doug5551
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TCFjr and I completed The Olive Express SS1K by pure chance on the first day of Spring in March of this year. When Tc found out that the IBA had a special certificate for those who complete a SS on each of the first day of the season for four consecutive seasons, he suggested we complete the quad-fecta. If you don't know Tcfjr, he is a real riders' rider, the kind of guy who on his summer vacation rides his FJR up to the Northwest Territories in Canada to take a picture of his bike by the Providence entry sign. After he asked me about it, I agreed without any deliberation.
Now, what is so tough about a Four Seasons Saddlesore? After all, it is just four simple SS1Ks. I will tell you what makes it tough. It is a command performance. You must ride the 1,000 miles on that specific day. It is not like a "normal" Iron Butt Ride that you can reschedule for any whim. If you have any mechanical issues, flat tire, illness or injury, bad weather and do not complete the ride, you are a DNF. If the first day of the season is on a work day, you either take the day off, or quit the ride. June 21 happened to also be "Ride to Work" Day. For us, it was ride AWAY from work day.
TC was the route architect for this ride, since I had planned our Olive Express Ride. Our gas stops would be Mojave, Merced, Williams, Gilroy and Santa Maria, all in California. We would start and end in El Segundo across the street from my place, at the same gas station where I finished my 100CCC a year ago.
TCFJR's son Justin kindly agreed to be our starting witness:
He was riding his new Kawasaki. Hopefully he will be coming with us on our Fall SS1K in September. Let me tell you, he is fast on that Concours. Reno John might be able to keep up with him on his speedy Gen 1 FJR, but I would not stand a chance with my slow Gen 2 model.
Since I do not know his forum handle, I am going to call him "TCC14":
Here is TCFJR filling up for the first time today:
A quick photo of both of us before we take off out of Los Angeles at 0600:
We beat the crowds through the notoriously trafficy West side of LA. The early birds got the worm, and we escaped the metropolis without any need to slow down.
First gas stop was in Mojave:
Now, when you finish your first Saddlesore 1000 ride, it is common for people to tell you that the world is going to seem like a smaller place with your new found ability to travel farther than you have before. What they don't tell you is that the world will also be a much fuller, less empty place.
As we rode through Tehachapi, CA, I thought of LD Rider Pat Ford, who had attempted a much more difficult Four Seasons Gold ride, where you do a BBG on each of the first days of the season. Last December, his effort was heartbreakingly dashed and ruined by a flat tire in Yuma, Arizona. I knew he was at home healing with an air cast on his leg and hoped he heals quickly so he can prepare for a little 5,000 mile ride this August.
As we went through Bakersfield, I though of Alex and Stephanie Harper, who competed in the IBR with an antique Suzuki RE-5 in a valiant effort. Fortunately, he is now riding an 08 FJR, though I belived he used his Suzuki Bandit in the recent Cal 24.
Hanford, Ca reminded me of Tom and Rosie Sperry, whose house I had visited a year ago during the Superior Ride to Eat. All of these places are special to me because of my LD experiences. My life and these places would be much emptier without them.
After gas in Merced, we crossed over to I-5 in Stockton, and headed to our turn around point in Williams, a bit north of Sacramento.
We got to eat, fill out paperwork, and make calls and answer emails:
I got a call from Jwhite518, who was following our SPOT tracks on his computer. He had noticed that we had been at the same location for 30 minutes and was concerned that something was wrong. I called him back and told him we were taking a leisurely lunch. He did not seem to understand that, since we weren't getting any points for the rest break. He was like a good coach and told us to "Get Those Wheels Rolling!!!" and "You need to do a ride harder than a SS on freeways, your ride is too easy". It is like he is the second incarnation of George Zelenz and he wants to SPANK us....
After our break, we headed towards the San Francisco Bay area. TCC14 was familiar with its traffic patterns and said we should be OK, as we were mostly going against the main traffic flows. He was correct, and we made good time. At least till we got to the 101 South transition, where traffic came to a dead stop in grid lock.
What to do? Fortunatly, both of us had seen the James Burleigh Lane Splitting Instructional Videos, so we charged ahead. We shared lanes with many vehicles as we safely proceeded through the vehicles. We cleared through traffic and made our way towards Gilroy. We were making good progress, when all of a sudden, I noticed some squid on a motorcycle rapidly approaching us from behind.
What a second.....how many squids do you know that wear a hi-viz yellow Darian jacket and a white Shoei flip face helmet???
