Day 7 Great Falls to Miles City
More beautiful country. Hwy 87 south was a nice ride. The 70 MPH speed limit has it's pro's and cons, you can really chew up the miles, but it makes harder to spot photo-ops before you've passed them by. It also sucks the gas a bit faster. I was averaging about 44 when the speed limit was around 60-65 lately i've been down around 41-42. That's really not too bad considering how much stuff I'm packing. The camera and computer weigh a lot more than I'd have though. I can see why people decided to forgo camping - I could get rid of both dry bags if I didn't have any camping or cook gear.
I've had to pass up a couple of possible images because I couldn't find a place to get the bike off the road and still use the kickstand. The GPS wanted me to follow 200 though Jordan then down 59, but I though heading down 12 to 94 would be more interesting as the Yellowstone river runs along 94. Turns out I didn't see much of the river. Oh well, it' was only an extra 10 minutes.
Day 8 Miles City to Wall, South Dakota
Total Miles: 1,539
Miles today:
Got a late start today. Breakfast at the Comfort inn, nothing special, the bed on the other hand was fantastic. Far and away the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever experienced. Heading southwest - more or less directly into the sun. I decided to ride a bit slower since I was having some trouble with glare. Slower turned out to be a good thing, as 4 prong horns decided that bounding across the road right in front of me, I can safely say the ABS breaks work very well.
Three States in one day, pretty cool - Started in Montana, when though Wyoming, and I'm now in South Dakota. Ok I was only in Wyoming for about 30 minutes but, I was there. Once again I missed the State sign, I got the Wyoming sign, but never saw the South Dakota one. I suspect I was busy with traffic, although it's possible it just wasn't there... I stopped in Sturgis to see what a town that host the biggest biker rally in the world looks like ... Well it looks like a place that really likes Harley Davidson and the Sturgis Rally - it's every where! Even stranger, there's a BMW dealer in Sturgis. I ran into a guy from England who was on his way to New York to finish an Around the World tour. Turns out I'd talk with one of his traveling companions in Seattle at Ride West a week or two before I left. In that time they'd been up to Alaska and where now in South Dakota.
I considered adding an hour to my ride time today to see Mount Rushmore, but reactions from others lurked in the back of my mind and I decided to pass it by.
Gear woes:
I think I'm going to try a Bead Rider seat cover a try, mostly for the air flow, although it's supposed to do an excellent job of smoothing out pressure points. I'd also like to find some "breathable" knee armor, but I'm pretty sure there's no such thing. I can understand the logic in making the knee armor adjustable but putting a velcro sealed seam right on the knee joint was a mistake, when it gets hot I sweat, when I sweat the knee armor makes it hotter, and the seams chafe. It's not a problem with long underwear on, but who wants to where thermals when it's 84 to 92 degrees? Not me.
The bike is still too heavy, part of that is my fault, which is why I'm eating yogurt & carrots (not at the same time). The camera gear & computer are heavy, perhaps switching to a Sony Alpha 900 & 3 lenses would lighten the load, I suspect switching to soft bag would help but there are obvious security issues with that, might be worth the extra hassle, I need to think about it some more. Everything is a matter of trade-offs it a matter of picking the right ones, which I suspect is easier if the parameters don't change.
