Sky Diving? August 2014, Check!
Hot Air Balloon Ride? August 2015, Check!
Saddle Sore 1000?
Monday September 7, 2015.
Depart from Shellie's Truck Stop Cafe, Helena, Montana at Midnight.
I agreed to ride the bike, she did what very few people have done. She rode the SS1000 as Navigator in a motorcycle with sidecar.
Leaving Helena at Midnight we had a cold ride for the first six hours.
It was very cold. A bystander at a Butte, MT truck stop said it was 26 degrees at his house just down the street from the truck stop.
Officially it was 41 degrees when we left Helena and a little cooler as we rode over Monida Pass.
The first 100 miles carried us to Dillon, MT where Linda remembered that she had brought hand warmers to place in our gloves. Since we were riding with no electric suits the hand warmers provided the only heat we carried with us.
They really helped.
The ride through Idaho went quickly and we saw only one deer along the way and very little traffic on I-15.
By 6AM the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds which had formed around mountain peaks and the warm up began.
We had lost a little time at a truck stop in Idaho Falls while trying to stop shivering from the cold.The 10 minute gas stop turned into a 30 minute warm up stop.
After Monida Pass it did seem a lot warmer and as we dropped down to a lower elevation the temperature did begin to rise.
Morning light found us cruising through Idaho and closing in on the Utah State Line.
The first half of the ride was being completed quickly with the sun providing a welcome warm up and the Honda VTX 1300 performing like a real Mile Eater.
Salt Lake City was all that stood between us and the Half Way Goal, Provo, Utah, 525 miles from Helena.
The ride through the city on I-15 went quickly. Very quickly!It was fast.
I had no idea that Salt Lake Drivers drove the freeway at speeds exceeding 85MPH!
Speed limit signs read 70MPH but were ignored by most drivers.
We rode my age and maybe a little more.
There were few stops on the way through SLC, but we did find one beneath an underpass.
It was a momentary respite from the fast moving traffic.
To their credit, these drivers seemed to know where they were going and would provide room for a Long Distance Rider to make lane changes when he found himself in the wrong lane.
The 80 year old Iron Butt Rider sign made a year earlier by the Sign Masters at Fast Signs in Helena worked it's magic again on this trip with many drivers waving, honking a horn and giving us a thumbs up.
Thousands of drivers from coast to coast and border to border have read the sign, smiled and waved as they went by.On this trip, like past Long Distance Rides, we never met a rude or discourteous driver.
People are great.
It was a quick stop in Provo to get a computer generated gas receipt and a picture to prove we had been there, and then it was time to retrace our route back to Helena.
We arrived in Provo at 10AM, ten hours after leaving Shellie's Truck stop in Helena.
The return ride began with another run through Salt Lake City on I-15, the high speed freeway we had pulled off of moments earlier.But first a quick lunch break at Denny's.
Now we were off on a beautiful ride in bright, warm sunshine.
NIRVANA!
This is what a Long Distance Iron Butt Rider dreams of and we were both living the moment.
Linda being Navigator and photographer was having a great ride.
The ride through rich farmland and fields of Lava was beautiful and interesting with scenery changing constantly and light traffic making the ride a smooth enjoyable event.
A rest area in the lava fields provided a short break from the highway, but with the goal of making the nearly 1100 mile ride in less than 24 hours were soon on the road again.
The miles passed quickly as we maintained a constant speed.Posted speed limits through Idaho were 80MPH and I was trying to stay at that speed.
There were very few construction project delays
on the entire trip, but the one that we did drive through had the most interesting road improvement sign we saw on the entire trip.
I have no idea what the blasting sign was about, but apparently we drove through the blasting zone without realizing what was happening around us.
Linda was enjoying her Bucket List ride of One Thousand miles in less than twenty four hours and the pictures would prove her bragging rights if we could reach the goal.
The ride through Idaho was near completion as we rode again through Monida Pass, near the states border with Montana.The early morning ride through this colorful Pass had been rather uncomfortable, but this time through we had a chance to admire the mountains, valleys and the never ending highway.
This beautiful roadway had been the brainchild of President Eisenhower after World War Two.
Returning GI's who had ridden the German Autobahns were supportive of the Interstate and Defence Highway Project and this great ride is the result.As we closed in on the Montana border we began to feel more certain of a good completion of the Linda Saddle Sore 1000.
Her bucket list ride was rapidly coming to an end.
Through Monida, I decided to skip the gas stop in Dillon and try to stretch out the ride all the way to Butte.
Rocker, Montana, the truck stop on the west side of Butte came into view as we went to the reserve switch on the gas line.
The gas stop was quick and we were now on the last 60 mile leg of our one thousand mile trek.
Oh sure, the start of the trip had been a little iffy with the cool temperatures, but the cool weather hadn't slowed us down and we made it through the night and into a day of Golden Sunshine and a wide open and welcoming highway.
Our End of Ride witnesses, Aaron and Roger were ready to sign the forms and we were home
WE MADE IT!
The Linda SS1000 was history and she had completed one more item on her Bucket List, as I completed my third Iron Butt ride.
It was 8PM.
The ride had taken twenty hours, well within the 24 hour limit
A little stiff and sore? Of course.
Elated at the successful ride, for sure!
This has been a great ride for both of us and it was a good warm up for my Sept. 30th run to California and across the USA to Florida.
Watch for me, I'll be in the Right Lane America.
Del "Lonnie" Lonnquist
Photos by Linda Darelius
Congratulations!!!
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