June 2008 Ride

[cheezymikey]

Greetings all,
First of all, most of you won't recognize me, I have been associated with Pashnit for a some time now but have only posted a few times. The few times I have posted with questions I have gotten great support and the knowledge I have gleaned from just lurking has been invaluable. So even though I may not be familiar to most of you, you are familiar to me and there is something I would like to share. I will try to be as brief as possible but it will be hard to keep it short so bear with me.
On June 2 I left Fort Pierce, Florida bound for Houston, Texas on my first Iron Butt ride, a SaddleSore1000 (1000 miles in under 24 hours). Let me preface that by saying it was my first Iron Butt attempt, so I am new to Long Distance riding but have been riding motorcycles for about 42 years now. I have had many rides of 5 or 600 miles a day but nothing approaching 1000 miles. The ride went off without a hitch. I left Fort Pierce at 2am (wanting to do any night riding at the beginning of the ride) and ended in Mont Belvieu (just east of Houston), Texas at around 1900 hours. Total mileage on the odometer 1078 miles, according to the GPS 1051 miles and according to Streets and Trips, 1038 miles.
It was a fairly easy route, up the Florida Turnpike to I-75 then west on I-10. It was actually easier than I thought it would be, owing, I believe, to the hours preparation and planning and the taking to heart the advice from all of you on this site and the tips from the Iron Butt site.
My next day was a modest 675 mile ride to Van Horn, Texas. It was amazing that I rode all day and never got out of Texas (much of it at the posted 80mph speed limit).
The next day was a short 440 mile ride to Tucson where I spent two nights (spent a day at the Pima Air Museum and Davis Monthan AFB boneyard-a must-see if you are an airplane freak like me).
The next day I rode a little over 700 miles to Clovis, CA to hook up with some friends. My wife flew out from Florida and 3 couples then rode from Modesto, CA to South Dakota and back on a 12 day trip that took us across Nevada on Hwy 50 ("the lonliest road in America") through the Bonneville salt flats and Salt Lake City on to South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore, Bear Tooth Pass, Montana (possibly the most beautiful road I've ever been on) , Yellowstone and Jackson Hole just to name a few.
After dropping my wife off at the airport in San Francisco, I then proceeded east going through Kingman, AZ, Winslow (where I stood on "THE CORNER"), Amarillo, stopping in Missouri to visit family, stopping in Tennessee to visit, and then on to Atlanta to visit more family.
I returned home to Fort Pierce on July 7, having spent 35 days on the road. I rode 11,036 miles and went through 21 states. The bike (2002 BMW R1150RT) performed flawlessly. Thank you John and all the people at Cycle Specialties in Modesto for maintaining the bike for the first 4 years of it's life, and Daytona BMW for the last two. My only maintenance issue being a burned out brake light in Amarillo. It was a great time, both riding solo and with my friends.
To be honest, by the time I got home I was ready to be off the bike, but now after a few days of rest I think I'm ready to go again!
Thanks again to everyone for your direct and indirect help.

Check out the short slideshow on YouTube-

YouTube - June 2008 South Dakota and Cross Country Ride

YouTube - June 2008 South Dakota and Cross Country Ride

Michael Cool
Fort Pierce, FL

[R5_350]

Cool photos, awesome trip and I thought the gas was $high$ last June?! I think your bike looks great!