SS1000 Route: Phoenix, Payson, Show Low, Holbrook, Flagstaff, Page, St. George, Vegas, Blythe, and back to Phoenix.

After thinking about it for some time, I'd finally go on my first SS1000. It all started one night at the monthly AZ Rat Pack Bike Night that the Phoenix Based RAT’s (Rider’s Association of Triumph) hold at the George & Dragon II in Tempe, AZ. One of our fellow riders, Jeff had just returned from a business trip out to the East Coast, one of the Carolina’s I believe. Since this was an extend business trip, Jeff had elected to ride his 1999 Sprint ST out and back. As Jeff was spinning tall tales of his trip, including covering 1000 miles in one day, someone else had mentioned he should had submitted his information for the Iron Butt Association’s SS1000 ride.

Jeff went online to gather more details about the requirements for such an adventure. Much to Jeff’s dismay, he realized he would not be able to submit any part of the trip for the certification requirements. After thinking about it for a few days, Jeff decided to post up on the AZRatPack.Proboards58.com to see if anyone else would be interested in riding with him to receive their SS1000 Certification. During my daily forum reading, I came across Jeff’s post. Immediately I thought Hell Yes, I want to go. Now keep in mind, I’ve only met Jeff once which was a few days before at our Bike Night/Dinner. Jeff seemed like a good enough fellow… So I responded to Jeff’s post that yes, I would indeed be interested. Before we knew it two other riders jump on the band wagon, Mark and Peter. Both of which I have ridden with before. Jeff had also posted the invite on SouthWestRides.com.

Our next step was to figure out which route we wanted to take as well as when. I’d quickly take out the good ‘ol laptop to calculate a route. I had recently purchased Microsoft’s Streets & Trips Software to plan an adventure of riding from Phoenix, AZ up to the Arctic Circle and Back. Which is still in the works to be accomplished at a later date… hopefully in the next 5 years before Global Warming takes over.

Back to the originally schedule program… I’d quickly come up with four possible routes. Two of the routes involved multiple states and two of the routes were solely in Arizona. I’d posted all four routes up for others to provide their two cents and basically a vote. Myself, I’d loved the third route which included a ride from Phoenix to Payson, from Show Low down the SRC to Globe, and a trip North on Hwy 191, aka Devils Hwy, from Clifton all the way to I-40. I think it would have been a blast to travel these three roads during a SS1000.

The conciseness of our small group as well as many others that were following the thread was the third option would be a bit much. Jeff preferred to use either one of the two multi state routes, the more states we could cover, the better. Myself, I was indifferent as to which route we ride. I knew that I could cover a more adventurous route on my own at a later date. The route we opted for would cover Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and back to Arizona. Once we decided on the route, the project sort of died down a bit. For some odd reason, no one talked about a date and the days started rolling by… finally Jeff popped in and decided that Saturday, October 11th, 2008 would be the perfect date for he has to go to San Francisco for a month long business trip. So then the 11th it would be. Now the ride is starting to pick up steam.

We decided it would be best to meet before the ride to hammer out a few details and to get to know each other a bit. During this time frame, Peter had recruited two others to join us, Bill & Alfred. I’ve ridden with Bill a couple of time. However I had no clue who this “Alfred” was. Peter vouched that Alfred was a great guy and would fit right in with our group. Jeff posted on both forums that we would gather down at the George & Dragon that is located Uptown Phoenix, not to be confused with the Tempe location. We left the invite open to anyone who would like to join us to discuss the ride or even just give us crap. Being the clown that he is, Peter decided to bring his Video Camera to make a Mocumentary about our little adventure. The first meet included Jeff, Peter and me. A few minutes later a young lady carrying her helmet walked up to our table and asked if we were the “Nut’s” going on the SS1000. We all started laughing and asked her to join us. She introduced herself as Callie and mentioned that she has not committed herself to the ride yet. However she would like to learn more about what we were going to accomplish. Later that evening when I returned home, I’d found out from the SouthWestRides Forum that another rider, Eric was hoping to meet us at the G&D to discuss the ride. Unfortunately Eric did not find us that evening. This ride is really picking up steam. We are now up to seven, possibly eight riders.

