BBG4500::My Bun Burner GOLD Trifecta::Over 4500 Miles in Under 72 Hours

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My Bun Burner GOLD Trifecta: Over 4500 Miles in Under 72 Hours
Release Number 0115

To My Friends, Fellow Riders and Freedom Fighters:

The most challenging ride in the Iron Butt Association's Bun Burner GOLD motorcycle endurance riding certification series is the "Bun Burner GOLD Trifecta", also called the "BBG4500":

http://www.ironbutt.com/
rides/rideslogin.cfm

The BBG4500 requires three consecutive, back-to-back-to-back days of riding over 1,500 miles in under 24 hours, for a total of over 4,500 miles in under 72 hours. Prior to December 2008, only 7 riders had ever completed a Bun Burner GOLD Trifecta:

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Bun Burner GOLD Trifecta Finishers (Back to Back to Back Bun Burner Golds!):

Name             Hometown                Date      Motorcycle       Mileage
Derek Dickson    Duluth, MN              08/28/07  Yamaha FJR1300   4,672
Curt Gran        Pewaukee, WI            07/04/07  Honda ST1300A    4,566
Steve Broadhead  Calgery, AL CANADA      03/13/06  Honda ST1300     4,512
John Tomasovitch Throop, PA              03/09/06  BMW K1200RS      4,500+
Peter Leap       Marblehead, PA          03/09/06  Honda ST1300     4,500+
Peter A. Murray  Hackettstown, NJ        09/23/05  BMW K1200LT      4,564
John C. Ryan     Roxbury, NJ             10/04/04  BMW K75          4,619

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Given the IBA's approval of my ride certification package, which I received on 5 March 2009, that number increases to 8, and this list will soon at long last include a Harley-Davidson rider:

At 2:18am ET Monday 15 December 2008, I pulled an ATM receipt at a SoBe Wachovia to mark the end of my 39th Iron Butt ride, a three-day BBG4500 over which I covered 4,558 miles in 71 hours 6 minutes, advancing my odometer to 155,795.

Leg 1 commenced at 3:12am ET Friday 12 December, riding from Miami Beach FL to IH195 to IH95 through Jacksonville FL, Savannah GA and Florence SC to Dunn NC and back for a total of 1,532 miles in 21 hours 57 minutes.
Leg 2 commenced at 3:36am ET Saturday 13 December, riding from Miami Beach FL to IH195 to IH95 to the Florida Turnpike through Orlando FL to IH75 to IH10 through Tallahassee FL and Mobile AL to Moss Point MS and back for a total of 1,515 miles in 22 hours 2 minutes.
Leg 3 commenced at 4:16am ET Sunday 14 December, riding from Miami Beach FL to IH195 to IH95 to IH595 to Alligator Alley through Naples FL to IH75 to IH475 to IH75 through Atlanta GA to IH20 to Douglasville GA and back for a total of 1,511 miles in 22 hours 2 minutes (coincidentally the same time as Leg 2).

I chose a wee-hours starting time so I would always be in the coldest part of each leg (northern end) at the warmest part of each day (early afternoon) to lessen cold weather impacts and inefficiencies.

My reincarnated '99 FXDS with its remanufactured Twin Cam 88, new H-D stock carburetor and overhauled 5-speed transmission performed flawlessly (so well, in fact, that I earned performance awards from a couple of Dixie's finest LEOs). And I can't thank people like Andy Vazquez, Bobby Gaines, Joey Barbosa, Charles Paken and most especially Diann Pearson enough for taking the pain out of the IBA witness signature collection requirements for me.

I'll have a LOT more to say about this insane ride in future installments of "Distance Riding with Bruce":

http://distanceriding.ldrlongdistancerider.com

Until Next Time ... Ride Long, Ride Free!

Bruce Arnold :-)

Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
Author and Publisher, LdrLongDistanceRider.com
Co-Moderator, Bruce-n-RC's Biker Forum
Mile Eater Gold Member, Iron Butt Association (IBA)
Sustaining Member, Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF)
2007 Chairman's Circle, American Motorcyclist Association (AMA)

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OTHER BBG4500 BUN BURNER GOLD TRIFECTA RIDE REPORTS