IBA SaddleSore with my son

[navydavy]

My son Matthew and I went for a nice little four day ride a couple weeks ago and ended up seeing a lot of beautiful country and earned our Iron Butt Association SaddleSore.

 

We left Seal Beach, California (just south of Los Angeles) at 11:20 pm on Sunday, June 22nd headed for Denver, Colorado for our IBA SaddleSore. The odometer read 29899 miles. Matthew had managed to get about three hours sleep just before we left, but I had only managed about an hour's nap. But I was pumped up and determined. We had a short stop in Barstow, California for gas, and made Las Vegas by 4:00 am. I've seen enough of the I15 from LA to Vegas so it was nice to get that part done in the dark. We watched the sun rise shortly before we got to St George, Utah where we stopped for gas and breakfast.

 

Before I go on too much, I have to talk about the bike. I have an '05 Yamaha Royal Star Venture, and that was just about the perfect bike for an Iron Butt ride. There may be better for one up, but with a passenger, I don't think you can do much better. The stock seats are as comfortable as can be imagined for both of us. I have the rider backrest from Utopia that I couldn't do without, and I made some armrests for my son because I knew he would be sleeping off and on. I took some arm rests off an office chair and used duct tape to attach them to the grab bars. They didn't look the best, but they saved me about 300 bucks and worked just fine. Matthew would fall asleep for about 15 minutes at a time before I'd get too nervous and jab him. I already had close to 10K miles on the current Avon tires, and after getting home still have plenty of tread left. I personally think bikes should get a lot better gas mileage than we do, but I couldn't complain too much. I think about the worst I got was in the low 30's when I was running at 90+ mph for about a hundred miles. When I could keep it to 70 mph or a little less, I'd get in the mid 40's. I was a little worried about the high altitudes, but I experienced no problems with power or mileage because of it. All things considered, and probably especially cost, the Venture is an excellent touring bike and I thoroughly enjoyed mine those four days.

 

Once into Utah, I decided to do a few miles helmetless. As we left a rest area, I noticed rain clouds ahead but couldn't tell if we would hit it or not. Of course we did. At first the cooling off felt good, and my shield kept most of the rain off my face. Then I started getting pelted and it kind of stung. I wasn't sure what it was till I looked on my shirt sleeve and saw ice bouncing off me. It was hail! Go figure. It only lasted about five minutes tho, and then the rain for about twenty more and we were in the heat again. At the next stop in the small town of St Joseph, Utah I put the helmet back on and kept it on. I enjoyed the feeling without for awhile, but it did cause more fatigue which I didn't need. We finally got into Colorado and stopped in Grand Jucntion for gas and a late lunch at 4:40pm. By now I was feeling the affects of little sleep, and those last few miles before Grand Junction were a bit of a blur. The road became more scenic after that, and I managed to wake up okay. We gassed up in Glenwoods Springs, and then the road became even better for a freeway. We passed through Vail and saw the ski slopes and the air was a bit cooler. All of the riding was high elevation, with the highest I think at about 11K feet. We started seeing a few deer on the sides of the road so I slowed a bit. Traffic started getting a bit heavier as we neared Denver, and about the same time the sun set and evening was upon us. We rode to the southwest part of the city where our destination was a Hyatt off the I25. We arrived at the hotel at 8:50 pm (our time) and had exactly 31000 miles on the odometer. That means the odometer put us at 1101 miles in twenty one and a half hours. Mapquest had the miles at about 1040.

 

I got the Front Office Manager to be our end witness, and the staff was all quite amazed that we had just come straight through from Southern California. I work for Hyatt and have a friend at that hotel, so he set us up with a real nice room with a jacuzzi tub. A quick shower and dinner came first, and then that tub sure felt good. I sort of remember letting my family know we were there safe, and then I was sound asleep. Matthew told me in the morning he had fallen asleep in the tub till about 1:00 am.

