Day 3 on a motorcycle

I went 598 miles today and arrived in Little Rock.

I've not had a motorcycle in a while and I've only done this long
distance thing once before so I'm not well versed on the norms and
oddities of the road. In another blog I talked about the wind being
the single most challenging and demoralizing factor in riding a
bicycle. Then last night I confided in a dear friend my realization
that the wind is in fact "the enemy of all things on two wheels"

This morning after three hour of riding, I was ready to quit. I was
tired and sore and my mask was damaged in an annoying, insatiably
tickling my nose, way. I'd been riding at a 45 degree angle all
morning, just trying to hold a straight line against the wind. Every
time I passed a semi truck (seriously if those huge things are
semi=1/2 then what's full?) I had to wrestle my bike to keep from
careening down the freeway end over end. Then the most glorious thing
happened as I was filling up for gas... "How'd you like that wind this
morning, boy that was hell wasn't it? I hate it when that crap pops
up" said the leader of the group of bikers filling up next to me. He
was talking to me FYI. I was pleasantly surprised, I guess I just one
of the gang.

With that single statement I was vindicated in my frustration,
exhaustion , and despair. It wasn't just me, all the bikers hate it.
Best of all, it was NOT normal. We regaled each other with our
severely diminished MPG (I was getting 23, they had 27. Doing 85 did
not help mine).

I wonder if it's normal to have wind like that in the plains and
desert and not in the forested areas. Would be cool to see norming
tables on that data. Oops hard to play the role of hard core biker
dude when referring to potential meteorological norming tables on
seasonal winds. So just ignore this paragraph.

Those guys must have cast a magic spell with their words. After the
realization of the adversity sunk in, the wind was gone. The only
force pressing constantly on my body were generated by my movement of
85-90 mph. Happily these forces were orders of magnitude less than the
morning onslaught. It is surprisingly enjoyable to ride a motorcycle
in conditions like this afternoon. And silly me I wanted to give up
and buy a plane ticket.

***quiz time***

Q: name a type of person that initiates conversations with bikers.
A: Other bikers

Q: name a type of person that avoids conversations with bikers
A: everyone else

Next time you see a biker at a gas station be nice. Remember he may be
someone just like me (or me). Also its important to point out the
converse. Next time you see a biker at a gas station, be careful, he
be someone just like me.

Traveling alone on a bike is not scary. Think about it what are you
afraid of on the road? You're afraid of the crazy loaner bikers.
Honestly I'm probably the scariest thing out there.