Day 3 - Thursday, August 2
Bowman, ND to Osceola, IA
GPS Distance: 1051 miles
Travel time: 16h 30m
States Claimed: SD, WY, NE, IA, KS, MO
Awake in the wee hours of the morning isn’t anything new. Once again, reality hits - no lounging around - I gotta keep rolling!
I get the gear loaded onto the bike, then try as best I could once again to have a quiet escape from the motel parking lot. At 2-ish in the morning, kind of rough. Had to hit the starter twice on this escape, sorry Budget Host sleepers!
I get the gear loaded onto the bike, then try as best I could once again to have a quiet escape from the motel parking lot. At 2-ish in the morning, kind of rough. Had to hit the starter twice on this escape, sorry Budget Host sleepers!
My ungraceful exit from the Budget Host motel starts here.
The fuel stop to begin the day was across the highway. This town of ~2000 is at the crossroads of a couple of older U.S. Highways. A truck stop again lights up the night with fuel and a chance to fill my water jug. I get what I need from the store, then exit to the fuel islands.
My first struggle with the original configuration of the water jug happened here. Several minutes getting it cinched up enough to not tip over with a nearly full gallon of water. Good enough for now - I think...
My first struggle with the original configuration of the water jug happened here. Several minutes getting it cinched up enough to not tip over with a nearly full gallon of water. Good enough for now - I think...
Starting the day fumbling with the water jug - again!
Not five miles away from town, I was on full alert as I passed a deer - live one - the first of several...that I could clearly see along the side of the road with the aux lights on. You see this back home in Arizona to an extent, but more in the north part of the state. Nearly every pick-up and semi truck has what are known as “bull bars” around here. I had a feeling this was going to be a treacherous section to get thru.
Dark? Oh, my, it was dark out here!
The next 150 miles were on this high alert...awaiting for either my next stop or the sunrise to give me more of a perspective of the horizon. My pace had to be steady, yet my senses were maxed out. I got a chance to be alert for different things (cops) as I rolled thru a couple of small towns.
Belle Fourche, SD
Next state, and first en-route stop of the morning - another in-and-out in Wyoming. I’d read that this location opened at 5am local time; I got there about 15 minutes after they’re opening time. Another driver pulled up alongside, and a friendly warning about the cervidae (deer, elk, moose) sightings regionally. I let him know already seen, awaiting full daylight to help out.
Wyoming...gas and a minute to relax.
Sturgis, SD was eerily quiet as I rolled thru at around daybreak. The Rally doesn’t officially start until Friday; thank goodness I’ll be 400 miles east of here by then. Yet another stop, marking a corner - and- a state, and we continue into the morning.
near Sturgis, SD
near Sturgis, SD
Low clouds in Rapid City, SD
Back on the highway and a short time later, yet another state border crossed - Nebraska. By now, it was light, and I’d been too focused on those critter sightings earlier in the morning to worry about food.
This bull was intently watching a herd of cows on the other side of the highway. Wonder why?
A break for a bit to eat, then more miles to a second location for fuel was an impromptu modification to the planned route. I didn’t feel bad, since it was blown as I rolled thru Vegas two hours into the ride.
This may be why this is 'fly-over' country.
More stops, more simple gas stops, but a couple of missed Bubbler marks. There’s another auxiliary app on my phone that needs to run that senses when the bike doesn’t move. What that will do is trigger the Bubbler app on my phone. I physically need to see that screen and go “yeah, hit the mark!”. There seemed to be more than once that I may not have physically let things stop long enough for the auxiliary program to work. I’ll have to play with the timing on that for the next ride.
During this stage of riding, I wasn’t filling the bike; there was no need to do so, but there did need to be enough to get to the next location, which could be 120 miles away, so these fuel stops were only for a few dollars of gas.
The clipboard I have has this checklist as a reminder of what I need to do at every stop. I’d probably get to step 8 in this list, then go “Meh! - roll!” and miss the remaining steps. The most important ones were u front - getting the gas, getting the receipt and getting the photo of the receipt.
The extreme north east corner of Colorado was the next stop. Along the old main drag of town was the next location for fuel. This was a stop that I needed to mark a corner, a state and fill the bike with gas.
During this stage of riding, I wasn’t filling the bike; there was no need to do so, but there did need to be enough to get to the next location, which could be 120 miles away, so these fuel stops were only for a few dollars of gas.
