Now it did.
The Iron Butt Association had the required forms on line and I printed them out. A Helena, Montana Certified Iron Butt Rider, Barry Reddick, agreed to serve as my Start Witness and my twin brother who lives 1,040 miles away in Monticello, MN would be the End Ride Witness.
Sidecar Bill Ryder gave the Yamaha and sidecar a final check and the ride was about to get underway.
We meet at 3:30am on Saturday morning September 27, 2014 at High Country Travel on highway 12 east of Helena. It was raining. The temperature was 51 degrees with an east wind. Barry signed the Start Ride form, Bill did a final check, my son Roger took pictures and with their shouts of Good Luck ringing in my ears, I roared off into the moonless night.
The first sixty rain slowed miles were two lane highway and as expected 55 MPH was what I was able to run. Pulling into Three Forks I filled the tank and rolled over the steel rails of the cattle guard and on to the interstate. Now what I expected to be the easy ride was beginning.
Interstate highways would take me the 1,041 miles to Monticello, MN. and the coveted membership in the Iron Butt Association. The Euphoric feeling lasted all of thirty minutes. That's when I reached the base of Bozeman Pass.
As I began the run up the pass the wind began swirling around me from all directions. Rain began falling again and I was beginning to feel cold and wet. Half way up a misty fog began drifting with the wind. Near the top snow began slapping the wind screen. More like hard crystals of frozen rain than flakes.
Around that last long bend at the top and the rain was gone, the wind slowly died down and the road was clear. It was then that I realized why I was feeling cold and wet. When I filled the gas tank at Three Forks, I had failed to zip my rain coat up all the way and the leathers under it were soaked.
In the east I saw what appeared to be light filtering through the clouds and I knew I would soon be out of the inclement weather and might even have some sunshine to help dry things out. And that's what happened.
The ride through the early morning to Billings was relatively uneventful. By then the sun was up, I was drying off and it felt good to be warm again. I seemed to be having a problem with mileage which I attributed to the ENE head winds I was running into. I was stopping for gas every 75 miles. This continued as I made the run across North Dakota.
Gas stops were meant to be short, but the inevitable visits with people who wanted to learn all there was to know about sidecars made them longer then planned. I can sometimes make these visits shorter by giving them an old copy of The SideCarist, the official magazine of the United Sidecar Association. Alas, my few copies were soon gone and I was loath to give up the latest issue. So I visited and met new friends.
It was a great ride across the rolling hills of North Dakota. It was I dark by the time I rode past Bismarck, the state capital and past 11pm by the time I crossed the state line into Minnesota. Now I was facing a new challenge.
I had invested $240.00 in a new LED headlight for just this eventuality. This was Minnesota deer country and this new headlight would shine far down the road giving me a clear view of any animals joining me on the highway. Unfortunately, thousands of Dakotans had attended a huge entertainment event in Minneapolis and were now on the way home. An endless line of cars traveling the other way kept me from taking advantage of this modern miracle of headlights.
I MADE IT!
That's what I felt like shouting as I pulled in to the Holiday gas station in Monticello. It was 1:50am Sunday morning. I had left Helena at 4am MDT Saturday morning and now, some 21 and a half hours later I had completed my FIRST Iron Butt Ride.
Despite the late hour and the lack of sleep I was elated.
For over two and a half years my wife Lois and I, with the help of our six children, had journeyed through a terrible disease called Alzheimer's. The journey had ended in March and now this remarkable family and I were proving that there was indeed, life after Alzheimer's Disease.
The Iron Butt Ride then, was an expression of faith. Faith in a life rich and full. It was a great ride, one that I might just try again.
Look for me America, I'll be in the right lane.
Del "Lonnie" Lonnquist
Del, you are an inspiration!
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