IBA Great Lakes Challenge

[STJIM]

5 of us did an IBA Great Lakes 100 / Challenge this week :

[STJIM]

I suspect some viewers are missing the Ride Report since there have been only 2 downloads.  So here is the ride report :

Great Lakes Challenge Group Ride Report

Five Riders including myself did another IBA Great Lakes Challenge ride the first week of August,
2022. It was the first GRT LKS Challenge for one Rider and the second or third for the balance of the
Riders. Instead of us all meeting at a location the night before the ride started, we all started and ended
the ride near our homes and met up at the Wyandot Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike which is just
east of Toledo. Or at least that was the plan……
I had a little problem departing my home Monday morning and wasn’t able to meet the Riders at the
plaza. I finally met up with them at our Night #1 destination in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Day 1 was a hot
one with temps most of the day of at least 85 degrees F. I needed a shower bad by the time I reached
the motel. I did 884 miles on Day #1.
Tuesday was a decent day as far as the weather and temp was concerned. We did get some very light
rain at times, but I didn’t need to use my rain gear. The plan after leaving North Bay was to continue to
Sudbury and then to skirt the south side of Sudbury on Hwy 17 and then go north on Hwy 144 to
Timmins and then up to Hwy 11 to our Day # 2 stop in Hearst. However I left Pembroke a few minutes
later than the other Riders and they missed the gas stop east of North Bay and went into North Bay for
gas instead. So we got separated and the balance of the Riders decided on the fly to go north at North
Bay instead of proceeding to Sudbury. That was the little shorter route to Hearst. Hwy 144 north of
Chelmsford is one of the best roads I have ridden on: low traffic, beautiful geography, almost one
sweeper after another, and the road surface is excellent. I got into Hearst about 45 minutes after the
other Riders. And when I stopped at the Timmies in Chelmsford, I met the local EV 3-wheel Scooter
Gang ( pic attached ). I did 669 miles on Tuesday.
Early in the day on Wednesday it was on the cool side, but I’d rather add a layer than have to deal with
really hot temps like we had on Day #1. We all rode to Thunder Bay and had lunch at Timmies. Then
Justin and I left the others and instead of riding south to Grand Portage and crossing into the States, we
rode due west to Ft. Frances / International Falls. I have never been to that area before and wanted to
check it out. Between T.B. & F.F. , we did hit some intermittent local showers several times but dried
out quickly in between showers. I bet the border crossing gets only several dozen customers a day.
And we made out on the bridge toll : only the north bound traffic pays the toll ! We then road to our
Night #3 stop in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. I met Justin in Rice Lake after we split-up in Virginia, MN so
he could do some more Tour of Honor stops. I did 798 miles on Day #3.
Thursday started out nice, but then it started to warm up. It was 90 F before I reached Chicago and
stayed at about 86 F for most of the balance of the ride. I did one TOH stop with Justin in Bloomer,
WI shortly after we left Rice Lake and after that stop we split-up and he did several more TOH stops
on Thursday. I did catch up to him on I-196 not too many miles from his home in Holland, MI. I
finished my ride just after 7 pm. I did only 549 miles on Day #4. So I did 2900 miles in less than 84
hours. A Rider has up to 100 hours to do this IBA ride and the shortest route is about 2475 miles.

The guy second from the left in the pic said he rode a H-D before he had his stroke.