Guestbook

SADDLESORE – 2004

I decided to make my third Saddlesore 1000 trip a little more challenging.  Making the entire 1000 mile/24 hour trip entirely in Wisconsin was appealing to me.  However, I had to still try to make the majority of the trip on Interstate highways or four lane roads, at the very least.  After about one hour of horsing around with my AAA Map & Go program, I had my route all planned out.  Unfortunately, I could not find a suitable route that would keep me in Wisconsin for the whole trip.  Skirting the northern border of the state, I would have to ride part of the way in Michigan. Since I had never been to that part of Michigan, I was pleased with this route.  Leaving from West Bend, I would travel north to Iron Mountain, MI, west to Superior, south to Hudson, east to Wausau, south to Beloit, and back north to West Bend.  I had never been to IronMountain or Superior, so I was looking forward to traveling through these areas.

 Preparing for the trip was relatively easy.  I packed up the Magna with tools, extra gloves, sunglasses, Wisconsin atlas, my trip log, rain suit, bungee cords and some food and water.  One concern was that I was going late in the year and would have less daylight.  Also, initially I wanted to do the ride on Friday, September 10, but had to change it to Saturday, September 11 due to Anne's work week. 

 Due to the fewer hours of daylight, I felt it best to leave quite early in the morning.  I planned on leaving at 4:00 AM, set the alarm for 3:00 AM and tried to go to sleep at around 9:30 PM Friday night.  I only got a few fitful hours of sleep and woke up several times.  Finally around 1:50 AM, I decide to just get up and get ready to leave.  I ate a bowl of cereal, checked over the Magna one last time, said goodbye to Anne and officially left the house at 2:42 AM.  I went immediately to the gas station on Mile View Rd and Hwy P, filled up the Magna and got my official departure time of 2:49 AM. Quickly, I zipped over to Hwy 45, exited at Hwy 33 and went west for about 6 miles and got onto Hwy 41 and began heading north for Iron Mountain, MI (which seemed light years away).   

 It's amazing how quiet things are at that time of night.  There was very little traffic on Hwy 41.  It was overcast and I would estimate the temperature to be in the low 50's. Fairly brisk temperature, but I figured this would be the coldest part of the ride.  I was dressed for the conditions – my leather jacket, cold weather Ballistic riding pants, boots, snowmobile gloves and my Blizzard modular helmet (which I originally purchased for snowmobiling, but use regularly on my cycle now).  Under my jacket, I had a long sleeve T-shirt on.  I must say, I was not really uncomfortable. 

 I planned out all my fuel stops in advance.  This was something I attempted to do on my 2002 Saddlesore ride with mixed results.  This time, I had similar but somewhat better luck with pre-planning my fuel stops.  I got off track a few times, and actually miscalculated mileage on two different stretches which I will get to later.

 I decided to try to make good time on this initial stretch of riding.  With little traffic and a 65 MPH speed limit, I cranked the Magna up to 75 MPH and sat back and relaxed.  Sore shoulders are always a problem for me, so I made it a point early and often in the ride to move around on the bike.  I tried not to stay in one position too long.   My only major concern early in the ride was deer. Usually there are fences on both sides of the road, so I didn't burden myself with trying too hard to look for deer.

 I cruised effortlessly past Fond du Lac, Oshkosh and around Appleton. My first gas stop would be Kaukauna, however I could not remember if Hwy 441 had a gas station.  For this reason, I decided to play it safe end exit 6 miles before Kaukauna at the Little Chute exit.  There was a gas station at the end of the off ramp where I filled up quickly with 2.33 gallons (the Magna only holds 3 gallons).  I made a quick bathroom stop and got right back onto Hwy 41 and began heading north once again.  So far, I felt good and wasn't tired at all.  At this point it was 4:05 AM and I had gone 87 miles.

