Saturday afternoon we all suited up for the 17 mile trip to the Swannee River Café in Fargo, Georgia.  The local Saturday night special is fried quail which many tried (it looked like a little chicken)!  We all gassed up, heading back to our camp sites for our last evening. 

Maybe next year there will be CAMPING 103!!  

BMW NEF Florida Bun Burner Gold – 04/10-11/2010 by Ron Meisen

Ron Meisen ready to begin the BBG with the support of his son Jeremy

I think it is interesting how much in life starts and ends as a math problem. You start out counting on your fingers and toes and graduate to things you never dreamed.  Long distance riding is that simple in the beginning and at the end. As with all things the in-between is, of course, another matter entirely.   ‘you talk the talk, do you walk the walk?’ –animal mother, Full Metal Jacket 1987

The Math Problem Well, Martin Cook is at it again, this time for a Bun Burner Gold attempt (1500 miles in 24 hours). This is listed as an ‘extreme’ event by the IBA (Great, I’m going to attempt something a bunch of guys that do this all the time call extreme….) He has put together a pair of routes, one clockwise and one counter clockwise, all in Florida, that would seem to fit the bill. We return to our starting point in Orange Park after ~1545 miles, hopefully within the 24 hour time limit. Martin has billed this as 23.5 hours at ‘normal’ speeds (his quotes, not mine), I figure I’ll have to have a moving average of 75 MPH to keep that schedule allowing for ~120 minutes (15 minutes X  8 or 2 hours) of basic stops.

Martin Cook prepares for the BBG, with witnesses Bil Reed and David Sturgis.

Planning – 1 Week before Start

Bike Prep

I have just had the 36K service, along with a new set of tires (I’m a little disappointed to only get 18K from the last set..). There are no issues and it is running well. I have continued to travel on my weekly commute (Loganville-Jacksonville-Loganville, 600 mi roundtrip) and completed two SS1000 last year. I will pretty much just check the tires and oil for this one. Other than continuing on with that ‘training regimen’, I’m good to go. I will use a GPS plus a tankbag and the three Hard bags for storage. Any extra clothes will be split between the side bags after the toolkit/spares are in. The top case will be for ready items and the tankbag will carry all the small comfort items and any to-hand snacks/drinks.

On Gear
For the trip, I plan to wear my normal riding outfit for spring. I will wear First Gear Thermo, gloves, boots, and my old Shuberth C2. I will carry a heated vest and a 2 piece rain suit. Mostly I will wear a combination of fleece sweatshirt and/or the heated vest.. I also carry three sets of gloves for warm, rain and cold. The temperatures on my tune-up/commutes will be colder than expected in this event. The trip will range from ~50 degrees at the start / end to 85+degrees during the day. Hottest will be the portion on Saturday afternoon. Above 75 degrees and  I will shift to a mesh jacket.

  Route Planning
Martin has published two route plans, one clockwise around the state and the other counter clockwise. I have changed them to match my expected range per tank, and to even out some of the legs. I have them so they are both 10 stops. The counter CW trip travels from Tampa through Miami (worst traffic expected on the trip) from 8pm to about 2am. The clockwise trip does that in reverse, Miami to Tampa, from Noon through 6 pm. From the plans published by Martin, the trip will leave Jacksonville around 7 am and travel north to Yulee Florida (about 40 miles) then either turn south on I-95 or west on I-10. I am currently leaning toward the Clockwise route thinking it will be better to get south Florida out of the way early and have two thirds of the trip to make up ground/average

Planned and expected Stops
I am only going to be out for one day (I’ll at least finish a Regular Bun Burner), so I will be as self-contained as possible and carry all needed food and drink. This has had a significant effect on the number and timing of stops in previous events. I plan to stop for fuel/receipts 10 times 7 mandatory and 3 for distance). I have no trouble keeping a fuel stop to 10-15 minutes on my weekly commute so I’ll use that as the average. I will expect to take a 20 minute break at about 12 hours and another at about 18 hours. These may / may not happen depending on circumstances and may / may not coincide with fuel stops. These are the approximate arrivals as I expect them (including the basic 2 hours of fuel stops), although the times will vary according to conditions (and luck) as the event progresses. I may be able to leave the start earlier than 7am. I will most likely run at least until sundown (around 7:30PM) before my first longer rest stop. . The planned stops for both directions are listed below. You can see that it plays pretty well in either direction and the same stops are used both ways. 

