The Midnight Riders

Hi all - I went on quite a ride this weekend - the biggest one I've ever been on. The Grand Rapids Chapter of the Gold Wing Road Riders puts on a "midnight ride" from Grand Rapids to St. Ignance which is the other side of the Mackinaw Bridge (THE Big Mac) roughly 300 miles. The ride raises money to fight juvenile diabetes. The ride assembled at a local Meijer store - probably 1,500 to 1,750 riders. Additional riders join along the route - they estimate about 2,500 riders cross the bridge. They scheduled gas/food stops about every 60 miles. It was very well organized and other chapters of the GWRR were at the stops to direct traffic and stage the riders for the next leg of the ride. We ended up crossing the bridge around 7:30 a.m. The casino put on nice breakfast for the riders and then provided some tokens for riders to try their luck at slots. I could not get over the local support I saw along the route! There were folks here and there along side of the road waving, waving flashlights and flags - and this was in the middle of the night! There were folks on top of the overpasses waving, too. Heck, there were even a couple bars the emptied out to wave and show support. It was really cool! I ended up riding back down to Gaylord to stay the afternoon and night and then back home the next day. I ended up totalling 650 miles for the weekend, which is pretty good for me. I will say it was good to get out of the saddle tonight, though! Hope eveyone else had a great weekend, too! Matt

Wow!! 2,500 riders cross the bridge - that's amazing! The largest group I've ever gone with was about 225 bikes. That sounds like an awsome ride. I've never heard of one during the night like that. I'm a night person so that would really be cool - and a lot cooler temp-wise too!

Matt; Must not have been too windy for crossing the bridge! I've never heard of a midnight ride, but that sounds pretty fun. My husband's family used to have a cabin in Gaylord. He would be jealous that you were there for the night. He misses home this time of year. Glad to hear you had a safe ride! Blessings, Jennifer

Good to see you are out having FUN!! Wow you all are looking quite Fab these days!!!