Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1525821
September 2024 31 One of the days, up at eleva on, it snowed. It was cold and nasty. Our hotel was also heated with wood, and they wouldn't heat the hotel at all during the day and wait un l the a ernoon to fire the boil- er up. The water and everything. So, a lot of nights you wouldn't even get a hot shower. If you saw or smelled the woodsmoke as you came up to the ho- tel, you'd some mes get your hopes up. This is already sounding pre y rough, and I know we're not even to the real story yet. The first day or so, the mes were really unbear- able. So everybody, when they got out on the roads and stuff, were really hammering it to get to the next checkpoint on me. They had these camera speed traps set up, that would take your picture. We found out later that these weren't even local cops, the promoter had actually hired these guys from Germany. But anyway, yeah, they would set up along the road and charge you with speeding. I mean I saw them… but I never stopped or anything Mike's tone is hard to interpret here. He sounds ma er of fact, slightly amused, maybe even a li le smug, or maybe just resigned to his fate. I got to the end of the first day, walked into im- pound. There's two of those cops standing there, and next thing I know they kind of point at me and ask me my number. I tell them, and they proceed to hook their arms under my arms and march me out of impound. There was a police sta on type place set up, under a tent. And they told me I had sixteen speeding ckets… "Sixteen??" … I stayed on me though! At the tent, I couldn't really understand what they were telling me. I think back then it was Hugh Fleming who was our jury delegate, so he came over and said something. They finally let me go, but I sat there all night thinking "I might be out of this". Because yeah, in the rulebook it says you're supposed to obey the traffic regula ons. The next morning, I found out that I wasn't out of it. I also found out the next morning that I wasn't even the one with the most ckets! Some other guys had plenty more than me. I don't remember the number, but I'm pre y sure it was Paul Krause who had the most – maybe you can ask him about it when you interview him. Mike laughs and pauses for a moment. I'm s ll in disbelief that someone managed to get more than sixteen speeding ckets in a single day of ISDE. When Mike starts speaking, his tone is very though ul. You know, you prepare yourself for the Six Days, but that's one thing you don't really prepare yourself for. I mean, we were kind of forced to do it by the mes and the weather. A er a couple days, the jury delegates from all the countries finally convinced the promoters to add me to the ght checkpoints. It was s ll challenging even with the extra me. In today's day and age, I know the transfers just ar- en't that much of an issue... but at this one? Oh they were an issue!