Iron Butt Harley Challenge

It may seem strange to review something like an event that is past? However I must point out that each year around Epsom Downs near me A Motorcycle Club runs a Veteran Run to Box Hill to what was known as Rykers Café at the bottom of Mickleham Village. Also once a year the same enthusiasts cross over to the Isle of Wight for a Jamboree.

This review is dedicated to David K, aka Davinchi, the greatest Harley biker of them all…
What are you going to do in London when the urge for some excitement kicks in, when you feel an urge to get out and test your manhood? Or, your womanhood? Or, you just feel like doing something crazy to feel alive?
The Harley Davidson Surrey Chapter sponsors the Iron Butt Harley Davidson Challenge, which is to ride 1,000 miles on a Harley within a 24 hour period.
The Iron Butt challenge is a test of human endurance and of a great machine.
The Iron Butt starts in Guildford, loops up to Southeast Scotland, and back to Guildford — a 1,000 mile ride through the rolling green pastureland of England and Scotland.
The ride starts off innocently enough: 20 devoted Harley riders in a classical British riding formation gliding through the English countryside. It doesn’t matter that the countryside is enshrouded in a heavy, misty fog; it feels like total freedom feeling the cold air blowing by flying though the English countryside.
The sun eventually sets. The air feels measurably colder. The freezing cold seeps directly through thick, English riding gloves, and fingers turn icy cold and eventually lose all feeling.
Rain starts to fall. Light at first. Then, heavier. The group stops in Lancashire for a rest at a Travel Lodge. Time constraints only allow for a 2 hour rest break.
Lying in bed in wet riding garb, sleep doesn’t come. It soon becomes clear that a hot shower is in order — it’s the only way to shed the cold.
Two hours pass quickly and back out into the darkness. The rain now a steady, insistent downpour. After a while, unbearable fatigue sets in. The rain falling obliquely, starts to fall in heavy, thick droplets. It changes color. It’s purple now. Panic starts to set in. This doesn’t seem real. Is this really England? Or, a bad dream where losing focus or attention may lead to disaster?
It’s so hard to stay awake. The world is encased in darkness. The only visual elements are the lights of the bikes ahead. The only sounds are the pelting rain and the deep V twin rumble of 20 Harleys flying through the English countryside.
Sleep deprivation and motorcycle riding are not a great combination.
Guildford comes around. The end finally comes. The unmeasurably heavy fatigue of limbs and body parts drain out and pain and soreness call out for relief. It’s finally over and …
The Iron Butt patch will come in the mail.