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I'm now a member of the Iron Butt Association. I completes a Saddle Sore 1000 (SS1K) event, the Minute Man 1000. Myself and my partner, Peter Ott, completed a bit over 1000 miles in under 22 hours. This is corrected miles. So we're maybe looking at 1100 odometer miles.
This was a long gruling ride. We left at 6AM from Northampton MA and headed north on 91/89 to Swanton VT, just on the Canadian border. The we rode backroads to Bangor ME, this was a nice part of the trip. Next was to Wyoming Rhode Island. Here begins the descent into madness, lastly was to Milford, CT and the pilot truck stop where we stood around repeating "Blade Runner" over and over. Lastly, back to Northampton MA on the SV650. I rode all of the distance with Peter Otto, a Swiss-German professor from NY state that was aboard a tricked out GS1000. His accent and humor made the ride for me.
I'd gotten a good night's sleep and Peter and I met up at the bike impound for our ride. I'd posted a message to the board asking if there were any 1st time SS1k riders that wanted to buddie up. Peter and I met up and set off got points north in fine fettle. There was heavy fog and slow speeds out of the gate. Whenever possible we tried to have a vehicle ahead of us so we could pace them this allowed us to move a little faster by using their eyes as well as their
Moving north the fog finally broke. We used a series of "rabbits" to get us up to Swanton fast. Rabbits are faster moving vehicles that you pace. The make way for you and act as cop magnets. Most of the time we were able to move at an actual 85 MPH more or less which would look like 90+ on a speedometer.
Our task was to collect maple syrup at a farm in Swanton, which we did. We then headed East to Bangor Maine. These roads were interesting but dropped average speed way down. We rode across far Northern VT NH and parts of Maine. There were some nice curves, beautiful scenery. By the time we got to Bangor I was getting pretty tired of riding.
South to Wyoming Rhode Island was where the fun really started. I made an unscheduled rest stop that are up time, I just needed to be off the bike! The one of out rabbits got nailed by the police just in front of us, which was a little nerve wracking!
We hit Boston around 11 PM. I personally would have just stayed on 95 but peter took some crazy route that put us on the big dig. I could not believe the traffic and how aggressive the traffic was!. By now we had been away about 16 hours and riding all that time. Dodging white Escalades was not on my "to do" list. Peter on his GS1100 seemed to be very confident. The road surfaces sucked too with large portions roughed up for resurfacing! Holy crap! I love the country.
On to Milford CT where we were passed by kids playing in traffic. Some squid blew by me in my lane like I was standing still, he must have been going well, well over 140 MPH and was in a t shirt! He was soon followed by lots of buddies on similar super bikes. Insane.
The pilot truck stop was out next and most interesting stop. There were hundreds of mostly black teens and lots of cops and a k-9 unit. I seriously looks like a rap video. The girls looks super ****ty for the most part and the guys sporting gold chains and posing. It was interesting and surreal by then. I was having a hardsih time concentrating. The ride north to sweet home Northampton was simple on autopilot and familiar roads. It was good to get home and to bed. The awards ceremony was nice.
The crew of the Minuteman was awesome and Priscilla and I plan to contest it next year on Super Cubs! Not the SS1k but thte minute man Savanger Hunt 24 hours of New England. Just 24 hours at about 25 MPH! We bought our fist cub two weeks ago and will pick up our second on Friday taxonomy - Super Cub!
A few lessons learned.
Eat all you can at every gas stop. I had gorp. lots of home made beef jerky and fruit. Doing his I never needed to go into a restaurant and sit down. When stuck in traffic you can eat carrots. This is fun and kind of amusing.
You learn what makes you uncomfortable on long rides and what tires you out. You learn economy in cornering. You learn even a short distance without plugs makes you crazy. Long distance riding puts your techniques under a microscope
The SV650 really is a great bike. You can drag knees one weekends and ride 1000+ miles in 22 hours the next!
Me someplace in NH
It was really hot so I went for a swim! Drying my feet with the rally flag! This was a lot of fun, but I think made Peter a little nuts.
If you have not done one of these events DO ONE SOON! You'll never know till you try!
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Originally Posted by schleppy
