ghaverkamp Posted June 2, 2002 Share Posted June 2, 2002 My sister sort of graduated from the University of Kansas on May 19. I say "sort of" because first, I question if a double major in political "science" and Spanish is real, and second, because she started law school at KU on May 20. Anyhow, the folks always liking her best (including the 8 years while we awaited her arrival) need to come up with any way possible to celebrate her, so we gathered for her graduation. My plan was to exhaust what vacation days I had by riding to and from, with a bunch of other Heartland riding in the 'twain. The former did indeed occur. The latter never happened. Originally, I was planning to make a run to Boston, too. Eventually, I decided to play it by ear, and the timing just didn't work out too well for that. Putting this many miles in, it stood to reason I should try to get some IBA rides in. The plan became, for better or worse -- worse as it would turn out -- to attempt a Bun Burner Gold on the way out and a Bun Burner, SS2K, or some other on the way back. I was perhaps overly ambitious. Part I: To Kansas... There are three pretty obvious routes from San Rafael, CA, (I'd be leaving from the office) to Leawood, KS, the primary slabs to choose from being I-80, I-70 w/US-50 across Nevada, and I-40 to I-35 or I-44. After seeking advice from ldriders, monitoring weather reports, and considering that the tightest part of my schedule was getting to Kansas, I opted for the safe route, I-80. I started my Bun Burner Gold attempt just as anyone would. After falling asleep finally at around 2:30 AM on the 17th, I woke up to the alarm at 6:30, finished packing the bike, then I hopped on and rode to the Century Cinema in Corte Madera, CA, where I proceeded to fulfill a promise to my team to take them to see "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" on opening day. I got in line, clad in gear, around 8:15 for the 9:30 showing. Afterward, I bought them lunch at Max's, and then we all went back to the office, where I tied up a few loose ends, before having Lee and Katie (from my team) come out and witness my departure at approximately 3 PM. Much to my surprise, traffic was actually quite manageable. I zipped on out of San Rafael to I-80 and on past Vallejo -- where the Carniquez Bridge was of concern -- without a problem. Sacramento came and went quickly. Almost. On the outskirts of Sacramento there was an accident of some sort. I'm not entirely sure of the nature or size, as I saw only one of two banged up cars and a few CHPs. But traffic was backed up right around 10 miles, and I had the opportunity to split those 10 miles with the bike in all it's long-distance regalia. I reckon I lost an hour -- and a mentally exhausting hour at that -- in this mess. A bit beyond Reno, I had my next bit of fun. Doing 80 or so, gradually overtaking a semi that was pulling a Wells-Cargo-ish trailer in addition to its large trailer, there was a loud bang. I was about 15 feet behind when I heard it. The next thing I knew, I was being showered in rubber bits, pinging off my windscreen and helmet and maybe the odd small piece off my padded knees. Fortunately for me, it lost a tire on the small trailer, not one of its larger tires. Nonetheless, puckering came, but given the freak nature, quickly subsided. I knew I'd be writing about this event; I took note that the GPS trip odometer read 282 miles when the rubber rain ended. It would get dark shortly. The dark brought the cold. The dork didn't bring his electrics. What was I thinking?!? I put in my liner, sealed the vents of my Kilimanjaro, and kept on going. When I hit West Wendover, I decided I needed to warm up. I stopped at an Arby's, where I ate and read a chapter from Clancy's "Without Remorse". Then I fell asleep for about 2.5 hours, until the Arby's night manager woke me up to inform me that sleeping was not allowed in the "lobby" and I would have to leave. I got what I needed, anyway. And I gassed up and took off. (Bun Burner mistake number 1: forgot to get a receipt at Arby's. Did get one for the gas.) Utah flew by, helped by my hitting Salt Lake City around 5 AM. A couple hours later, I stopped for another long stop at a McDonalds in Evanston, WY, with only 811 miles on the clock and 14 hours elapsed. This stop, a warm-up, last 2 hours. Wyoming was hilly. My already bad mileage got worse, my range dropping from 150 miles per tank to 130 miles per tank. K75s are not supposed to do so badly, I hear, and I would do some diagnostics in KC, but for now, suffice it to say it was tedious. Then came Nebraska, and a some road "work" I can only surmise was designed to deter motorcyclists from entering the state on I-80. Milled