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1500 miles under 24 hours that is!!
Imagine a man who shows relatively little outward excitement compared to most people, who has just achieved somewhat of a record accomplishment for his personal motorcycling career. What do you think that guy would do? Would he jump up and down with clinched fists and a blissful expression of conquest on his face? NO!! The facial expression would more likely say something like, "Talk to you later, I really need to get some sleep!"
I posted a notice in the “Rides” forum that I was going to attempt this ride. I had to change the route at the last minute. Although I wanted to take the interstates flanking the Appalachian Mountains, the weather wasn't looking good along the route. I also contemplated taking a route to Dallas, Texas, but decided that traffic in Dallas might slow me down too much so I didn't want to risk it. I opted for a route through the wide-open countryside of Arkansas and Oklahoma, and that strategy worked out very well.
The actual mileage from start to finish was 1528 miles. I covered the distance in 22 hours, 12 minutes, averaging 68.7 mph over the total time (including parked time), about 77 mph for the time the bike was actually moving, and about 75 mph for the total time the bike ignition was in the "on" position. I got pulled over once by an Arkansas State Trooper who tagged me at 85 mph (after I hit the brakes). He let me go with a warning after checking my license and about 5 minutes of conversation that amounted to how much he missed his riding days! One of the nicest State Troopers I've ever met, and he hardly put a dent in my overall average (Thank you ASP for the courtesy!!)
It was an intense pace. Each stop amounted to filling the tank, a quick trip to the restroom, and then back on the road again. There were no food or drink breaks except once at the mid-point of the route.
The hardest part was the cold temperatures during the night on the ride back, the temps fell to 38 degrees and I only had my regular riding gloves with me. I alternated holding the bars with one hand while holding the other hand inside the right or left radiator housing for warmth.
There is only a small percentage of people in the world who not would perceive this 22 grueling hours as anything but torture, much less as fun, that's why I wanted to share it with YOU!! :lol:
Overall Route: Decatur, Alabama to Shawnee, Oklahoma
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This little fuel detour cost me about 20 minutes
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At Shawnee, Oklahoma I downed 2 slices of pizza and a soda and then flip-flopped for the second half.
Mid-point scenic loop, Shawnee, Oklahoma
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I've included a couple shots of my GPS from the beginning and end of the trip. The clock for the end of the trip shows 5:35:45, which makes it look like I actually completed the ride in 21 hours, 12 minutes. However, the GPS picked up on the change to daylight savings time and set the clock back an hour automatically, I didn't think to switch it out of auto mode before heading out. The elapsed time is correct, the GPS only records time elapsed for when the GPS is on. There is about 1hour, 55 minutes of time not accounted for in the timers. That was the time that the bike was shut off at the 7 fuel stops, plus about 20 minutes at a church in Altus, Arkansas.
GPS at start of trip
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GPS at end of trip
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Imagine a man who shows relatively little outward excitement compared to most people, who has just achieved somewhat of a record accomplishment for his personal motorcycling career. What do you think that guy would do? Would he jump up and down with clinched fists and a blissful expression of conquest on his face? NO!! The facial expression would more likely say something like, "Talk to you later, I really need to get some sleep!"
I posted a notice in the “Rides” forum that I was going to attempt this ride. I had to change the route at the last minute. Although I wanted to take the interstates flanking the Appalachian Mountains, the weather wasn't looking good along the route. I also contemplated taking a route to Dallas, Texas, but decided that traffic in Dallas might slow me down too much so I didn't want to risk it. I opted for a route through the wide-open countryside of Arkansas and Oklahoma, and that strategy worked out very well.
The actual mileage from start to finish was 1528 miles. I covered the distance in 22 hours, 12 minutes, averaging 68.7 mph over the total time (including parked time), about 77 mph for the time the bike was actually moving, and about 75 mph for the total time the bike ignition was in the "on" position. I got pulled over once by an Arkansas State Trooper who tagged me at 85 mph (after I hit the brakes). He let me go with a warning after checking my license and about 5 minutes of conversation that amounted to how much he missed his riding days! One of the nicest State Troopers I've ever met, and he hardly put a dent in my overall average (Thank you ASP for the courtesy!!)
It was an intense pace. Each stop amounted to filling the tank, a quick trip to the restroom, and then back on the road again. There were no food or drink breaks except once at the mid-point of the route.
The hardest part was the cold temperatures during the night on the ride back, the temps fell to 38 degrees and I only had my regular riding gloves with me. I alternated holding the bars with one hand while holding the other hand inside the right or left radiator housing for warmth.
There is only a small percentage of people in the world who not would perceive this 22 grueling hours as anything but torture, much less as fun, that's why I wanted to share it with YOU!! :lol:
Overall Route: Decatur, Alabama to Shawnee, Oklahoma
This little fuel detour cost me about 20 minutes
At Shawnee, Oklahoma I downed 2 slices of pizza and a soda and then flip-flopped for the second half.
Mid-point scenic loop, Shawnee, Oklahoma
I've included a couple shots of my GPS from the beginning and end of the trip. The clock for the end of the trip shows 5:35:45, which makes it look like I actually completed the ride in 21 hours, 12 minutes. However, the GPS picked up on the change to daylight savings time and set the clock back an hour automatically, I didn't think to switch it out of auto mode before heading out. The elapsed time is correct, the GPS only records time elapsed for when the GPS is on. There is about 1hour, 55 minutes of time not accounted for in the timers. That was the time that the bike was shut off at the 7 fuel stops, plus about 20 minutes at a church in Altus, Arkansas.
GPS at start of trip
GPS at end of trip
