| Author | Message | ||
| david1300
Moderator Username: david1300 Post Number: 855 Registered: 09-2003 |
Isn’t it great when a plan comes together – long post. Some of you may have spotted that I have registered for the Roadkill Safari – I am leading the Australian contingent and will probably win that division – only because I am the only Austrailian registered. There is a serious side to this exercise – I am trialling it to see if we can introduce it to Australia next year, so I am being the guinea pig. But I also decided you ‘mericans are having way too much fun on some things, and seeing as I can’t get over there this year, I discussed with Zea the idea of doing an Iron Butt ride. She thought it’s a way cool idea, and volunteered herself to come along and also qualify for her certificate. For those who don't yet know of the IBA (Iron Butt Association), you can read about them here: IBA Website Well, Zea is away on a training course this weekend, so I thought I’d line up a trial run. Planned the route, then did all the necessary preparation – bought a puncture repair kit, packed a few emergency rations, water, spare gloves, and the Leatherman, then went to bed early. It’s midwinter here, so we only have about 10 and a half hours daylight, not ideal for a 1600k (1000mile) ride. Plus our nights are cold (for us, at least – down to around 4C or 39F, but the days get to around 20C or 68F. Life is tough in the tropics). The plan was to go to bed early, wake up at 2am, and if I felt good, go for a ride. If I felt cold I’d roll over and go back to sleep. 2am – felt good, woke my son to be the start witness, and set off at 2:20am.  I had planned the route so that the first 2 hours in the dark were on divided highway, heading up the coast, minimising me creating my own impromptu roadkill. I planned to get some roadkill piccies at towns with Aboriginal animal names. Just as well, as when the sun started coming up I started counting dead ‘roos. In one stretch I counted 34 in 3 kilometres, and except on the divided highways, there was always at one every k. Must have seen over 1,000 in the day. One of my roadkills today - Wondai is an Aboriginal name for Howling Dog:  The first 4 hours were colldd. Summer gloves and Draggin Cargo pants are probably not meant to be adequate at 4 to 5C. I remembered all the posts about heated clothing, heated gloves, hand guards and so on – but I knew that when the sun came up I’d be fine, and so it was. At my first stop I discovered the only thing I had left behind - my route plan and maps. Not serious, though, as I knew the stops I had planned, and just keyed them into the GPS. And almost every service station sold the maps I had used too. Sunrise wasn't as spectaculer as I hoped, but then every sunrise you see is a great one:  After 250k’s up the coast, the second leg of the route was inland – westwards, so the rising sun would be on my back - about 250k’s to breakfast. At this point I could decide to continue or abort and head home – another 250k’s, which would have made a nice morning ride starting at 2:20am and finishing 750k’s later at around 9 or 10am. I also needed to check my front tyre at this point – it had already done 13,000k’s, and I didn’t want to take a risk. But it was all going so well, the tyre looked good for another 1,000k’s, so there was no way I was going to pull out. Then I hit a bonus – the speed limit on the inland roads heading west were higher than I expected, the traffic was as light as I had hoped for, the visibility was excellent, and so I barrelled along between 5 and 6,000rpm. My route then circled south, so the sun stayed on my back, and then I turned east, back to the coast, again with the setting sun behind me. It all came together really well, although I did slow considerably in the two hours before dark in case the wildlife was on the move. Roma - almost halfway: 758 k's gone, 10:45am and time to turn south:  Way out west, heading south:  I had to share the road with some big guys, and this one was being driven by a woman. I mean that as a compliment, but is was just surprising to see this 5ft4 140lb (all guesses) woman hop down from the drivers cab.   