Logan’s Run & Three Flags Classic – September 3, 2018

This was a day that will not soon be forgotten. While we were having breakfast, one of the Edmonton riders came in and asked which of us were playing tricks on him.  It turned out he placed his helmet beside his motorcycle, left for a few minutes, and came back to find it was gone. This made no sense at all.  We were in Montana. Montana does NOT have a helmet law. None of the locals we saw were wearing helmets. Fortunately, Darryl, another Edmonton endurance rider had an extra helmet that he did not hesitate to loan out.

Last night a decision was made to change the riding groups so the  group I was in was now just Darryl and myself.  Sure made for easy maneuvering  through traffic. On the cold side again, starting out at 8 degrees and then dropping to 6 degrees.  Some cross winds, but not that bad.

I was asked the usual questions at the border crossing. The last question was about bringing any alcohol.  I told the officer that I had 3 cans of beer.  (Larry didn’t want to take them across the boarder so I rescued them from the hotel room fridge.) Then the officer asked what I thought was a strange question, “what brand?”. “Heineken” was my response.  “Enjoy, welcome home”. Things that make you go “hmmmm?”

On the road again the cross winds got worse and worse, probably pushing up to 50kmph. Then around Fort McLeod the rain started.  So now it was gusty cross winds and rain. Rain became pouring rain.  Pouring rain became sheets of rain.  Knees tight, grip firm, shift as far to the front as possible, lean forward, raise the windshield, tuck in behind it, keep movements and throttle adjustments smooth.  The closer to Calgary, the more intense the rain and the stronger the wind.  Riding at less than 90kmph, but still moving, unlike those we saw pulled off the highway. Part of the issue was that I had too much stuff mounted too high on my top case. Next time that extra bag will be secured to the rear seat.  Twenty seven kilometres out of Calgary it started to clear and the wind began abating. The good thing about the wind and rain is that it washed most of yesterday’s mud off of the Enterprise.

A few minutes later we rolled into checkpoint 4 and were greeted by cheering, applause, horn blowing, lights fishing, fist bumps and more smiles than in a Colgate commercial. What a feeling of exhilaration. What a feeling of relief.    I made it! We made it! I actually did this! Everyone one of us was totally wired.

Off to get the 3 Flags Passport stamped. And as was the case during the entire trip, Molly stole a bunch of the thunder. She got in on the action when I was handed the coveted 3 Flags Classic belt buckle.

Off to the room for a twenty five minute hot shower massage.

The shoulders are on fire, both calves are bruised, a blister on my throttle hand, a chunk taken out of the ring finger and one ear canal is upset from having earplugs jammed in it for the last 2 weeks.

What an incredible experience.  Banquet and awards tomorrow night so there will be a couple more entries.

Had one more thing to do, go out and put the cover on the Starship Enterprise. That’s when I saw an SV1000 cruising the motorcycle parking area.  It caught my attention because of some of the equipment on it and the fact that both the V-Strom and the gent riding it were sporting signage that read “Police”. I had to know more about this bike.  So, thanks Rob for taking time to chat about the bike and your riding interest.

And, of course, the map.

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