I finally got around to doing my Saddlesore 2000 run last weekend. This was originally planned for 2020, but I don’t know, it felt like something happened last year that turned me into a shut-in. Who knows man.
The last time I did something like this was my SS1000 run in 2019. Similar to that run, I managed to book my vacation time right at the peak of a summer heat wave, so at the very least I had an idea of what I was getting into this time. I’m a lot less fit than I was in 2019, but I figure that I'm also way better and more experienced of a rider than I was back then and I'd compensate by being more relaxed on my bike than I was previously.
I prepped up my bike the week before the ride. I’m taking the 300 as it was the same bike that I did the SS1000 with and there’s a masochistic part of me that stubbornly wants to do difficult things with inappropriate equipment. Learning from 2019, I brought a spare bottle of oil to compensate for the bike burning it at high RPMs and installed some Oxford heated overgrips for what I assumed to be two cold evenings.
I take off from San Bruno on Saturday at 6:30AM. The first leg out from the bay area to the border of Nevada was relaxing and uneventful. I left early to avoid any local traffic and I had a straight shot through Sacramento and into Tahoe. This is the first time I rode a bike through I-80 in the Tahoe area and it was pretty fun when there were no other cars there! The 300 struggled going uphill in elevation, but it was fine as long as I kept my momentum.
After I passed Reno, I started feeling the heat. It was the morning and the sun was shining bright. By the time I hit Valmy, I started dunking my neck buff and myself in water at every gas station and rest stop that I stopped at to keep myself cool. I had to pull over to the side a couple of times to down a bottle of water when I noticed that I was getting dehydrated and grumpy for long stretches. Overall though, I didn’t think that it was too bad but maybe it was because I was still fresh.
I-80 was mostly a boring road, but I gotta admit that the views were nice. Seeing such a massive, open field really makes you feel small. I also finally saw the Bonneville Salt Flats, which I didn’t realize was in Utah. Likewise, I laughed when I passed by the Rocky Mountain ATVMC warehouse because it was a familiar logo and I also didn’t realize that they were here.
I make my way South of Salt Lake City and head East on I-70 when I reach Salina. It was getting dark, but it was surprising to me that it was still pretty hot all things considered. As I went through the interstate, it got dark enough that I couldn’t really see anything other than the road in front of me. My night vision isn’t what it used to be and this would normally mean that I'd be slowing way down here, but thankfully I was in a pack of cars going the same way and I kept my pace by sticking with them and using their headlights.
I stop by the Kum and Go (heh) in Silt and strike a conversation with another rider there plus the station attendant. Turns out that he’s from out of the country (Puerto Rico IIRC, but I'm not 100% certain that I remember it right) and he’s doing his own MC trip. I talk about how I'm coming from San Francisco and heading my way to Denver which made the attendant laugh about how painful of a ride that is. I asked the other rider where he’s heading off and we found out that he’s coming from New York and is doing a straight shot to Los Angeles. We laugh and talk a bit more before heading our separate ways.
This is where it got a little sketch for me. It finally started getting cold so I layer up with all the layers that I have. I smirk a bit as I turn on my new heated grips, beaming with the thought of having actually prepped for the cold for once. However, that smile quickly faded away as I learned that all of my cold weather setup isn’t enough for the conditions that I was in. I end up taking an exit every 10-30 minutes to stop and warm up by just jogging in place. By the time I hit Vail around 4AM Sunday, I conceded that it was getting too cold for me to keep going and I stopped at the rest stop pictured above (but when it was still dark). I picked a bench where people weren’t walking by and took a power nap.
I woke up less than an hour later when the sky began to turn a lighter shade of blue. With the sun rising, I figured that the temperature should do the same soon so I saddle back up and continue on my way. As I make my way onward, visibility begins to improve, the weather starts to get milder, and my spirits start to get lifted.
I reach my gas station destination in Denver and fill up. With little fanfare, I got back on the bike, turned around, and started making my way back to the West. With better lighting conditions and with my mood being much better than it was when I was freezing, I actually got to enjoy the Colorado scenery. The mountains are gorgeous and made the ride back up very scenic and pleasant. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last and I eventually got back to the more desert-y part of my route.
From Silt onward back West, it once again got very hot and unlike Saturday, I was a little worn. Dehydration was kicking in much quicker than the day before and I was stopping way more often to chug water and pour some on myself to cool me down. This is when I noticed that some of the rest stops had their water fountains turned off which prevented me from refilling my water bottles. The combination of the heat and having to stop to hydrate way more often was a little demotivating. Even checking out some of the scenery at the rest stops only helped a little bit.
I hit the wall right as I pulled out of the gas station in Tooele for my last 100 miles. This is when I finally feel that I'm actually kinda tired from riding for the last 40-something hours. I quietly curse in my helmet that I should have gotten a throttle lock instead of heated grips and loudly curse at how in spite of being completely dark and pretty late in the evening, it was still hot as fuck. At this point, I've been pulling over every 5 to 10 minutes to chug water and have lost my momentum.
My music in my helmet suddenly cuts off and I realize that my phone decided to just restart itself. I pulled into the first rest stop that I could to take a breather and reinitialize my map directions. That’s when I saw that I'm 10 miles off from Wendover and finally finishing this, and I go from being irritated and tired to incredibly happy and awake! I quickly re-gear back up and gun it out of the rest stop.
I reach Wendover shortly past midnight and make my way to the Chevron. I triumphantly gas up, take my last odometer reading picture, and start looking on my phone for places to stay in the area. I saw that Motel 6 had a room available and was pretty cheap so I rolled my way there. I unpack, shower, crank that A/C to the max, and lay down for a good night’s rest. I end up staying awake and reminiscing about the last two days before finally passing out probably at around 4AM on Monday.
In total, the ride lasted 42 hours across 2100 miles. The bike chugged down 1.5 bottles of oil along side the gas from around 20 gas stations. The CBR was pinned or very close to it for 95% of that distance.
What’s next?
Assuming that I didn’t mess up my submission to the IBA for this ride, I have my sights on the SF -> NY 50cc challenge. As much as I like the idea of doing it with this bike, I've been wanting to get into trying out some more dirt/trail riding for a while now. Between my 3 bikes, this CBR is the one that I’d sell to make room for a more dirt capable ride. Since I’m not planning on doing the long trip next year, I have a lot of time to think about what I want to do next. Maybe if the cards fall just right, I might attempt it with a similar bike in the CRF300L Rally?
