Greg
Rice
Travel_Man
MTF
50CC The Hard Way
September
13, 2007
6100
Miles In 6200 Minutes ( 50CCTHW )
You
figure it out!!!
This
is my ride report for the MTF 50CCTHW ( The Hard Way ) that I rode September 13th
and 14th along with twelve other riders. The 50CCTHW report is
embedded in this report since I rode 6100 miles during my ride. Oh I also rode
1300 miles to get to the start of the ride a few days before the ride started.
The 6100 mile ride just happened and was not really planned out. My original
idea was to ride a 100CCCTHW. I had spoken to two other hard core riders and we
were thinking about the 100CCCTHW. A week before the ride one had to withdraw
and the day before the ride the other also had to withdraw from the ride. So I
was thinking for the first 1500 miles of the ride what I would do. A couple
calls home helped make up my mind at the 2000 mile point. The construction on
I-80 also helped me make up my mind. I decided to change the ride and ride home
from the end of the 50CCTHW. It was actually 120 miles farther than riding the
100CCCTHW. So that is how I got to the decision to ride 6100 miles. It is 3000
miles for the 50CCTHW and 3120 miles to my house from the end of the 50CCTHW.
Now
for some legal stuff so no one takes offense.
Disclaimer: This report in no way
is meant to harm any individual, group, association or anyone who may take
offense to endurance riding. I release all members, groups and or associations
from any liability related to this ride report. Some may feel it is immoral to
take part in any of the activities mentioned in this report. This report is
meant to be a fictional account of my ride. I did embellish some facts in this
report so that it cannot be taken as how endurance riding should be done or how
I rode this ride.
Disclosure: I will not be
mentioning any other rider’s names to protect the innocent or the guilty.
Disclaimer: Do not try this at
home. This type of riding is only meant for crazy and irresponsible riders.
Disclosure: There may be some gory
parts so if you are easily offended stop now.
Disclosure: All times are in
Eastern Time unless noted.
The
Beginning:
I started planning this ride right after it was announce last October so I had
plenty of time to prepare. I also bought a new 2007 Gold Wing in April so I
knew I would have a reliable mount for the upcoming 50CCTHW. I did a few shake
down rides like the Cape Fear 24 Hour Rally and eight SS1000’s that I did not
document. I spent a lot of time getting the bike ready. As many know I have
four GPS’s on my Wing and I use all of them at some point or another. Getting
all of the wiring completed was a pretty big job. I put on new tires and
changed the oil three days before I headed out to New Jersey. I know the
machine was ready but not sure of myself.
The
reason I was not sure of myself was something that started on my vacation in
August. I was on vacation August 1st to August 15th. I
took my wife to Europe for her graduation present. She graduated in June with
her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. It took ten long years for her to
complete. So she had a big vacation coming to her. We went to Madrid Spain for
four days and then on an eight day Mediterranean Cruise which started in
Barcelona and went to Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, Nice and back to
Barcelona. From there we went to Geneva Switzerland for a couple days. So you
see it was a big trip. On the third day of the vacation in Madrid I started to
get sick, fever and bad headache. By the time we were on the cruise ship I was
in very bad shape. I was peeing blood, fever, lots of pain and swelling of the
testicles. I had an internal infection I know this because of something that
happened in the past nine years before. I went to the doctor on the ship and he
did his test and said yes I have an internal infection and gave me an
antibiotic called Cipro. After a few days I started to get better. The doctor
told me to go see my doctor as soon as I got home. We finished the vacation
with me feeling somewhat better. I did miss many of the ports of call because I
could not get out of bed.
When
I got home I called my doctor and he said come right over. He gave me another
prescription for Cipro and said I should get a CT Scan because of my past. Nine
year ago I kicked cancers ass. I had a tumor growing around my kidneys and into
my spine. I had major surgery to remove the tumor. I have a sixteen inch
incision where I was cut open. They found the tumor growing into the spine and
wrapped around the nerves to my legs. Well they decided to leave that part of
the tumor in otherwise they would have had to remove the nerves also. They
cauterized the remaining tumor and put about twenty staples in the area to
close off the blood flow to the area so the tumor would not continue to grow.
That was nine years ago and why my doctor thought I should get a CT Scan and
because the symptoms I was having were similar to what I had nine years ago.
