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On The Road with Lou!
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- North America
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Location Date Alberta 1534892400 Montana 1534719600 Idaho 1534633200 Nevada 1534546800 Colorado 1534460400 New Mexico 1534374000 Arizona 1534287600 Kansas 1533942000 Missouri 1533769200 Nebraska 1533596400 North Dakota 1533510000 British Columbia 1471561200 Alaska 1471129200 Texas 
1439506800 Louisiana 1438988400 Wyoming 1438470000 Mississippi 1409353200 Florida 1409266800 Pennsylvania 1408575600 Georgia (Usa) 1407970800 Tennessee 1407711600 Ohio 1312844400 Washington D.c. 1312498800 Maryland 1312412400 Indiana 1312326000 Iowa 1312153200 Minnesota 1312066800 Saskatchewan 1311894000 -
Location Date Fort Stockton
1439506800 Corpus Christi 1439334000 Winnie 1439247600 Marlin 1438815600 Post 1438729200
While I normally avoid the Interstates wherever possible there was simply no effective way to get out of CC without using them. First was I-37 northwest bound to San Antonio. 37 was moderately traffic'ed out of CC, but the density increased geometrically as we approached SA. San Antonio is a hub with a complex labyrinth of interchanges. I was looking for I-10 which is an Interstate that runs from one side of the country to the other, from Florida to California.
The first time I saw a sign for I-10 the exit was 3/4 of a mile away and I was in the HOV lane, far left. HOV is high occupancy vehicle, and luckily it is based on how many seats are occupied out of how many seats available. In my case it is one butt in one seat 100%. I had to hustle across 6 lanes of 90+ mph bumper to bumper traffic to make my exit. Sorta a modern day Frogger, but with more serious consequences for touching an obstacle.
I made the exit with only getting honked at once, luckily in my fancy aftermarket Arlen Ness mirrors I can't see **** behind me so I am pleasantly oblivious to getting the bird from behind. The road turns from NNW to W as it approaches Austin and within 50 miles of that city we are back to a pretty much desolated road.
The riding is great, on a very smooth freshly paved 2 lane divided, especially as my speed is usually between 120 - 140 kph, in fact I had a big tail wind mid afternoon and it was struggle to keep it under 160 kph, which is 100 mph. I started seeing the cloud swags on the horizon and I was rained on once for about 30 seconds. It was sunny out, but rain had fallen as the road was wet and it was just petering out. That to me is a perfect amount of rainfall, just enough to get slightly dampened, provides about 30 minutes of cooling.
There started to be more and more rainfall swags but the road always seemed to veer at the last minute so I kept missing them. It is a familiar game, ride towards the light, get soaked in the dark.
I was shooting for Ft. Stockton, TX which will be over 700 km, a somewhat higher mileage day. About 100 miles east of Stockton I started seeing windmill farms, which as you know, I am a big fan of, but I have also learned that where there are mills there is wind.
The highway would run from hilly sections to flat areas maybe 15 miles across. As we would come out of a hilly section there would be wind farms to the right and signs warning of cross winds; right to left.
They weren't kidding, the cross wind was vicious and I had to ride in a hard right turn to keep going straight. That would be OK if the wind wouldn't suddenly stop for 3 seconds and then blow full speed again. I was struggling at the bars to keep it in between the lines, luckily it was a 2 lane divided so I wasn't dealing with on coming traffic but I was driving next to the right line in the right lane and being pushed into the left lane every 10 seconds.
The wind was very low, it would sweep across the road at ankle level and literally blow the bike out from underneath me. I would need to straighten it up and then turn right, hard into the solid mass of air. At the same time I had to keep an eye on the mirrors so I didn't cut anyone off passing me in the left lane. At one point a semi passed me on the left while I was literally pushing right with all I had to avoid being blown into him. He gave me 3 toots on his horn, I hope he was saying 'Good Job' but he could have been saying 'Watch Out' or something worse!
The road passed through a hilly section and I got a reprieve from the cross winds, in fact it suddenly became dead calm. I was approaching a wind farm with a rain squall over top of it. There was intense lightning over top of the mills and the forks would hit the tips of the blades as they spun around. I stopped to shoot some video of it, and I was about 25 miles short of Ft. Stockton. I was hoping it would stay like this all the way in, but I have learned to live with disappointment when it comes to the weather!
We drove through another hilly section and when we came out the other side there were the mills and there was the crosswind warning sign and there was the rain swag. The cross wind hit me in the right ankle and pushed me right across the road as if I had sideways wheels. I was in the left hand shoulder about to enter the ditch. I always remember a line from a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Instructor, "You Go Where You Look". I looked fondly at the other ditch and tossed a glance in the rear-view mirror, I started to slowly get back over. I was squeezing out copious amounts of handlebar juice as well to add to the chaos. I was gonna need a crowbar to crack open the sphincter after this ride!
This happened twice more before I finally got the message. SLOW DOWN fer chissakes! I moved over to the right shoulder at about 80 kph, then 60, then finally about 40. At 40 I could manage things. Then the rain got fierce. On the Ping, Doink, Twack meter I would call it a Hard Twack. The wind was blowing the rain horizontally across the road in sheets like snow. Here is a picture taken out of a video, it does not represent how hard it was raining or blowing, but you may get some sense. As I write this my Internet connection prevents me from uploading video.
