Last night I had a most pleasant rest at Al's Oasis Motel in Chamberlain, SD. I had seen Al's signs on I-90 for a bunch of miles and thought I would give it a try. The price was reasonable and the place turned out to be very nice with a friendly staff. There was a whole Al's conglomeration including a restaurant so I also gave that a try. It too was pretty good. Way to go Al.
After yesterday, I was hoping the winds would be less today. After looking outside, I saw that was not the case. They appeared to be worse if that's possible.
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| The Winds They Are A Blowing |
I'm out of the hotel and under way at about 10:00 and immediately the wind is making the ride miserable. My route today is I-90 to I-29 which turns south at Sioux Falls, SD. I'm counting the miles until I can turn south to alleviate the side pressure on my neck and the constant lean to the right. I don't want to speed but I don't want to endure this wind any longer than I have to so I'm going as fast as possible while avoiding tickets. That means I must pass a whole lot of large trucks.
This is a very delicate maneuver with the constant 30 MPH and greater wind blowing directly across the highway. My technique was to approach the truck as far left as possible and when I came along side, quickly adjust to the apparent wind blowing from the left caused by the wind shielding effect of the truck trailer. Since the bike is leaning to the right when the wind is blocked, the bike immediately turns toward the truck to match the lean. After the emergency style course correction required to get straight along side the truck, I accelerate quickly (thank you FJR for that marvelous power) past the truck and execute a rather sharp turn into the cruise lane as I pass the front of the truck. This counters the blast of air that wants to blow me off the road to the left otherwise.
Passing trucks and cars on bridges or overpasses this day was completely out of the question. Overpasses with high earth embankments were particularly crazy due to the acceleration of the air over the embankments. The air would gust unpredictably until the bridge portion of the overpass which had side walls. Then there was no side winds and it felt like a blast from the other direction. The only consolation of the morning was the cool temperatures.
After about 150 miles of that dreadful side wind, I finally turned south. The wind was more manageable, but my gas mileage suffered even more and the temperature was creeping upward. I'm guessing I had an apparent wind speed of over 100MPH in my face for the next 300 miles or so. I was only getting in the low 30s for MPG. Normally, I get in the low 40s.
Toward the end of the I-29 stretch, I stopped at a rest area for a break and to take stock of my situation. It was pleasant with shaded picnic tables which I utilized to have some refreshments and rest my weary bones. At this point it's obvious that my Illinois destination is out of the question so I take a little longer for my break.
When I turn east again at St Joseph MO, the winds are still right-to-left but they had subsided such that it wasn't pure torture any more. It's getting toward sunset and I'm determined to make as many miles a possible. I finally pull into Macon, MO after dark. For the day, I had made a couple of deviations to enter Nebraska and Kansas; I had never been in those states before and I was so close. The day's total miles are 620 according to my trip-meter. This was the longest leg of my journey.
I have a quick bite to eat at the local McDonald's before landing in the last hotel of my trip. It was old school for sure but clean and quiet.
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| Who Needs Neighbors? |
May 2013
PS: I've wondered for some time now about my wind speed estimation in this post, so today I checked the historical data for winds that day from the closest official weather station in Winner, SD. I've always thought I had been a little conservative, but from the numbers below, my original guess of "30Mph and greater" was essentially correct. The official numbers also explain the crazy winds I sometimes encountered on the overpasses where the wind was magnified by the embankments. I suspect that I experienced 60Mph and greater gusting side winds on those overpasses. That would not surprise me given the intense lean angles I had to hold just to stay on the road.
WINDS:
Wind Speed 19Mph(south)
Max Wind Speed 38Mph
Max Gust Speed 53Mph
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KICR/2012/5/17/DailyHistory.html?MR=1
Friday May 18
I'm up bright and early determined to get to my destination of Donnellson, IL right at noon central time. I was originally going to go through Springfield, IL but instead decided to take the St Louis route.
I'm on the road at 8:00 AM which is a first for this trip. I'm feeling pretty good considering the pounding I took yesterday from the winds. Today the winds are not a problem and the miles go by effortlessly. Soon I come to St Louis and make my way over to the river street where the Arch is located. I park right in front of the thing in the no-parking zone to take a picture. Since it's a week day there's light traffic and nobody seems to care.
There's a couple there parked in front on a BMW K1600. He had just bought the thing and they had flown in to pick it up. We conversed for a brief time, but it was a no-parking zone so after a couple of snap shots, I left for my final destination of the day.
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| The Gateway Arch... Or Most of It |
Saturday May 19
Today is a down day with no motorcycle at all. This is the first time in 23 days that I won't touch the thing. I'm OK with it.
Tonight the plan is to visit one of the local wineries in the area. Sounds like it could be interesting. At the winery, there is a nice outdoor pavilion to sit and enjoy the evening and the procedure is: buy some wine and eat whatever cheese and crackers you might have brought. I'm not a big wine person, so no reviews of any substance shall be forthcoming.
It turned out to be a fun evening. The weather was perfect and the wine was good enough. We had enough to get the local flavor as well as remove any conversational inhibitions.
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| My Sisters: Linda and Sharon |
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