Insane but also an incredible achievement. Congratulations!
IBA 100CCC Insanity
The rules for this IBA ride are simple. Coast to Coast to Coast in less than 100hrs. In the US the Gold/Insanity version is say from Santa Barbara to Jacksonville Beach Florida and back. In Australia it's Newcastle NSW (or anywhere between Sydney and Brisbane) to the beach in Perth (e.g. Fremantle or Scarborough) AND back. It's 7911km+ (just over 4915) miles by Google Maps).
This Thursday morning at 5.15am I finished one, fully documented on my well loved 2013 CBR250R. What a great little bike!!
The bike is stock other than a custom rack to hold a 10 litre jerry can. It's farkled with an Etrex 10, SPOT Tracker, Denalli D2's, Oxford Heated Grips, Starcom Advance and my TomTom Rider. I also use an airhawk cushion. I put a new set of Dunlop GPR-200's on it.
I left with a starting docket at Newcastle at 3.19am on Sunday 6 October and headed west. Many of you won't know the towns so I won't be too descriptive. With the tank and the 10 litre jerry I was guaranteed of making 470 k's or so between required stops so I used the jerry where I needed to to make it between petrol (gas) stations. Now the difference between over here and the US is that there are no super slabs on the route, just long outback roads, lots of animals and remote towns few and far between. So planning is very, very, very important or you'll find yourself stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
The end of day 1 saw me ride across NSW into South Australia for my first rest break at Ceduna, 2023kms (1257 miles).
Here's what the Etrex looked like for those of you who like stats
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A few hours sleep and I was on my way for day 2. I crossed the Nullabor Plain and rode into Western Australia
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and then on to the loved or hated 90 mile straight (Caiguna). It was hot (high 30 degree C) and quite windy. For much of the afternoon I needed to tuck right in to maintain the speed limit of 110kph. Reasonably hard going.
![]()
Then across the rest of Western Australia, riding directly west into the seeming never ending sunset, to the outskirts of Perth where I met some local Long Distance Riders who took me straight to Scarborough Beach to finish the first leg and sign the witness documentation. Day 2 was a little shorter at about 1956ks (1215 miles). I arrived about 11pm local time, 2am our time so the first leg took just under 47 hours.
I had booked in at a Hotel on the beach and had a few hours rest. Then back into it. I found my own way out of Perth, back up the hill into the sunrise and back the way I came. It was still windy but today the wind was behind me until I crossed back into South Australia around dark. The wind then changed direction and picked up substantially, blowing from the hot Central Australian Desert.
At one point refuelling from the jerry can under a light at the Nullarbor Roadhouse (which had closed for the night) I had to put my foot on the peg to stop the bike from blowing over. I made it back to Ceduna at 3:26am, behind schedule but needed to sleep for a while.
2 or so hours later I was on the road again for the last leg of the ride, day 4, back to Newcastle. The wind had not subsided and was a constant torment for the next 12 hours or so. I did stop for some photos though, including this one at Kimba SA.
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The bike looks so small! Anyhow, I rode the rest of the way across South Australia, back into NSW through Broken Hill and dealt with the only major pressure point for the ride. A little place called Cobar which was 700kms from the end of the ride didn't have any fuel available after 9.30pm. Time was tight and the wind was slowing me down. I essentially couldn't sit up or stretch or my chances of getting fuel were done and the ride was over.
I made it in time. Had some food and left for the last part of the ride. As I approached Newcastle it got quite cold but thankfully the wind had dropped. After some shivering and a side of the road dancing episode to get the muscles working again a local long distance rider met me 25k's out of town and escorted me to the finish to sign off the ride.
The whole ride done and dusted in 97 hours 57 minutes. I was a very happy chappy. Tired, sore, ready for bed but unable to sleep through the excitement of nailing this ride.
The CBR was flawless, did everything I expected. Nothing came loose and fell off it. The Dunlops squared off a little but wow, they are an impressive sport touring tyre for the CBR. I've seen a lot worse than this after 8000ks!
![]()
If you have to ask why I did this then nothing I can say could make you understand. If you are thinking of an IBA ride on your CBR250R, have a crack but unless you are really into it and don't mind a world of pain and ending up with a butt only a baboon would love then don't try this one
For me, I can't wait until the President of the IBA, Mr Mike Kneebone, signs off the ride and the certificate will go straight onto the wall!
Oh, and thre were lots and lots and lots of bugs
![]()
This Thursday morning at 5.15am I finished one, fully documented on my well loved 2013 CBR250R. What a great little bike!!
