Iron Butt

[t-homo]

So a few local guys have been planning an iron butt for the beginning of summer. Springfield, MO to Birmingham, AL and back. It will be 530ish miles each way with a rest at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in the middle. Here is the route we will be taking.


For those of you who have done rides this long, what have I probably not thought of? I will have a tank bag and am borrowing saddle bags from a friend. We are going to try to stick together as much as possible, but wont have a designated lead rider or sweep. Every person is going to have a map with recommended places to stop for gas, if there are long stretches without a gas station, etc. I plan on taking a ton of water, rain gear, etc. I will probably try to borrow a friends GPS, just to be safe.

[Rider]

Guys do the Lake Michigan loop here. I think that is about 1000 miles.

[t-homo]

I think one of my friends from St. Louis took a trip on his VFR800 up around the great lakes one time.

[G-Rex]

Originally Posted by t-rock

So a few local guys have been planning an iron butt for the beginning of summer. Springfield, MO to Birmingham, AL and back. It will be 530ish miles each way with a rest at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in the middle. Here is the route we will be taking.


For those of you who have done rides this long, what have I probably not thought of? I will have a tank bag and am borrowing saddle bags from a friend. We are going to try to stick together as much as possible, but wont have a designated lead rider or sweep. Every person is going to have a map with recommended places to stop for gas, if there are long stretches without a gas station, etc. I plan on taking a ton of water, rain gear, etc. I will probably try to borrow a friends GPS, just to be safe.

I've done two Iron Butts. A 24 hour/1000 mile on my TLR, and a 36 hour/1500 mile on my Hayabusa. Let's see. Where do I start.

1. Wear ear plugs. Thank me later.
2. I think you'll find that any more than 2 people is 1 person too many on an Iron Butt style ride. Everyone has a different pace they are comfortable with, and everyone wants to stop at different times for fuel/food.
3. Don't lollygag too much. You'll have time to relax, but since this is your first, you'll be surprised how quickly it will pass by. If you can make it work, great.
4. If you do want to certify it through the Iron Butt association, study carefully what they will require you to send in. It may not seem like much, but when you're on the road, it should be second nature. Take a little notepad to log your notes on, as well as enclosing them in a zip-lock bag to make sure it doesn't get wet. Take a pencil. Also, keep a separate zip-lock bag for all of your receipts. You will need those. Don't forget your start/end paperwork. If you stop for more than 15 minutes, you're supposed to record that. Documentation documentation documentation. I can't stress this enough.
5. Take bananas and sour patch kids candy with you. The bananas are good and healthy, the sour patch kids are good to chew on when it's 3am and you're pretty tired.
6. If you think it will start to rain, stop and get your rain gear before it does. PVC rain gear is 10 times harder to put on *after* it's started raining.
7. Don't overthink it too much and have fun!

[t-homo]

Originally Posted by G-Rex

I've done two Iron Butts. A 24 hour/1000 mile on my TLR, and a 36 hour/1500 mile on my Hayabusa. Let's see. Where do I start.

1. Wear ear plugs. Thank me later.

I wear ear plugs pretty much every time I ride.

2. I think you'll find that any more than 2 people is 1 person too many on an Iron Butt style ride. Everyone has a different pace they are comfortable with, and everyone wants to stop at different times for fuel/food.

I think there will probably be 5-10 people on this trip. However, each person is going to get separate maps with the route on it and recommended stops. No designated lead or sweep riders. Everyone is going to go their own pace. If you get left behind, we'll either meet at a meal or at the mid point. Hopefully everyone will stay together though.

3. Don't lollygag too much. You'll have time to relax, but since this is your first, you'll be surprised how quickly it will pass by. If you can make it work, great.

This is probably my biggest concern. Spending too much time relaxing and then not getting in till 30 minutes late.

4. If you do want to certify it through the Iron Butt association, study carefully what they will require you to send in. It may not seem like much, but when you're on the road, it should be second nature. Take a little notepad to log your notes on, as well as enclosing them in a zip-lock bag to make sure it doesn't get wet. Take a pencil. Also, keep a separate zip-lock bag for all of your receipts. You will need those. Don't forget your start/end paperwork. If you stop for more than 15 minutes, you're supposed to record that. Documentation documentation documentation. I can't stress this enough.

