The mighty Wolfe Bonham did a Moonbeam run this year as a part of one of his mega well-beyond an Iron Butt long distance rides. I just popped it into Google maps and it happens to be a perfect first Iron Butt distance from home, and all in the province. The starting Iron Butt is the Saddlesore 1000, 1000 miles in 24 hours. They have a metric equivalent Saddlesore 1600 kilometre ride too. The suggestion is to do a distance that can't be short cutted for credibility's sake. Riding from Elora to Moonbeam and back is always going to be over 1600kms, no matter how you do it. Another benefit is that by going up on Highway 11 through North Bay and back through Sudbury and on the 400, I won't be riding the same route twice.
The Tiger has become fragile, so I'm jonesing for a long distance weapon, not that the vibey and exposed Tiger was ideal for that, but it's what I had. A few years ago Max and I rented a Kawasaki Concours14 for a ride in the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, Arizona, and it was a glorious thing. That Connie was a first gen C14, the newer ones have one of the highest load carrying capacities of a modern bike - so big that they could carry Max and I two-up again. Another thing about getting back into Connie ownership (I used to own a C10), is that I'd have an excuse to frequent the Concours Owners Group again.
There is a low mileage (31k) 2010 current generation C14 for sale in Toronto with some cosmetic damage and a dodgy windshield. I can sort out the niggles, and then this thing would eat miles like nothing I've had before. There is a strange lack of Kawasaki Heavy Industries motorbikes on the Iron Butt finisher's list (Honda has six times more bikes, BMW over eight times more). I want to represent! I've owned more Kawis than any other brand to this point, so it'd also be coming home to team green. This particular one is blue instead of tedious grey (Concourses tend to be very conservatively coloured), which appeals, I prefer a colourful bike. The C14 has a number of optional touring pieces, including a variety of windshields, which is good because the slab on that Concours ain't comely.
Love the Milano from Guardians of the Galaxy. The C14 would be getting similar higher visibility trim, especially around those Testarosa strakes!
Fortnine has the National Cycle Vstream windshield for the C14, which would give me a smaller but more functional, better made and swoopier look. The bike comes with a top box and panniers, so there isn't too much it'd need, other than sorting out the windshield and doing some touch up. Seeing a blue bike, I immediately want to liven it up with some orange trim, Milano style. Other than a full service and a few fixes, this bike is ready to do 100k. The stock seat is already a comfortable thing, though I've enjoyed the Corbin on the Tiger so much I'd consider tapping them again for another custom saddle eventually. The C14 Concours would be the biggest bike I've owned and could do something nothing in the garage can do right now, carry my son and I two-up while operating within the bike's weight capacity. It would also be just what I need to make a run to Moonbeam and back in 24 hours as the summer winds up.
The Iron Butt Rally is long distance motorcycling's most challenging endurance event. It runs once every two years in the continental US and Lobo Loco Rally Master, Wolfe Bonham, is a veteran of the event. Wolfe ran the 2023 IBR and has been sharing his ride on Facebook, but he said he's OK with guest posting on TMD, so here is parts 1-3! Eleven thousand miles in eleven days? Getting ready for this, let alone doing it, is an epic undertaking... enjoy!
The Iron Butt Rally is the Superbowl of long distance motorcycle endurance competitions. In the 11 days of the event riders will cover anything from 9000 to as much as 14000 miles (14-22,500kms!), depending on their routing. It is a delicate balance of miles vs. rest. Get it right and you could find glory. Get it wrong and you could find a hospital bed, or worse.
As entrants into the Iron Butt Rally we know more than a year in advance that we've been accepted into the challenge.
Most riders begin preparations at least 6 months in advance making sure their motorcycle is up to the task, entering other smaller competitions to practice routing skills, and doing a bunch of progressively longer certification rides to get your body used to what you're about to put it through.
In my case I had been so caught up in new home renovations and building a massive workshop that I wasn't able to do any of this. In fact, in all of 2022 I didn't do a single long distance certification ride. And, due to border closures, it had been more than 3 years since I had entered a scavenger hunt style rally.
