The idea of this ride started with some members on our local rider forum in January...
http://bamarides.com/ride/lets-ride/possible-in-state-saddlesore-1k/
It definitely piqued my interest, because doing an IBA ride and getting one of those license plate frames has been on my motorcycle bucket list for the last 10 years or so, and the additional difficulty of doing it all w/o interstate made it that much more of a challenge to myself.
I've done several 650 mile+/12 hour+ rides on different bikes before, including my trusty 'ole VFR, so I knew that I could most likely handle the riding part. The only issue I really had on some of those rides was fatigue...I can deal with and usually find a remedy for the pain of a long day in the saddle, but once your eyelids get heavy and your brain decides it's had enough, there's not a whole lot you can do. And I knew that I'd most certainly get tired on this trip, but if I could overcome and avoid that "point of no return", I'd have a good chance of finishing it.
So the original thread started snowballing, and another member "Blue Flash" (Steve) came up with a couple of route variations, and he and some other long distance vets, began fleshing out some details and concerns.
Due to forum-sponsored motorcycle Gymkhana that same weekend, we could only muster a two-man crew...but much like a Space Shuttle launch, we knew we had a "window of opportunity" with the weather that we had to take advantage of.
Our final "official" route map...
We met in Moody, AL for breakfast before gassing up and getting our receipt to document the official start time. Only problem was...the pump's clock showed about 40 minutes slow, so we hit the ATM for a correct receipt. Start time, 12:15pm.