Day Five: I’m a Murderer
Despite the shitty hotel this was the longest nights rest I had all trip but it was also the night after my longest ride yet. I discovered the walls at the motel were quite thin when the husband of the Calgary couple I was talking to the night before was waking up with a headache and voicing his displeasure. Thank god they put me on the opposite end of the building so I didnt have to hear that prostitute that checked in before me whistle moan through her mouth whose teeth have been nabbed by the meth goblin.
I drove up a portion of the lake with a mission to take a picture of the floating golf green they have on the casino course but the road was blocked off to the public. I moved along down the way and found a nice clearing where a van full of travelers were camped out, I my motorcycle woke them up but it was 9:30 and I will apply the whistle tips (google it if you dont know) theory to justify my total lack of caring. A mounted up my gopro camera to the stick on attachment I applied to my break reservoir and removed some mounting brackets hoping that less would help with vibration. It didnt which means mostly unusable video. I decided that I’d just one arm it the rest of the trip and the results are infinetly better in both angles and total elimination of vibration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Li71FJHP1c
My goal for the day was to get the 90e and 15 junction and decide my path from there. Head south to Jackson Hole or continue east to bozeman and make it to Yellowstone the next day. I had already been leaning against it due to my early unexpected expense delivered by the state of Washington. Between Coaur D Alene I only made one non gas stop. One of the gas stops I made off 90E had a sign that read Paradise 20 miles which made me chuckle. I pulled in gassed up and went inside to buy some water. On my way out I noticed a few people standing around with a Frenchie and two pugs which are both breeds I love and snapped some pics of them. On my way back to the bike I started chatting with the clerk that rang me up, he asked me where I was headed and I said to Butte. The clerk also had a motorcycle and he advice to take a more scenic route which I said sounded good but was honestly thinking I should just keep going the fastest route. After strapping up and arriving to the intersection of 90 and his route I said “fuck it” and took the route he suggested and I’m glad I did.
The road runs almost entirely along the river, had minimal traffic, and lots of points to stop and take pictues. The detour was supposed to be another 5-10 mins but ended up adding another 45-1hr with all the stops I made. At one point betwen stops as I was gawking at the river I was engulfed in feathers. It looked like someone blew up a down pillow infront of me, i leaned forward to see if I hit something and sure enough a bird met its demise on the hard black frame of my motorcycle. I feel that the stunning view of the river was natures way of saying “Hay bud, why dont you look away as I kill this bird” I can also assume it was natures way of telling the bird “Hey,this is what you get for being a fucker your entire life”. I feared that maybe it hit and damaged my radiator or oil cooler but the only thing it did was add a red splatter paint job to a portion of my frame.
I ended up refueling in Butte where I decided that their city slogan should be “Butte: heh”. As I was leaving Butte there was a lot of construction so traffic was backed up and 25mph for a good 30 miles (Jesus this is all so ripe with heh’s). I finally escaped Butte (sigh) and got moving towards the 90/15 junction. Wind was at my back going east making 80mph feel like 30mph which is nice and dangerous but with the ticket fresh in my mind I stayed lawful for the most part. When I got to 15 I decided to go for the Jackson Hole route but as soon as I started heading south that easternly wind hit me hard and would shove me full across the lane even when tucked. I had totally forgotten how long it was to Idaho Falls which is where I intended on sleeping that night if I had choosen that route but after as many miles behind me the prospect of doing another 200 battling harsh crosswinds and dusk approching I decided on Bozeman. This turned out to be a very wise choice.
Bozeman was 84 miles from the junction and I reached it in decent time. Brown Yellowstone National Park signs began showing up and lifted my spirits. In the distance there was a rainbow, north of me I could see rain and the edges of the road were still damp. With the wind at my back I figured rain wold be a nonfactor and I had dodged any threat. I arrived in Bozeman used yelp to find the hotels in the area and haggled with the Quality Inn to a price lower than the Super8 @ 84 a night. Just as I was unpacking my gear I looked to the west and a storm has formed with massive lightning strikes and thunder. The mountains must have fucked with the wind and sent the storm another direction. By the time I’m totally unloaded the winds were blowing south about 40mph and rain was coming down in sheets. Had I gone all the way into Bozeman i would have been rained on had I taken another 8mins at a gas station I’d be riding in a lightning storm. They let me park under the entrance selter and I stayed in a room that felt fit or a king compared to budget hooker motel I stayed in the night before. Over 370 miles were traveled this day, my body ached all over and I was ready for some sleep.
