Two veteran IBA riders (Andy Simon and Joe Colquitt) are allowing me to tag along with them on their attempt at the 100CCC. However, this truly is a ride where every individual has to be on his own. If one particular bike has mechanical difficulties that can't be solved within a short time, the other riders will have no problem saying "Adios" and continuing with the ride. The rider with the mechanical problem acknowledges that he should not be the cause for the other riders to miss their chance for a successful run.

I'll travel from Houston to Jacksonville, FL to meet up with Andy and Joe. From there, we'll leave Jacksonville and scoot across the country in less than 2 days. There will be a short sleep stop in Junction, TX on the way to San Diego. Another short sleep stop in San Diego and then we immediately start back across the country to Jacksonville again. The last short sleep stop will occur in Junction, TX again as we go west-to-east. After a much longer sleep period, we'll all say our goodbyes and head back to our respective homes. When the ride is over, I'll put a complete write-up here on my website!

This one's going to be fun!

We did it !!! Here's the Ride Report

Still being relatively new to the long distance riding scene, I have been fortunate enough to make some successful Iron Butt certified endurance rides. I had been planning on a 50CC Iron Butt ride (50 Hours or less, coast-to-coast) for many months. Quite honestly, even though I wondered why I didn’t just stretch that ride to the full 100CCC ride, I wasn’t so sure that I was up to the task. The 100CCC ride is not considered an “insanity” ride for nothing. It’s an extreme endurance ride capable of testing both man and machine to their respective limits. Reading messages on the Long Distance Riders internet mailing list one day, I saw a quick mention that Andy Simons and Joe Colquitt were planning a 100CCC ride in the month of May. I had never met either of these gentlemen before but had looked at Andy’s personal website and had become a fan of Joe’s writing style on the LD Riders list. Of course, they didn’t know me at all but I decided to at least ask them if I could tag along on their 100CCC ride. I wrote the email and then crossed my fingers. Thankfully, they told me that they’d love to have me join them for the ride. Andy immediately filled me in on the planning he had done so far.

A few months went by where plans were refined, suggestions were made, emails flew, and the countdown began. Then, something happened that gave me a lot more confidence that I could make this ride successfully. I completed my first 24-hour endurance rally (The Waltz Across Texas) and did fairly well. That boosted my attitude to the point that I knew I would at least have better than average odds at finishing a long distance ride like the 100CCC. So, I give The Waltz Across Texas rally a good deal of credit for “fixing” my mental attitude about my own capabilities. I did learn a few things about myself during The Waltz. My fatigue factor was much higher than I expected but I knew that it was the result of poor eating habits during the ride. I had already vowed to learn my lesson and this factored heavily as I started making my own personal preparations for the 100CCC ride. Special thanks go to Joe Colquitt for opening my eyes to the many ways that CamelBak equipment can be retrofitted to standard insulated water bottles – the resulting hydration system I put together several days before the ride worked perfectly. The other challenge I faced was one of finding a routine where I would eat enough food during an endurance ride. I knew that I had to find a way to give my body the necessary fuel to remain alert, focused, and energetic enough to handle the bike as the day got long. All I could do was make a conscious decision to take the time to eat – pretty simple in theory but tougher than it seems once you’re on the road and trying to stay as close to your schedule as you can.

In the weeks before the actual ride, I made no changes to the bike except for putting on a new set of tires (and then riding several hundred miles on them to make sure there were no problems), changing the oil and oil filter, changing the rear drive gear oil, and making a simple electrical hookup for an additional Garmin V GPS unit to supplement my existing StreetPilot 3. I gave the bike 5 or 6 coats of wax so that I’d have an easier time cleaning the bike once the ride was complete. (Next time, the hell with that…..it didn’t make a bit of difference. It still took me 2 solid days to get all the crud cleaned off.) Okay, enough of my preparation. Let’s get on with the ride! Please remember that my 100CCC and SaddleSore 5000 rides have not been officially certified by the IBA validation volunteers yet. For now, this write-up is simply for your enjoyment.

