big fat heads, big fat tire, big fat rainbow... big fat headache.

June 29th

I left the town of Lusk, wyoming at 10. late, i know. couldn't sleep well.

right as i left town, i saw a few deer near the road. good thing i didn't ride into the night... i probably wouldn't have ridden out of it.

I'm still worried about the rear tire, but in the morning before leaving i made a list of suzuki dealerships that were on my route.

I headed north to the next town so i could get some food. I stopped in Newcastle at Donna's main street diner for some food. it was just after 11am, so they weren't serving breakfast anymore. The server offered the lunch special and since i didn't know what i wanted, i took it.

beef fajita with side salad. It was actually really good. not the fajitas i'm used to eating, but just as good when eating with a fork and knife. raspberry vinagrette to top off the salad. i needs my greens.

Heading east towards Custer, South Dakota.
Funny. I crossed t border into South dakota and the scenery changed instantly to this. trees. neato. maybe that's how they figured out the borders. hah.

it was a nice easy ride until i hit Black Hills national park. Black hills, not to be confsed with black forest ham. one is a delicious luncheon meat.
I didn't take any pictures inside of black hills because the roads are a lot more technical and twisty so i couldn't take pictures while riding. The shoulders were too narrow for me to pull over and take pictures. most places didn't have a shoulder.

I just liked the look of these rocks.

Here's the Crazy Horse memorial. yes, it's far away, but when i got closer i saw the toll booths and didn't want to pay to see it up close.
there. see it now? it's the big rock with a face in it and a hole through it. it's a work in progress. read it online for more info as to what it's supposed to look like. would be awesome if they finished it.
On my way to mount rushmore. everyone pulled over at this lookout and didn't know what they were snapping pictures of until i looked behind me. ah. the profile of a president. heh.

yay. mount rushmore. it's free to go. you just have to pay $10 for parking. that's bullshit. $10 for a car, truck, motorcycle. bullshit.

anyhow, the entrance

from the entrance.

you'll have to excuse the many rushmore pics. it's kinda neat for one, and i want my $10 worth
Here they are on top of teddy's head geting ready to put George W.'s face between teddy and lincoln.

with all the parking money they made, you'd think they'd clean up the rubble below.
The dude who designed mount rushmore. this bust was sculpted by his son. neat.
The hall of flags i believe

i don't look too thrilled do i. actually, it was just so damn bloddy hot and i had the sun in my eyes.
the ampitheatre
i got an ice cream. i got an ice cream, your daddy's on welfarei left mount rushmore. if the price was a bit lower i wouldn't mind, but i thought $10 was kinda steep. all the other monuments in the park are either by fee or parking fee. capitalism at it's best.

stopped at the side of the road for this picture. it was free.

the clouds were looking rather... mean and even though it said sunny today in the area, it looked like rain. sure enough as soon i got into Rapid city, it started pouring. i have my mesh without liners and a full face helmet on. the gear dries fast enough and the helmet keeps water out of my face. I stopped in to a gas station for some coffee, and looked at the back tire again. The tire was still good for now, but wouldn't last long. it's ok to ride without treads, but not in the rain. I called the local suzuki/honda/victory place and said they could probably put a tire on, and put me through to parts. on hold for 7 mins so i hung up and rode over instead.

as luck would have it, they had 2 tires that could fit. a dunlop 555(?) and a metzler me880. w00t. i love the Me880. over to the service department and they can take the bike in the next 1/2 hour. great! they asked if i wanted anything else looked at, since they saw the fork seal leaking and the oil leak at the jugs. They think it's just a gasket for the jugs, but they didn't know if they could do the fork today and if they had the seals. I just got them to put the new rear tire on for now. the rains came and went while i waited for the tire to be installed.

I left the Shop (it's called Rice Honda) and instantly got hit with massive crosswinds. these were the real dangerous kind. my neck still hurts from the crosswinds. at least it wasn't raining. The speed limit was 75mph, but i couldn't go much faster than 60. nasty stuff. scary stuff.

