by Herbie Saint
I had cancelled my planned trip to Alaska this year due to my work schedule. It would've been impossible to take two consecutive weeks off. But the heavy schedule wasn't due to begin for a few more weeks and I needed to take a ride that would be a suitable replacement - in about a week's time (or less). Passing by the Iron Butt website (ironbutt.com), the Great Lakes 100 jumped out at me. A 2450+ mile ride around the Great Lakes of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario sounded like a perfect way to spend a few days on Thurmond (my Suzuki V-Strom so named by Steve Bream). This ride requires a rider to circle all of The Great Lakes in less than 100 total hours.
I chose the 100 hour version of the ride over the 50 hour (Great Lakes Gold) because (1) I was on vacation and wanted to take a leisurely ride, (2) I wanted to see as much of the landscape as possible during the daylight hours, and (3) I wanted to ride another IBA (Iron Butt Association) timed ride.
- Day 1 - Saturday June 05, 2004 -
The weather
had been horrible in the Midwest lately. In fact, it had been
horrible from Texas all the way up through The Great Lakes area. Tornados,
severe storms and damaging hail. I was unsure that I'd actually get to
finish this ride because of this horrible weather, but I'd planned to get
started anyway. Then, as the weather changed (according to the daily
Weather Channel reports), so would my ride. I was going to ride ... somewhere.
When I left the house Saturday morning, the weather was cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms all the way to Cleveland. I had originally chosen Cleveland as my start/finish city for this timed ride because it was the closest required city (as IBA proof of the ride) to Raleigh NC.
Luckily, I only rode through a few small showers and made Cleveland by early afternoon. But the storms were settling into the Cleveland area overnight and promised to be rough the next day. So I rode another 100 miles west to Toledo in hopes that the first day of my timed ride around The Great Lakes would be free from severe weather, or at least mild. I arrived in Toledo around 8pm, scouted out a 24-hour gas station for my start & finish receipts and found a room at the Days Inn.
Total mileage for Day 1 = 710 miles
On the news that night, I learned that our former President, Ronald Reagan had died.
- Day 2 - Sunday June 06, 2004 -
A friend from Michigan, Rigger had suggested that I take the Skyway through Chicago to I-94 up to Eau Claire and then Hwy. 53 to Duluth before taking Hwy. 61 to Grand Portage MN/ Thunder Bay ONT. So this was my plan.
Traffic was light on Sunday am as I breezed through Chicago in search of my first mandatory gas receipt (any city in Illinois). Not being familiar with the terrain, I exited from the highway into Highland Park. Easy enough. "I'll find a gas station and be back on the interstate in minutes," I thought. Wrong! I rode all the way through the small town and finally found an Amoco station on the outskirts of town. Not too bad but still a time waste. Trying to return to the interstate would be the real challenge however. There was no on-ramp where I'd originally decided to explore this small community. So I wandered through neighborhoods and backroads until I finally found access to I-94, shouting obscenities inside my helmet.. I wasted at least 30 minutes for this misadventure.
Back on the highway, I crossed over into Wisconsin and headed north to Milwaukee. The sky was finally beginning to clear. Traffic was picking up and at one point, a lady in a Mini Cooper changed lanes on top of me. Having no where to go, I found myself riding on the median shoulder looking down on her. You should have seen her startled look when she finally realized that she had almost run me over. Motorcycles are no match for cars and trucks on the highway, but I think Thurmond could have taken the Mini Cooper.
The
rest of the afternoon was uneventful (thankfully). I began to see lots of
deer roadkill (at least 25-30). I realized that Dale Wilson had been there
earlier (Bambi's arch enemy) .
I rode past Milwaukee, through Eau Claire, WI and arrived in Duluth, MN around 6:30pm (CT). Duluth is a beautiful city nestled in the hills overlooking the westernmost tip of Lake Superior. I rode into town and up and up and up the hill before finally finding my required receipt at another Amoco station. I'd neglected to pay attention to the directional signs for Hwy 61 to Grand Portage so I asked the station attendant who graciously unfolded a map and determined the best route. Because of road construction, I ended up backtracking to the bridge (to Superior WI) before turning around. I found Hwy 61 and then I was on my way to Canada.
Immediately after crossing a small bridge going out of Duluth, I swear the temperature felt like it was at least 30 degrees colder. Rigger had warned me earlier via email, that Lake Superior had it's own Ecosystem and to be ready for anything other than the expected. I stopped to add the liner to my jacket and considered plugging in my electric vest and gloves (but didn't). It gradually became colder as I made my way up to Grand Portage, as night fell. At this point, I debated whether to find a motel room or push onto Thunder Bay, Ontario. I felt fine to ride but was unsure of the roads and wildlife ahead. It was on this road that I saw my first real live Skunk.
A
bit after 10pm, I rolled up to the Canadian border. Just one drive up
window - and no waiting. The guard was pleasant and asked me the usual
questions. In a few minutes, I was on my way into the dark wilderness of
Ontario. And in another few minutes, I met my first Moose. He
was standing in a curve in the road - and I never saw him until I was on top of
him (or under him) as the case may be. I swerved the motorcycle to go
around his righthand side as he turned his big head to look at me. I swear with God as my
witness, I ducked my head to miss him as I rode by. It was at that
moment that I determined that Moose are NOT cute cuddly cartoon-like characters
(when they're standing in the road in the middle of the night and you're on a
motorcycle). I also determined in that instant that I had found my
religion as I rode down the road shouting, "Good Lord, Good Lord !!"