The answer, of course, is there is only one who meets that description:
Jerry White had successfully performed a SPOT intercept on us. He lurked on the side of the freeway till he got us, his prey, in visual sight, and then safely caught up to us. If you know Jerry, you know that he likes a challenge, and he decided that we were going to be his first SPOT intercept targets. He picked a perfect location, as it was about 10 miles from our Gilroy gas stop, where we took a 20 minute break to visit. Many thanks to Jerry, as the gas station visit was the highlight of the ride for us:
I had purchased some olives in Williams, and presented him with his second gift of olives from the solstice rides:
We confirmed that Gilroy really does smell like garlic on a hot summer night, and then proceeded down Highway 101. Let me give you one piece of advice: Highway 101 is not an autobahn. We came around a bend and came face to face with a LEO lurking off in a hidden location. I guess he was busy with paperwork, because he could have had a twofer. After numerous other Ka hits, we prudently decided to let someone else be our rabbit and followed behind them. We made it through this danger zone, and both of us still have our clean driving records intact, just like Reno John. We would not have to borrow Cal24Master's "How to Beat a Ticket" book, which has proven strategies to navigate your way through the legal system.
In San Luis Obispo, we had our first unscheduled stop in more than 2,000 miles. Now how is that for discipline and team work. We function perfectly as riding partners and I am fortunate to be able to ride with TCFJR. It got cold on us, and we needed to put on our Cold weather gear. Here are Tc's words describing our stop:
We got delayed a little on the way down the 101. As soon as we left Gilroy the temperature dropped noticeably, and once the sun dipped below the coastal mountains (hills?), it got uncomfortably cold. I forced an unscheduled stop in San Luis Obispo to put on warmer gear. We stopped in a residential area just off the freeway, and chatted with three groups of people who asked about our ride, which was fun, but added some time.
The gas stop in Santa Maria also took longer than expected, as we put on even warmer gear for the final push. We also got delayed going through Oxnard when construction forced the freeway down to one lane for a mile or so.
At the end of the ride, our friend Peter Perrin was at the gas station in El Segundo, along with my son Justin, who surprised us with a return visit. Justin had ridden out with me Monday morning to be our start witness. (Justin had also driven over to LAX just after midnight on Monday to pick up my sister [his aunt] and her son [his cousin] at LAX, so he made three separate, 70-mile round-trips to the LAX/El Segundo area on Monday...)
Thanks to TCC14 and Peter Perrin for being our witnesses and Jerry White for his SPOT intercept.
See you in September....
Now, what is so tough about a Four Seasons Saddlesore? After all, it is just four simple SS1Ks. I will tell you what makes it tough. It is a command performance. You must ride the 1,000 miles on that specific day. It is not like a "normal" Iron Butt Ride that you can reschedule for any whim. If you have any mechanical issues, flat tire, illness or injury, bad weather and do not complete the ride, you are a DNF. If the first day of the season is on a work day, you either take the day off, or quit the ride. June 21 happened to also be "Ride to Work" Day. For us, it was ride AWAY from work day.
TC was the route architect for this ride, since I had planned our Olive Express Ride. Our gas stops would be Mojave, Merced, Williams, Gilroy and Santa Maria, all in California. We would start and end in El Segundo across the street from my place, at the same gas station where I finished my 100CCC a year ago.
TCFJR's son Justin kindly agreed to be our starting witness:
He was riding his new Kawasaki. Hopefully he will be coming with us on our Fall SS1K in September. Let me tell you, he is fast on that Concours. Reno John might be able to keep up with him on his speedy Gen 1 FJR, but I would not stand a chance with my slow Gen 2 model.
Since I do not know his forum handle, I am going to call him "TCC14":
Here is TCFJR filling up for the first time today:
A quick photo of both of us before we take off out of Los Angeles at 0600:
We beat the crowds through the notoriously trafficy West side of LA. The early birds got the worm, and we escaped the metropolis without any need to slow down.
First gas stop was in Mojave:
Now, when you finish your first Saddlesore 1000 ride, it is common for people to tell you that the world is going to seem like a smaller place with your new found ability to travel farther than you have before. What they don't tell you is that the world will also be a much fuller, less empty place.
As we rode through Tehachapi, CA, I thought of LD Rider Pat Ford, who had attempted a much more difficult Four Seasons Gold ride, where you do a BBG on each of the first days of the season. Last December, his effort was heartbreakingly dashed and ruined by a flat tire in Yuma, Arizona. I knew he was at home healing with an air cast on his leg and hoped he heals quickly so he can prepare for a little 5,000 mile ride this August.
