This ride is a different take on the Iron Butt Association certified event in which the rider completes at least 1,500 miles in under 36 hours. There are over 20 locations in The Great State of Texas that have names of country capitals throughout the world. The goal of this adventure was to ride to as many TX world capital locations under strict Iron Butt Association rules for the Bun Burner 1500 certified ride. I planned the leg with the option to complete the ride in under 24 hours to qualify for BunBurner GOLD status. The Athens segment end was to be the decision point on weather to continue on the quest for GOLD or stop for rest and continue for a regular BB 1500 finish. See the Garmin Connect profile of the ride. Scroll down for segment reports.
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LOCATION (capital of country) , Time in - Time out, cumulative miles
Austin, TX -- 0600 - 0620 0 miles Witness sign offI rode from my home near Wimberley to the parking lot at Reagan HS to get Jeff and Jude to certify my start. Thanks guys! Departing there I rode about 1/4 mile to obtain the dated business receipt that documents the IBA official start time.
London (co United Kingdom) 0623 - 0628 141.8 milesThe ride to from Austin to London takes you through the Texas Hill Country. Rolling hills with narlly oak trees and cactus. London is a very small community with a gas station, post office and cemetery. Took a picture of my bike in front of the US Post Office.
Dublin (co Ireland) 1059 - 1104 275.9 milesDublin is a fair sized city. It is home to one of the first original Dr Pepper bottling plants. The plant is open to the public, has a museum with the largest collection of Dr Pepper artifacts, and a real soda fountain where the "jerk" makes you a Dr Pepper from scratch. Tasty and delicious! I took a picture of my bike in front of the Dublin Police department.
Wellington (co New Zealand) 1505 - 1516 548.1 milesTook a picture of my bike in front of the Wellington post office. The PO building looks like it was built circa 1930's. Wellington is it the east half of the Texas panhandle. It was the farthest north world capital name town on the tour.
Paris (co France) 2001 - 2005 871.9 milesWhen I took my picture in front of the City of Paris Public Library the flash didn't quite get the name carved into the stone sigh. So, here's a Google Earth street view of the same location.
There is no "there" there. No businesses, no post office. There was lots of activity at a church. Must have been a Saturday night church social. So, I took a picture of my bike next to the Kingston road sign heading into town.
Warsaw (co Poland) 2213 - 2217 987.4 miles
This community is in the middle of farm country. Lots of nice homes and a church which I used to take a picture of my bike to show I was there.
Athens was the decision point to either continue on to accumulate 1500 miles to qualify GOLD, under 24 hours, or to select a rest stop and continue on for the Bun Burner 1500 miles in 36 hours. At this point I was 13 minutes ahead of my route model. At this point I had been awake since 0445 and riding about 19 hours straight. My model predicted arriving at the 1500 mile mark at 24:06 total time since model start time of 0630. I had not made up a sufficient time cushion to reasonably expect to finish the 1500 in under 24 hours. I elected to do the rest stop.
Palestine (not a country) 0001 - 0616 1080.2 miles
Palestine (Texans pronounce it Palesteen) is a large city with lots of amenities. I pulled out the Droid, fired up the "Find a Motel" app and picked one. Stayed in a Quality in for $63 including tax. Took an Advil an zonked until the wake up call at 0530. Ate the free full breakfast and I was on my way.
Moscow (co Russia) 0841 -0851 1208.9 miles
As
I was approaching Moscow I must have blinked. I rode right past the
way point shown on the GPS. The way point I put into the zumo was the
lat/lon from Google Maps for the Moscow US Post Office. It was not
accurate. Needless to say I was 18 miles down highway US 59 before I
decided to turn around and get this bonus....ah, I mean...location
picture. I'll be sure to mention the doubling back mile in my IBA
submission papers.
Victoria (co Seychelles) 1148 -1209 1423.3 milesVery large city near the coast. Took a picture of the bike and Victoria Sheriff's Office.
Vienna (co Austria) 1231 - 1243 1492.3 milesTook a picture of the bike and the Vienna historical marker in the center of town. The local tavern was open so I went in an had a cool one....Diet Coke. Tried to get a dated business receipt but no chance. The gentleman who served me the Diet Coke actually put the dollar into his pocket. I stopped at Hallettsville for a dated business receipt to mark the route corner. That helps substantiate my claim of riding to Vienna.
Wimberley ("A Little Piece of Heaven") 1535 - 1547 1581.2 miles
Stopped at the Sac-N-Pac for the ending dated business receipt to finish the Texas World Capitals Bun Burner 1500. Now, to start working on the route plan for the Bun Burner GOLD ride. Of course, starting from and ending at more Texas Work Capital locations.
Other Texas communities with name of world capitals not visited this trip.
Belgrade
Berlin
Georgetown
Hamilton
Havana
San Jose
San Juan
Stockholm
Tunis
Adventure Tips
LEG STATISTICS
1581.2 Total miles
33:19 Total time
67.4 Average Moving MPH
59.5 Average Total MPH
47.9 Gallons of Fuel Used
36.3 Miles Per Gallon
