Left a sunny Shelby, MT at 1030 riding southbound on a deserted secondary highway with a hard following tailwind. A tailwind makes biking all the more enjoyable as it minimizes the buildup of air on your chest and face. I experimented with windshields in the 90's but never found a suitable one and I have eschewed them ever since, sticking with the pure experience of wind in the hair. At least as much as a full face helmet will allow!

Many US states still do not have helmet laws and in my impressionable youth I used to take mine off when riding but the truth is, it is just not comfortable. It is very noisy, you can't have tunes, you have to keep your lips pursed like Steven Seagal lest your mouth fill with air and your cheeks puff out painfully. I really don't have any place to carry my helmet, other than on my head really. Also the old joke about bugs in the teeth is not really a joke, I caught a dragonfly on the chin once while not wearing a helmet and its like hitting a rock!

The only drawback to the tailwind is opposing traffic has a headwind and semi's will push a bow wave of air in front of them. When we pass in opposite directions the bow wave causes considerable buffeting. This happens in all conditions, but a tailwind is the worst. Here is a short video clip of the buffeting;



None the less the driving was nothing short of spectacular this morning, the road I was on had very little traffic in either direction. Come along for the ride: This is 10 minutes compressed into 2:



The afternoon was little rocky (pun intended!) as I had 3 major construction delays. Start with a 30 minute wait for the pilot car, then we drive about 6 miles at maybe 5 miles an hour over an area that looks like it was carpet bombed! The unnecessarily slow speed, in my opinion, was especially frustrating as it wasn't fast enough to maintain balance, but not slow enough to use my feet. My hands were sore after the pass from modulating throttle and slipping clutch. See a time condensed video of part of one construction site, sadly my camera stopped recording about 3/4 of the way through;




At least at the next site the nice pilot car lady brought me up front so I only had to eat dust from one vehicle!

I am trying to get on the road earlier in the day so I can stop earlier, but you guys know what kind of a morning person I am! I have planned this trip around 600ish km days which should take about 6 - 7 hours, but today I had at least 2 hours of combined construction delays. I will keep my chin up and my attitude positive, still beats working for a living, eh?

Heading to Nebraska today, shooting for Scott's Bluff in the SW part of the state, I wanted to position myself directly in tornado alley to experience mid west weather. Hopefully I won't get more than I bargained for, which has happened in the past!

I welcome your questions and comments! Talk soon!