Motorcycling

This group of seriously-deranged folks love to rack up the miles, and a 1000-mile-day ride, what they call a "SaddleSore 1000", is merely the tip of the iceberg.  Their riders also complete rides such as the "BunBurner" (1500 miles in 36 hours); "BunBurner Gold" (1500 miles in 24 hours); and the "50cc" (coast-to-coast in 50 hours or less).  And many people have heard about their premier event, the "Iron Butt Rally", hosted every other year, where riders cover as many as 11,000 miles in 10 days.  But even among this group of riders, doing any of this on a thumper is regarded as a novelty, given that most folks who try these rides choose more suitable mounts such as Honda ST1100s, BMWs, Kawasaki Concours, and Honda Goldwings. 

I wanted to see if I could pull off a 1000-mile ride, and wanted to try it on my '78 SR500 just "because it's there", I guess. And, it's the only bike I own at present, making it a fine choice. Additionally, although a few hundred people have documented this ride for the Iron Butt Association and received a swell plaque as a reward, I wanted to try for something a little unique.  Hmmm...smallest bike (nope, not hardly). Oldest? No. Fastest? Oh, please. Within one state? Hmmm. Not bad, surely there have been others (Texas, Alaska would seem likely candidates) but I didn't think anyone would try to plan and execute inside Missouri. So I did. 

Some of you know I'm a Missouri native, moving back to the Midwest after living in Dallas quite a while. I loved my time in Texas, still plan to visit often, and I'm also a big fan of the Midwest in general and Missouri in particular.  That made it a cinch to put together a SaddleSore 1000 ride that comprised a grand tour of Missouri, recapped in the following paragraphs.  1033 miles in 19 hours, 13 gas stops.  The route was St. Louis to Hannibal US40/US61; Hannibal to St. Joseph US36; St. Joseph to Kansas City I-29/I-435/I-470; Kansas City to Kingdom City I-70; Kingdom City to Nevada US54; Nevada to Joplin US71/Bus 71; then Joplin to St. Louis I-44/Mo109/US40. 
 
 

STL to Hannibal 98 miles 6:21am  I started the clock at Chesterfield Amoco at 4:46am, then began this first leg west out of the STL metro area. I followed US 61 north to Hannibal, home of Samuel Clemens and many of his characters. US 61 is 4-lane divided throughout this stretch (well, nearly so) and it was easy to make a good start. Early morning light showed off the numerous orchards and nurseries in this part of the country (Stark Brothers is very close by in Louisiana, Mo.). Nice sunrise and clouds on my right as I headed north. With little light yet, and sounds muffled by a nice fit of my earplugs, what I noticed mostly were the smells of this rolling farming country: sweet corn, milo, and smells that indicated, well, that they're raising animals hereabouts. I’d heard that you shouldn’t load up on caffeine, but don't avoid what you normally use, so I took in my one daily cup here at my first gas/documentation stop, and also some packaged donuts. My first mileage check showed about 45 mpg, a bit on the low side...but it's getting hot, and I'm trying to stay on 5000 rpm, about 72 mph in this posted-65 land. 

Hannibal to St. Joseph 193 miles 9:38am I know parts of Missouri very well, but this whole half of the state above I-70 is pretty unexplored by me. I didn't know what to expect, but riding US-36 thru this corridor was very effective at keeping me on pace. It's mostly 2-lane, with nice wide shoulders, straight, and plenty of passing opportunities should you need them. I found very light traffic at this early hour. This is the part of Missouri that's getting ready to be Iowa a few miles north, and it shows...rolling cornfields, acres at a time. Even in this rural area, they've managed to keep the highway routing out of the middle of towns, so average speeds can stay pretty high. My fuel stop for Chillicothe was well timed on my plan, I had hit reserve just 10 miles before. I took a couple of Aleve tablets to calm down my wrists and try to untie the knot that had formed in the middle of my back, and slaked my thirst with some bottled water from a softside cooler in my saddlebag. More water when I documented my turn by gassing up in St. Joseph for the run to KC. Needing a restroom break, Wearing my Cordura riding suit, I paid inside and explained to the nice lady that no, I didn't think it was cold outside...my garb was to prevent road rash, fend off bugs, rain, and wind, etc. 

