BBG 3000

August 4, 2017 - August 6, 2017

Ride To Mexico And Back On the Weekend
3000+ Miles
Yea, We Can Do That

We did it! We completed the BBG 3000 at 8:45 AM August 6, 2017

Ride Report.  http://www.gregrice.com/rides/BBG3000ToMexicoReport.html

It's time to get back in the saddle and see if I can recover from a DNF in the 2017 Iron Butt Rally so I am going to attempt a Iron Butt Association BBG 3000 which is riding 1500+ miles in back to back 24 hour periods.

This ride has 5 things I hope to accomplish:

1: Ride some hard miles and burn a lot of gas. ( I am sure it is going to be HOT and RAINING, its Texas in the summer ) - Done

2: Complete my 42 & 43 BBG's. - Done

3: Ride to Mexico, if only for a couple miles. ( I have an urge to ride to Mexico for a couple years with a couple different rides planned butt... ) - Done

4: Get back in the saddle after my DNF in the 2017 Iron Butt Rally, it still stings. ( I have not ridden since ) - Done

5: Do a ride with another rider and get the team failure off my back. - Done

Our starting location will be the Racetrac gas station on Broward Blvd and I-95 in Fort Lauderdale, FL and we will ride to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico where we will turn around and ride right back into Laredo, TX and get a ending receipt for the first BBG. Our goal is to arrive in Nuevo Laredo in the early AM ( 5:00 AM ) hoping everyone will still be sleeping. We will be staying in a hotel in Laredo, TX after completing our first BBG hopefully getting a few hours of sleep before we start the second BBG back to Fort Lauderdale, FL. We will use the first BBG ending location ( Exxon ) to get a starting receipt for the start of the second BBG riding back to the Racetrac in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Part of our ride documentation will be the receipt you get for paying the fee to cross the Juarez Lincoln International Bridge into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico at the end of I-35. This will be the proof that we rode to Mexico during the BBG 3000 ride.

Another "issue" I am hoping to put behind me on this ride is doing a ride with another rider. I am going to attempt this ride with a friend Dan Thaler from Fort Lauderdale. He and I have ridden 5 BBG's together over the last couple years and Dan has ridden 11 total BBG's including 1 BBG 3000.

This is our current planned ( things can change ) gas stops on the first BBG to Nuevo Laredo.

• Racetrac at exit 27 on I-95 in Fort Lauderdale, FL - Start

• RaceWay at exit 399 on I-75 in Alachua, FL

• Shell at exit 5 on I-10 in Pensacola, Florida

• Loves at exit 92 on I-10 in Rayne, LA

• Buc ee's at exit 632 on I-10 in Luling, TX

• Loves at exit 127 on I-35 in Devine, TX

• Exxon at exit 4A on I-35 in Laredo, TX - Finish

This is our current planned gas stops on the second BBG back to Fort Lauderdale.

• Exxon at exit 4A on I-35 in Laredo, TX - Start

• Loves at exit 127 on I-35 in Devine, TX

• Loves at exit 7 in on I-10 in Vinton, LA

• Pilot at exit 69 on I-10 in Moss Point, MS

• Loves at exit 262 on I-10 in Lee, FL

• Shell at the Canoe Creek Service Plaza on the Florida Turnpike

• Racetrac at exit 27 on I-95 in Fort Lauderdale, FL - Finish

On the first BBG we will be trying to ride to our plan and hopefully make the planned gas stops. On the second BBG riding back we will be less concerned about our planned timing as we have the full 24 hours since we will not need to have time to rest as we need on the first BBG.

Join Us Anywhere On Our Route - See Below

If you want to attempt a BBG 3000 and be able to say you rode to Mexico and back on the weekend then you are more than welcome to meet us at our starting location, Racetrac 2300 W Broward Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312, around 9:30 AM Friday morning August 4, 2017. This is not a group ride or a "planned" event but if you want to join us come on down. You can ride as many miles as you want and stop when ever you want. We are all going to ride our own ride so there will be no pressure for me to try and keep up with you.

You can also join us anywhere along our route and ride some miles with us. Ride as many miles as you like or that you can stand, remember it's going to be HOT. The tracking below is up to 20 minutes behind our actual location so keep that in mind if you want to meet up with us somewhere on our route.

My BMW RT and Dan's BMW GSA

Interactive Maps

Below are three interactive maps, Google route to Nuevo Laredo, Dan's and my Spotwalla satellite tracking and US weather radar. The Google route map and the Spotwalla tracking map allow you to zoom in and out using the + and - buttons in the bottom right of the maps and you can drag the map with a mouse. You can also zoom in and out of the maps with a mouse that has a wheel. They show my planned route ( Google Maps ) and below that map is a map of my current location with the use of a SPOT satellite tracking device and Spotwalla.com ( thanks Jason Jonas ). The last map below is a national weather radar map where you can see the weather along our route.

We use the following states DOT websites for traffic and construction information during our ride planning. If we see large scale construction zones we will mark them with custom POI's in our GPS's so we get alerted when we get close to them. This information helps us understand why traffic may be slow in those areas.