About five miles further, I noticed a small reflection on the shoulder of the road. I flicked my hi-beams on to discover another Moose cow walking out onto the road, right in front of me. I hit the brakes hard (with a car trailing close behind me) and rode around this big animal, who barely noticed I was there. This is insane. Thunder Bay was roughly an hour away, so I motioned for the car to pass and followed it to civilization.
I made it to Thunder Bay around 11:30 and collected my
mandatory gas receipt before getting a room at the Comfort Inn. My hands
hurt from the cold as I checked in. "What's the weather outlook for
tomorrow?" I asked the clerk.
"Another hot day," he replied.
Total mileage for Day 2 = 913 miles
- Day 3 - Monday June 07, 2004 -
The
alarm woke me at 5:30am and I immediately turned on The Weather Network
(Canada's Weather Channel). The severe thunderstorms had caught up to me
in Thunder Bay (how appropriate). It was thundering, cold and raining hard
outside. But according to the weather report, the skies should clear up
near Sault Ste. Marie - just 430 two-lane miles to the southeast. So
reluctantly, I loaded Thurmond for the day's ride.
I rode in the heavy rain for 4-5 hours before it finally changed into light rain. My only frustration was that none of the (very few) gas stations along this stretch had canopies to get under while pumping gas. I quickly learned to be creative by using my old t-shirts as a quick cover over the tank
But the scenery between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie is stunning, even in the rain. Long stretches of Lake Superior and rolling hills. Big sweeping turns and lots of forest. I rarely saw a car this part of the day. I was riding on the world's longest country road. On this stretch, I saw another moose, well off the highway this time - and another laying dead on the side of the road, probably having lost his battle with a truck the night before.
By
the time I arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, the rain had stopped and the clouds were
breaking up. The traffic picked up slightly and I continued on toward
Sudbury and North Bay. Originally, I had planned to use most of the
allowed 100 hours for this trip, but I was enjoying the ride and the miles just
kept burning away, at 90kmh (the speed limit along Hwy 17 which equates roughly
to 56mph).
I arrived in North Bay around 7:30pm, got my required receipt and found a room on Lakeshore Dr. I checked in with my wife via phone and called my local American Express office in India to restore my charging privileges which had been stopped earlier that day.
"There has been some unusual activity," she said.
"But I travel all the time, " I replied.
"Well, not in Canada," she assured me. "You need to call us in advance next time."
How do you explain a ride like this to a total stranger?
Total mileage for Day 3 = 701 miles
- Day 4 - Tuesday June 08, 2004 -
I
made it all the way to Cornwall (about 50 miles) before I realized that the
Thousand Islands Bridge / I-81 border crossing was the other way on Hwy 401 - West. I
pulled over to check my atlas (like I should have done earlier) and a BMW rider
pulled up.
"You look lost," he said.
"I'm looking for the Thousand Islands Bridge & I-81."
He pointed back in the direction I had just come from. "It's about an hour and a half that way," he said.
(I now know that a motorcycle trunk is not the best place to keep your GPS either).
So I turned around and headed back - west. About an hour and a half later, I pulled up to the toll booth and collected another required receipt for I-81 and crossed one of the most beautiful bridges I have ever crossed. The Thousand Islands area is extraordinary.
The rest of the day was pleasant. Good weather. Unusually good traffic through Syracuse and Buffalo NY.
I pulled in a BP station in downtown Cleveland (Superior St.) around 8:45pm and collected my last mandatory receipt. A couple of friendly old drunkards wanted to talk and tell me some jokes. I laughed while I fueled the bike up and wished them a good evening as I headed toward my finish in Toledo.
In Toledo, I collected my final receipt of the ride back at
the same Shell station from where I began the adventure (10:39pm). I begged the nice
store manager to sign my witness form and she gladly obliged once I'd told her
where I'd been and shown her my map. Then, I bought a big beer for
later. I went straight back to the same Days Inn motel that I'd stayed in just
three nights earlier. I didn't set the alarm clock and I went to sleep.
Total mileage for Day 4 = 933 miles (including my wrong way mistake near Ottawa).
Total time around The Great Lakes = 63 hours, 24 minutes (Toledo to Toledo)
Total Miles for my Great Lakes 100 = 2547 miles (4099 kilometers)
- Day 5 - Wednesday June 09, 2004 -
I arrived home in Raleigh about 7:00pm. Just in time to take my bride to the Outback for drinks and dinner. And man did that steak taste good after eating Trail Mix and Pop Tarts out of my saddlebags for five days. I know I'm lucky to be married to a supportive bride who puts up with my craziness. She doesn't understand it. But she supports what makes me happy - and riding the motorcycle (a lot) makes me happy - which makes coming home as nice as the adventure.
Total mileage for the 5 days = 3967 miles (6384 kilometers)
