Saddle Sore 1000
How not to do it!
-OR-
He Makes It!
(Don't try this at home etc)
So I'm not exactly new to this, should know better, etc. Yep.
I was pondering attending the 2017 IBR start for a while. Waiting on life to see if I had the time. A week or so out i decided to do it. I scored a hotel reservation for 2 nights which would allow me to hang out for the day prior to the start. This should be fun.
Planning is easy when the date and location are fixed. Just leave Northern VA in time to arrive in Minnetonka MN early enough to get a good nights rest. 1170 or so miles. Easy-peasy.
So I look at the route and toy with options. After mucking around I decide to use the obvious path, the PA, OH, IN turnpike and then I-90 up to rally HQ. I did decide to take I-294 around Chicago, adding a few miles.
As the day approached I watched the weather. The remnants of tropical storm Cindy where coming through my home area. The evening prior to departure found me watching animated radar maps and trying to figure out when was the best time to leave so as to avoid the worst rain bands...
Ok, so the bike is ready, off to bed so I can start rested. Yeah, right. Stare at ceiling... Take a quick look at weather radar on the tablet... Stare at ceiling... Did I check the air pressure in the tires? Doze for a while.
After pretty much not sleeping for about 4 hours I give up. If I cant sleep I might as well ride. The weather looks like about as good as I am likely to get for a 0130 departure
Suit up. Local gas station for fuel and start receipt. Off we go at 0127.
45 minutes out on local 2 lane (heading from home area up to to PA turnpike at Breezewood) I hit torrential rain. The few vehicles on the road slow to 30ish mph. We crawl along. The rain lightens to moderate after a while and I am going about the posted speed limit. I reach the turnpike, rain, I motor along, rain. About 4 hours out approaching Pittsburgh (in the rain), I come to a complete stop on the turnpike. Nobody is moving westbound. We sit in the predawn rain. An hour goes by. Eventually, a police car comes down the shoulder leading vehicles the wrong way. Those of us that can turn around do so. And after some creative conga line action we reach the previous exit going the wrong way. During this adventure it stops raining and dawn arrives.
So I glance at the GPS and off I go on I-379, through downtown Pittsburgh, and back out on I-279 returning to the turnpike. Saturday at 6AM it goes pretty fast. There was of course, one more accident, but I reached it before the police so I got around it pretty quick. Several others folks had stopped so no need for my help.
With 2 plus hours lost to weather and accidents I was finally making time. No problems through to Chicago.
As I approached Chicago I started thinking (alert readers will know that this is a bad sign), traffic is light, if I take I-90 through Chicago I can save a good 30 miles... Make up some of that lost time...
No doubt those of you with more Chicago experience are laughing. I now know what going 30 miles at about 5 mph is like. 1st gear, 2nd gear, stop, repeat. Ugh. When I finally clear the traffic on the northwest side of town I have lost another 2 hours. What fun. At least it was daylight and not raining.
Making time again.
Now recall that I checked the weather pretty carefully prior to departure. After escaping the tropical storm, clear sailing was predicted all the way to Minnetonka.
So that explains the dark band of clouds over the Wisconsin dells sprouting lightning and thunder. I did avoid the frog strangling downpour, but in its place i got hail. Riding in hail is not fun. Its a calculation as you ponder what amount of accumulated hail will cause you to crash. I didn't crash. I did lose more time.
So with the GPS indicating 1055 miles which I figured was enough extra to cover the Pittsburgh reverse backwards adventure (in case that became an issue) I pulled into a Flying J near Roberts MN and "went off the clock". That way I wouldn't need to worry about it in Minneapolis.
Start time 0127 eastern. End time 2144 central. 1055 miles according to Garmin. That's 21 hours 17 minutes for a blistering average speed of 49.6 mph. Watch out you IBR finishers, I'm gunning for you!
I persevered. Certainly not in the class of Kirsten (krash) Talken-Spaulding on her off-road adventure during the IBR. Nor anywhere close to Greg Rice and Dan Thaler and their BBG 3000 that included a stop in Mexico. But, hey, I'll take it. For any novices reading this, understand that there are IBA members that can knock off 1500 miles in 22 hours. Me? I had to work hard for my SS1K.
How not to do it!
