• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Sore Butt and Knees

I read your post with a smile. I was the same as you state, doing several 900 plus one day rides with never a thought to document or ride the last 30 or so miles for an iron butt plate, until some yahoo at a rally made a big stink about not citing iron butt statistics unless I had an iron butt license plate and certification to back my information up. So the next summer, 2018, I did a documented SS just so I could stick the plate in the yahoos puss..... Now I don't have to condition my fire side discussion with a disclaimer that I am undocumented. Wouldn't want to be undocumented in a crowd of rusty buckets....:):dance

I'll weigh in now since the original post quoted was aimed at me. I have completed the 11 day Iron Butt Rally twice. It is a major life challenge. More people have climbed Mount Everest than have completed the IBR. But I have exactly 2 documented IBA rides. One was as a club ride where ten or so of us did it, and the other was an accident where I organized and sponsored a ride and wrote a humorous story about the one other rider other than me who rode it. After that was published I got a certificate I didn't even apply for.

The entire IBA is about challenging oneself and expanding horizons and abilities. Some people do that. Others don't. Some folks do it and nobody knows. That is fine, admirable even. But that does not diminish the achievements of folks who like to have a little piece of paper to stick in the file or a frame for their license plate. Scoff if you must, I guess. Each to their own.

My original post (see and actually read #8) was not about certificate or rally rides. It was about working up to longer rides as a matter of conditioning. Then the pot shots showed up (see #12) which I did not respond to. In the long distance riding community there is a mantra: "reading comprehension matters." That is indeed true.
 
Last edited:
Paul, I ment no disrespect for those that have done IBA rides. Myself, I just didn't care to have the paperwork to prove the ride. The multiple day rides I just can't do.

As far as reading comprhesion, your post just made this pop into my head. It might have not be where you were headed, my my mind went that way!
 
Paul, I ment no disrespect for those that have done IBA rides. Myself, I just didn't care to have the paperwork to prove the ride. The multiple day rides I just can't do.

As far as reading comprhesion, your post just made this pop into my head. It might have not be where you were headed, my my mind went that way!

Not a problem - Fargo 2021 :)

I simply wanted to reinforce my original intent. Conditioning and working up to miles is important. Shorter days build to longer day. Slowly but surely. How that played out was my original question, to which this thread still does not have an answer. Back to the OP. How did you condition over time to this pain?
 
I talk to riders all the time that are shocked that I will ride 1,500 miles in a couple days, or 2,000-3,000 miles in 4-5 days. These guys ride to the corner pub and back, then decide to run to Sturgis and back and complain about how sore they are. I guess they don't know about conditioning and practicing to prepare for longer rides.
 
I talk to riders all the time that are shocked that I will ride 1,500 miles in a couple days, or 2,000-3,000 miles in 4-5 days. These guys ride to the corner pub and back, then decide to run to Sturgis and back and complain about how sore they are. I guess they don't know about conditioning and practicing to prepare for longer rides.

Those of us who ride in the great plains, the southwest, and the intermountain west have a distinctly different riding environment than much of the east, This environment makes long distances easier than in, say, Rhode Island or West Virginia.
 
We have some day ride loops that are 400-450 miles. Easier to do when there is little traffic, higher speed limits and fewer LEOs.
 
Those of us who ride in the great plains, the southwest, and the intermountain west have a distinctly different riding environment than much of the east, This environment makes long distances easier than in, say, Rhode Island or West Virginia.

Yes, but I am talking about riders that live in my area.

The point I was trying to make is many riders never ride more than a few miles at a time, then decide to go on an long distance ride and they don't understand why they are sore so they never go on longer trips. It would be similar a guy that runs a mile twice a month trying to run a marathon.


I have ridden farther east and it can be tough to put on 300-400 miles in a day with all the traffic.
 
Also......your riding a motorcycle, not resting in a feather bed. Some people think they have to be 100% comfy while doing the simplest things. If you truly enjoy riding a motorcycle, you won't notice minor discomforts. I regularly ride 5-700 mile days, and yes I am a bit stiff when I get off the bike, but a good nights rest takes care of that. Ride-Eat-Sleep-Repeat. :)
 
So I just finished 8000 miles touring the US (mostly out west) on my 2017 R 1200 RT. My knees get sore after about an hour on the bike and need to stretch. I see people on GS’s and GSA’s stand up but frankly I’m too tall to do that comfortably. So I stop and walk around. John Gamel’s solution would probably help. As would a custom seat.

Frankly I’m fine with the stock seat and pegs. I take breaks more frequently but I like to see things too. So breaks come naturally.

And now I’ll really push the envelope and say that while I’m sure I could do 1000 or 1500 miles in 24 hours, I see no reason to do so. I get it, though, I just prefer enjoying the ride.

If you can do that, and enjoy it, then I would continue to do it. I don’t. And so I don’t.

Just for clarification, I rode 800 miles in 14 hours on the way home, but I did it so I could sleep in my own bed. So doing 1000 miles in 24 would not be a stretch. 1500 would be a stretch. And someday I might do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So I just finished 8000 miles touring the US (mostly out west) on my 2017 R 1200 RT. My knees get sore after about an hour on the bike and need to stretch. I see people on GS’s and GSA’s stand up but frankly I’m too tall to do that comfortably. So I stop and walk around. John Gamel’s solution would probably help. As would a custom seat.

Frankly I’m fine with the stock seat and pegs. I take breaks more frequently but I like to see things too. So breaks come naturally.

And now I’ll really push the envelope and say that while I’m sure I could do 1000 or 1500 miles in 24 hours, I see no reason to do so. I get it, though, I just prefer enjoying the ride.

If you can do that, and enjoy it, then I would continue to do it. I don’t. And so I don’t.

Just for clarification, I rode 800 miles in 14 hours on the way home, but I did it so I could sleep in my own bed. So doing 1000 miles in 24 would not be a stretch. 1500 would be a stretch. And someday I might do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I love your third and fourth paragraphs. A statemant to live by as we get older. Eugene Kraemer :wow :thumb
 
I did one 1000 in 24. I did one 1500 in 36. I did and finished with a bronze medal the IBR in 1999 and in 2003. Now if I do 400 miles in a day it it is a stretch except in Texas or Montana.. Time moves on.
 
I did one 1000 in 24. I did one 1500 in 36. I did and finished with a bronze medal the IBR in 1999 and in 2003. Now if I do 400 miles in a day it it is a stretch except in Texas or Montana.. Time moves on.

My hat is off to you Paul. All 4 accomplishments are a testament to your stamina and character. I don't know any other people who have even attempted an IBR, let alone done it twice. I do want to get the 1500 mile award some day, but I know myself, and there is no way I could ride 1000 miles a day for 11 days.

400 miles in a day (especially in the heat) is nothing to sneeze at. I had plenty of those on my trip out west. The important thing to me is that you are still riding, and enjoying the ride. :blessings
 
+1 to lowering your pegs.
I'm not sure if Ilium makes highway pegs for your year, but they made a very nice highway peg for older models. It didn't require crash bars, and was quite unobtrusive, when the pegs were tucked in. I have lowered pegs, but still need a stretch every now and then on the highway pegs.

Seats are also particular. I've had Corbin, Saddlemen, and Russel. I'm going back to Russel to get custom fitted, as my current Russel is a second hand seat, and not perfect for me. Seth Laam, is also very good, though I've not ridden his seat personally. I did not like the Corbin much. It was too firm for me.
 
Back
Top