Iron Butt - Wales / UK

[Michael Teague]

Afternoon all, Complete Newbie to the App & this Site.

Just been playing around making a route (around Wales) as I'm thinking of doing a Iron Butt Challenge (1000 miles in 24 hrs).

However struggling at the mo as I can get approx 820 miles in 24 hrs 30 mins.

Does anyone have any tips or an actual route I could look over / use ???

Any comments / feedback greatly appreciated

[Nick Carthew]

Hi @Michael-Teague Good luck first off, have you factored in the new 20mph zones If you have a route, maybe you could share it here and have the combined planning power of the whole community helping you out.

[Michael Teague]

Hi Nick & thank you for the response.

Being new im still attempting to learn how things work lol.

With regard to the 20 mph doesn't the route planner take that into account when planning a route as it gives distance and time descriptors.

I think ive shared a route that I was doing which was basically my first attempt of going around the edge of Wales (comes in at 850 ish miles and takes 26.5 hrs lol.

So still a bit of work to do regarding finding the magic number of 1000 miles and completing it in 24 hrs.

[Nick Carthew]

@Michael-Teague said in Iron Butt - Wales / UK:

Hi Nick & thank you for the response.

Being new im still attempting to learn how things work lol.

With regard to the 20 mph doesn't the route planner take that into account when planning a route as it gives distance and time descriptors.

Yes, the route planner does take in the speeds of roads when calculating the time. I mentioned it as a joke as it’s been a national topic of conversation stirring up both anger and laughter 🤭

I think you might struggle to find the magic number of 1000miles in 24hrs in Wales 󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[richtea999]

1000 miles in 24 hours is 41.7 mph average. And that's not including stops for petrol, food, toilet, etc.

That's pretty fast for an average, and as Nick hints, Welsh roads aren't very straight especially around the edges. You're going to need some open A roads.

Maybe add a few runs down some of the bigger straighter roads in the middle, and maybe in the Marches, A49 etc? They are very nice roads, and reasonably empty compared to a lot of England.

[BFG]

@Michael-Teague Iron butt is from the USA. Being the land of laser-straight roads and cruise control and not much else to do achievement-wise in motorcycle pursuits, I can see why distance-averages are a goal. But in Europe we have curves. Particularly in Wales, where it would be twice as hard. If you do it you should get two badges!

Most locals interpret 20 as 30 when it's safe to do so.

One thing to note is that the time estimates from MyRouteApp are about 30% optimistic with routes in Wales, so don't rely on the times, even if you choose one of the gold map options. What I do is export the route as .itn and load it to my tomtom, which gives me a reliable journey time. But generally any route which comes to about 6 hours in MyRouteApp is actually more like 8 in TomTom.

[Michael Teague]

@BFG Thanks for the comment mate, totally understand where you're coming from have saved my route as one to do normally and will look again at planning a Iron Butt into England & back lol

[Neil Bartlett]

@Michael-Teague Hi Michael, Forget the UK, Just come to NZ in Oct and join with the NZ Distance riders on our Iron Butt events, NI1600 km and NI800km. You will get a warm welcome. You will get plenty of practice hardening your Butt on the plane ride to get here, LOL

[Lynchy67]

@Michael-Teague

I was bored a couple of weeks ago so I attempted a Wales 1000 Iron Butt.
I didn't upload it as the thread had dropped off the radar.

This was the best I could do.

https://www.myrouteapp.com/en/social/route/9391627?mode=share

24 Hours 32 Minutes
921.61 Miles

[AWDC LAO]

I did this Iron But in April 2018 with 2 nice friends on a bike.
We had also al 3 persons driving in a car for supporting with food and drinks and other medical stuf (if needed)

We did Brussels - Gerona( Spain ) - Brussel. 2500 km in 36 hours, total 2626 km ( 1631,72 UK miles )

Left at 9 AM in Brussels, arrived around 1 AM the night and we slept only 5 hours in Gerona.
The idea was that we would drive more KM on the first day than on the 2nd. This meant that at the Luxembourg-Belgium border we had driven 2.500 km, and as far as Brussels it was still 126 km.
The discipline was to stop every 200 km to refuel, pee and get some exercise.
The weather : sunshine until Lyon, then lots and always rain until Gerona and back to Lyon, only to enjoy the sun again until Brussels ( Wetstraat ).

The aim is also to drive safely and avoid traffic violations.
Respect the local traffic rules.

Another tip : make a loop and don't drive back via the same road, it makes it less boring !

The challenge was in the context of "Komop tegen Kanker", to sponsor a cancer fund. I myself had been operated on from a severe stomach cancer and oesophageal cancer, and I also wanted to prove that there was still life after severe life-threatening surgery, including with the motorbike.
I survive it for almost 8 years now.

Ik heb deze Iron But in april 2018 gedaan met 2 leuke kamaraden.
We hadden ook nog 3 personen rijden in een auto voor ondersteuning met eten en drinken en ander medisch materiaal (indien nodig)

We deden Brussel - Gerona( Spanje ) - Brussel. 2500 km in 36 uur, totaal 2626 km ( 1631,72 UK mijl )

We vertrokken om 9 uur 's ochtends in Brussel, kwamen rond 1 uur 's nachts aan en sliepen slechts 5 uur in Gerona.
Het idee was dat we de eerste dag meer KM's zouden rijden dan de 2e dag. Dit betekende dat we voorbij bij de Luxemburg-Belgische grens 2.500 km hadden gereden, en tot Brussel was het nog 126 km.
De discipline was om elke 200 km te stoppen om te tanken, te plassen en wat beweging te krijgen.

Het weer : zon tot Lyon, dan veel en altijd regen tot Gerona en terug naar Lyon, om dan weer van de zon te genieten tot Brussel ( Wetstraat ).

Het doel en de verplichting van IB is ook om veilig te rijden en verkeersovertredingen te vermijden.
Respecteer de lokale verkeersregels.

Nog een tip: maak een lus en rij niet terug via dezelfde weg, dat maakt het minder saai!

De uitdaging was in het kader van "Komop tegen Kanker", om een kankerfonds te sponsoren. Ik was zelf geopereerd aan een ernstige vorm van maagkanker en slokdarmkanker, en ik wilde ook bewijzen dat er nog leven was na ernstige levensbedreigende operaties, ook met de motor.
Ik overleef het nu bijna 8 jaar.

Vertaald met www.DeepL.com/Translator (gratis versie)
Bun Burner 2500K outside USA