Here is the announcement on the IBA UK website:

Ride Report:

Monte Carlo or Bust

I love riding motorbikes.  I think it is the fact to be successful whilst riding a bike you have to live in the moment.  There is no future, no past, just the ride and what you are doing now to make progress and stay safe.  Many of the aspects of motorcycling move me.  I like to plan a trip.  I like to do Iron Butt Association (IBA) rides, I like Flower Sniffing Rides, I like to take advanced riding courses, I like the ‘biking family’; biking has given me so much over this last 20 years of riding (second time around).

So Monte Carlo or Bust by the IBA UK was a no brainer it was a challenge I took upon myself with gusto.  It ticked all the boxes and to have Roger Allen the IBA UK President organise it I thought it rude not to join in.

Build up to an IBA ride takes as much or as little as you want.  I guess from the minimalist’s point of view all you need is a bike, a credit card and the inclination to ride (James691!) for me I want to embrace the whole project.  Just look at my packing list!  I had an extra choice this time should I take my Yamaha FJR1300 or my brand new Harley-Davidson Ultra Glide?  Each bike had its strengths and weaknesses but at the end of the day the Ultra for me was the ideal tool for the job.

Monte Carlo or Bust was an opportunity to take part in a group ride and bag a Kilometre based ride, the BBG2500K (BunBurnerGold2500Kilometers) and for our imperial readers 1553miles!  I always ride my bike as if I want to ride tomorrow and with a Safety Cameras plague in the UK riding this far within 24 hours would put serious risk to maintaining a clean driving license.  So it was off to La Belle France where in dry weather the top limit is 130KPH (81 MPH).

The thing about a BBG2500K is that all things have to be in your favour, weather, traffic, bike and most importantly your mind.  IBA allow rides to be taken as and when all these conditions are perfect and your choice of when and where to start but on a Group ride that start and finish window is restricted.  It was therefore at an Ibis Hotel in Calais at 01:20 hours I set off in pursuit of my goal, my start receipt showed 01:31 and I hit SPOT so Roger could follow along in the fun, as could many of my fellow Geordie Chapter HOG members.

What can I say about the ride South but perfection arriving at my halfway turnaround point in 11 hours and at an overall average of 115KPH, brilliant one extra hour in the bag.  Ride north was not as good; firstly traffic congestion where even with lane splitting my average plummeted.  Traffic congestion also reared its ugly head in Lyon, the central motorway was chocker block, it would be at 5:30pm on a Saturday!  Onward and upward and still had time in hand.  But about 4 hours South of my finish in Calais horrendous torrential rain.  Not only does the speed limit drop to 110KPH in the wet but my desire for safe riding meant I was down to 90KPH because of reduced visibility, no road lighting, and constant deer warning signs taking me back to an animal strike a few months ago that resulted in a write off for my one week old 105th Anniversary Glide.

Arriving at my finish garage I knew time was tight.  As it was early in the morning I had to firstly take my credit card into the garage, get it checked, out to pump gas then back in for that all important finish receipt.  Horror of horrors I’d completed 2540 K in 24 hours and 12 minutes!  Doh!  SPOT has the overrun as 11 and half minutes.  Whichever way you look at it not a good result.

I rode those few K’s back to the Ibis where Roger was waiting and my wife called; both had seen the finish on SPOT and wanted to congratulate me – but I was convinced I’d failed in the Gold, although achieved a solid BB2500K it was not what I wanted.

The jury is still out as to whether the IBA will trade some of my extra distance for that little extra time and pro-rata it down because I had done the 2,500K within 24 hours but my receipts were not proof of that fact.  Group rides under the guidance of an IBA representative have slightly different rules as the representative is basically overseeing your ride and although very important those receipts are not the only acceptable evidence of achievement.

Either way I had a brilliant ride.  I did the distance, had no ‘moments’, and can ride another day.  My Glide was flawless and I now know her so much better and can feel our bond gaining strength.  I lived in the NOW for 24 hours, Eckhart Tolle would be proud of me.