Complete a saddlesore 1000 motorcycle endurance run

I suppose I got used to it because my hands don’t bother me anymore.

My butt, on the other hand is not yet up to the 1000 mile task.

Route planning right now… I’ll likely do a one-day loop through 6 states as follows:

St Louis to Memphis (MO, AR, TN; I-55; 284 mi)
Memphis to Nashville (TN; I-40; 212 mi)
Nashville to Indianapolis (TN, KY, IN; I-65; 288 mi)
Indianapolis to St Louis (IN, IL, MO; I-70; 242 mi)

Should take around 16 hours all told.

Right now, I’m more worried about my hands going numb than anything else when I try the 1000. I rode 200 miles on Saturday, 100 miles on Sunday, and another 200 on Tuesday. Each time, I only stopped for gas. It was not bad at all, except that my hands (in particular my ring finger and pinkie on my left hand) are experiencing fatigue problems. Hopefully, I’ll just get used to it.

A saddlesore 1000 is the IBA nominclature travelling 1000 miles on a motorcycle in under 24 hours (1000 mi / 1 day). IBA = Iron Butt Association. It is one of the ways to become a member of the IBA. The challenge has less to do with speed and more with consistency. You have to keep accurate logs of all stops with witnesses at each or an explanation of why no witness for the stop. Think about it… leave home at 5:00 – 6:00 AM & ride for 14-16 hours or so, stopping only for fuel (for you and the bike). My bike only has a range of about 150 miles or so, so I need to stop at least 7 times (likely 8) so I’ll blow AT LEAST an hour of road time at gas stations. I need to get a few more 300+ mile days under my belt before attempting this though. Hopefully, I can make the attempt in early October when the weather is cool but not cold. Otherwise, I think it’ll have to be a Spring of 07 thing.