Hi everyone! Early on Saturday morning, I set off on another adventure. This should take me only halfway around the country this time: I’m going to Minneapolis, down to Houston, over to Miami, and then back to Rochester via a family visit in Northeast Ohio.
I set off early Saturday morning with the plan to complete another Iron Butt “Saddle Sore 1000” (miles in 24 hours) ride, like I did last year for my birthday weekend ride to St. Louis. This time I decided to try a twist: the Ice Cream Ride, which adds planning complexity by requiring a minimum of four stops for ice cream, at least 150 miles apart. Fortunately, national chains (and even gas station treats) are allowed for two stops because of the challenge of finding open shops.
My first stop, near 2am, was Insomnia Cookies, which is a national chain (I think), open until 3am. They had my ice cream scooped and dished before mentioning that they didn’t have spoons - and they didn’t offer to transport it to a cone… so, back home to eat it with a real spoon.
I went through Ontario, which is the first time I have crossed the border with a fancy Enhanced driver’s license—and the first time using their ArriveCAN website/app for verifying COVID vaccination status. Everything went smoothly, except that the McDonald’s I stopped at had a broken ice cream machine. I didn’t check the McBroken site, so I’ll take some responsibility.
I went north through the Flint area, waved “hi” to Frankenmuth, and stopped at Cops and Donuts. I didn’t take good notes and went to Gaylord (Jay’s Precinct)—I should have gone to Midland, because I wanted to see this Ace Hardware in person after the picture made its way around social media.
I had nice weather — maybe even a bit warm — for crossing the 5 mile Mackinac Bridge. Traffic was heavy, and I wasn’t looking forward to such a long period of clutch practice after riding ~ 500 miles, but everything worked out.
The road on the southern side of the Upper Peninsula followed Lake Michigan, and it was really pretty — lots of great views and plenty of fish and pasty shops. Everything was great until I got about 30 miles from Wisconsin. The temperature dropped and the rain came.
For this trip, I am wearing a ridiculous hi-viz yellow safety suit. Great protection from pavement and rain — but it doesn’t breathe well! I got pretty warm on the bridge, and then when the rain came, I was pretty cold and damp (from sweat). No biggie - I made it through, but 50s and low 60s in the dark are a huge adjustment from upper 70s in the sun!
By the time I made it across Wisconsin, the sun dropped and it was fully dark. I was pretty alert from seeing a deer cross prior to sunset and then having a fast-moving car surprise me by appearing in my mirrors — with no headlamps!
Minneapolis isn’t far across the border from Wisconsin, and I was delighted to get there. The Vikings (US Bank) Stadium was really pretty in the dark, as was a lot of the scenery.
The final surprise came when I checked my phone at the final ice cream stop of the night (Sebastian Joe’s). I had a voicemail from the hotel saying that the credit card I had on file didn’t work - I guess I missed this when I booked things (I lost one in the winter), so the hotel canceled my booking and gave the room away.
I found a new room later and got settled in, but that wasn’t the way I expected the night to go!
I set off early Saturday morning with the plan to complete another Iron Butt “Saddle Sore 1000” (miles in 24 hours) ride, like I did last year for my birthday weekend ride to St. Louis. This time I decided to try a twist: the Ice Cream Ride, which adds planning complexity by requiring a minimum of four stops for ice cream, at least 150 miles apart. Fortunately, national chains (and even gas station treats) are allowed for two stops because of the challenge of finding open shops.
My first stop, near 2am, was Insomnia Cookies, which is a national chain (I think), open until 3am. They had my ice cream scooped and dished before mentioning that they didn’t have spoons - and they didn’t offer to transport it to a cone… so, back home to eat it with a real spoon.
I went through Ontario, which is the first time I have crossed the border with a fancy Enhanced driver’s license—and the first time using their ArriveCAN website/app for verifying COVID vaccination status. Everything went smoothly, except that the McDonald’s I stopped at had a broken ice cream machine. I didn’t check the McBroken site, so I’ll take some responsibility.
I went north through the Flint area, waved “hi” to Frankenmuth, and stopped at Cops and Donuts. I didn’t take good notes and went to Gaylord (Jay’s Precinct)—I should have gone to Midland, because I wanted to see this Ace Hardware in person after the picture made its way around social media.
I had nice weather — maybe even a bit warm — for crossing the 5 mile Mackinac Bridge. Traffic was heavy, and I wasn’t looking forward to such a long period of clutch practice after riding ~ 500 miles, but everything worked out.
The road on the southern side of the Upper Peninsula followed Lake Michigan, and it was really pretty — lots of great views and plenty of fish and pasty shops. Everything was great until I got about 30 miles from Wisconsin. The temperature dropped and the rain came.
For this trip, I am wearing a ridiculous hi-viz yellow safety suit. Great protection from pavement and rain — but it doesn’t breathe well! I got pretty warm on the bridge, and then when the rain came, I was pretty cold and damp (from sweat). No biggie - I made it through, but 50s and low 60s in the dark are a huge adjustment from upper 70s in the sun!
By the time I made it across Wisconsin, the sun dropped and it was fully dark. I was pretty alert from seeing a deer cross prior to sunset and then having a fast-moving car surprise me by appearing in my mirrors — with no headlamps!
Minneapolis isn’t far across the border from Wisconsin, and I was delighted to get there. The Vikings (US Bank) Stadium was really pretty in the dark, as was a lot of the scenery.
The final surprise came when I checked my phone at the final ice cream stop of the night (Sebastian Joe’s). I had a voicemail from the hotel saying that the credit card I had on file didn’t work - I guess I missed this when I booked things (I lost one in the winter), so the hotel canceled my booking and gave the room away.
I found a new room later and got settled in, but that wasn’t the way I expected the night to go!