I was intrigued with the idea of long distance riding.  I have traveled many miles in my various cages and loved to tour.  So I looked around at the Iron Butt website for tips on LD riding.  A chance to travel to Ely, Nevada, at the end of August, came up so I planned on riding there.  That trip worked out to be 1500 miles.  A few weeks before that trip I though I should try a 1,000 mile day.  Up until then I had only gone up to 600 miles, and that was on the KLR.  Since the ZRX is a smoother bike, I felt that I could do 1,000 without a problem.

I decided to do a freeway blast.  Using Streets & Trips, I planned a route going east on I-210, and then I-10 to Phoenix.  Then north on I-17 to Flagstaff.  Followed by west on I-40, CA-58, and CA-14 to get back home.  I had to include Mojave so I could get the total over 1,000 miles.  (The direct route from Barstow to Sylmar is 30 shorter than the route through Mojave.)

I lined up my witness, researched what was needed to qualify, programmed the GPS, packed wisely, filled the Camelbak, and finally took off at 6:03 am.  I stopped for gas 1 mile down the road to get an official receipt.  Then I was off and running.

The morning went fine.  Gas in Palm Springs.  Gas in Blythe - man, was it getting warm.  Riding through Quartzite, AZ at 9:30, I noticed that the billboard claimed the the temperature was 102!  When I stopped for gas in Tonopah, AZ, I made the mistake of hanging my helmet from the hook and got melted rubber from the tire on the shield.  Since Phoenix was a 'corner,' I had to stop for gas even though I only went about 50 miles.  It was here that I learned that you can't keep using the same credit card at the same brand of gas stations at the pump.  You have to go to the booth to get authorized.  I had a backup card (VISA) with me, so I decided to use it alternately with the AMEX.  In Phoenix, at 11:30am, it was 110!

Luckily, I-17 heads north and up to higher elevations.  Flagstaff was nice and cool since it is at 6,900' (Phoenix is at 1,300').  I blew through Flagstaff on the freeway, and then I realized that I should be getting gas.  I find a station a few miles west in Bellevue, AZ.  I took a much needed break and lubed the chain.  I also topped off the Camelbak with 2 liters of water.

The road to Kingman goes back downhill.  It was a nice pleasant ride.  In Kingman, I stopped again for gas.  It was hot again, but not too bad.  After the gas stop, I found a 'rabbit' (fast traveling car) on the freeway.  I followed this car until the CA border.  Then it was over the river into Needles.  It was 115 degrees in Needles when I just had to stop.  So I got gas.  The station had an air-conditioned waiting room with a nice couch.  I stayed for 30 minutes.  I left at 5:00 pm to continue my journey.  A long stretch of construction had the freeway down to 1 lane for 30 miles.  The traffic was moving at 50 mph through there.  The final 3 gas stops were Barstow, Mojave (required since this was a 'corner'), and at the very first station back in Sylmar.  I made it home at 9:18, covering 1,028 miles in just over 15 hours.

I learned that I needed to carry more credit cards.  I also needed to plan my gas stops so I didn't waste time hunting for a station.