MTF  50/100CC Iron Butt Association Ride
Bob Coffland 100CCC Ride Report March 2003

Planning and Preparation

Well I don’t know where to begin this as this is my very first trip report. This whole thing started a few months before March as the Motorcycle Tourer's Froum started to talk about a 100ccc/50cc ride. Alan Leduc, said that he would need a West Coast Ride Coordinator to make this happen. I just happened to say I would do it if Alan thought it could be done by some one that did not live in San Diego. Alan said that he did not see any problem with that so the wheels were in motion. For the next couple months I kind of lived on the computer and on the phone. I do have to say that I was very lucky for I had some super help in that Mr. Dave Mishalof and Mr. Tom Offillboth were of immense help. When Tom Offill had to drop out of the ride he offered to be my Assistant Ride Coordinator on the West Coast. He made all the difference with help in the planning and logistics of the whole thing as did Dave. With out them things would have been a lot different. I owe a lot to those two. Thanks a lot..  

As we got closer to the date of the ride, things started to come together and Tom & I started to finalize a plan. The Motel-6 was less than helpful so Tom asked if  Hunter's Steak House would allow us to use there parking lot for the start and the results you saw on Wednesday morning. We owe that whole set up to Mr. Tom Offill what a job he did. Well done Tom. Talk about a step above and beyond. We even had  the West Coast Representative from the IBA (Lisa Landry) there with us that morning sure do hope that we did nothing wrong in that regard.    

Now what to do about the bike and how do you get this old body ready for a ride like this? Wasen’t to sure if the old body would make the trip as I knew that this trip was going to tax the old man to the limit and it was about 35 years ago in Viet Nam that I had that kind of reserve and was not sure if it was still there but felt the need to find out.   

Now what to do about the old Gold Wing? There was no doubt that the Wing could make it. I did find out on my previous IB rides that I would need extra fuel for this ride. So I got busy and designed and built and extra fuel tank for the bike. Wanted to mount it in the passenger seat but my wife said not no, but hell no. Not a drop of fuel near my seat. So back to plan B Mount it on the trailer hitches and uses an electric fuel pump. I just love it when a plan comes together. That done it was time to take the wing apart and make sure every thing was good. So off came all the plastic and All critical things checked. All fluids changed All brake pads replaced and all points lubed. All bolts checked for proper torque and ensured that every thing that could come loose was checked and tight. So bike was ready I was ready so it was time to get my self to San Diego and get this thing started.    

I arrived in San Diego about 1430 and just about half of the riders were already there. Doug Chapman  FJR rider had agreed to share a room with me and he met me at the lobby and had secured a room for us. What a great guy and a super room mate. I had arranged for our pre-ride dinner at Hunter's and had to go over there and ensure that they would be ready for us that evening. I want to thank every body who showed up for the dinner. I was overwhelmed at the turn out. I told the Hunter's I had about 25 confirmed. They said that they would put us in there banquet room that held 50 so we would have some over flow. Boy did we. I did not see too many open spaces. Thank you to all of the riders that were there as I think we had a good time. And I for one enjoyed the evening. 

Now on to the ride It is time to ride and I for one was ready to go. Woke up about 0100 and could not get back to sleep as my room mate was up also so I went ahead and used the time to get ready. Went over to Hunter's and helped Tom set up that awesome staging area. Can’t thank him enough. We started getting riders staged and the witnesses started to get paper work signed off. As we had given up on the group picture I decided to go ahead and send riders out as early as 0400 if they were ready to go. I was sending riders at about every two to three minutes was concerned about bunching up riders and having large groups going down the highway. Not to worry as we have such a professional group they would not let that happen any way. I got so involved in all the hub bub that I forgot that I to was one of the riders. Not to worry though, as I had found some one that wanted to ride with this old man to Jacksonville. Wayne Doyle (Honda Wayne) he taped me on the shoulder and asked if I was ready to ride it was time to get my mind on riding and get ready to ride. I think that we were clocked out by Tom at 0510 and headed straight to the gas station and the start receipt. First log entry 0535.We were off to Jax. I followed Wayne out of San Diego and into the mountains and the only twist’s on the whole trip. Wayne set a brisk pace and I was working hard keeping up but had a big smile on my face. Pretty soon we were on the desert floor and the road was straight and we were headed for Yuma. The weather on this part of the trip was just great. Nothing to do but keep the wheels turning. We stopped in El Paso for fuel and a quick sandwich. Got back on the road just as the sun was going down. On the way to our first rest stop we were passed by some of our riders on BMW GS bikes and one Harley. I think it was stud bunny not sure though. Shortly after that we were joined by our Canada friends. They rode with us to our first rest stop at Ozona, TX. Had to stop. Just could not ride any further without rest. Checked into a low rent district motel and got horizontal for about 5 hours and need that rest. Got up the next morning and found that the couple on the busa were just a couple rooms down from ours. They too were getting ready to go that next morning. The ride from there was good and we found the loop around San Antonio and lost no time getting around that city. On the way to Houston we could see the dark clouds and I was hoping that it was a fast moving storm and would be gone when we got there. No chance as we got closer we were watching a real neat light show. Sombody pissed off Mother Nature in spades. And we were riding right into it. As we got to Houston Wayne was leading and we started to look for the HOV lanes. Found them and they were closed to east bound traffic just our luck things were turning shitty real quick. Stuck in traffic Wayne took a detour and was trying to find a loop around Houston no luck I still don’t think there is one. We got lost and had to ask directions. That detour forced us to stop for a few minutes. Gave me a chance to call my wife and ask what the weather was going to be like going east. She was just full of good news. All she could say was that it would be wise if we put our rain gear on as all hell was about come down on us. We suited up and found our way out of Houston and on to Beaumont, TX. I could not believe that it could rain so hard. I had to ask what I did to deserve this. At one time I looked to the side of the highway and all I could see was a river of water running across the road. Thank God for Wayne and his trusty ST he just kept on going. Oh and in the middle of all this, they decided to have some construction and lane closures. And of course some big rigs had to get together. Did I mention the wall of water that came off the big rigs as they went by. As I saw it, once you got in it, to quit and ride back thru it would have been worse so nothing else to do but keep riding. Got to New Orleans and I-12/ I-10 split we ran into our friends on the BUSA they looked kind of confused as to which way to go so I waved to them to follow us and they rode with us down I-12 until they had to stop for fuel. Did not see them again until they got to Jax. By then the rain had gotten a lot less and it kind of felt good. We got to Mobile and got to ride in that tunnel and I got to think let's just stay here at least it is not raining. Nothing doing Wayne just would not stop as he could smell the finish. We did stop a couple times as Wayne was having some problems and needed a little extra time. We did get to Jax at 0515 Pacific Standard Time. Made it on time with no incidents or performance awards as that was a stated goal. 37 hours and 35 minutes Now it was time to head to the beach for some sand and water and then some sleep before I turn it around and try to get back to San Diego before my 100 hours run out. 