With a mere 2 weeks before the IBR, I put the final touches on my shop, pulled my motorcycles out of storage, and began the process of building a Rally Bike.
I had three 2003 BMW R1150GS parts bikes, one of which had low kilometers, but clutch issues. That was to be my competition bike.
I spent the next 2 weeks twisting wrenches 18+ hours a day, scrambling to get parts ordered and delivered on such short notice.
I ran into clearance issues with my auxiliary fuel tap into my main tank which had me scratching my head for 4 hours. Turns out my other tank, being plastic, was able to flex just enough to clear the frame. Filing down the brass fitting as much as I dared got me closer but I still needed about 1/16". Desperate at 2am, out comes the big sledge hammer. I'm sure that a 16th of an inch bend in the motorcycle's frame won't matter!
Two days before I need to leave for the start line in Pittsburgh I get my first test ride on the bike. I get home after 30 minutes with a long list of things that need to still change or be fixed.
Some parts are not available in time or can't be shipped to Canada before I leave so I opt to have them shipped to the hotel in Pittsburgh. I can do a few last minute installs in the parking lot. These will include my hydration system and some needed wiring for my heated gear.
I'm packing the bike honestly worried I've bitten off more than I can chew.
The bike is untested. Other than little 250cc bikes on the teaching lot, I haven't ridden any big bikes AT ALL this year, and hardly any kilometers last year. Oh, and I'm 20 lbs heavier than I've ever done an IBR in my life, and I'm still recovering from a bad cold/cough with a ton of meds on the bike hoping it all clears up before the start....
Part Two - IBR 2023
Sitting on the Launch Pad
The ride to Pittsburgh was really my first ride of any distance this year. As I settled into the saddle I began to assess potential long term issues. Relearning how to relax my shoulders, relax my grip, sit more upright, etc. Proper body position would become the key to enduring 20+ hours per day on the bike for 11 days in a row.
Arriving at the hotel parking lot in Pittsburgh was a very emotional experience for me. Most of my life has been lived as a nomad, and as a result my base of friends is spread around the globe. With all the CoVid lockdowns of the past year not only did that mean I couldn't compete in the 2021 IBR, but it also meant that I had been cut off from so many of my friends. Seeing them all after so long meant tons of hugs and a few tears.
But I still had work to do on the bike, and the next morning would be the whirlwind of tech inspections and registrations. I went to the lobby to retrieve 2 important packages that were shipped there in advance... and they were nowhere to be found!
The lobby staff said to check back in the morning. This was unacceptable to me. I had tracking numbers that showed both packages had arrived. The morning wasn't going to make them suddenly appear!
After getting more and more insistent, and involving no less than 5 hotel staff, the packages were finally found.
I proceeded to get my hydration system installed, confirmed the new wiring functioned correctly with my heated gear, and made a few more ergonomic adjustments to the bike that had popped up on the ride down.
After some drinks and an excellent Reuben Sandwich with long missed friends it was time to sleep before the chaos of tech day.
The next morning found all the competitors proceeding through a series of lines and inspections; a mini-rally in and of itself. The lead up to the start of the competition is 2-3 days and includes things like a 30 mile ride to calibrate everyone's odometers against each others, safety and capacity inspection for the plethora of different auxiliary fuel cell set ups, confirmation of our satellite GPS tracking systems, insurance, medical evacuation confirmations, and the sobering video deposition of death, where we acknowledge the risks of this competition and wave all liabilities to the organization.
The whole process takes several hours to complete, and my only hurdle was that "Warchild" didn't like the way my fuel cell was vented. An easy, but necessary fix, as you never want to be on the bad side of Dale Wilson.
The rally poster was put on display beginning the speculation by all the riders as to what the overall theme would be. There was a prominent chicken in the poster, and I was convinced the final leg "hero run" would be from Denver to Chicken, Alaska, before returning to Pittsburgh. Running the math it was 6600 miles... just barely doable in the 5.5 days of the final leg if you managed back to back 1200 mile days.