-OR-
He Makes It!
(Don't try this at home etc)
So I'm not exactly new to this, should know better, etc. Yep.
I was pondering attending the 2017 IBR start for a while. Waiting on life to see if I had the time. A week or so out i decided to do it. I scored a hotel reservation for 2 nights which would allow me to hang out for the day prior to the start. This should be fun.
Planning is easy when the date and location are fixed. Just leave Northern VA in time to arrive in Minnetonka MN early enough to get a good nights rest. 1170 or so miles. Easy-peasy.
So I look at the route and toy with options. After mucking around I decide to use the obvious path, the PA, OH, IN turnpike and then I-90 up to rally HQ. I did decide to take I-294 around Chicago, adding a few miles.
As the day approached I watched the weather. The remnants of tropical storm Cindy where coming through my home area. The evening prior to departure found me watching animated radar maps and trying to figure out when was the best time to leave so as to avoid the worst rain bands...
Ok, so the bike is ready, off to bed so I can start rested. Yeah, right. Stare at ceiling... Take a quick look at weather radar on the tablet... Stare at ceiling... Did I check the air pressure in the tires? Doze for a while.
After pretty much not sleeping for about 4 hours I give up. If I cant sleep I might as well ride. The weather looks like about as good as I am likely to get for a 0130 departure
Suit up. Local gas station for fuel and start receipt. Off we go at 0127.
45 minutes out on local 2 lane (heading from home area up to to PA turnpike at Breezewood) I hit torrential rain. The few vehicles on the road slow to 30ish mph. We crawl along. The rain lightens to moderate after a while and I am going about the posted speed limit. I reach the turnpike, rain, I motor along, rain. About 4 hours out approaching Pittsburgh (in the rain), I come to a complete stop on the turnpike. Nobody is moving westbound. We sit in the predawn rain. An hour goes by. Eventually, a police car comes down the shoulder leading vehicles the wrong way. Those of us that can turn around do so. And after some creative conga line action we reach the previous exit going the wrong way. During this adventure it stops raining and dawn arrives.
So I glance at the GPS and off I go on I-379, through downtown Pittsburgh, and back out on I-279 returning to the turnpike. Saturday at 6AM it goes pretty fast. There was of course, one more accident, but I reached it before the police so I got around it pretty quick. Several others folks had stopped so no need for my help.
With 2 plus hours lost to weather and accidents I was finally making time. No problems through to Chicago.
As I approached Chicago I started thinking (alert readers will know that this is a bad sign), traffic is light, if I take I-90 through Chicago I can save a good 30 miles... Make up some of that lost time...
No doubt those of you with more Chicago experience are laughing. I now know what going 30 miles at about 5 mph is like. 1st gear, 2nd gear, stop, repeat. Ugh. When I finally clear the traffic on the northwest side of town I have lost another 2 hours. What fun. At least it was daylight and not raining.
Making time again.
Now recall that I checked the weather pretty carefully prior to departure. After escaping the tropical storm, clear sailing was predicted all the way to Minnetonka.
So that explains the dark band of clouds over the Wisconsin dells sprouting lightning and thunder. I did avoid the frog strangling downpour, but in its place i got hail. Riding in hail is not fun. Its a calculation as you ponder what amount of accumulated hail will cause you to crash. I didn't crash. I did lose more time.
So with the GPS indicating 1055 miles which I figured was enough extra to cover the Pittsburgh reverse backwards adventure (in case that became an issue) I pulled into a Flying J near Roberts MN and "went off the clock". That way I wouldn't need to worry about it in Minneapolis.
Start time 0127 eastern. End time 2144 central. 1055 miles according to Garmin. That's 21 hours 17 minutes for a blistering average speed of 49.6 mph. Watch out you IBR finishers, I'm gunning for you!
I persevered. Certainly not in the class of Kirsten (krash) Talken-Spaulding on her off-road adventure during the IBR. Nor anywhere close to Greg Rice and Dan Thaler and their BBG 3000 that included a stop in Mexico. But, hey, I'll take it. For any novices reading this, understand that there are IBA members that can knock off 1500 miles in 22 hours. Me? I had to work hard for my SS1K.
Great job overcoming unexpected challenges and completing the ride safely.