My objective for this forth Iron Butt ride was to ride my first Bun Burner Gold (1,500 miles in 24 hours)

(Actual ride stats: 1,504 miles in 23hr 13min)

Google Map 1,504 miles

GPS Log Map (More accurate)

My shop is not heated, so when I want to work on a bike during the winter months, I bring it inside the house. I worked on this bike a few months, getting it ready for a slug of IBA-type riding.

Jenny is signing my IBA (Iron butt Association) witness paperwork the morning of February 23rd

Setting off in several layers to help combat the cold.

Fuel Stop 1: Quemado

An Iron Butt ride begins at the first gas station, with a Dated Business Receipt (DBR) showing the date, time and location. The rider photographs the DBR against the bike's odometer, as an indication of the running mileage.

DBR Start time: 9:38 AM

Fuel Stop #2: Socorro, NM

Fuel Stop #3: Gallup, NM

Half way to the next fuel stop, I took a five-minute break at the Meteor Crater Rest Area, to get off the bike and stretch the legs.

Fuel Stop #4: Flagstaff, AZ

Flagstaff

On my way to Kingman the sun was in my eyes, hanging low against the horizon. So for almost two hours I rode with my left hand raised to shield my eyes. My helmet has a drop down sun visor, and next time I will have a darker band across the top of it.

Fuel Stop #5: Kingman, AZ

Kingman

It's almost dark, and I have a long night ahead.

For the best results, I should have ridden this stretch before - Kingman to Gila Bend. It was slower that I had imagined, and more fiddly. I had driven it before, in a car long ago, but now, in the black of night, it was strangely unfamiliar. And when finally I arrived at the junction with I-10, the highway became a bowl of spaghetti with exits and on-ramps going all over the place. I didn't know which one to chose, and for some strange reason neither did my two GPS's. I selected the wrong exit and found myself headed for Phoenix. Then one of my GPS's kicked in, and led me to the next off ramp, and then to a turnaround underneath an overpass. And before long I was on I-10 again headed in the correct direction.

Fuel Stop #6: Gila Bend, AZ

Gila Bend

Fuel Stop #7: Willcox, AZ

Willcox

The stretch from Willcox to Las Cruces, along the I-10, was extra cold. For two hours the temperature was 17° F. I relied on the heated jacket and gloves for about 90% of the ride.

Fuel Stop #8: Las Cruces, NM

Las Cruces

Fuel Stop #8: Socorro, NM

In Socorro I somehow smeared the camera lens. And due to fatigue I didn't notice.

Fuel Stop #8: Quemado. BBG Finish at 8:51 AM

9:38 - 8:51 = 23hr 13min

Jenny drove to Quemado to meet me, and we enjoyed a nice breakfast.

Back home, Jenny signing my IBA witness paperwork.