Greg Camp surprised me showing up with Bam Baker, so we all went on an ice cream run after clearing inspection. We were now off the clock until Sunday's rider meetings.
However, on the ride to the ice cream shop I couldn't help but notice the ever present smell of burning clutch from my bike. The clutch didn't appear to be slipping at all, but something definitely wasn't right inside. Would it hold up for 11 days? Would I have to baby yet another bike to an IBR finish, or would it leave me stranded in some place like Chicken, Alaska?!
Part Three - IBR 2023
Cleared for Launch
Sunday afternoon has our standard rider's meeting, following the rookie rider's meeting. After that we just have to anxiously await the dinner banquet where we're finally given the Rally Book that will dictate our fates for the next 11 days.
And before you know it we're all opening our Rally Packs, which seem oddly thin.
The theme this year is food, and while there are not a lot of locations to choose from in the first 2.5 day leg, we are all given identical Bingo cards with 25 restaurant chains on them. To claim each we'll need a photo of our motorcycle with our Rally Flag in front of the restaurant along with a receipt for a purchase inside. This will prove to be quite a time suck. A normal photo stop can be done by an experienced rally rider in under 2 minutes, including photo and paperwork... but going inside for a receipt could take 5-10 minutes each. They aren't worth a lot of points, but if you start to score Bingo rows or columns the points start to add up quickly. Blacking out the entire card is worth an additional 2000 points. I think I'll go for it.
Back in my hotel room by 7pm I start the planning process for my route. We are now on the clock and decisions about time spent planning/routing vs sleeping the night before begin to set in.
The Rally Book is scanned into a .pdf that I can search through while riding. The points, time limitations, and notes are added to the location codes so that I don't have to look that up later... it all comes up on my Garmins. Weather is checked and locations are grouped by point values. It becomes obvious there are 3 distinct routes: Maine, Florida, and Denver. Given our required 2nd checkpoint in Denver I discount that one almost immediately. Maine looks more promising than Florida, but includes several locations in downtown NYC, which always makes me nervous not being from that area.
I opt for the Florida route, with the goal of getting to the daytime only high point Cedar Key location right at sunrise. That will mean skipping a few lower point locations on the way south, and only getting 1-2 nap on the first night. But, doing so opens up some options on the 2nd day to scoop up everything along the Gulf Coast and end up with some restaurants in Houston before pulling the first leg mandatory rest on night 2. Fingers crossed that sets me up to get to the big points group photo just north of the Leg 1 Checkpoint in Tulsa.
I'm happy with my plan, and in bed by 11pm.
The morning comes sooner than expected after a restless night of barely sleeping, laying in bed playing the "what if" game in my head.
Breakfast is shared with fellow riders, some not saying much about where they are headed, and others sharing ideas and concerns.
Bikes are loaded and we are required to be standing with our bikes from 8am until our final odometer readings are taken.
Cory Ure, parked beside me, is nowhere to be seen as rally volunteers are coming down our line. I look everywhere for him, but it's too late. They bypass his bike, and now he'll be held from leaving until all other bikes have left.
Following a brief last minute rider's meeting we all mount our bikes and nervously await the start. Next to me is Lisa Cover Rufo and her daughter Molly, who is calmly sipping on an iced latte! The luxury of being pillion!
Before we know it we're off! This is my 3rd IBR, and it still brings me to tears every time I start. It is such an honour and privilege to be amongst this elite group of riders.
Pulling onto the highway we all start to spread out on our own individual plans and routes.
Who will have the best plan? Who will find glory? Who will struggle just to make the finish, and who won't get back? Will everyone be safe, or will tragedy strike?
I take the ramp to I-79S on a beautiful sunny morning. My die is cast. Little do I know the next 2 days will be some of the toughest, most dangerous riding of my life.
Here's a link to a video of the start. This is not my video, but enjoy.
That's the end of Parts 1-3. Check out Parts 4-6 so to see how Wolfe gets along on the road! And if you want to find the original story itself, you can find Wolfe on Facebook here.
