My husband, Randy, and I rode in last year's MN1000 and it was our first 24-hour rally. Randy liked the aspect of seeing many different places we could visit again later, but wasn't really into the whole 24-hour thing. On the other hand, I loved every minute of it. This year Randy decided he was up for it again and, once again, we were a team. Randy rides a GL1800 and I ride a Victory TC Deluxe.
After Friday night's Liars Banquet, we decided to return home and save Bob's Java Hut bonus for Saturday or Sunday. Lucky for us, we live 3 miles from Leo's. We plotted all the bonuses in Streets & Trips (our first time using the program) and waited for the light bulb to turn on when a route seemed clear. Nothing happened. So Randy added up the points if we took the North Shore route up to Thunder Bay and I added up the points if we rode around Wisconsin and the UP. The decision to ride WI and the UP was made for a couple of reasons. We knew the Grand Marais bonus riding the Gunflint Trail out and back was a lot of miles and, having ridden the North Shore frequently, we wanted to ride somewhere a little different. Plus, I really wanted to do the Lake of the Clouds bonus and see the Stonington Lighthouse. Not exactly a head over heart decision, but both bonuses ended up being highlights of our ride. Now the dilemma. Do we stick to this ride no matter what? Or wait to see what Bart has up his sleeve Saturday morning? Of course, we find out on Saturday Bart has no tricks this year no combos, no fuel log and no surprises. This was going to be a ride about good planning and efficiency. I wasn't sure that would work in our favor.
Our first stop was in Bruno. We saw a few others there and I had hopes we were on the right track. As we left, there was a rally towel on the ground. #658. Not a good start for somebody. We left it there. A mile or so down the road and Randy pulled into a gas station. I quickly noticed it wasn't a pay-at-the-pump, so I told him "Its not pay-at-the-pump! Let's go!" Next stop was Oliver, WI where we jotted down the dedication at the memorial garden. My low fuel light had been blinking for a few miles, so I told Randy we needed to find some gas. We took the bridge across the river into the outskirts of Duluth. A right turn and we could see a gas station about 4 blocks away. It was then my bike sputtered to a stop. So much for efficiency... But now I know I can ride 21 miles after the low fuel light comes on. Give or take a couple of yards. It took a few minutes for Randy to notice I wasn't behind him and, in the meantime, Mark Foster stopped to make sure I was alright. I should've taken a picture of him, because he was wearing two sets of reading glasses. One on the bridge of his nose and the other resting on the top frames of the bottom set. Too funny. Randy grabbed some gas for me and then I rode to the station and filled up. Not a great start. We went back over the bridge and headed through Superior on our way to Ashland. We ended up having to stop for THREE slow-moving trains on our way out of town. Really not a great start!
In Ashland, we found the park with the flagpole and then we were off to Silver City and the Porcupine Mountains to read the inscription on the binoculars at the end of the boardwalk at Lake of the Clouds. It's an absolutely beautiful view that I've seen from a snowmobile, but never before in the summer on a motorcycle. Then it was Victoria for a photo of Victoria Dam, L'Anse to capture the Shrine of Bishop Baraga the Snowshoe Priest bonus (Randy dubbed it the "Elvin Bishop bonus") and on to Marquette for a gas receipt (you wouldn't think it would be so difficult in that town, but it was). I was tired from not sleeping well the night before, so I drank a Red Bull and bought some intensely minty gum. We were finally on our way to Stonington. By now, we knew the delays earlier in the day would make it impossible to get to Green Bay by 9PM and then down to Milwaukee. I sadly crossed them off the list and added in Stevens Point and Neillsville as possibilities. Not as many points as our original plan, but with so many points for the rest bonus, it didn't make sense to risk it. The 20 miles of great country roads before the one-lane path down to the lighthouse was a lot of fun. This is a beautiful spot we would never have found by ourselves, so THANKS Bart!
