{"id":240,"date":"2011-07-09T15:31:01","date_gmt":"2011-07-09T22:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/?page_id=240"},"modified":"2022-10-07T10:55:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T18:55:06","slug":"fun","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/fun","title":{"rendered":"When I’m not working… I’m having even more fun!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oregon high desert on US 95<\/p><\/div>\n

When I\u2019m not implementing the latest comp plan, GTM strategy or process improvements for a software company I enjoy riding my motorcycle.\u00a0 I used to ride when I was in high school and college but put it on hold for some number of years\u00a0 while the kids were young.<\/span>\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I took a job in Silicon Valley that it emerged as a viable commuting alternative for the 120 mile round trip from my home in El Cerrito.<\/span>\u00a0 There are HOV lanes which allow motorcycles on most of the routes between home and SV.\u00a0 California also allows motorcycles to navigate between cars (called lane splitting) when in congested traffic.<\/span>\u00a0 I bought a BMW K1200LT; a very large touring bike because of its comfort and protection from the elements.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A<\/span>\u00a0year later that I discovered the motorcycle model I picked was a favorite of long distance motorcyclists.\u00a0 Yes, there is a group of folks who ride just for the challenge of covering large distances and they are appropriately called the <\/span>Iron Butt Association<\/a>.\u00a0 To qualify to join this group you need to ride 1,000 miles in 24 hours and document the ride with witnesses and time stamped gas receipts.\u00a0 Worldwide there are over 75,000 members in the IBA.<\/p>\n

\"www.ironbutt.com\"<\/a>I remember thinking that 1,000 miles on a motorcycle would be a daunting task but the challenge was irresistible!\u00a0I spent weeks planning my first 1,000 mile ride with 2 long rest stops at family’s homes along the way.\u00a0 Since then I have been successful in several IBA certified rides: Canada to Mexico in 24 hours, San Diego to Jacksonville, FL and back to San Diego in under 100 hours<\/a>, and the most difficult was two 1,500 mile days in a row (3,000 miles in 48 hours), called a Bun Burner 3000 Gold.\u00a0 I call it crazy brutal.<\/p>\n

I have also been on the board of a 501 c 3, charitable organization that holds annual motorcycle conventions at resort venues in the United States offering great riding opportunities while raising money for nearby youth focused organizations.\u00a0 This has allowed me and sometimes my wife to ride through some of the most beautiful “fly-over” country most coast dwellers never see.\u00a0\u00a0It’s been over 20 years since my return to riding and I have now ridden a motorcycle in all 50 states and 3 Canadian provinces covering over 300,000 miles.\u00a0 I rented a bike in Hawaii but I rode to Alaska!<\/p>\n

Please enjoy the photos of a few of my exploits below…<\/p>\n

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Barbara and I in front of the convention venue in 2006<\/p><\/div>\n

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Western entrance to Lolo Pass in northern Idaho<\/p><\/div>\n

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Site of the annual long distance rider dinner<\/p><\/div>\n

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Truck stop in Laramie, Wyoming in June. A late winter storm like this is a reminder that the continental divide is only a few miles away!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Barbara and I just north of Jackson Hole, Wyoming<\/p><\/div>\n

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New black bike in front of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada<\/p><\/div>\n

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Southern Utah, the most beautiful area in the USA, IMHO<\/p><\/div>\n

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State Rt. 1 north of Fort Brag, California with friends Dave and Rob<\/p><\/div>\n

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Death Valley during White Stag Rally in January 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Barbara and I near Big Sur on the Pacific Coast.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I\u2019m not implementing the latest comp plan, GTM strategy or process improvements for a software company I enjoy riding my motorcycle.\u00a0 I used to ride when I was in high school and college but put it on hold for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-240","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1422,"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/240\/revisions\/1422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}