Now that we have decided on a route and a date, we needed to secure some Volunteers to serve as our Starting & Ending Witnesses. In addition, we needed to decide and a Start Time and calculate our Gas/Food Stops. I head back to the PC to modify the options within the MS Streets Software to plan stops for gas every 100 or so miles. To maximize our riding time, we would use these gas stops for our rest stops as well. Using the recommended spots that software spitted out, I came up with a set of scheduled stops. According to the software, if we were to leave at 5:00 AM, we should return around a quarter past Midnight. This sounds very doable. After posting asking for Volunteer’s, we were amazed at the number of folks willing to help us out, especially getting out of bed early enough to serve as the starting witness. We quickly make arrangements with Russell (AZRatPack) and Kent (Sport-touring.Net) to server as our starting Witness. For our Ending Witness, we make arrangements with Michael & Arthur (both AZRatPack members). Now all that is left is the ride itself!

Our group decided to meet one last time before our ride. By this time, Callie has opted out of the ride which secures the group at seven riders. We decide to meet at the same spot as before, the G&D in Phoenix, on the Wednesday before the ride. Six of the seven riders are able to make it. Unfortunately, Alfred was not able to attend. During the meet, I passed out copies of the forms required by the Iron Butt Association, along with 8.5 x 11 map of the route, an envelope for the gas receipts required to verify the ride and an Emergency Contact List… God forbid that we need one. Better Safe then Sorry. We talked about all sorts of stuff and made sure no one had any questions. We were all comfortable with what lays ahead of. Said our Goodbyes and went our separate ways, all looking forward to Saturday Morning. Are we out of our minds? Only time will tell.

Friday night before the ride, I made sure that I had everything packed, camelback filled, clothes laid out for the next morning, and checked to make sure that all last minute details were covered. I’d check the forums one last time to see if there were any PM’s from anyone with any issues. No PM’s, No Issues. Double checked the cell phone to make sure I had everyone’s information entered correctly. Just as I was about to head to bed, my cell phone rings. I’d looked at the Caller ID and its Jeff. I’m thinking “Crap, I hope he is not calling to cancel”. I answered and Jeff asks what time I plan on getting up. I start to laugh and said 4:00ish. He asked if I could call him when I get up, just in case he oversleeps. Of course I’ll call…

Wow, 3:50 AM comes awful early for a Saturday morning. I get up as quietly as possible to avoid waking the Misses and getting the kids (three dogs) rallied up. Slip into my gear and off I go. It’s still pitch black as I roll down the 51 to head to our designated meeting spot on 7th Street & Bethany Home Road. Off to the East I think I see flashes of Light. Maybe I’m not quite awake yet. I quickly arrive at the Circle K. To be honest, I do not remember who is already there. I believe Kent (one of our start Witnesses) and Mark were already there. Shortly afterwards, Jeff pull’s in, then Peter, Bill, Alfred, Russell (other Witness) & one of Russell’s friends. Some where along the line, Eric arrives as well. As Jeff dismounts his bike and removes his helmet, he asks if anyone else notices the Lightning to the East… the direction that we are heading. Jeff has always been vocal that he had no intention of riding a 1000 miles in the rain. Most of us figure we would miss the grunt of the approaching storm. Oh boy, we were ever so wrong…

We introduce ourselves to Kent for this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the Stanger who was willing to get out of bed this early to serve as our Starting Witness. What a Guy! Everyone fills up with petrol, get our paperwork Autographed and a few have one last smoke. We go over the first leg of the route making sure everyone is on board and knows where our first meeting spot will be located at in Payson, AZ. We gather for the obligatory Group Photo.