pavement, and lots of it, dotted I-80. The first batch in the state was by far the worst. Not only was it milled, giving a fun little shimmy going down the road. This milled pavement also had massive deep cuts below the milling. The circular one acted as large potholes in the middle of the interstate. The long straight ones I avoided, afraid they'd hook me up and toss me over. I found that someone had patched those deep cuts in the left lane, so I started to ride exclusively there. And then they closed the left lane! So, there I was, riding in the right lane, dodging these motorcycle eaters and longingly eyeing the patched pavement behind the cones in the left. This stretch lasted 25 miles (according to the construction markings.) I would cross 3 more 20+ mile sections of milled pavement on my way to Lincoln. The others were nowhere near as bad, except for the final one, which milled the right but not the left, with no uneven pavement markers. In Lincoln, trying to head south, the GPS V went nuts, asking me to exit at an exit that wasn't there. After two times around, I had to pull off and perform the embarrassing task of checking my road atlas. Road found, I headed down to I-29. Mound City, Missouri, off of I-29. That's where several factors came into play, ruining my Bun Burner attempt; my sleeping and long breaks had already killed the Bun Burner Gold. I pulled in to the Texaco station, pulled up to fill up, and I discovered I was on an uneven surface. Decided I should back up to the previous pump. The pump I shifted to decided it did not want to accept my card. No biggie, really; I'd just pay in cash. I finished filling the tank just as a pickup pulled up and some guy got out to say hello. Seems he spotted my Beemer, his family has 5 at home, and he was just checking the year of my '90 K75. As I'm explaining the trip, my phone rings, and my mom asks where I am, explaining that yet again, she is winning at the slots at "the boats" and is in no hurry to get home (though my dad and sister apparently were.) I explain I'm in Mound City ("Where?") and have another 100 miles to go, but I hadn't eaten, and would probably stop somewhere in Overland Park or sooner. I run in to pay for my gas and notice two different cars waiting to get at pumps, and the woman who's been on the phone since I arrived still has her truck and horse trailer block one entire side. I grab my change, rush out to the car, and push the bike out of the way while I drink my Diet Coke and get ready to go again. Flip the Schuberth down, pull on my gloves, and I go. Fifteen or so miles down the road, it dawns on me: "Receipt!" My last gas stop until my ending time stop, and I forgot my receipt, forgot to log the stop (which took about 1/2 hour with all the commotion.) Basically, messed it up. I didn't note mileage. Didn't track just far I had gone. Decided I had just bagged the Bun Burner. Rode on in to Leawood; I no longer felt like stopping for food. Ride time was about 31 hours. GPS miles covered: just over 1900 (I forgot to check.) I spent the next week in Kansas. I had the bike apart most of the time doing one thing or another (changing oil, lubing rear drive, etc.) so I only rode around 300 miles during the week. What Kansas lacks in scenery, it makes up for with wind. I also noticed two primary types of gear in Kansas and Missouri. Cruiser riders simply did not wear helmets, but usually wore jeans and a leather jacket. And man, were there a lot of bikes out on the sunny days, by far a greater proportion than I am accustomed to seeing in the Bay Area. The other type of dress was on the sportbikes. Standard squid attire. Race replica helmet, t-shirts, shorts or maybe jeans, and sneakers. When I donned the full outfit, I felt just a bit weird. And people looked at me (or I perceived that they did) oddly. And I'll leave my comments on waving, except to say that I wouldn't expect a lot of return waves from sportbikers in Kansas or Missouri. From here, I prepared to leave. -- Ride log Date Time Location Odometer 16 May 02 1504 PT Valero, 930 Presidio 37209 San Rafael, CA 16 May 02 1754 PT Chevron, I-80 37371 Cisco, CA 16 May 02 1952 PT Exxon, 365 Cornell Ave 37514 Lovelock, NV 16 May 02 2100 PT Flying J, 37585 1880 W. Winnemucca St. Winnemucca, NV 16 May 02 2250 PT Mike's Chevron, 2175 37711 Idaho St., Elko, NV 17 May 02 0040 PT Pilot Travel Center, 37817 Slept for 2.5 hours 1200 W. Wendover Blvd, Wendover, NB 17 May 02 0304 PT Ibid. 37817 17 May 02 0603 MT Chevron, 2110 So 1300 E 37942 Salt Lake City, UT 17 May 02 0720 MT - McDonalds, Evanston, WY 38020 0930 MT 17 May 02 0936 MT Maverick, Evanston, WY 38020 17 May 02 1050 MT Amoco, 1645 Sunset Bl 38117 Rock Springs, WY 17 May 02 