While many are content to sail through life without exerting themselves to any great extent, there are a rare few who relish a challenge. They push their personal limits, pushing themselves to almost superhuman levels.
One former Yorkton area resident, Garry Springgay, recently passed through Yorkton on his way home to Phoenix, Arizona after completing a gruelling motorcycle trip which tested him physically in his quest for a personal goal.
Growing up in the area, Springgay developed an interest in motorcycles along with his buddies Rick Dawson and Rick Bradshaw, both owners of local motorcycle dealerships in the city. All three became competitive riders in widely differing types of two wheeled competition. Dawson, of Harley Davidson of Yorkton, claimed several national drag racing titles. Bradshaw, of Schrader's Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki became one of the top motocross racers in the province. Springgay chose to compete in long distance endurance motorcycle riding. "It's a completely different format. You're really only competing with yourself," he points out.
Springgay joined the Iron Butt Association in 2001. The worldwide association is dedicated to the sport of safe endurance motorcycling. Members train for longer distances with shorter rides and work their way up to longer distances as their skill and endurances improves. Springgay began slowly with shorter training rides starting with three "Saddlesore 1000" rides which required riders to complete a 1000 mile (1600 km) distance in 24 hours. His next level took him through a Bunburner Gold ride which saw him riding 1500 miles (2400 km) in 24 hours. "That's one of the most difficult rides there are from a time perspective because you have to average 62 and a half miles (100 km) an hour to make that ride work. It means you just have to keep the wheels turning' Springgay explains.
Following the Bunburner ride, Springgay decided to up the challenge by completing the Border to Border Insanity ride which required a rider to travel from inside of Mexico to inside of Canada (or vice versa) in 24 hours or less. "I completed that ride in 23 hours and a few minutes on a stock Harley Davidson Road King with a five gallon (22.75l) gas tank, no cruise control, no radio, no nothing so it was a difficult ride," he recalls.
His next challenge was the 50 CC ride which required a competitor to ride coast to coast in under 50 hours. Springgay rode non stop from San Diego to Jacksonville, Florida in about 37 hours. He was constantly stretching his nonstop riding limit from 20 hours in the saddle to 24 hours, to 37 hours on the 50 CC ride. "Over a period of years you can find that limit and sometimes extend that limit by making your motorcycle more comfortable, by improving your nutrition, by doing a bunch of different things that allow you to stay safe at the 30 or 32 hour mark on the bike," he remarks.
Springgay had a specific goal in mind for his latest challenge. He wanted to prove to himself that he had what it took to enter the Ironbutt Rally. The rally, which started in the 1980's, takes place every two years. It involves an 11 day, 11,000 miles (17,600 km) ride. Riders plan their own routes to places which are assigned bonus points based on the level of difficulty in reaching those particular destinations in the allotted time. The rider with the most points at the end of the rally wins. "It's become sort of the world's premier motorcycle challenge, Springgay claims. The competition has taken riders all over North America, from Prudhome Bay, Alaska to Key West, Florida and from Canadian Maritimes to San Diego, California. "You can potentially go anywhere, Pikes Peak to Death Valley in the same rally, so it's a very tough, very serious motorcycle rally," he adds.
Competitors must apply for entry. Each year out of some 800 to 1000 applicants, 100 are chosen for the competition, Spring-gay notes. The competitors are notified whether they have been selected about six months prior to the rally, he says.
To achieve his objective, Springgay decided to complete two trips in one session. He wanted to ride the 48 Plus and the Ten Tenths in a single ride. The 48 Plus required him to ride through all 48 continental U.S. States and Alaska, while the Ten Tenths ride required a ride of 10,000 miles (16,000 km). Both had to be completed in 10 days or less.
He began preparing for the current rides about six months ago. Once he decided to complete the rides this spring, Springgay began to plan his route, to minimize the number of miles he needed to ride to touch all 49 states. He opted to start in Laughlin, Nevada. A 30 minute ride took him to Needles, California and another 30 minutes took him through Kingman, Arizona. "So within the first hour and a half, I had three states," he states. After crossing Arizona, Stringgay rode across New Mexico, Texas and into Oklahoma on his first day.
