Friday-afternoon, June 27th; i headed from Hilliard (Ohio) to Louisville (Kentucky), about 200+ miles, i was going to spent the night @ Gregg & Cora's (Gregg's wife) house. Gregg met me half-way, in Florence - KY and we rode together back to Louisville. Before going to his house we went by his work & he showed me the radio-studio's he works @, pretty neat to see. After that we drove to his place where i met Cora (very nice lady). We ate some & got to talking, @ around 11.00pm it was high time to get some sleep because we had an eventful long looong day ahead...

Saturday-morning, June 28; i got up at 7.45am, Gregg was already up & we had some coffee & breakfast. Ronnie and Jesse were already underway to Louisville, they left Davisville - MO at 5.00am, once they arrived in Louisville they would have completed a little less then 500 miles, almost halfway the SS1000. @ around 12pm Gregg and i went to a parking-lot where Ronnie & Jesse were waiting for us, we all went back to the house to feed the two guys. After that @ around 12.30pm we all got ready & saddled up for the "adventure". (click on pictures for larger image)

On we went, after we called our significant other to inform them that we were underway (support from the "homefront" is very important i think). Cora was our (Gregg & me) so called "start witness" conform the IBA rules, she had to fill out a form; thanks Cora. We're ready & we're off.. on to get gas & also to get the (computer generated) receipt to show the start-time & date.

We had absolute gorgeous weather during the whole 1st day, the weather was so good that Ronnie & Jesse got some serious sun-burn, i was wearing my Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket that allows wind to go through to keep cool.. Gregg was smart enough to put on sun-block. about the gas-stops; we made 1 every 90 to 100 miles, the VLX has a pretty small fuel-tank.. we also used every other gas-stop to quickly call the "home-front" to let them know we were doing ok, of course it also gave us some time to stretch the bones & snack/eat something. We all had a water/drink-bottle on the bike so that we could drink without having to stop, which was good because it got quite hot...

We went from Kentucky (start-point) to Tennessee, crossed the state-line around 5:40pm (EDT).. on to Missouri, crossed state-line around 6.30pm (EDT). We had some "mean" setting sunshine straight in our faces plus we were on a 2-lane (1 for each direction) "hilly" road filled with sharp twisties.. but we made it through. We arrived @ Ronnie's house (Davisville, MO) at around 12.40am (EDT). Ronnie's wife Deb (sweet lady) was still up and had food prepared for us, the best tasting rolls i ever ate.. thanks Deb. -oh, in the meantime Jesse had left the group to head for home, he also lived in Missouri, close to Ronnie- After eating, stretching & a drink Ronnie fixed my (rb's) bike's tail-light (thanks bro) while Gregg and me put on some warmer jackets/pants because it became a chilly foggy night...

At around 1.50am (EDT) Gregg & myself left Ronnie and Deb's place, the original 4 dude group was reduced to 2 riders.. a little after 2.15am we said so long to Missouri & we cruised into Illinois, i was amazed that i wasn't sleepy @ all (Gregg wasn't sleepy either..).. some where along the night we were rolling along at a speed of about 80 miles an hour, Gregg's "spotlight" was slightly shining into the shoulder of the highway & we both saw a deer looking right at us.. fortunately the deer decided to run to the opposite direction, if that deer would have run our way the chance would have been big that the world got 2 bikers less.. we both (and the deer too i think) were kinda shaky from that "happening"...

Sunday-morning @ about 4.30am we left Illinois and drove into Indiana where we had some problems finding a gas-station that was open or where we @ least could get gas & a receipt.. after trying 2 exits with no luck the 3rd was open and we could get gas & a stretch. Around 6.40am we crossed another state-line & we were back in the state where we started some 18+ hours ago.. this was the home-stretch, it was daylight in no time so we put our sunglasses back on and enjoyed the scenery & the nice morning warm sun. @ a little passed 7.00am we ended the trip and did one more gas-stop for the record, that was the stop-time & date.. we drove to Gregg and Cora's house where Cora was waiting with coffee & ready to fill in the end "witness" form...

Speaking only for myself @ this point, it was a lot easier then i expected & looking back at the whole thing i would do it again for sure.. maybe even the 1500 miles in 36 hours (Bun Burner). I'm proud of all 4 of us...

Update (10/14/2003):
Today i received the certificate, backplate for license-plate, IB patch & IB pin. It's official now :} my Iron Butt Association membership number is: 15739.

Some credits:

• Gregg and Ronnie: for planning this thing.
• Shadow Shack: without the VRCCC forum i would have never met Gregg and Ronnie.
• Gregg, Ronnie & Jesse: for the *great* ride.
• Jennifer (my Wife, I Love You *J*) and Gregg: for believing in me & the encouragement they gave me @ some "weak" moments.
• Cora & Gregg: for the hospitality.
• Deb & Ronnie: hospitality and feeding us in the middle of the night.
• Ronnie: fixing my tail-light. (yes, the inside is plastic :}
• Iron Butt Organization: for their time & effort to check our trip.
• Michael (IB President) for the quick e-mails & keeping me posted on the status.

Some facts:

• There were 4 riders: Gregg, Ronnie, Jesse & me (rudeboy)
• 2 of us left from Missouri, 2 left from Kentucky.
• We made 13 gas-stops.
• We did about 1035 miles in a little over 19 hours.
• We went through 5 states. (Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana)
• i (rudeboy) spent $37.08 on fuel.
• If you click here you can see the map & route.