And this one does have a driver in there somewhere:  What do you think about when way out west, on your own, passing a car every 15 to 20 minutes? First I amused myself trying to find the vibrations some people have around 4,500 to 5,000 revs – could not find them anywhere. Repositioned my feet every which way on the footpegs to try and find it, and eventually imagined some very slight buzziness around 6,000rpm if just my toes were resting ever so lightly on the pegs. Then tried to find any discomfort in the pure wool ‘wundies’ I was wearing. Couldn’t even feel them, let alone any discomfort. See Merino Country here - and no, that's not me modelling them What about sore wrists – no, they were fine. Even my hands were fine, even though I haven’t removed a throttle spring, but I have fitted my own custom fatter grips (eventually, after 13 hours I managed to get my right hand to tingle a little). Straightened my arms, sat differently, and so on, but couldn’t find any reason for risers, so decided the bars were fine as manufactured (I already new this, but hey, I did have time to kill). What about the seat – no, that was comfortable too, and interestingly enough, it was also around hour 13 that I felt the need to ‘squirm’ for the very first time. The spacing of the towns did mean that I was stopping every 200 to 250k's for fuel. I would have liked gaps of 300 to 350 k's, but they built the towns where they did not considering me. On a serious note, I did count my many blessings, and came back to this exercise throughout the ride. Family, friends, the wonderful creation around me – yes, it is very good, and even in the challenges we face, and life hardships, there is much to learn from and to be grateful for. I did decide though, that when they built those roads they first collected all the bumps they could find, and used them as the road base. Some of them are vveerryy bumpy. And I think the Mutant Ninja Tumbleweeds are trying to establish a foothold here in Australia. Newmex, does Akmar accept overseas postings - bet he does when I show him the piccie of my FJR on the beach:  Did I mention the dead 'roos everywhere:  The gravel verge starts at the white line, and is as slippery as can be. Put your foot down there and you'll be testing your sliders:  Some are bigger than others:  And 18 and a bit hours later I was back exactly where I started:  For the statistically minded, here are the details: GPS distance: 1643 Km Total time: 18 hrs 39 minutes Start time: approx 2am Finish time: approx 9pm Overall Average Speed: 88kph (approx 55mph) The bike ran flawlessly, and wanted to go more. I was so comfortable that I felt I could extend the run to do a Bun Burner, or a SS2,000. Discipline stopped me, though, as I think that is when enthusiasm overcomes planning and common sense - leave those for another day, properly planned. And on a serious note - I made light of the preparations earlier, just to 'set the scene' for the post. My preparations were very conscientious and serious, although my FJR is so well maintained that it requires just a fluid check and tyre condition/pressure check - the usual before any ride. I did have arrangements in place to 'check-in' at each stop, with a copy of my route left with the 'check-in', and instructions on what to do if there was a no-show. And my insurance is paid up-to-date. I finished the ride 3 hours ago, and am now off for some sleep. | ||
| sharp
Moderator Username: sharp Post Number: 304 Registered: 09-2003 |
Congratulations David. Doesn't it feel great? I'd give anything to do that Bun Burner with you. | ||
| david1300
Moderator Username: david1300 Post Number: 856 Registered: 09-2003 |
Some things that added to the comfort: Able to drink water while on the move - I remember reading that feeling thirsty is the first sign of impending dehydration, and is really is amazing the difference drinking often makes. The proprietary brands (Camelback etc) seemed expensive to me, so I made our own for about $6 - heres how Moulded in-ear speakers - I listened to music (minidisk player) about a third of the time, and the rest just used these as earplugs - see here for archived threads Sheepskin woolen seat cover from Sheepy Hollow Fatter handgrips No performance mods to the FJR, but if I was going to ride long distances at night on roads shared with thousands of 'roos I would definitely consider God's Eyes of Warchild setup  | ||
| bernie
Trainee Pilot - Pro Farkler Username: bernie Post Number: 372 Registered: 09-2003 |