Houston, TX (my home) to Jacksonville, FL

All 3 of us lived some distance away from the Jacksonville, FL starting point of the 100CCC ride. Andy is from South Carolina, Joe is from Tuscaloosa, AL (the center of the universe, as he puts it), and I’m from Houston. All 3 of us were going to obtain witness form signatures along the way from our respective homes to the starting point so that we could combine a SaddleSore 5000 ride with the 100CCC. After considering all the potential timelines, I emailed Ray Fagan in Pascagoula, MS and asked if he’d mind signing me out early Sunday morning, May 19th. He quickly agreed. I had decided to take 2 days to ride from Houston to Jacksonville so I took a very leisurely drive from Houston to Pascagoula on Saturday. I checked into a hotel for the evening and got a good night’s sleep before meeting Ray the next morning for a light breakfast and the witness form signatures. I immediately got some fuel and the required receipt to signal the official start of my SS5K ride. The ending time for the SS5K would coincide almost perfectly with the allowed ending time for our 100CCC ride.

Joe and I had decided to meet up at an I-10 exit in Florida and ride together the rest of the way into Jacksonville. I arrived at the meeting point on time and Joe (with his wife, Sue, driving behind him in her Z-28 Camaro) rode up within 2 or 3 minutes of me getting off the bike. We had a quick bite to eat, fueled up, and headed out. Joe took the lead. We quickly encountered some light drizzle and Joe pulled off to the side of the road to grab his Aerostich triple-digit waterproof glove covers (I gotta get some of those things, they’re just the trick). I got off the bike to stretch my legs while Joe found his glove covers. Before I completely took my hands off the bike, I made sure that it appeared secure on the sidestand since I was on a slight side hill slope of the shoulder. I pushed on the bike to see if it was in danger of tipping over and decided that it was okay. A minute later, I watched my bike lazily roll over onto the engine and side guards. All of you know the feeling when you drop your bike for the first time – it sucks. I believe that a good blast of wind from a passing trucker probably caused the bike to lean over enough for it to go down. Joe helped me get it upright (easier than I thought given the weight of the fully-loaded Gold Wing) and I nervously went around to survey the damage. Aside from a cruiser peg that had rotated upward, there was absolutely no damage. The bike simply rolled over until it had hit the engine and side guards and sat there at about a 45 degree angle. The cruiser peg was quickly and easily fixed in Jacksonville before the 100CCC ride began.

Okay, I had now dropped my bike for the first time. Joe and I continued on into occasional brief periods of light rain and drizzle. We got to Jacksonville pretty much right on time. Andy was waiting for us – looking down and squawking at us from the second floor balcony of his hotel room. A few minutes later with handshakes all around, we quickly planned the rest of the evening. Joe left with his wife to get settled into their hotel (different than the one that Andy and I were staying at) while we waited on the official start-of-ride witnesses to arrive for the signing of our paperwork. It was during this short wait that I decided to go across the street and get my first vial of Atlantic Ocean water and sand from the beach. This is one of the things an Iron Butt rider is supposed to do for these types of rides.

Steve Hunter and Michael Vincent arrived right on time and we all had a chance to chat for a while until Joe arrived back at our hotel. Then, odometer mileages were noted and the witness forms were signed. This included not only our 100CCC start-of-ride forms but also the turn-around forms for our SS5K rides. I have to tell you – this kind of effort by our witnesses is sincerely appreciated. These guys don’t live just down the block. Coming to Jacksonville to witness the start of our ride was an incredible gesture on their part. You’ll see later in this ride report that Michael Vincent arrived at the Chevron station where we ended the ride at 2:00 AM to witness our forms again. Soon, we all headed out for a nice dinner down the road since we (and our witnesses) knew that we needed to call a close to our activities for the day so that we could get a good night’s sleep. At the restaurant, Juli Davis met up with us and we had a great meal with lots of good conversation.

