Well certainly that is no feast for the bike to cover 1610 kms in a day, after all its a Yamaha but it truly is a feast for Mr. Melroy Alphonso who undertook this tedious journey and came out on top. He came across the Iron Butt Association of USA which has certification for long distance rides called the saddlesore1000. In this ride you have to complete 1,610kms (1000 miles) in a period of 24 hours. He had to locate a suitable route where the roads were good and traffic was light. For proof the ride has to have petrol receipts, logs, witness forms for verification process. He choose the route of Mumbai to Eklinji and back to Mumbai covering a distance of 1650kms. Eklingji is located in Rajasthan which is at a distance of 15kms north from Udiapur. So the route was Mumbai (Maharashtra), Surat (Gujarat), Udaipur-Eklingji (Rajashtan) and turn back and come back to Mumbai thus completing the required 1,610 kms.
DAY1 – He started out from Sion (Mumbai) on 23rd November, 2009 at 7:54am at western express highway. The W.E highway connects to the golden quadrilateral which takes him across to Gujurat and Rajasthan. This route goes all the way north direction to Delhi. He topped up hi fuel tank on his Yamaha FZ16, took a petrol receipt as proof for documentation and his saddlesore ride has begun, His destination was to reach Eklingji which is ahead of Udaipur and head back to Mumbai. The journey on the golden quadrilateral is much better than riding on other highways. He had to be extremely careful of the trucks plying as he did not want to be run down by any of them. Riding the FZ16 was fun as the engine and gear change was smooth, rest assured the extra wide 140mm tire on the bike provided fantastic grip and stability. He reached Surat at 11:35am covering about 284 kms. This was his first stop after he begain hi ride after filling fuel. The scenery covered while riding the bike is breathtaking, he thought to myself this is the best part of doing the ride. He finally reached the end border of Gujurat at Himmatnagar at 4:30pm. The only stops he did was at the petrol pumps to refuel and he sipped on red bull for energy. He continued his ride entering into Rajasthan. This was his first visit to Rajasthan, it is really a lovely place to visit once at least. Finally he reached Eklingji at 7:26pm and he was glad. Now he just had to make it back to Mumbai in one piece. After leaving Rajasthan to return back to Mumbai he reached Himmatnagar (Gujurat) at 10:28pm.
DAY2 – The journey in the night became a problem as lots of insects were starting to hit his helmet. He had to stop frequently to clean the helmet visor so that he can have a proper view in the night. He reached Surat (Gujurat) early morning at 3:40am and was dead tired not knowing whether he will be able to make it back to Mumbai. His odometer read that he had covered a distance of 1363 kms. Continuing riding he made it to Dhaisar check naka and to his surprise there was a hell line of trucks lined up. Making his way on the side path he made his way out. He reached Mumbai and headed to to the western express highway, nearing his time. After much riding he reached a petrol pump but the credit card machine was down. Ahead he was glad to see a ATM machine and quickly punched in his card and got a time stamp slip for proof. He reached Goregaon (Mumbai) on W.E highway at 7:50am on 24th November, 2009. He had done it, he had completed 1650 kms in 24 horrs. Now he had to make his way back home satisfied that he had done the saddlesore1000 ride.
