The 54 Hour Break

October 13-15, 2006

Friday

Maybe someday I'll take up fishing. Or maybe I'll collect stamps. Who knows? I might return to classical piano (but I seriously doubt it). Maybe I'll get a new set of golf clubs and try that again. Arghhh! What a frustrating game. Forget it! No, for now, my hobby is riding motorcycles. O.K., maybe it's riding motorcycles a lot.

I had worked six weeks with only one day off. I spent that one day participating in the SoCal BMW dealers charity event which benefited the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Yeah, that was a day of relaxation. I rode 500 miles on mostly Southern California freeways.

During that span, I bailed out on two events I really wanted to attend. One was the Beemer Bash in Quincy and the other was a campout with my club, the SouthCoast BMW Riders Club, north of Santa Barbara at El Capitan. I missed both of those events to meet project deadlines for a new client I'm trying to impress. Hope that worked.

But, after six weeks of staring at a computer screen, I wasn't about to miss the next one. Besides, I was committed because I offered to help. The Ride for the Heart Foundation was putting on it's inaugural Northern California Saddle Sore 1000. After participation in my first RFH event back in May, I agreed to help this group grow. This event was an ambitious one. It's a loop consisting of approximately 1,130 miles with stops in Atascadero, Fresno, Jamestown, Eureka and Watsonville. Riders can start at any of these locations and the one that made the most sense for me was Atascadero. Unfortunately, the foundation had some difficulty finding volunteers to staff the Watsonville stop, so I was asked to begin and end in Watsonville. So, my extended SaddleSore ride would begin (and end) with 400+ miles getting to and from the start/finish.

There were opportunities to pick up more than just another SS 1k certificate (more on that later), but that would require that I leave the L.A. Basin as late as possible on Friday. That didn't sound like good start to my first extended break in six weeks. Besides, I was packed and ready to go. Concentrating on work by mid morning was next to impossible. I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to ride the route as late as Thursday. The Monterey Bay BMW Riders and particularly Vice President Jay Whyte volunteered attend the Watsonville stop, located at BMW of Santa Cruz County. By Thursday, there were only two who had committed to running the stop. Two wasn't enough to keep it open all night. I told Jay that, if a third hadn't stepped forward by the time I got there, I would be his "third".

I took my usual route north, exiting the freeway where I-10 meets PCH in Santa Monica. I make it to my first gas stop in Buellton where the skies are looking ominous. I decide to put on my rain gear and put my new rain jacket to the test. My old jacket worked fine, but it was too bulky to pack. I found one that packs much smaller but it was just as effective. I found the jacket in the bicycle gear section at REI. It wasn't long before the jacket was tested. I rode in mostly rain from just north of Buellton to Limekiln in Big Sur. This made for quite a long day and the coastal ride on wet pavement consumed an excessive amount of energy for a ride of moderate length. I pulled into the hotel parking lot, which was also my second gas stop and checked in about 7 pm. By the time I get unpacked, have dinner and get ready for bed, it's nearly 10 pm, which is much later than I had hoped. I set the alarm for 4 am so that I can help Jay at the check-in table before 5.

Friday's Route

Total for the day: 443 miles.

Saturday

As it turns out I didn't need an alarm. I'm awake at 3:30. I'm dressed and ready to roll by 4:30. I even took the time to check the oil level. By the time I get to the staging area, Jay is already setup and ready for business. A few minutes later, the first rider, Andy, shows up. Shortly thereafter Patrick and Chris arrive. Jay and I get the three checked in and let them go about a quarter after five. One other rider, Bricker, shows up for his first Iron Butt ride and he's off by 5:30. That gets me on the road officially at 5:31. The road out of Monterey to Highway 101 is dark and twisty. I could have done without the twisties this time of day, but they aren't too bad. It's a quick trip to Atascadero for my first check in and I have caught up with the other three riders. Strangely, Bricker hasn't arrived. I'm told he doesn't have much of a fuel range on his bike and had to stop for gas. I spend more time than I would like chatting with the volunteers, but I'm off again towards the second checkpoint in Fresno. The route has us taking a really nice road, Highway 41, all the way to Fresno. With the time of day, there is absolutely very little traffic and there are sections where we can scoot along at a pretty good clip. Once again, by the time I get to the checkpoint, I've caught up with my fellow riders from Watsonville. Well, three of them anyway. It appears the fourth is not as intent as finishing as the rest of us are. I remain about the length of the stop behind the other three riders as they depart just as I arrive.