On his first night on the road, Stringgay almost suffered a setback which could have ended his ride. Riding east on Interstate 40, just east of Clinton, Oklahoma, he encountered a truck which lost a part of its load of granite statues. The stone statues struck and damaged some cars in front of him. "I managed to avoid most of the carnage except for one of these statues that took a funny bounce and thankfully missed my front wheel or I wouldn't be here," he suggests. He didn't escape unharmed, however. The stone slammed into the left hand side of his bike, working its way back to bend his shift lever back against the kickstand, broke off his foot peg with his foot still on it while trying its best to tear off his left foot and did some damage to the left hand side of the bike.
Springgay managed to keep his wits about him to bring his bike under control and ride over to a gas station to examine the extent of the damage.
Seeing no vital fluids leaking, he determined the damage was mainly cosmetic. A pair of vice grips straightened the shift lever to allow him to change gears. The footpeg, while bent back and broken, was serviceable.
At this point most riders might have seriously considered quitting. Springgay continued on to Henrietta, Oklahoma where he decided to check into a motel for the night. After about four hours of sleep he completed another inspection of his motorcycle.
"I determined that it was safe to ride. There were no vital components that were damaged, no fluids leaking or anything like that," he remembers.
His left foot while sore, appeared to be unbroken, protected as it was by a heavy motorcycle riding boot. Springgay even slept with the boot on that night, fearing that his foot might swell up if he removed it.
Continuing his ride, he worked his way south and east through Arkansas, and Kentucky, touched on Florida and began working his way north through Georgia and the Carolinas. Springgay continued up the east coast into the Atlantic states. "The second night I spent somewhere in Arkansas. The third night I actually rode straight through, riding 32 hours straight so I could miss all of the rush hour traffic on the east coast near Boston," he explains. He rode through Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine in the wee hours of the morning, saving himself a lot of time.
The only glitch on his ride up the eastern seaboard was getting lost in the Bronx in New York city that night. "It was overcast, drizzling. Between the combination of the tall buildings and the overcast conditions my GPSs just kind of lost their way and couldn't lock on a satellite signal. They kept sending me in circles. Never having been to New York City before, let alone the Bronx, I got off the George Washington Bridge somewhere, made a wrong turn and probably ended up in a place I shouldn't have been," Springgay recounts.
"It was a little hairy. There was no high drama or anything and I never had any problems or anything. But it was not somewhere I really relish being at 2:30 in the morning. I've seen too many Charles Bronson movies," he quips.
Around Rome, New York Springgay rode through a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning which was so close he could smell the ozone. He decided to get off the highway and stop early that day. He quit riding about 4 p.m. but having ridden for 32 hours he felt he'd earned a break. He found a motel in Rome and treated himself to the only sit down hot meal of his entire trip at a Denny's, he says. "I had some pot roast and mashed potatoes which was the only real sit down meal I had in 10 days," he asserts.
From New York Springgay rode west across the top of the U.S. until he reached North Dakota. From North Dakota he turned straight south riding through South Dakota, touching on Kansas and Nebraska. Turning west, he picked up Colorado and Wyoming where he encountered signs stating that all roads south of Cheyenne were closed because of the flooding. "It was just surreal to see that," he suggests.
After Colorado, Springgay rode through Utah, Idaho, and Montana. While riding through Missoula, Montana about 7 p.m. on his way to Spokane a valve stem snapped on his rear tire. "I went from a perfectly handling bike to mush in about 50 feet," he relates.
With the assistance of Rick Dawson and AMA Towing, he managed to get the bike to safety to a motel. Springgay managed to get the wheel off that night and had it ready to go to a tire shop in the morning. The local Firestone Tire shop was a little reluctant to repair a motorcycle tire and had to be persuaded. As it was just a valve stem they accommodated him and he was on his way the next morning, having lost only about 12 hours. "I lost about 12 hours for the ride that I really couldn't afford but I was still on the ride and I wasn't going to give up, so I left Missoula," he continues.
After Missoula, Springgay rode through Spokane to Umatilla, Oregon turning north up Interstate 5 to British Columbia. It rained all the way through Oregon to Hope, B.C. After checking the weather forecast a drenched Springgay chose to continue rather than quit. He was sorely tempted however as there is no more dispiriting experience than riding through pouring rain for hours on end.