Well
I had the scan and was surprised when the doctor called that afternoon. He said
they found three masses, lesions or tumors. One in the liver and two in the
bone in the pelvic area. This was fifteen days before the 50CCTHW ride. The
doctor said that I needed a MRI and Bone Scan to get a better look at what was
going on. So I did the MRI and waited for the report. I got the report the next
day and the radiologist said he thought all of the tumors looked benign. This
was great news. It was now six days before the ride and I needed to decide to
go or no go. I was feeling better and really wanted to attempt this ride. Since
I had to ride 1300 miles to get to the start of the ride I thought this would
be a good test for me. So I hit the road the next day for my office in northern
New Jersey. Okay that’s enough of the non-riding information let’s get on with
the ride report.
The Route: The route was pretty
simple. It was I-80 New York to San Francisco.
Heading
Out: I
left Saturday evening ( September 8th ) for New Jersey around 7:00
pm. I left at night for a couple reasons one being I had a lot of work around
the house to finish and it’s not as hot as during the day. I also love riding
at night. My plan was to ride through the night and get to the office in the
afternoon the next day. The ride up was uneventful and was one of my quickest
times. It took nineteen hours flat. I had three days in the office working
before the ride. This also gave me time to recover from the ride up. I felt
really good during those days and decided I was going to attempt the 100CCCTHW
if the other rider was going to be able to make it.
Wednesday
morning I saw the posting that the last one who was thinking about riding the
100CCCTHW was not going to be able to make the ride. I was a little down at the
time. So this put a damper in my idea to attempt the 100CCCTHW.
Wednesday
afternoon I left the office for the host hotel which was thirty-five miles
away. It took about forty-five minutes to get there. When I arrived I saw there
were many riders already there. I checked in and started to get my witness
forms ready for the dinner meeting. By 4:00 pm it looked like all riders had
checked in and we gathered at the restaurant. The food at Harold’s is good and
in very large quantities. No one could eat all of their food. Some even packed
some of the leftover food to eat on the ride including my riding partner. The
start witness, Gregg Burger, signed all of our witness forms and wished us
luck.
The
rider I was going to ride the 50CCTHW with arrived right at 4:00 pm as he took
his time coming up from the south. He never had thoughts of riding the
100CCCTHW as his wife was flying out to met him in San Francisco. We talked
about our plans and what time to met in the morning. We had no planned stops
and hoped to go around 300 miles between gas stops. We agreed to take turns
riding in front. So basically every gas stop we swapped riders up front.
After
dinner everyone gave the bikes a once over. I tested my ten dollar air pump
from Wal-Mart and was surprised at how well it worked. I headed off to bed with
a 3:00 am wakeup call scheduled. I was surprised at how easy it was for me to
get to sleep as usually I can not sleep the night before a ride. I went to
sleep still thinking I was going to attempt the 100CCCTHW.
The Ride: 3:00 am came and the
phone rang and I knew it was time to go. I dressed and packed the bike. I met
my riding partner down at the bikes. It looked like we were ready so we headed
out for the Mobile station on Coney Island, which was the starting location. It
was about thirty miles to the Mobile. We met Gregg at the station and he rode
with us over to the beach to get the sand and water. We needed someone to watch
the bikes as Coney Island at night is not safest place in the world.
We
were back at the starting location at 4:40 am and did our last pee stop and
waited until a few minutes before 5:00 am to get gas and our starting receipt.
Most of the other riders had headed out already so we wanted to get on the
road.
Our
route for the ride was I-80, so we needed to get to I-80 from the starting
location. We had to cross the Hudson River and got to I-80 about twenty-five
mile away. We took the easiest route to I-80 it was a little farther but we did
not have to do a lot of turns. The ride started slow as we had to slow down
crossing the bridge as they were escorting an oversize vehicle across the
bridge. I was thinking to myself, I hope this is not a sign of the things to
come. We took the New Jersey turnpike north to I-80 and headed west. We are
going to ride I-80 from end to end.
There
is a lot of traffic at 5:00 am in the New York City area but we made it to I-80
with no problem. It was clear and a little cool at the start. As we headed west
in New Jersey it started to get cold. I had my Warm-n-Safe electric jacket on
so it was no problem or so I thought. By the time we reached the Pennsylvania
state line it was in the 40’s and I turned on the jacket but no heat came out.