 Heading north past Kaukauna, I was hit with the heavy stench from the paper mills.  If I wasn't totally awake before, I certainly was now.  About 20 minutes later, I was going past Green Bay.  I traveled past theOneida Street exit where we normally exit for Packer games and before long I was heading north into uncharted waters. I hooked up with Hwy 141 and continued in a straight northerly direction.  Hwy 141 eventually went down to two lanes a few miles out of Green Bay, but it didn't matter since there was virtually no traffic.  Unfortunately, I could no longer drive 75 MPH.  Cruising on this non-descript section of highway, I reflected on the fact that this was the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I almost felt guilty doing something so free-spirited and independent when innocent people were murdered three years ago and soldiers were putting their lives on the line this very day in Iraq to preserve our freedom and security.  I had this on my mind off and on throughout the day.

 Continuing north I went through a few small towns over a span of several miles – Lena, Coleman, Pound, Crivitz, Middle Inlet and finally into Wausaukee.  Wausaukee was my second planned gas stop and I stopped at the first gas station I saw.  The time on my gas receipt was 5:29 AM and I had now gone 170 miles in rather quick fashion.  I made another quick bathroom stop and got right back on the Magna.  I figured I was only about 45 miles from IronMountain, so I would probably take a short break there.

 Back on Hwy 141, I was still riding in the pitch dark. Off to the east, the quarter moon was trying to show itself from behind the clouds.  I began to feel very fatigued now as I continued north.  I had been driving in the dark for three hours on only a few hours sleep.  IronMountain seemed very far away yet, but I thought once I arrived there I could regroup a bit.  Although I couldn't see much, I could tell that this area was quite scenic.  Solid tree lines on both sides of the road and a rolling terrain were apparent.  Finally off to the east I could see the first breaks of light in the sky.  It wouldn't be long now and the sun would begin to rise. Driving through Niagara, I knew that IronMountain was only a few miles away.  I immediately began to feel a little recharged that I had nearly completed the first long stretch of my ride, and exclusively in the dark no less.  Moments later, I crossed the Michigan border and with great relief cruised into Iron Mountain. I drove to the west end of town and pulled into a Holiday station.  I filled up the Magna and clocked my time of 6:18 AM in my log.  I now had 206 miles behind me.

 I went into the Holiday station in IronMountain and bought a donut and a cup of coffee.  I would guess that was maybe the 9^th or 10^th cup of coffee I've had in my whole life.  I never drink coffee, but in this situation I thought it would help awaken me.  Fatigue had really overtaken me the past 50 miles. I sat outside for about another 5-10 minutes, drank my coffee and consulted my atlas.  The sun was now rising and I could see that Iron Mountain was quite a scenic area.  What I believe was the actual Iron Mountain was on the northeast side of town.  The sun was climbing over the top of the mountain.  Shortly thereafter, I got back on the Magna and with renewed energy from the coffee and morning sunlight began heading west on Hwy 2.  As I left town, I passed a bank which showed the temperature at 59 degrees.

 After about 10 miles, Hwy 2 crosses back into Wisconsin for a while.  I was now driving through sparsely populated areas with great scenery.  The only town of any significance along this stretch was Florence. This small village is nestled around FisherLake and is a nice backdrop.  You are truly "up north" if you get to Florence. A college high jumper I competed with, Ben Baumgart, was from Florence. After a nondescript season at UW-L in 1984, he transferred to UW-Stevens Point where two years later he surprisingly won the WSUC Indoor high jump title (whipping my ass in the process).

 Shortly after leaving Florence, I crossed back into Michigan. This began a wonderful stretch of riding.  Hwy 2 is a wide two lane highway with solid lines of coniferous trees on both sides of the road.  Cruising at 75-80 MPH, I ran into very little traffic, and what traffic I encountered I just passed.  Kind of like riding in Europe. There were only two town of any significance in this section of Michigan – Clearwater Falls and Iron River. Clearwater Falls is another far northern scenic town.  Between Clearwater Falls and Iron River, I ran into some construction.  At one point, there was a guy with one of those slow/stop signs.  Unfortunately, I got there and was forced to wait behind two pickup trucks.  I made a shrewd move when the sign turned to slow when I immediately passed both truck in the short distance between the construction worker and the beginning of the construction zone.  This turned out to be quite a wise move, because it was about a 10 mile stretch where I would not have been able to pass anyone.  After I cleared the construction zone, it was back to great cruising with no setbacks or other cars for many miles.  It reminded me of our ride south of Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Hwy 89.  Great scenery, no aggravation! 