CounterClockWise Version (@ 75MPH moving average + 2 hours at fuel/rest stops)

Stop #                          Approx Time of arrival (all times are Eastern)
1 - Start                       7:00AM         0 Miles            Orange Park, FL**

2                                  7:33AM         41 Miles    Yulee Fl **
3                                  9:48AM         198 Miles            Tallahassee, FL
4                                  12:54PM         411 Miles            Pensacola Fl**

5                                  4:45PM         681 Miles    Live Oak, FL**

6                                  8:15PM         925 Miles            Sarasota Fl

7                                  9:54PM         1031 Miles    Naples, FL**

8                                  11:54PM         1163 Miles    Florida City (Homestead) FL**

9                                  2:14AM         1318 Miles    Fort Pierce, FL

10 - End                       5:26AM         1539 Miles            Jacksonville, Fl**

Clockwise Version @ 75MPH moving average +2 hours at fuel / rest stops

1 – Start                       7:00 AM      0 Miles            Orange Park Fl**

2                                  7:33 AM      41 Miles    Yulee FL **

3                                  10:58AM         246 Miles    Fort Pierce Fl

4                                  1:17PM         439 Miles    Florida City Fl**

5                                  3:19PM         574 Miles    Naples Fl**

6                                  4:58PM         678 Miles            Sarasota, FL

7                                  8:29PM            923Miles         Live Oak Fl**

8                                  12:20AM            1123Miles            Pensacola, Fl**

9                                  3:25AM            1407Miles            Tallahassee FL

10- End                        5:35AM            1550Miles       Orange Park FL**

 ** Mandatory Stops

 I have traveled all these roads before, most of the route many times over the years. The in-motion riding time for the event is estimated to be around 21 hours without allowing for any stops (where’d I put that fuel cell?). From the sections I know, it should be relatively easy to average 70+ MPH with few exceptions. The section between Tampa through West Palm Beach will be interesting anytime. I expect that it will also be difficult to maintain a high average speed through South Florida. (this is probably my major concern at this time.)   

Weather
As the trip gets closer; I will start to plan for the expected weather. Outside of some judicious thinking, probably not much I can do here. Currently the outlook is excellent, with only a slight headwind on the east bound leg to Pensacola. Temps will range from 50-85 degrees, with the South Florida section after dark, the warmest part will be Tallahassee to Tampa (CCW) or from Miami to Live Oak (CW) in the afternoon.  

Item List
Tool Kit
Flashlight (2) small and large
Tire Repair Kit (1)
First Gear Rain Jacket (1)
First Gear Rain Pants (1)
First Gear Thermo Suit
Gloves (3 Pair) One fingerless, One leather, One medium winter
Fleece Sweatshirt (1)
Heated Vest and Coiled Cord (1)
Sunscreen
ChapStick
Florida Map (1)
5 Bottled Water (16 oz)
5 GatorAid (12 Oz)
Fruit (Bananas, Apples, Peaches, Oranges (whatever is available)
Sandwiches (4)

Trip - 24 hours before start

Ok, about 24 hours till start. Final prep will be in two areas only now. Last checks for the RT and final packing: All the non-perishable items are packed. I have separated all the tools, spares, etc into the left Saddlebag. All extra clothes, etc are in the right.  Into the topcase will be the cooler packed with fruit, ready drinks, snack bags (trailmix, nuts mostly), and sandwiches (which I'll make last thing tonight). I may put any extra clothing and misc stuff there too. They will consist of the things I will want to get to on my standard fuel stops. I will charge MP3 player, Cel Phone(s) and be sure flashlights are fully functioning. Checked tires, oil level and washed the RT. Tire pressure and oil level have not changed since the service about 1800 miles ago. I'll check them once more tomorrow morning just before leaving. Weather reports are becoming more accurate as the event gets closer. Looks like the temperatures will be about the same as the previous planning. For the daytime run,  it will start in the low 50s and getting to mid 80s on the southern leg. Winds look to be headwinds out to Pensacola, then tailwinds through the day on the east and south bound legs. There is a chance of rain south of Tampa through southern Florida. It will get cooler in early morning with a chance of fog as I return to Jacksonville on Sunday morning. With that, I have made all the productive plans I can, everything else will be tactical changes along the route. It looks to be just Martin and I participating so good luck to us both.

