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To Hell (Michigan) and back.
To HELL and back!!!
I wanted to plan an Iron Butt ride that would be fun and more scenic. So I deciced to go to Hell and back. We would be doing a SS1000, 1000 miles in less than 24 hours. There would be a total of six bikes 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 forcast 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! http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/2Hell.jpg Riding through Chicago. At about 4:30 am. Not much traffic. Temperature was 60 degrees. Nice. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB004.jpg 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. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB013.jpg 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. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB019.jpg My Kingpin. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB021.jpg 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. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB025.jpg A good place to mail your taxes! http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB029.jpg 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! http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB031.jpg The Grave Digger Sundae also comes with a Death Certificate. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...53/HB115-1.jpg The Hell Riders. I'm on the far left. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB039.jpg After Hell we headed north on Hwy.127. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB046.jpg Taking pictures at 80 mph is hard!! Sorry Brad. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB057.jpg Getting a little better. I take a lot of pictures and hope that some turn out. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB058.jpg Bert on the Victory Vision. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB059.jpg 386 miles and it's starting to warm up. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB048.jpg Gas stop and time for a little break. The breaks were short but there was still time to talk about the ride. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB051.jpg They're (Rick) starting to get a little crazy! Time to go. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB052.jpg 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. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB066.jpg http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB062.jpg After Petoskey it was north to the bridge. The Mackinaw Bridge is 5 miles long and it's windy. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB075.jpg The Mackinaw Bridge. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB076.jpg Crossing the Bridge. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB079.jpg http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB084.jpg Upper Michigan. Upper Michigan is so nice, they charge a toll to get in! http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/lol8.gif http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB085.jpg 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. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB089.jpg 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 ride just south of Milwaukee, WI. My numbers for the ride. 1040 miles in 20 hours and 38 minutes. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB001.jpg It sure was! http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB110.jpg A few items from Hell. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB117.jpg http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...in53/HB122.jpg This was fun, scenic and challenging. A very successful ride, done with a great group of riders. |
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