I stopped almost every chance i could because it was so hard to ride in that stuff.

at one reststop along the way i took a picture of this thing. a concrete teepee?

later i stopped at a gas station and had a couple of hot dogs... a regular and a buffalo meat hot dog. The regular one was better.

i was about to get back on the bike when i spotted this guy. never seen a prarie dog/marmot/gopher thing in this color. neato.

there wasn't just one, there were about 6 or so.
these two popped out of the hole you see behind them, and started wrestling. cute to watch.

you can see a bunch here.

nom nom nom
this guy kept looking at me, then eating. heh.

at the next rest stop, there was a huge rainbow. well, like they say, you have to always follow the rainbow.

the weather was clear behind me, but looked real nasty towards the rainbow.

hmm. it's a bow. it comes out with rain. crap. i'm gonna get wet, and with the crosswinds to boot.

more rainbow
I left the rest spot and wondered how much longer i could ride. i was hoping to stop at around 9:30 so i could get some miles in. it was about 8pm now. good. another hour and a half to go. the odd thing was that the crosswinds were gone and i could now make up some speed.

I rode for about 5 mins and the road was becoming wet. I pulled over at an overpass and got off the insterstate and put on my jacket liner and my rain pants and rain gloves. good to go. I could still ride fast in the rain, just not as fast.

i could still ride for another hour or so.

WRONG. about 2 mins after putting on my rain gear i passed the timezone. it was now after 9pm. crap. I didn't know if i should hole up in the next town, or make up some miles and make the next one. the rain was starting now, but it was just a light rain.

shortly after the heavy crosswinds were back. This is not good. all decided, i'm shacking up in the next town.

The next town is Murdo. a few motels in town... 2 chain motels, and a few other smaller motels. I opted for the days inn. door on floor level, free wifi and looked reputable.

also to note, when i entered the town of murdo, the rainbow was a full semi-circle, and one end was basically at the days inn. heh. always follow the rainbow. what a sight the semi-circle was.

I went out in search of food, but everything closes at 10pm. vending machine food will have to do.

so that's where i am now. i'm beat. the wind knocked the crap out of me today. i'm hoping for better weather tomorrow.

cool monuments, but basically just heading east as fast as i can

June 28th

So Beast (the bike) is really starting to show some wear. the motor runs well and sounds better since i dinged up the pipes, but there's oil starting to come from between the jugs. just a bit, but enough to be a minor concern for now. hell, some old harleys piss oil and keep running, so i'm not too worried right now.

I've also popped a PIAA light i think. the left one doesn't work, which is annoying and it's keeping me from riding at night, which is a good thing i guess.

the other two problems are a little more major. The right fork tube is leaking fork oil. i've busted the seal a day or two ago and it's leaking. not much, but it's leaking all over my front brakes, so that's a problem.

The other big problem is the wear on my back tire. I don't want to have to go hunting for a shop and i hope i can make it back on the same tire. i really don't have the time as i'm trying to make it back for work for the 2nd. time is ticking in a big way. if i have to go to a shop, i'll lose at least a day.

I looked at the forcast and it said these 4 states (colorado, utah, new mexico and arizona) were under a thunderstorm watch. time to head north and get away from that. i don't mind rain, and i'll ride in heavy rains, but lightning and bikes don't mix very well.

a pic from Dinosaur looking back towards Utah.

Dinosaur National Monument. i didn't want to waste to much time so i just did a quick flyby inside the park. i wanted to see if it's worth coming back in the future.a view from the road. neato

the view from the first lookout back towards the utah/colorado border
more views
I liked that mesa... i think it's a mesa... heh.The day use area was surrounded by bushes and trees. it was so different walking around that, when a few weeks ago i was walking around the arctic. heh.

Different views. blocked by the woods, but i was not geared for a hike. i could see through the trees and there were some amazing views. this is only 1/2 way up the monument road. i didn't even go to the end or on the many hiking trails they have along the way. I'd like to go back one day and go hiking there. a few problems. i'm out of shape and never hiked in my life. heh. guess i gotta learn some day.

I went back to the visitor center for a smoke break and struck up a conversation with Sandy. I told her and her friend/husband (didn't get his name) my route, and all that. people think i'm nuts when i tell them that. nuts in a good way though. I liked her dog, solomon(sp?) she said that if i needed anything that i could contact her in steamboat (a town nearby)

people are cool wherever you go. sandy, if you're reading this, it was nice meeting ya!

