Iron Butt Ride 1000/24 hours

[ToasterTank]

I have done a lot of long distance riding over the years but not for a sanctioned Iron Butt ride until 8-18-09. The start and stop times have to be documented.  All stops with date and time and location. Witness if available etc.  Have to have a map and a ledger filled out with dates and times and locations of stops.  On 8-18-09 we met at Kern/U.S. 31 South which is just South of South Bend.  Me and another rider Mike also left at 0600 am  got onto the bypass to toll road using tolls as documentation then 294 tolls thru Illinois and onto Milwaukee Wis to the Harley museum for pics and more validating. 

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Me and the two bikes at the Museum.  We choose the Lake Michigan ride. 

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I liked this sign.  The weather was sunny and varied from high eighties until we got further North then it started cooling down.

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another pic we got someone to take it for us.

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We then rode through the Horicon Marsh onto Beaver Dam and the dealership where u will see Harley and BMW under the same roof.  Used it as a break stop. Documented of course.

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Some pics of some nice bikes to follow.

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My toasters relatives.

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We then ate lunch and headed out of Beaver Dam where I got hit in the left leg by a hummingbird then onto Green Bay and on through the upper of Wis where we stopped and don't ask me how it got there a Hooligan sticker just above my left mirror.

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Then we ran into the Stimulus package in full swing in Northern Wis.  Delays through Iron Mountain and turned East to Escanaba where Mike was feeding the sea gulls.

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turned the camera on Mike prior to St Ignace and the bridge.

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I started getting windy prior to the Upper Penn of Mich.  The bugs were so bad we had to stop prior to the bridge and clean the windshields.  It looked like cow shit the runny kind just thrown on the front of the bikes.  By this time we were wearing all our cloths and gloves and I was wearing a full face. 

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I had climbed up the hill to the right of the bikes to take a piss and fell down the hill with branches of pine trees hanging out of my leathers.

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we rode across the bridge and onto Indian River where we had to stop to clean our windshields again.  Fuel a snack and rode to Cadillac and Houghton lake after stopping for a quick 1/2 hour nap on a bench in god knows where.  We then ran to Grand Rapids to Holland and into Benton Harbor where we stopped for gas again and had two county guys sign as a witness.  On 8-19-09 at 0450 am we rolled back into South Bend at Kern and U.S. 31.  1072 miles for the sanctioned ride.

[ToasterTank]

the bugs on Mikes bike.

[ToasterTank]

man we looked rough.  I worked late the night before and actually slept three or four hours.