The harder the rain fell the more the wind subsided, and I will take that trade any day. (OK, I'd hafta re-evaluate that if it was a tail wind!) I came up to the Stockton exits and took the first one I saw with a sign advertising the Budget Inn! Fate had also placed it next to a Shell station and a Pizza Hut! I was being treated to a Tri Fecta after my trying day, but the surprises weren't done. Upon entering my room I found this incredible Orange wall!
I hustled to get beverages from the Shell station into the sink on ice, and phoned in a pizza pickup. I had a quick shower, arranged items for drying and popped across the street to get my grease wheel. I also got a salad. As I was getting back to m'otel it was starting to rain again as another violent system moved through the area with spectacular thunder and lightning. My pizza party finished with some Top Gear on NetFlix and some blogging.
Day 16
Corpus Christi, TX to Ft. Stockton, TX
735 kms
The first time I saw a sign for I-10 the exit was 3/4 of a mile away and I was in the HOV lane, far left. HOV is high occupancy vehicle, and luckily it is based on how many seats are occupied out of how many seats available. In my case it is one butt in one seat 100%. I had to hustle across 6 lanes of 90+ mph bumper to bumper traffic to make my exit. Sorta a modern day Frogger, but with more serious consequences for touching an obstacle.
I made the exit with only getting honked at once, luckily in my fancy aftermarket Arlen Ness mirrors I can't see **** behind me so I am pleasantly oblivious to getting the bird from behind. The road turns from NNW to W as it approaches Austin and within 50 miles of that city we are back to a pretty much desolated road.
The riding is great, on a very smooth freshly paved 2 lane divided, especially as my speed is usually between 120 - 140 kph, in fact I had a big tail wind mid afternoon and it was struggle to keep it under 160 kph, which is 100 mph. I started seeing the cloud swags on the horizon and I was rained on once for about 30 seconds. It was sunny out, but rain had fallen as the road was wet and it was just petering out. That to me is a perfect amount of rainfall, just enough to get slightly dampened, provides about 30 minutes of cooling.
There started to be more and more rainfall swags but the road always seemed to veer at the last minute so I kept missing them. It is a familiar game, ride towards the light, get soaked in the dark.
I was shooting for Ft. Stockton, TX which will be over 700 km, a somewhat higher mileage day. About 100 miles east of Stockton I started seeing windmill farms, which as you know, I am a big fan of, but I have also learned that where there are mills there is wind.
The highway would run from hilly sections to flat areas maybe 15 miles across. As we would come out of a hilly section there would be wind farms to the right and signs warning of cross winds; right to left.
They weren't kidding, the cross wind was vicious and I had to ride in a hard right turn to keep going straight. That would be OK if the wind wouldn't suddenly stop for 3 seconds and then blow full speed again. I was struggling at the bars to keep it in between the lines, luckily it was a 2 lane divided so I wasn't dealing with on coming traffic but I was driving next to the right line in the right lane and being pushed into the left lane every 10 seconds.
The wind was very low, it would sweep across the road at ankle level and literally blow the bike out from underneath me. I would need to straighten it up and then turn right, hard into the solid mass of air. At the same time I had to keep an eye on the mirrors so I didn't cut anyone off passing me in the left lane. At one point a semi passed me on the left while I was literally pushing right with all I had to avoid being blown into him. He gave me 3 toots on his horn, I hope he was saying 'Good Job' but he could have been saying 'Watch Out' or something worse!
The road passed through a hilly section and I got a reprieve from the cross winds, in fact it suddenly became dead calm. I was approaching a wind farm with a rain squall over top of it. There was intense lightning over top of the mills and the forks would hit the tips of the blades as they spun around. I stopped to shoot some video of it, and I was about 25 miles short of Ft. Stockton. I was hoping it would stay like this all the way in, but I have learned to live with disappointment when it comes to the weather!
We drove through another hilly section and when we came out the other side there were the mills and there was the crosswind warning sign and there was the rain swag. The cross wind hit me in the right ankle and pushed me right across the road as if I had sideways wheels. I was in the left hand shoulder about to enter the ditch. I always remember a line from a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Instructor, "You Go Where You Look". I looked fondly at the other ditch and tossed a glance in the rear-view mirror, I started to slowly get back over. I was squeezing out copious amounts of handlebar juice as well to add to the chaos. I was gonna need a crowbar to crack open the sphincter after this ride!
This happened twice more before I finally got the message. SLOW DOWN fer chissakes! I moved over to the right shoulder at about 80 kph, then 60, then finally about 40. At 40 I could manage things. Then the rain got fierce. On the Ping, Doink, Twack meter I would call it a Hard Twack. The wind was blowing the rain horizontally across the road in sheets like snow. Here is a picture taken out of a video, it does not represent how hard it was raining or blowing, but you may get some sense. As I write this my Internet connection prevents me from uploading video.
The harder the rain fell the more the wind subsided, and I will take that trade any day. (OK, I'd hafta re-evaluate that if it was a tail wind!) I came up to the Stockton exits and took the first one I saw with a sign advertising the Budget Inn! Fate had also placed it next to a Shell station and a Pizza Hut! I was being treated to a Tri Fecta after my trying day, but the surprises weren't done. Upon entering my room I found this incredible Orange wall!
I hustled to get beverages from the Shell station into the sink on ice, and phoned in a pizza pickup. I had a quick shower, arranged items for drying and popped across the street to get my grease wheel. I also got a salad. As I was getting back to m'otel it was starting to rain again as another violent system moved through the area with spectacular thunder and lightning. My pizza party finished with some Top Gear on NetFlix and some blogging.
Day 16
Corpus Christi, TX to Ft. Stockton, TX
735 kms
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