The extreme north east corner of Colorado was the next stop. Along the old main drag of town was the next location for fuel. This was a stop that I needed to mark a corner, a state and fill the bike with gas.
Reading is fundamental - note on pump "no fscking receipt!"
A profane scribble about not providing receipts was on the face of the fuel pump. The station/convenience store had recently switched and was simply an unmanned fueling opportunity. I knew that a few miles away, I-76 has an exit, and with the exit were a couple of fuel opportunities. I left, got my fill-up and good receipt; onward to ‘fly-over’ country.
Another state, another corner. Full tank? Let's go!
Crossing Nebraska on I-80, I’ve got 360 miles and farmland. I then got onto a phone call chatting with wife for a bit. I’ve mentioned this in past ride reports, but the nice part about these conversations is it’s a lot like having her on the back of the bike.
Two hundred miles of this
Now, typically, I’d converse a bit via text message. No, I’m NOT typing them out on the keyboard! I’m using Google Assistant to take my words and turn them into text messages that are sent. When a text arrives, I get a chime, and at my convenience, I have Google Assistant read my latest text message. I also had a couple of other conversations, one with a friend in California, another with a friend that’s in Washington D.C. It made that stretch of road much easier to deal with. So did an hour or so of music.
I mean, it's different than it is at home.
It just seems to go forever...Iowa border with Nebraska (Missouri River)
Yet another uneventful fuel stop that got me across Nebraska, then came the first Iowa corner. If you note there’s a few places that there are some directional changes to be made over the next 200 miles. Yep, each one needs to be marked.
Iowa stop. Who is shuffling into the store there?
I did get turned around a bit in this Iowa town. It’s laid out in a grid, but there’s only a single road back to the highway that takes you back to the Interstate. I wasn’t allowing the GPS to recalculate -again, me being smarter than the tool - ha! Eventually, back on the road, and onto the next routing challenge - getting to Kansas.
You can simply look at a town like St. Joseph, MO and know it’s been around a while - and the engineers who were given the original task of creating limited-access roads in the area were creative. Putting a freeway right next to the Missouri River - probably the only way to do it.
Put an elevated freeway right next to that river - what could go wrong?
A few loops, ramps, and bridges - Kansas. I pull up to the fuel island, and I see an officer in an unmarked patrol car. The radar antenna in the dash, along with the antennas bristling from the roof...kinda gives it away. He left before I did, so I’m not sure where he’ll be hiding, but I only have a mile to get back to Missouri.
Forty miles of busy four-lane highway gets me to my Missouri stop - at the intersection of this highway and the freeway that’ll take me into Iowa (again) and my lodging. It’s later in the day, so mind goes “rush-hour-traffic”, and all I want to do is get me onto northbound I-35.
I can't get on that Intersate fast enough - get me outta here!
When I did, it seemed that it was even more hectic - what?? Many of those that were really pushing that 70MPH limit around here - Texas plates. Okay, so why would a crap-load of Texans be hauling-ass into Iowa? Never did get the answer.
An hour-and a half later, I pull into my evening’s lodging choice in a small town south of Des Moines.
Now, earlier on, I’d mentioned that I had only made three reservations in advance on this trip. That’s kinda-sorta true. I had a list of two or three options at any given location that I’d pre-determined would be a good day’s effort. Last night, one of my tasks was to make arrangements for tonight. I’m just not a fan of walking in and getting pot-luck for a room choice or a room rate. It might be good, it might be terrible. In a tired condition, I’m not one to make decisions like that.
Once set up with a major chain, it’s be a few minutes and reservations are there for you when you arrive - no matter your arrival time.
Another day ends, another cheap motel awaits.
Tonight here in Iowa, I did great. Unfortunately, tomorrow night’s location? Smoking rooms only - ugh! Well, I’m probably pretty rank-smelling myself, so it’s not going to matter.
Another phone call home, all is well I’m not much of a listener especially when tired. My voice probably gives away a bit of fatigue that’s beginning to kick in. I need another good dose of sleep. With today’s effort, the longest three-day stretch I’ve even done on two wheels - 3061 miles is done. One more (nearly) thousand mile day tomorrow - do I have it in me?
THE RIDE CONTINUES - CLICK HERE!
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