..:: OMM - One More Mile Riders ::.. - A long way for a birthday present !

It was with some trepidation that I applied to take part in the Iron Butt Bun Burner 1000/OMM 1000 ride programmed to coincide with the visit to Turkey of the President of the Iron Butt Association of the USA ( Michael Kneebone) on Friday 8^th June 2001. Reading the ride reports on the OMM site plus extracts on the Iron Butt site filled me with a certain amount of apprehension. Was the bike up to it ? More importantly was I up to it ?

Breaking all the rules, preparation for the trip concentrated solely on my bike; a 1988 BMW R100 GS. A simple but robust machine but far from fast. For the ride I decided I would ride with the Jesse Luggage panniers fitted as well as my Chase Harper tank bag. From a capacity point of view the latter would have been adequate but having masses of spare luggage capacity sure makes life easier. Rather than having to fight for space and meticulously pack everything such that you are subsequently reluctant to use it for the bother of having to repack, having spare capacity makes life more flexible and easy.

In the tank bag I carried some simple essentials. Sun glasses, sun cream (what a pity I didn’t use it !), torch, a full set of spare bulbs, a ‘Stop-n-Go’ tire plugging kit for coping with tubeless punctures, a can of Finilec for the same and my road map. The map, however, was simply a back-up. The real navigational aid was the route card in the transparent top of the tank bag detailing major changes of directions, roads, destinations together with an estimated arrival time so that I could pace my journey.

Promptly at 1900 all 7 participants left the club. As well as myself there were 3 gallantly making the attempt on their Harley’s, a fellow BMW mounted pilot (accompanied by his partner on pillion) on a state of the art R1150 GS, and a final participant on a Triumph Tiger. As we pulled out of the Yapi Kedi Plaza onto the approach road to the 2^nd Bosphorus crossing it took all of 2 nanoseconds before I was passed by the Triumph and the R1150 GS.

The start time for this year’s runs had been changed to make the arrivals back into İstanbul more accessible to spectators. Thus rather than leaving at midnight, we were leaving early evening. The downside of this was that we were immediately plunged into the evening rushhour traffic crossing from Europe to Asia. Any thoughts of making rapid progress to İzmit were, therefore, shattered as we battled with the heavy traffic. Once through the toll booths at Çamlıca, however, the road cleared and we were able to start to increase the rate of progress. As I passed Hereke I was passed once more by the other BMW and the Triumph who were clearly travelling far faster than I was. There was no way I could even catch them, never mind cruise with them !

Exiting the TEM at Kandıra I briefly caught up with the Tiger and R1150 but as I paid my tolls they were off ! The fixed route then took us past İzmit, Yalova and Bursa. This part of the route was undertaken between dusk and dark and was quite frankly a nightmare. Single lane roads with monstrous, belching, crawling lorries all intent on passing each other meant that progress along here was anything if rapid. Having rejoined the road between Yaolva and İzmit after a refuelling stop I was passed by the BMW and the Tiger again. Strange, because I had not passed them yet !

Thankfully after Bursa the traffic eased and I was able to settle in the routine for the night section. My aim was to cover as much ground as possible duıring the night. This was not because I particularly enjoy Turkish roads of a night (there are quite frankfully too many hidden dangers out there to ever make it a truly relaxing experience) but I prefer to ride in the cool rather than the heat of the day. Guess I am just too English in that respect !

Bursa-Karacbey flew past and soon I was on the road to Çanakkale. A road not without its moments as there were numerous Jandarma control points and unmarked roadworks taking place. Fortunately the Jandarma waved me on at every point and there were no radar traps in operation. By now the moon was clear and bright and riding conditions absolutely perfect. As I dropped down towards the southern coast of the Sea of Marmara the temperature was clearly dropping as well but so far I was comfortable just in a ‘T-shirt’ under my riding jacket.

As I skirted the Sea of Maramara on the approach to Çannakale I was surprised to be passed once again by the BMW and the Tiger ! I had not seen them since between İzmit and Yalova. At Çanakkale we had all chosen the same petrol station to refuel at and obtain our precious ‘Proof of Passage’. We also all took the opportunity of doning sweatshirts and light fleeces in anticipation of cooler temperatures from here until dawn. After a drink of coffee from the vacuum flask it was then off towards Ayvacılık and the Aegean coastline. The road between Çananakkale and Ayvacilik was an absolute delight. Traffic free, dry , well surfaced and well illuminated from the moon. I was soon enjoying stretching the machine through the series of fast, broad bends. İnevitably within 15 minutes I was engulfed in the slip stream of the R1150 GS and the Tiger as yet again they demonstrated the advantage of having 50% more BHP available.

After a stop for the all important Proof of Passage, petrol, a further drink of coffee and a very badly bruised banana at Edremit, the road between Edremit to İzmir was taken at a consistently fast pace to take advantage of the perfect conditions. Singing songs to myself to break break the monotony of listening to the road-roar from my new System 4 helmet (which was surprisingly noisier than my old System 3 helmet) and looking at the moon reflecting off the Agean Sea helped pass the time.