If you want a taste of long distance riding to get started, Wolfe runs Lobo Loco Rallies, some of which you can run from anywhere in the world (the local ones are based in Ontario, Canada). Check it out here: https://wolfe35.wixsite.com/lobolocorallies
A few years ago we rode down to the last Indianapolis MotoGP. It was a great few days in Indiana and it was pretty close to us. At a push the ride there could be done in a day (we took two because I had my ten year old son with me). This year's only North American MotoGP is in Texas and happens the weekend before Easter. How few days could I do it in? It just happens that Austin is a Bun Burner Gold away, just over 1500 miles south west of here. I watched a couple of fellow motorcyclists from the Lobo Loco long distance rallies pull a Bun Burner Gold off in the fall. If I could get to COTA in 24 hours I'd be a rockstar! If I left on Thursday evening I'd be down there Friday evening or a bit later if I missed it (BBGs depend a lot on construction and delays to pull off). Either way I'd be up Saturday morning with some kind of Iron Butt ride (if I missed the BBG there are half a dozen other, easier ones that I could still aim for) under my belt to catch qualifying. Early to bed Saturday night and then another day at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday for the races. After a good dinner I'd be back on the road again making tracks north to home. If I missed the Bun Burner Gold on the way down, I could attempt it again on the way back! Either doing a Sunday night to Monday night blitz to get the gold, or breaking it into two long days and going for a plain old Bun Burner 1500 (1500 miles over 36 hours). In a perfect world I'd do the BBG on the way down, enjoy the weekend and rest up again before getting a Bun Burner 1500 on the way back, riding Sunday night after the race as far as I can, having a sleep and then getting up and finishing the ride within 36 hours. If I'm back Monday night I would have only missed two days of work while getting to watch a MotoGP live and picking up multiple iron butts! That'd shake the rust off after a long, cold, Canadian winter. Does two Iron Butt rides around a weekend of MotoGP sound extreme? From the dark depths of February after weeks and weeks out of the saddle, it sounds like a brilliant idea! When you're trapped under a polar vortex and some truly grim, neverending Canadian winter, the thought of trying to cross much of North America twice in five days on two wheels scratches an itch.
Slow motion through the esses at Indianapolis...
COTA has all sorts of pretty views for video and photography...
I came up with the idea of setting up motorcycles down south in rental storage units to access over the winter a while back. This is just the sort of thing I'd do if I had that kind of disposable money laying around. To set up San Francisco bike storage I'd need to get an Ontario bike down there and parked up in the storage facility. The idea is to have a ready to go bike that I can fly to with minimal luggage. I'd eventually be able to fly in to San Francisco with only a carry on bag, take a cab to the storage unit and be on two wheels in one of the best motorcycling locations in the world within a few hours of flying out of the snowbelt. For the setup I'd take known, works-for-me gear for the ride and then hang it up in the storage unit along with the bike. Flights back at the moment are one stop, seven hours and about $700 Canadian. The weather is already closing in here. We've had dustings of snow multiple times. This would be one of my last chances to make the ride out west before the white wall of winter descends on us. In trying to make good time to SanFran, I'd also aim to get a motorcycling bucket list item done: an Iron Butt thousand miles in twenty-four hours: Day 1: Elora to Hampton Inn Portage IL. Just under 500 miles over the border and to the edge of Chicago. Make sure everything is ready for the big push on Day 2 (the Iron Butt 1000 miles in 24 hours). Make sure everything is good to go on the bike, get in early, eat and rest up for an early departure. Day 2: Portage IL to Denver, CO. Be on the road by 5am for the big push west. Cross Chicago before rush hour picks up and then thump across the plains. 1027 miles in 24 hours. Get in to Denver overnight and then 2 days at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Denver Stapleton.
Day 3: Rest day in Denver. Day 4: Denver to Grand Junction. Into the Rockies, 333 miles to the Hampton Inn Grand Junction. A lower mileage day means this should be as much about enjoying the mountains as it is about making time. Day 5:Grand Junction to Ely. 429 mountain miles to Ely and the Ramada by Wyndam Ely passing through 3 national parks, so it should be a pretty ride.
