Yes Jan - Long Distance Rides were a favourite of mine. I'm classified as a "Mile Eater" Member in the IBA and my "Breakfast Rides" were usually to a Wimpy out and back in Vryburg, Nelspruit, Harrismith, Kimberley or similar. I did most of my IBA riding alone because it's very difficult to align diaries and the worst possible scenario is to pull out the morning of the ride or on a ride.
I've done several rides (7 or 8 certified I think), the first in January 2003 and the last in July 2016 (but which I did not complete). My list includes 3 Saddlesore 1000 miles in 24 hrs, a Saddlesore 3000 in 72 hrs, Bun Burner 1500 in 36 hrs and Bun Burner Gold 1500 in 24 hrs and Outermost South Africa approx 4500 in 100 hrs. A considerable amount of planning goes into such rides and you need to have your weather reports well buttoned down as well as sunrise and sunset times as a minimum. You need to plan fuel stops (6 minutes) and meal times. I attempted a Dusty Bun Burner (1500 miles in 36 hrs all on dirt roads) but experienced generator issues and only made it to 1000 miles in 24 hrs so I know the Northern Cape pretty well. You have to learn to bin a ride attempt despite all the hard work in planning if all is not going well - another reason for riding alone.
A friend from Cape Town and I designed the Outermost South Africa as an IBA ride specific to SA. It took in the tar roads closest to the borders (and coast) and it worked out at around 4500 miles so we set the Gold Certificate at 100hrs and silver at 120 hrs. More than 120 did not make the grade. We did it anti-clockwise and we each completed in around 90 hrs - 3 overnight stops.
You have to specify all manner of data on an IBA ride and provide receipts along the way that prove your route. Your tracklog from GPSr is not acceptable - your route is determined from your receipts along the way using their own mapping software (I forget which). A certification can be refused if your speeds are deemed to be too fast. These rides are NOT races against others or against the clock.
I've also mapped Mauritius and West Africa for Garmap by car and completed a Cape to Cairo jaunt. The maximum single leg we travelled on the C to C was about 850km on a day or two.
I had a great time. Not riding anymore though - I contracted 3 superbug infections from Worcester Mediclinic in my ankle and battled for 2 years to clear this with specialised antibiotics without success so amputated the lower left leg. My prosthesis is miles better than the old leg
but at 74 years I guessed it was time to stay with the car. The bugs were Acinetobacter baumanii, MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa - each with fatal consequences if not cleared. I'm very happy the way things turned out though