 I flew through Iron River and continued west on Hwy 2.  I must say, this was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.  I didn't have to stop until I reached Hwy 45, just south of Watersmeet.  My plan was to drive to Wakefield before I stopped for gas.  I went through the intersection and about ¼ mile down the road there was a sign that said Wakefield was 29 miles ahead.  Looking at my odometer, I saw that I had traveled 76 miles since I left Iron Mountain and would be cutting it extremely close if I tried to get to Wakefield – especially since I had been driving quite fast and was getting poor gas mileage.  Therefore, I turned around and went back to Hwy 45 where there was a Citgo station. I filled up with gas – 2.2 gallons. I made a quick bathroom stop and got back onto Hwy 2.  I now had gone 282 miles and it was 8:52 AM, eastern time.  This was my only stop in the eastern time zone.

 As I was reminded later on, Watersmeet was the scene of my ill-fated lunch of the 2001 snowmobile trip.  Soon after eating a cheeseburger and departing Watersmeet on that trip, I began a several hour odyssey of sickness which will never be forgotten by myself or the guys on the trip with me.  Quite honestly, since that episode I have been very careful of what I eat when traveling on snowmobile or motorcycle.  My advice is to eat lightly, eat bland foods and drink only bottled water. 

 Anyway, back on Hwy 2, I continued west toward the Hurley/Ironwood areas.  Passing by Marinesco, Wakefield and Bessemer, I was reminded of some snowmobile trips where I had been in those areas. It was quite odd going through Ironwood and Hurley with no snow on the ground.  Going past the Blue Cloud Motel reminded me of the snowmobile trip I took with Mike and Kevin in 1991.  We stayed at the Blue Cloud because we couldn't get in anywhere else.  I made poor time going through those two cities, but at this point I was still well ahead of schedule thanks to my early departure.

 My next planned gas stop was in Ashland, and I felt I would have little problem getting there on the gas I had left. I was now back in Wisconsin where I would be the rest of the day.  Hwy 2 was still a very wide two lane highway and I was still able to drive quite fast, but only 65-70 MPH now.  I had a little more traffic to contend with now and it would get worse as I continued west.  I had never been on Hwy 2 between Hurley and Ashland. Again, it was a fairly scenic drive and ran parallel with Lake Superior. About 15 miles west of Hurley, it began to rain lightly.  The light rain turned into a moderate rain by the time I got to Odanah.  I decided not to stop and don my rain suit, because Ashland was only about 20 miles away.  The rain itself wasn't that bad, but the backsplash from the vehicles in front of me was most annoying. The unfortunate thing was I really didn't pay much attention to Lake Superior which had been prominently displayed to the north for the last several miles.   When I finally reached Ashland, my gloves were quite wet and my boots were fairly wet.  At this point, I had no choice but to pull over, get gas and mull over my options. 

 I drove into another Holiday station and got off the Magna.  I was back in the central time zone and it was 9:22 AM.  I had now gone 375 miles.  Getting another coffee seemed like a good idea, so I bought a roasted something or other coffee and a large cookie.  I moved the Magna away from the pump and parked underneath the canopy. The rain seemed lighter now. Therefore, I only changed my gloves and did not put on my rain suit.  I finished the coffee and decided to get going right away.  I was feeling pretty good, not very tired, and only somewhat annoyed with the rain.  I was going to call Anne from here, but I had no signal from my cell phone.  Yeah, T-Mobile………….get more.  I don't rightly think so.

 The ride west out of Ashland was fairly smooth.  A little more traffic was now evident, being that now it was mid morning.  I could still pass relatively easily when I needed to, however driving 75-80 MPH as I did through Michigan was out of the question.  What I liked about Hwy 2 was that every 5-10 miles there was a passing lane, both in Michigan and Wisconsin. This helped immensely when I need to get around someone (mostly mini-vans driving below the speed limit). I passed a sign for Moquah and was reminded of a story a friend of mine once told me.  Apparently, he was invited to a wedding there several years ago. Just a bunch of drunks dressed in flannel shirts and jeans were at this wedding.