I felt around and found that I had plugged in the wrong cord. So now I was cold
but did not want to stop until we needed gas. Our plan was to stop around every
300 miles so I had a ways to go before our first stop. I could not wait for the
sun to come up so it would start to warm up. As we headed into Pennsylvania our
elevation started to rise so it only got colder. I think it dropped to as low
as 41 before the temperature hit bottom. Soon there after the sun started to
rise and so did the temperature.
By
8:00 am I was ready to stop as I was still a little cold. We found a Travel
Center of America and stopped. We had only gone 260 miles but I needed to get
my jacket plugged in. When we stopped my riding partner said that he was
freezing as he had not put his electric jacket on and was glad we stopped a
little early. It was still only 50 degrees at this time. We gassed up, relieved
ourselves and plugged in correctly and headed out. It was a ten minute stop.
We
got back on the road and the temperature started to warm up some. I had told my
riding partner to be careful when riding through Pennsylvania as they monitor
their speed limit closely. Around mile marker 60 my riding partner and I had a
little meeting with a friendly trooper. When the trooper walked up to my riding
partner his first question was; "are we headed for San Francisco?"
My riding partner was stunned and wondering how the trooper knew we were going
to San Francisco? The trooper told us he had stopped an earlier rider and the
rider told him about the ride and that more are on the way. Fortunately the
trooper was good to us and we parted.
We
finally made it through Pennsylvania and entered Ohio. The temperature was nice
now in the 70’s. Our next gas stop was a little past half way through Ohio at
one of the Ohio Turnpike services areas. It was 290 miles since our last gas
stop. This was again a ten minute stop. Things were going pretty good except
for the CONSTRUCTION zones. New Jersey had a lot of CONSTRUCTION on I-80, as did
Pennsylvania.
I
guess now is the time to mention the CONSTRUCTION on I-80. By our second gas
stop we had been through twenty construction zones. Most were short distances
but beginning to be a nuisance. By the end of the ride we rode through over
sixty construction zones.
Back
on the road, we came to the end of the Ohio Turnpike. Ohio was an easy ride but
a little slower pace than we would have liked. They do not take EZ-Pass on the
Ohio Turnpike at this time. We entered Indiana and its Turnpike. Again no
EZ-Pass at this time. We stopped and got a turnpike ticket. There was not much
of a wait to get the ticket thankfully. Not much in Indiana except their new
animal warning system. On the Indiana Turnpike they have installed a system
that is supposed to warn you of animals on the highway. I think it is mostly
geared at deer based on the height of the infrared beam units mounted on poles
along the highway. It looks like a good idea. When a deer pass through the
beam, a warning lights comes on. We did not get to see it in action as there
was no deer to be seen. It was also daylight. We came to the end of the Indiana
Turnpike and paid our toll, again not to long of a wait. We had no gas stop in
Indiana. We made sure to keep our speed close to the posted limit. Indiana was
like Ohio, an easy uneventful ride.
We
entered Illinois and had one more toll to pay for a small stretch on I-80. It
was early afternoon and traffic was starting to pick up. The toll both only had
a small back up. There was traffic, but it was not backed up but was also not
moving at the posted speed limit either. The weather was great as it has been
since the middle of Pennsylvania. In fact it was a little warm to me, I think
around 85 degrees. Our next gas stop turned out to be in Morris, IL. It was
5:15 pm and the temperature was 78 degrees. This was 300 miles from our last
gas stop. We made this another quick stop and hit the road wanting to make good
use of the rest of the daylight hours. Traffic was good the rest of the way
through Illinois and into Iowa. We were able to pick up the pace a little also
starting in western Illinois.
Our
next stop was Des Moines, Iowa, 285 miles down the road. It was getting dark
and traffic was light. Up till now we had not seen any animals on the highway,
which was good. I was not sure how it would be now that it was getting dark. We
were able to keep the speed up all the way across Iowa as traffic was light and
the speed limit is 70 mph. We made our gas stop in Des Moines and again another
ten minute stop on back on the road. Traffic was pretty good through Des Moines
with no major slowdowns except for the CONSTRUCTION zones. On to Nebraska.