The Trip – 04/10-11/2010

      Well, I'm done, literally and figuratively. First let me say thank you very much to Martin Cook, Dave Sturgis, Bill Reed and Larry Meeker of BMW Owners of Northeast Florida and to my son Jeremy. Martin’s route selection and encouragement made the event both possible and doable. Jeremy, Dave and his wife were gracious enough to come by to witness my IBA Starting Documentation, Bill and Larry were my witnesses for the ending documents. I decided to do the Counter Clockwise route for two reasons. Martin liked it better than the clockwise route and a friend reminded that this particular weekend was the end of spring break for most of the southeast. You’ll see later that turned out to be a very good decision.

      I arrived at the start point, the Racetrac on Park Ave in downtown Orange Park, at around 6:30 am. My son Jeremy (the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officer) had agreed to be one of my two required witnesses and arrived right behind me. As we waited, Dave Sturgis (one of the participants along on my first SS1000) arrived to be my second witness. I decide that I would go ahead and get moving as soon as my paperwork was complete. By 7:15 (Actual, scheduled for 7:00 am ET) I was fueled and headed out the gate. One thing that I forgot to check was the time stamp on my starting receipt (I looked at my watch to see my approximate time out…). At my first fuel stop in Yulee (Actual 7:53 am, scheduled as 7:31 am, 38 miles from start), I did look at my first stop to see how I was tracking for my schedule as I did my required notations. I noticed that it was for 6:43 am or 32 minutes earlier that my actual start. After a few choice self flagellizing remarks, I decided that it was probably no big deal, except that I had 32 less minutes to get back to the start. I rationalized (optimism runs strong in my family) that I could eliminate the issue if I used the same pump when I returned (and it happened to still be 32 minutes early). My schedule called for me to get back to Orange Park around 5:26 am Sunday morning (my schedule was based on a 7 am start so on-time would now be the scheduled time + 15 minutes). I decided I had much more pressing things to worry about. It turned out that the second most stressing thing on my mind for a lot of the trip would be “how am I going to make up that 32 minutes?” Regardless, I was off and running so there was not much I could do unless I wanted to go back and start all over again. I never considered that to be an option. The trip from Yulee back onto I-10 for the west bound leg went by very quickly. I hooked up with a few fast cars and finally a group of cruiser riders that helped me keep up a reasonable pace to Jacksonville’s Westside. After the road cleared a little, hardly any traffic early Saturday morning out past Baldwin, I put the cruise control on 77 miles per hour and let it run. I saw three state troopers on this leg, but they hardly noticed my rate of speed, one actually waved. I was surprised how quickly the miles rolled past until I left my second fuel stop west of Tallahassee. (Midway Fl, 10:33 am ET, scheduled as 10:05 am ET, 230 miles from start) As I traveled west from there, I began to suspect that someone had either moved Pensacola or they had inserted some (more) blank space in that (giant) blank space that is I-10 west of Marianna. I reached Pensacola just before 1 PM ET and fueled (scheduled 12:54, Actual 1:06 ET, 407 Miles from start). I took this opportunity to eat/drink, and reconfigure my gear for the warmer eastbound leg back to I-75. In my original plan, this leg would be the longest (270 miles) of the trip. From the mileage I got from the first two tanks, I knew I would have to fuel again in around 220 miles (more important was adding an 11^th stop to the trip. I had a mandatory stop in Lake City area to peg that ‘corner’ on the route). The eastbound leg was into a fairly stiff headwind, evidently the weather report for North West winds @ 5-10 MPH was not quite accurate.  