ONWARDS!
yes, i know the pictures look repetitious, but they were taken 15 mins apart. heh. it's always a little different and there's always something to look at so i wasn't bored. music and playing with the gps helps.
I stopped at the next town (Craig), where the GPS said i had to turn north. I hadn't eaten anything but a gas station cherry danish (which wasn't good) so i was hungry.

nothing looked interesting so i went to the El Ranchero 'authentic' mexican restaurant.

I walked in and saw into the kitchen. mexicans.(i assume) that's a good sign. at some of the tables there were a group of spanish looking guys. while looking over the menu, more mexicans walked in. heh. if spanish speaking mexican looking people are eating here... that's a good sign.

the standard chips and salsa. the salsa was cold, yet it burned my mouth. it was awesome. not from a jar. i think the chips came from a bag, nothing special.

I ordered the El Ranchero. it said beef pork and chicken. i didn't know it was a whole steak, a whole pork chop and two breasts of chicken. came with refried beans, rice, guac and small shells.

the plate was massive. i repeat. massive. it was all very good too. way too much food though.

Off north i went, to avoid the thunderstorms and essentially to get back home. I crossed into wyoming, but since i was on a secondary route, there were no big signs saying so.

I took a picture from where the Overland trail cut from east to west at this point in 1860s. this is the trail they used for emigration across the land. ie: it was the highway. this picture is looking south. i took another picture looking west, but couldn't make out the trail. i'll have to zoom in and look closer as they say you can still see it.
pic while riding. safe. I just passed the continental divide around heremore of wyoming

I took this shot without realizing what was in it. if you look at the white object you'll see the cow skull. how cool is that. i thought that was only in the movies.

Another monument.The upgraded wagons that they used.

Independance rock. want more info on it? go there or go online. i'm not your teacher. hah.
The rock itself. you can go hiking and people were walking all over it. i was running out of time so i didn't go walk on the rock. that's my excuse anyway.
I spotted this bird riding the thermals. It's wingspan was huge and it was really far away and i had to zoom in with the camera just to get this shot.
And zooming in digitally with the wonders of technology, we see this. looks like a buzzard or vulture or something, don't it? i think it's a vulture. neato.over the shoulder shot. no time to stop to take pictures. I was losing light fast.

again, i'm heading east and the sun was heading west. going faster on the bike wasn't helping. heh.

seeing this in person was cool. a reservoir that has a dam at one end, with a marina in use. the colors in person were neat.
I stopped for the night in lusk. I was worried there wouldn't be internet access at any other motels down the road and gas stations might be closed in the smaller towns. didn't want to risk being stranded in the dark in backcountry wyoming.

I got a room at the covered wagon inn. really nice place but pricy. didn't want to go to the cheaper looking motels though... you get what you pay for sometimes.

I spoke to the girl at the counter and said that i might as well hole up for the night (8:30) since i noticed so many deer along the road. ever since i entered wyoming, if i didn't see steer, i was seeing deer. there were many. i must have spotted at least 40 or so. there were many.

the girl said that up north, there are a lot more deer than down south(i didn't know that), and they come out more at dusk(which i knew). good thing. i wouldn't want to be whipping through wyoming and WHAM! a deer.

I unloaded the bike and went to the outpost cafe for lunch. it's the only thing open at this time of night and i was hungry. got a grilled cheese, a cup of soup and a salad. trying to eat better but i eat so much. hah.

another reason was that my shoulders were killing me. damn handlebars.

something just popped in my head. i haven't met any assholes so far on this trip.

many look at me funny though, since i'm in my full suit. pants, jacket, boots, gloves, helmet... and barely anyone i've run across has a helmet. no jackets or gloves. tshirt and jeans for the most part.

to any who think i'm crazy riding in this heat with all my gear. i've already had a crash on this trip and i'm certain my gear saved me some road rash (i found a small tear in my jacket) and i'm sure that my helmet is doing a good job keeping the bugs out of my face. yes, i'm warm, but it's mesh, so it's keeping me cool. i've got two bands on my wrists where my jacket doesn't meet. they are blood red. i wonder what all these tshirt people are doing.