Day One - Jacksonville, FL to Junction, TX

Our planned departure was 6:00 AM the next morning (Monday, May 20th). I actually slept much better than I expected. Getting up on time, I took a good shower and applied liberal amounts of Gold Bond powder where the sun doesn’t shine before throwing my new Aerostich Roadcrafter suit on and hauling my gear down to the bike. Strapping everything on, I was ready. Joe soon arrived and we were off for the gas station where we would get our fuel receipt – signaling the official start of our 100CCC ride and the continuation of our SaddleSore 5000 ride. My fuel receipt was obtained at 5:40 AM EDT. All 3 of us headed down the street to hit the 202 highway that would lead us over to I-95 and then up to I-10. Traffic was light and we were soon headed west toward our first-day destination of Junction, TX. The ride continued on almost exactly as Andy had planned it and there were really no problems as the day wore on. As we rode through the state of Alabama, both Andy and I were very obedient as Joe made sure that we held very strictly to the speed limits!!

I was already using the CB to check on “bear” reports and traffic conditions ahead of us. The CB radio (I was the only one with a working CB on the ride) came in very helpful many times during the ride – it was well worth having along. Being “driver friendly”, it was not difficult at all to obtain some help from truckers along our route. In fact, I did a little interference work for a couple of them during the ride – it was a lot of fun and I definitely benefited from the many hours of conversation I had with various truckers along the way. Once we got through the state of Louisiana (where in the hell do they actually spend their highway maintenance funds?!), we finally got to the great state of Texas. I had scouted the Houston HOV lanes before heading out to Jacksonville, so I knew exactly how and where to get onto them. It was very nice flying by all the afternoon rush-hour traffic piled up in the “normal” freeway lanes through town. We made great time through Houston and then performed a similar feat in San Antonio by taking Loop 1604 around town rather than taking the slower, longer, and more dangerous Loop 410 route. Just west of Houston, we caught up with and then passed a beautiful Lamborghini cruising slowly towards San Antonio. I gave the driver a thumbs-up but it was a shame to see such a beautiful car relegated to normal freeway speeds. I’m sure at any point he could have downshifted 3 or 4 times and blown by us like we standing still.

Soon, we were headed towards the Hill Country of Texas. As we got past Kerrville, the deer were plentiful along the side of the road. I’m going to risk some possible criticism here but I’ve come to the conclusion that (at least on I-10 in Texas) you will never encounter deer in the median of the highway. Therefore, it is best if you travel in the left lane and keep most of your attention on the right shoulder area of the highway. We saw many deer there but none of them were interested in crossing the road – they were lazily munching on grass and generally didn’t even look up as we whizzed past. On the other hand, we never saw a deer in the median. Small point, perhaps, but I say that you’re much safer driving in the left lane (the truckers call it the “hammer” lane). Arriving on time in Junction, TX, we rolled into the gravel parking lot of our luxury 5-star hotel – the La Vista motel. The clerk was ready and we were soon bedding down for a few hours sleep. For me, nervous energy only stole about 5 minutes of the rest period because I was asleep pretty quickly.

Day Two - Junction, TX to San Diego, CA

Awakening on time, we quickly strapped on all our gear and saddled up for the gas station visit. Arriving minutes after the Greyhound bus, we were probably a strange sight to many of the bus passengers milling around during their scheduled stop. Obtaining our fuel receipts, we headed back to I-10 for the second day of our journey. Then, the winds came. I had expected the always-present winds in Kent and Van Horn but this day was different. We had some pretty gusty winds well east of those two towns. It was relatively mild when we tooled through the Van Horn area. In the early morning hours, the deer were very evident again and I was careful to stay especially focused. The effort required to keep the bike tracking straight ahead in the strong winds, along with the concentration in watching for Bambi, was a bit draining. We finally made it to the west side of El Paso where we stopped for one of our scheduled fuel stops. It was there that a gypsy-like gang of Hispanic individuals was able to confuse Joe enough that they were able to steal his favorite pair of riding gloves. Why the hell did this have to happen in my state? I am firmly convinced that they were not Texas citizens – they quite simply must have been rat-bastard Mexicans.

