My Second Saddle Sore 1000

Ride date: Monday, September 13th, 2004

Ride route: Seattle, Wa to Minden, NV

Route miles: 1010

Ride time: 19 hours 15 minutes

The route

Ride Report

Allan Buckshon and I left my house in Bellevue at 3:00 am on Monday September 13th. We rode over Snoqualmie pass,
to Vantage, WA, then onto Walla Walla, WA where we stopped for breakfast around 7:30 am. Shortly after leaving
the rains began. It rained for about the next 300 miles. By about Burns, OR the rains let up and we were making good time.
At Cedarville, CA we turned south toward Gerlach, NV. The road to Gerlach from the north starts out fast, but slowly
deteriorated to rough roadway and many cows crossing from side to side. For the next 45 minutes we always seemed to
be about an hour from Gerlach!

We had planned to stop in Gerlach for dinner at Brunno's and to visit the Iron Butt memorial site, however we were behind
schedule due to the rain in WA and OR. We arrived in Gerlach at sunset. We headed straight for the only gas station in town to
fill up. The station was closed but the pump were turned on. The only problem was both Allan and I got the "see attendant"
message from the pumps! Some locals told us we could get gas in Empire as long as we got to the station before 8:00. Since
it was 7:10 pm and we could see empire across the dessert we figure it would be a piece of cake. We arrived in Empire
just as the station was being closed. When we asked if we could get gas the attendant rudely informed us to read the sign on
the pump. He then went out back of the station to feed what sounded like a starved pack of wolves! Allan plunked $10 down
on the counter at the neighboring store and they turned the pump on for us. We added a $5 splash of gas each and decided
to pass on riding back to Gerlach for dinner. It was getting quite dark at this point.

The road out of Gerlach south to highway 80 is straight and fast. However, it was well after dark at this point. I had planned the
route so we would be on major highways after dark, but the rain had set us back a couple of hours. Allan took the lead and had
PIAA's and HIDs on in addition to his stock headlight. The road was well lit ahead of him. I was following with just my stock
headlight on. I tend to kind of drift back from people ahead of me and then catch back up when I get too far behind. This created
a dark spot between us a times. At one point I heard Allan say something like, "watch out for ....", but didn't really catch it all. Just
then a large tire carcass went flying by in the right half of my lane. Fortunately I was in the same half of the lane Allan was and
managed to miss the remains of the tire. Allan let me turn on my PIAAs at this point to better light the gap between us. A little further
down the road we managed to ride right through a small sand dune that had formed across the road!

Once we reached highway 80 the rest of the ride was rather uneventful. We reached the Carson Valley Inn, the site of WeSTOC 9,
around 10:15 pm. I was just thinking to myself "thank God we made it in one piece" as I rode up next to Allan in the hotel parking
lot. What happened next was either the result of a sloped parking lot, (Allan's explanation), or fatigue on my part. I put my right leg
out and didn't touch to ground where I was expecting it to be. The bike tipped far to the right. I tried to hold it up, but just couldn't stop
the momentum. The bike laid over onto it's right side. I just stood there looking at it in total disbelief! Allan helped me right the bike.
The only damage was to the tip over wing cover, the right mirror cover and a few little scratches in the bottom of the right saddle bag.
Later I discovered that the right muffler must have also touched down because it had a few very small nicks, but mostly because the
rubber mount damper had been pinched and cut.

All in all a good ride. As with my first SS1000 I was finding myself just wanting to be done with it during the last few hours. The feeling
of exhaustion felt about the same as with my first SS1000. However, this time I was smart enough to re-hydrate with pop and water,
not beer!

Return to Motorcycle  links page.