The short mileage gang

[71243]

at the end of the day (pick your day), as far as i am concerned all that matters is enjoying the ride. 'nuff said.

+1

[PGlaves]

O.K. you show me how you average more than 35mph on non-Interstate roads over an 8 hour riding day. That will have to include breaks an gas stops. I was in New Mexico on vacation with a bike in 2001 and 2003. Travelled from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, Albuquerque to Roswell to Ruidoso to Las Cruzes, Ruidoso to Fort Sumner and back. All what I consider non-Interstate. No way I averaged more than 350 miles on any day with 10 hours riding.

We rode from our house south of Alpine, TX to Llano, TX for a rally Friday. We rode 380 or so miles. Our overall average counting stops was 56 mph and our moving average was 68 mph, or so the GPS said. That ride included 330 miles of two lane and about 50 miles of interstate. The 2 lane speed limit was 70 or 75 and the interstate speed limit was 80. I was riding my F650 Dakar. Voni was riding her R1100RS. Except once passing a truck I didn't even exceed the speed limit. Two fuel stops. Also stopped for lunch. We do this lots of days, all summer. Many are more miles - some are fewer miles. Most states are slower than Texas.

If you want to see the route start on TX 118 53 miles south of Alpine. Go north on 118 to Alpine, jog east and then north on 67 to Ft. Stockton. Take I-10 east to 190 to 29 to Llano.

[EMSimon]

The fact that Mr. Simon is unable to ride at the same level isn't relevant to the fact that others can and do daily.

Steve: So, this is a matter of skill? I always knew that the "iron butt guys" had to prove something...I would be glad to take you up for a "friendly competition" and put my riding skills against yours....
Trying to belittle somebody else's abilities doesn't necessarily make your own abilities stand out.
The fact that you and the Glaves ride on roads that go straight without a turn for
137 miles and have a speed limit of 75 mph doesn't really represent what we can (achieve, not able) do. If I ride 350 miles of non-Interstate roads where I live (Midwest) I will have to go through , let's say, at least 15 towns where the speed limit is 35mph and where I have to stop at at least one or two traffic lights.

[SteveAikens]

Not skill, though to safely ride, skill is involved.

Not belittling anyone. However, your earlier post questioned the honesty of Paul and Voni, and others that stay on the motorcycle longer than you do, was read by me as not believing what they posted.

Here's a clue - Voni Glaves has ridden BMWs more than a CERTIFIED million miles. According to your math - that's impossible in the time frame she did so.

She is not the only one that has reached that mileage on motorcycles.

I'm simply stating facts regarding YOUR ability to average reasonable distances in a day.

Has nothing to do with Iron Butt folks - though they do that on a daily basis. It has to do with nothing more than staying on the motorcycle and using efficient riding tactics. 20 or 30 minute fuel stops won't get you there. An hour eating and shooting the breeze with firends - won't get you there.

Further, your characterization of the roads we ride is simply inaccurate.

[TheRoss]

I always knew that the "iron butt guys" had to prove something...

I don't. I do it for my personal pleasure. I just enjoy long distance riding.

Dangerous when you start throwing labels around, and putting people into boxes. Threads like this one do more damage to clubs like ours, in my opinion. People who would not call another out for being a liar in person, or would keep their misguided opinions about what other people do to themselves when at a rally, are willing to put it out there while hiding behind a computer screen. Kind of sad really.

[EMSimon]

Not skill, though to safely ride, skill is involved.

Not belittling anyone. However, your earlier post questioned the honesty of Paul and Voni, and others that stay on the motorcycle longer than you do, was read by me as not believing what they posted.

Here's a clue - Voni Glaves has ridden BMWs more than a CERTIFIED million miles. According to your math - that's impossible in the time frame she did so.

.

Nobody is calling anybody a liar. Read the thread carefully. I basically asked the question whether she put the miles on BEFORE she retired. I still have a hard time believing that anybody can put 84,000 miles on a bike AND have a full time job, which usually keeps one busy for 225 days in the year. Sorry if I crossed the line and challenged what an MOA saint said. I will refrain from posting about issues like this hereafter.
Then, the discussion turned to average speeds for daily trips. Has really nothing to do with Voni.
You and Paul were characterizing the roads you travelled by stating the speed limits and average speeds you were able to achieve. Knowing our traffic engineers in the U.S., anything with a 70mph limit is straight! No turns! Most states in the Union do not have non-Interstate roads with a 70 mph speed limit.
Here is some other math:
The last time I rode a larger amount of miles in one day was when we returned from the MOA rally in Vermont. It was almost exactly 650 miles and it took us almost exactly 12 hours from Essex Junction to our home south of Cleveland, Ohio. The largest portion of the trip was Interstate and involved speeds of sometimes 80 mph. This is an average speed of 54 mph. Comparing that to Paul's stated average of 56mph on non-Interstate roads...
One iron butt challenge is to do 1000 miles in 24 hrs. That's a 42 mph average.
Now, why would this be such a great deal, if averaging 56 mph is a piece of cake?