St. Joseph to Kansas City 72 miles 10:52am Good grief, what happened to the interstate here? The road surface on I-29 is terrible, and I didn't see any tax-scavenging mass transit nearby. Ugly roadway, really.  I never realized how quickly you get from St. Joseph to the KC metro area. When I lived there, they used to say that "gee, that new KC airport is way up north, almost to St. Jo"...well, there's a reason for that. I grew up in KC, and very quickly coming down south I was seeing familiar sights. I took a looping route thru KC-area interstates that ended in a gas stop just blocks from our high school hangout, Paul's Pizza in Hickman Mills (south KC area). Paul's was notable for introducing most folks to tater tots before they were sold in stores, and in all my years as a customer I never saw anyone order a pizza...burgers, fries, shakes, but no pizza. A full hour now ahead of the schedule I had prepared, I gassed up to record the turn, drank some water, ate a delicious ham and cheese sandwich, and readied for the run to Kingdom City. 

KC to Kingdom City 151 miles 1:44pm This stretch of I-70 is so familiar to me...I made MANY runs from KC (when I lived there) to visit my in-laws in STL. Lots of trips in the early 80's especially, grinding out the miles at posted 55, daring to run 62 or so. Glad those days are gone. About now was when my tankbag decided to try to spit off its map pocket over and over again. The darned thing would release from its velcro at one end, then flap its heart out. Annoying, and it had my routesheet/timings checklist and my lcd clock in it. I got fed up with this routine at Sweet Springs, I needed to make one gas stop anyhow on this stretch, so I put the map pocket in my tail trunk for safe keeping, drank more water from my saddlebag, gassed, and took off again. 

Near the US65 junction with I-70 was one of those portable hiway warning boards announcing "2 Hour Delay at Columbia". Oh sure, just trying to scare me. As if there'd be a way to delay traffic that long, no matter what. This is Missouri, and I'm a native, so a quick mental mapping told me I could take US65 south to US50 at Sedalia, then continue east to Jefferson City to catch US54 and continue my route. The problem was, I couldn't think thru what this would mean to my overall mileage total, and I didn't want to take the time to stop yet again to figure it out. So I pressed on...past the Bridal Cave sign cliffs, over the cool Missouri river bridge, thru Boonville. 

Just west of Columbia was the tie-up: repaving one lane on the eastbound (my) side of the interstate, and a LONG line of cars waiting. Lane splitting isn't legal here in Missouri, even assuming the semi's wouldn't try to crush you for line-jumping the way I saw them doing to cars. They had two huge "ROADTEC" machines in operation. The way that machine #1 was chewing up the top 2" of old asphalt and spitting it into huge dump trucks, and machine #2 was using this reconstituted mix to prepare and lay new asphalt would have been a lot more fascinating IF it hadn't been early afternoon, 97 degrees, in stopped traffic. Could this be Hell itself? Blazing sun, sheesh what must the temperature be on this asphalt, in full riding gear, and with still steaming freshly laid asphalt in the next lane? Where's that water boy? A full 50 minutes of sitting, creeping at 2 mph later I was finally thru Columbia, with Kingdom City just 20 miles further. 

Kingdom City was a dichotomy. On the one hand, it was almost exactly halfway thru the trip, according to Street Atlas. Psychological, I suppose, but although each mile covered is one closer to being finished and back home, getting thru halfway and beginning the countdown after 500 miles was a great boost. On the other hand, I was on I-70, aimed east, and a mere 83 miles from home at this point in case I wanted to bail. Not a chance! 

Kingdom City to Nevada 188 miles 5:24p I had planned Kingdom City to be a service stop, for me and the bike. I drank my last two bottles of water, and finished off my packaged donuts. I gassed up, WD-40'd my week-old o-ring chain (man, this is so much easier than using messy, non-O-ring stuff!), found the chain to be within adjustment tolerance, tires were jake, nothing vibrating loose, oil level fine. I reapplied my sunscreen in the "visor" area and back of my neck and took off down US54 for Nevada. I made great time...US54 is 4 lane divided, posted 70, and with light traffic I was able to "nip along smartly". I love visiting Jefferson City, our capitol building, Thomas Hart Benton art, and the Mo. Hiway Patrol museum. No time today, just passing thru. Puckered up really good on a strong right-hander thru town, did I miss a curve marker? No way they want to you try 60-65 on that one without warning you first! Good, I needed an adrenaline charge. 

