How to get an Iron Butt SaddleSore certified from India: fees and proof

The short answer: there is no entry form and no entry fee. The Iron Butt Association (IBA), the American body that certifies long-distance rides, lists a SaddleSore 1600K as "1,610 kilometers (1,000 miles) in 24 hours" on its kilometre rides page. You ride it, document every stop, then apply. The IBA's SaddleSore 1000 rules page says no pre-registration is needed and that processing takes a minimum of 2 to 3 months. You pay only after the ride is verified: $45 for the certificate, or $54 for the certificate with a patch and a plate back.

What the rules actually ask of you

The clock starts at the time on your first computer-generated receipt, preferably fuel, and ends with a second machine-printed receipt before the same time the next day. Every corner or turning point on your route needs a dated receipt so the verification team can rule out a short cut, and you have to hand over all your fuel receipts, not a selection. The documentation guidelines call these dated business receipts and want them photographed in front of your odometer at the start, at intermediate stops and at the end. If you would rather not shoot odometer photos, the IBA offers an alternate witness method instead.

You also submit a ride log that explains every fuel stop and every halt longer than 30 minutes, plus a map with the stop towns marked. Two eyewitnesses are needed, one at the start and one at the finish, and a petrol pump attendant counts.

One line on the kilometre rides page matters a lot in India. The IBA says it does not certify rides where the maximum speed limit is too low. Pick a route of expressways and four-lane national highways, not ghat sections, and remember that meals, fuel and sleep all come out of the same 24 hours.

The paperwork, step by step

1. Download the trip log and application forms PDF from the SaddleSore pages and print them before you leave.
2. On the ride, collect machine-printed receipts, photograph each against the odometer, and fill the log at every stop.
3. Build the route afterwards in Google Maps using the addresses on your fuel receipts as waypoints.
4. If you ran a tracker such as Spotwalla, include the online tracking link.
5. Scan or photograph everything so it is readable, label each receipt with the odometer reading and map reference, and send it through the IBA's electronic ride application with your name, country and ride type in the subject line.
6. Pay online through a secure server after the ride is verified.

The India entry on the IBA's kilometre rides page is an email address, not a local chapter website, unlike Finland, the UK, Ireland and the Benelux. So expect to deal with the US office directly.

What it costs, and who has done it

Fees are quoted in US dollars, so budget for a card payment abroad. Beyond the certificate, pins are $9.50 and patches $8.75. The longer kilometre rides cost more, from $60 for a SaddleSore 6000K to $90 for the 18000K.

Indians have been doing these for years. Autocar India reported that Devjeet Saha covered 1,628 km in just under 24 hours on a 97cc Hero Splendor Pro, the article noting the 1,610 km minimum. Wikipedia describes Chithra Priya as the first Indian woman to earn a Saddle Sore certification, in 2011, though the same page gives her distance as both 1,600 km and 1,650 km. Treat any such number as a claim until you see it on the IBA's own approved ride lists, which is exactly the standard your own application will be held to.

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