The bike is stock other than a custom rack to hold a 10 litre jerry can. It's farkled with an Etrex 10, SPOT Tracker, Denalli D2's, Oxford Heated Grips, Starcom Advance and my TomTom Rider. I also use an airhawk cushion. I put a new set of Dunlop GPR-200's on it.
I left with a starting docket at Newcastle at 3.19am on Sunday 6 October and headed west. Many of you won't know the towns so I won't be too descriptive. With the tank and the 10 litre jerry I was guaranteed of making 470 k's or so between required stops so I used the jerry where I needed to to make it between petrol (gas) stations. Now the difference between over here and the US is that there are no super slabs on the route, just long outback roads, lots of animals and remote towns few and far between. So planning is very, very, very important or you'll find yourself stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
The end of day 1 saw me ride across NSW into South Australia for my first rest break at Ceduna, 2023kms (1257 miles).
Here's what the Etrex looked like for those of you who like stats
A few hours sleep and I was on my way for day 2. I crossed the Nullabor Plain and rode into Western Australia
and then on to the loved or hated 90 mile straight (Caiguna). It was hot (high 30 degree C) and quite windy. For much of the afternoon I needed to tuck right in to maintain the speed limit of 110kph. Reasonably hard going.
Then across the rest of Western Australia, riding directly west into the seeming never ending sunset, to the outskirts of Perth where I met some local Long Distance Riders who took me straight to Scarborough Beach to finish the first leg and sign the witness documentation. Day 2 was a little shorter at about 1956ks (1215 miles). I arrived about 11pm local time, 2am our time so the first leg took just under 47 hours.
I had booked in at a Hotel on the beach and had a few hours rest. Then back into it. I found my own way out of Perth, back up the hill into the sunrise and back the way I came. It was still windy but today the wind was behind me until I crossed back into South Australia around dark. The wind then changed direction and picked up substantially, blowing from the hot Central Australian Desert.
At one point refuelling from the jerry can under a light at the Nullarbor Roadhouse (which had closed for the night) I had to put my foot on the peg to stop the bike from blowing over. I made it back to Ceduna at 3:26am, behind schedule but needed to sleep for a while.
2 or so hours later I was on the road again for the last leg of the ride, day 4, back to Newcastle. The wind had not subsided and was a constant torment for the next 12 hours or so. I did stop for some photos though, including this one at Kimba SA.
The bike looks so small! Anyhow, I rode the rest of the way across South Australia, back into NSW through Broken Hill and dealt with the only major pressure point for the ride. A little place called Cobar which was 700kms from the end of the ride didn't have any fuel available after 9.30pm. Time was tight and the wind was slowing me down. I essentially couldn't sit up or stretch or my chances of getting fuel were done and the ride was over.
I made it in time. Had some food and left for the last part of the ride. As I approached Newcastle it got quite cold but thankfully the wind had dropped. After some shivering and a side of the road dancing episode to get the muscles working again a local long distance rider met me 25k's out of town and escorted me to the finish to sign off the ride.
The whole ride done and dusted in 97 hours 57 minutes. I was a very happy chappy. Tired, sore, ready for bed but unable to sleep through the excitement of nailing this ride.
The CBR was flawless, did everything I expected. Nothing came loose and fell off it. The Dunlops squared off a little but wow, they are an impressive sport touring tyre for the CBR. I've seen a lot worse than this after 8000ks!
If you have to ask why I did this then nothing I can say could make you understand. If you are thinking of an IBA ride on your CBR250R, have a crack but unless you are really into it and don't mind a world of pain and ending up with a butt only a baboon would love then don't try this one
For me, I can't wait until the President of the IBA, Mr Mike Kneebone, signs off the ride and the certificate will go straight onto the wall!
Oh, and thre were lots and lots and lots of bugs
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1 - 20 of 26 Posts
Bikes need more light. I have an HID conversion from DDM Tuning. They are so cheap they are almost free but very high quality.
.
DDM Tuning 35W and 55W HID Kits
.
And I also added two led spots from ADVMonster. Similar to the Denali's but much cheaper.
.
Model 30 LED off road Spot light
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.
.
.
.
Thanks Phil. Good question. This is certainly not something you can just have a crack at so here's a quick summary ranging from the longer term to the just before leaving.
