Miles, smiles and Moonshine

I have now been to Moonshine, population 2,  with a million friends. This little place is located in the farm country of Illinois. As flat as piece of paper. Lots of dirt roads. Closest neighbor town is Casey, population 3,000. It was the 10th annual Moonshine Lunch Run and records were broken this year!

Getting to Casey, IL was part of the fun. Blackie, TT and I did the 2nd annual Curt Gran Memorial Moonshine Saddle Sore 1,000 (1,000+ miles in no more than 24 hours). Our starting point was Springfield, MA and that's where we headed in the morning of April 10. Leaving the house in a balmy 24 degrees with four layers of clothing was a brief reminder of that winter was not ready to let go yet. I was more concerned about black ice than the cold. Luckily there was none on the roads and I only had to cross water that had frozen across the road four times. The rest of the ride to Springfield was pleasant and traffic was light.

TT and I ready to head out on our adventure

Filled up with gas and recorded the starting mileage on the receipt (and also on the fuel log for the MS5000). Ready to head out on the 1,000+ mile journey and smack in the face - Blackie wouldn't start!!! Pushed her over to a parking spot to check it out. Battery dead - wouldn't turn over.! Sun of a evil troll! I immediately went in to the store to ask if they had jumper cables. No such luck. They guy behind the counter looked at me in way that I might as well have been asking for a trip to the moon! Asked every person I saw. Finally an older lady with a mini van had them. The bad part was that the cables were so old that it just wasn't enough juice in them to jump start Blackie. Grrr... On the phone with road side assistance. Oh no, we don't send anyone to jump start a motorcycle but we can tow you to the closest repair shop. What the heck! I continued to ask everyone I saw and about a half hour later - score! A very nice young girl helped me out and we got Blackie cranking. About an hour later than planned we were on our way.

Sunset somewhere in West Virginia

Thankfully the traffic through CT, NY and NJ was fairly light and the temperature was quite comfortable (or should I say warm compared to the morning and not to forget my four layers!). It was windy but not too bad. In PA I took the turnpike to make up some time and there was literally no traffic at all. It was neat to ride through three different tunnels through some mountain ranges. I remember that Blue Mountain is one of them. I was making pretty good time and my goal was to get to Athens, OH by 10 pm for a brief visit with a fellow rider, Sam Booth. He had suggested a nice ride through parts of PA, MD and WV. Beautiful scenery and sweeping roads with nice hills and smooth roads. Blackie running good! Engine purring.

Rain stop in Ohio

Arrived at Sam's around 10.40 pm, a little behind schedule. It was nice to get off the bike for awhile, enjoy an awesome meal, strong coffee and some great conversation. Sam suggested that maybe the reason for the dead battery had to do with that I had my Gerbing heated liner plugged in before I started the bike and it can create a "negative draw" on the battery. Sounds reasonable. I wasn't planning on trying it out for the rest of the trip. He checked the weather and warned me that there may be a little bit of rain down the road.  After a refreshing break it was back on the road again. Sam rode with me to the road I had to take to continue my journey and after that I was on my own again. Thank you Sam for a quick but great visit!

I knew I was making good time and wasn't in any real hurry since I had 24 hours in total to make it to Casey to qualify for the Saddle Sore.  Right about Columbus,OH the rain started. First it wasn't too bad but it didn't take long before it was coming down in buckets! At times it was raining so hard I couldn't see much more than a foot ahead of me and when the tractor trailers passed I felt like I was in a car wash. Not fun! Twice I had to pull over to a gas station and get out of the rain. The rain lasted for about three hours and I was glad when it stopped. Continued the ride for awhile and then I caught a quick cat nap on a concrete bench at a rest stop and rode the rest of the way to Casey, IL without any trouble.

The Saddle Sore Certificate

Arrived at the Days Inn for my check in, receipt and odometer verification. Met Rick Martin who coordinated the Saddle Sore. A really nice fellow. Since my room wasn't ready for me (and a slight lack of customer service but that is a whole different story) I camped out in a corner of the conference room and got to see a lot of the other riders arrive for their check in. I met Jeff Gilbert who is a fellow rider and Facebook friend. He completed the Saddle Sore on his brand new Yamaha Super Tenere. Met a few other nice folks before I could finally check in to the room and to take a shower. I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to shower after a long ride. I always feel like I have won the lottery when I stand in the shower! A little shut eye was also in order while I waited for Lynne Carey to arrive from Bowling Green, KY.

The evening was spent enjoying a nice dinner at Richards Farm Restaurant with a few hundred participants, chatting with other riders and receiving a 5th place tag for longest distance ridden to the event. They guy who won came all the way from Edmonton, Canada. That is awesome! The five top riders all got a Moonshine Lunch Run coffee mug too.

A tasty moon burger!

After a good, solid nights sleep it was time for a sweet roll (thank you Lynne!), a bike blessing and the ride to Moonshine. Having heard people say it was going to get really busy because the weather was nice I decided to ride over earlier than planned. I'm glad I did! The place was already buzzing when I got there and I had the famous and very tasty moon burger around 10:15 am! (Let there be noted that I have not eaten a burger in about 10 years but oh boy this one tasted good) I guess it could be considered breakfast... Bikes and people kept on arriving, the lines getting longer and people everywhere. They broke a record this year and served 3,251 burgers!!! It was a lot of fun to chat with people from all over and to check out all the bikes. I even sprinkled some of Ardys Kellerman's ashes at Moonshine as she keeps me company on long rides.

In the early afternoon Lynne and I headed back to the hotel for some relaxation. On the ride back we checked out the worlds largest wind chime and the worlds largest knitting needle. Who would have know that those even existed ;)I believe there are plans for the worlds largest rocking chair too! I guess I have to come back to check that one out.

Dinner was Chili supper provided by the Casey fire department at the high school. More tasty food, great conversation and laughs. The 50/50 raffle was won by a nice guy, Don from Pittsburgh, and he donated it back to the fire department. Cheers, applause's and lots of smiles! Headed back to the hotel to pack up Blackie and prepare for an early morning departure. Having a 750+ mile ride to friends in PA I knew I needed a good nights sleep.

Sunrise in Indiana

Why does it always feel like the alarm goes off way too early when you want to sleep??? 4:25 am and I rolled out of bed.  Lynne was sound asleep - lucky girl! It was dark outside but luckily not very cold. At 5:05 am I left Casey and pointed Blackie east. The sunrise was spectacular! And then the wind kicked in! There were times during the ride where I felt like I was riding on a track and leaning the bike in the turns. Somewhere in Ohio the temperature hit 85 degrees! Time to peel off some of those layers. There was a lot of traffic the entire ride to Kate and Anthony's house. I was glad to arrive before the sun set completely - after about 13 1/2 hours after leaving Casey. The wind and the heat definitely got the best out of me. After a nice shower in their kick butt shower Nirvana we went out for a good meal at the local diner. Yum! It was nice to spend a little time with good friends.

The following morning it was time for me to head home and the ride back to Vermont. The ride home was uneventful and of course, windy. I am starting to think that wind is part of my long distance riding. I will not know what to do the day it is not windy.... Arrived home and had logged 2,245 on this ride. That is a nice start on my participation in the MS5000 challenge - 5000 miles in 50 days - riding and fund raising for Multiple Sclerosis.

I still have about a month left to log miles and raise funds for this important and good cause that I'm proud to be part of. If you have a dollar or two to spare and like to support me in this challenge - well then I thank you in advance and you can donate here if you like:

 My MS5000 fund raising page

Had a great time riding the Saddle Sore, meeting new and "old" friends, visiting Moonshine and enjoying the time on Blackie. Can't wait for the next ride!