Day 6: Ely NV to San Francisco. 554 mile day to wrap up the trip. Get into San Francisco late, park up the bike and put everything into hibernation mode. Load up a carry-on bag with the essentials and take a cab to the airport. Retrace the four thousand plus miles back in five hours.
I should be able to take the bike out, park it up and be back home within a week, then I'll have a bike on-call on the West Coast. For this trip I need something that can cover big miles effectively but is still a useful tool on twisty roads. The big Triumph Tiger 1200XRx is a long distance capable bike that fits a big guy like me. It's also easy to maintain (shaft drive, fuel injection) and comes with many long distance handy abilities like long suspension to soak up bad roads and luggage for the long trip. A big Tiger in this format costs just over $24k Canadian. It's a pretty thing, I saw the new ones in the flesh at the Triumph Tiger ATLAK meet up last summer. Many magazines describe the bike as very large, but I didn't find it overwhelmingly so. In fact, I was surprised at how svelte it was for a 1200cc adventure bike. But there are some things about the big Tiger that I'm not a fan of. I've never gotten excited about the big aluminum panniers thing on adventure bikes, or any bike for that matter. I like the colour matched lucifer orange ones on my old Tiger. I think the aluminum ones look half assed and unfinished, and I get to pay hundreds more for the privilege of having them because others think they're a fashion item. The other issue is a recent BIKE Magazine review in which their Tiger developed a number of electrical issues. Whatever is waiting for me on the West Coast would need to work when I opened that storage unit roller door. The Tiger is also a reasonably sensible choice, but it'd be nice to have something a bit more come-hither waiting for me in San-Fran. For surprisingly similar money there is something that I'd describe as more of a dream bike: the Kawasaki H2 supercharged demon bike in sport touring form. The H2 SX is an efficient, powerful, supercharger-chirping-as-it-breaks-the-sound-barrier thing of beauty. It weighs about as much as the big Tiger but produces prodigiously more power and looks like a Japanese super model. On top of that it has beautifully designed and colour matched panniers that practically disappear into the stunning looks of the bike, rather than looking like tacked on, low-rent metal boxes. Having the SX sitting in a storage unit in San Francisco would be a constant West Coast siren call. If I wanted to go far, it could handle it, if I wanted to canyon carve in and around San-Fran, it'd do that to. As much as I love adventure bikes for how well they fit me, I think I'd have the Kawasaki super model waiting for me on the west coast. It'd be a blast to ride on the trip out there and would fit in with Californian bike culture much better.
After enjoying The Perfect Vehicle so much I started on The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing. I sent the author a quick email saying how much I enjoyed The Perfect Vehicle and hoped she'd keep at writing so well about the craft of biking. After ripping through the first couple of chapters I did what anyone in the information age would do and looked up what John Ryan is doing at the moment. The assumption was that he was making time somewhere and putting miles behind him.
I have a unique talent for lousy timing, and my starry eyed thanks to Melissa Holbrook Pierson for writing The Perfect Vehicle contained no idea of what was happening with her and motorbikes right now. She was very kind to right back so positively. More people should drop a line to the writers they enjoy and say thanks (says the English teacher).
John Ryan, the main focus of my current read, is a record breaking Iron Butt rider. He covered huge distances in record breaking time. I stumbled across the Iron Butt Association when I was planning my Lake Superior circumnavigation earlier this year, so Melissa's latest book on this hidden subculture wasn't completely new to me. As I was researching circling Superior I saw a blog post where the rider casually mentioned that he did it in less than 24 hours. I was astonished! And intrigued!
I've been greatly enjoying The Man Who Would Stop At Nothing so far, so much so that I wanted to link John's blog to this one. That was when I discovered that he'd recently died in a seemingly benign road accident. I'm frustrated that he was rear ended by a cager in a Mustang, and that no other details of the accident are forthcoming.
