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I am one fortunate person, in that there are a number of great people I associate with, who love to ride motorcycle. One day in April, Cyril, a pastor at the church I attend, leaned back in his chair, as we finished breakfast, and said, ?I think we ought to do it!? Of course this could mean anything, so I asked what in particular he was getting at. He said, ?That iron butt thing, of course.? I had mentioned last fall that I would, at some time, try to do a saddle sore 1000. As a group, we had done a 570 mile day, but I had never gotten close to 1000 miles. I thought about it for about 5 seconds, and said why not? When ?
When all the dust had settled, it was decided that we would run June 10, 2004. There were the following people with their bikes: Cyril?.mid 80?s Yamaha Venture; Will?.Goldwing 1500; Chris?. Yamaha VMax; Mark?Virago 1100; Greg? Yamaha sport bike; Rainor?Honda 750 cruiser; and Me, with a1983 GS1100GK. Mike, with a brand new Harley Fat Boy, would ride some of the way, and trailer other parts of the way, with the chase vehicle. (Hold the Harley Jokes!) Oh, and my Daughter, Holly, age 12, who would passenger the whole way. In order to make this something other than just feeding our egos that we could do this, we decided to raise money to send some kids to summer camp with Young Life.
At 0330 hours, we all met at the local Hospital, where I work, and got some of my co-workers to sign off the starting documentation. We set off on time, and proceeded to burn the miles, and hope for sunrise soon. The temperature approached freezing temperatures just before dawn. Even with many layers, it was cold.
By the time we got to the second gas stop (stopping every 1 ? hours for the smallest tank, members of the group had seen 34 deer, and one twitching on the road, hit by a logging truck just ahead of us. We stopped for breakfast at 0900 hours, in a small city called Grande Prairie. Once breakfast was done, we continued west to Dawson Creek, and Chetwynd, BC.
By this time, the Sun was high in the sky, and the temperatures were approaching 75 degrees F. (25 C). The trip south, from Chetwynd to Prince George was warm and exhilarating, as there were many turns, with posted speeds of 70 or 80 KPH ( 45 ? 50 MPH) Of course we didn?t speed, Officer I wouldn?t consider speeds of 100 ? 110kph (62 ? 70 mph)to be speeding on a bike
Another meal stop at Prince George, and more twisties until just before the scenic town of Jasper, Alberta. The only really bad rain during the trip occurred from just west of Jasper (4 hours from home) until 1 hour from home.
By 0205 hours, June 11, 2004, we had completed 1721 Kilometers (1070 miles)
Now, back to the trailered Harley. At the town of Edson, 2 hours from the completion of the trip, Mark ran into problems associated with the rain we had been riding in. Without even batting an eye, Mike, the Harley owner, took his bike off the trailer, and put the Virago on the trailer, so Mark could complete his Saddle Sore ride. THAT IS WHAT BIKING IS ALL ABOUT!
Right after we completed, none of us was really interested in doing another long distance ride, but even as I type, I am thinking that a Bun Burner, or Bun Burner gold would be nice?.Just to get ready for the Trans-Canada quest.
I think I am hooked
John
When all the dust had settled, it was decided that we would run June 10, 2004. There were the following people with their bikes: Cyril?.mid 80?s Yamaha Venture; Will?.Goldwing 1500; Chris?. Yamaha VMax; Mark?Virago 1100; Greg? Yamaha sport bike; Rainor?Honda 750 cruiser; and Me, with a1983 GS1100GK. Mike, with a brand new Harley Fat Boy, would ride some of the way, and trailer other parts of the way, with the chase vehicle. (Hold the Harley Jokes!) Oh, and my Daughter, Holly, age 12, who would passenger the whole way. In order to make this something other than just feeding our egos that we could do this, we decided to raise money to send some kids to summer camp with Young Life.
At 0330 hours, we all met at the local Hospital, where I work, and got some of my co-workers to sign off the starting documentation. We set off on time, and proceeded to burn the miles, and hope for sunrise soon. The temperature approached freezing temperatures just before dawn. Even with many layers, it was cold.
By the time we got to the second gas stop (stopping every 1 ? hours for the smallest tank, members of the group had seen 34 deer, and one twitching on the road, hit by a logging truck just ahead of us. We stopped for breakfast at 0900 hours, in a small city called Grande Prairie. Once breakfast was done, we continued west to Dawson Creek, and Chetwynd, BC.
By this time, the Sun was high in the sky, and the temperatures were approaching 75 degrees F. (25 C). The trip south, from Chetwynd to Prince George was warm and exhilarating, as there were many turns, with posted speeds of 70 or 80 KPH ( 45 ? 50 MPH) Of course we didn?t speed, Officer I wouldn?t consider speeds of 100 ? 110kph (62 ? 70 mph)to be speeding on a bike
Another meal stop at Prince George, and more twisties until just before the scenic town of Jasper, Alberta. The only really bad rain during the trip occurred from just west of Jasper (4 hours from home) until 1 hour from home.
By 0205 hours, June 11, 2004, we had completed 1721 Kilometers (1070 miles)
Now, back to the trailered Harley. At the town of Edson, 2 hours from the completion of the trip, Mark ran into problems associated with the rain we had been riding in. Without even batting an eye, Mike, the Harley owner, took his bike off the trailer, and put the Virago on the trailer, so Mark could complete his Saddle Sore ride. THAT IS WHAT BIKING IS ALL ABOUT!
Right after we completed, none of us was really interested in doing another long distance ride, but even as I type, I am thinking that a Bun Burner, or Bun Burner gold would be nice?.Just to get ready for the Trans-Canada quest.
I think I am hooked
John
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