A quick shower and bottle of water later and I was out the door. I also got the wise idea that I should cut the fingers off my $20 neoprene gloves (for riding in rain) and slip them on the handlebars for cushion.
After fiddle-farting around for 20 minutes trying to attach the saddle-bags in the dark for the first time, I headed to the nearest gas station to begin the day with some breakfast....
I love riding in the morning, especially when there's a full moon. It's like riding in the daylight! Plus, nobody is on the road. I made it to Dallas about 7:00 and I didn't make any wrong turns! I know, I was impressed too. Aside from 5 miles of stop-and-go traffic caused by construction it went pretty quick. Now I was really looking forward to some open-country flat-as-a-fritter (FAAF) riding where I could really open up the bike and put some time on. I only had maybe 100 miles of open (and fast) riding until the weather turned to crap. Clouds from the north looked like the type twisters were born in and I was riding in 60+ mph gusting side-winds. Anybody that has ridden in these conditions will tell you it's damn scary. I had to make sure there was nobody in the next lane in case the gust blew me out of my lane. The only thing I could do was lower the windshield and get in the tightest tuck as I could. Passing truckers was a trick too...it took a couple times to figure it out but I finally got it. I had to ease up on them in the outside lane and when the front-end started shaking from the turbulence that's when I rolled on the power...it straightened the bike right out. Once I got to the front of the truck I slowed down enough to just ease on by, which made the wind 'hit' much more manageable.
Once I made it to Childress the wind had died a bit and I was back into FAFF fast riding again. I won't go into detail just how fast it was but the bike just purrs at ANY speed, so the top speed really just depends how big your stones are. My stones are somewhat big, but I was a little concerned about a speeding ticket, or worse, Texas jail...and explaining to the wife that I owed $xxx in tickets or that she would have to bail me out. Yep, these weren't in my top-10 list of things to do on this trip...so I kept the time spent in triple digits to a minimum...
There is one main speed trap, called Dalhart, that my parents warned me about. Good thing too 'cause they almost got me going in to town. I was doing a bit over the speed limit and noticed I was closing on the car in the other lane pretty quick. As I got closer..."oh, crap! It's da fuzz! ...and my what a nice wide-brimmed hat he be wearin'!". I slowed to the speed limit...and still passed him as if he were standing still. I thought for sure he'd nabbed me, but he didn't do a thing. When I stopped in Dalhart to fill up I watched three cops pass and look at me. Primed for what was to come, I made dang sure I went the speed limit and no more...especially since one of 'em had snuck up behind me and was following me the whole way to the city border! I don't know where he came from, but I think they get plenty of practice at cat-and-mouse. After I shook the bogey, I was back to FAFF riding...and boy I was flying! Making record time the New Mexico border. To give you an idea of the difference between the two, here's some pics:
And that's where this day just got amazing. After a quick stop in Walsenburg, I took highway 69 to Salida and then Monarch Pass. Check out this road and the views of the Rockys outside Walsenburg...
I stopped at the first gas station in Gunnison, went inside and just stood there for a good two minutes soaking up the heat. I'm pretty sure I scared the jeebers out of the attendant...she didn't notice me come in until she stopped texting in her seat behind the counter and decided to do something in the back of the store. I'm sure it freaked her out to see a biker in full gear with his helmet still on inside the store. She was certainly puzzled..."Can I help you?" she asked. "Just don't turn off the heat." I replied. I could tell she was still freaked by the 'cycle-robber' that was standing in her store, so I told her what I was doing. "Wow", she replied..."would you like some hot coffee or cocoa?". She was super nice and seemed to warm up a bit now that I was just a freezing dude and not a cycle-robber.
She said I was a good two hours away from Grand Junction, and Black Canyon is even more dangerous than Monarch Pass...and that she really would not like to see me in the obituaries the next day. So that's where my day ended. I got a room at the local Days Inn and called grammy with the bad news..."I'm not gonna make it tonight, Grandma...I'll see you tomorrow morning.". I was 30 miles short of the Iron-Butt award, too tired to be hungry, and my eyes were so dry everything was getting hazy. What a day...and I have to get up tomorrow and do it all over again. This is starting to get old...
Day 2 track:
