Randy Bishop's Iron Butt Association Saddlesore 1000, May 22, 1997

In '90 and '95 I took 1000 mile / 24 hour motorcycle rides from Littleton, Colorado, to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas, and back (1007 miles, 20 hours) and from Littleton, around the mountain part of Colorado, and back (1050, 21). Early this year I found out about the Iron Butt Association's Saddlesore 1000 award and decided I'd take another long trip just for the license plate frame, and for the fun of another ride. Since a good portion of the previous two 1000 mile trips were on two lane roads I planned this one mostly on Interstate highways so I could rack up the miles more quickly. Then I just had to choose whether to go north, south, east, or west and finally decided on south to New Mexico to see some new country.

So on May 23, 1997, I was prepared with extra water, a flashlight, Motrin, a Widder electric vest, and other items from the IBA list. In the top of my tankbag was one boldly printed check list of the stops I had to make at the corners and another of the things I had to do at each stop; update my log, stash the receipts, put in ear plugs, etc. I didn't want to miss anything should fatigue start dulling senses later on. At 6:30am three of my neighbors signed the IBA forms, I filled the Kawasaki Concours with gas at the local Texaco, and got a date/time stamped receipt to document my official starting time. I drove in light drizzle through commuter traffic on CO-470 and I-25 to Colorado Springs and on to Pueblo with no trouble. By then I was in the clear, both with traffic and weather.

At 10:00am I stopped in Raton, New Mexico, for gas, a food bar, and something to drink. While I was eating an elderly woman walked by and joking said she hoped I left before her husband saw me because "he would give his right arm" to be riding a motorcycle like I was. Shortly the husband came by and was full of questions and conversation about cycling. After a bit I had to put on my helmet and bid him a courteous good bye and headed out onto the mostly boring 100 mile route to Las Vegas. At Romeroville I turned onto US-84 to begin a loop of two lane highways and really enjoyed the scenery of rolling hills, the ruins of old stone buildings, and fields covered with purple wild flowers for as far as I could see.

At Pastura I headed southwest on US-54 to Vaugh, which is mostly gas stations, motels, and restaurants. With I-40 to the north and I-25 to the west, time has passed Vaugn by and half the places are closed and boarded up. I needed to get some gas and picked the most modern looking of the stations which I hoped would have a computer generated receipt with the date and time. Computers probably haven't arrived at Vaugn yet so I settled for a hand written receipt. South of Vaugh US-54 became a narrow road with juniper trees growing almost right up to the highway and in the distance I could see the Capitan mountains. Another pretty cruise in the country.

At 2:30pm I eventually came to Carrizozo, one of my turn points on the route, and stopped again for gas and the accompanying receipt. I ate another food bar, guzzled some water, and then turned west on US-380 toward Socorro. The road passed through a lava field and another construction zone with cuts through some fairly rugged hills. It was fun to watch the heavy machinery as I went by. At San Antonio I crossed the wide and full Rio Grande River, then turned north on I-25 for Socorro, another "corner" on the route, and a stopping place for gas and a receipt. Time: 3:55pm.

While I was at a gas station at the north end of Socorro I took the time to change to a short sleeved shirt and to eat and drink some more. Before I was done with the Gatorade, probably every police and sheriff's car in the town of Socorro, both marked and unmarked, screamed by heading out of town. Something sure had to be going on. I finished my break, mounted up, and headed north also. The street curved up and over I-25 and turned into an on ramp. When I got up on the overpass I could see that the Interstate was blocked about a mile ahead. I looked for a way to cross to a frontage road but there were fences to block anything like that. So I slowly motored up to where the traffic was stopped and at first fell into line in the right lane with most of the folks, then started to wonder how I would document this "rest stop" to IBA and how it would lengthen the amount of time I would be riding in the dark later on. The left lane was clear for a ways up the road, so I figured I may as well go as far as I could. When I got to the stopped cars in the left lane there was a convenient gap to the right, then to the left. About that time I noticed that the southbound lane was blocked by a semi-truck that seemed to have all its tires flat. With all the police from town, I thought it must have been a serious fatal accident. I was then able to get onto the right shoulder between the stopped cars and the concrete wall. As I came around the right side of the pickup at the front of the line I suddenly had doubts about the smartness of passing everyone. Just to my left were three policemen with shotguns at the ready, still swinging their heads to the left and right looking for targets over in the southbound lane where three people were already handcuffed and laying on the pavement behind the semi. Oh, no. It didn't seem wise to stop right behind guys with guns so I slowly kept on motoring. After about 100 yards with no one yelling at me or shooting, I picked up speed and departed the area and had the northbound lane of the Interstate to myself. I went 75mph for 15 miles before I saw the first car in my lane about 2 miles ahead. At the 33 mile point I finally saw a car behind me. Finally at the 45 mile point I caught the car ahead and was caught by the car behind (which wasn't a police car, thank goodness.) About the same time three unmarked police cars passed by heading south at high speed with their headlights flashing. An interesting situation. Later at home I checked some New Mexico newspaper web pages and couldn't find out what I had missed. I did miss getting shot at, so that was good!

Riding north on I-25 there was desert to the west of the highway and houses, trees, and crop lands in the irrigated Rio Grande valley to the east. Interesting contrasts. Before long I entered the Albuquerque area during 5:00pm rush hour. The highway was no longer empty and ground to stop and go as we neared the intersection of I-25 and I-40. Traffic stayed heavy on toward Santa Fe but was soon moving along pretty quickly.

Short of Santa Fe I stopped to put the long sleeved capilene and t-shirt back on in anticipation of the dark clouds ahead. Just being prepared. The air was definitely cooler but I missed the rain and only saw evidence of it as I entered Santa Fe at 6:20pm for another documented gas stop.

East of Santa Fe I-25 travels through very pretty pine forests. Traffic had almost gone away too so it was nice to relax and just enjoy the scenery. All too soon I was back to Las Vegas at 7:45pm for gas and the 100 mile jaunt into the darkness to Raton. The next stop for gas was at Pueblo at 11:15pm where I ran back into the drizzle. From there it was only another hour and a half to my final documented gas stop at the east edge of Littleton at 12:50am.

I then rode to the west side of Littleton to a convenience store where I was to meet up with a Jefferson County Sheriff's deputy. I called the dispatch number as I was told I could and about 15 minutes later a deputy came driving up. I told him about my ride and politely asked him to sign my form. He wasn't at all enthused about doing it but finally agreed. Then with the form safely stashed with the other documentation I went on home, getting there about 1:30am, 19 hours after leaving.

All in all it was a fun day's ride. I got to see part of New Mexico that I hadn't traveled through and now have an interesting story to tell about Socorro. It turned out I was well prepared for the trip but wish I had been able to find a more reliable witness for the end of the ride. Maybe I'll get that lined up better next spring when I ride a BunBurner 1500 that I'm already planning.

-- Randy Bishop, Littleton Colorado