Great story and piccies David, and welcome to Australia. Now if you want to see the rest, you can do that all day, every day, for 2 weeks, and pop across to Perth for a visit. | ||
| elfirebob
Farkle Trainee Username: elfirebob Post Number: 77 Registered: 09-2003 |
Bravo Zulu David. Well done...and thanks for the posting and pics! Bob U- | ||
| toowoomba
Farkler Username: toowoomba Post Number: 173 Registered: 09-2003 |
David, Good that you showed the Americans how half of the Australian Coat of Arms sleeps so quietly on the warm roads, even letting you take pictues of them in deep slumber... Aint Australia Grand !! Toowoomba | ||
| skippy
I ordered it!! Username: skippy Post Number: 7 Registered: 09-2003 |
David, Congratulations! 1600km is quite an achievement. We have managed 1100km in a day but mostly on NT roads which is cheating... Nice to see some pics of areas away from the coast too. Skippy | ||
| rogdeb
Trainee Pilot - Pro Farkler Username: rogdeb Post Number: 493 Registered: 09-2003 |
Good one David  You ALWAYS post great stories & photo's. I'll have to try a butt burner myself one day. | ||
| sherlock
Trainee Pilot - Pro Farkler Username: sherlock Post Number: 317 Registered: 09-2003 |
sshhhh, David is still sleeping..  Poor old sole.. Done well though..  | ||
| david1300
Moderator Username: david1300 Post Number: 865 Registered: 09-2003 |
@sharp - may well get the opportunity next year - that's my plan at this stage. Unless you decide to come Aussie sometime, of course Thanks to all for the kind comments, and Sherlock - I did sleep well that night, but forgot to kill my alarm clock  so was up again at 7:30 Sunday morning. Haven't washed the bugs off yet, though. | ||
| hakz
Farkle Trainee Username: hakz Post Number: 72 Registered: 09-2003 |
... almost 19 hours / 1600km+,...  I don't think my bum would have survived for that long. Well done,... | ||
| david1300
Moderator Username: david1300 Post Number: 871 Registered: 09-2003 |
That's why they call it an Iron Butt Ride - although this is the softest of them all. | ||
| rangerray
Farkle Trainee Username: rangerray Post Number: 127 Registered: 09-2003 |
Good job David!!! Careful, you will become addicted to the long-distance thing... Like I posted the other day, I just did my first SS1000 on my trip to New Hampshire. My wife travels a couple of times a year with her job too. I told her the other day, "Just pick a place and I'll meet you there!" Scott Scott | ||
| bounce
Trainee Pilot - Pro Farkler Username: bounce Post Number: 422 Registered: 10-2003 |
Congrats | ||
| yammy181
Farkler Username: yammy181 Post Number: 199 Registered: 09-2003 |
Good one David, when did you say you wanted me to attempt that? Need to find some more of those private roads! | ||
| grmrpr
Trainee Pilot - Pro Farkler Username: grmrpr Post Number: 381 Registered: 09-2003 |
Good one Dave, I'm real interested in that sheep skin seat. My ass wore out in 10 hours/ 1000 miles. What do they cost? | ||
| david1300
Moderator Username: david1300 Post Number: 1071 Registered: 09-2003 |
@grmrpr - according to the Sheepy Hollow Website they are listed at AU$199 (approx US$140) plus shipping. Peter (the Head Sheep) is well versed with sending them anywhere in the world. Here is a link to my original post on fitting the sheepskin. Other bonuses with these covers is that it definitely minimises the heat effect around the tank (the roasted nuts effect), and also improves the 'breathability' of pants - in my case I wear Draggin' Jeans Cargo Pants mostly when I ride. | ||
| finnfjr
Farkle Trainee Username: finnfjr Post Number: 87 Registered: 09-2003 |
Well done David. You deserved a beer or two. Finnfjr | ||
| ocfjr
FJR Top Gun Username: ocfjr Post Number: 1988 Registered: 09-2003 |
Glad you had a safe ride David. While the planning for the trip helps your chances of finishing, it's the mental preperation that really does the job. Knowing what your plan is and where your stops and end point are give you goals and help you focus. Nice to hear of your success and share the piccies. BTW, Akmar has been slacking off lately. I don't know if he's up to another campaign. Akmar after the KNTW wars | ||
| ocfjr
FJR Top Gun Username: ocfjr Post Number: 1989 Registered: 09-2003 |
@David1300 - I think I found a stand in for Akmar. He's in your area I believe, though with these Mercs it's hard to tell where they will show up.  He should have no problem with KNTWs or Roos. |
