I’ve had a couple conversations with IB riders who absolutely are obsessed with IB rides, and eat, sleep, and live for them etc.
They can never “waste” time to stop for maintenance, see attractions, or smell the roses etc.
They “must” cover as much distance as possible, in the shortest amount of time, and have “Proof” with receipts, awards, and T-shirts to prove they did it.
While these rides could be personal challenges, or simply bragging rights so my question is this:
Would you still do it if you could tell nobody about it?
Leave it to Igofar to stir the pot. Might as well ask which oil is better for an saddlesore ride
One of my friends likens my riding to a "forced death march." For him riding a long day might be just that. Not to me.
Rally riding and certificate rides are different endeavors altogether. Rally riding is primarily a mental activity. Prior to leaving you must plan a route to visit bonus locations worth varying points to achieve the highest score you can. It is never about seeing how many miles you can ride as the miles score no points at all. Some rallies give you points for taking a meal break or a sleep break so time standing still can earn you a lot of points. Rallies are typically won or lost before you get on the bike. The riding is being able to prove you can complete the plan you made.
Cert rides are about the time and distance equation. I have many certs on my garage wall but I'm not a fanatic about it because you have to pay for the certification process and those certs can become expensive wallpaper. The saddlesore 1000 in 24 hours is the most basic ride and after I'd done a few I didn't see any reason to collect more, unless they represented a unique challenge. I earned the Equinox Series which required a 1000 mile ride on each of the 4 equinox dates. I earned another one that involved eating Eggs at four iconic locations in 24 hours called the Eggsanity ride. There are a number of rides which can be seen on the IBA website's Big List of rides. Are you a Marine? They have a ride to celebrate the Marine Corps birthday. One ride I plan to do is the Memorial Ride where you visit the graves or special locations relating to 4 people special to you. Many of the certs don't require 1000 miles in a day, such as the 48 states in 10 days which can be completed at 700 miles per day. A sit and twist day is around 16 hours for a 1000 miles. You've got 8 more hours to stop and see stuff.
There's nothing that says that a 1000 mile day has to be a "sit and twist" event. When I do a long day I plan a route that will take me to as many Tour of Honor sites as possible, or perhaps to see Whispering Giants I haven't seen before. I have done a saddlesore that included two lane roads crossing all of northern Arkansas (that's a challenge) or the stretch of two lane going into and out of Key West (the Krazy Key West Saddlesore).
Riding Grand Tours is another option not mentioned. The BMW club, Glacial Lakes Motorcycle Club, Tour of Honor, RTE-X, Team Strange and others all offer bonus locations across North America with a 6 month time frame. Plan your own ride to your own specifications on the days you want.
But to each his own. Sometimes a flower-sniffing ride is what's needed and sometimes a performance challenge is interesting. There's room enough for both on my riding calendar.
But to answer the OP's question, I rarely tell anyone about my LD rides. Most people's eyes glaze over or they ask questions like "how much money did you win?" or "why did you do that?" As the saying goes, If I have to explain it ....