From Left to Right: Eric, Bill, Jeff, Marty, Mark, Peter, and Alfred.

We all Saddle up and head out on our little adventure. It is still pitch black as we head down Bethany Home Road towards the 51 Freeway. We take it South to the 202 East Freeway. Which we take to Mesa and exit onto Country Club – Hwy 87. We cruise North on the Beeline Hwy (Hwy 87) all the way up to Payson. The first leg of the trip is pretty much un-eventful. There are a few Twisties/Sweepers that some of us open it up a bit as we wind up the hill. The Joy of riding to Payson in the Dark of Night is something… well, I think Special. I’ve never been one that could handle the Short Twisties/ Technical Riding. I blame it on my lack of skill as well as age. My body has way too many aches these days. I prefer riding my Sprint ST on the open wide Sweepers. Anyway, back to the ride… I have ridden Hwy 87 many times between Phoenix & Payson, mainly during the Daylight Hours. Riding Hwy 87 in the Dark changes the whole experience. Some folks have this road memorized like the back of their hand. Not I and every turn is exciting. There was a bit more traffic then I expected at this hour on a Saturday Morning. Before we know it, we are approaching Rye, AZ. Rye is just a few miles South of Payson and is a favorite spot for DPS to hang out to catch those like ourselves enjoying themselves a bit too much. Apparently it is still too early for DPS to be set up. We cruise into Payson and turn onto Hwy 260 East to head to our first Gas stop. I forgot to tell the gang that the Giant Gas Station is not quite visible from the road until you are right on top of it. However, I did mention that it was only approximately one mile from where you turn onto Hwy 260. Mark, Eric and I turn in first. A few minutes later Peter, Bill, and Alfred go flying by noticing the Gas Station at the last second and have to turn around. A few minutes later, our designated Sweeper Jeff pulls in.

By now there is enough Sunlight to take some decent photo’s. We all gas up, fill out our paperwork, collect our receipts, take a few photo’s and BS a bit. I explain about the next leg on the way to Slow Low and explain the next stop would be the Mavrick Gas Station on the corner of Hwy 60 & Hwy 77. I also remind everyone to “Smile” as they pass the Speed Camera that is located in Star Valley, just a few miles to the East of Payson.

The ride to Show Low is un-event until we get to Heber, AZ. As we approach Heber, we see the Storm from the South moving quite quickly towards the North. It starts to rain, not much mind you; just enough to make one questions whether we should pull over or not. Myself, I elected not to pull over. I wasn’t too far from Show Low and figured I would be out of it quickly enough. The rain didn’t last long, maybe 5 to 10 minutes. By the looks of the road, the majority of the storm has already past thru this area. As we continue heading across Hwy 260 we are hit with some strong cross winds. Some were strong enough to sweep you into the other lane. Thankfully there wasn’t too much oncoming traffic. What really did bite was getting stuck behind traffic. The amount of water that the vehicles were kicking up was far greater then what we drove thru a few minutes earlier. A majority of us were able to maneuver around traffic and avoid the shower. We soon arrive in Show Low. We turned left onto Hwy 60, cut thru traffic and construction and soon arrive at the Mavrick Gas Station. We all pull off to fuel up, fill out the paperwork and rest for a few minutes. We talked about the last stretch and everyone is asking me why I didn’t pull over to don my Rain Gear. Laughing I said I wasn’t getting that wet. I also pointed out if someone needs to stop, please stop. That is why Jeff was the Sweeper, to stop with anyone if they needed to. If Jeff needs to stop, he would get someone’s attention and have them stop with him.

