Long haul

Right then.

The reservation is booked.
1817 kilometers away, I've prepared for a place to crash-land. Officially, I've gone off the deep end.

Tomorrow, I'll head out for the south of France - in one go. Vacation offers me the possibility to attempt becoming a member of the Iron Butt Organisation. Which calls for a documented ride in excess of 1000 miles in less than 24 hours.

Panniers and tank bag are all packed. Wish me luck.

Following that, a leisurely trip home - preferably through the alps - awaits me.

nice one, how do we keep track/updates with your progress?

Once I've arrived and had a nap, I'll post some stuff. En route now...

Most I've done on the CB in a day was around 950km - San Sebastian to Cherbourg then a little bit in England from Poole and I thought that was insane! I learnt that I'm much more likely to break before the CB : )

Good luck - good to do these things now and again even if just for the story and anyway it will be worth it for a leisurely trip home though the Alps.

Stay safe SB. Tiredness is not a good pillion to have on board!

I'm just curious...why do you want to do that?

I cant speak for him but for me it's about having limited time off. I think sometimes sacrificing a day like that can improve the other days of your holiday massively and take you places you'd never otherwise be able to go to. For me if I'd spent days pootling through France I would have never had the time in Spain and Portugal to really explore the places I wanted to at the pace I wanted to. Even if you split it into two it would just be two days on the motorway instead of one and one less day holiday... so if you are going to write off a day why not make it a challenge : )

Arrived - in time!
More on that later... Time for some shut-eye

ceejay wrote:I cant speak for him but for me it's about having limited time off. I think sometimes sacrificing a day like that can improve the other days of your holiday massively and take you places you'd never otherwise be able to go to. For me if I'd spent days pootling through France I would have never had the time in Spain and Portugal to really explore the places I wanted to at the pace I wanted to. Even if you split it into two it would just be two days on the motorway instead of one and one less day holiday... so if you are going to write off a day why not make it a challenge : )

I see. That kind of distance, something like 1200 miles in a day has to take its toll though. Maybe not so much if you're young. I would be concerned about fatigue, concentration levels etc. Especially on a bike.

stormbringer wrote:Arrived - in time!
More on that later... Time for dome shut-eye

Congratulations Sir. Good to know you made it OK.

TheWizardofOdds wrote:Maybe not so much if you're young. I would be concerned about fatigue, concentration levels etc. Especially on a bike.

I'm 51.
And fatigue wasn't my biggest problem. That was an allergic reaction setting in with still 600 km to go. My nose started itching, then it all accelerated and made the last 500 kms not-so-funny.
Regarding fatigue: It seems to me that this has to do with the body knowing 'no light' means time to sleep. I was aware of it, waited till 2 o'clock where darkness had long since descended on the landscape, observed an oncoming desire to sleep, fed myself a Red Bull and marched on. Once the light returned - no problem.
Still, twas fun to try. And by now, I'm getting the hang of filtering Like a hot knife through butter!

Right near my destination a giant clog-up on the mway got me worried; no fun in getting stuck because of a road accident up ahead or somesuch.
No problem though: GPS with online 'traffic-sense' and alternative route had me see the docks of Bordeaux on a detour and arrive in time.
1850 km in 23 hours, all inclusive. I have the paperwork ready, and as soon as it's been accepted, I'll probably be the first CB500 rider to join the Iron Butt Association.

This afternoon I've been getting a feel for the roadscape around Bordeaux. Crappy. Unkept, potholed and badly signed. But again, the GPS has given me confidence to jump in at the deep end and simply go! I can always return to a waypoint or known location. No fuss. Makes for a strangely bold behaviour, where I'd normally be asking people for directions or desperately studying the map to stay in some kind of control. Now, I don't care.

Also, having the GPS preloaded with tomorrow's POIs means it's childs play to organise and execute.

It's not my bag, but full respect and thanks for giving an insight into your trip. I can imagine the CB just taking care of business. Hell of a journey.

Impressive mileage SB. Do you just have the standard seat, or do you have extra padding?

By coincidence, I was reading about another Iron Butter on the BMW forum I'm on. I have total respect for you chaps that can munch up the miles. He did 9,300 in 17 days. I bet it's MUCH easier on a 1200RT though!

Thats awesome SB! You have made me very jealous. Maybe at some point I will attempt to become the second CB 500 member. I definitely  couldn't do it with the stock seat though. My butt is not designed for comfort. Congratulations man.