I depart for the third checkpoint, Jamestown, on a road I've never ridden before. That is Highway 59. It's a pleasant little road and I enjoy it immensely. I get there right at noon, and again right after my colleagues from Watsonville. Unfortunately, I lose track of time a little bit and spend a little too much time chatting with Bill Davis, the Foundation's Executive Director. It seems that the Jamestown start had quite a few riders, so his morning was much more exciting than ours in Watsonville. The first three checkpoints are taken care of pretty quickly, all before noon and I manage to get in almost 400 miles before lunch. We have only one more checkpoint before the finish and that one is in Eureka.

I begin what is typically the most difficult section of an endurance ride for me, the middle third. I ride on Highway 4 going west to Highway 99 north. I sense a loss of energy, so I stop for lunch. I can really tell I'm not making very good time. I had hoped to take Highway 99 to Red Bluff and then Highway 36 west to Eureka, but I was only going to do this if I could reach Red Bluff by 6 pm. I did a few quick calculations and decide that I could not make Red Bluff in time and I would be riding Highway 36 in the dark. I decide to take the prescribed route, which is Highway 16 to Highway 20 along the north side of Clear Lake to Highway 101 north. Unfortunately, my timing is pretty bad because the section of I-5 north of Sacramento connecting Highway 99 and Highway 16 is backed up due to a pretty bad accident. I lane split for half an hour (or longer) until I make it to the scene of the accident. The car looked like a beer can that had been crushed and then burned. Hopefully, everyone made it out alive. Once we got the "green light" from the LEO Law Enforcement Officer), I had to content with the foam used to put out the fire. I manage to maintain traction while making the cars small in my rear view mirror. That would be the last time I put a foot down until I nearly run out of gas in Ukiah. I fill up and grab a snack. I start calculating mileage from Ukiah to Eureka and discover it's still 150 miles away. That means I'll end up in this same spot 300 miles later. For most, that's a day ride in itself but for me, it's 5 pm and I've already ridden quite a bit today.

The sun goes down on me in the Redwood forest. Fortunately, the rain occurs after dark and I can't tell how bad the skies are. The rain is light, so I don't even stop to put on my rain gear. I pull into the checkpoint right at 8 pm. As I'm leaving, the volunteer manning the site, Jack, tells me there are about 6 riders from Atascadero who have not yet checked in. They should be quite a bit ahead of me, but five of them pull in right as I'm ready to pull out. It seems that one of them had mechanical trouble and was done for the day. Jack gives me instructions on how to get out of Eureka the quickest. He has to tell me the same directions three times. I ask him if this is my "coherency test". The Atascadero riders laugh, but I'm half serious. I manage to take his directions and get through town quickly. I stop for gas and call my wife for the last time today.

I'm riding south on Highway 101 and it's got to be the darkest road I've ever been on. There is no traffic, no civilization, no nothing. Just me and the bike. My headlight is the only light I can see. There is an occasional car going the other way, but they are rare. I get about half way between Eureka and Ukiah and I'm really, really tired. I start looking for a place to pull over for one of those famous "power naps". You know, the 15 minute naps that make you feel like you've had a whole night's sleep? Yeah, right. I never believed that, either. But I had planned on stopping around this point in the ride. I was never one who could pull an "all nighter" when in school and I wasn't about to start now. Fortunately, I'm in an area where it seems like there's a campground around every corner. I find one and the place is nearly empty. Thank God it's October and the busiest camping season is over. I find a spot where I can park my bike on pavement, roll up in my bike cover and lay my head on my jacket. I'm thinking to myself "How am I ever going to get to sleep in these conditions?" The next thing I know, two hours have passed. I get up and have a hard time finding my glasses. Apparently, I forgot to take them off my face and somehow, when I got up, I slung them somewhere. Fortunately, I didn't step on them and they landed safely under the bike. It doesn't take me long to pack up and get back on the road. Amazingly, I'm quite invigorated, but I do spend a couple of hours thinking I need a better emergency shelter. I ride solo and on the back roads. What if I break down and have no cell phone service? I need something where I have protection overnight. I see a compact bivy sack in my shopping future.

The next several hours I'm truly invigorated. I stop for gas, and hopefully, a quickie breakfast, in Santa Rosa, but I find the only gas station in town that's not open 24 hours. I manage to get gas, but no breakfast. By the time I get to Petaluma, that's all I can think about, so I stop the first chance I get. I spend an excessive amount of time chatting with the clerk. If you haven't gotten the theme yet, I'll spell it out for you. I'll never be an Iron Butt superstar because I stop too often, and when I stop, I stop too long.