 Well Hwy 2 doesn't go through Moquah, so I can't say I've been there.  However, it did take me through Ino, Iron River (the second Iron River I had been to that day), Brule, Maple, Poplar, Wentworth and Parkland as I made my way to Superior. As I neared the city, Lake Superior came back into view. I've never been to Superior and was surprised at the size of the city.  It took me at least 15 minutes to get around the town and onto my next major road, Hwy 35.  Hwy 35 ambles southward very close to the Minnesota border.  I stopped to get gas at a place close to the south end of town on Hwy 35.  It was now 10:55 AM and I had gone 442 miles.  I called Anne to give her a progress report and started heading south out of town. Depending on the time, I wanted to see Big Manitou Falls which is the largest waterfall in Wisconsin. According to the map, it was right along Hwy 35.  I passed through South Superior and back into the forested wilderness of far NW Wisconsin.  Before long, I saw a sign for Pattison State Park and I pulled in there.  I bought a one hour pass for $3.00 and was told the waterfall was across the road. Had I known that, I wouldn't have necessarily needed to buy the pass.  Anyway, I crossed Hwy 35 and parked in a lot off Hwy B.  I decided to take a moderate break here.  I was nearly halfway done with my ride and was still well ahead of schedule.  The waterfall was across the road and had 3-4 vantage points on the east and west sides of the river.  I stopped at two of them and took some photos (see below).  I still can't believe there is a 165 foot waterfall in Wisconsin. However, I've learned there are several waterfalls in NW Wisconsin.  As I crossed back over to the lot and opened my saddlebags, I heard my cell phone ring. I didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway.  It was Kate from the Michels for Senate campaign confirming his appearance at the GOP Brat Fry the next day.  I hung up from that oddly timed call and decided to eat the sandwiches I had brought along.  What I didn't realize was that they had been out of the refrigerator for almost 10 hours and were sitting in my saddlebag just above the right exhaust pipe.  The crust was nearly toasted.  Taking a slight risk, I ate one of the sandwiches and drank a portion of a soda I brought along, which was equally warm. M-m-m-m, boy did that hit the spot! Terrible.  But I had no other choice for food, unless I drove 15 miles back in the opposite direction to Superior. Thankfully, I did not have to relive the Watersmeet cheeseburger experience.  As I left Pattison Park it was 11:55 AM.

 Hwy 35 south was about as pleasant as the Hwy 2 ride across Michigan was.  I was pushing the envelope as I was driving well above the speed limit of 55 MPH.   I breezed south from the Superior area in far NW Wisconsin, encountering very little traffic or other slowdowns.  This area of the state is heavily wooded, but with wetlands mixed in and very sparsely populated.  I had a small scare when I went flying past a wayside at about 75 MPH where there was a sheriff's squad parked.  However, he was not taking radar, so I dodged a bullet there.  The first town of any significance I passed through was Danbury, which is on the Wisconsin/Minnesota border.  I was making great time on Hwy 35 and was glad I decided on this southerly route instead of I-35 which was just to the west in Minnesota. After going through Webster, I came to the town of Siren. I had been to Siren once before for dinner after snowmobiling in that area.  This is where I had my second lucky break with the cops.  Clear Lake is just south of Siren, and just before I arrived there a minivan pulled out in front of me, causing me to slow down.  Before I could pass this guy, I passed Clear Lake where there was a Siren squad car (actually it was a truck) taking radar. I surely would've been nailed there if not for the car in front of me.  Taking this as a sign, I made up my mind to back down on the speed a little. That didn't stop me from passing the mini-van in short order, however.

 My next gas stop was to be in Luck, but I wasn't sure there would be a gas station there (turns out there was).  Once past Siren, I saw some signs for gas stations in Frederic, which was about 5 miles north of Luck.  Getting a little weary at this point, I thought I would stop there instead. I pulled into a Holiday station and filled up the Magna for the 8^th time.  After putting 2.33 gallons in, I filled out my log, and was ready to leave. Unfortunately, a group of 8 Harleys drove past just as I was getting on the Magna.  Not wanting to listen to that racket for the next hour, I got off and went to the bathroom to kill some time.  So, I left about 5 minutes later.  It was now 1:00 PM and I had 525 miles done and was a little past halfway.

