I know that the not so worldly judges won’t care about the receipts in this route but I thought it would be fun to put a twist on my efficiency route.  So I enclosed my receipts in IBA fashion just for fun. Plus I was test riding the new Buell Ulysses.  The key to this ride was to get pictures of signs that spell TEAM STRANGE AIR HEADS-21

16:34 Saturday September 24 2005.   With 933 miles on the odometer I started in St. Cloud MN and I rode straight to the little town of TErrace, MN which is South of Alexandria.  I was in Terrace at 17:56 with 1006 miles on the odometer.  On my way there I ran into Lunatic on his Brit Butt ride.  Rode with him from St. Cloud to Sauk Centre where I turned off the freeway and headed west on MN-28. 

After Leaving Terrace I headed north through Alexandria where I fueled up and got some munchies at 1032 miles and 18:49.  Then I continued north to the little town of AMor, MN which is on the west side of Otter Tail Lake.  This is one of the towns I feared may not have a sign but I was lucky and it did have a nice sign, it was just a challenge to get the flash right as I was there after dark.  It was 19:51 and I had 1093 miles on the odometer.

From there it was east on County rd 52 to Wadena where I picked up US-10 and continued east to Staples, MN.  At 20:49 with the odometer reading 1142 and it was getting cold but not too bad.  I was already wishing I had the wind protection of the Barnie Glide or my Sportster.  After Staples I continued east on US-10 to RANdall, MN with 1170 on the odometer and 21:23 on the clock.  From there I continued east on 10 to MN 27 where I headed straight east to GEnola to complete the first to words in the challenge at 21:48 with 1193 miles on the odometer.  So with 260 miles on so far in 5hrs and 15 min I had TE AM ST RAN GE.  I gassed up in Pierz at 21:54 with 1194 miles on the odometer.

I had already had to put on my fleece under the Stich and it was now getting damp and I was really glad I put a cord on the bike for the heated gear!  I continued, headed north to Aitkin via MN-25, Cr-2, Cr-23, MN-18, MN-6, and MN-210.  In AItkin, MN I had 1250 on the odometer and it was 22:55.  From there I headed straight south on US-169 around lake Mille Lacs stopping in Onamia for a break and some food.  After that short break I continued south on 169 to Milaca where I headed west on MN-23 to Ronneby, MN where I now had 1325 miles on the odometer and it had now switched to  Sunday September 25th and it was 00:43.  Then driving right past the starting point, thinking to myself, its cold and there is a warm bed there and I could finish in the morning, nah I will continue and get it done then come back home and take a nap. 

So that being said I drove to the shop checked the routing on my computer and headed through St. Cloud and this time headed south on MN-15 just north of Hutchinson it began raining, not hard but it was cold.  Did I say thank God for heated gear?  Any way after fueling in Hutchinson at 02:14 with 1392 on the odometer and a 20nap, I continued south through town to a little town called Heatwole, hoping there was a sign there as this was another tiny town.  This time I wasn’t so lucky.  No sign, so I continued south on Cr-7 to HEctor, MN, in Hector I had 1421 on the odometer and it was 03:19. This added another stop to my already not so efficient efficiency route.  Oh well I wasn’t planning on getting a winner route for this anyway.  But I wanted to continue with my in sequence plan.  So after Hector I had to change my route and head north to Atwater.   I was there at 04:07 with an odometer reading of 1455.  From there I headed west to Willmar then south on US-71 to US-212 where I turned west again to pick up Danube, MN at 04:49 with 1495 on the odometer. 

With one letter to go I headed west on US-212 to Sacred Heart, MN at got my last letter sign at 05:06 with 1507 on the odometer.  I was cold and my new SIDI boots had started to leak a couple of hours earlier so I was wet too.  I was really bumming that I didn’t have that wind protection now.  But I went on fueling in Dawson, MN at 05:47 with 1547 on the odometer then continued west to Watertown, SD before turning south on US-81 to get the last photo of this tour.  SD-21,  I  got to Watertown and couldn’t keep my eyes open any more so I napped under a gas station canopy until they turned the lights on.  It was really raining now and still cold.  And having wet feet is not fun when it is warm non the less when it is 45-50 degrees.  Anyway it was 07:20 and I had 1618 on the odometer, so in 612 miles between the first sign photo and the last sign photo I was standing in the rain in the dark trying to get a poloroid of the SD-21 sign,  I ended up taking several and I hope the not so worldly judges can see ok… 

After that I went back to Watertown and had breakfast  at left there at 08:25 with 1633 on the odometer.  I tried to dry out and warm up before continuing home in the fog and rain stopping in Montevideo, MN for fuel at 09:45 with 1705 on the odo.  I clocked out of my loop at 11:31 on Sunday September 25th at 11:31 with 1805 miles on the odometer.  Making the whole loop 872 miles.

As I pulled into the shop the HOG club was gather for a ride/drive to a apple orchard, I stopped to talk and because they know a little about my riding style I didn’t have to explain too much that I just went for a ride after the shop closed on Saturday and am just getting back now.  

From there I hopped in the car and went home and took a nap in a warm bed after a warm shower. 

Brett Donahue