Again
I want to mention the CONSTRUCTION on I-80. It was terrible. It feels like they
are working on every mile of the road. Iowa was not as bad as the rest of the
states but none the less they had their CONSTRUCTION zones also.
We
entered Nebraska and Omaha and came upon an accident that had I-80 closed. It
had just happened and the troopers were just putting out the cones closing the
road and forcing everyone off the highway at the exit. We were stopped for a
while and then we were able to work our way to the exit. There was no one
directing us which way to go to get back on the highway so we stopped for a couple
minutes to look at the GPS and see where the next entrance ramp was to get back
on the highway. All of the other drivers had the same problem but they probably
did not have a GPS to help them out. We headed for the closest ramp to get back
on I-80 and when we got there it was also closed. So back to the GPS and locate
the next entrance ramp. It was about four miles farther. When we rolled up on
the ramp we were smiling as it was open. We got back on the highway and could
see the accident just behind us. We found out that the accident was a car
hitting two construction workers and killing them. The road was closed for a
long time. We were fortunate that we came upon it right after it happened
before the traffic had time to back up. This added around twenty minutes to our
time. This was the only accident on the ride that slowed us down. We were lucky
in that aspect.
Back
on I-80, we were making good time as the traffic was light. We only went 230
miles before our next gas stop in York, Nebraska. It was 12:50 am and 50
degrees. We made sure our electrics were working at this stop. This was a
little longer stop as we discussed how far to go before our rest stop. We
decided to ride a couple more hours and then find a cheap hotel for a couple
hours of rest.
We
made it to a Motel 6 in North Platte, Nebraska. This was 1540 miles from the
start of the ride. It was 3:20 am and 45 degrees. We had been riding for
twenty-two hours so far. We had another 1420 miles to go. We checked in got our
receipts and unpacked the bikes. I was feeling pretty good about our time so
far as we had ridden the hardest part of the ride in pretty good time. The rest
of the ride was going to be open roads and higher speed limits. We took quick
showers and off to bed. We had set a couple alarms to be sure we woke up in a
couple hours. We got up at 6:00 am and had slept for two hours. WOW, I was
hoping that would be enough for the rest of the ride which was going to take
nineteen more hours according to my previous planning.
We
still had plenty of gas so we jumped back on I-80 and headed west. It was still
dark as it was only 4:30 am Nebraska time. We rode another 50 miles and then
stopped for gas and something to eat. We stopped at Ogallala, Nebraska it was
7:30 am and it had warmed up fast to 65 degrees. We were at this stop for
around fifteen minutes or so. It was still dark out.
I
was surprised that we did not see any deer during the night. I was not sure
what the deer problem was like in these parts. We did see a lot of small animals
but no deer.
Back
on the road, we entered Wyoming and the higher speed limits. I think the speed
limit in Wyoming is 75 mph. I say I think because we did not look too hard for
speed limit signs. We road another 300 miles before our next gas stop. We
stopped in Arlington, WY. I was getting nervous before we came upon this stop
as my gas was getting low. You see when I twist the throttle on the big wing it
opens up and drinks gas like a town drunk. The wing’s MPG drops down into the
high twenty’s when the pace is at the fun level. We had passed a gas stop at
around 250 miles but it was too soon to stop. Right after we passed that gas
station it looked like my gas gauge was in free fall. I started to search for
gas stations on one of my GPS’s. The closest gas was behind us and getting
farther away. Finally a station showed up on the GPS about thirty miles down
the road. It was called Arlington Outpost. I slowed down a little to conserve
fuel. This was the first time I was worried about gas on the ride. I had taken
the time before the ride to map as many gas stations as I could find and then
load them into the GPS. I was glad I did as this as this stop was one of the
ones I mapped.
When
we got close to the station I saw an old broken down sign along the highway
that said Arlington Outpost. Man was that sign old. I wondered if there was
still a station there. If there was no gas at the Arlington Outpost the next
station was thirty more miles down the road. We came upon the exit and I could
see a couple old buildings but no gas station. It looked deserted and I was
getting a little more nervous. We pulled off at the exit and stopped. We asked
each other were was the gas station. We road around to the front of the buildings
and saw some old gas pumps. No one was around and everything looked damn old
and not used for forty years. We parked the bikes and I went inside and saw no
one. I finally found a woman and asked if the pumps worked and she said yes
like why the hell would they not be working? So we filled up and man was I was
feeling better. Good enough to have one of my favorite honey buns and coffee.