I took my fourth stop at Monticello Fl ( 4:15 PM ET, 626 miles from start) and Fifth Stop just south of Lake City (5:16 pm ET, 701 miles from start). The average of those two stops would be 4:45, or the exact time of my originally scheduled stop in Live Oak. I had paused long enough to eat something in Monticello, but my Lake City stop was Gas and Go. My GPS only registered 3 additional minutes as stopped time for that one. The winds were still pushing the bike around pretty well, mostly from the east-northeast. Traffic was light so far along the route with the exception of Tallahassee and Pensacola. Now traffic started to get heavier again as I passed Gainesville. The North bound side was very heavy, slowing just because of the load and proximity, and there was a fairly major backup on that side due to an accident. Evidently that was the spring break traffic warning I had been given. I was glad I was going in the opposite direction. Southbound was moving well, and by staying in the faster lanes I was able to stay close to my required 77-80 MPH run speed. Since I fueled an extra time in Lake City, I knew I could push further south, but I did not have enough range to get all the way to my next mandatory stop in Naples. Traffic began to thicken even more as I reached the outskirts of Tampa. Just south of the junction with I-4, the interstate dropped from 6 lanes to four so it really began to clog up. I began to run into and through construction zones. Mapquest had warned me that construction areas could be almost constant from Sarasota south to Naples and they were. My moving average speed reported by the GPS was dropping, going from above 76 to just under 74 mph. I tried to choose a less complicated exit for my next fuel stop, and settled for Ellenton Florida. For this area, I was pretty lucky. It was easy off and almost as easy back on. The stop was about 12 minutes and I was on my way again. (8:01 PM, 900 miles from start) Naples would be the next stop that would match up with my original schedule. Up to now I was holding my own but South Florida was still to come and that was where I expected my average to really start to drop off. The GPS was saying my moving average was back to 74.2 or so and my overall average was ~68.  The math said I would make it in under 24 hours if I could hold them both where they were but the upcoming trek into deep Miami loomed larger and larger as I got closer. About this time, I noticed that I had completed the first 1K (14:40 into the run) just north of Naples. I had a SS1000 even if I got skunked on the rest of the trip. Traffic was very heavy around Naples, and especially so when I dropped off on exit 101 for the next stop. I had chosen mostly stops on the west side on this leg to keep them simple. Up to now, this had been fairly successful. Historically, strange and trying things tend to happen to me in south Florida. I don’t know why, they just do. Just to emphasize the point, they started to arrive with this stop. It took two cycles of the first traffic light just to get off the exit ramp, and two more at the next light to get away from the interstate. Then I had to wait about 2 minutes for a pump to clear. The stop itself was still reasonably quick, about 15-20 minutes. I took time to eat some fruit, drink a little and try to take a breath. A woman came up to me and asked how to get to Fort Myers. (Fuzzy recollection and Rhetorical question to self – “Didn’t I just pass an exit with that name on it, like ten minutes ago?” – safe answer to woman – “I’m sorry, I am not from around here”).  (9:54 PM Actual, 9:53 Scheduled, 1030 Miles from start) Leaving, I had to travel about a mile to find a place to do a U-turn, go back through a pair of traffic lights (two cycles each) so I could get on I-75. You’d think I’d be in the green, right?  Not hardly, We’re talking South Florida here. I immediately ran in to a $2.50 toll for the ~90 miles across the Everglades. Did I mention south Florida is not one of my favorite places. It was just after 10 pm and I had been moving for 15+ hours. I still felt reasonably good considering the circumstances, but it was getting a little uncomfortable. It was getting cooler and damper as I went east. I had meant, for the last three stops, to take an couple of ibuprofen to help with the stiffness, but since that wasn’t a normal stop task (CC-Pay at pump, fuel, get receipt, check city/date/time, write ODO & GPS Miles, optional bio break, check gear, close up tank bag and hard cases, walk around bike, saddle up and gone) I forgot it each time. It was really dark out in the swamp. It had clouded up and was getting a little foggy as I moved on. I saw a few deer off to the side, changed lanes to pass behind a crossing opossum, and tried to maintain a good average. I passed by two accidents as they were being cleared but neither had any lane blockage or delays,. An emergency vehicle passed me with lights and siren about half way across. I continued on I-75 until the exit to the Florida Turnpike and headed south toward the Keys. It was less crowded than I expected, and I was able to keep moving well even though the posted speed limit dropped to 60 mph. I began to run through a series of toll plazas. I had tried to prepare for this, having 10 $1 bills in the tank