Saddlesore 1,000

[TimC]

I've been thinking about doing a Saddlesore 1,000 ride (1,000 miles in 24 hours) for a couple years.  This week I decided to do it.  I picked a route, checked the weather forecast along the route, and started mentally prepping myself for this.  I've done many 300- to 400-mile rides already this year, and have done a couple 600-mile rides over the years, but I knew this would be a challenge.  Most of the ride was a total bore, but here are some details and thoughts.  You don't really have time to stop for the scenery on a ride like this, but I did take a few photos.

 

My route was Ravenna, OH, to Gary, IN, to Louisville, KY, and back home to Ravenna.  I knew I'd be a few miles short, but decided to figure it out during the trip.

 

I set off in the dark at 6:20 am Saturday morning.  First stop: gas station in town to fill up.  By 6:30 I'm really underway, and by 6:45 I'm on the Ohio Turnpike.  A few miles later I realize I forgot the new Crampbuster I'd just bought a couple days ago.  Damn.

 

All goes well until I approach Gary, IN, where traffic increased, there was some road construction, and a rolling roadblock in the form of a wide load caravan.  Thankfully I was able to get past the wide load group and was sailing until I needed to stop for fuel and food.  There was more road construction just ahead of where I got off I-65 in Franklin, IN, bad enough that traffic was bumper-to-bumper, and sometimes at a standstill.  Good time to take a break.  I could see the freeway from the gas station, and it was still bad.  So I decided to ride though Franklin to US 31, which would intersect I-65 south of the construction zone.  Franklin is a lovely town, and I might normally have stopped to get a photo of the beautiful old big courthouse building downtown, but I had to keep moving.

 

It was dusk by the time I was leaving the Cincinnati area, and traffic on I-71 was light.  I'd already decided to take 270 around Columbus for some extra miles instead of going through the city, and that plan was a good one since there was a sign saying there is heavy construction at the I-70 & I-71 junction.  The 70 mph speed limit on I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland is heavily enforced by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, so I kept my speed reasonable.

 

I'd been checking the navigation app on my phone, and knew I was going to be short on miles to reach 1k for the day.  So I got a little creative in my route home.  The final leg of the journey saw me ride past my normal exit, double-back, and go past my exit again.  I got home a little shy of 1 am Sunday morning, with 1,005 miles added to my VFR's odometer.

 

Thoughts:

• I hadn't ridden my VFR since I bought my new bike four weeks ago.  Getting on my old bike it felt alien to me, awkward, and uncomfortable.  That really surprised me.  After all the years and 90k+ I've put on this bike, it took me a good 30-60 minutes to get comfortable on it.
• This is not an easy ride, even taking all interstates.  It's boring and gets to be uncomfortable, and of course very fatiguing.  I don't know that I'd do this again, but I wanted to do it while I still have my VFR, and while it was in good running condition (tires, fluids, etc.).  If I were to ever ride a thousand miles in a day, I'd want it to be on a touring bike, big comfortable cruiser, or something like a GS.  Bikes built for long hauls like this.  Cruise control would be a huge bonus.  (Wish I'd remembered to bring that Crampbuster.)
• My VFR ran perfectly.  My minimum stint was 60 minutes, and I did a couple 90-minute stints earlier in the day.  Running 75-80 mph constantly, as usual the VFR didn't miss a beat.
• I'm not going to send my route, gas receipts, and a check to the Iron Butt Association.  I don't need a piece of paper certifying I did this.  I did it because I wanted to, not for a trophy, though it is cool to have bragging rights.
• The first 300 miles were fine.  Most of the middle was fine, too.  By the time I had about 150 miles to go I thought things were fine, though I was getting a little sore (right hand, neck, back, and feet).  The last 100 miles were brutal.  This ride is very taxing physically and mentally.  By the end I was completely exhausted.
• I didn't prepare well enough.  I should have brought more food and drinks, though I did bring water.  My breaks were too long, partly because I had to buy food.  A few of my breaks were probably 30 minutes.  I would limit them to 20 minutes in the future.
• As out of shape as I am, I feel decent today.  I'm thankful for that.  I might even go for a short ride on the new bike later today!

 

As I said earlier, you don't have time to stop and admire the scenery, not that there was much scenery to admire along my route.  I grew up in central Indiana, and it's largely flat and boring terrain.  The third photo below shows that.  Cornfield, with a couple small forested areas.  This is what much of northern Indiana looks like, though sometimes it's soybeans instead of corn.  Southern Indiana is a little better, and Kentucky is better still, but rolling hills are nice to look at, but not exciting to me.

 

The most interesting thing I saw yesterday, and I wish I'd taken a candid photo of it, was at a turnpike plaza.  (Also, the second photo is sunrise over that plaza.)  I parked my bike and noticed a late model Subaru Outback nearby, backed up to the curb/walkway, with its hatch up.  A man and woman were near the car.  The man was sitting on the ground, cooking something on a small portable camp stove.  It just struck me as very odd.  All I could think was, they brought food with them to cook instead of buying restaurant food, in order to limit human contact as much as possible.

 

So that's it.  After 14 years of riding I've finally done a 1,000-mile single day ride.  It was no picnic, but I'm glad I did it.

 

Beginning odometer.

 

Sunrise over an Ohio Turnpike Plaza.

 

Typical Indiana scenery.  😕 

 

Damn, my VFR looks good at night.  😆

 

Ending odometer.  🙂 

[RC79NC001]

Congrats. 1000 Mi is a milestone ? I agree...all that Iron Butt documentation for what ?

 

 

[soichiro]

I still need to do it..I'm gonna get the iron butt piece of paper to frame.though. why not? 

[TimC]

I can see the IBA certificate both ways.  It would be nice to have, but I just don't want to spend the dough.  Maybe next time, if there is a next time.  😉 

[JZH]

I've done it twice, once intentionally (got the documents to prove it), and the other time because I'd run out of holidays...  But I never sent the docs in, so I never got the sticker or licence plate frame.  I'm so ashamed!

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

[TimC]

14 hours ago, JZH said:

I've done it twice, once intentionally (got the documents to prove it), and the other time because I'd run out of holidays...  But I never sent the docs in, so I never got the sticker or licence plate frame.  I'm so ashamed!

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

 

As I said in my original post above, I've done a couple 600-mile rides in the past.  I think the longest was around 640 miles, and that was unintentional.  I was finishing a tour around Lake Superior.  I'd planned to stop for the night somewhere in Michigan, but each time I stopped I couldn't find a decent hotel deal (using an app on my phone), so I just kept going.  By the time I got to the Ohio Turnpike late in the evening I thought I might as well try to ride the last couple hours to get home.  I think I rolled in between 1 and 2 a.m., very tired but glad to be home.

[ShipFixer]

1,000?  Congrats, but no thanks 😜 I did 725 miles in one day through some poor planning and over confidence when I was 28.  Don't have a lot of interest in repeating that experience, let alone going beyond it!