 Being past halfway put me in a good mood.  However, that went sour when I caught up to the Harley group between Milltown and Centuria.  Those of you who know me can imagine how incensed I was to be behind a group of Harleys.  I was most annoyed traveling behind them making poor time and listening to the usual racket they make.  Generally speaking, when I pass through any town I open my face shield.  This proved to be a mistake as I felt something hit the right side of my face just south of Centuria.  At first I thought it was a stone, but a fraction of a second later I heard a buzzing sound inside my helmet.  Sure enough, it was a bee which promptly stung me below my right eye.  Since I was beyond Centuria already, I thought I'd try to shake it off and continue on.  With the pain not subsiding, I decided to pull over at the soonest opportunity.  Approaching Highway 8 east of St. Croix Falls, I saw a wayside sign.  Pulling in there, I got off the Magna and got out some water and a towel and applied it to my face.  This was lucky timing to see a wayside when you actually needed one.  After a few minutes, the stinging weakened and I packed up again.  The double bonus of this stop was I would be rid of the Harley riders for good.  However, this stop was unexpected and a general waste of time.

 I thought if the bee sting was the worst thing that happened to me today, I would be in pretty good shape.  Hwy 35 joined Hwy 8 and headed west toward St. Croix Falls. The next several miles were the slowest of the entire trip.  St. Croix Falls is along the Mississippi River and is a scenic place indeed.  I did not see the falls as I drove by.  Hwy. 35 goes straight south from St. Croix Falls. It takes you through Dresser, and turns in a southwesterly direction and angles into the town of Osceola. Osceola is again along the Mississippi. I quickly sensed something was wrong when my speed was reduced to below 10 MPH and in short order came to a complete stop.  "What the f**k?", I thought to myself.  Looking far ahead, I could see what looked like a parade or show of some sort. Being fatigued and upset I was making poor time, this unexpected slowdown really pissed me off.  As I crept further into town, I saw that there was a tractor show going on in the park.  Naturally, every citizen of Osceola had to be there.  I resisted the urge to stop and look at the tractors with the other dumb asses there.  Nearly 10 minutes later, I got past Osceola and back up to highway speed on Hwy 35. This stretch of riding was relatively pleasant, however I was only going about 60-65 MPH.  That speed would have to suffice after my close call in Siren, and I could only hope that after I reached Hudson I would be able to ride faster again.

 I rode through East Farmington, which I thought was strange since this was almost the furthest west you could possibly be in Wisconsin.  About 20 miles later, I passed through Somerset and was again heading in a southwesterly direction.  I was feeling quite fatigued again and was looking forward to stopping in Hudson to get gas.  Soon thereafter I reached Houlton, I was again riding along the Mississippi River.  Nice scenery as I continued south toward Hudson. Approaching Hudson, I first met with North Hudson and eventually the city of Hudson itself.  I passed several gas stations, but decided to wait until I got to I-94 as I figured there would be several gas stations there.  The temperature was moving upward now and was probably in the low 70's I estimated.  Hudson was larger than I had thought it was, but after about 5 minutes I reached the southern end at I-94.  To my dismay, there was only one gas station there and it was on the opposite side of the road.  I had to drive past it and do a U-turn to reach it.  Once again, I was at a Holiday station.  It was now 2:27 PM and I had traveled 589 miles.  It felt good knowing I was past my halfway point.  I decided not to go into the gas station and got back on the Magna and took the on ramp onto I-94.

 Although I was getting tired, it was a relief to get off of Hwy 35.  I cranked the Magna up to 75 MPH and I was back to relatively stress free riding. My goal now was to make up some of the time I lost meandering through some of those jerkwater towns along Hwy 35. Looking back, I truly enjoyed the ride on Hwy 35 from Superior to Hudson. Never having been to that part of the state makes me appreciate it more now than when I was actually riding that stretch.  It's just too bad I was in such a hurry.  I flew effortlessly east on I-94 down a rather nondescript stretch of interstate. I cruised past Menomonee and about 15 minutes later exited on Hwy 29.  I wanted to skirt Eau Claire, so I decided on this route.  I had to drive a little slower here, but I knew that once past Chippewa Falls, Hwy 29 was a four lane highway.  Driving through Chippewa Falls was a little aggravating, but I knew this was the last large town I would drive through for the rest of my ride.  On the east side of town, I stopped at a Shell station and topped off my tank.  I only needed 2.05 gallons this time, but I was getting extremely fatigued.  I hadn't stopped for more than a few minutes since Big Manitou Falls. Resting for a bit was a good idea. The temperature was the hottest of the day now – probably around 75 degrees.  I took off my leather jacket and went inside the gas station.  I bought a water bottle and a Twix ice cream bar. I made a brief call to Anne and ate the Twix bar.  Now I felt somewhat rejuvenated and rested.  Looking back, I think it was the Twix bar that gave me a surge of energy. It was now 3:50 PM and I had gone 665 miles.  It was a good feeling, but I had several hundred miles to go yet.