As we went through Bakersfield, I though of Alex and Stephanie Harper, who competed in the IBR with an antique Suzuki RE-5 in a valiant effort. Fortunately, he is now riding an 08 FJR, though I belived he used his Suzuki Bandit in the recent Cal 24.
Hanford, Ca reminded me of Tom and Rosie Sperry, whose house I had visited a year ago during the Superior Ride to Eat. All of these places are special to me because of my LD experiences. My life and these places would be much emptier without them.
After gas in Merced, we crossed over to I-5 in Stockton, and headed to our turn around point in Williams, a bit north of Sacramento.
We got to eat, fill out paperwork, and make calls and answer emails:
I got a call from Jwhite518, who was following our SPOT tracks on his computer. He had noticed that we had been at the same location for 30 minutes and was concerned that something was wrong. I called him back and told him we were taking a leisurely lunch. He did not seem to understand that, since we weren't getting any points for the rest break. He was like a good coach and told us to "Get Those Wheels Rolling!!!" and "You need to do a ride harder than a SS on freeways, your ride is too easy". It is like he is the second incarnation of George Zelenz and he wants to SPANK us....
After our break, we headed towards the San Francisco Bay area. TCC14 was familiar with its traffic patterns and said we should be OK, as we were mostly going against the main traffic flows. He was correct, and we made good time. At least till we got to the 101 South transition, where traffic came to a dead stop in grid lock.
What to do? Fortunatly, both of us had seen the James Burleigh Lane Splitting Instructional Videos, so we charged ahead. We shared lanes with many vehicles as we safely proceeded through the vehicles. We cleared through traffic and made our way towards Gilroy. We were making good progress, when all of a sudden, I noticed some squid on a motorcycle rapidly approaching us from behind.
What a second.....how many squids do you know that wear a hi-viz yellow Darian jacket and a white Shoei flip face helmet???
The answer, of course, is there is only one who meets that description:
Jerry White had successfully performed a SPOT intercept on us. He lurked on the side of the freeway till he got us, his prey, in visual sight, and then safely caught up to us. If you know Jerry, you know that he likes a challenge, and he decided that we were going to be his first SPOT intercept targets. He picked a perfect location, as it was about 10 miles from our Gilroy gas stop, where we took a 20 minute break to visit. Many thanks to Jerry, as the gas station visit was the highlight of the ride for us:
I had purchased some olives in Williams, and presented him with his second gift of olives from the solstice rides:
We confirmed that Gilroy really does smell like garlic on a hot summer night, and then proceeded down Highway 101. Let me give you one piece of advice: Highway 101 is not an autobahn. We came around a bend and came face to face with a LEO lurking off in a hidden location. I guess he was busy with paperwork, because he could have had a twofer. After numerous other Ka hits, we prudently decided to let someone else be our rabbit and followed behind them. We made it through this danger zone, and both of us still have our clean driving records intact, just like Reno John. We would not have to borrow Cal24Master's "How to Beat a Ticket" book, which has proven strategies to navigate your way through the legal system.
In San Luis Obispo, we had our first unscheduled stop in more than 2,000 miles. Now how is that for discipline and team work. We function perfectly as riding partners and I am fortunate to be able to ride with TCFJR. It got cold on us, and we needed to put on our Cold weather gear. Here are Tc's words describing our stop:
We got delayed a little on the way down the 101. As soon as we left Gilroy the temperature dropped noticeably, and once the sun dipped below the coastal mountains (hills?), it got uncomfortably cold. I forced an unscheduled stop in San Luis Obispo to put on warmer gear. We stopped in a residential area just off the freeway, and chatted with three groups of people who asked about our ride, which was fun, but added some time.
The gas stop in Santa Maria also took longer than expected, as we put on even warmer gear for the final push. We also got delayed going through Oxnard when construction forced the freeway down to one lane for a mile or so.
At the end of the ride, our friend Peter Perrin was at the gas station in El Segundo, along with my son Justin, who surprised us with a return visit. Justin had ridden out with me Monday morning to be our start witness. (Justin had also driven over to LAX just after midnight on Monday to pick up my sister [his aunt] and her son [his cousin] at LAX, so he made three separate, 70-mile round-trips to the LAX/El Segundo area on Monday...)
Thanks to TCC14 and Peter Perrin for being our witnesses and Jerry White for his SPOT intercept.
See you in September....