1231 MT Texaco, 1400 Higley Bl 38227 Rawlins, WY 17 May 02 1420 MT Buford, WY (pop. 2) 38347 No time on receipt; owner wrote it down for me. 17 May 02 1555 MT Phillips 66, 675 Sidney 38474 Case Dr., Sidney, NE 17 May 02 1859 CT Ranchland Sinclair, 38604 Maxwell, NE 17 May 02 2027 CT Quick N Easy, 7436 S 9 38726 Bridge Rd, Doniphan, NE 17 May 02 2211 CT Shoemakers, 4800 W 0 St 38818 Lincoln, NE Part II: ... And Back (with a successful Bun Burner conclusion) I was going to leave Kansas Friday morning. However, I didn't want to take I-80 back, because it sucked. I-70 to US-50 would send me through snow in the Rockies, and it would be really cold, and I was still lacking my electrics. Tornado warnings and severe storm warnings and watches were all over southern Kansas and all of Oklahoma. So, Friday, wanting to get the bike out for at least a little ride after changing the spark plugs on Thursday (in another step toward combatting the mileage problem), I rode to Lawrence to take my sister to lunch. I decided I would leave Saturday morning, and the weather reports looked good. I-70 still made me nervous. I still wanted to avoid I-80. So, the decision was made to take I-35 south through Kansas to I-40 in Oklahoma City and I-40 all the way to California and then back up north. Unfortunately, this route was about 150 miles longer than I-80, and about 300 miles longer than I-70 to US-50. (US-50 was also not compatible with my mileage problems.) Packed up to go at 11:44, my parent's signed my witness form, I played poser for a bit for some pictures, and I got ready to set off. The goal again: Bun Burner Gold. http://haverkamp.com/departingleawood1.jpg http://haverkamp.com/departingleawood2.jpg http://haverkamp.com/departingleawood3.jpg The odometer read 39321 when I left. It would tick up relatively easily on what would be an uneventful ride, at least for a bit. Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas went by nice and quickly. In New Mexico, with about 800 miles into the trip and 12 hours on the ride, I was feeling really tired. As I saw the first New Mexico rest area, I decided it was time for a room at the Iron Butt Motel. The next step was finding the right room. I tried the bike on the centerstand, and that lasted about an hour, but when I woke up, my legs were asleep and tight. I decided that would not work too well, and I was still not feeling like carrying on. Then I moved to the wide top of a rock wall, surrounding this odd grassy area ("No pets on the grass!"), and slept there for another 45 minutes or so. Still not satisfied, I moved to one of the then-secluded (but totally dark) picnic stalls and pulled up on a table. I woke to the clatter of idling diesels that had filled all available space, having slept for more than 4 hours, from 2305 to 0322 MT. Still recovering, I stopped for a long breakfast at a Denny's in Grants, New Mexico. An odd place, they're apparently in a feud with the city over allowing transit rights. Which I would think a random city in New Mexico would want to help their roadside restaurants get people to them, I ended up on a dirt road that required a u-turn. While there, I saw at last 4 or 5 others also miss the dinky little sign telling how to get to the Denny's. Two people were in Ryder trucks, one towing a car. I have no clue how they got turned around. At this point, focus again changed from a BBG to a Bun Burner. Smooth sailing to Needles, CA. When I dropped the couple thousand feet in altitude from Kingman, AZ, the temperature increased greatly. I took the stop to douse myself in water and drink a bunch, only to immediately climb out of Needles. My helmet liner never dried out the rest of the way home. And then things got "fun." Left to my own devices, I would have taken I-40 to Barstow, where I would have grabbed Highway 58 to Bakersfield to I-5. But the GPS was recommending I-40 to I-15 to I-10 to I-5 around LA. Somewhere along the line, the GPS thought I was off-track and recalculated. It then told me to take I-15 to Foothill Blvd and to take that for 22 miles. That 22 miles was all surface street, stoplights on nearly every corner. It took forever to get out of LA. And I didn't know (from the bike) anywhere to get an end witness except for friends in the Bay Area. So, I wanted to get north and soon. Finally made it out of LA via I-210 to I-5. Stopped for gas in Coalinga, which must be incredibly expansive, as it seems I stop in Coalinga at a new gas station everytime I go out for a trip. Here, I tried to call potential witnesses, friends in the South Bay, because it was clear I wouldn't make it all the way north before 36 hours expired. No good. With the odometer showing 41171 (starting at 39324, for 