I have only been through İzmir once before when I became confused by the urban motorway system and it signposting. This morning was to prove no exception. I guess not realising that I needed to follow the sign for Aydın when I wanted Selçuk and Belevi was my undoing. Fortunately a quick conversation with a friendly taxi-driver informed me of this and together with a couple of stops to look at the map soon had me exiting İzmir on the new motorway link to Selçuk; the Selçuk exit being reached just as dawn was breaking.

The road Belevi-Tire-Ödemis-Salihil was an absolute dream. Whilst the surface was of mixed quality the alternating combination of tight and sweeping bends as the road crossed the mountain ridges, accompanied by the glorious colours of the sun as it rose was simply wonderful and at this time of the morning there was little or no traffic to interefere with perfect lines round the bends. Trundling across the cobble stone streets of Tire with the sun glinting off the stones reminded me strongly of numerous small French villages I used to travel through before coming to Turkey. Definitely the highpoint of the whole run and highly recommended to anyone with any soul.

Unfortunately this was quickly followed by the lowpoint. The Salihil-Uşak road was by comparison too wide and boring. By now I was feeling the effects of having ridden all night, having covered some 600 miles (960 Km) without a serious break. In addition I was riding due east into the rising sun without my sunglasses or any protection from the sun. Waves of tiredness swept over me as the temperature started to rise. I knew that I needed to stop and rest but I didn’t want to stop just anywhere; what I wanted was a nice shaded spot next to a spring a short distance from the road and the noise of the lorries. A pocket of tranquility and a rest from the throbbing of the motorcycle engine. It took a while before I found what I was looking for but it was definintely worth it. A refreshing cup of coffee, sharing fruit and conversation with the local farmer and his daughter and a cool and refreshing wash from the spring revitalised me. With my sunglasses extracted from my tankbag I was now ready to tackle the remaining part of the ride.

The petrol stop at Uşak came and went and was soon followed by the next stop close to Afyon at Sadckbey. By this time I knew I was well ahead of my target times and I briefly toyed with the idea of stopping for a roadside burger but I was not really that hungry and in addition I would have suffered the humiliation of having to explain to my childred that I has voluntarily gone to a McDonalds. This brought me to my senses ! I pressed on.

By now I was focussing on the end but having stopped for so many times for petrol just to obtain the required Proof of Passage despite having a huge 43 litre fuel tank, on the section Afyon-Küthaya I started to consider what alternative Proof of Passage could be obtained at my next control point at Kütahya. I was dammed if I was going to fill up again so shortly after Afyon. As I trundled along I decided that as the following Thursday was my wife's birthday, and as she loves decorated plates and ceramics, the ideal solution would be to purchase a piece of ceramics from the factory shops in Küthaya. I was well ahead of my internal timetable for the ride, everything was going well and after all, this wasn’t a race.

The result was a very bemused shop whose staff couldn’t really understand why they had in their store a motorcyclist covered in dead flies and dust browsing their wares and taking an inordinate time to chose between the wide selection available. Having eventually made the purchase (having first to wait behind a couple who appeared to be purchasing the entire contentsof the shop and needed 2 shopping trolleys to take their purchases to their car!) it was them simply a case of fitting the box into the panniers and then praying that the plate would not break on the return journey to İstanbul.

Another cup of coffee from the flask and it was off towards Adapazarı on the last interesting leg of the journey before re-joining the TEM. By now the temperature was clearly rising but the road was relatively clear, and the views in the valley superb. I made what can only be described as positive progress past İnönu and Bilecik as I sped towards the penultimate control point at Adapazarı.

Like Paolo on his 1,500 mile ride I was joined on this section by a red Mercedes who provided entertainment and a competitive edge to the dash through the valley. Perhaps this driver waits there until a fast moving motorcycle appears on the horizon ? In the end I decided to let him go….he could relieve his glory with his friends in the çay bahçesi later ! I was amazed yet delighted that I had seen no signs of radar traps at all: a points free ride being a bonus .

By the time I called our rally controller Murad from Adapazarı to say that I was just 90 minutes from İstanbul I had mentally calculated that the Tiger and the R1150 must by now be back as I had not seen them now since between Çanakkale and Ayvacılık How wrong I was. A combination of additional stops and a a puncture on the BMW had put them behind me. I guess I was just lucky not to have picked up a puncture myself.

The TEM between Adapazarı and İstanbul was quite frankly fast but monotonous and the ever rising temperature meant that mid-way I was hit by another wave of tiredness. This was no time for heroics and pressing on regardless so I pulled into one of the TEM rest areas. A short rest and draining the remains of my flask of coffee soon had me refreshed again. Back to the monotony of the TEM ! Fast wide motorways’ and R100 GS’s are not a good mix so it was with relief that I finally crossed the 2^nd Bridge over the Bosphorus and back into Europe before hacking my way down to the pre-arranged finish at the Harley Café in Ortaköy.

It was approximately 1445 (19 hours and 45 minutes after leaving Yapi Kredi Plaza the night before). As expected, there was no-one there to witness my return so it was back to the BP station between Bebek and Arnavutköy to fill up once more and obtain the final Proof of Passage to give me a final documented finish time of 15:06 and a total elapsed time of 20hrs 06mins.