 Making my way back onto Hwy 29, I indeed felt better. I headed east toward Wausau. The sun was still high in the sky and there were no clouds to be seen.  I truly got lucky with the weather, despite the 50 degree temperatures earlier this morning.  I sat back and put my feet on the highway pegs and motored past one exit after another. There wasn't much traffic here.  I passed many small towns:  Cadott, Boyd, Stanley, Thorp, Withee, Owen, Abbotsford, Edgar and Marathon City and I rambled toward Wausau. All of these towns were within eyesight of Hwy 29.  There were several Bush/Cheney signs along here as well.  I was making great time along this stretch going a steady 75 MPH. It felt good knowing I was making up for some lost time, and that I would be on four lane highways the rest of the trip.  Wausau was now approaching and stopping there was mandatory, since that was a corner of my ride.  Being unfamiliar with the city, I made the mistake of staying on Hwy 29 into Wausau. I did not see any gas stations as I entered the city and naturally this pissed me off.  I took a left and drove north behind a shopping mall and finally stumbled upon a Shell station.  I pulled in and filled up the Magna again with 2.45 gallons.  To my disbelief, there was no bathroom there.  I would soon need to use the bathroom, but decided to get onto Hwy 39 and begin riding south.  I now had 751 miles under my belt and it was 5:09 PM.

 My thought was to go as long as I could on I-39 before stopping for a longer break and something to eat.  I hadn't eaten since I ate my exhaust saddlebag grilled turkey sandwich at BigManitouFalls at 11:30 AM (not counting the Twix bar).  Thankfully, it did not make me sick.  This part of the trip was again rather carefree and non-descript.  Making great time, I passed Mosinee and caught a whiff of the paper mills much like Kaukauna.  There were very few exits between Mosinee and Stevens Point, so it was fortunate I didn't need to make a quick exit anywhere.  I gave some thought to exiting in Stevens Point, but for some reason I felt I could make to Portage.  There was a Dairy Queen at I-94 and I-39.  I made that my goal now. 

 Perhaps it was the fatigue or just plain foolishness on my part, but I soon realized I couldn't possibly make it that far without stopping for gas.  This was my second big miscalculation of the day.  I would have to go 114 miles altogether which I knew was almost certainly impossible and a ridiculous risk to take.  Going 75 MPH, 102-105 miles was the maximum I could make.  Unfortunately, the ride south from Stevens Point provided precious few exits, and none with any restaurants for miles.  My mind was made up to stop at the first reasonable gas station/restaurant exit I could find.  I passed the Hwy 21 exit, but there were no restaurants there. With my trip odometer creeping up toward 80, I was getting a little worried as I wasn't familiar with this highway. I passed a sign that said Westfield 6 miles.  This seemed like a decent opportunity for an exit.  Approaching the Westfield exit, I noticed there were gas stations and some restaurants there.  Westfield seemed like an unusual place to have all these places to stop, but it was the only decent stopping point between Stevens Point and Portage. I pulled into an Amoco station and put 2.33 gallons into the Magna.  There was a McDonalds and a Subway nearby.  It was an easy decision to go to Subway.  I wanted to eat light and take no chances with greasy food.  So at 6:25 PM I sat down at Subway and ordered a chicken wrap.  I relaxed for about another 20 minutes feeling pretty good that I now had 833 miles behind me.  A strange twist to the day occurred when I saw a customer from work in the Subway. What are the odds of that?  I said hi to her and she seemed quite surprised to see me there as well.  I reviewed my log and took a last look at the map before getting back onto I-39.

