Iron Butt Experience

by Tim Tracey

I’ve always wondered if I could complete this challenge and, honestly, I didn’t think that I could. I’ve ridden many, many miles over the years but not a lot of long-distance trips; many of my trips were in the 400-600 mile range. Quite frankly, at the end of one of those trips my rear-end was the limiting factor; far, I’m afraid, from an “Iron Butt”. Fast forward to Bitchn’ Stitchn’ and a custom seat!

My trip this year to the BMWOA National Rally in Redmond was going to present an opportunity for me to “give it a go” if I pulled the trigger. With five other club members we rode to Redmond and the trip went well with the exception of my “rear tire” issue I had and previously written about. After the rally, our group went in separate directions as our summer plans were different.

I left Redmond for Medford to visit my best friend and his wife; spent a week there and continued my trip down the OR/CA coastline. I had a wonderful evening in Ft Bragg, a couple nights in Lake Tahoe, a night in Sacramento visiting another friend and, ultimately to the Tenaya resort just outside of Yosemite National Park. These pictures are from my hotel room in Ft Bragg and the bar/restaurant upstairs:

Having lived in Sacramento before moving to Monument CO I got to ride most of my favorite roads (Hwy’s: 49, 88, 89, 108, 120 and 140) – good times!

My adult children met me at the resort where we spent three wonderful days and completed the main purpose of this leg of my trip - spread my wife’s (Pat) ashes in the park (Mariposa Grove, see below).

Yosemite has always had a very special part in my life and my family; I took Pat there on our second date on my ’72 R75/5 back in ’77 where I got Pat “hooked”; we also took our kids there many times. After our stay, we went our separate ways back home; I knew the Reno NV area was the distance I needed to accomplish the “iron butt” so I popped over to Carson City (via hwy 49 and 108) via Sonora Pass.

The stage was set to get a good night’s sleep and pull the trigger the next morning.

5 AM My alarm went off early and I left the hotel at approximately 5 am. The documentation required to be submitted to the Iron Butt organization is pretty simple, a picture of a gas station receipt with the motorcycle’s odometer from each stop along the way.

Everything was looking good for this attempt, just had to do it! I got pretty good at “staying on the road” thanks to my “Bitchn’” seat and being as efficient as possible only stopping to refuel (a bathroom break, refilling my jackets water bladder, a snack and fuel) for about 20 minutes. The weather across Nevada was moderate, in the 80’s and pretty comfortable at speed. From the Salt Lake area to Grand Junction it was hot, as high as 97 but my cooling vest helped greatly.

7 PM Leaving Grand Junction at about 7 pm, I re-wet my cooling vest as it was still 97 degrees, I continued my journey; all was good until I got up in altitude as the sun was going down and I couldn’t close my vents on my jacket fast enough; note to self, I should have stopped to remove the cooling vest as I was cold!

Going over the passes on I-70 in the dark was challenging as the headlight on my ’13 R1200RT could have used the Denali LED’s I added to my new ride (’23 R1250RT); the painted lines on the highway were faded and the glare from oncoming vehicles was very bright – really had to slow down!

At this point I’m getting ready for the ride to be over and thought I could make it home (or final gas stop) from Grand Junction but my estimated range to get back to Monument was too close for comfort so I stopped in Morrison and Monument to complete the trip.

11 PM I arrived in Monument CO about 11 pm, refueled and documented the last stop before heading home. In retrospect, I was able to complete the challenge successfully and I joined a group of riders (and friends) that I respect and admire!