We talked about our next schedule stop which be the Fuel Express along Hwy 89 right after we exit I-40 in Flagstaff. We survey the skies to check out the approaching storm and try to determine if it would be a wise idea to don our Rain Gear. Pretty much everyone but I slips into their Rain Gear. As I watch everyone, I keep thinking “Why are you putting your rain gear on? We are going to miss the storm.” Then I figured what the hell. I might as well put my gear on. I no more get my jacket on and the Clouds open up as if someone turned the faucet on. Holy Cow, what a freaking down pour it was. Of course, with all of us being the Smart Guy’s that we are, we continued to dress into our rain gear outside in the rain. Not one of us thought about heading into the gas station where is was nice and dry. Nope, being the idiots that we were, we continued to stand outside in the rain.

From Left to Right: Eric, Bill, Jeff, Peter, Marty, and Alfred messing with his bike. Mark is the Photographer

After approx 10 to 15 minutes, we realize that the rain wasn’t going to let up any and we decide to mount the bikes and continue with our Ride. Within a matter of minutes we were out of the rain. Next thing we knew, we were in Snowflake, AZ. A Beautiful Small Town in Arizona. Having past thru here earlier in the week on a Scouting Ride, I knew there were a lot of hiding spots for the Local LEO’s. Just to make sure I kept everything at a decent speed while traveling thru town, I’d picked out a car to follow. Once we reached the other side of town, we passed the car we were following. I do not know how many of you are familiar with Hwy 77 after one leaves Snowflake… if I had a large enough cargo net to strap myself to my bike and a few bungee cords to keep the handlebars in line, I could have taken a nap on the way to Holbrook. There were many times that I wanted to open it up to see how fast I could get the ‘ol Sprint going. However I decided to keep it down to a respectable pace… at least what I thought was a respectable pace. As we approach Holbrook, we are stopped by a train running thru town so we take a small break as we wait.

As we wait for the train to pass, I glance over to the West and surveyed the Dust Storm that I saw on the Horizon. I’ve noticed it for the last 20 miles and it had concerned me. I leaned over to ask Bill what he thoughts were and if we should stop in town to discuss it. Bill shrugs his shoulders and we decide not to stop. I’d pointed out to those right behind me that we would be turning right past the train tracks onto Hopi Drive and take that down part of the Old Route 66 and get onto I-40 a few miles down the road. As we drive down the road, I noticed that quite a few shingles were torn off of the roofs, possibility from the Wind/Dust Storm that we were riding into. Hmmmm, what are we driving into?

Within a matter of minutes we encounter the Wind/Dust Storm after getting onto I-40 West. Going at a rate of maybe 50-60 miles an hour, we make our way down I-40 leaning to the Left approximately at a 20 to 30 degree angle just to keep it on the road. Many times I’m thinking this is not worth it, we should pull over. About ten miles into the storm, Eric passes me to take the lead or was it to speed up to get out of this crap as soon as possible. Along the way, we see a Fifth Wheeler flipped over in the median and the truck that was pulling is on the other side of the Interstate facing East. The back of the truck is torn apart as if Godzilla used a can opener on it. Semi’s were traveling down the road sideways, enough to make sure one would not attempt to pass them. As we were riding thru Winslow, I’d decided that enough was enough and I’m pulling the group over. I had no clue as to where Eric was. Almost all riders were group together, except Eric who was hopefully somewhere safe ahead and Jeff who was somewhere behind us. I’d motioned for the group to go on and find shelter and I waited for Jeff. What seemed like an eternity go by as I waited for Jeff, unmanageable thoughts went thru my head. What if Jeff went down? Is he ok? I kept thinking if I were to turn around to go looking for him, how would I see him while I would be concentrating on keeping myself & bike upright. Luckily as I was just about to take off, Jeff rolls up. What a relief! I’d motion to Jeff the direction where everyone else pulled off to seek shelter and we headed up the off ramp. I turn the corner and headed down to find the guy’s.

As I'd pulled up to the stop sign looking for the other guy’s, a lady pulls up in a truck and yells over the wind: “Your buddy just fell over”.

I responded: “What?”

She yelled back: “Your buddy was just blown over.”

