David Kollen's 48 Plus Trip Report - Day 1
(In 1998, Iron Butt rider and author, Ron Ayres set
a new 48 state record of 6 days, 0 hours and 5 minutes. Ron went on to add a
new twist to the 48 state record ride by continuing on to Hyder, Alaska to
establish a new 49 state record of 7 days, 0 hours and 20 minutes and a new
ride, one that Ron has named the 48 Plus.)
Day One (Tuesday) - My riding partner, Preston Bebee, and I
decided to start our ride from Plano, TX due to the fact that Ron Ayres lives
there. For those who don't know, Ron is the current Guinness record holder for
the 48 Plus (slightly over 7 days) and we thought it would be a good omen to
have him as our starting witness. Later, we would wish we had back the few
extra hours that it cost us by not starting nearer the meeting point of Texas,
Oklahoma, and Arkansas. We arrived at Ron's in the middle of a massive
thunderstorm and he graciously admitted us into his garage. From there we went
to get our starting receipt (the printed time would be our official start
time) at a local gas station. After that we headed northeast for Paris, Texas
and Idabel, Oklahoma, and then swung southeast for Texarkana, Arkansas. The
rain stopped by the time we crossed into Oklahoma and we enjoyed a few hours
of sunshine. By the time we arrived in Texarkana the rain was with us again
and after getting a weather update by phone we prepared ourselves for the
worst--we would be wet from then into the forseeable future. From Texarkana
we headed south for Shreveport and our rendevous with I-49 which we would
take to Baton Rouge and I-10. The traffic was light and the trip down was
uneventful. It was dark when we met I-10 and from there we just headed east,
doing our best to avoid the rough patches for which this part of I-10 is
famous.
This feature originally appeared in June 2003 - Updated: 05/13/08
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David Kollen and Preston Bebee
Somewhere before midnight we decided to call it a day and found a hotel in
Gulfport, Mississippi where we got a solid five hours sleep. The next morning
we got an early, rainless start and drove to Mobile, Alabama where we headed
northeast on I-65 towards Montgomery. As we neared the Florida panhandle we
detoured south to Century, Florida where we got a gas receipt as proof of
visiting state number seven. Coincidently, it was exactly the end of
Day One.
Note: Numbered days are "official" days starting/ending at 10:15 A.M. CDT.
- HyderSeek 2003, 48 Plus 5/20/03 - 5/29/03
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