So here I am, a week later, mulling over John's fate (yes, I'm a muller). There is no doubt that motorbiking is a dangerous pass-time, one that demands the utmost attention, and I now suspect a degree of fatalism. If John Ryan can be taken out by some idiot texting in his Mustang, so can we all. I've been osculating between despair and bravado in responding to this. A small part of me wants to question what the point of it all is, and the other (larger) part is thinking, 'fuckin' ay! He died doing what he loved." We should all be so lucky. I've lately had the fear that I'll go shovelling the driveway, or be at work... how horrible!
In the book Melissa has a great quote: "Give your best years, your now, so that at some distant point, which may never in fact arrive, you can get all the pills you'll need to extend your shuffle to the grave."The fearful response to two wheeling is, I think, based on this truth that so many people live by.
Melissa also talks in great detail about the calculus of risk in riding. Knowing John as well as she did, I suspect she'd appreciate the fact that he left the world on two wheels, even while wishing he were still here. I crossed the line a year ago when I decided to go take the course and get on two wheels. It's approaching mid-winter here in Canada and that feeling of immersive freedom is as far away from me as it can get. I'm sorry that John is gone, and reading the rest of Melissa's book is going to be tinged with that regret. Does any of this stop me from getting back on two wheels as soon as I can? Not remotely.
It's on this year and this time it's a four event season! If you're anywhere near Ontario hop on your bike and come along for a great day of riding: Sunday June 11th, Saturday July 22nd, Saturday August 19th and Friday October 13th. Pick your day(s)!
Last summer my motorcycle buddy Jeff and I did our first long distance motorcycle scavenger hunt/rally, it was a blast! We spent an exhausting, hot, August day covering more miles than anyone else. Our lousy trip planning skills aside, we had a great day seeing all sorts of hidden spots we'd never seen before. I just found out that Lobo Loco is back for 2017, and bigger than ever!
The idea of this kind of rally is that you begin from wherever you are at 8am with a gas receipt to set your starting place. From there you find your way to gps points shared with you a week before. Different places are worth different points depending on how hard they are to get to. You can go after themed stops to try and get the highest points in a particular category or go for the rally win by planning out a route that collects you the most points quickly. Or you can just take it easy and pootle about, enjoying the camaraderie that is infectious in an event like this. You'll be seeing a lot of other competitors on your travels.
Last year Jeff and I decided to ride out of the cities because neither of us really like riding in the urban pall. We rode along miles of country roads through scenic little towns all the way to the shores of Huron before working our way back to Brantford, arriving with three whole minutes to spare.
We did it on our big adventure bikes, but the parking lot at the end of the race had everything from a 200cc Yamaha to massive Harley v-twins, and everything in between. There is no 'right' bike to do this sort of thing on. There is no 'right' way to plan your route (though we missed top score by thousands of points, so I don't really know what I'm talking about). We had a great time doing our high mileage country route. Others had a blast cashing in on close together points locations in the Greater Toronto Area.
Whatever you like to ride, however you like to ride, you can customize the Lobo Loco Scavenger Hunt to how you want to do it. We ended up being the only people to make it to the bee beard for huge points because it was in the middle of nowhere and was only happening for about half an hour (no one else was crazy or quick enough to try it!). Our half assed approach got us the top bee keeping score and the longest ride iron butt award.
If you're looking for a single day event that is both fun and will show you new places you'd never otherwise find in your own backyard, the Lobo Loco Rally is your ticket. The first ride this year (the WTF Rally) happens on Sunday, June 11th. Here are the specs from the website:
WTF Rally
"Weird Things Found"
... or something like that...
Sunday, June 11th, 2017
This is our first of 4 Events for 2017. We're going to start the season off with an easier and fun Scavenger Hunt Rally. You'll be rolling through the back roads of Southern Ontario stopping to take pictures of some of the most bizarre roadside items, signs, or places... things that will make you say, "WTF?!"
8 Hour Rally - Remote Start
8:00am Start
Start ANYWHERE in Southern Ontario.
The Finish Line is in Woodstock, ON
Scoring begins at 3:00pm
Time Penalties begin to accrue at 4:00pm
DNF if not at the Finish Line by 5:00pm
ALL YOU CAN EAT DINNER BUFFET and AWARDS BANQUET begins at 5:30pm
$80 per Rider, or $100 for 1 Bike - 2 Up Team Riders
I'm aiming to be there. Hope to see you at the buffet. Sign up here.
