Greg's Motorcycle Adventures

After a hot shower and sleeping for only about 5 hours I was back on the road again to complete the second challenge – 1,500 miles in 36 hours. I was tired, but ready for the ride. It was still very early and a bit chilly so making good miles was initially easy.

I got about 1 hour into my ride and realized I had forgot to lube my chain when I stopped yesterday. Not good. Over 1,000 miles at high speed and I did not lube the chain when I stopped. I’m sure the chain was hot and although I serviced it before I left for the trip a ride like this called for at least a chain lube. I stopped for gas after a few hours and decided to lube the chain, not that it would do much good but it was better than nothing.

I passed through Dallas / Fort Worth with ease in the early morning, well before the rush hour started. By the time I got to San Antonio the traffic was heavy and the sun was beating down. San Antonio was the first time I really hit traffic and had to stop because if it. I wasn’t stopped long and continued to crawl along and really didn’t lose any time. It was getting hotter and hotter the further south I rode and I was debating if I had enough time to stop and strip off a layer. I chose not to as I was more focused on reaching Mexico.

I turned at Moore Texas onto highway 57 and saw a sign that read Eagle Pass 99 miles. The last 99 miles would be one of the hardest ride of my life. It was a long, straight, boring, and hot ride through a vast expanse of nothingness. Every 5 minutes it was like someone opened a giant oven door and I was hit with the rising heat. I had to open my modular helmet just to let the heat escape. I was starting to feel sick and the last thing I needed was to throw-up or even worse pass out. Opening the helmet made all the difference.

I finally made it to Eagle Pass and pulled into the Comfort Inn, checked in, had my witness form signed. BunBurner completed !! Now all I need to do is cross the border.

I have been planning an Iron butt ride since I got back from my big adventure four years ago. For a variety of reasons it wasn’t working out, finally I made the decision that no matter what I was going to do it this year, and I did. Rather than just do the SaddleSore 1000, I decided to do three challenges in one ride, the SaddleSore 1000 (1,000 miles in under 24 hours), BunBurner 1500 (1,500 miles in under 36 hours) and Border to Border (Canada to Mexico) in under 36 hours.

SaddleSore 1000

I left my friends place at 4:15am on Sunday, September 20^th. By leaving this early I would accomplish two things: 1. Avoid traffic and 2. Cross into Mexico during the daytime hours when it was safer. Getting up and on my way was not a problem as my adrenaline was pumping, I was finally doing it. My first stop was the 24hours gas station just around the corner and that where I had my first problem, the gas pump did not produce a receipt. I needed the receipt to prove my starting location and time. I ran inside and easily obtained the receipt but having the first stop not work proper got me nervous, was it a sign of things to come. I continued on and after another 15 minutes encountered my second problem, the bridge over the Welland Cannel was up, I couldn’t cross, turning around was not an option either as I really didn’t know another way around. There were some people waiting to walk across the bridge and fortunately for me they were wearing Harley jackets, so at least they might understand my situation and the need to get on my way. Just as they were explaining to me that there was really no other way around and I could wait as much as 30 minutes, the ship passes through, the bridge began to lower and I was soon on my way. I have crossed the Rainbow Bridge countless times in my life and even less than a month before this trip but on this day, of course I missed the turn and went at least 1km out of my way.

The border crossing was easy and uneventful and I was hoping that it represented the last of any hiccups. Leaving early was smart, by the time the sun started to come up I was already in Ohio. The sun was to my back and there was an amazing orange glow in my mirror from the sun’s reflection and a warmth on my back.

The next 12 hours were really just a blur, ride, stop for fuel, ride, and stop for fuel. The interstate is boring, there was no really distinction between states and nothing really changes. It wasn’t until I was in Arkansas that something interesting happened. The gas station attendant was very excited to see a motorcycle from Canada and couldn’t believe that I had left only earlier that day. He became very animated in this excitement about wanting to travel and was talking so fast I couldn’t really understand half of what he was saying. Some women at the pump next to me thought this was a great opportunity to expand their hair care product multi-level marketing business into Canada. I took a card from them and quickly got on my way. At least it was a break in the boredom of the interstate. About an hour later I stopped at a hotel in Texarkana Texas where I would sleep for 5 hours before continuing on to Mexico. I had rode a total of 1,200 miles and officially completed the Saddlesore ride.