Not all who wander are lost

A day of prairie riding is good for meditation. But by mid-afternoon the heat has generated gusty conditions which detract from the overall riding experience.

I love the prairies and the wide wide open skies (when there aren't thunderstorms rolling in). Being a farm boy I enjoy seeing what's happening, who's planting what, watching the irrigation rigs running in their arcs across the fields. A few oil "donkeys" still pumping oil along the way. No wildlife other than a clan of prairie dogs/gophers when I stopped at a roadside turnout. Lots of signs warning of cows on the loose....

A few riders on the road, most looked packed for a long haul. No ST's for a while though.
 
Sunset at Buffalo Pound Lake, North Grove, Sask.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3659.jpg
    IMG_3659.jpg
    26.6 KB · Views: 14
The Qu'appelle Valley near my ancestral home.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3671.jpg
    IMG_3671.jpg
    86 KB · Views: 15
Looks inviting... makes me want to ride!
 
OK, seem to have lost track of a couple of days. The ride from Southey through Regina and the east along the TransCanada was another lovely day crossing the prairies. Ran into a couple of thunderstorms arriving in Winnipeg. The nice thing about the prairies is that you can see the weather coming from 20 miles away so I had plenty of time to don my rain gear. There is, no doubt, an algorithym (sp?) somewhere that calculates when the optimum time is to put on another layer of clothing when it is already 30 degrees (C, that's 92F). When I rode into the first T-storm it dropped to 23C in a matter of minutes. Very refreshing.

Somehow I managed to melt my rain pants on the muffler guard in Winnipeg rush-hour traffic (yeah, I know, nothing compared to Toronto but special during a T-storm).

Today I put my rain gear on before I started and it started raining on me just south of Winnipeg. This kept up pretty steadily but not that hard until Grand Forks, ND. Then started again in Fargo until I got well into Minnesota. One of my favourite sayings is "Life isn't about waiting for the skies to clear, it's learning to ride in the rain." I still believe it's true and I got a lot of practice today.

It is interesting to drive down this way and to go from prairie that is as flat as piss on a plate to more and more rolling terrain until lakes start to appear. Saw some lovely clouds near Grand Forks (no, really!), and passed the same transport trucks over and over after each stop for a break or photo-op. Just a little bit of rush-hour traffic when I arrived in Minneapolis. This is one thing I have learned; I will be avoiding big urban areas at rush-hour on my next trip like this. Especially at the end of a long day riding. I started at 7:30 today and arrived at 4:45. Yikes!

The skies are clearing and I have washed the bike. Off for dinner.

Ride safe! Ride often!

oh yeah! I clocked 10,000 km this morning, currently around 10,600 total. That's about 6,000 miles. I thought I had messed up the trip meter but then realized it only has 4 digits and a decimal....lol!
 
Last edited:
The rain cometh. And it did rain.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3701.jpg
    IMG_3701.jpg
    50.2 KB · Views: 14
Heavy fog coming out of Minneapolis this morning, which I prefer to staring into the sun all morning riding east. Followed Google maps rather than my GPS which wanted to take me through downtown at rush hour...The sun came out as I crossed the mighty Mississippi on my way home. There are lots of others here, the Chippewa, the Fox, all big slow rivers, some with riverboat casinos afloat.

After the landscape settled down from the river I crossed some more prairie and got into Wisconsin. Now instead of a Denny's or McDonald's sign 60 feet in the air as you approach the exits there are big signs that say "Cheese"...lol

A lot of deer dead on this stretch of highway. Having just come through the TransCanada highways which are virtually completely fenced with game fences I am thinking they could use the same thing here. That hot iron tang of blood on the highway is something I am used to now. Made it to Chicago before rush hour, thank god. Though it had gotten to 34 degrees by the time I arrived, so a pool was just what I needed. Only a couple more days on the road now. I will be happy to be home but I will miss this travelling when it is over.

I met a group of 8 couples from New Zealand. They all flew to LA, rented 8 Mustang convertibles, got them detailed with names and the slogan "Kiwi's on Route 66" on the windshields, drove up the coast and across Wyoming and Montana and the Dakotas on their way to Chicago, where they will drive Route 66 (or what's left of it) back to LA. My kind of people....
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3703.jpg
    IMG_3703.jpg
    70.5 KB · Views: 18
Day 29.

You know it was a mixture of emotions when I pressed "Go Home" on my GPS this morning. I've done 12,201 km (7625 mi) on this trip and seen a lot of country. I've crossed a creek named for every animal in North America; cow creek, rat creek, pig creek, otter, crow... Crossed the mighty Mississippi twice, the Rockies twice and the prairies twice. Got to meet some old friends and make some new ones. There's a lot of nice people out there.

My bike performed flawlessly, which made things that much more enjoyable. I packed very light; a week's worth of t-shirts, socks and underwear and a pair of shorts and long pants. I had a bottle for water and electrolytes to stay hydrated. And all the chargers for my phone and headsets of course. I was never too uncomfortable but I did spend a lot of time adjusting the layers of gear I was wearing through the day as the weather and temperatures changed.

I took twice as long to come back through Canada as I did going to LA but still felt a little rushed. So I would probably figure out more time next time or break it down into smaller chunks and spend more time there. People have asked me what my favourite part of the trip was and I would probably have to say either the Rockies or Northern California, for riding pleasures. I wouldn't care to ride through Arizona again. I don't know how folks enjoy riding down there. The 402 and the 401 may be a bit bland coming out of Sarnia but I wasn't being blown off the road by cross winds. The scenery was spectacular that's for sure but when I go back, it'll be in a cage. Or by that time I may be on a tour bus with my walker...lol.

Been thinking about where to go next. I have new friends from Dahlonega who have invited us to come visit and ride the Dragon. Maybe combine that with a run down for the Blue Ridge Gathering to collect another hug from Uncle Phil. Then there's always Scotland....

Thanks for riding along with me, it's been good to have a reason to put my day into words each night.

Keep the shiny side up.
 
A lot of miles under the fenders.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3720.jpg
    IMG_3720.jpg
    82.9 KB · Views: 9
Sounds like you had a great trip, now you probably have to make an appointment to have new tires installed.

Gerhard
 
Gerhard said:
Sounds like you had a great trip, now you probably have to make an appointment to have new tires installed.

Gerhard
Click to expand...

I got well over 20K on my last set, so I'm hoping these will do me the rest of the year. But I definitely will be changing the oil again....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom