Day 21 - How to Ride Sideways in 1 Easy Lesson
Day 21
Almost an Ironbutt
Taos, NM to Hot Springs, Arkansas
987 miles
As has been my usual for the last few days, I got away from Taos later than I wanted to, about 9 am. I passed on the free hot breakfast offered by the hotel because I knew it would be a tough day - thunderstorms forecast for my entire route.
The ride along US Hwy 64 from Taos to Angel Fire was serene, and the area beautiful. I want to resume my attempts at snow skiing soon, and this region offers some of the best in the area I am told.
In the panhandle of Texas I could see rough weather ahead, so I donned my rain gear for the first of six times total. When it was not actually raining, the waterproof gear did not allow enough airflow to keep me from sweltering in the Texas heat, so off it came when the storm area has passed.
Somewhere in all that scenic beauty (that's sarcasm, folks) I ran across a Harley dresser on the side of the road and stopped to investigate. It's rider, "Gator Larry", en route from Alaska to Florida, had run out of gas and seemed to be at a loss for how to proceed. We checked the navigation system on my Honda - it showed gas 10 miles away. My bike is fuel injected, and it is not an easy task to get fuel out of the line like on a carbureted bike with a gravity-fed fuel system. Neither of us had anything to siphon with, so that option was not available. He didn't have a cell phone either, so we used mine to call for roadside assistance. Once we were sure they were on their way, I bid him farewell, and with an eye towards a VERY black sky ahead, I moved on wishing that I had an informative pamphlet on the wonders of cell phones to pass along.
The second-scariest moment of the trip came shortly thereafter. I had slowed down a bit and rain and wind hit me suddenly and hard from my right, pushing me across my lane. In a moment, rain and intense wind lashed in, making it very difficult to stay in my lane. I moved to the right side of the right lane to give myself a little buffer, and started looking for shelter. Just then, a huge blast of wind started pushing me to the left. I had the bike leaned WAY over just to stay going straight ahead, and all the surface area of the fairing and luggage was giving the wind quite a bit of area to push against! The wind pushed harder and harder, and I steered to right as hard as I could, but I was still being pushed to the left and towards the edge of the road. The asphalt was one huge puddle and the volume of water coming down was unbelievable. I could not stop for fear of being run over by 18 wheelers, and I had to maintain enough speed to allow me to steer.
With about 10 inches to spare, the wind eased enough for a moment for me to get back to the right side of the road. Within a moment, an overpass came into view and I ducked underneath it. I said a silent "thank you" prayer and waited for the storm to pass. True to form, within 10 minutes it was history, and I continued down I-40 towards home.
At 3:30 am, I pulled into my driveway, 13 miles short of 1000 miles in a day. I didn't care that I hadn't done an official "Ironbutt" distance. I was tired, wind-battered, and sleepy, but I was HOME.
Almost an Ironbutt
Taos, NM to Hot Springs, Arkansas
987 miles
As has been my usual for the last few days, I got away from Taos later than I wanted to, about 9 am. I passed on the free hot breakfast offered by the hotel because I knew it would be a tough day - thunderstorms forecast for my entire route.
The ride along US Hwy 64 from Taos to Angel Fire was serene, and the area beautiful. I want to resume my attempts at snow skiing soon, and this region offers some of the best in the area I am told.
In the panhandle of Texas I could see rough weather ahead, so I donned my rain gear for the first of six times total. When it was not actually raining, the waterproof gear did not allow enough airflow to keep me from sweltering in the Texas heat, so off it came when the storm area has passed.
Somewhere in all that scenic beauty (that's sarcasm, folks) I ran across a Harley dresser on the side of the road and stopped to investigate. It's rider, "Gator Larry", en route from Alaska to Florida, had run out of gas and seemed to be at a loss for how to proceed. We checked the navigation system on my Honda - it showed gas 10 miles away. My bike is fuel injected, and it is not an easy task to get fuel out of the line like on a carbureted bike with a gravity-fed fuel system. Neither of us had anything to siphon with, so that option was not available. He didn't have a cell phone either, so we used mine to call for roadside assistance. Once we were sure they were on their way, I bid him farewell, and with an eye towards a VERY black sky ahead, I moved on wishing that I had an informative pamphlet on the wonders of cell phones to pass along.
The second-scariest moment of the trip came shortly thereafter. I had slowed down a bit and rain and wind hit me suddenly and hard from my right, pushing me across my lane. In a moment, rain and intense wind lashed in, making it very difficult to stay in my lane. I moved to the right side of the right lane to give myself a little buffer, and started looking for shelter. Just then, a huge blast of wind started pushing me to the left. I had the bike leaned WAY over just to stay going straight ahead, and all the surface area of the fairing and luggage was giving the wind quite a bit of area to push against! The wind pushed harder and harder, and I steered to right as hard as I could, but I was still being pushed to the left and towards the edge of the road. The asphalt was one huge puddle and the volume of water coming down was unbelievable. I could not stop for fear of being run over by 18 wheelers, and I had to maintain enough speed to allow me to steer.
With about 10 inches to spare, the wind eased enough for a moment for me to get back to the right side of the road. Within a moment, an overpass came into view and I ducked underneath it. I said a silent "thank you" prayer and waited for the storm to pass. True to form, within 10 minutes it was history, and I continued down I-40 towards home.
At 3:30 am, I pulled into my driveway, 13 miles short of 1000 miles in a day. I didn't care that I hadn't done an official "Ironbutt" distance. I was tired, wind-battered, and sleepy, but I was HOME.
posted by Matt Lewis at 1:52 PM
2 Comments:
greetings- was pointed to your blog by a rider on triumphrat.net when I posted looking for some older (1999-2001?) triumph datona gloves. He said he thought you might have some.
if you do, gimme a shout djdatapimp@gmail.com
i'd love to buy another pair if i can find them..best fitting gloves i've ever had for my long thin hands.
thanks!
great blog by the way, i'm slowly working my way through it. :)
Thanks for sending me this link...vicariously enjoyed it even three years after.
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