Crossed into Central Time zone. Passed a cop sitting at the median at 140+, no cherries. Long live South
Dakota!
Pit stop in Murdo. Refilled my hydration pack with ice. It's constantly above 40 for the last three hours. Oil temperature going up to 120 degrees, even at high speed. I'm not worried, I'll collapse much sooner than Suzy B will. No symptoms of any trouble - she purrs like a cat or roars like a lion at the twist of the wrist.
Remember what I wrote about getting used to the heat? Forget it! It's been between 40 and 44 all day. Strong wind gusts from the south on I90 are blowing me over to the left lane all the time. What's worse, those gusts are overheated too - I swear no less than 10 degrees hotter! It's not like a hair dryer on high, it's like one of those heat guns - it almost hurts how hot it is. Passing trucks at 150 is a scary affair. Terrible buffeting behind and on the side, topped with an amplified gust to the left as I pass the front of the truck. It
blew me almost to the left shoulder once, but I learned the trick how to do it safely. Why at 150, you ask? Because trucks are going 130 and I'm not going to ride next to them a second longer than absolutely necessary.
Crossed the Missouri river. Got chilled for a few seconds, just enough to make the subsequent heat even more brutal. I wish I could take a dip... Decided to press on as far as I can today, hoping to eventually get out of this crematorium.
Crossed into Minnesota. Two rest areas in a row closed. 200Km is too much to ride without a break in this heat (still constantly over 40, up to 44). Entered the second rest area ignoring the sign that says "Road closed". Screw it, gotta take a power nap in the shade. The bike almost tipped over as the kickstand sank into the melted asphalt. I caught it on time - it would be fun trying to pick it up with the kickstand acting as an anchor and with no hope of anyone passing by to help (it's a closed road, remember?). I later found out that all rest areas along my way were closed. A strike?
700Km so far today, all in terrible heat, at high speed and with a lot of side wind gusts. Have to put the helmet on or my head will explode
. Neither riding with with nor without the helmet is good for all conditions and every ride, especially if you are riding long distance. You get fatigued either way, so I chose to alternate having in mind benefits and risks of riding helmet(less). Life is not an exercise in risk avoidance but rather one of taking calculated risks - I wouldn't be on two wheels if I thought otherwise. Thankfully the state of Minnesota (as well as many other US states) allows me to make my own choice.
Except for the brief but intense beauty of Badlands National Park and it's roads this was a day of almost 1,100Km of superslab at over 40 degrees. I'm glad that's over, tomorrow should be more interesting, at least from Duluth on. Temperatures should be more comfortable too.
Got a weird tan from riding all day without a helmet, with goggles and inverted baseball cap. Have to work on it tomorrow before I cross the border into the nanny state of Canookistan.
Another personal record was set today.
My highest ever moving average speed - 120Km/h. It's not likely that I will ever break this one on any trip longer than a couple of hundred Km.
Sleeping at the outskirts of Minneapolis. No time to take a dip in the hotel pool, too tired. My gear, especially pants, is getting pretty stinky. I won't wash it now. It takes too much time and I'll be home in a few days anyway. it's not like I'll be attending any dinner parties either.
Total distance traveled: 1098Km
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