The return trip back to San Diego

After I got about 5 hours sleep, I got up and packed up the bike, checked the tire pressure, and condition of my tires. Every thing was fine so nothing else to do but fire it up and get underway. This trip I was going to be alone as Wayne said I was just a little nuts to try and turn it around. But had to come home anyway so why not do it as quick as I could. I really wanted to have my name in the record book. So had to try. Left the motel and stopped to have a sandwich before the ride started .Got to the Shell station and my fuel and receipt’s. I was getting fuel Alan and his riding partners rode in and I asked if I could tag along until they turned north on there way home. So I followed them out of Jax and it was nice riding with them for a short time. I made good time across Florida and was soon into Mississippi and making good time. Stopped for fuel in Diamondhead. Shortly after that I hit a fog bank that at times I could not see more than 10 feet in front of the bike. Talk about slow moving 10 mph was to fast. I was lucky as I was following a big rig and could see his tail lights. I was also talking to him on the CB. I told him that this stuff was just too much for me and I need to get off the highway. He told me not to worry that he needed to get some fuel and he would take us to the next truck stop. So down I-10 we went and pretty soon I found myself in a big truck stop parking lot. That truckers name was Tom and I had the pleasure of buying him dinner. I know that bikes and big rigs don’t mix and I normally stay away from them but this time this one helped me out of a big jam. Tom I sure do hope you made it home to your loved ones. Some how I know you did. After dinner the fog had gotten thicker so I just decided to go get a motel room and get some rest. After about 5 hours sleep got up, packed up, and headed out. Had to ride in fog until I got to the Texas state line and pretty soon I was headed for that wonderful city of Houston. Traffic was not too bad and going pretty good. Found my way onto the HOV lanes and was making my way out of that city at a rapid pace. Nothing than seeing Houston in your rear view mirror. Pretty soon was making the loop around San Antonio and headed for El Paso. Just before Junction, had another highway shut down. Seems that a motor home and a car decided to get together and the Highway Patrol had to shut down the west bound lanes for about two hours. I could feel my ride slipping away at that point. I did get about a 1 and ½ hour nap though. Tthat was good. Got going again and made it to Van Horn, TX about 2330 that night. I was hungry and tired so I stopped at a subway and sat down. Took some time to do the math on the remaining trip. Miles remaining and time left. Things did not add up I had lost too much time working my way through the fog and then the delay for that wreck. I would have to average about 78 MPH for the reminder of the trip to make it on time. I was not willing to push that hard so it was time to make that hard decision to call it off. Went and got me a room and put this old body in the horizontal position for awhile. Got up the next morning and called Tom and told him that I had called it off and not to expect me at the banquet. That was the hardest phone call I had to make in a long time. But I do think that you need to be able to make that call when you get to that point. So with that taken care of, all there was left to do is get on the road and take my time getting home. The rest of the trip was most enjoyable. Coming through El Paso I got to be witness to a high speed chase and drug bust shoot out right in the middle of the west bound lanes. Texas Rangers 2 bad guys 0. What else is going to happen during this trip. Well just to make life interesting I got to ride through that west coast storm that I missed while I was on the east coast. Not only did I get to get my rain card stamped again, I also got to get my high wind stamp also. But all went well and I made it home and was glad to be back with loved ones.

Lessons Learned

Do Not do any thing to upset your normal riding position. I had built an extra gear box and mounted it to the passenger seat. Worked well for extra gear but upset my riding position. I could not stretch out and paid for that in sore muscles. Tapes or some kind of a sound system sure did help as the wide open areas you need something to give your mind something to do. I can’t sing so the tape player came in real handy. A hydration system was most important and the difference between cramps and not. My fuel cell was the best thing I could have done. Increase your range it makes these long rides doable.