My Iron Butt Ride for March was to honor Alfie, one of the Heroes that the Mile Monsters sponsor. He has DMD and lives in Ireland. He loves boxing and classic Rock. I did my research and was planning to stop for lunch at an Irish Pub, visit the memorial for Loe Lewis, and get a picture at FAME Studios.
I had initially planned to leave at 3am. As I went to bed, I thought I would set the alarm for 4am. When the alarm went off, I just turned it off and decided that I would leave when I woke up. I ended up with almost 9 hours of sleep and felt fantastic. I hit the road at 7am.
Since the delay in starting would case me to spend more time in the dark on unfamiliar back roads, I decided to change my route. I wanted to start the day on the back roads and would end on interstate and divided four-lane. But, I needed to get some miles under my belt to get down the road. I went straight to I-65, then south to Birmingham and over to the Talladega National Forest exit.
My first stop was to honor boxing, so I visited the Joe Louis statue in La Fayette, AL. If this had been after April 1, I would have been able to get a few extra Tour of Honor bonus points. It was Sunday morning, and the streets were empty.
I was a short ride from Opelika, and I knew of a great Irish Pub where I have eaten several times. I parked the bike and walked to the pub. I walked to the door and pulled it open. As I stood there for a minute, one of the servers came from the back and said that they didn’t open for another 15 minutes. I walked outside and they locked to door behind me. I talked with another couple who was waiting.
The Irish Bred Pub has one of the best Rueben sandwiches around. Since it is fairly quick compared to a larger entre, I got the Rueben and fries with water to drink. The waiter brought the check with the sandwich. He said that he usually doesn’t do this, but he noticed that I seemed to be in a hurry. I explained the Iron Butt and Alfie’s story. I finished my lunch, left my payment with tip, and was on the road.
I needed to make sure that my route would be more than 1013 miles. The Iron Butt Association requires that the mileage be more than 1,000, but the Mile Monster ride increases the challenge to 1,013 miles.
In decided to spend some time on the interstate. I road I-85 from Opelika to Montgomery, then I-65 until I got to the Mobile area. I hopped on US-45 and rode north until I got to Starkville. The “Monster-In-Chief” with Mile Monsters has his son attending Mississippi State University, so I needed to do a “fly-by” in his honor.
From Starkville, a quick ride over to I-55 toward Memphis. Then I-69/269 to US-72 back toward home. I made a quick photo stop in Muscle Shoals at FAME Studios. Then home to enjoy some classic Rock of my own.
On the ride I spent a lot of time thinking. Though I started with what I thought was a problem with the bike and considered this was a sign to get rid of it, I realized that the problem was operator error and will be keeping the bike. I also considered if I were to trade the bike to the Harley shop and get either my original Pan America or get a new one. The reason for this was if I were to get selected for the Hoka Hey.
In the end, I knew I love the BMW. I like the Harley more for the interstate, but the BMW makes deserted back roads fun. Especially if they become less maintained roads. The Harley has a six-gallon tank and decent gas mileage, even at interstate speeds. I might use that for a 1,500-mile ride to Williams, Arizona in a few months. I would do a lot of the riding at night, so it would work out great.
Riding at night… I realized that I am not as comfortable as I once was riding at night. This may have been due to being tired and the face shield was dirty causing the bugs to leave a glare in the lights. My glasses getting dirty didn’t help much either. I was okay on the interstate, but trying to find turns on roads was really a challenge. I may need to adjust the angle of the lights on the bike, they may be angled too low.
The ride caused me to have to make some last-minute changes. I wasn’t going to have enough miles to qualify for the 1,000-mile certification. I made it home with the odometer showing 1025 miles ridden. I pulled into the garage at home shortly after 1am.