He rode to Prince George where he managed to get two and a half hours sleep in a local motel. The next day Springgay rode to Smithers and Hyder, Alaska. He obtained his receipt which officially ended his 48 Plus ride. With one challenge completed, he still needed about 900 miles (1440 km) to complete his Ten Tenths challenge. He turned and headed south returning to Smithers where he got a motel for the night where he enjoyed about 4 and a half hours sleep. On resuming his trip, he rode from Smithers straight through to Yorkton, a distance of about 1226 miles (1961 km) in about 18 hours.
Springgay completed his Ten Tenths ride at Dafoe on his way to Yorkton. He arrived in Yorkton about 2 a.m. Tuesday, September 17 after completing a journey which took him over 10,000 miles (16,000 km) riding through 49 states and three provinces in just under 10 days.
Looking back, Springgay says it was a good trip. He rode through about 3000 miles (4800 km) of rain, 1500 miles (2400 km) of it was serious rain with thunder and lightning and rain accompanied by very low temperatures in northern B.C. and Alaska. Packing the right protective gear made things bearable. He estimates he burned between $1200 and $1300 of fuel. "I completely wore out a set of new tires in 10 days."
Springgay, who has seven motorcycles in his garage, says he wanted the right bike for the job. His chosen motorcycle, a 2005 Honda ST1300, is equipped specifically for endurance riding. He's mounted two GPS units with Sirius XM Traffic Information. It has Nexrad weather radar which has weather maps available on a screen in front of the rider to help him prepare for or navigate around major storms. "I've got all kinds of data readout on the bike so that I know what's going on at all times." The bike is modified to be comfortable. Springgay built his own electronic cruise control. He's added a hydration system which provides cold water to help him stay hydrated while riding. Springgay bought the bike
In addition to planning the route, preparing the bike and building physical stamina, riding gear and accessories are important, Springgay points out. He prefers L.D. (Long Distance) Comfort underwear made of a high tech material that wicks moisture away. It's designed with no seams so there are no pressure points to bother a rider over a long period of time. A seamless gym pant is also worn under an outer ballistic nylon riding pant. A Tour Master water resistant jacket is worn. A Shoei Neotech modular helmet equipped with communications gear in it allows the rider to flip up the chin bar to eat, drink and talk to customs officers, Springgay notes. A helmet liner protects the head as well. "It keeps my helmet from turning into this big bacteria fest over 10 days," he says. Three pairs of gloves, a hot weather glove, a middle weight pair and a cold weather glove protect the hands. A pair of heavy boots which he feels saved his left foot complete the riding gear. "I carry just enough clothing to get me through the trip. This was a 10 day trip. Everything I carry into the motel room goes into basically one small gym bag," he suggests.
It might seem that Springgay would be content to take some time off after his punishing experience. Not so. He's looking forward to the Big Tex Rally in Texas in a couple of weeks followed by the Ironbutt Memorial ride to honor fallen riders. Following three more rallies, Springgay plans to put the bike away for the year about the beginning of November. He plans to ride another 25,0000 to 30,000 miles (40,000 to 48000 km) next year.
Entries for the 2015 Ironbutt Rally open the end of October. Partici-pants are chosen by the first of December. Spring-gay plans to apply as soon as entries open. If he's selected to compete, he will have a year and a half to prepare for the rally.
How is Springgay able to ride as much as he does? Well, it helps that he owns his own audio engineering company, Cogent Audio Labs which does audio consulting and design work for audio manufacturers around the world. "It helps to be your own boss," he remarks.
Springgay says he enjoyed the experience and considers doing it again. He thinks he might start in Hyder, Alaska, get the toughest part of the ride over with and finish closer to home in Arizona. The toughest part of the ride was through the Rockies. "You have to really want to go to Hyder," he chuckles.
In addition to maintaining old, local friendships, Springgay, who has dual Canadian and American citizenship, is addicted to the television show Corner Gas. He saw some reruns of the show in Chicago and thought it was brilliant. In addition to the Corner Gas clothing he also owns all the DVDs.