It was 11:00 am ( 9:00 am local time ) and 68 degrees. We took our time at this
stop and had something to eat. Man was I glad this station was there and was
open. This turned out to be the only time I was worried about gas on the ride.
We
hit the road and headed west again on I-80. Wow is it beautiful here and the
weather was perfect. The scenery was unbelievable. Riding I-80 in Wyoming is
really nice. You can see snow on the mountain tops off in the distance. The
road winds through some mountain passes with some nice sweepers for an
interstate highway. It warmed up to the middle 70’s during the day. In my mind
perfect riding weather. Traffic is pretty light out west on these roads. We
only saw one or two troopers in all of Wyoming and they were not doing any
hunting. Some day when I have more time I will come back here and do a little
more riding at a more relaxed pace.
We
road 265 miles before we stopped for our next gas stop in Evanston, WY. This is
close to the border with Utah. We stopped at 2:30 pm and the temperature was
74. I know this because on my wing I have a pretty good outside temperature
gauge and I write it down on the back of my gas receipts so I can put it on my
ride log when the ride is over. This was a short stop for gas and other
necessities.
Next
gas stop will be in Nevada but we have to pass through Utah and Salt Lake City
first. There are a few mountain passes that we had to pass over on our way to
San Francisco and most of them were pretty nice. I-80 leading into Salt Lake
City is a nice ride. Lots of twisties for an Interstate highway. We came upon a
yellow Suzuki SV 650 in the twisties and passed him by. He decided to fall in
behind us. The SV is a great bike for riding in the mountains. The next
motorcycle we came upon was the new Kawasaki Connie. My riding partner and I
were moving along at a pretty good pace on cruise control with our feet on highway
pegs and I was watching a PPV movie from Direct TV on my GPS. We blew by the
Connie in a curve as he tried to keep up. When we would reach a straight away
the Connie would fly past us. Back in the twisties and we blow by the Connie
again with the SV taking up the rear. Again on the straight away the Connie
blows past. You get the picture. Not that my riding partner and I are good
riders but we did give a good showing for the big old fat touring bikes even
though we had already ridden over 2300 miles in the last thirty-five hours.
We
could now see Salt Lake City. I was hoping traffic would not be too bad. It was
early afternoon and there was some traffic but no backups. We made it through
the city staying on I-80. It goes through town not around. On the west side of
Salt Lake City we stopped along the lake to remove some gear as it was warming
up and we were heading for the valley floor where it would reach 90 degrees. It
was neat seeing all of the salt around the lake. We also saw salt factories
with salt piled high. It is a beautiful place.
I-80
runs through the salt flats and right by the Bonneville Salt Flats, where they
hold the speed test. In this area the winds really picked up here blowing
around twenty-five to thirty mph coming from the west just left of head on. We
were leaning into the wind trying to keep a good pace. I rode mostly in the
left lane so I would have room to work with when hit by higher gusts which
would blow me into the right lane. This lasted for sixty miles or so and was tough
riding. It was also very hot.
We
passed into Nevada and started to gain some altitude and cooler temperatures.
My understanding about riding in Nevada is that you can ride a little above the
posted limits with no real problems. There is not much along I-80 in this part
of Nevada. It is 410 miles across Nevada and the only real city is Reno on the
west side of the state. My riding partner and I picked up the pace even more
once we entered Nevada. The road was in good shape, mostly straight and only a
few vehicles around so we felt it was safe. We bumped up the speed a little
more and I was on cruise control.
We
stopped in Wells, Nevada at 6:00 pm after a long CONSTRUCTION zone. The
temperature was 68 degrees and the weather was still beautiful. This was 255
miles since our last gas stop. We needed to stop sooner as the wing was getting
drunk on fuel. It was a quick stop and back on the road.
