MTF 50/100CC Iron Butt Association Ride
Michael Glass & Viktoria Juodenaite
100CCC Ride Report March 2003
Part 4
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MTF 50/100CC Iron Butt Association Ride
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(EAST TO WEST) THE ROAD TO JUNCTION CONTINUED…
By 5PM Central we are approaching Lake Charles, Louisiana and all of a sudden
I’m getting tired. This was not unexpected as I usually have an energy dip
around 4PM that disappears in an hour or two when my night energy kicks in.
Leaving Louisiana (Photo by Viktoria)
A few hours later we hit the tail end of the Houston rush. I remembered a tip someone gave me about taking the HOV lane, but I remembered too late. By the time we saw the HOV, we had gone past its one and only entrance.
About to hit the Houston Rush. (Photo by Viktoria)
Also missing the entrance were two other riders, Bill Wade from New Jersey on his ’99 BMW 1100RS and Greg Burger(Ultrafirebike) on his Harley Ultra Classic Firefighter Special Edition. We rode with Greg and Bill for a while, all the time wishing this was New York where lane-splitting, if not legal, is at least tolerated.
Bill Wade waving at the Houston Rush (Photo by Viktoria)
At 8:40 Central time we stop for gas at Columbus, Texas, still
waiting for that "night energy" to kick in. Around 10 PM we hit
Converse, Texas and I’m still waiting.
Remember how fast those first 650 miles seemed to fly by? Well, the last 100
miles seemed to take forever. Starting to think that the three hours sleep the
night before was not such a great idea. Starting to think that the flu bug Vik
and I were recovering from was still around. Starting to think that we still
have more than 3/4 of the 100ccc left. Starting to think…
Riders ahead approaching Junction. (Photo by Viktoria)
I contact JungleJim again on the BusaPhone. We are now well into
the second cell phone battery. Looking ahead to California and to save time, I
ask Jim to send a fax to the motel in Junction where we were headed for. I need
directions to the San Diego Shell station and the motel where we would be
staying. We had written them down before leaving Jacksonville but they somehow
vanished.
We finally pull off exit 457 into the Junction, Texas Day’s Inn around
Midnight, making it a little over 1200 miles for the day in about 20 hours of
riding. No fax for us at the motel even though JungleJim confirmed it had been
sent.
Vik and I bump into some other riders who had just arrived at the motel. One
rider, doing a double-take, says "Oh…you’ve made this far!" Vik
and I laugh because we heard the exact same words before at gas stops. Seemed
that the smart money wasn’t on the Busa Duo finishing the trip!
Junction, Texas is the half-way point we were shooting for, but we have arrived
two hours later than planned. Just too many gas stops and too much time spent at
each stop.
Arriving two hours later on a smell-the-roses trips doesn’t mean much. But on
a 100ccc it means we will have two hours less sleep if we want to stay on
schedule. Dog tired, I set the screaming Meanie to wake us up in 4 hours and
fall asleep immediately. Vik, having taken some caffeinated Nodoz earlier to
stay awake, has a smoke and does some organizing.
