and here is my story about one of my epic rides. this is not a completely edited version. so punctuation and grammar may be off.
My Iron Butt Story, The completion of my Lake Michigan SadleSore1000. What is an Iron Butt? well, the short answer is it is a time/distance endurance riding. you send your documentation to them for verification and once they verify that you have indeed completed a ride then they will send you a certificate as such. their entry level ride is 1,000 miles in less than 24hs. which is what this ride is, for more information you can check out their website.
I have done this before back in 2009 on my 2008 triumph tiger 1050 I had at the time. so, I had a good idea what to expect, I now have a 2006 gl800 Goldwing that I have also done several day trips to a buddy's house that is 300 mile 6 hour ride time not counting visiting or fuel. I have also on a whim gone to St Ignace for an overnight camp, then hit the tunnel of trees on the way home the next day which is a total of about 650 miles and 10-11 hours of riding over a short two day span, as well as a weeklong camping adventure off my gl1500l Goldwing from Michigan to Ohio, Virginia, Carolina, Tennessee through the blue ridge parkway, tail of the dragon and several other roads over a week by myself.
I just put new tires on the bike in the middle of August, so I knew she was good to go there ( and peaked at the brakes and a few other things while apart from that). I had also replaced a radiator this spring and installed some electrical connection brand led headlights which to say the least are very good. so, I double check a few things I have not laid eyes on in a little while like brake and clutch fluids and give it a visual once over and all seems good. I grabbed some granola bars and a few other supplies for the trip. This seemed to work pretty well last time as well as this time of getting a drink ( I also had a bottle of water on the bars I could drink anytime. ) grab a sip, shove some food/snacks in , hit the restroom, fuel and go! I had been planning the ride with a couple of buddies from work and had planned it all out on google maps that could accommodate all 3 of us. ( with the rules of stops at the "corners" for proof. ) After setting the mandatory spots I would only have to add 2 stops for fuel for me and John, but I would have to basically double all of them for Dave as he does not have the range that we did. This was not hard as there were mandatory points and I was able to just stick an extra stop in the middle of them.
As I watched the weather for the upcoming days ( about a week out) I had wanted to head out Friday, but there would not be enough time for rest or prep beforehand and the weather was looking a little cooler than I was wanting to ride in for hours on end. as the low Thursday night was about 50 and the average high was barely 70 and a bit cooler where we would be across the upper peninsula whereas Friday night was supposed to be about 58 overnight and about 80 for the high the next day, perfect!..... or so I thought. The only "bad" spot of weather was supposed to be from about 2pm through 8pm or so in St Ignace for the bridge crossing. not something I would be looking forward to but, what do Ya do? I was hoping to pass through before the weather hit and get lucky.
Dave was not feeling well and ended calling off work even, so I knew even if he felt better, he would be a no go, I would have insisted he get rest and better before an adventure of this degree. John has spoken to his wife, and they had family things planned all day Saturday with kid's cross country and some other things he did not want to miss, so that put the trio back down to one! After having done the other iron butt and my other solo trips I knew I could do this just fine solo. Friday morning rolls around and I wake early about my normal work time of 4:30 so I start playing with some mp3's for the new mp3 changer that hooked into where the factory cd changer belongs and is controllable with the factory controls. Eventually we get up for the day, grab some food, then groceries and some small supplies for the trip, then back home. Next was to double check the bike. brake, clutch fluids, oil, air pressures, etc. all good to go! time to grab a melatonin to help slow my brain down before a light sandwich for dinner so I would sleep at all, then laid down about 6pm as my desired departure time of 1200 midnight was to come early.
Miles 0-185 ( South haven Michigan to North Utica, IL)
I awoke fairly normally as if it was just another early morning for work. got dressed and packed up the things I had laid out before bed, Frogg Togg jacket, partial change of clothes, water, snacks and a few other little things. awesome not doing bad, ready to fire up the gps and my new to me bubbler app for using Spotwalla as I wanted an additional way to track the ride if I could. I pulled up my previously set up google maps and it would not let me load an individual stop. crap, hiccup number one and I haven't even left the patio. So, I talked with the wife, and she agreed to grab each address and send them individually so I could just click on the next one when the time came to head to the next stop. So off I headed to the beginning gas station. I made it to the station, and she had got me set up with the stops. so, I got the first one pulled up and topped the tank off for my official start time. 0052 start mileage 43,391. time to hit the road.