I had been having trouble with the power to my radar detector and both GPS units since we had started up that morning. I kept trying to figure out a logical explanation for why the power was cutting out from time to time. During the stop in El Paso, I made some adjustments to the wiring and hoped for the best. Quickly upon resuming the ride, it was apparent that my “fix” hadn’t worked. I knew then that there was only other possible culprit and resolved to fix it with another attempt down the line. At our stop in Tacna, AZ, I was able to get the problem fixed by changing the fuse – the vendor who sold me the GL1800 power plate had told me that I could use the “mini” fuses in the unit. Well, yes, they do fit but they do not fit snuggly. Those “mini” fuses were just loose enough to cause all the problems I was having. Anyway, I felt good about diagnosing the problem and troubleshooting it properly.

I had a little digestive tract trouble between our fuel stop in Benson, AZ and the next one in Tacna, AZ. Yes, you can just about guess what happened. I am so glad that there wasn’t anybody too curious about the yellow Gold Wing sitting on the shoulder of I-8 in the middle of nowhere…..pucker factor would have not been a good thing for me while I was crouching down in a shallow arroyo trying to hide behind the scrub brush while I, well, relieved myself of the problem. Note to self – why the hell do I say things like this when it is sure to bring heaps of embarrassment and ridicule to myself? Tacna, AZ represented our last fuel stop before heading on into San Diego.

There were some very good sight-seeing opportunities as we went through the boulder-strewn area of Boulder Park, the sand dunes of the desert, the microwave or infrared huts along the Mexican border (I guess they’re there to catch illegals trying to cross into our country), and then up into and through the Laguna/Cuyamaca mountains. The mountains were very cool but not uncomfortably so and I never regretted the fact that I decided not to wear my Widders during that part of the trip. Joe Colquitt was having some pretty severe problems with the winds and came down on the San Diego side of the mountains convinced that the large Touratech tank on his GS was partly to blame for the very dangerous instability he was experiencing in the windy conditions on those sweeping curves through the mountains. Riding behind him from time to time, it was clear that his GS was getting bounced around a lot more than Andy’s Voyager or my GL1800. I think Andy and I are in agreement – Joe is our hero for handling his bike the way he did in the severe winds we experienced from West Texas all the way through Arizona.

Joe slowed down in the mountains heading into San Diego so Andy and I ended up losing sight of him. We pulled off to the side of the road just past a freeway exit ramp and waited on him. Soon, we saw his single headlight in the distance and accelerated quickly back onto the freeway as he whizzed past. From there, we stuck together as we made our way to Ocean Beach and the witnesses who were waiting on us. Andy had called ahead from our last stop in Tacna to make sure they were aware of our progress and the approximate time of our arrival. Sure enough, there they were – waving a flashlight at us as we made the turn onto the street heading down towards the Pacific Ocean. Lou and Kyoko Caspary seemed to be just as excited as we were. They were very gracious “hosts” and got all of our witness forms signed, guarded our bikes while we went down to the beach for some pictures and the collection of my Pacific sand and water.

We headed off for a quick dinner so that we could get a decent amount of sleep that night before beginning the return trip to Jacksonville the next morning. It was getting late so we visited 3 or 4 eateries before finding one that was open. Some pleasant conversations ensued and then we were saying our goodbyes to Lou and Kyoko. It’s just another solid clue that we’re all involved in a very tight-knit fraternity – there are not a lot of people in this world that would venture away from their homes in the middle of the night just to welcome a bunch of bikers to their city and participate in the signing of some very important (to us) witness forms.

