Norton, MA to Norton, MA 
(via Syracuse NY, Toronto ON, Detroit MI, Burlington VT, & Waterville ME)
Saturday 7/1/17 to Sunday 7/2/17
(~2087 miles)

As the long Independence Day weekend approached, I became stuck to my laptop, eagerly absorbing any and all news of the Iron Butt Rally that was underway. Inspired, I decided to use the long weekend opportunity to bang out an Iron Butt certification ride. I wanted to complete a SaddleSore 2000 (2000 miles in 48 hours) as a requirement for another ride later this year, so I simply needed to plan out a route to follow that would satisfy the mileage requirements and avoid major traffic times near cities.

The Iron Butt Association (IBA) has special SaddleSore 1000 rides for circumnavigating each of the Great Lakes, though Lakes Erie and Ontario are combined into the Lower Great Lakes 1000. I decided to “nest” the LGL 1000 ride within my SaddleSore 2000 to get two ride certifications on the same trip. Riding to Syracuse, looping the lakes, and coming back would only net about 1600 miles, so I added an additional loop up through northern New England to ensure I’d end up with the required 2000 miles.

I tried a few permutations of my route to find the best timing to go through major cities etc and ended up sticking with my original plan of departing Saturday at 03:00 and completing a large figure-8 route, out to Syracuse (my Start/End for the LGL 1000 portion) on I-90, making a counter-clockwise circuit around the lakes, then jogging up into northern New England before coming home to roost.

My first choice gas station for the starting receipt was dark at 03:00 but the pumps appeared operational. It processed my credit card, but refused to pump any fuel. So I had to ride down the street to a 24-hour Cumbie’s and re-initiate my run 20 minutes behind original schedule. Based on past riding experience, I knew I would have plenty of time to complete this loop within the allotted time limit and wasn’t too concerned with the late start, nor with being super-efficient at the subsequent fuel stops.

In the back of my mind, I was considering the SaddleSore 2000 GOLD certification (finishing in 36 hrs or less rather than 48) depending on how I was feeling later in the ride. However, as they say “plan your ride, then ride your plan”. I wasn’t focused on the GOLD ride from the beginning, so by the time I was seriously considering it, I would have had to eliminate my planned five hour rest stop in Syracuse after circling the lakes. As it was, I turned out being less than efficient at some of my stops and was running about two hours behind by the time I completed the Lower Great Lakes 1000.

The ride out to Syracuse from SE Massachusetts was uneventful pre-dawn slab with minimal traffic, and passed fairly quickly, with a single fuel stop in Pattersonville NY. Began to get some rain right near Syracuse and as I pulled out of the Speedway gas station and hopped on I-81 north, the skies opened up and some storms (colored yellow on the radar) caught me as I motored toward the border crossing at Thousand Islands. I escaped the heavy stuff soon enough while still stateside, and the border crossing was relatively dry, quick and painless, maybe 20 minutes.

Once through, I pulled over to one side of the inspection lot to stow my passport, re-insert ear plugs, etc. My phone had text messages from Verizon offering a one day plan for international travel, but wouldn’t let me activate the plan. Became frustrated and probably wasted another 15 minutes mucking about with that before giving up as rain started to fall again. I figured I’d try to call Verizon on the fly.

I hopped on Highway 401 westbound for the run across Ontario, down to Detroit. There was plenty of traffic backed up on the eastbound side, but I kept on moving west without difficulty or slow-downs. I noticed many Canadian flags and wasn’t surprised to learn in a text from my wife that it was Canada Day. Happy Anniversary, eh!? The rain eventually petered out, with the occasional sprinkle as the clouds continued to roll northeast. At my first fuel stop near Trenton, I managed to get my cell service issues sorted out and I confirmed that my SpotWalla tracker was updating properly once again.

My second fuel stop in Canada was in London ON. After filling up, I took a late lunch break, munching a wrapped club sandwich and Nestle Coffee Crisp candy bar (tasty – not available in the US!), while watching a black storm cell coming closer in the otherwise clearing skies. I figured it would roll on by and left my jacket vents open as I saddled back up. Literally as soon as I rounded the on-ramp back onto 401, the sky dumped water. I pulled over immediately to ensure all vents were zipped back up – however the cell passed as quickly as it had come and soon I was riding in mostly sunshine and trying to cool down. I spent the rest of the stint through Canada marveling at the beautiful lines of clouds coming across Lake Erie from the southwest. The sky just does gorgeous things up there in Ontario!

I was allowed back into the US at the Detroit border and quickly got caught up in a Charlie Foxtrot of construction that had the entire set of I-75 southbound lanes closed throughout the entire Detroit area. There were signs for an interstate detour going north and west, but I was fatigued enough not to trust it at this point, figuring I could parallel the highway south and then hop on fairly quick. I did not understand the scope of this closure and ended up riding another detour over 20 miles through the southern end of the city. Luckily traffic seemed fairly light and I had pretty good luck with the traffic lights. I stopped for another fuel receipt in Monroe MI shortly thereafter.

More light traffic through Toledo and I rejoined I-80/I-90, now heading east. Waze and my radar detector (once I remembered to re-mount it after leaving Canada) helped keep me out of John Q Law’s sights – and there were MANY troopers out collecting revenue today! I zigged south around Cleveland to Richfield for another receipt, to add enough miles to my circuit of the lakes to ensure I was over 1000. I zagged north back up to I-90 and found a couple of “rabbit” vehicles going at a brisk pace to block for me on the long trek east. Another fuel stop in Angola NY and then pulled in to the same Speedway station near Syracuse where I’d started the lakes loop 17 hours earlier.

A few miles away, I pulled in to my reserved Econolodge room to grab a few winks. The room felt/looked pretty filthy, but the shower worked fine and I was too tired to care much. Set my alarm for 3 hours and drifted off. Got up on time at 04:15 and brewed coffee in the room while I packed up quickly – it’s always nice to make some miles early in the morning before traffic picks up.

Garmin had me exit I-90 for the final time in Amsterdam NY and I filled my water thermos with ice at a Stewarts before cutting over to I-87 via NY 30 and NY 29. I rode up to NY 149 over to US 4 and into Fair Haven, VT for my next “corner” receipt to document my route. Heading north on VT 22A and feeling mighty peckish by now, I recognized the area around Benson VT and stopped for a sit down breakfast at the Wheel Inn, including some of their delicious apple crisp (warmed up with ice cream on top of course). “Breakfast of champions!” the waitress said after taking my order.

I continued up 22A, US 7, to I-89 south in Burlington. Another “corner” receipt in Montpelier and then enjoyed some pleasant (if somewhat slower) secondary road riding on US 2 to St. Johnsbury. I-91 and I-93 into New Hampshire, then US 302, NH 115, back to US 2 for a long two-lane road stretch into Maine. Minus a few GPS “shortcuts”, US 2 took me to New Sharon, where I cut south to Waterville and my final “corner” fuel stop next to I-95.

Up next was the leg I had probably dreaded most in planning – heading south on I-95 out of Maine on a summer Sunday afternoon. I’d figured I would take stock now and determine if I needed to make any route changes for further south in Maine. However, Google Maps, SigAlert, and Waze all showed flowing traffic the entire distance of I-95. This turned out to be the case as I rode a rather uneventful final 200 miles back to my start location, clocking in at 17:49, or 38 hours 29 minutes after I’d departed. This is a pretty average SaddleSore pace and I was happy to be back to enjoy a few hours of daylight and a good steak meal before drifting off to catch up on sleep.