1,018 miles - 18 hours and 50 minutes.

After completing 2 Iron Butt rides last year, I took a break.  The SS fever started anew for 2005.

I planned a trip to meet my mom for lunch.  The meeting place was Sangini's Pizza in Wickenburg, AZ.  Mom spends her winters in Surprise, AZ.

Since Scott and Michael wanted to go, I planed this trip as a rectangle.  This would allow me to start in Sylmar, travel for an hour, and meet up with Michael and Scott in Quartz Hill.  We would then ride together until we got back to Sylmar.  I would be done at that point.  Michael and Scott would be done an hour later when they got back to Quartz Hill.

Scott invite 2 of his friends from the California VTX Riders club to join us.  Ted started with me in Sylmar.  Greg started in Wrightwood and joined up with us in Quartz Hill.

As I write this in late March, this is the second wettest rain season on record for the LA area.  So it wasn't a big surprise when our first choice of dates to do the ride, March 5, was a washout.

Morning on March 12 was foggy.  Ted and I left the Chevron on Hubbard at the I-210 just after 4:00 in the morning.  The fog turned to a light drizzle as we merged onto I-5 and left the valley.  It cleared up as we climbed over the pass and made our way to Quartz Hill.  We were at the Chevron on 50th West near M by 5:00.  The other 3 riders were waiting there.

I was on my Green ZRX1200, Michael was on his Black Ninja 750, Scott has a Blue VTX1800, and Ted and Greg have Green VTX1800's.  Green was the dominate color.  As we were making our way back to the 14 in Lancaster, Michael suddenly pulled into a gas station.  He forgot to get a receipt at the first station.  I think he was able to squeeze a few pennies of gas into his tank, so he could get a receipt.

Gas at Kramer Junction, then Ludlow, where the picture at right was taken.  Then on to Needles, for some famously high priced gasoline.  Needles takes advantage of it's location along I-40 and a lack of gas stations to charge more.  Soon we were in Arizona, getting gas just east of Kingman.  Now for the longest leg of the journey, 120 miles to Wickenburg along US-93.  We arrived right on schedule, 1:00 MST.  We split several large pizzas.  The lunch photo shows (clockwise from lower left) my mom's hair, Scott, Greg, Ted, and Michael's belly.

We took our time and left Wickenburg 1/2 hour later than I had planned.  I think I was a bit too aggressive with the plan for the lunch break.  We continued southward along US-60, Az-Loop-303, I-10, and Az-85 to Gila Bend and another gas stop.  It was hot in Gila Bend, close to 90˚.  A big contrast from the 40˚ daybreak in the high desert before Kramer Junction.  I'm glad I took the mesh jacket and had just added layers for the morning and evening parts of our ride.

It was time to "head into the sunset."  Literally.  The problem with living on the west coast is that morning rides east are into the sun and the return home is also into the sun.  The sun was getting close to setting when we stopped outside of Yuma.  Disaster - I found out my headlight was blown.  The rex seems to eat headlight bulbs.  I run a slightly higher wattage, but even with a normal wattage bulb, it seems to blow prematurely.  I forgot my spare, but luckily, Scott had one.  Another 1/2 hour delay.

The sun finally set when we were cruising through the sand dunes along I-8.  At the gas stop in El Centro, I added several layers of clothing.  I'm glad I did.  The next 100 miles to La Mesa, was an adventure.  First high winds while we were climbing out of the Imperial Valley.  I was getting blown around.  I could see the VTX's behind me, so I kept the speed up.  Then it was damp fog, the kind that doesn't seem to wet the roadway, but keeps the facemask very wet.  I was grateful that the Fog City liner does its job quite well.

After La Mesa, we turned north on I-15.  Gas again at Lake Elsinore.  We had broke out of the fog/drizzle by then.  Greg said his goodbyes, he would continue north on I-15 back to Wrightwood.  The rest of us went to Sylmar via I-15, Ca-91, Ca-71, Ca-57, and then I-210.  About 2/3 of the way on this leg, we went back into the fog/drizzle.  The roads were quite wet by the time we got to Sylmar.  Michael and Scott took off for Quartz Hill.  Lee and I finished our ride at 22:50, almost 19 hours after we left Sylmar.  Just about 1 hour off of schedule.

My certificate was received on the 7th of May.  It is my 11th certificate from the IBA.