[AKsuited]

This thread is for us low-mileage riders. As I pointed out, there are reasons I'll never get anywhere near the amount of miles others ride for the simple reason I can't get the time off from work, so I can't do many long rides. My commute is a half a mile each way. I really don't care that I can't compete.

Not all of us can be contenders for the mileage contest, and this thread is for those people.

It's great that some people have the whole summer off to ride, or the whole year. Mileage contests are slanted heavily towards those people.

Harry

[Omega Man]

This thread is for us low-mileage riders. As I pointed out, there are reasons I'll never get anywhere near the amount of miles others ride........

Not all of us can be contenders for the mileage contest, and this thread is for those people.


Harry

Harry and a few others are on track- ride for enjoyment. Don't feel bad when someone does 10 times the mileage you do. A misspent youth (and a few other things) mean for me a great day is 100 miles. Hopefully everyone will have a safe summer of riding as far as they like to go.

[EMSimon]

This thread is for us low-mileage riders.
Harry

There is a distinct advantage to "low mileage" riding: You will be able to enjoy what's going on around you. I don't remember who it was, but a renowned motorcycle authority said once: It is not about the destination, it is about the journey!
That sums it up!

[jgsmith]

I'm not sure why some people insist on measuring others against what works for them. We're all different. The world would be a pretty boring place if we were all the same.

Jim

[oldnslow]

I'm not sure why some people insist on measuring others against what works for them. We're all different. The world would be a pretty boring place if we were all the same.

Jim

I've said this before, but an Amish friend of mine told me this about difference in opinions...."If we all liked the same thing, we'd all be married to the same woman!"

[henzilla]

. Knowing our traffic engineers in the U.S., anything with a 70mph limit is straight! No turns! Most states in the Union do not have non-Interstate roads with a 70 mph speed limit.

Texas recently did away with the 65night/70day signage on a lot of state & US roads. A lot of those have curves.The posted average signage is 70 now. They also have raised some to 80 and are adding more as the re-engineering is being done.
We have more 70 MPH roads in rural areas than ever as they are going back and finally accounting for modern cars abilities to take a curve at more than 55MPH.

Most western states have raised the average speeds. I have noticed east of the Mississippi that is not the case.

And on the mileage thing...it's a friendly way to see what one's abilities are. No one should knock folks who choose to pile on the miles nor to those who do not. I wasn't retired when I had my highest year...commuted all but one day by bike. It was a 44 mile round trip, but averaged 80 instead as I took a scenic way home almost every day.

We ride a lot due to our climate, and enjoy every ride...heck, we even stop and smell the roses as we take a picture or two...we rarely hit Interstate...boring.

[EMSimon]

Ohio raised the speed limit on the Turnpike (I-80) to 70mph a few years ago. Due to the statistics saying that accidents increased by 5%, they will probably shoot down the current efforts to raise the speed limit on other interstate freeways from 65mph to 70mph. Mind you, in metroplitan areas, the speed limit on Interstates isn't even 65mph, but lower.

[AKBEEMER]

When a person who rides the average 10k miles or less try's to understand what motivates a LD rider, it is like a 10 mile a week jogger trying to understand a person who runs marathons repeatedly. Same sport; different levels of commitment.

[EMSimon]

When a person who rides the average 10k miles or less try's to understand what motivates a LD rider, it is like a 10 mile a week jogger trying to understand a person who runs marathons repeatedly. Same sport; different levels of commitment.

I don't think this discussion is about "understanding the motivation" it is rather about understanding how to pack riding all these miles into your available time when you are still working and don't live on a motorcycle. At least for me, it is.
I never questioned the motivation. Even among ldr's the motivation may vary quite a bit.

If the remark "different level of commitment" is intended to suggest that riding long distance it is a higher commitment to motorcycling than short distance, I would object to that.
The person who owns a performance sportbike and attends 4 or 5 track days per year may show at least the same "level of commitment" if not higher than someone who wears out the center of his tires by riding in excess of 50,000 miles.