 

So I still have to send in my papers to IBA, but we did it. This is my second 1000 miles in 24 hours, but the first one was in 1981 and not certified. For those of you who have done one, I think you would agree that my 14-year old son earning his as a passenger is really quite a feat. I have to get back to work now, but I'll continue again later with our more "leisurely" ride home. I'll give a little heads up and say we did 2404 in four days. And yes, we did enjoy every bit of it. Okay, the triple digit temps on the last day was a bit of a drag, but other than that.....

[navydavy]

Day 2

 

We had a bit of a late start Tuesday morning and didn't hit the road til almost 11:00 am. Went about 60 miles south on the I25 to Colorado Springs and that was the last of the superslabs for the next two days. About 10 miles out of Colorado Springs we came to a stand still. It was so frustrating being from California where lane sharing is allowed, but not being able to do it then. There was so much room between those lanes, but I stayed where I was supposed to. Just trust me, lane splitting/sharing should be legal in all 50 states, it makes such a difference.

 

We headed west on US-24 out of Colorado Springs and that is when the real riding enjoyment began. We had views of Pikes Peak for quite awhile, including as the backdrop for the nicest WalMart I've ever shopped at in Woodland Park, CO. (I needed some more duct tape.) There were storm clouds all around us for most of the day, but we only had a little actual rain. We took US-24 to US-285 and ended up in Poncha Springs a couple hours later. All day the roads were motorcycle heaven. Even some of the straightaways were amazing just for the views of the snow covered mountains in the distance. We came across a long flat plain where we had deer on the side of the road for about 50 miles. Something I'm not as used to coming from Southern California, but it seemed they were content to stay in the fields. Matthew got a kick out of every one we saw. He was my navigator helper, record keeper and on-road photographer for the trip. We had a nice stop for lunch and gas in Gunnison, CO where we also spent some time talking to other riders from all over. I found Gunnison to be a patriotic town, so that alone won me over.

 

Coming into Poncha Springs the roads became more twisty, and it was interesting to see signs posted specifically for motorcycles to take caution. I can only imagine there have been more than a few incidents that riders have perhaps not fared so well on some of those curves. From Poncha Springs we headed west on US-50 towards Montrose. We went past Black Canyon quicker than I wished we had to, but the views we had of it intrigued me enough to want to come back and spend more time exploring. At Montrose we headed south on US-550 and then southwest on US-62 to Placerville. Nice looking little towns and the scenery continued to keep us enjoying our adventure as you can only do on a motorcycle. Probably the best road of the day was our last stretch, US-160/CO-789 from Placerville to Cortez. I think we may have come across two or three vehicles travelling our direction, and very few coming the other way. Mountain forests and a stream for about 60 miles or so. It was around here we were in the Telluride, CO area, and it was beautiful. The sun set on us a couple hours before we reached the KOA in Cortez, and that made for some interesting riding. We came across deer right next to the roadway quite a few times, and twice had one cross in front of us. Not terribly close, but enough to cause me to keep the speed to no more than 40 mph. I was tense and remember thinking I'll take splitting lanes in the LA area any day over worrying about hitting a deer on a dark mountain road in Colorado.

 

We finally reached our destination, a KOA in Cortez at about 9:00 pm. I stopped just before we got there to get some dinner for us and a tall bottle of beer for myself. We had one of the Kamping Kabins at the KOA, and that little cabin was so cool. Just a bunk bed and a double bed with a couple chairs, and heater and an overhead fan. It was a good days ride of 464 miles, and we really enjoyed our cozy little cabin for the night....

[navydavy]

Day 3

 

This was our shortest travelling day, but with planned stops and one unplanned 2-hour stop, it was still a long day. From Cortez, CO our next destination was Williams, Arizona with stops at Four Corners and the Grand Canyon.

 

Just out of Cortez we stopped at an Indian Trading store that our camp host had recommended for good handmade Indian stuff. I picked up some jewelry for my daughters and girlfriend, and Matthew picked out a leather belt buckle and we got a whistle for my girlfriends young son. I had heard from lots of sources not to buy the stuff at Four Corners, and the advice was sound. A lot of mostly desert riding this day, but it was still enjoyable and not too terribly hot. We were on US-160 for quite a few miles, and I actually flew right past the Four Corners monument. Of course we turned around, paid our admittance fee and got our photos at the actuall spot where the four states meet. We did buy a couple t-shirts too. It was worth the stop.