Uneventful touring continued as I made my way to the Lake of the Ozarks tourist district: Eldon, Lake Ozark, Osage Beach, Camdenton. Really not too bad, I had pre-run this leg (the opposite direction) coming back from the LDRiders’ KC Steak Run in May. I stopped for gas in Camdenton and now bought water to drink. 

Treading cautiously thru the noted speed trap at Mack's Creek, I continued on US54 to Nevada (that's nuh-VAY-duh in Missourian...not like the state) as the hiway shrank from near-interstate-caliber to narrow 2-lane, no shoulders. I latched onto a "rabbit" in the form of a late-model Grand Am and we made pretty good time with me giving chase, lots of passing opportunities as the road would straighten out to pastures between the woods. I hit two stretches of road-shoulder improvement projects, where traffic was closed to one lane, and being controlled by radio'd flagmen at each end. More stopping and waiting in the hot sun; at one stop I was first in line, and got to visit with the flag-person. "Aren't you hot? "Well, yes, actually." 

Nevada to Joplin 64 miles 6:41p This is as hot as I've been in a while...I had done much reading lately about hot weather, drinking water, etc. which really came in handy all day. I bought a quart of Lemon-Ice Gatorade instead of water here just for variety, and I soaked it up quickly. I treated myself to some cold water splashing of my face and neck, very refreshing...avoided the vast array of fried chicken parts near the gas counter, and beat it for Joplin. Not much of a leg to document, but these are both "corners" of the route, so dated gas slips were required at both Nevada and Joplin. I routed thru "downtown" Webb City and Joplin, so it took a little while to make it thru all the lights. 

Exit 8A/B on I-44 at the foot of Bus71 in Joplin was very familiar to me, we nearly always stopped here in the midst of Dallas to STL runs. I was pretty hungry, but consciously chose to avoid any heavy meal at Sonic et al to avoid the somnolent effects this would have on the long evening ride I needed to finish. So I had just another ham sandwich and banana with another quart of water at the gas stop. 

Joplin to St. Louis 280 miles 11:37p Turning east and northeast across southern Missouri, it was finally cooling off and a great relief. I had a gas stop planned out at exit 140 on I-44, but that wasn't going to happen, I had been hitting reserve at 95-100 miles previously so I'd now just plan on taking the next exit after reserve from this point on...no thinking required, especially. I had planned the route so that this long interstate stretch fell last, figuring I'd be tired and just wanting to drone out the final miles on the superslab. Very true, at this point. 

I caught another "rabbit" on the way to Springfield, and I was trying to minimize my nighttime riding. We made very good time, and the SR was running great in the humid, cooler air of early evening staying pretty close to 5800 rpm / 85'ish most of the way to Springfield. I'd always noted high-LEO presence around Springfield where it drops to posted-60, so I let go of my rabbit to pick up another on the other side. I latched onto a fast-moving semi that took me all the way to Lebanon, where I gassed up and snacked on cashews and chocolate milk. I found another rabbit that lead me thru the Mark Twain National Forest areas around Waynesville and Rolla. 

Now very dark, I was seeing pretty well on my solo 7" halogen high beam, but low beam coverage wasn't adequate at the speeds we were travelling in the haze. I decided it was a bad sign for me to be steering 3-4 apexes into a freeway sweeper, just because I couldn't see it continuing to curve or straighten. I further decided that tonight, thru these dark, hazy woods, semi's were my friends. With one running a 2 second gap ahead of me, I only had that space to manage, versus the whole miles ahead when I was in the lead. Plus, I figured it would reduce potential Bambi risks having several tons of metal running just in front of me. I felt safe, anyhow, and could see better how the road was tracking. 

