Why the 1000-mile contest? More to see if I could do it than anything else, I suppose. I had done long days before, but never 1000-miles. And I had never documented those trips – the start time is the date/time stamp on a gas or ATM receipt. I fueled up near home and was presented with a 6:06a departure time. My motorcycle, the BMW K1200LT, can go about 200 miles per tank of gas, although I try to never go more than 150 miles. The bike weighs in at 800 lbs or so – I’d hate to have to push it down the road! I didn’t take any breaks for the first few fuel stops, but then did take time to stretch and walk around for 15 minutes or so once I hit the 500 mile mark. Things were going very well at this point and I thought that I could continue on with no problem… but as the day progressed, I began to find myself yawning and thinking of other things – not desirable traits for a long-distance motorcyclist…! A few yawns weren’t going to kill me, so I decided to move on – with the proviso that I would stop if I found my attention wandering. Part of the issue, I think, was just the simple boredom of the scenery. Apologies to those of you who happen to live in Western Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska… there’s not much to see. The roads are all pretty flat and there’s nothing but farm after farm. Yeah, I suppose we could talk about the stockyards in Nebraska, but, ah, you can smell them way before you see them and then you see them – and they seem to go on for miles and miles. Lisa Simpson sure would be disappointed.