Border to Border Insanity
Mexico to Canada in Less than 24 Hours
This
is to Certify that on September 3, 2009, Tim Masterson rode a 2008 BMW
R1200GS Adventure a total of 1,391 grueling miles in less than
twenty-four hours starting in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
continuing on to Sacramento, California and Portland, Oregon before
ending in Douglas, British Columbia, Canada while participating in the
Border to Border ride. Mr. Masterson's stellar performance in smashing
the twenty-four hour barrier during this difficult ride earned him entry
into the Border to Border Insanity record book.
Border to Border Insanity, and extreme ride designed for and extreme rider, was conducted under very strict guidelines
set forth by the Iron Butt Association. Only a handful of riders from
around the world have managed to solve the equation of time and distance
to complete the Border to Border ride.
Signed
Michael J. Kneebone
President, The Iron Butt Association
Border to Border to Border Insanity
Mexico to Canada to Mexico in less than 3 Days
This
is to Certify that in September of 2009, Tim Masterson rode a 2008 BMW
R1200GS Adventure a total of 2,782 miles starting in Tijuana, Baja
California, Mexico continuing on to Sacramento, California, Portland,
Oregon and Seattle, Washington before crossing into Canada at Surrey,
British Columbia and turned around and rode back to Tijuana, Baja
California, Mexico in less than three days!
Border to Border to
Border Insanity was conducted under very strict guidelines set forth by
the Iron Butt Association. Only a handful of riders from around the
world have managed to solve the equation of time and distance to
complete this amazing ride!
Signed
Michael J. Kneebone
President, The Iron Butt Association
The Blog
This
adventure started at home in Wimberley. I grew up in El Cajon, CA and
my sister still lives there. So, it was a perfect place to so the
Border to Border to Border Insanity ride. I took two days to ride out
with a stop over in the Picacho Peak state park west of Tucson. Anyone
who has driven/ridden I-10 west of Tucson has seen the striking Picacho
Peak sticking out of the dessert. Anyway, I pulled in about 30 minutes
before sundown and set up cam. No tent, just a hammock strung between
the up-rights of the overhead cover for a picnic table. The hammock was
issued to me when I was in the Army about 35 years ago and has become
my "Iron Butt Motel".
The next day I arrive at my sister's house
in El Cajon, took her and the old man out to dinner then went back to
catch up on old times. The next morning I road to Otay Mesa border
crossing. This crossing is about 10 miles east of the very busy TJ
crossing. It took about an hour to do the quick turnaround on the
Mexican side and get in line to cross back into the US. After finishing
at the border crossing, getting my IBA witness form signed off by a
Major in the Border and Customs dept I headed to the nearest gas station
to top off and get the all important dated business receipt to
substantiate my official starting time....6:35 AM PDT.
As timing
would have it I hit LA during late rush hour. Lane splitting is a legal
activity for motorcycles in California and the car drivers are used to
it. So, when in Rome.....I got through LA without much delay. After
crossing over the Cajon pass I headed into the "Big Valley" for the long
haul through not very scenic parts of California.
After a
quick lunch around 12:30 I noticed the air temp start to rise. It was
early September and I was expecting hot weather. My BMW has a trip
computer that gives me time, average speed, average MPG, fuel range in
miles till empty and the outside air temperature. I have to toggle the
computer button through the various settings to get to the temperature,
which is last in the group. Well the temperature had been in the mid to
high 90's for the last hundred miles or so. I did a quick glance a
the instrument cluster to check the temp and I noticed it was 100. I
reach for my water bottle and took a big swig. A few minutes later I
noticed it was 103. Not unusual and it's nothing I haven't ridden in
before. I was riding with a full face helmet, mesh jacket and summer
weight gloves. I could feel the heat but wasn't uncomfortable. The
best way to stay cool while riding in temperatures over 100 degrees is
to drink lots of water and cover up to retard evaporation. I glanced at
the temperature again, just a quick glance, and noticed it was 107,
then ticked of to 108. Wow! I thought, but I was in one of the hottest
parts of California so you just take it as it comes. I had my video
camera mounted to the side of my helmet so I thought I'd capture the
moment. I pressed the remote record button on my handle bar to start
the camera. There were no vehicles anywhere around me so I dipped my
head down to have the lens pointing to the instrument cluster to capture
the temperature. HOLLY SHIT! It was 115. I started to give some
narration into the microphone in the cord and noticed......I had the
trip computer set to the TIME!!!!!!! It was now 1:16 in the
afternoon. I turned off the video cam....and went back to just riding
down the Interstate.
The rest of the ride up to Canada was uneventful. When I arrive at the Canadian border check point is was around 2:45 AM. I asked the customs agent to witness my arrival and fill out the IBA witness form, which she was more than happy to do. Crossing back into the U.S. I stopped in Blaine, WA for a dated business receipt before getting back on to I-5 for the south bound leg. I pulled over into the first rest area for some sleep. After about about a 45 minute power nap I felt refreshed enough to tackle the rush hour traffic through Seattle and Tacoma. It was HOV lanes most of the way so I sailed through without delay.
By sunset I was in need of a good nights rest. I stopped in Indio CA, checked into a nice motel, got a good Taco Bell meal, took a shower and hit the sack. The ride back down to Otay Mesa went smoothly. After dashing across into Mexico and back through the US check point I was able to have the same Border Agent sign off on my witness form marking my successful completion of the Border to Border Gold and Border to Border to Border IBA challenge rides. What a great long distance riding adventure!
Adventure Tips
You haven't lived until you have lane split 20 miles of rush hour traffic through downtown Los Angeles.