The stop in Lucan had us wanting to return to get some garage art...
Over an hour on sand and sand covered pavement getting to a single stop on the shores of Lake Huron was our biggest navigational error (too much time for too little reward). Even then, it helped get us the iron butt high mileage award and it was all part of the adventure.
I did a 360km-ish kilometre ride on Saturday. All back roads and as twisty as I can find in the farm-desert we live in. I was gone shortly after 8am and had a coffee at Higher Ground before ripping up and down the Forks of the Credit. I was then up past Orangeville to Hockley Valley Road, back through Mono Hills and up to River Road into Terra Nova before coming back down to Horning's Mills and north to Noisy River Road into Creemore. All in all I crossed the escarpment half a dozen times on my way north. By now it was well past noon and into the high thirties with humidity. After a great lunch at The Old Mill House Pub in Creemore I was out to Cashtown Corners to fill up and then past Glen Huron and over the escarpment one more time before heading north to Thornbury Cidery and the cooler shores of Georgian Bay.
Nothing Cools you down like the shore of a great lake on a hot, summer day.
From Creemore on I was soaking wet and sweating freely, monkey butt (red and sore on my backside from wet, aggravated skin) was soon to follow. It wasn't so bad by the lake, but inland it was sweltering. I was standing frequently to try and get wind under me, but by this point my big ride was just uncomfortable. The Macna vented pants did ok on my legs, but where I needed it the most they were just trapping heat and leaving me dripping. I bombed south down Beaver Valley, stopping once at an overlook to finish the Gatorade I had and then on to Flesherton for a stop at Highland Grounds before dodging and weaving south on back roads towards Elora and air conditioned nirvana.
Before I left that morning I learned that Wolfe and Robyn, the founders of Lobo Loco long distance motorcycle rallies, had already started the monumentally difficult Bun Burner Gold, the seemingly impossible fifteen hundred miles (2400kms!!!) in twenty-four hours - yes, that's a 100km/hr average for a whole turn of the earth. You'd need to be making time every hour so you'd have time to get gas, eat, drink and toilet; it's madness!
By the time I'd seen what these two superheroes were going to attempt that morning they had already done more miles than I was going to do all day (monkey butt and all), and they still had the better part of two thousand kilometres to go... in a day! Part of this is making sure you've got the right gear for the job. I'm going to address that in another post, but the other side of this is do I think I can actually pull something like that off. I'm months away from turning fifty and I'm starting to get a sense of what getting older is going to feel like. Doubt is what starts you thinking that you have to act your age. The two doing that epic bun burner are fifteen plus years younger than I am and much more experienced riders. My starting to ride late grates on my nerves. Despite numerous opportunities, events beyond my control conspired to prevent me from finding my way back to a hereditary hobby. Those lost years still haunt me. No point in moping about it. I've gotta grab the opportunities as I find them and not let doubt weaken my resolve. If I want to get an Iron Butt done then I need to get it done. You don't get shit done by moaning about it. But first I've got to get my seat and kit sorted. No point in trying to do a job without the right tools.
Tim's bike-hole, once a storage place for unused furniture, now an insulated work space with two Kawis in it.
Season 1 ended with me getting my license, my first bike and getting over 5000kms of riding in, including a full month of long commutes. The original bike bucket listincluded getting the license and first bike. As season two began I was looking to expand. Bike bucket list 2.0:
Some of these are well beyond what I can pull off at the moment, but you never know when circumstances might change. Besides, if you're gonna dream, might as well dream big! If I'm going to do that, retiring into my own little shop would be awesome! Custom mechanical, digital parts fabrication and finishing!
The mighty Wolfe Bonham did a Moonbeam run this year as a part of one of his mega well-beyond an Iron Butt long distance rides. I just popped it into Google maps and it happens to be a perfect first Iron Butt distance from home, and all in the province.
