50 CC Quest

by Bob Nash

February 11, 2005

After almost two years of talking about this ride and several aborted tries, we finally got to make our attempt at the Iron Butt Association's 50 CC Quest. For those of you unfamiliar with this ride sponsored by the IBA it's basically a Coast to Coast ride in under 50 hours. Not one of the IBA's toughest rides but it would more than challenge us a few times. I knew from the start that setting any records for this ride was improbable with the tank size and mileage range of my 2005 Yamaha Tour Deluxe, and of course there is always the question of weather when traveling this time of year. I calculated that it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 gas stops to complete the ride. A lot of lost time in the pits for fuel, but I felt confident that hard riding and short fuel stops would make it possible to finish the ride in under 50 hours. So the date was set for February 11th and Mike Leonard on his Yamaha Venture and I headed south, stopping in Florence, SC. for the night and dinner with Gregg and Mary Ludlam, friends and sometime co-riders when we are in the south. However, they would not be joining us for this little jaunt. Saturday morning we pack up and head to St. Augustine Beach, FL. and check into our room just in time to unpack our gear and ride into Daytona for NASCAR's running of the Bud Shootout. Always a great race and a good time.

Sunday morning is sunny and promises to warm up into the 70's and would hold for most of Sunday's daylight hours throughout the deep south. The Weather Channel is showing a low north of Texas that is dragging a huge stream of Gulf moisture inland and we would have to deal with it at sometime in the ride but at this point it looks like it is only rain and temperatures should remain in the 50's and low 60's. We have breakfast and check into the local firehouse just one block off the beach where we find two fireman on duty and more than happy to witness our start from St. Augustine Beach. The Iron Butt Assoc. recommends a Fire or Police station as good choices for usually cooperative ride witnesses and since I am traveling with Mike who is a Fireman by trade it becomes the witness stop of choice. A word about my riding partner here, if there is two people with more matched abilities and endurance capabilities of riding a motorcycle I don't know who they are. Mike and I have logged many miles together on numerous cross country rides, we know each others riding style, we think a like, and most importantly we trust each other. If you decide on a challenge like this or any of the IBA's rides make sure your partner is as well suited to the task as you are or you could be in for a big disappointment. So with witness forms signed we ride across the street and gas up, getting a date and time stamped receipt which becomes the official start of our 50 CC ride. The time is 10:37 AM EST, that sets the deadline on Tuesday at 9:37 AM PST, 50 hours from our start. We ride up the beach and out onto I-95 towards Jacksonville and the infamous I-10. We could have left from Jacksonville Beach, the shortest distance from the East to San Diego, however the Jacksonville Beach area is more congested and St. Augustine Beach offers quick access to the Interstate. So we've added almost an hour to the trip but feel it will pay off. The ride is going smoothly as we cross the never ending pan handle of Florida and on into Alabama in the  late afternoon. The sun is now behind the clouds and spares us a low blinding sunset. Alabama and Mississippi seem to zip by now after the long ride through Florida and we find ourselves in Louisiana pulling on our rain gear. The weather we expected at some point has started as a drizzle near the state line and as we head back out for I-12 the rain starts to come down in buckets. I-12 at this point is a more direct route west and avoids the New Orleans area. This turns out to be a classic deep south storm with plenty of Gulf moisture and so for the next 250 miles or so we battle heavy downpours, thunder storms, and big rig spray and splash and all in the black of night. We finally manage to ride out of it near the Texas line, almost like it was a Louisiana only event, and now with dropping temperatures we get hit with heavy fog. We had hoped to reach San Antonio before we took any kind of a real break but Mother Nature opened a big can of whoop ass on us and we opt for a few hours in a motel to rest and dry out in Columbus Texas. We check in at about 2:00 am local time and are having breakfast by 7:00 am and head back out onto the highway. The weather has broke and the sun starts to warm things up as we face the most grueling part of the entire ride, the remainder of the 880 miles of I-10 through Texas. This is where your mental status gets it's first test, you know basically from sun up to almost sunset will be devoted to getting through one state. Our timing here again is bad and we hit El Paso at 5 pm just in time for rush hour. Unlike many major East coast cities this traffic seems to move along pretty well and other than some rubber necking at a bus fire in the East bound lanes we get through it with only a minor setback. We ride into the sunset and on into New Mexico and finally Arizona and our intersection with I-8 which will take us all the way to San Diego. Fatigue starts to set in at this point and by the time we reach the California line we are both hallucinating. The cold desert night time temperatures do little to revive us. I find myself riding through long non-existent tunnels and seeing tall high tension line towers just off the road on the shoulder. Mike has been seeing constant overpasses that also do not exist. We decide at our next gas stop that we have crossed over into a dangerous territory and need to get the zombies out of our heads, and vow to stop at the next rest area for just that, some rest. It's now very early Tuesday morning when we reach a picnic area and check into a "deluxe" Iron Butt motel room. That's a picnic table that sleeps two and has a roof over it as well. We take a much needed cat nap that is just enough to help us tackle the canyons in the high desert area that leads down to the coast and San Diego. We hit the city limits somewhere just before 5:00 AM  local time, there is no traffic and we decide to live with in the spirit of the ride and head through San Diego and out to Ocean Beach, a small community west of the city on the marinas. Our final gas receipt (#21) prints at 5:03 AM local time. Total elapsed time for the coast to coast crossing is 45 hours and 26 minutes for a total of  2,456 miles, not bad considering the weather, the 21 gas stops, 5  1/2 hours of sleep and the zombies. Our last 24 hours covered over 1,400 miles to make up for lost time in the storms of Louisiana and the fog in Texas. During our ride we qualified for 4 separate IBA rides, the Saddle Sore 1000, the Bun Burner 1500, the Saddle Sore 2000 and of course the 50 CC.  

We grab a motel room at about 5:30 AM and try to get a few hours rest before the 2:00 PM check out time but about 4 hours into a sound sleep cramps hit both of us in the calves and me in the bottom of my feet. We didn't realize how dehydrated we had become, although you may not feel thirsty as you are riding, the wind and exertion is taking it's toll on your body. So with a few hours of sleep we pack up and visit the marina area of San Diego just long enough for a few pictures with the USS Midway.  We were hoping to head home on I-40 a risky route this time of year, but it will save us a bunch of time. We check in with the Weather Channel which shows a storm coming in from the West but we were sure we could stay ahead of it. We head for Phoenix where I get to see my son and his family and get a much needed nights rest. Wednesday morning it's breakfast and good byes and we head north on  Rte. 17 and then decide to bushwhack north and east through the high desert country and on into the tall pine forests and elk country, where we find a good 2 feet of snow pack just starting to melt. What a great state to ride, from 70 degrees of the desert to snow in a matter of 3 hours or so. We join up with I-40 and start the trip home just ahead of a wintry mix on our heels. Outside of an icy fog in the morning coming through Albuquerque we stay mostly in the sun and dry and cold all the way home on Saturday afternoon. Our total mileage for the trip 6,419 miles in just over 7 1/2 days of riding. 

It was a tough ride and I would not recommend it to anyone who has not first attempted some of the other Iron Butt rides, such as the Saddle Sore 1000 (1,000 miles in 24 hours) or the Bun Burner 1500 (1,500 miles in 36 hours) both these rides will give you some idea of what you are up against. For info on these rides visit www.ironbutt.com If there is anything we can do to help you prepare for a ride or you have any comments please e-mail us.

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