We are going to certify it trough Iron Butt. Thanks for the tips on documenting everything.

5. Take bananas and sour patch kids candy with you. The bananas are good and healthy, the sour patch kids are good to chew on when it's 3am and you're pretty tired.

I think the plan is leave at midnight and ride through the day, in order to catch the Museum while its open. I'm sure I'll take some 5 hour energy and stuff like that in addition.

6. If you think it will start to rain, stop and get your rain gear before it does. PVC rain gear is 10 times harder to put on *after* it's started raining.

That is no joke. I've got some frogg toggs that are a pain in the ass when I'm already wet.

7. Don't overthink it too much and have fun!

Thanks a ton for all of the advice man. This is pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

[G-Rex]

Have you looked at the Iron Butt's website yet? If not, you should. They have the forms you need and spell out how you need to document everything.

Frogg Toggs? Ugh. My best friend had some of those and they were a waste of $50. I'll stick with my Aerostich.

One thing I did forget to mention. Doing a ride like this *is* mental. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. I'll give you an example.

The 24/1000 I did on my TLR. Left Suches, GA at 8am. Arrived Oklahoma City at 4:30am. I was flat exhausted. We also had to stop for a couple of hours due to super heavy rain. I wasn't the seasoned rain rider I am now and I've definitely ridden through worse than that.

When I did the 36/1500 on my Busa a couple of years later, I left Oklahoma City at 9pm Friday night and arrived back in Oklahoma City at 8am Sunday morning. I made it with 45 minutes to spare. At the 1000 mile point of the trip, I was in western Kansas and I was still fresh and good to go.

Here's something I do that might help you out mentally. Don't think of it as *Man, I gotta ride 1000 miles.* Think of it as *I have to ride XXX to the next gas stop.*. In my case, I break it up into 200 mile segments, since that's about where I stop for gas. You'd be surprised how much easier it is mentally when you think about it like that.

[Archren]

Originally Posted by G-Rex

Here's something I do that might help you out mentally. Don't think of it as *Man, I gotta ride 1000 miles.* Think of it as *I have to ride XXX to the next gas stop.*. In my case, I break it up into 200 mile segments, since that's about where I stop for gas. You'd be surprised how much easier it is mentally when you think about it like that.

Having ridden on the back with him for long trips.. this is probably the best piece of advice.

[t-homo]

Thanks a ton. Do you normally ride with an mp3 player or anything? I am thinking about selling my scala rider team set and buying a chatterbox to replace it. I know the guy leading in planning this trip has one, so I'm sure talking some would make it much easier and make the time pass quicker.

On my trip up to indy (right around 500 miles of interstate), I did the same thing about breaking it down into the shorter segments. 1000 is a lot more than 500 though, physically and mentally.

[G-Rex]

Originally Posted by t-rock

Thanks a ton. Do you normally ride with an mp3 player or anything? I am thinking about selling my scala rider team set and buying a chatterbox to replace it. I know the guy leading in planning this trip has one, so I'm sure talking some would make it much easier and make the time pass quicker.

On my trip up to indy (right around 500 miles of interstate), I did the same thing about breaking it down into the shorter segments. 1000 is a lot more than 500 though, physically and mentally.

Ok, my thoughts on the Chatterbox. I know not everyone feels this way, but I'll give you my opinion. Take $150 out of your pocket. Set it on the ground. Set it on fire. you will get more enjoyment out of that than a Chatterbox. I had one. They are junk. The *only* time we could hear each other was if we were stopped *next* to each other at a light, and there wasn't any wind.

I do use the iPod portion of my iPhone. Do you have good headphones? If not, I'd suggest not wasting your money on anything but Etymotic ER-6i's. I think Shure makes something comparable, but I've not tried their product.

[t-homo]

Koss Plugs are what I've got right now. They are pretty much a ear plug with a tube down the middle of it for the sound to come through. Pretty good sound quality for an earplug style and are pretty damn loud.