Day Three – San Diego, CA to Ft. Stockton, TX

Our original plan for day three was to head right back to the same hotel we’d stayed at on Monday night. Then the winds came…..again. More powerful than the Tuesday beating we took, these winds took a form that was decidedly more nerve wracking. More on that later. We left San Diego on time and headed back through the mountains again on our way to another planned stop in Tacna for fuel. Andy was wanting to stretch this leg a bit further than Tacna because there really wasn’t much there in the way of decent facilities. Since I was in the lead, Andy came up next to me and indicated that we should continue past the Tacna stop and find another suitable location to fuel up farther down the road. Well, that was all well and good….except that we didn’t realize that Joe was getting low on fuel. He had intentionally gassed up to less than a full tank since he was still concerned with the top-heavy negative effect his large fuel tank was having on him while he was going through the mountain curves and sweepers. Since Andy hadn’t made a point of letting Joe know of our plans to extend past Tacna, he and I shoot right past the exit and then we see in our rear view mirrors that Joe has taken the Tacna exit. We quickly decide to stop at the next exit in Dateland, AZ to get our fuel and wait for Joe. There was a nice restaurant across the state from the gas station. We figured we could catch a late breakfast or early lunch there and then hit the road again. So, we waited. And we waited. And we waited some more. Andy and I are both out by the road so that we can wave Joe on into our location as he comes by. Well, Joe was head-down and butt-up – he rides right by us as if we weren’t even there. We’re sure he is simply trying to play catch-up with the two of us. We saddle up and attempt to catch up with him as quickly as possible. “As quickly as possible” brings on a new meaning when you’re trying to catch up to Joe Colquitt, who is suffering from the thought that we’re way up ahead of him. It took quite a while (at “slightly” higher than normal freeway speeds) to catch up to Joe. As we got close to him, Andy decelerated back to my position and motioned to me that I should go up and tell Joe that we’re back with him. Well, I didn’t exactly fall off a turnip truck! There was no way I was going to be the one who had to go up and explain to Joe why we had abandoned him! I motioned very clearly back to Andy that he was the one who was going to approach Joe. I didn’t want any part of that conversation! In the end, all was well but I’ll never be able to think about this little incident without laughing out loud!

Okay, we’re now back on the road for eastern destinations. Our stop in Benson, AZ goes by without incident and we opt to stop in Las Cruces rather than fuel up at the same station in El Paso where Joe had his gloves stolen. By now, the winds have picked up again although at this time they’re more of an irritant than a real challenge. My CB came in handy again trying to get through rush hour in El Paso. I hooked up with a trucker on channel 19 and he effectively pushed his way through the traffic as efficiently as possible with me behind him. I guess it’s difficult to completely ignore a big rig like that if you’re in a 4-wheeler about 3 feet in front of him! In any case, I think we made good time going through El Paso and we were soon back out of the city limits and back up to freeway speeds.

The winds were back in full force and this time it was getting tiresome. At our fuel stop in Ft. Stockton, we all decided it would be best to go ahead and stay the night there and get a very early start so that we could make up our lost time the next morning. Hopefully, that would mean that the winds would die down and let us get started in the morning with easier riding conditions. In fact, I tried to sound real scientific and told Joe that this wind was all heat related and that we surely would find better conditions when we got back out to the bikes for our 3:00 AM departure. Oh well, I guess there’s a reason I never did particularly well in Science class.