- Saddle time. 15 or so IBA rides in the last two years half a dozen single and two day rides in the last 4 months building up the miles by including 2000km days and even a Bun Burner Gold (1500 miles in 24 hours). I have 5 bikes so I spread the load around. There are certain rides you need to do before you are able to attempt a 100 CCC
- know your limits and rhythm. Riding long you get to know your best riding time, body's rhythm, nutritional requirements and sleep requirements. Try various foods, everyone is different. For me a bacon and egg roll in the morning, muesli bars and sultanas during the day and a plain burger as the sun goes down keeps me going for up to 5 days @ 1600+ Kim's per day but I will lose about 1kg per day. You can't fill yourself with crap, it has to come out and that takes time.
- Fitness. You don't have to be incredibly fit to sit on a bike, but fitness feeds endurance. I run marathons and half marathons when I'm not riding but that's an unusual level of commitment. I actually found this ride much harder than the Polar Circle Marathon I ran last year in Greenland. Just be fit.
-Pain. If you can't tolerate significant pain don't do a multi day IBA ride. You will know if you can when you've done one or two shorter ones. Doing one on a CBR adds a whole level of pain to what you would experience on a big tourer. But hey, it's a bigger challenge.
- get plenty of sleep the week before you leave. Most people can cope with a sleep debt better if they bank some before you leave. This applies if you are only doing a one day ride e.g. SS 1000m
-consider carrying extra fuel, either a jerry can or even an auxiliary tank depending on what your laws allow. You can save 4 or 5 minutes every second stop using a jerry can because of not needing to take your helmet off, pay for the fuel and document it. Every second you save during the riding part gives you more snooze time.
-get the best auxiliary lights you can afford. Half your ride will be at night and you need to see the critters.
-plan the ride. Before you leave you need to know exactly where you are going, exactly where you will be getting fuel and what time you can get it there and with what you've learned riding you should also be able to say within minutes what time you'll get to each waypoint. That way you can adjust your rest periods at the end of a day's ride so you don't fall behind. You will know when you have to leave. Fail to plan, plan to fail.
- get off the alcohol, coffee and drugs two weeks before you leave. You don't have time for them on the ride so you don't want to be craving them while you are riding. You'll feel sick and lose concentration. Trust me, I know.
-get your bike serviced and put new tyres on it before you leave but take it for a half decent spin to make sure the mechanics didn't get anything wrong.
-pack as much of the food, snacks, water you will need before you go. It takes time you might not have to find it on the road and you might not find what your body likes. Other than that pack light. Don't take anything you might not need. Unnecessary weight will slow your CBR down.
- don't eat Asian food or hot curry the night before you leave LOL
-forget coffee, energy drinks, no doze or stimulants. They might help you on day 1 but by day 3 you will be done, dusted and snoozing on your feet.
I know it all sounds extreme, but this was an extreme ride. If you are looking at a single 1000 mile day on your CBR. Get off the beer, have a couple of good nights sleep, pick a long piece of freeway, ride out 500miles, ride home and take some nurofen if you need it. Then you'll be not only in the IBA but qualify as a "Not Right Rider". You can google "IBA archive of wisdom" for more tips.
Oh, Rotorboy, I agree completely about meeting nice people on a Honda, it's happened to me, but If I really want to meet nice people I'll buy a fluffy white dog and walk it in a Park, Then get on a bike and ride and ride and ride
Your otherwise new rear tire would be a good candidate for re grinding to get rid of the square edge.The Dunlops squared off a little but wow, they are an impressive sport touring tyre for the CBR. I've seen a lot worse than this after 8000ks!
![]()
.
http://www.cbr250.net/forum/cbr250-service-maintenance/5029-re-grinding-square-tire.html
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Hi Sendler,Bikes need more light. I have an HID conversion from DDM Tuning. They are so cheap they are almost free but very high quality.
.
DDM Tuning 35W and 55W HID Kits
.
And I also added two led spots from ADVMonster. Similar to the Denali's but much cheaper.
.
Model 30 LED off road Spot light
.
.
![]()
.
.
.
I'm trying to figure out which kit I would need to do the conversion - I've looked a few places and have read that 'Sylvania 9003/HB2 H4 60/55W' is what I need. Does that mean I need to buy two lights or am I looking at a Hi/Lo kit? This stuff isn't selectable as just one choice on the DDM website.
Wombattle a local guy posted a pic of you on Perthstreetbikes refueling in Scarborough beach at night.
he said he signed your forms.
Top effort, you are a machine
he said he signed your forms.
Top effort, you are a machine
I hope to stay longer next time, perhaps even see it in the daylightAll that way to stay in Western Australia for only an hour,
mebbe we smell bad or something
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
