1,508 miles - 35 hours 50 minutes  (from my house it was 1,610 miles.)

After the success of the last ride, Michael asked me to work up another IBA ride.  This would be a ride to get my 10th IBA certificate.  He hadn't been to the Grand Canyon before, so I worked on some ride variants, visiting north or south rimes or both.  I finally settled on a 1500 in 36 hours, with 2 legs of 750 miles each.

So off we went on Saturday, June 26, for an adventure.  To allow us as much daylight time in the parks as possible, we started off at 8:00 am.  First it was north to Olancha, then east on CA-190 to Death Valley NP.  South of Owens Lake, we were buzzed by an F-18.  In the Saline Valley, he buzzed by us again.  It was quite a thrill, he was very low.  We waved as he went past.

Gas in Furnace Creek.  It was 11:30 and we had covered 225 miles.  Then a blast across Ash Meadows to Las Vegas.  The sun was really beating down, now.  Up the 15 to St. George, then on to the Visitor Center in Zion NP.  We arrived 5:00 PM Mountain time.  We had covered 507 miles so far.  Michael's Ninja was overheating and puking water out of the overflow.  We opened up the cover and allowed the bike to cool down (I think his thermostat was stuck.  It seemed to unstick itself and was fine for the rest of the trip.).  We went into the visitor center to get a receipt.  While in line, I drank a complete bottle of water in one shot, never pausing.

A short wait at the tunnel for an oversized vehicle to come through, and then it was on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I had misjudged our travel speed through the mountains of AZ, so we were running behind schedule.  Also, my chain started to stretch badly so I was taking it easy in the curves.  We arrived at the North Rim at 8:00 pm, got a receipt, and then heading on to Jacob's Lake for gas.  It was dark by the time we got to Jacob's Lake.  My low beam was blown and I did not bring the spare.  From here to Page, I let Michael lead and used the high beam, shutting off the light when a vehicle was approaching, and when we were in traffic.

We got to the motel at 10:00 at night.  We ate dinner, got gas, and then went to sleep. 755 miles done!

Since we were running behind schedule on Saturday, we decided to leave earlier than planned on Sunday.  So it was up at 4:30 and we were on the road at 5:30, after I adjusted the chain.  I could see that the sprocket was starting to be damaged by the stretched links.

My original plan was to get a receipt at Navajo NM, near Black Mesa, AZ.  Since the NM was within the Navajo Nation, it was on daylight savings time, unlike the rest of AZ.  Leaving early meant that we got to Black Mesa at 7:30 Navajo time, 1/2 hour before the park would open.  I didn't want to lose any time because I was worried about the Hoover Dam crossing and potential traffic on Sunday afternoon.  So we just got gas and headed out towards the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  This would potentially put us at just under 1,500 miles, so I was planning on alternates, perhaps going to Tehachapi on the way home.

Grand Canyon was great in the morning.  We got to the park at 8:00 (back on MST, which is the same as California [PST] time).  This photo was taken of Michael's Ninja along the south rim.  After the Grand Canyon, it was west on I-40.  We got off of the interstate at Seligman to take Historic US-66 from Seligman to Kingman.  Along the way we took a break at the Hackberry General Store.  After Kingman it was north again on US-93 to the Hoover Dam.  A long portion of this highway is nearly straight 4 lane divided highway.  I was a bit windy, so we drafted just to the right of a large SUV for most all of the way.  We made it through the 9/11 checkpoint without having to stop.  Then it was through the construction zone for the bypass.  In a few years, you won't have to go over the dam anymore.  A new bridge is being built to the south of the dam, crossing the Colorado river.  For now, it was a slow stop and go grind to cross the dam.

I was going to get gas in Henderson, but after consulting the GPS, I realized that we were only 2 miles short of 1,500!  So I led Michael up the highway into Las Vegas to get gas along Tropicana.  I then led him through the airport, back to the beltway and then onto I-15 for the journey back to California.  It was almost 3:00, leaving us 5 hours to cover the remaining 250 miles to Michael's house.  Should be a piece of cake, right?

Wrong.  Just before the state line, I-15 ground down to a halt.  It drops from 3 lanes to 2 at the state line.  Since we were practically in California, we started lane splitting.  It was 5 miles of splitting before relief came in the from of a truck lane over the first grade (Mountain Pass) in California.  Then we hit major traffic again.  There was a construction zone for repaving for the next 20 miles into Baker.  Both directions of the Interstate were on the southbound side of the freeway.  There was no extra lane for trucks over the second summit (Halloran Summit), and the posted speed for the narrow lanes was 55mph, with photo enforcement cameras.  Trucks and trailers were restricted to the outside lane because the inside lane was narrow.  Although the speed limit was 55mph, I doubt that the cages saw anything over 45mph for the whole stretch.  Many times they were stopped, or crawling along at 10mph.  Being on motorcycles in California is great.  We were able to split along through traffic, moving slightly faster than the cages.  Still, it took us 2:08 to cover 93 miles (Las Vegas to Baker).  This put us quite a bit down on our schedule.  We had 3 hours to cover 155 miles, and the traffic looked thick leaving Baker.

I was in despair.  I wasn't sure that we would make it.  I was trying to think of alternate routes, and couldn't come up with a good one.  So Michael suggested that we push on.  After we got back onto the freeway, traffic spread out.  The cages still had a tough time going over 55-60, but we could zip along, weaving through traffic at the posted 70mph speed limit.  We used old 58 to get to CA-58 and then went west to Mojave for gas.

It was just after 7:00 when we got to Mojave with only 30 miles to go.  We went south on the 14, getting gas at the station near Michael's house to mark our end time.  We arrive at his house a few minutes later, after covering 1,508 miles.  We only had 10 minutes to spare.  Wow, that was quite close.  Next time, I'll just stick to Interstates and deserted Nevada highways for my IBA rides.