The Ride

48 Plus! is one of the 117 rides sanctioned by the Iron Butt Association (IBA) (http://www.ironbutt.com/about/default.cfm) that involves visiting all 48 continental states plus Alaska in ten days or less. The IBA rules permit a rider to take any route to all 49 states; however, it requires two witnesses to document the beginning of the ride and two witnesses to document the end of the ride as well as a dated business receipt documenting a visit to each of the 49 states.


The IBA reports in its rules for the 48 Plus! ride (http://www.ironbutt.com/ridecerts/getdocument.cfm?DocID=14) that:

“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!”

I believe Morris Kruemcke now holds the record for visiting 48 States on May 20, 2004 riding a Honda Gold Wing with a route of 7,146 miles in 5 days, 8 hours, and 52 minutes.