Crossing the Golden Gate is a little surreal at 3 in the morning. No traffic whatsoever. Unfortunately, my transponder doesn't automatically register. It seems I've put too much junk between it and the the top of my tank bag. I stop at the toll booth and chat with the attendant while digging out the transponder, waving it in the sky to magically activate the green light in front of me. I'm on my way once again. I had thought about running around SF because it's so much trouble getting through town. I'm banking on the light (or non-existent) traffic to prove I made the right decision. I follow the signs past the Presidio and the Marina in nervous apprehension of Van Ness. My wife, Nancy, and I have renamed the street "Oh no, not Van Ness!" because it is so slow with the traffic signals (which always seem to be red) at fifty foot intervals (or so it seems). On this night, it was going to be quite a bit different. I actually caught eight "greens" in a row. I know Nancy isn't going to believe it when I tell her (and that part of the story turns out to be true). I make good time getting south of the Bay Area.

I had decided to take Highway 17 from Highway 101 because it's a familiar road and a quick route to Santa Cruz. Sure, it's a little twisty, but not that bad. Well, when I made that decision, I wasn't counting on the fact that I had been on the road 22 hours and had no spare energy to deal with twisties in the dark. I probably should have stayed on 101. Nonetheless, I manage to get to Santa Cruz and it's a short ride down Highway 101 to Watsonville. I arrive at the hotel by 5 am and notice I've got a full 33 minutes to waste before I actually check in. I pull into the gas station adjacent to the hotel to gas up before pulling in for the night. That's when I realize I really don' t have the energy to do this (get off the bike, complete the transaction, get back on the bike and ride 150 yards to the hotel), so I rolled out and pulled into the hotel parking lot and turned off the bike for good. I checked in, verified that I would be able to check out a little later and was off to bed. This day would become the longest motorcycle day both with respect to hours in the saddle as well as miles on the odometer. It was indeed a full day ride.

Saturday's Route

Total for the day: 1,186 miles.

Sunday

So much for sleeping in. I was awake by 10 am. I guess the light and noise was too much. Fortunately, I found my beloved Dallas Cowboys on the tube, so I spent a couple of hours packing up really, really slow. I checked out by 1 pm. Instead of getting gas at the station adjacent to the hotel, I decide to stop in Carmel to see how my body would respond getting back on the bike. The new Bill Meyer seat has done it's job! Today was a brand new riding day with no seat fatigue whatsoever. The second day in my BunBurner 1500 (1,500 miles in 36 hours) mile ride last May was quite a different story which prompted me to get the new seat in the first place. I had another relaxing ride down the coast in no particular hurry to get anywhere. Based on my previous experience, after all I have ridden this section of the coast several times, I would arrive in South Orange County mid to late evening. The weather was a complete opposite to my experience on Friday. There was nothing but bright blue skies and perfect temperatures. I make my final gas stop and my first sit-down meal in Buellton. I depart at 6 pm and that turns out to be the last time I dismount before arriving in my garage at 9 pm.

Total for the day: 444 miles.

Total Trip: 2,076 miles.

There were a couple of opportunities to get more credentials than just another SaddleSore 1000. I was aware of this before I left, but I was just not willing to "pay the price". For example, if I had left home later on Friday, I could have achieved a BunBurner 1500 36 hours later. However, to do that, I had to leave Orange County no earlier than 3 pm. Besides "chomping at the bit" to get on the bike on Friday, have you ever tried to get out of the L.A. Basin on Friday afternoon? It's a nightmare! That was definitely not worth the price. As it turns out, by the time I had my 2 hour "power nap" in the Humboldt campground, I was about at the 36 hour mark and had rolled approximately 1,325 miles.

There was another opportunity for a BunBurner 1500 at the end of the ride, but I would have had to arrive home no later than 7:30. To do that, I would have had to pass on watching the Cowboys or not take PCH as my primary route home neither of which I was willing to do. As it turns out, I ended up with approximately 1,400 miles in that final 36 hour period.

And, finally, there was an outside chance of bagging a SaddleSore 2000 (2,000 miles in 48 hours), but even if I had left L.A. later and skipped the Cowboys on TV and had taken Hwy 101 home instead of PCH, it would have only been an outside possibility and the weekend would not have been as enjoyable. Even though collecting these certificates are rewarding, the whole purpose of riding the bike is enjoying the ride. So, I have no regrets about not bringing home any more certificates than I did.

I prepare for my return to the multiple deadlines in the morning. But that was a nice 54 hour break. I'll relish that one for a long, long time.