The Mobius Trip

[kelsow]

That may be true, but I haven't been out for a good ride in 2 weeks.
This is all I have.

LOL

[DR. Rock]

Before leaving, I happened to watch a National Geographic special on HD about tornados. Growing up in Chicago, I remember often sitting in the hall in elementary school with my head between my knees while a thunderstorm crackled outside.

The video on HD with surround sound kind of freaked me out, though.

Before leaving, one of my last purchases was this weather radio:



The forecast this day was for severe thunderstorms possible late in the day, and sure enough, the clouds started to build:





We were still enjoying the tallgrass prairie,





The wind started picking up, and to the north, I watched this monster build up:



60 - 100 miles away at this point, later, we would learn that this cloud would spawn tornados that killed 19, almost completely devastating the Superfund-embattled town of Picher, OK.

CNN story here, and a slide show from Tulsa World here.

I'm not sure what we'd do if a severe storm caught us out here. Squat and put our heads between our knees like in elementary school, or maybe throw the weather radio at the twister and hope that would make it change direction.

I was a little nervous, to say the least... fortunately the next section afforded a little cover.

[scarysharkface]

Originally Posted by kelsow

That may be true, but I haven't been out for a good ride in 2 weeks.
This is all I have.

LOL

+1 on all of the above, except the LOL!



John

[DR. Rock]

Small:



Medium:



Large: (note evidence of recent flooding, and storm clouds)

[DR. Rock]

Harsh
Lonely
Austere
Remote
Isolated
Stark



Just the way we like it.

[DR. Rock]

A little insight into riding conditions through this area:

Who would think that riding 35 miles straight west, followed by a one mile jog north, followed by another 37 miles straight west could be challenging?



Sure, go ahead, open it up... 50, 60, 70mph



Just be prepared for the sand



And the ruts



And the mud holes

This was without rain... those who have traversed this route through mud... my hat's off to you.



Sure, you can wick it up... just pay attention, 'cause you're driving into the sun...



And these little buggers are laying in wait to swallow you whole:

[DR. Rock]

As we got closer to crossing the next interstate, I assessed fuel levels, and we decided to divert a couple miles to fill up.



As windy as it was getting where we were riding, the interstate and the gas station at the exit was elevated and it was literally gale force winds.

I wanted to buy this so badly, but I was afraid if I strapped it to my bike that it might act as a sail.

[DR. Rock]

North:



South:



East:



Westward ho!

[DR. Rock]

Oh, and did I mention... do this all in a gusty 30mph cross-wind.

We had travelled west of the east-moving storm system, and on it's backside encountered a relentless, exhausting, achingly evil fricking cross wind from the north, that made it impossible to ride relaxed. Your shoulders become stiff, neck tense, and even when you stop, you can't relax because the gusts try to tip you off your bike even just standing still.

Observe the dust trail off LDF's rear wheel.







Evidence of nature's force:







I mean, in a way it was cool, the wheat was about knee high, and the gusts produced visible waves on the surface:



Riding motorcycles through this area was like riding a jet-ski across the ocean. That's the best way I can describe it.

[CBAT]

Crosswings are good. You can stay together and not have to eat dust.

[DR. Rock]

Kiowa, KS. Where GPS reports a motel.

Shadows getting long, camelbaks empty, muscles sore... push on.



First sighting of pronghorn antelope:



Finally, some sheltering trees. It felt so good to get out of the wind.



Last little water hazard for the day... I nearly buried the rear.



A few miles north into KS:







Where we couldn't find the motel, stopped and asked the town's police officer for directions... and when we got there, found out that it was small, and full.

[woodworkernyc]

Where we couldn't find the motel, stopped and asked the town's police officer for directions... and when we got there, found out that it was small, and full.

Full?? - In the middle of nowheresville? What? Pronghorn season?

This is gettin' good..........

[DR. Rock]

Just as I'm thinking we'll be heading back out to the fields and commando bushwhack camping for the night, the innkeeper offers a house that she rents out for $99 when the motel is full. Not because it was terribly expensive, but just because I was curious as to our options, I ask if she knows of anywhere we can pitch a tent. She replies "you can have the house for $79"

I always negotiate best when I'm not negotiating...



We ditch our gear, and ride back into town to the local restaurant / bar



Sitting at the next table were the dirtiest guys I've ever seen. I have no idea what work they were doing, but they were obviously kicking back after putting in a hard day's...



On our way back, we stopped at the convenience store / gas station to pick some things up for breakfast, and ran into the same police officer who kind of gave me a hard time about the size of the brake light on one of the bikes (honeybee)... I showed him that it was super-bright LED's and he commented something about never seeing that on a motorcycle, it must be something new. It was weird, he was obviously checking us out from the first time we stopped and asked him directions to the motel. I wouldn't call it harrassment, and he wasn't unfriendly, but it was clear that he was letting us know that he's got our number and we'd better behave while we're in his town... or at least that's the vibe we got.

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by woodworkernyc

Full?? - In the middle of nowheresville? What? Pronghorn season?

This is gettin' good..........

She said something about high school graduation, and even though there were only 12 seniors graduating, all their aunts and uncles and grandparents were in town.

[DR. Rock]

So we head back to the house, which was really nice, and watch some TV





And the day's stats:

Our highest milage day.... whew.