The first many miles were uneventful, started out on I-196/US-31 S then onto I-94W eventually I-80W some construction zones but traffic was lite enough in these early hours that travel was easy, the temp was about 58 and all was going well , and I was once again grateful for my EC headlights. As I progressed past Gary Indiana, and Chicago the temp was a very awesome 68. The miles were pretty uneventful but was cooling back off as I neared my turning point, temps were back into the low 60's. I get to the truck stop and get my fuel and receipt at the official first stop at 0254 mileage 43,576 , hit the restroom, grab a granola bar and saddle back up.
Miles 186-327 (Utica, IL to Madison, WI)
Getting back on the I-39N that turned into I-90 at the state line, headed to Rockford, Il the highway was mostly empty, I went about 30 miles before seeing any traffic in my lanes at all and about 3 times that much headed south. I had the high beams on when traffic was not coming in the opposing lane, and apparently, I had forgotten this and an oncoming semi truck flashed its highs on, then off, then back on before going into a strobe light like flashing frenzy, ok dude I'll turn them off for you! I knew they were/ are bright, but I suppose that kind of put it into perspective, as the median was quite wide at this point and although he was the only one that went spaztic on me he was not the only one to have flashed me if I didn't get them off quickly enough.
About an hour in I realized I was getting kind of cool also, so I checked the temp, and it was back down to about 54, time to turn the heated seat and grips on! A bit later I decided that I needed to pull over somewhere as I was getting the beginning feelings of the long blink, that feeling of lack of focus before you actually zone out. ( from other personnel experiences as well as my job I have gotten familiar with the feeling and know that it needs addressed rapidly) just so happens that at the junction it was going to kick me off the highway (had to set to avoid tolls) there was a station I could see so I pulled in and climbed off. hit the restroom, grabbed some snacks off the bike as well as some water and paced around a bit to get the blood flowing once again. I made sure my vents were zipped up on the jacket and got the hood of the hoodie I was wearing pulled up and on under my helmet for a little further help, esp. on the back of the neck.
little did I know that this next hour from Rockford to Madison was going to be probably the darkest stretch of road for me on this trip. after I left the station, it took me up through town before getting back on the highway, I was probably back on the highway again for about 20 miles when I realized how much the cold was starting to get to me and for the first time since considering to the trip at all I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to make it past this morning to have a shot at the end. I was strongly considering stopping and putting on a pair of snow pants and the rain jacket I had with me just to keep the cold out when I realized that I was getting close to the next stop, which was good as the ebb of tired was beginning to slowly creep back in. I needed the sun, the daylight I knew would wake me back up, and I needed the warmth that would come with it! I NEEDED the sun.
As I climbed off the bike, I remember feeling almost exhausted like I had been at it all day, then I checked the time 0607, well no wonder I had been in the cool and dark for 5 hours already. 43,718. time to head inside. As I came out of the restroom, I found myself lingering in the station but couldn't place quite why yet. Warm ahh yes, I was beginning to get warm again. I also figured it wise to give myself something else to focus on, so I grabbed some mints and chatted with the guys at the counter a little. I pushed myself back outside as I knew I needed to keep going if I was to finish. I figured some food, and more water would help, so I had some fruit cups that I had brought, and another granola bar and with walking around the pumps there I was beginning to feel pretty good, and the twilight in the morning sky brought me hope and reassurance that I could make it.
Miles 328-480 (Madison, WI to Abrams WI)
Saddling back up I toss a couple mints I bought in and pull back out on the road. As I got headed down US-131N things were doing great, the road was nice and even though it was simple farmland, with the sun coming up on my right, big and orange not blinding at all was magnificent. The rolling fields and the sun starting to shine on the cold dew and highlighting the low laying fog was just picturesque. as the light grew in the sky so the light in my head and I became wide awake and ready to keep pushing, even more than when I started.