bag (surely there can ‘t be 10 toll plazas on my planned route…) but after 4 quick subtractions, I began to wonder. I got to the mandatory stop in Florida City and found out that my credit card was not working here. After two tries I paid cash just to get out of Dodge. I have to admit, my patience was wearing a little thin, a bad thing when you have to keep to a routine. I  noticed when dealing with the attendant, my ability to rationalize and communicate were beginning to erode. They say those skills are the first to leave when you are tired, or you are in a third world country late at night. The receipt said 12:07 am (scheduled 11:54PM, 1162 Miles from start). Now the anxiety was (1) getting out of Miami with a decent average, (2) making up that 32 minutes, and (3) my Credit card might not work in Fort Pierce either: Great. The first one, getting out of Miami was really turned out to be a non-problem. It was after midnight and even the 6 additional toll booth stops were no delay. I arrived at the entrance to the main turnpike up near Pompano, got my ticket and proceeded to run the last 90 miles to Fort Pierce in as close to 1 hour as I could. I followed a few fast cars, saw only one trooper (my first not at an accident scene since Tallahassee) and managed to get my averages back up a little. At the final toll, I paid my $5.70. I was so glad to be near my final stop, I forgot to ask for a receipt. My last fuel stop was only about a block from the turnpike exit. Did you know there are two Pilot Travel Centers, on the north side of the street, one block apart on Okeechobee Rd. in Fort Pierce?  Well we all do now. Little aggravating things continued to occur, the late hour, my own fatigue and discomfort, and the scent of home did not improve my mood. The receipt didn’t print from the pump so I went inside and got one (mostly monosyllables for my side of the conversation, I found my vocabulary was slowly being reduced to a series of grunts and finger pointing – “Pump not print, Ron need receipt or Ron will die…” Teary eyes optional…). It kept getting better and better, it had the date, but no printed time. I really did not have the energy or the will to try to get further corrective action from the attendant. It was an optional stop, so I wrote in the time and mileage, completed the stop and headed north. It was 2:30 (against a 2:29 schedule, 1318 miles from Start) and all I had to do was finish. No more stops, not a lot of traffic, no planned delays of any kind. South Florida was truly behind me now. The next stop on this little voyage of discovery was unwelcome but not really surprising. I found out that, for me, the lack of anxiety is not a particularly a good thing at 3 am in the morning. For the first time on the trip, I began to have trouble staying alert. I started to yawn, my eyes would water and then they began to burn like I had gotten something in them. The left eye was really bad. I decided I should stop before it got worse and wash them both out. I was all by myself on the highway, no cars in either direction as far as the (still burning) eyes could see, so I just pulled to the side and proceeded to dump a bottle of water on my face. For some reason, at that particular moment, I noticed how chilly it had become. My eyes seemed better, I felt better and now if I could avoid hypothermia, should be good to go. I was ~160 miles out and I was moving once again. My average was holding as was my schedule. About an hour later, I began to experience the same things again, yawning, burning eyes, unable to focus. I pulled to the side again and repeated the bottle-of-water-in-the-face routine. It didn’t have the same effect this time around although it managed to be just a slight bit cooler. I started moving again, but within 10 minutes I was feeling the same symptoms. I was outside of Daytona just south of where I-4 merges with I-95. Luckily, traffic was beginning to pick up just a little way ahead. I tried the routine one last time and then hooked on to a fast northbound truck as he merged in from I-4. He was running close to 80, and the turbulence he was causing was pushing me around more than enough to keep me awake. He exited for the weigh station near Palm Coast, and caught back up a few miles later. I was back to something resembling normal by the time we reached the outskirts of Jacksonville, and the exit onto I-295N. I didn’t have any problems for the last 15 miles across I-295 and the Buckman Bridge. I pulled into the Racetrac station pretty much on schedule. I went to the same pump I started from, got a receipt (sure enough, it was still 32 minutes slow. It said 5:09, my watch said 5:41).