This is great. Can I ask what GPS you are using? I'm touring Europe later this year and am wondering whether to bite the bullet and stop carrying so many paper maps around with me!

alanp wrote:This is great. Can I ask what GPS you are using? I'm touring Europe later this year and am wondering whether to bite the bullet and stop carrying so many paper maps around with me!

i was going to ask this as well.

I believe he uses a tomtom rider 40 with a custom mount.

Well done!

I agree with you about the light. In other 'staying up all night' type situations I always find that it's about 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning that you start to feel really bad - but once there is that glimmer of light on the horizon everything seems to get better.

sullivj wrote:Do you just have the standard seat, or do you have extra padding?

He did 9,300 in 17 days.

Yes, I have extra padding. My wife keeps telling me that too... The seat is standard though.

+9000 miles in 17 days. Ouch... I believe the IBA has a thing for that lot: 10 in 10, meaning 10 thousand in ten days. I think I'll skip that one though This trip made sense - I got my vacation kickstarted. Where would I go, 10 thousand miles away?

alanp wrote:This is great. Can I ask what GPS you are using? I'm touring Europe later this year and am wondering whether to bite the bullet and stop carrying so many paper maps around with me!

Hehe. Well, obviously I'm taking the thing to the test now. Once the dust has settled, a review should be coming your way. Partly the whole satnav-issue, partly a Rider 40/400 review.

Paper can't help you gauge how far it is from Nice to Locarno... Riding, you'll have to take your eyes off the road too often as I see it. Rather than having to pull info from the map, I'd like to have the GPS push info to me at appropriate times. And if in doubt, I can zoom in on the map here and now. Not so with the paper. Not that the digital solution is flawless - there's an art to getting your ride to flow and avoid cockups. But still - IMHO it gives a better sense of being in control.

liverpool_f_ wrote:You have made me very jealous.

Don't get jealous. Get moving.

If we're to have a philosophical debate, may I remind you that the hardest things to regret are those you did not do. And I don't think I can do this in 10 years, so now's the time.

I'm not sure the missus liked my decision. But hey, I really don't like going to the beach and shopping in eg Turkey. Holiday by the pool is for - well, not me. Not now.

I'll go with her to somewhere missus-friendly in September. You know, aircon, waiters and a general plan...

excellent plan! I have already started trying to convince my friend with his equally inappropriate street triple to take a 1k mile trip

Today I went from someplace north of Monaco via Genova-ish to north of Garda. First leg Monaco-Genova was awesome; mediterranean coastline littered with tunnels. I stopped counting... Genova to near Garda was hot, flat and to be avoided if I ever have the opportunity again. Only entertainment was seeing two danish families on a rideout, heading for Garda. Bumped into them at a petrol station where a fuelling problem was being diagnosed (no, it wasn't a Honda). Last leg Garda - Ballino gave me a hint on what tomorrow is going to be. Mountains and hairpins. And yes - I immediately scraped my pegs. On both sides. Carrying panniers, tankbag and me leathers+boots piled up on the topbox-holder in a net.

Tomorrow's 'leisurely pootling' through the Alps: Garda - Stelvio - St. Gallen

stormbringer wrote:Today I went from someplace north of Monaco via Genova-ish to north of Garda. First leg Monaco-Genova was awesome; mediterranean coastline littered with tunnels. I stopped counting... Genova to near Garda was hot, flat and to be avoided if I ever have the opportunity again. Only entertainment was seeing two danish families on a rideout, heading for Garda. Bumped into them at a petrol station where a fuelling problem was being diagnosed (no, it wasn't a Honda). Last leg Garda - Ballino gave me a hint on what tomorrow is going to be. Mountains and hairpins. And yes - I immediately scraped my pegs. On both sides. Carrying panniers, tankbag and me leathers+boots piled up on the topbox-holder in a net.

Tomorrow's 'leisurely pootling' through the Alps: Garda - Stelvio - St. Gallen

nice one, have fun. 

Done!

This was summer holiday 20126 - a good 5000 kilometers in 10 days. I've taken piles of pictures - some of which depict a blue CB500 too.

Also, I've plotted the entire route into Google Maps - have a look at this link.
Papers for the IBA application are being sorted now.
Pictures... Later.
If anyone else is thinking about doing something similar, may I recommend AirBnB for accomodations.


The CB? Nowt happened. I checked the oil when I got home and found it hadn't used any. It could do with a washing though.