Iron Butt - RBLR 1000 Ride

[Matt]

I just saw a post about this on another forum. First of all it's happening when I'm on the Old Gits so i'm not doing it. This year.

I did wonder though if anybody here has done it or has some fun thoughts about the proposition. I see but one mention of Iron Butt on this forum, back in 2019 in Martin's K1200 log, where you mentioned possible aspirations of doing them. Here's their guff:



RBLR 1000 Homepage

Having done the 3 peaks in under 24 hours, it would tickle me to have this under my belt too. Then I just need to ride a horse somewhere in under 24 hours, a yacht... and maybe a submarine. And an ostrich.

From a glance at the southern route it appears to avoid motorways, which sounds good as sitting still is what does my body in, and also my brain. I think my longest distance ride to date is probably 5-600 miles, but with the knowledge that that was the target. It'd be interesting to see how I got on doing 1,000 and averaging over 40mph.

Thoughts/experiences/ostrich contacts?

[fjtwelve]

I never did it, but started to do 600 mile days to Amsterdam on a more frequent basis so the interest waned. This was taking between 10.5 and 12 hours so I guess I could do a 1000 in 24. Having said that the RBLR route has a lot of non motorway which is more of a challenge. A return trip to Skipton from Falmouth I the q5 this week proved to be extremely tedious, tiring and despite my best efforts, mostly motorway, and it being mid week, relatively slow at about 55mph average. I think I would be planning to do all of the non motorway stuff during the night

[richtea]

Thoughts/experiences/ostrich contacts?

1. Don't

2. If you do:
 - get regular stops and sleep - 2 hours is about right. I'm surprised they don't mandate some form of regular rests.
 - practice beforehand, like two full tanks with just the one stop, and maybe try their routes
 - wear cycle shorts. They take the edge off for me.
 - book a Premier Inn for the nights before and after. Or a tent if you're of that persuasion.
 - don't ride alone. Punctures, boredom, etc, will get to you.

The most I've done is about 650-ish in 20 hours, followed immediately by riding to the MotoGP at Donington where my riding buddy promptly fell asleep and missed the race.
He was on a 748 and was, shall we say, 'quite uncomfortable'.

It was a mixture of fun and pain. Fun comes through after a day off the bike. Pain is about 1-2am when your concentration is going and you need a sleep. Then 4am onwards is quite wonderful with the sun coming up and no traffic.

I'd come with you but 1,000 miles is too far to be pleasurable for me. I'm happy to do a 500-600 miler through the night, though - the National Road Rally is a good one. And you get to make your own route. And if you find that works well, you can always do the Iron Butt next year. However, the National Rally site seems bust to me - no 2024 dates or details. I can see some for the Welsh one, but that's a daylight-only one I think.

[chriscanning]

Over the years lost track of the number of 5/6 hundred mile days we have done,but only one 1000 miler,Barcelona/Birmingham,we were already match fit as we had been down too the Bol the week before and then round the coast to the GP in Barcelona,it helps being 2 up,hit the road 4am and rolled in the house at 8pm,did it on a 955 Tiger that I’d converted to SM with a 17” front Dymag,bought new 2001 and still have it somewhere under a cover at the back of the garage.

[black-k1]

I did Reggio Calabria in the toe of Italy to just short of the Mont Blanc tunnel in 18 hours, two up on a CX500. I'm not sure a non motorway route would be my choice.

ETA That was just under 900 miles

[richtea]

I did Reggio Calabria in the toe of Italy to just short of the Mont Blanc tunnel in 18 hours, two up on a CX500. I'm not surea non motorway route would be me choice.

And I thought you were going to write 'Not sure a CX500 would be my choice.' 

[Phmode]

 

[richtea]

Chris, David, were your long distnace rides fun, or just a jaw-clenching necessity?
i.e. would you do it again?

Matt needs to know...

[black-k1]

Chris, David, were your long distnace rides fun, or just a jaw-clenching necessity?
i.e. would you do it again?

Matt needs to know...