 As I headed south toward Portage and Madison, I wondered if the Badgers had beaten UNLV today.  Turns out they had, 18-0.  It was now past 7:00 PM and the sun was falling to the west.  At this point, I was grateful that I left an hour earlier than my original plan. My left shoulder was getting sore, and I was in a general state of fatigue by now.  Driving in the dark would prove to be the most challenging part of the ride.  Between Portage and Madison the sun went down. There were several minutes of dusk that I hoped would hang on for a long time.  Unfortunately, about 15 minutes later it was completely dark.  I approached the city of Madison in the darkness.  Passing the Hwy 151 exit, I saw the American Family home office.  As they are my former employer, I cursed the very day I took the job there.  What a cheap, ungrateful, thankless company to work for. 

 The lights of Madison renewed me a little bit.  By now, I was amongst quite a bit of traffic.  Driving through this stretch was challenging.  Three lanes of relatively solid traffic made me somewhat uneasy.  I tried to be very defensive and keep good distance between other cars.  I knew I would never make it all the way to Beloit on the gas I had, so I made a quick stop in Cottage Grove just south of Madison. This time I only needed 1.95 gallons. I made a quick call to my brother Mike who said he had just called Anne to find out where I was.  He informed me that the Badgers won.  After that, I quickly got back on the Magna and headed south toward Beloit.

 Driving south, traffic was again heavy.  This was most annoying at this part of the trip. Pissing me off further, someone in the vehicle ahead of me tossed a lit cigarette out their window that bounced along the highway right at me.  Initially, I was quite startled by this, until anger set in.  Boy, do I hate it when people do this.  It is one of my biggest pet peeves.  Nothing like having a burning object unexpectedly hurled in your path in the dead of night!  This happened two more times before the ride ended. 

 Beyond that, I was just trying to get to Beloit without incident.  I knew I-43 northwest toward Milwaukee would be much less traveled.  I passed through the city of Janesville unscathed and about 20 minutes later was finally in Beloit. I stopped at the Pilot station I stopped at in 2002 on my last Saddlesore ride.  I topped off the Magna with 1.12 gallons.  I called Anne to tell her of my progress.  Feeling pretty good, I exited the gas station and was stranded at a red light for several minutes.  My cycle would not set off the sensors for the light to change.  I looked all around for cops, then gunned it through the red light and raced to the on ramp for the Rock Freeway. 

 It was now 8:34 PM and I had gone 939 miles.  It was much cooler now, but I resisted the urge to put my snowmobile gloves back on. Those gloves are very thick and make my hands sore.  Luckily, I still had my ballistic cold weather pants on (actually I never took them off).  I wasn't too uncomfortable, and knowing I was on the home stretch put me in a good mood. This was a mostly non-eventful ride back toward Milwaukee. I saw some bright searchlights off to the north and couldn't figure out where they were coming from.  In addition, I also saw some fireworks in the same direction.  My best guess was that it was coming from Elkhorn. 

 I passed Delavan, Elkhorn and East Troy and I approached the southwest side of Milwaukee. It appeared my third successful Saddlesore ride was almost over.  This one was a little more challenging, but may have been the easiest and most enjoyable. I passed effortlessly past Milwaukee and headed for the last stretch of Hwy 45 toward West Bend. I exited on Pleasant Valley Road and made my last stop at the Tri-Par station on Hwy P.  I filled the Magna for the last time with 2.51 gallons and recorded my last fuel stop for a final total of 1036 miles.  I had completed my third Saddlesore 1000 ride in a little over 19 hours.  It was 10:08 PM when I walked into the house.

 My pre-planned gas stops worked much better on this trip.  I will most likely continue that plan of action on future extreme rides.  This ride challenged me early on with the extended riding in darkness.  Until you ride several hours in complete darkness, you don't know how it wears you down. Obviously, it's more dangerous as well. Beyond that, riding on the state highways did probably add at least an hour to the ride.  However, it was an exciting twist that I didn't have in my previous two Saddlesore 1000 rides.

 My next plan is to do the Lake Michigan 1000 next summer.