1847 miles), I took off from the gas station, deciding I would search out a police station. Coming up on the Hwy 33 exit in (you guessed it) Coalinga, I saw a little Highway Patrol sign, and thought I'd go see what I could find. That's when I looked over and saw that on the other side of the highway, where it was apparently Hwy 145, was a Fresno County Sheriff's Deputy Johnson performing his civic, revenue-generating duty very well-hidden. I went over and acquired his John Hancock as my ending witness, at the intersection of I-5 and Hwy 145/Hwy 33, 14 miles out from the gas station. Bun Burner completed. Woo hoo! Deputy Johnson hadn't heard of the Iron Butt Association, but he was more than willing to help. I'll be dropping him a "thank you" as I prepare my paperwork for the IBA. He also rides, but he told me his idea of long distance riding is trailering the bike to a distant destination. Wind the wind from the I-5 "Wind Corridor" (as he told me it's called) took my end witness form as I shook his hand, he even jumped the fence to get into the neighboring field to collect my form for me. 33 hours and 16 minutes, 1847 miles. GPS miles: 1842. And only 210 miles to get home. I finally completed the trip after another long break at the next rest area. Odometer reading when I left San Rafael, CA, on the 17th: 37208. Odometer reading back in Richmond, CA, on the 27th: 41388. -- Ride log Date Time Location Odometer 25 May 02 1155 CT Texaco, 10695 Roe Bl 39324 Overland Park, KS 25 May 02 1416 CT Phillips 66, MM 65, I35 39486 El Dorado, KS 25 May 02 1500 CT Kansas Turnpike Exit 39532 Plaza 004 25 May 02 1615 CT Sinclair, Mulhall, OK 39616 (Exit 170, I35S) Note: receipts were not timestamped at this mom-and-pop station. Presumed owner wrote the time on it for me. 25 May 02 1753 CT Domino Express #8 39729 Weatherford, OK 25 May 02 1946 CT Alanreed Travel Center 39852 Alanreed, TX 25 May 02 2132 CT Tommy's, Adrian, TX 39966 25 May 02 2223 MT TravelAmerica, Santa 40084 Rosa, NM 25 May 02 - 2305 MT - Glenrio Welcome Center 40112 26 May 02 0322 MT Note: Napped at rest area 26 May 02 0445 MT Flying J, 9911 Avalon 40209 Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 26 May 02 0559 MT - Dennys, Grants, NM 40278 0731 MT 26 May 02 0735 MT Texaco, 1601 E Santa Fe 40278 Grants, NM 26 May 02 0809 MST Texaco, I-40 & Hwy 66 40397 Navajo, AZ 26 May 02 1013 MST Bellemont Travel Center 40537 Bellemont, AZ 26 May 02 1156 MST Andy 76, 3041 E Andy 40668 Devine, Kingman, AZ 26 May 02 1256 PT Hilltop Texaco, 916 40732 Broadway, Needles, CA 26 May 02 1501 PT Chevron, 913 Barstow Rd 40876 Barstow, CA 26 May 02 1634 PT Union 76, 31786 Old Rd 41023 Castaic, CA 26 May 02 1911 PT Arco #5722, 20033 41171 Sommerville Ln, Coalinga, CA Link to comment
BamaRider Posted June 2, 2002 Share Posted June 2, 2002 Way to go, enjoyed your report. Link to comment
David Posted June 2, 2002 Share Posted June 2, 2002 Great report, man. You are a great writer, too. I chuckled reading the first paragraph with all the sibling rivalry hidden between the lines! Smooth sailing to Needles, CA. When I dropped the couple thousand feet in altitude from Kingman, AZ.color=blue> Wow, that brings back memories. I was on the exact same route from Nashville to Monterey, CA last September and about died of heat. It was 111 degrees when I went through Laughlin, further west. Thanks for taking the time to put that report together. I really enjoyed it. And that's a lot of miles on a K75. Congrats. Link to comment
ghaverkamp Posted June 3, 2002 Author Share Posted June 3, 2002 In reply to: Great report, man. You are a great writer, too. I chuckled reading the first paragraph with all the sibling rivalry hidden between the lines! I can't edit it anymore, but perhaps I'll stop beating myself up for the grammatical errors. In reply to: It was 111 degrees when I went through Laughlin, further west. 111 would not have been nice at all. I really don't think it was overly hot (relative to the possible) in Needles when I got there. Relative to the rest of the trip, I found it was definitely time to lose the fleece liner and long-sleeve, heavy cotton shirt. In reply to: And that's a lot of miles on a K75. Congrats. Lots of miles, that's for sure. I've been getting lots of encouragement from Cary and Bill to extend my stable of bikes, everytime I walk into Marin BMW (which is usually about once each week.) I reckon I'll end up with an RT sometime next year, unless the finances get much better this year. I started and ended my SS1K in March at Marin BMW, in fact. As Cary signed my witness form, he suggested to Bill I should reward myself with an RT. Greg Link to comment
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