I wouldn't call it fun but it wasn't too bad and I did do it again on a K100RS in 2 hours less about 8 years later.

On both occasions I had got off the ferry from Malta in the very early hours of the morning then just rode north until I was happy I could get home easily the next day, which I did.

The K100RS was better than the CX500 but at the time of the CX500 run I don't think there was a better option (that I could afford) and it was surprisingly comfortable.

Assuming you are comfortable on your bike then long runs are just a "state of mind". Make as few stops as possible and make the stops is quick as possible. Top speed is not important, it's all about the average speed so finding the bikes sweet spot where it's covering the ground at a reasonable rate but not getting through the fuel too quickly is the key. On the CX500 that was around 78mph and on the K100RS that was about 84mph.

[chriscanning]

The important part of this thread the miles were done outside of the UK….if folks think it’s enjoyable doing such in the UK good luck to e’m,my advise would be go see a shrink!!! It’ll be more fun.

We had been to the GP on the Sunday and I mentioned to my other half that if we rode home in one go on the monday we would have a day off on the tuesdy before back to work on the wednesday so that was the driving factor.

Did we enjoy it?? as I said in the earlier post we were match fit(and younger) and doing it as a one off,without either of the other two mentioned would have all the attraction of a hole in the head,I’ve had a spell of not riding a bike in the UK(I’ve got 7) cuz the next speeding ticket was going to be a ban,even this year it’s Le-Man’s in April,and the NW200 in may which at least Southern Ireland on the way.

The question most folks ask us,what state were we in when we got home? Watched a film on the box then went to bed 😊

[Phmode]

In 1986? (the year of the huge 'hurricane' that flattened the south of England, and my garden fence while I was away) two of us set off to ride to the south of France, well, Pietra Ligure just over the border in Italy. My mate was on a Honda CB900F2C and I was on the CBR1000F-H, so both extremely competent long distance and fast sports tourers.

The plan was to do it in one day but just north of Lyon we were blown off the A6 autoroute du soleil at lunchtime by the southern end of that viscious storm and ended up overnighting in Lyon.

The following year, we had planned a quick week's holiday in the med in a friend's empty villa in Antibes. My mate's 900 lost it's gearbox a week before the off so it was going to be two-up...and then his brother insisted he had to be his best man at his fourth wedding so I rode down with the luggage and his helmet on the 1000 and he came down by train 3 days later in his leathers...

I left Newbury at 7 one evening to catch the 11pm ferry, stopped for breakfast somewhere south of Paris, lunch just after the Orange split and was in Antibes by 4pm the same day.

I have vivid memories of hovering at about 130mph for mile after mind-numbing mile, of sitting under a tree for a nap letting my breakfast settle and getting stung on the head by a flying critter and trying to get my helmet over the ensuing egg-sized lump and of being zapped by a gendarme's radar gun 2km north of the Orange split peage at 160mph whilst just about overtaking a huge German registered Merc that was taking no prisoners. (He got the ticket, I got off Scot-free and offered to pay half of the fine but he insisted it was worth every Franc to actually be overtaken by something!

My friend's house-sitter insisted on making me real bacon and eggs and I was feeling OK by the time I had unpacked and had a shower and was looking forward to just falling asleep when I found a note propped on the kettle saying there was a large corporate dinner in a flashy hotel in Nice and I was to take his place on the invite...

And, in case you were wondering, the train from Paris with my mate on board pulled into Antibes station 2 minutes early at 2:58 on Sunday afternoon. Try that on a British train.

[Matt]

I think I'll have a nice glass of wine instead.

[richtea]

If you want a similar effect, pick a day, meet at an equidistant point at 9am - Usk/Raglan/Monmouth? - and ride round Wales until it's tea time.

9am til 6pm is 9 hours = ~350 cross-country miles allowing for rests, and then home before dusk = 550 miles inc the 200 miles getting there and back.

That might even be fun in amongst the pain.

Here's a 350 miles ride around Wales, just for the lolz:
https://www.myrouteapp.com/route/open/8783737

Hmmm, says 9h 45m with breaks, but you get the idea.