 

Our unplanned stop occurred in the middle nowhere between Keyenta, AZ and Tuba City, AZ. A long stretch of mostly straight with some rolling hills road where it was easy to clip along at 85 mph and then some. Out of nowhere, we had stopped traffic ahead of us. We were the third vehicle westbound to come across a horrible accident that must have happened about 5 minutes before we got there. A Tahoe towing a 28' toy hauler trailer had been caught in a gust of wind, lost control and completely flipped over. The female driver was ejected out of the Tahoe and was lying in the middle of the two-lane road. Her and her three 8-year old and younger children were all not wearing seatbelts. Amazingly, the mom was the most hurt and it was not life threatening. As I walked by at one time she was in obvious pain, but she was talking coherently. The worst injury of the kids was a huge bump on the head of a young boy. They were lucky. It took 30 minutes for the first emergency vehicle to show up, and then another 10 or so for the paramedics and ambulances. They eventually made the decision to air lift the mom out, so we waited for the helocopter to arrive and transport her. A lot of vehicles were able to get around by driving off road, but some of the sedans were getting stuck in the not so hard sand. There was no way I was taking that 900+ lb bike in that stuff. So we waited .... two hours.

 

Despite obviously being sobered by the accident, I had to really speed to still make the Grand Canyon before dark. I think it was about 5:00pm when we arrived at the gate. The ranger was good to us and ended up charging us only $12.00 for entry which I appreciated. We entered at the south entrance and hit all the scenic areas between there and the Village. At the first stop Matthew was walking slightly behind me, and I heard him say, "Cecilia?". Here we are at the Grand Canyon and he runs into an old friend/neighbor he hadn't seen in three years. What a small world. We also kept coming across people we had met at the accident scene. We were able to see plenty enough of the absolutely amazing Grand Canyon including watching the sunset there. I had been there a few years back when I was 14-years old or so, but this was Matthew's first time. He was awed. We did our tourist shopping in the village and then headed the little more than an hour to the KOA in Williams. I took it slow for awhile because we had a deer cross our path again, but then I got behind some faster moving cars and sped up a bit. Yes, I know the deer can come out behind cars in front also, but I felt better just being able to see more with the cars headlights.

 

We reached the Williams KOA at about 10:00 pm after a 367 mile day and I had fun manuvering the bike over all that gravel and stone. This cabin included a porch swing, and crazy as it sounds, Matthew and I both got a big kick out of that. After getting settled I took a short ride to old town Williams to gas up, and get something to eat and another tall beer to enjoy on my porch swing. Old town was on a part of Route 66, so I can say I did that too. I sat on my porch swing and enjoyed the star-filled sky I don't get to see much of in Southern California before getting to bed. Another great day of motorcycling.....

[navydavy]

Day 4

 

This is definetly not a case of saving the best for last. Still a mostly good riding day though. We took our time packing up again and didn't leave the KOA til 10:00. I got to meet a rider from Chicago who is doing a whole southwest thing on his beautiful brand new Kawasaki Concours. He was heading to Santa Monica so we were off in the same direction. Matthew and had some breakfast at a Denny's in Williams and then hit the road. The scenery along the I40 in Arizona was decent enough, but just became more and more desert and hot. I meant to say HOT. We made a stop in Kingman, Arizona to gas up for the last of the reasonably priced gas before returning to California. As we crossed into California the temps were in the triple digits.

