Mansfield, MA to Andover, MA (74 miles)

I was talking to a well known NER personality (with a very respectable first name I might add) at a mid-winter RTE. He put the bug in my ear/mind about riding to Moonshine in 2016. I’d read about the Moonshine Lunch Run in various forums online and heard it mentioned at the local endurance rallies by other riders – it sounded like a lot of fun. I had planned to attempt my first Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 (SS1K – ride 1000 miles in under 24 hours) ride in 2015, but the scheduling never worked out. Moonshine is supposed to be the simplest way (administratively) to do a SS1K, since you do not require start/ending witnesses and they have your certificate and paperwork already there when you check in at the finish. “Why not kill two birds”, I thought – and so the planning began.

My 2009 Honda VTX 1300 cruiser has proven it can take me anywhere I point it, performing very well on my trip to Alabama last year, and getting me through two endurance rallies very adequately. I’ve spent time and money getting it comfortable for long days and feel very at home in its saddle. It’s not the fastest or most powerful of steeds, but I can do 65-75 for a long time and push it up to 80ish for making better time when I have to (though not fun to go much faster than that). I bought a ST1300 sport-tourer bike this winter, but decided early on that I’d be riding the VTX to Moonshine unless I could somehow get some serious riding and mod time on the ST (which didn’t happen). Front tire (Commander II) was still looking decent after 15K but I decided to change it out due to the wet forecast and number of miles of the trip. Coolant and final drive were due as well (with 25K on the bike) so I took care of those in the weeks leading up. Just prior to departure:

The Moonshine Lunch Run SS1K is well organized and has become a tradition as an optional precursor to the primary Lunch Run event, which is a 3-4 day RTE (see moonshine-run.com). There is a specific list of starting cities across the US where you can begin your Saddlesore. You need a starting receipt from some place (gas, ATM) that shows the date, time, and city name on it. That receipt marks your official start time. You need to get a similar receipt in Casey, IL within 24 hours of the first receipt to prove your ride. You needed to finish your ride and check in prior to 4pm on Friday April 8. Some starting cities also require a half-way point city/receipt because those cities are geographically closer than 1000 miles to Casey. My planned route from Lowell, MA is a straight shot of ~1050 miles.

Based on what I’d read and heard from other riders, I’d decided that the most appealing start time for me would be a 3:00 AM departure. I could get a few hours sleep prior to start and then ride all day, finishing in the evening with a minimum of time riding after dark. Lowell is a good hour or so from my house, so I decided to get a hotel room close by for a quick up-and-go. On Wed April 7, I left work early, got the bike packed up and zipped up 495. Checked out my choice for starting location (Alltown Mobil station on Rte 3) and verified they have “good” receipts with all the information required. Then off to the hotel, a pasta dinner to provide energy for tomorrow’s ride, and an early bedtime. I’d been watching the weather over the last week and there was a storm system right in my line of travel to Illinois. I knew it was going to be a wet ride. Somehow, it either escaped my attention or was not yet forecast that the air temperatures would become a factor in this ride as well.