1500 Miles in 24 Hours

I just finished a 1500 mile in 24 hour ride. The 1500 miles in 24 hours was tough. You have to keep moving, no stops other than gas or you won't make it in time. I did a 1000 in 24 in February but the 1500 was a lot harder.

I left at 5:45 PM from Healdsburg, California and after a long circle trip through the desert, ended at 4:45 PM, 23 hours later in Redding, California. I did the whole ride within California.

It seemed that every Highway Patrolman in the CHP was on duty on HWY 101. It was dark, with no moon and quite cold, but I was able to keep a good pace anyway.

Part of my plan was to go through Los Angles early in the morning to avoid the heavy traffic. I also wanted to get to Blythe before the sun cane up to avoid riding right into the sun and to have the sun at my back on the trip to Bakersfield. The plan worked well and I arrived in Blythe just before dawn. The sun came up on my right as I arrived in Needles.

The only other drama occurred on Hwy 5 just north of Sacramento. I needed gas and tried to refuel in the town of Woodland. I wasted a ton of time in a maze of badly designed streets, intersections and heavy traffic. I left Woodland without getting gas. I rode to Zamora and the engine stopped when I hit the brakes at the end of the off ramp. Fortunately, even though there was almost no gas in the tank, it had just sloshed away from the pickup and there was enough gas to restart the engine and get to the gas station.

Back on Hwy 5, I was worrying and doing all kinds of mental calculations to see if I could get to Redding on time. There were no traffic tie ups and I made it with about an hour to spare. I went well over 1500 miles because I wanted a good cushion because I know my "Certified" Harley Davidson speedometer is off by quite a bit.
I'm getting my paperwork in order to submit to the Iron Butt Association. I checked their website and didn't find anyone else who had done the 1500 miles completely within California. That would be pretty cool if it is so.

This was a tough ride, but I learned a few things. Even though I sometimes get a backache going for coffee in the morning I can go a long ways too. I think it is how you set your mind. I'm learning a lot about my mind. But I guess that's what life is all about.

Stupid Tech Tips

This is a really simple tip, because I'm a really simple guy.
Just mould a sheet of aluminium foil around the new oil filter then slip it under the old oil filter. Turn the old filter loose and let the dirty oil drain into your pan.
You could buy a plastic version for twenty bucks and clean it after each use, but this is better. Just crumple the foil and toss it.

This trick works on my '04, but when I helped my friend do an oil change on his '07 we found that the Motor Company had changed the casting to give more clearance for the crank position sensor. The foil could not be pushed completely under the filter resulting in a puddle of oil on the garage floor. So check first.