First thing thru my head was “F@*$, I hope he is OK?” I’d turned around and raced back up the road. I get to the top where the Bridge & Off Ramp meet. There’s Jeff, standing over his bike looking down shaking his head. I dismount my bike and position it to where is shouldn’t get blown over from the wind. My first priority was to make sure Jeff was OK. I’d figured it couldn’t be too bad, Jeff is Standing Up. As I asked Jeff if he was hurt, I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or frustrated, but he responds that he is fine. We pick up the bike and move it to the side of the road closer to mine. Jeff said as he approached the corner, the Wind just blew him over before he could get his feet onto the ground.

We get on our bikes and head down to where the others guys were able to find some shelter at a Shell Gas Station. We lined all of our bikes along the back side of the gas station out of the path of the Direct Wind.

We all head inside the station to shake the dust off, grab something to drink and discuss what we should do next. It’s only been 20 miles since we jumped on I-40 and we had approximately another 45 to go before our next scheduled stop. The gas station attendant mentioned that he heard on the radio that they expect Wind Gust up to 90 mph in the Winslow area. We knew that the Flying J truck stop was just two miles back down the road. We decided it would be best to head over to the truck stop to grab a bite to eat and see if the storm would past or not. In the mean time, we still had no clue as to where Eric was at. We called and sent text messages to Eric to let him know where we were at. As we were getting ready to head to the truck stop, Mark said he was going to continue on looking for Eric. After a few minutes discussing it, we wished him well and said we’ll see him soon. We ask Mark to either call or text us when he reaches Flagstaff and or finds Eric. The other five of us head over to the Flying J. As we were finishing eating, I get a call from Eric. He wanted us to know that he made it to Flagstaff and the wind lightens up a bit between Winslow and Flagstaff. A few minutes later, I get a call from Mark to let us know that he is with Eric in Flagstaff. We talked about the next stop after Flagstaff would be Page. If the two of them wanted to take off, we could meet them in Page and that we would play it by ear as far as catching up with them.

The five of us soon mounted up and were off. We asked Bill to take the lead and that I would stay back with Jeff. I made sure everyone knew where the next stop was and that we would all regroup there. As we were headed down I-40, we continued to drive thru the Wind/Dust Storm. There were moments when I would lose Jeff if a Cloud of Dust. Roughly 5 to 10 miles outside of Flagstaff we exited out of the storm. What a huge freaking relief. Bill, Peter, and Alfred arrived at the Gas Station about 5-8 minutes before Jeff & I pulled up. Mark had sent a text that they were taking off for Page and he & Eric would wait there for us. The rest of us made this a quick stop for we had a lot of time to make up as well as catch the other two riders. The ride up Hwy 89 was sort of boring… No Wind, No Rain… however there were a lot of Reservation LEO’s out with folks pulled over. Not what we wanted to see. Every time I show a White Car or Truck, I would slow down. With the wind at our backs, we were in Page in no time. As we pulled into the gas station, I did not see Mark, Eric, or their bikes. Oh well, we’ll get our gas, fill out the paperwork, visit Mother Nature and then I would check my phone. Once I checked my phone we realized that they were still in town. They were at Wal-Mart shopping for warmer items.

We re-group and talk about the Lovely trip we had riding on I-40. Our bikes were so filthy from all of the dust. We talked about our next stop which should be Hurricane, UT. Within minutes we were back on the bikes heading out. We crossed over the bridge by the damn and headed out of Page. It’s getting to be late afternoon and the temperature is dropping. Before we know it, we are approaching Kanab, UT. Peter was hoping to stop at the boarder for a photo opportunity… however none of us recall seeing a “Welcome to Utah” sign. As we approached Kanab, all we could see were Dark Storm Clouds. Oh Crap, more rain. At roughly 10 miles outside of Kanab, I’d pulled to group over so we could don our Rain Gear. Looking ahead it appeared that we were going to hit a wall of water. Eric had mentioned that he would need to stop in Kanab for gas so we all agreed to stop with him. As we got closer to town, we realize we were not riding in to rain, we were riding into Snow Flurries. What a treat this was. First Rain, a lot of Rain. Second was the Wind/Dust Storm. Now we had encountered Snow. By this point, our Camera man’s batteries had died out. What a shame, it would have been awesome to get some decent pictures of us driving down the road riding thru Snow Flurries. We stop off at the first gas station on the right hand side, which is starting to become our common stopping point. A few of the riders gas up here, while some of us have decent size tanks and do not need to.

