Illinois roads need a lot of work. Indiana roads in contrast are wonderful – smooth – almost like the German Autobahn. Traffic got real intense in West Virginia.

The good citizens of that state are unruly. Speed limit? We don’t obey no stinking speed limits! Cops? kinda like duck hunting son, most of the ducks make it through just fine – casualties are minimal. And so it went – twist the throttle at ten to fifteen over, or die.

The North Carolina drivers do practice bump drafting if you go too slow for their liking – NASCAR has its influence apparently, but the awesome brake lights on a GoldWing end that crap real fast. Just checking my brakes dude; sorry.

I’ll end for now with a picture and pick this up on the return ride – route to be determined. I thought about a lot of things on this ride as I began to work back into IBA ride condition. The late Connie Fitch who rode her BMW K1200LT on many remarkable Iron Butt rides came to mind as I looked over my bug smeared windshield.

Connie had a signature line on her emails “Time is fun when your’e having flys” About sums up my last 4 days.

Which ended by Rapid City, SD. The mother of all wind events was scheduled to coincide with The Vulture’s transit of South Dakota. Literally hanging off the left side of the Big Red Truck as it leans to the right to keep it sort of in my lane. Even the big rigs were having issues swinging all over the place. CB was handy “Mr Driver, could you hold that thing steady for 20 seconds so I can blast past you?” “I’ll try” “Thank you, driver”. And so it went in 93 degree temperatures.

I called it quits by Mitchell, SD, lay down on the bed in my riding gear and fell asleep.

Left this morning at 0430 and the freakin wind is more intense. Gas mileage has dropped to -30 and my back hurt from all the wrestling yesterday. Wind is bad all the way across Iowa and began to be less intense in Illinois. A short day today, somewhere around 650 miles but prudence dictates being safe as traffic density is quite serious on the east side of the Mississippi, and the roads really suck in some places.

Interesting to note they have signs posted in construction zones that say “Fines for speeding are really big” and “If you hit a worker it will cost you $10,000″ Nobody gives a shit – limit is 45 in a construction zone – do 70 or get run over.

All in all, three super days of motorcycle adventure – I should have my Iron Butt rhythm back by the end of the trip.

Bumper to bumper all the way to the highway 18 turn-off. Pretty uneventful after that but there is a lot of construction – road work on the way to Ellensburg that slows to a craw in spots. Nice temperatures until Ritzville where the furnace door was left open. Ten degree jump to 85 where it stayed all day. Pounded water from my CamelBak all day and that helped as did the stupid beads on my saddle. No sweaty butt – a relief, as normally I would have been well into the onset of Monkey Butt after 8 hours.

Plenty road work in Montana at 55 mph, but I did get to race a Montana Trooper up the big hill outside Butte – he dusted me after turn 4 on the downhill, but I caught up to him. Fun ended when he slowed to 75 – the speed limit.

Saw this old Vincent in Deer Lodge, MT – superb condition and sounded almost better than a Ducati. Quite unique.

Pretty well knackered by Bozeman. Called it quits. Hoping to get up early and pound some big miles on day 2.

Big Red Truck

I’ve been trying to figure out scripting so I can have a blog page where pictures I take on a trip, and post as I travel, show up as push pins on a Google map. It would allow a reader to visit a single “trip” page, click on a push-pin, and see the image and any associated text about the location or image. I also want to do this without using an off-site entity that stores my images, or provides the service. They exist, and get me reasonably close to what I want, but I don’t like the rendering or the advertising it subjects viewers to – it is a tough thing to figure out not being a programmer.

But, I’m getting closer………..I think.

The old guy sort of shuffled up next to the bike and looked it over for a while then asked what it was – I told him. Then he asked some more questions about the machine – I answered those for him. It was quiet for a few moments so I asked him what he rode.

Has an old Harley with a side car, a Suzuki of some sort, and a little 100cc something from over the pond. So we talked about those, talked about smoking pipes, rolling your own smokes, and getting old. He’s a lot older than me, plenty wrinkled, and a recent widower. Kind of lonely.

So we spent more time talking about anything he wanted to – both of us smoking, drinking coffee, and passing the time – two older guys who probably hadn’t much time for small talk earlier in life, making time for each other.

Asked what I do and I said “retired”. Yes I draw Social Security. “You don’t look old enough – and you have all your own teeth” The one defining difference between us – teeth.

“Time to go” he says – “see ya” – never got his name; wasn’t important. The experience was.

Ran into snow at about 3500 feet – on the sides of the road mostly, some in the trail.

Few of the bikes I’ve owned over the years had comfortable saddles, I think because the manufacturers build for style and showroom comfort. That plush feel really means lack of support. A saddle that looks good on the bike can often cripple your nuts inside of 50 miles. It is a problem usually solved with a visit to a person who customizes saddles so it fits your particular anatomy.

Another dimension to saddle comfort arises even after a custom modification is made. That has to do with discomfort on hot days – that is, your ass sweats because no air flow gets to your ass and sitting in wet undergarments, wicking or otherwise, becomes very uncomfortable. Been there, done that. The solution? Get some air to your ass.

One way is to stand up on the pegs. Effective if you stand up long enough, but you have to repeat the procedure, and some states make standing on the pegs illegal – though a compassionate LEO might let you off.

Another is to use something like sheepskin. I like sheepskin when it is new but it compresses over time and loses its effectiveness. Plus, it smells like old motorcycle boots after a few years of rain riding.

You could use an AirHawk which is an inflatable bladder resembling an egg carton that does allow some air flow, and its genesis is the bedding used for burn patients. What I don’t like with this device is the sort of spongy feel I have while riding – akin to being on a water bed.

That then gets us to the beads. I avoided trying these for years as I think they look……dumb……..and how could little beads poking you in the ass all day be comfortable? Well, they are weird feeling at first and then you don’t notice them but you ass will look like it has a terminal case of cellulite at days end – if you check that is.

Apart from the vanity concerns, the good news is there is a massive amount of air that flows under your ass to evaporate sweat and, in turn, keep you more comfy on a hot ride. I didn’t believe this was possible, until my first ride on beads which was in the fall. My butt was actually cold, and I took the beads off for the ride home. Not as evident in 90 degree heat, but it is working none the less.

So, a custom saddle with beads on top, along with a wicking underwear and an absorbent mid layer, and it doesn’t get much better.

When you ass begins to burn with all this, it is definitely time to stop.