As I passed through Beaver Dam, WI and for a little while after, I was filled with memories of my late Aunt and Cousin as they ( and my late uncle and his two remaining siblings) had lived there for a few years and I spent part of a summer there with them. I remembered parts of that trip and just different parts of years past spending time with loved family and sharing those memories with the landscape made it that much sweeter. as my mind wondered on from late family it went to more recent times, as the rolling fields reminded me of the rolling valleys, I had enjoyed in 2016 on the north end of the blue ridge parkway, the morning was turning to be quite pleasant and overall was making me quite happy, several good memories, the weather was warming I was alert, the tunes where good, and i was on another adventure. It was truly a great time!
eventually turned off US-151N on to WI-26 that turned onto I-41 but where the two met just south of Oshkosh I missed the I-40 on ramp and got on a side road and took a bit of a route off the highway and although I am sure I lost a bit of time I stayed on the move and eventually made it back to the highway on the northern end of town somewhere. The rest of the trip up past Green Bay was pretty uneventful and kept making pretty good time. I rolled into the Shell station in Abrams at about 0830, 43,871 and other than feeling hungry was doing quite well. After the normal routine I was eyeballing for some food as it was a larger station and had a couple restaurants attached to it, but both were still closed. the ladies behind the counter informed me that basically nothing opened till 1000-1030. They suggested a little restaurant up the road, and although I am sure I would not have been sorry for taking their advice, I felt like I should keep moving, so another load of bike snacks it was. I figured I would just grab something at the next stop as it was listed as a truck stop and restaurant.
Miles 481-587 (Abrams, WI to Rapid River, MI)
Shortly after leaving Abrams, I began to get excited as I could see some water peeking from the trees of what would be the bay of Green Bay. I was quite surprised as for being a two lane area it moved quite well, and the road was quite good, long sweepers and what looked like and would prove to be a quite scenic road across. Over the next couple hours, you could see the water more and made me want to push on to see what was coming next. I came into Escanaba and was not sure what I really expected, I know it is talked about and that Jeff Danials is from the area and did the movie, but not sure what I really expected. I suppose maybe I thought it was a little two horse Yooper town that had that small town charm but as I made my way through, I could see what looked like a waterfront town that does pretty well for itself and has a classy kind of charm.
After getting through Escanaba proper ( didn't know this at the time, as it felt like a continuation of the same town) the guard rail ended nearly at the water, and for the first time of several you could really feel the expanse that is part of the great lake, and we are not even to the big part yet. It was a little odd to me as it felt as though it was a pond, swamp, possibly a smaller lake as the number of reeds and marsh looking near the shore looked like a smaller body of water or reminiscent of the edge of the everglades type feeling. As I progressed trees took back the view and blocked the water again as I had expected from having looked at the maps, but I knew more would be in store.
It wasn't long before I found the next stop coming around a large bend and there it is. cool, I need a stretch and lunch! Get pulled in and swipe my credit card ( card i have been using for the whole trip) asks for a pin number, not thinking I enter my pin, denied! Wait, what? so, I thought for half a second, duh a credit card doesn't use a pin so I tried again and could not find a way to bypass this, denied. Crap! So, I march inside and tell the gal behind one of the registers what is going on and she says there is no way to bypass it, but she can turn my pump on and come back in to pay, this works! I get fueled up and head back in to pay, get my receipt 1147 43,978, get directions to the restroom, now for the food part.
The attached restaurant has a sign that says carry out only, but also says currently closed, great. I wander around this little place not sure what else to find, but in the back, they have a hot cabinet with chicken tenders, potato wedges, and a few other things, so I grab some tenders and wedges, pay and make my way back out to the bike. I pulled around the back and parked in the shade of a semi trailer (the only shade around aside the awning at the pump) I started looking for my next point to stop, and it seems I am missing one! not a big deal i know that i head across on the only road right here and turn at the bridge! so, I just looked up the bridge and it said 127 miles. Awesome! depending on traffic i am guessing about two more hours and I will be on the last large leg, now let's call the wife and get this food in! I have to say I didn't expect much from gas station style tenders, but I was pleasantly surprised at how juicy and flavorful they actually were. Not the lunch I was expecting, but quite good given the circumstances.
Miles 588-714 (Rapid River, MI to Topinabee, MI)
I get wrapped up, next stop programmed in and pull out onto US-2E ( US-41N turns into US-2 here anyway) the woods here are not quite like at home, there is more evergreens and more deadwood that I am used to seeing , along the road it seems to be cut back about 50 yards even though it appears to be lower ground, but I am grateful as it makes the road and traffic much easier to see. the speed limit is 65, but if you do that you will probably get ran over and being on a time schedule, I am happy to run with the flow. it's another 20 miles or so before any real signs of water again, but in Manistique there is a nice little pull over just east of the river, and being traffic is moving much better than I expected i pull off as the wife asked to bring back a pebble, and when I do this I try not to do it from the same place I have before and I like to try and make it something that should be unique to the location and not just something out of a gas station island that was landscaped from who knows what. from here you can see the Break water lighthouse. I stay for about 10 min grabbed the first of only two pictures I took and get moving again.
traffic is doing well and making good time again. It is another 20-30 miles before I see water again, but all is going well. these last 75 or so miles would be some of the best with the water. there are many places that the road and water meet and there is not more than boulders to break the water before the road and the wind in considerably more in many of these spots, enough so that on several occasions through the worse spots i put my visor all the way down and closed it as the wind was coming in sideways and way dying my eyes and making them water and difficult to see. visor closed, much better! There would be a lot of opening and closing of the visor through this area, and I should have thought about what all the wind would mean, but it didn't dawn on me till later what this would mean.
It was somewhere around this time that I noticed some liquid by my right knee that I had figured was dew or water but there was now more, and it would have dried by now otherwise, that means current leak, but what ? The only thing that is in a spot that could leak there is the reservoir for the clutch. I tried to feel around it to see if there was a major leak but found nothing. I pushed on and just kept an eye on it. The wind and blowing sand increased to the point there were signs warning to watch for sand on the road, and with the amount of wind it was not hard to see how and why, I could only imagine how this would all be in the winter. As I was watching my odometer and knew from my directions that the bridge was coming up, and i knew from my last experience across that I wanted to get off and stretch a bit to be a little fresher heading across, just because. There is a scenic rest stop a couple miles up the road and I pull in with a group of about 5 guys on their annual ride around the area. I get to looking and I see some fluid on the front side of the brake reservoir, take a look and the tools I thought I had with me are not there, so I ask if one of them had a screwdriver to borrow. Apparently when I checked the fluid level the day before, the rubber part that doubled as a gasket wasn't straight and got pushed back from the edge.
After another 5 min or so wandering around, chatting and taking the second and last picture of the trip I decided it was time to get on with it. As you turn the corner headed for the bridge you get a good look up the side of this 5 mile behemoth with its deck 200 ft above the water and the main support in the center at 550 feet tall. On the way to the toll booth, I was too late to notice the pull off so I could grab a couple pictures, but I did notice the high wind advisory, which is an average wind speed of 20-35 over a minimum of a 5 min period (which can have gusts higher than that). As I got to the toll booth I asked if there was any construction and she replied no, receipt? yes! Off we go!
A smaller car with a trailer, perfect! I know they won't be going very fast at all. The speed limit is 45 anyway, but was reduced to 20mph for the winds, and I knew it was going to be windy, but I think I underestimated how much. I was struggling to maintain a straight line with a pretty good lean and when a gust would come it would blow me nearly to the edge of the lane, mind you the sides are only 3ft tall. The entire time felt like I was either going to blow into the second lane on the grating, or if the wind was to stop like I would shoot right off the side. But wait, what was this I see? a truck and a sign to merge over, awesome fight the wind, and the grating. I am normally a pretty loose rider as one should be, but by the time I got through the worst part of it I thought I would have cramps from my biceps to my wrists I had been so tense trying to keep the bike under control. When I crossed last fall there was a breeze, but it was otherwise a great day, but they were doing construction as they often do in the summer, and I had to ride on the grating almost the entire length that there is grating, and the bike wiggles under you in an unnatural way that by the end gave me a queasy feeling. I think if I had to describe it in one word it would be "uneasy". This time however changed my perspective and the grating although I could feel it, paled in comparison to the wind. I may have to put my word this time to "terrifying" .
The plan was to get fuel in Mackinac City, but I think I was too eager to have made it across and sped out of town like it was on fire! Another 30 or so miles down the road I knew I would need fuel, so I started looking for signs and spotted one, I got off and didn't see the station, figured around the corner maybe, nope, a sign for the station 2 miles up the road, great, 5 miles out of the way on a low speed road, progress gone, but did I really want to risk the fuel. Get to the pump and having a similar problem as I did before, so I head inside, I get back out and try one more time and it takes it, 1531 and 44,134 miles now to head across the street to what looks like bathrooms for a lake through the trees, whatever as long as progress is made.
Mile 744-926 ( Topinabee, MI to St Johns, MI)
I send a few messages with the wife and dally a little while getting a good drink and stretching out and a snack as they next planned stop is a decent one at near 200 mile mark, I make my way back to the highway being a little ******* myself for letting me stop somewhere so far off the highway but too late now. Back on I-75 S, Traffic was light as it had been most of the trip and I was making good time, the speed limit this far north is 75 and if you're doing less than 80, you're almost getting run over, so we go with the flow! besides we are on a timed mission here.
