One woman. One Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special. Forty-eight states. 7,983 miles. In nine days. Piece of cake, right?
BY WHITNEY MEZA WITH JOY BURGESS
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or many of us, riding offers the greatest escape. Some ride for freedom and others for the thrills, but for AMA member Whitney Meza, doing the Iron Butt Association’s (IBA) 48/10 Challenge — created in 1988 and involving riding through 48 states in 10 days — was all about challenging herself and discovering what she was capable of on a motorcycle. With the help of an IBA volunteer, Whitney discovered that only a handful of women have been certified in the 48/10 since its creation. “That was the fuel to the fire I didn’t know I needed,” Whitney told American Motorcyclist. “I just had to take on this challenge now. It was an opportunity to see a lot of the country, go places I hadn’t experienced before, and add another female name to the Iron Butt Association records.” Riding her Sportster presented a challenge, not just in way too many time-sucking fuel stops but also in terms of survival, Sportsters being the polar opposites of touring bikes in terms of comfort. Enter Harley-Davidson’s new Pan America 1250. “I knew the 1250 could make this challenge easier,” Whitney said, “so I reached out to the Motor Co. and held my breath.” H-D came through with a Pan America demo for the entire month of June, and after packing its hard bags with everything she thought she might need, she headed out at 3:30 a.m. on June 21, 2021 to prove she could take on 48 states in 10 days, unaware of the mental toughness and determination it’d take to accomplish that. —Joy Burgess
SOLO THRASH DAY ONE
978 miles; 16:13 hours ride time; Wis., Ill., Ind., Mich., Ohio, Penn., N.Y., and Vt.
At 3:30 a.m. I was ready to take off from Wisconsin, but first had to clock my start time at a local Kwik Trip. Rolling in at 4 a.m. I met a fellow IBA rider just completing a Perimeter of Wisconsin Ride…exactly what I needed to get me going. I took off towards Illinois, crossing the Illinois Skyway Bridge just as the sun rose. My adrenaline was high, and I knew I needed to settle and find my rhythm. As I went up through Indiana and into Michigan, I finally did…until later when I hit rain leaving New York. It didn’t let up as I dealt with curvy backroads on my way to Brattleboro, Vt. Those last 120 miles in the rain tested me. By the time I got into my hotel I had a four-hour “nap” and just enough time for my gear to dry out on the heat vents before taking off again.
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AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST • NOVEMBER 2021