I smelled rain at one point, which actually would've been quite refreshing, but only experienced lightning to the south. My SR sputtered into reserve at St. Clair, 10:40pm, where I gassed at Mobil and called home to predict I wouldn't make 11pm, but about 11:30. Not too bad to hit the target that close after riding all day. All the next exits were now western metro STL; Union, Allenton, Eureka. A turn up MO109 thru the western suburbs and heavy Bambi country, to US40, and I was back to Chesterfield Amoco at 11:37pm to splash the tank full and get my last dated receipt. Three more miles to home, shower, and bedtime. 

Helpful hints I’d learned and used on the ride included: 

Using pain relievers: Obviously an understatement that the SR is NOT going to be the most comfortable ride over 19 hours. Using Aleve/Tylenol in recommended dosage over the day really helped, as well as getting started early before things got really painful. 

Water consumption / dealing with heat: There had been a lot of threads recently on the LDRiders list about dealing with heat, and ensuring you're carrying/using enough water on long rides. I thought about this a lot on my trip, it was in fact very hot and humid for maybe 14 of the 19 hours. You can't ride safely if you're having heat exhaustion or stroke. I drank plenty of water, and still not quite enough on a couple of stretches. Very important. 

ThrottleMeister: I mounted one of these throttle control devices, and they’re not normally produced for SRs (a bit of a limited market…usually installed on Concours and STs).  I was able to send measurements to Rob Pemble of Sport Touring Accessories and he sent a fitment that worked well. I like it adjusted so that I can keep the setting just by resting my palm on the throttle, and it was a blessing to have on that last interstate leg to STL. They're dandy, heavy bar ends, too, to calm down the vibration thru the grips. 

Ride the darned thing: You can't get home without getting back in the saddle. That philosophy has been repeated over and over from other riders, and is so true. You can use up a LOT of time at gas stops, and I had to stop THIRTEEN times for gas; a calamity of 45'ish mpg and a three gallon tank, and needing to document my route "corners". I had several pay-at-the-pump, under 5 minute versions (doesn't take long to pump 3 gallons, either!) and needed 'em to be brief. Keeping them short, it was then a luxury to spend 15 whole minutes at Joplin to brace for the long interstate run. 

Plan a route and ride it: I had plenty of time to plan for this ride, for sure. I remembered especially my friend Jim Barthell's first SS1000 from Dallas to Memphis and back; he went east in the am, and west in the pm, so ended up riding with the sun in his eyes for a good part of the day. I made sure I went north / west early, south / east later which worked out fine. Lots to consider: potential gas stops, what road's ahead when it's dark, when I'd be tired, potential traffic patterns, etc. 

What to bring for 1000 miles:  I took along quite a bit of equipment, trying to be prepared.  Including: 
· cell phone; trip log book in my jacket pocket, inside flap holds receipts 
· saddlebags with 2 gal gas (didn't need), 6pk cooler with bottled water (a lifesaver on this ride, literally) and refreezable ice paks 
· tank bag with sunscreen, spare bulbs, pressure gauge, spare earplugs, first aid kit 
· tail trunk (on luggage rack) with spare clutch lever & brake lever, safety flares, roll of real tools. And I tossed in my "always on the bike" Chase Harper tool cylinder pak: original Yammie tools, WD40, threadlock (it IS a thumper...all fasteners get a shot of loctite before being replaced!), fix-a-flat, light-sticks, spare master link, flashlight, duct tape. 

I own a tire repair kit but didn't take it; I figured if I had a flat that fix-a-flat wouldn't fix I'd either have no time to repair the "hard way" (tubed tires on my '78; not tubeless till '80 model) or I'd be in no mood to continue the quest after struggling the darned thing off and on the rim on a hot July day. And that'd be just the language I'd use too. ;-) 

So I'm done with my first SaddleSore, and my 21-year-old SR ran great all day, 19 hours of mostly over 5000 rpm (redlines at 7000), and brought me home safely. A great feeling to be done...for now. 

Postscript:  My SaddleSore 1000 ride was officially recognized by the Iron Butt Association, crediting me with 1033 miles in less than 24 hours!