompanied
by Gregg who
also did the first Iron Butt in 2003. From there on we would ride to
St. Louis - Missouri, meet Ronnie and have lunch under the "Arch".
After lunch Gregg & i would go back to Louisville - Kentucky and he
would go home while i went on to Indianapolis - Indiana, then to Dayton
- Ohio and back to Columbus - Ohio (i needed the
extra miles to get to reach the required 1000+ miles) So the plan
was there, unfortunately like sometimes with good plans it fell apart,
Gregg couldn't make it due to work related obligations and Ronnie had
personal matters that are far more important then a bike ride &/or
lunch... so then there was one left -for those who missed it, that would
be me :}- i thought about it for about 15 seconds and decided to do it
on my own, my bike was already packed and all systems were go, the only
thing that changed was the starting time, since i didn't have to meet
anyone @ a certain time i was going to leave at 8am instead of 5am.
This here is the bike i did it on, a BMW R1200C.. the same one as last
year, the only thing i added was a magnetic map holder
(RoadGear) for a more convenient way of
reading the directions. As for the reason, riding a motorcycle for 24
hours and do a 1000+ (thousand) miles i
would again like to
quote Gregg. At this point i would like to thank both guys
for their good intentions & where needed help planning the trip.
Okay, let's get this "show" on the road.. September 10th - i got up @
about 7 o'clock, had breakfast & coffee, sat with Max & my
wife for a while. My wife would be my so called "start witness"
conform the IBA rules, she had to fill out a start "witness" form;
thanks *J*. 8am (EDT) came around
and i got ready to go, first stop was the gas-station down the street
to get gas and also the receipt (computer generated)
to show/prove the start-time & date.
Like i said before, weather-wise it turned out to be an *awesome*
day to ride, couldn't have asked for any better.. switched to my summer
coat (Joe Rocket) around noon, i already
changed from my winter-gloves into my summer ones (also Joe Rocket). Smoothly i crossed the state-
line and was now in Illinois, i almost couldn't believe how great things
were going.. still doing good on time i left Illinois behind me and
entered Missouri..
Not before long i was back in Illinois, and after that Indiana (already knowing i would be back in Indiana 1 more time)..
i had dinner (read: a #9 @ McDonalds, for those who
don't know that's a fish-sandwich, french fries and a drink) in
Indiana. In the meantime i had changed back into my winter coat,
it got dark & chilly rapidly.. without any problems besides from the fact
that street-lights next to Interstates are very rare, which resulted in
me not being able to read the directions.. which didn't really matter
because all the major cities i was going to "hit" were on the signs so..
i passed the state-line and was in Kentucky again, heading for Louisville
once again. From there on back to-wards Indiana, Indianapolis to be
exact.. that's where i realized during a stop that half (okay, i exaggerate slightly) my rain-pants i was wearing
to keep my legs warm were re-located onto my exhaust-pipe :] ahwell, a
small price to pay for so much fun :}
Like i said after my first Iron Butt SaddleSore 1000, it once again was easier then expected.. also it was different because i was alone, which is easier in some regards, on the other hand it's cool to ride with other people.. Some credits:
Some facts:
Donna from the Iron Butt Association called me to ask if i only wanted the license plate back-plate or if i also wanted the certificate, in other words the ride is approved !!! sent out an additional check for the certificate. stay tuned, will be continued.. **final UPDATE** (12/22/04) today i received the certificate. Time-table:
(ps. before you ask: "will you do it again ?" the answer is yes, sure will.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