I just love the color of the sky. This was taken in Kanab, UT as the Snow Flurries was sweeping thru.

We decide to go ahead and keep our next scheduled stop in Hurricane. We are back on the road in no time driving thru town heading down to Fredonia and cutting across Arizona to Colorado City back into Utah towards Hurricane. The snow is off & on all the way to St George, UT. As we past thru Colorado City, the town is covered in a blanket of Snow. I so badly wanted to stop for a picture for I knew that I would be able to catch up with them. However, if I stopped, the whole group would stop. Since we were running behind on time, I decide to forget the picture and continue on. We reach what we thought was Hurricane, UT. Heck, the gas receipt had Hurricane, UT stamped on it. Little did we know, it was on the outskirts of Hurricane. We fueled up, filled out the paperwork and took a small break. What was left of the Sun was setting and we knew the temperature would be dropping quickly. Quite a few of us grab a hot drink. We discussed our next scheduled in Mesquite, NV which was to be for Dinner. However after some discussion, we decided to stop only for gas, skip the dinner and head on to Vegas and have dinner there. Within a few minutes we boarded the bikes and head off into what was left of the Sunset.

Shortly after Hurricane, we jumped onto I-15. It was about time we were back on the Interstate. There is only one section of I-15 that I remember… the section right after you cross back over into Arizona going thru the Mountains. This was the first time for me to ride this section of the road. This stretch maybe lasted 10 to 15 miles, but what a Blast it was. I had to use the on-coming traffic to tell which way the road went around the next turn. It was short lived, however it is one road I would love to go back to during the day time to ride a few more times.

The stop in Mesquite was short and sweet, gas, paperwork, restrooms, brief talk about the next stop in Vegas. By now we have followed the principle of stopping at the First Gas Station on the Right hand side at our exit. For Vegas, this was to be the first exit after getting on I-215 after we ride past the Strip. Initially, we were hoping to be in Vegas with enough time to spare a ride down a portion of the Strip. However we were a few hours behind scheduled and did not want to add to the time shortage. It’s a good thing anyway, the batteries were dead in the Cameraman’s camera. Note: Better Preparation for next Long Distance Ride… Although we were not able to ride the Strip itself, it was still a beautiful site cruising down I-215 next to it. Good thing traffic wasn’t too bad this evening.

Once we exited off of I-215 in Vegas, we found a 7-11 to grab some petrol. We looked around and find a Panda Express which we all agreed on would be fine for Dinner. While eating, we decide we should start contacting our Ending Witnesses to let them know that we are running behind would need to know if they could still meet us a few hours later then originally planned. Both Ending Witnesses said they could and it would not be a problem. We quickly wrapped up Dinner so we could head out for the next leg of this trip. We continued on I-215 back to I-515 and then down to Hwy 95. As we went thru Searchlight, NV, a LEO was sitting in the middle of the road. Sort of to let those driving thru know that he was watching. Who called ahead to let him know we were coming thru?

