Iron Butt Association Membership # 8613
When viewing the trip reports you might want to look toward the bottom for the Post Trip Comments, some of the stuff is a little boring.
I am the Host of the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum, I just started riding again in the year 2000 after a long layoff like many riders born in the 1940's and 1950's, in my case 1950. I also hang out regularly on the GL1800Riders.com Forum. My forum name is AL2000. AL should be obvious and 2000 is the year I returned to riding. I completed my first Iron Butt Association ride in May, 2001 on a cruiser and soon traded up to a touring bike and started the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum to share experiences and dreams with other riders of like interest.
If you want to know about my professional life, click here.
If you want to communicate with me, just drop an email to amleduc@insightbb.com. I am pretty accessible.
If you want to see my Gold Wing site, click here.
If you want to visit the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum website, click here.
If you want to share your experiences and dreams on theMotorcycle Tourer's Forum, click any of the links that look like this: Motorcycle Tourer's Forum
I returned to riding in May of 2000. I purchased a 2000 Honda VT1100C Spirit and began to drop in on the Shadow Riders Forum, A thread was started discussing the Iron Butt Association's (IBA) long rides. I checked out the IBA web site and at the time, thought that it was a crazy idea and that there was no way I would do a ride like that. I teach at Ball State University and get out of school a few weeks before my wife who is a secretary at the local vocational school. I had a tough semester and was planning on taking two graduate classes in the summer. I decided that I would spend three weeks at my sister-in-law's condo when school was out. I then thought, why not ride my motorcycle? This brought me back to the IBA web site and plans began to take the long way to Florida, so I could complete both the Saddle Sore 1000 and the Bun Burner 1500. I successfully completed the ride May 5 and 6, 2001.
While I enjoy all types of riding, particularly those trips with my wife, I realized that when riding solo the IBA rides were just my cup of tea. I enjoyed planning the ride, thinking about it until the day came, the physical and mental challenge of staying alert, and simply grinding out the miles day and night. It is not something everyone would, should, or could do so, but it was for me.
In July, I started the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum, it ended up that several of the early members also were interested in the IBA rides as well as touring. I had decided that in the Summer of 2002, I would do an IBA 50cc Quest (Jacksonville, FL to San Diego, CA in 50 hours). Some others were interested, so we made formal plans and had a commitment of two of us leaving from the east and two leaving from the west. The guys from the west decided that they were going to do a 100cc and hook up with the two of traveling west on the return trip. The IBA Bun Burner1500 Gold was a requirement for the 100cc trip. Yogi (Tom Maiden) and Kent Ailes (the guys doing the 100cc) planned and completed the BB1500Gold, September 30, 2001 and posted a message on the forum. My semester was getting a little stressful and I had a fall break coming up (October, 2001), so I decided that I was going to do the BB1500Gold as well. I made some quick plans and planned the ride for Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7, 2001. This was my first IBA ride on my 2001 GL1800 Honda Gold Wing which I had purchased July 9, 2001.
I had planned a trip to Phoenix over semester break to see a friend; however, the schedule was going to require me to miss the first three days of the semester, which I couldn't justify. I got to thinking about how few people had done a Bun Burner 3000 and decided it was worth a shot. So the planning begin and a date of January 2-4, 2002 was set. The main concern was the temperatures in the northern loop. The 15 day forecast showed temps above Memphis in the 9-25 degree range. Recognizing that this is a very challenging ride I developed the route so that I could bail on the BB3000 and opt for a SS3000 (3000 miles in 72 hours). In order to get the mileage to work, I had to start the trip about 6 miles the opposite direction from my home and end it at the dealer about 30 miles away. My bike would be ready for a service anyway.
The privilege to buy a Tee-Shirt
or the short answer to those that think I'm crazy: "Because I can."