Exactly one year after I rode my first Iron Butt Association (IBA) certified Saddle Sore Ride, I decided it was time to ride my 2nd Saddle Sore 1600. On Aug 16, 2009 I left Kincardine, Ontario at 2:45am. I obtained my starting receipt from the local Grocery store as it is the only business open 24 hrs in our community. The person I asked to be my witness said he was just returning from Kapuskasing, Ontario which was just West of my planned turnaround point. He said that it would only take 7 hours to get to Cochrane.....which I quicklycalculated was impossible. The early morning ride
was fantastic. Other then having to constantly watch for critters and forest rats (deer), I absolutely love riding in the early morning. As I approached Barrie, I rode through some very thick fog at about 4:30am. I probably could have walked faster than I could ride through that soup. Fortunately, the fog did not last long. I tried to find gas in Orillia but nothing was open at 5:00am on a Sunday. However, I managed to find an open Tim Hortons to obtain a receipt indicating a "corner" of my route. Continued to ride north on Hwy 11 but there were no gas stations open. I was nearly out of gas approaching Gravenhurst when I noticed an open station on the wrong side of the highway. Went to the next exit and proceeded to back track to get the necessary, live sustaining fluid for the "beast" I was riding. The sun rise near Huntsville was breath taking. There was a mist low on the ground, and the sun appeared as a big orange ball attempting to burn through the mist. Ended up stopping at North Bay for a banana snack. 
The ride North to my turn around point of Cochrane was relatively uneventful. Took a picture of my bike beside the Atlantic Watershed point where all streams flow South into the Atlantic Ocean and also of the famous Polar Bear statue in Cochrane. This point marked the farthest North I have been on a motorcycle. On the ride south to Timmins I was on a stretch of highways with little signs of civilization for many miles. I saw a dead black bear at the side of the road and then shortly after saw a live black bear just a few feet off the road feeding. Thought briefly about turning around to take a picture but quickly dismissed the foolish thought. A few miles later the pavement just simply disappeared with little warning due to construction. The gravel was very loose and had just been wetted to reduce dust. The pavement did not reappear until about 40 kms later.... The bike and I were both covered in caked on gravel paste.... Yuck. Later in the evening the traffic came to a complete stop south of Sudbury on Hwy 69. I shut the bike down and waited.....and waited.....and waited...... There was obviously an accident which had shutdown the highway. I took a look at the GPS and realized that I had to backtrack about 20 minutes and ride a significant detour. Not knowing how long the wait would be, I elected to take a detour adding significant time and mileage. I finished the ride several hours late. All things considered, it was an amazing ride.
My ride stats:
Moving Average Speed = 93 kph
Overall Average Speed = 86.7 kph
Total Distance = 1704 kms
Total Time = 19 hrs 36 mins
Total Gas Used = 113.82 L
Total Gas Cost = $110.68
Gas Mileage = 6.695 L/100kms (35.13 mpg)
# of stops = 8 gas stops + 4 rest/picture stops.
