|
 |
|
 |
2004 Border to Border
April 29th – May 2nd, 2004
Andy Mills
This little project started to get serious with a discussion at the International Motorcycle Show in Minneapolis in late March. Tim Conway and I happened to run into each other at the show, and we discussed riding in the Minnesota LD (MNLD) Riders Border to Border (B2B) ride that was scheduled for the end of April. We were even so bold as to consider riding a Border to Border to Border (B2B2B) at the “insanity” pace (more on that later). Either way, it was game on in about a month.
The concept is a simple one: Ride from the Canadian-USA Border to the Mexican-USA Border in 36 hours or less. If you are so inclined, you can attempt the “insanity” distinction, which is to complete the same in 24 hours or less. The chosen route was from Morris, Manitoba, Canada to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico – 1679 miles, mostly by way of major interstates. Kerry Person of the MNLD Riders organized this event and did an excellent job with the route layout and other details of the ride.
Tim and I made good time on the way down. It started to rain somewhere in Iowa, and continued to do so until the south side of San Antonio. Hootis joined us for a while in there, but we lost him in the rain in Texas somewhere. I was glad to see he made it to La Quinta, the hotel we checked into in Laredo, TX. I lost Tim not long after we lost Hootis, but he ducked out and found a dry place to camp out. I pressed on through the wind, the rain, the hail, the lightening, and the water running over the freeway to finish in 23 hours. I crossed the Mexican border with Jason and Jake at 5 am. A big thanks for the loan of $2 for the toll on the way back into the States.
I got a room at the inn, and rested until noon, and then grabbed a bite to eat before heading north. Looking at the state of my rear tire, I decided that I would have to take it easy on the way home or I would be walking. Saturday I made it as far as Wichita, KS where I stayed with my friend, Rachel. She was a bit confused when I called around dinner time from Waco, Texas and asked her what she would be doing around 1 am in the morning. With a few hours sleep, a warm shower, and homemade "monkey bread" for breakfast, I was on my way north again.
All day Saturday my lack of planning at the start of this ride (read: "I should have put a new tire on the bike") was weighing on my mind. When all of the rest of you were cursing the rain we had on the way down, I was thankful. Yeah, you read that right. I was thankful, because I would have never made it to Mexico if it had been sunny and warm the whole way. Anyway, I was thankful to see more rain on the way home as well through Nebraska and Iowa. Somewhere north of Fargo, ND the steel cords started to show, and she started that little "wobble" that's telling you that your tire is SHOT! With only 200 miles to home, I decided to go easy and press on. I rolled into Roseau at 10 pm, which is only 8 miles to the Canadian border, but I was 4 hours too late for a B2B2B. I did find the LEO to sign a witness form for me, as I had just gotten a nice SS3K for the weekend.
Congrats to all the finishers, and sorry to hear about those that did not.
Andy Mills
#86
|
 |
|
 |
| |
[Click images for more information]
|
|
|
|
|