There were dozens of different trucks, pickups and anything large enough to haul a tractor from large to small all headed south, many of which had 2 or 3 tractors on the trailers. These roads I have been on before, so the scenery was much more familiar, and it had been long enough that I focused more on the music and making good time. When the time came, I switched to US-127 to continue south, I would stay on this till after my next stop.
Everything is moving smoothly, I can see the sun starting to get closer to the horizon , but I am looking at my gas gauge and wonder if I should pull off before I get to the next stop as it looked lower than I thought it should for the distance I had left to go, nah it will be fine I can get 220+miles when riding around at home, and I am only at about 140 and I have less than 50 miles to go, let's do this! well, I got to about 150 miles and I am really starting to think I should have pulled off, that needle is getting low on the dash, so I slow down a bit just for mileage comfort's sake. A few miles later the low gas light comes on! about 160 miles, crap! must have been the old bike that came on waaay down the gauge, we slowed some more, the speed limit changed and for the first time the entire trip I was glad to see a slower speed limit to do, so I could actually do it. The miles creep by both because I was going so much slower and because I was staring at the miles and the gauge. Finally! It didn't matter what station it was we were in need. 178 miles, yikes. 1757 times and mileage 44,317 5.7 gallons making the largest single fill up I have done to the bike since I have owned it. After the fact I looked it up and the claimed capacity is 6.6 gallons, so maybe I could have made it, but being that it had been the longest and hardest I had run the bike both before and after the light had come on, it made my heart drop to my boots either way.
Miles 927-1,065 ( St Johns, MI to Eagle, MI to South Haven, MI)
Full of fuel and no longer having worry of running out, I skipped the restroom and just did my paperwork and water and got back on US-127 S for about 20 miles till it was time to catch the I-69 W interchange to I-96 W I stopped at a station just off the highway just outside of Lansing in a little town called Eagle, MI just for the proof that I made it all the way down this far being my last stop was a bit earlier than planned, and why take the chance of not being verified for that. I would use this as a last stop till the end!. 1840 time and 44,351 miles.
I eagerly hit the road as I knew I was on the home stretch at this point, still making great time I cranked the tunes and got as comfy as i could, it had been many hours at this point and it was almost a numb sore that was beginning to be fatiguing in its own right, my knees where at a steady dull ache but otherwise was doing pretty well. Near Grand Rapids I caught M-6 W and kept on pushing, the sun was starting to get lower in the sky and I wondered if I would make it before dark, with the hours on I was hoping so as I was not positive how well I would do in the dark again being this far in, hoping that the sheer adrenaline of being this close would keep me going.
As I got closer to the I-196 W interchange I was watching the sun, big and red/orange much like the morning coming to the horizon, After I made the transition to heading south once again I had this odd feeling as I was for the second time today watching the sun on my right side, just going back down in the sky opposed to watching it come up in what seemed like just a few hours ago. As I passed through a construction zone, I got to watch the bike turn the mileage 44,444 and I was a little sad to not be in a position to stop, but also glad as I wanted to get done. I pulled off the highway for the last time just after 2000hr, Ironically after I was checking my receipts, I had managed to get the exact same pump I had just been at that very morning. official time 2014hr and 44,456 miles as I was getting the fuel I had the grand idea of stopping by the lake a couple miles away and catching a late sunset picture over the light house where we had been married 13 years prior and giving another reason of thanks to the big lake, but by the time I had taken a little breather, got my end receipt/odometer pic, and jotted my required notes it was dark twilight and I wondered how effective I could get to the beach as the local road course was hosting Grid Life, a large tuner event and i suspected there would be a great many people in town, I opted for letting the wife know I would not be bringing my normal path home ( to avoid the race track traffic) and pulled out as the dark was settling in, much as it had lifted that morning. A comparatively short 15 mile ride back home, to some food and rest.
In the end the bike odometer said 1,065 miles, and a clock of 19hrs 22min, my totals show just shy of $93 for fuel, $4 for the bridge toll, plus lunch. Average of 36.3mpg but the stretch from Topinabee to St Johns being the worst tank at just above 31mpg, I had failed to consider how much of a mpg penalty cruising at 80-85 for the entire tank would do for me. I hope you enjoyed my accounts, as I have had digging them back out of my brain, till the next
and here are the start and end receipts from the ride as well as the light house mentioned, and the bridge, from where i stopped just before crossing
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