We
quickly got back up to speed as the road was again in good shape and we wanted
to take advantage of the rest of what daylight we had left. We had been riding
at this speed for quite awhile when I noticed a car creeping up on us from the
rear. I was not sure if it was a trooper or what. I kept an eye on the car and
slowed down just a little as my riding partner was not aware of the car. It
took about fifteen miles before the car caught up with me and I realized it was
just someone going a little faster than I was. I think the driver was also
wondering who I was and took his time catching up to me. When the car passed he
realized that I was not an LEO and he picked up his pace a little more. The car
caught up with my riding partner who was in front and went on by him. My riding
partner and I fell in behind the car following around a half mile back. We had
a rabbit and we were going to use him. We rode like this for around 100 miles
when the car pulled off at an exit. We eased the speed back down and keep going
until we needed gas which was in Lovelock, Nevada.
The
gas stop in Lovelock was only 242 miles since our last stop but man the wing
was becoming a town drunk. I bought almost nine gallons of fuel which only left
me with a half a gallon to spare. It was 9:00 pm ( 7:00 pm local time ) now.
The temperature was 61. We talked a few minutes about the last 100 miles and
then got back on the road heading for California. We were not sure if we would
need to stop for gas before reaching the end of the ride. It was 325 miles to
San Francisco from here.
A
few miles down the road we saw the car we had been following earlier pulled
over by a Nevada Trooper. They seemed to be mostly just talking so we are not
sure what the outcome was.
We
made it to Reno around 10:00 pm ( 8:00 pm local ) and breezed right through
town with no issues. We then arrived at the US Custom Border check point on the
California border and we were waived through. I guess we passed the look-see
test. We stopped just past the check point and put on our electrics as it was
getting cold and dark.
I-80
heading to Sacramento is in bad shape. It also is a mountain road with a lot of
twist and turns. The right lane has deep ruts even though it is a concrete road
way. There was a lot of traffic. It felt like riding the Dragon for
seventy-five miles. It was the toughest part of the ride in my mind. I had
already ridden 2600 miles and I was tired. Our pace was much slower compared to
the past 1000 miles. I think we were only doing 60 mph most of the ride to
Sacramento. We reached Sacramento around 9:15 pm local time. The ride through
Sacramento was not bad. There was traffic but we were mostly able to ride the
posted limit.
Now
we are on the final 100 miles of the ride and I am feeling it. I know we are
going to make it with plenty of time to spare. The road opened up with a less
traffic. We were able to keep a 65 mph pace or slightly better in some places.
Within fifty miles of San Francisco, you could start to see the city lights and
my spirits were even better. I was no longer tired and was feeling great. The
road is not in the best of conditions in California. In fact the road condition
was the worst in California than any other state.
We
had one more hard part of the ride and that was crossing the Bay Bridge. It is
not really hard just tough getting through the tolls and on to the bridge. San
Francisco is a beautiful site from the bridge. We crossed over the bridge with
no problems and had a quick exit. We followed the GPS to the end point of the
ride which was a Shell station on Lincoln Way.
I
saw the Shell station at the last minute and pulled in up to the pumps. WOW, we
made it. It took forty-five hours. It was 10:55 pm local time and 1:55 am east
coast time. There were two other riders who had arrived two minutes before us.
They had left the starting point in Coney Island before us.
We
were all excited about completing the ride. We stood around talking about what
happened along the ride. The MTF witness was not there so we started calling
him. We left him a few messages and he called back and said it would take him
about thirty minutes to get there. We had a soda and stood around talking. We
were all still pumped up and not feeling tired at all.
I
had planned this ride for many months and all of my planning said it would take
forty-five hours and that is exactly what it took.
The
MTF witness ( Jerry White )arrived and signed all of our paper work. We stood around and
talked for a while with the witness for another thirty minutes.
All
of the other riders were staying over in San Francisco and not headed for home
for a couple days. I called home and after talking with the wife I decided to
head for home and not attempt the 100CCCTHW. I was a little sad but knew it
would be another day would come that I will make the attempt.
I
did not want to stay overnight in San Francisco and fight the traffic in the
morning so I hit the road and headed for I-5 south to Los Angles. Man was I
feeling tired now. I had to cross back over the bay bridge and wind my way out
to I-5. I headed south for about a 100 miles and found a hotel to stop.
Wow,
now I am 3100 miles from home and only a couples days to get there. So I hit
the road. I will add the ride home from San Francisco later as it was a longer
ride and much harder.