Iron Butt Eric Rides Again

[hobobimmer]

Just thought some of you bike enthusiasts would like to see Eric just before he left for a ride from TN to Utah to ride some roads with a friend before they head to Canada this summer. Sorry the picture is cluttered in the background. All of us don't have the skills of Dale and Jan. It is my first attempt to post a picture, so I hope it works. Enjoy. If you see him out in Utah in the next couple of weeks, honk. Deb

[hobobimmer]

Ok, it did not post as I expected. It attached the picture, but did not insert it into the post. I'll try later to correct it. If anyone can tell me the exact place to find instructions, I would appreciate it. I looked and thought I was doing it right. UGG. Deb

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Way to go Eric.
Be careful, have fun, and remember the SECRET!!!!!
Take a Blackberry, so you can check in with us.

JIM;):)

[Will Garner]

OK, I see Eric but where is the motorcycle?

Good luck Eric. Longest trip I ever took was 695 miles in one day (1000 hours - 0200 hours). I went from Wilson NC to Evansville IN 4th of July weekend in 1979. Only stops were for gas, 1974 HD Superglide.

Good Luck and be safe out there. With all that gear side winds could be a balance problem.

[dalej]

Sounds like a whole lot of fun Eric! I wished Jan and I could join you, but Jan doesn't like it when I go over 100 mph! :)

[phorner]

Good luck and be safe, Eric.

I'm sure this "adventure" will be good for a story or two at a POG gathering one day......:D

[truk4u]

Eric, where's the cooler?:p

Be careful, have fun and beware of the cages.......

[rickdesilva]

Eric
Ride safe and keep the bugs out of your teeth.

[Loc]

Eric,

How was the trip? Knowing you and your riding habits you probably got home yesterday afternoon. Tennessee to Utah and back - in Eric motorcycle terms that is a drive to the convenience store.

Loc

[Coloradobus]

Have Eric and be safe!

When traveling up north, be on the lookout for 5 Prevosts traveling together. One will be Alan and Diane heading to Alaska for the summer in Marathon H3, #634.

[tdelorme]

Eric, Eric, Eric, be safe, have fun, ect.ect. What about Deb?? She gets left behind to look out for things on the home front. You know, clean the house, feed the teenager, wash the dishes, ect. ect.
Not only that, Eric more than likely left her a list of work to do on the bus while he's away. Wash the bus, change the oil, clean out the bays and don't forget to polish the slack adjusters.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Mel,

That was way harsh, but right on the money.

I hope Eric has a fun time. I know this is a short jaunt to prep him for his month long trip across Canada in a little while.

While he is gone I will teach Deb how to drive the bus, off road of course. After all it is four wheel drive. She already has polished the slack adjusters, and that is no joke.

[hobobimmer]

Mel,

While he is gone I will teach Deb how to drive the bus, off road of course. After all it is four wheel drive. She already has polished the slack adjusters, and that is no joke.

Eric is back home as of Friday night 9:15. Bus is polished. Slack adjusters beautiful. Dinner tasty. Everything just as I instructed prior to departure. Deb sitting next to me watching me type this and just punched my arm. Everyone of you who knows us already know that she takes care of everything anyway, so my temporary departures do not disrupt anything that happens at our house (except the dogs wonder where their boss went, and they begin to fight since Deb doesn't rank in their minds).

I thank each of you for such nice comments. You are all kind, and I really do appreciate.

My two week trip to Utah only lasted a week. My riding buddy told me we would not be riding "Iron Butt Style." Well, it wasn't Iron Butt Style, but not too far off. We did 3600 miles in 6+ not quite full days of riding. I hate to think what we would have done if we'd been riding Iron Butt Style. Might have been a 3.5 day trip. It was a shake down run for trip to Canada starting 6/4/09 through whenever (guessing a month or so). First destination is Goose Bay on east end of Canada, then out to Inuvik, NWT and Prudhoe Bay, AK. That's the plan.

Two years ago, my riding buddy (Harold Brooks from Forest, VA) rode his Suzuki V-Strom 650 from Prudhoe Bay, AK to Tiera Del Fuego (not sure spelling), South America. Age 67 then, and he did it solo. Has competed in 7 Iron Butt Rallies (Google Search that - 11,000 miles in 11 days). I've done 2 of these Rallies. Harold has ridden over 1,000,000 miles on Honda Goldwings, in addition to all his other riding on other bikes. I'm a lightweight in comparison. I tell you all a little about Harold so I can appear more sane to my fellow POG members.

He's taking it easy on me so far, I think, since I pay half the hotel bills. Utah was our warm up for big Canada trip and I guess he has concluded that I'm suitable as a riding companion for him across Canada.

More than you can know, I appreciate the comments and well wishes. Thanks to each of you.

Eric Faires
Huntsville, TN

[dalej]

Eric,

Glad you had a good and safe trip and are back home without incident.

ps.... can you post your top speed?

[hobobimmer]

Eric,

ps.... can you post your top speed?

Probably 80 indicated, and only for passing. Speedo on Japanese bikes well known for inaccurate on high side. So probably about 75 mph, and that's not a joke. Most of the time we rode the speed limit, or maybe five over.

When I rode the 48 States (in 1996) in 7 days, 3 hours, 48 minutes, I averaged 51.47 mph including sleep for seven days in a row. Top speed then was higher than this recent Utah trip.

I don't ride fast anymore. I ride almost like I drive my bus, but I miss the bed in back when I get tired.

Eric

[dalej]

That's good to hear Eric.

The bed in the back at night and fresh coffee in the morning to drive by, can't beat it.

When Jan and I are on bike trips, the breakfast stops are the highlight, we love eggs, toast, hashbrowns and coffee :) Always try to find a mom & pop kind of place.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Welcome back. Good to hear things went well.

Can we expect to see some pictures?

[dale farley]

Eric,

I'm glad you had a safe trip. I suppose you had to get back in a hurry so Deb can get the bike serviced before you leave for the big one.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Ditto what Jon said!!!!!

JIM :)

[phorner]

Eric,

Welcome back!! Glad to hear that you had a safe and "uneventful" trip.

Sure sounds like you're having fun. Did you catch any of that bad weather that was rolling through??

[hobobimmer]

Eric,Did you catch any of that bad weather that was rolling through??

First Jon (and Jim's "Ditto"). I didn't even take a camera, so don't have pictures. Sorry. I'll take camera for Canada trip and promise to post pictures from that trip.

Second Dale J. I like Mom & Pop restaurants for breakfast, too. Eggs, hashbrowns, toast. I'm good to go. We did that every morning. Breakfast out west is more expensive than in the east.

Third Paul. Weather? Yep. Rain. From MM 301 on I-40 in TN, all the way to Memphis, then all of I-40 in Arkansas, then the whole of Oklahoma from the east side to the west tip of the panhandle. Then cold, too. And I did not bring my electric jacket and gloves, figuring desert southwest would be warm.

Fourth Dale F. I will service bike. But Deb thinks your suggestion that she would service the bike is funny. She said she only works on big stuff, like a bus. None of this piddly two wheel stuff for her. If it's not over 40,000 pounds, she won't touch it.

Time to work on bike.

Eric Faires
Huntsville, TN

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I agree Deb only works on the big stuff like the bus.

The ironic part is I have seen her using tools such as a dental pick on said bus. I'll bet nobody else has done that.

BTW I have pictures of Eric working on the bus too. He's pretty good with a 1" impact wrench, but not as good as Deb with the dental pick.