Our next bonus was the Veterans Memorial Park in Gladstone, MI which was on the other side of the small bay. We kept meeting other riders at many of our stops. Some riding clockwise, as we were, others opting to go counter-clockwise. At the Memorial Park we met up with Darcy Holter, who was in a hurry to make it to the lighthouse before the sun went down. We said "hi" and "bye" and off she went. Next we set out to find the Spirit Stone at the Welcome Center in Menominee, MI. We were coming from the MI side, so we pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall just before the bridge entering Wisconsin. The sun had gone down and we were looking around, saying "It's gotta be right here." I told Randy "We should just turn around and I bet it's right behind us." Sure enough, there it was. Across the street we went, grabbed our flashlights and wrote down all of the "presented by" information. Pete and Paula Behm were just leaving, Don Quistorff showed up a minute later and two other guys I didn't know stopped there, too. Don was going to Lily and then possibly two more stops afterward. We looked at the map and decided Lily was more on the way back than Stevens Point and Neillsville and almost the same amount of points. So off we went to Lily to take a photo of the Old Military Road sign. From Hwy. 64 we took 55 north to get to Lily, then returned on 52 to hook up with 64 again down by Antigo. 52 was such a great road. Here we are at 10:30PM, over 14 hours on the road, cruising around on some fabulous twisty roads. My adrenaline was pumping and I was definitely on my second wind.
Finished with all of our stops except Bob's Java Hut, it was a long ride back to Minnesota. At first we thought we could take our rest bonus at home in our own bed (3 miles from Leo's, remember?). But the more I thought about how dangerous it would be to fall asleep in a comfortable, familiar bed and not wake up to the alarm, the more I realized it was a bad idea. Besides, as we got close to Eau Claire, it was obvious to me that Randy was extremely tired and it was time to stop. I flashed my brights and he pulled over. We discussed stopping at the next exit with a gas station. Lucky for us, the gas station was a 24-hour travel center. After getting gas and a receipt for the start of the rest bonus, I talked Randy into staying for the three hours. He begrudgingly said "yes." (He wanted to keep going, but afterward said it was a good idea to stay in Eau Claire.) As I was headed inside, I noticed another bike parked in front. Probably another MN1K rider, but I wasn't sure. I asked the clerk if there was a place we could lean against for 3 hours. He told me that another guy had come in 15 minutes earlier and asked the same thing. Apparently they have tanning beds in the back and we were welcome to sleep in one of them. The other guy was in room #1. We could have room #2. Well, it didn't take me long to say "Thanks!" and we were cozy inside a room no bigger than a small closet. I lay down on the tanning bed, covered up with my jacket and Randy took the floor. Next thing I know Randy is waking me up and the cell phone alarm is going off. I sprayed the bed down (that was our deal...) and we walked into the store area. More bikes outside. Eddie, Lisa and Keith Collins had stopped here for their rest bonus as well. Eddie was out sleeping on the grass and Lisa, Keith, Randy and I had a nice chat (about Eddie's deer kill, of course) before we got our rest bonus end receipt and took off. We made it to Bob's by 6:45AM and I ordered some coffee while we waited for the magic hour to collect our mug and receipt.
I have to say it felt great to ride back to Leos from Bob's knowing we would make it back in time. After getting off the bike and finding a spot at one of the tables, I went through my Polaroids and receipts three times before taking everything to the scoring table. I'm not sure if it was the jolt of caffeine or lack of sleep that was making me shaky, but I wasnt thinking as clearly as I should have been and wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything. Happy to get all the points I had claimed and now happy to eat a good breakfast after one sandwich, some string cheese, a granola bar and lots of water the day before. After the awards were handed out, Randy and I said our "goodbyes" and headed home.
Thank you Bart and everyone else involved in this fun event for making it happen. Your efforts are very much appreciated and I really get a kick out of meeting so many cool and unique people who show up time after time for this type of challenge and competition. I'm already looking forward to next year.
Connie
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