If it weren’t for all of the Dips in Hwy 95, it would have put me to sleep. Although there was almost a Full Moon, there were plenty of clouds covering the moon up making the trek down Hwy 95 a bit interesting. From Hwy 95 we connected to a short jaunt down I-40 and stopped off in Needles, CA. Mark, Eric and I were there maybe 10 minutes before Bill showed up. Apparently Bill got turned around a bit in Vegas and started going the wrong way. Bill eventually figured it out based on the maps that were handed out earlier. Roughly 10 minutes after Bill arrived, the three remaining riders, Peter, Alfred, and Jeff had arrived. By this time, Eric was ready to bolt & took off to our next stop which would be the Loves Truck Stop in Quarztsite, Az. Mark & I decide to take off after Eric, leaving Jeff to manage the other three riders. We continued going down Hwy 95 and catch up with Eric approx 60 miles down the Hwy. We continue South on Hwy 95 until we arrive in Blythe, CA. We jump onto I-10 and head towards the Loves Truck Stop. It’s 1:30 AM when we arrive at the Truck Stop and we need to be finished before 4:30 AM. I know the three of us will be able to arrive at our Original Planned Stopping Spot in time. However, the four riders behind us will not be able to make it to the planned spot within their 24 hour window. While at the Loves Truck Stop, we start calling our Witnesses. We are able to have one of them meet the remaining four riders a bit further in the Western portion of the Phoenix Metropolis near the Goodyear, AZ area. We then sent text messages to two of the riders in hopes that they received the Cell Number of our Witness who would be willing to meet them out West. It would be a shame for these four riders to miss out receiving a Certificate after riding as far as they have as well as endeavor the weather that we have.

Eric knew he would have to stop for gas one last time before we finish the SS1000. So he takes off while Mark & I finish getting Witness information to the other riders. Once Mark & I felt that we have done everything that we could have besides waiting for the remaining riders, we take off for the final stop. By now we are dead tried. We expected to be home and in bed sound asleep by now. Instead we are dragging our rears wrapping up the final leg of this ride. We arrive at our final stop and were greeted by both of our agreed Witnesses, Michael & Arthur (both AZRatPack Members). Arthur shakes our hands & BS’s with the three of us for a few minutes before he takes off to ride back out to the Goodyear Area to meet the remaining four riders and Autographed their paperwork for the ride.

From Left to Right: Mark, Marty, and Eric...

All in All, it was a lot of fun. Even with all of the Weather we encountered. Seven riders went out, seven riders returned safely home. This is definitely one ride that I will cherish forever. I am glad that I have some Great Friends that I was able to share this experience with.

We are in the process of planning our next IBA Suction Ride… Maybe a 50cc or even a SS3000. We’ll see what happens...

Riders and their Steed:		Miles	Hours
Myself	2006 Triumph Sprint ST	1095	23
Jeff	1999 Triumph Sprint ST	1076	23.5
Mark	2007 Triumph Speed Triple	1095	23
Peter	2008 Triumph Daytona SE 675	1076	23.5
Bill	Yamaha YZF-600R	1076	23.5
Alfred	2006 Kawasaki ZX-14	1076	23.5
Eric	2000 Suzuki SV650	1095	23
Miles and Times above are not Official until Certified by the Iron Butt Association. The Miles & Times above are our Estimates.

Understandability not everyone has what it takes to ride an SS1000 or any other Endurance Ride. Some folks call it Brass One’s; others call it being Nut’s. Whatever you want to call it, there was one member of our Group that had a little bit extra of whatever it is. The Wednesday after our ride, the AZRatPack had their monthly Bike Night. It was during this monthly meeting that we decide to present one of our fellow SS1000 Riders a gift so just in case he was to ever forget about his SS1000 ride, he would have something to remind him. The rider on the receiving end of the Gift was Peter. For some odd reason, Peter had the notion that he could ride his ’08 Triumph Daytona SE 675 Bike for the whole way & survive to tell about it. Now this bike was not design to be ridden 1000 Miles non-stop or within 24 hours. Hell, I wouldn’t want to ride it more the maybe 300-350 miles. The gift that we give Peter was a set of BusterBalls from www.eballz.com. The pair of 2.5” Brass Balls came in a Black Velvet Box lined with Red Satin. We had a plate engraved with Peter’s accomplishment. The look on Peter’s face was Priceless.