To HELL and back!!!
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I started planning this ride last October. I wanted to plan an Iron Butt ride that would be fun and more scenic.
We would be doing a SS1000, 1000 miles in less than 24 hours.
There would be a total of six Victory's and seven riders on this trip. I was hoping to complete this ride in about
21 hours.
Because this would be group ride and there would also be a lot more two-lane roads I really wasn't sure we would make it in that time.
The forecast also showed a 40% chance of rain over 50% of the route.
Some of the group started from other locations and joined us along the route. I started just south of Milwaukee
and at 3:30 am Saturday morning headed south to Chicago. At the first Oasis on I-94 the whole group was together.
The route. The letters are the gas stops.
B is the Oasis. Letter D is Hell!
Riding through Chicago. At about 4:30 am. Not much traffic. Temperature was 60 degrees. Nice.
One rider was stuck in a toll booth for a while. He paid three times before he was able to get through!
We're still waiting, you can see the one headlight at at the toll booth. Russ (left) "patiently" waits.
Ready to go.
After the gas stop at the Oasis it was a 141 miles to our next stop in Watervliet, MI.
We would only stop for gas on this trip.
My Kingpin.
After Watervliet the next stop was Hell. Hell is under new ownership!
There were a lot of twisting two lane roads on the way to Hell. Things are going well.
A good place to mail your taxes!
The group in Hell.
The owner of the store in Hell gave all of us a free GO TO HELL license plate frame. Nice guy
Another thing to do in Hell is go to the ice cream store (Screams) and get a Grave Digger Sundae at the Creamatory!
The Grave Digger Sundae also comes with a Death Certificate.
The Hell Riders. I'm on the far left.
After Hell we headed north on Hwy.127.
Taking pictures at 80 mph is hard!! Sorry Brad.
Getting a little better. I take a lot of pictures and hope that some turn out.
Bert on the Victory Vision.
386 miles and it's starting to warm up.
Gas stop and time for a little break. The breaks were short but there was still time to talk about the ride.
They're starting to get a little crazy! Time to go.
We needed to add a few more miles to the route so we took a side trip to Petoskey, MI.
More great two lane roads and a nice view of Lake Michigan but there was a lot of traffic getting
in and out of the city.
The road to Petoskey.
After Petoskey it was north to the bridge.
Bridge ahead.
The Mackinaw Bridge is 5 miles long and it's windy.
The Mackinaw Bridge.
Crossing the Bridge.
Upper Michigan. Upper Michigan is so nice, they charge a toll to get in!
We took Hwy. 2 across Upper Michigan. Hwy. 2 follows the top of Lake Michigan.
More two lane. Nice scenic ride. Half-way across Hwy. 2 the rain started and the pictures stopped.
We stopped to eat in Menominee, MI and then headed to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. We needed to go around the
west side of Lake Winnebago to add a few more miles to the trip.
We missed a lot of rain. The roads were wet in Wisconsin but the rain had ended.
I finished my trip just south of Milwaukee, WI.
My numbers for the ride. 1040 miles in 20 hours and 38 minutes.
It sure was!
A few items from Hell.
This trip was fun, scenic and challenging. A very successful ride, done with a great group of riders.
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