 

We crossed over the Colorado River very close to Park Moabi where I used to bring my kids in our RV and boat. I reminded Matthew he had learned to ride a bicycle without his training wheels during one trip there when he was only 4 and a half. My girls were 7 and 9 at the time, and every day we had to go to the "bar". It was a sand bar along the river going towards Lake Havasu that they really enjoyed. Anyhow, those memories passed through my head as we passed through the area. And then I stopped to top off on gas. $5.09 for regular!! The absolute definition of highway robbery! I'm glad I only needed a little less than two gallons to top off. I told Matthew to go inside and get some ice for our water cups. He came back outside and said there was a big sign saying the ice cost whatever the size drink we were buying. I grabbed our cups and went in myself. Now I understand he probably can't go using up all his ice on every single customer passing by, but come on. I told him I had just spent $10.00 on less than two gallons of gas and I needed the ice because we were not in an air conditioned car and needed to stay hydrated in the 110 degree temps. I got a very disgruntled mumble of an okay and filled our cups with ice. Stay away from the Chevron in Needles, CA. That guy was a jerk.

 

We ended up stopping at a rest area only 30 or so miles down the road to fill up with more water. It was hot outside. We met a fellow Patriot Guard Rider at the stop who was riding from North Carolina to Riverside, California. He was on a very basic Harley that caused me to be very impressed with the amount of riding he had already done. We stopped again shortly after that in Ludlow, CA where we again topped of the gas tank and treated ourselves to some Dairy Queen and more ice cold water. We flew right through Barstow and had our last gas stop in Victorville, CA. The temps were much better now, and we knew we were close to home. There's actually some people who commute to the LA area from Victorville. We were back on the LA freeways in no time at all, and the temps in the mid-70's actually gave us some chills. Sure felt good though. We stopped at our original start point, a Chevron a couple blocks from home at 7:00 pm. We had travelled 472 miles in 9 hours, so we had made pretty good time.

 

Our total miles for the whole trip was 2404 miles on the odometer. We certainly did see a lot of beautiful scenery in all those miles. I know there are some that have the opinion you can't enjoy a ride like this, too many miles in too short a time. I kind of understand, and I do like the rides where we take our time in shorter distances. We had planned this ride about 4 months ago, and the SaddleSore and long distance days were all part of the planning. I must say, I do enjoy the challenge and adventure of the long distance riding. I imagine it will be a few more years before I'll have the time and money to take more leisurely rides across country. I've been thinking about doing the 4 Corners (of the USA) ride for the past couple years or so, and I hope I can get that in before I turn 50. So anyhow, we rode a lot of miles in only four days, and yes a lot of it was on superslabs. But those superslabs are ones I've either never been on or very rarely. And this time was on a motorcycle. Everything is better on a motorcycle; the views, the smells, the temps, and in this case close up quality time with my boy. We had said our prayer before departing on our adventure, and I must say, God did keep us safe throughout. With all those miles we did not have a single close call with another vehicle. The closest I came to having a problem was on the gravel/dirt at the Williams KOA. The deer made us nervous, but none of them were close enough to cause serious braking. And our butts, although they are certified "iron" now (or will be when we get the papers), made it with no problems either. Each day I know mine would start feeling it sooner than the day before, but after a little rest it was fine again.

 

Matthew went in the house as soon as we got home to continue texting and calling friends. Yes, he did a lot of texting on the back of the bike. I unloaded the bike and got those arm rests off. The bike was filthy dirty and tons of bugs in front, but it performed great the entire time. I took a shower and made a few phone calls myself. It's summer time, so both my daughters were out with friends and I didn't even see them til the next day. I have a new love interest that I really had wanted to share that porch swing with, so I hopped right back on the bike to go enjoy a little reunion with her before coming back home to enjoy sleeping in my own bed again. I asked Matthew if he wanted to do one again, and he was all for it. Because of the business I'm in, I don't get a lot of time off in the summer, so those four days were probably my summer vacation. It was a great summer vacation!

[navydavy]

FYI, I copied and pasted this from another forum I'm on. I have photos, but had difficulty uploading them for this thread. I'll try to add some photos later.

[rod]

Great write up! We did a similar trip a few years ago minus the iron butt. We plan on doing it again and take more time. These Ventures sure do love the open road don't they. That is a trip your son will always remember for sure. Ride safe Rod

[RedRider]

Very nice ride. Did my SS1000 and BB1500 last year. Planning 4 Corners in 2010. Venture is a great bike to do this with. Thanks for sharing your trip.

 

RR

 

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