I had completed the run right on my plan, I expected to start at 7 am and finish at 5:26 am,. My Actual start was at 7:15 am and I finished at 5:41 am or 22 hours and 26 minutes. The GPS showed I had 2 hours and 13 minutes of ‘stopped time’ putting my actual running time to 20 hours and 13 minutes to travel the 1539 miles from start. My overall average as 69.1 mph and my moving average was 76.25 mph.

Now that it was done, I was tired, semi-happy, really hungry and more than a little lost. I had been so focused on finishing, I hadn’t planned for what would come after. I went to a nearby Krystal and had breakfast, then went to the Fleet Reserve Building and parked to wait the two hours until the NEF Meeting would start. I knew the general statistics from my trip, but I was not aware of how really close I finished to my original plan. I did have more stops, for just a little more time, but the average came in a little higher than I had expected.

As far as Martin’s trip, he was unable to finish. He had a flat tire in Florida City (the same location of my credit card failure). Having lost much time to the repair and faced with returning home on a patched tire, he decided that he would not continue the event.

            As the phrase goes, “it was real and it was fun, but it wasn’t real fun”. I’m glad I did it, but I’m not sure I’d be so quick to do another one. Looking back on it, I understand why the IBA lists this as an ‘Extreme’ event. It is non-stop, no-room-for-any-delay test of your will to continue. I have competed in Press-on-Regardless car rallies before so I was at least aware of the duress coming my way, but in those, you are part of a team (there was a driver and navigator). You’re not out on the limb by yourself as you are here and the navigator (my usual role) can drift off from time to time without any serious repercussions. On the SS1K or a standard Bun Burner, you have time to slow down and see some of the countryside as it goes by. On this event, I remember a few of the cars/trucks in front of me and some of the places I stopped. Mostly I remember the pressure and the almost overwhelming need to keep moving. Others that I spoke to at the meeting that morning said they experienced the same things. To emphasize that point, the IBA Website lists nearly 32000 that have completed Saddle Sore and Bun Burner rides, there are less than 2300 on the Bun Burner Gold list.  

 Tires is Tires ?? by Larry Meeker

 Jeanette and I purchased a 2,400 mile 2003 F650GS back in early 2008.  This was to be Jeanette’s new bike (her 4^th over many years).   It didn’t take long for us to figure out it was an odd handling little thing.   We continued to ride it (mostly me) and put another 6k on it while always thinking something just wasn’t right. At slow to moderate speeds the front tire wanted to fall over when you tried to turn.  It was like the bike didn’t want to turn and then it wanted to over-turn if you weren’t careful.  Finally, I talked to Norm Nelson and we switched bikes for a short ride around his San Marco neighborhood.   The Maggie machine handled great and I then knew something was definitely wrong with our bike.   Norm agreed there was a problem and thought it was the front tire.   Being a (car) tire guy for many years, I was suspect.  I dislike any and all French made black rubber products, like those on our bike, but the tire looked like new and the directional arrow was pointed the correct direction, etc., so I continued my research.   I had a chance to switch bikes with member Gary Cumber on a post meeting ride and rode his 2006 model (very nice!!).   This only reinforced my frustration at this problem because I knew these were great bikes, just not this one.  I even considered selling it and have someone else worry about it.  

 Then, one Monday night at a secret society meeting, I was talking to someone and Alan Singer says “you know, I had a bad set of Michelins once….”.   Alan shared with me a story of some tires that just never felt right to him on a bike he bought years ago.   It bothered him so much he finally just replaced them, which completely fixed the problem.  

 That was all the research I needed to hear.   A call to Stan at Cyco Cycle and I had a new Metzler on the rim the next day.   After installing the tire and turning out of the driveway, I could tell instantly my problem was fixed.  Why didn’t I act on Norm’s advice months ago ???

 Lessons learned, #1 is to listen to your friends (who are smarter than you) when they try to give you advice.   #2, I still don’t like French made black rubber products.   Thanks Norm.   Ok, Ok, thanks to Alan too.