Day Four – Ft. Stockton to Jacksonville Beach, FL

We had all left our bikes on the center stands the night before because the wind was blowing so hard we thought they might not make the night without blowing over. Andy and I decided not to put our half-covers on the bikes because they would have simply been ripped to shreds. The winds at 3:00 AM were even worse than when we checked in and went to sleep. We had fueled up the night before so all we had to do was struggle out of the parking lot and out to I-10. It was immediately apparent that we were in for a tough time riding in these conditions. I believe all 3 of us are still happy with our decision to have stopped early in Ft. Stockton. We were all better off starting out with some of these winds the next morning rather than having continued for another 3 hours the night before after a full day of that kind of abuse. I took the lead and forged ahead. Wind or no wind, we had some time to make up. The fact that we were on our last leg was encouraging. I noticed that Andy and Joe were falling behind my pace so I kept track of them by talking to the truckers on the CB. At one point, the wind finally died down. I had heard from a trucker that Andy and Joe had stopped on the side of the road. I didn’t know if that meant they were just going to wait it out before continuing so I asked if one of the following truckers wouldn’t mind stopping and telling them that there were just a few more miles of the heavy winds before things started to improve greatly. It was at that moment that another trucker declared that they were back on the road so I knew we’d be joined back up again within a short distance. Just as I thought, Andy and Joe come up behind me and we end up exiting normally in Junction, TX. At this point, we’re only about an hour behind schedule.

We’re back in deer country again and it is just the right time for those critters to be out feeding. I take my now familiar track in the left lane and count many deer on the right side and shoulder of the road – but none in the median of the highway. We skirt San Antonio by taking Loop 1604 again. We encounter a little drizzle and I think of how fortunate we’ve been not to have had more rain or inclement weather. Aside from the winds, our trip has been blessed with great conditions and the forecast for the rest of the trip promised to be full of the same. Another fuel stop in Schulenburg, TX ends our string of Texas gas station visits. We take a few minutes to rest there and depart in plenty of time to hit the last hour that the Houston inbound HOV lanes will be operating. Sure enough, the gates are wide open for us and we once again scoot through town without a single problem with traffic.

Despite our proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, I can smell the Atlantic Ocean by now so I’m like a thirsty cow quickening it’s pace to get to the next watering hole. We tackled the harsh road conditions in Louisiana with a firm resolve not to let it get the best of us or dampen our spirits. In Welsh, LA, we end up getting fuel and then a quick bite to eat at the Dairy Queen next door. Of course, Andy cannot resist the temptation to take my picture (with the Gold Wing in full view) in front of the Dairy Queen. We have one stop for fuel in Mississippi and another just east of Tallahassee, FL. Joe has once again gotten us through the great state of Alabama while watching us intently at all times for any sign that we’re exceeding the speed limit. By this time, we’re all aware of his respect for the law in Alabama so we cruise through Alabama well below our normal speeds.

We’d been up now for quite a while since leaving Ft. Stockton earlier that morning. Fatigue was certainly a possibility for the remainder of the ride but we seemed to be invigorated by the thought of arriving back in Jacksonville Beach. The lights of Jacksonville soon appeared on the horizon and we quickly navigated back down I-95 and onto Highway 202 to the beach area. I had the Valentine warning me of several law enforcement types behind me and in front of us. Finally, we’re exiting off onto Highway A1A for the final few miles to the Chevron station. Andy had called ahead again to our end-of-ride witness, Michael Vincent, to alert him of our anticipated time of arrival. Michael was not at the Chevron station when we arrived but we had no sooner fueled up and gotten our official ending time than he drove up. Handshakes and high-fives were in abundance. Michael got busy with the witness forms while the rest of us took pictures and strutted around like peacocks. Further testament to the sacrifice that the witnesses do for all of us on these types of rides…..please bear in mind that it is now 2:00 AM and Michael has left his home and family to be with us for this occasion. Thanks, Michael!

Eventually, all of the celebrating came to a close and we headed for our respective hotels to get some sleep before getting together for breakfast the next morning. Andy did the honors for me the next morning as he snapped this picture of me and my last sample of Atlantic Ocean sand and water.

For some parting thoughts, this ride was a fantastic experience. I saw some parts of the country that I’d never seen before, got to know some people who sacrificed their time to come out and witness for us, and taught myself that maybe, just maybe, I actually belong to this wonderful fraternity of long distance riders. More than anything, there’s a bond with Andy and with Joe that will last a lifetime. I can’t thank them enough for allowing me to tag along with them on their ride. I’d ride with them again in a minute – anytime and anywhere.

THE END

Ben Askew