When I woke up this morning I realized that yesterday I'd ridden through half of Minnesota and all of North Dakota. It was spectacular, stunningly beautiful. Leaving Minnesota the air was hot and dense with moisture, a storm was imminent. Riding west, I blasted through the cold front, the temperature dropped, and the sky began to clear. Home free! I thought.
North Dakota was more beautiful than I imagined, but the winds were formidable, 18 to 31 mph from the west, head on, with gusts to 42 mph. I was battered by the time I got to Minot, where I joined a party at Magic City HD. Detained by the festivities, with two hours to Williston, the wind picked up and I began to hit thunderstorms.
More stories to tell, but I left Williston this morning, and rode through eastern Montana. Perhaps the most beautiful roads yet. Another long day, and the thunderstorms began to brew. You can see them all around you, you hope the road does not lead through the next, but it does. I hit five or six with rain and hail, but avoided the biggest, blackest of them.
Arriving in Shelby, MT, the streets were flooded with debris, and the locals were talking about the storm, a 45 minute deluge. Hitting that on a bike would have been nasty, there is no place to hide out here.
Hey thanks! I have thousands of photographs, it hard to keep up with posting and riding 400 to 500 miles per day. Eventually I'll get a full account up. It's an awesome ride, with too many stories to tell. I'm at 2500 miles now, and nowhere near done.
I used to have some quick release bags on my Wide Glide, until one of them released too quickly. Never found it. If anyone is in the market for one saddlebag, I got you covered.
06-26-2016, 09:44 PM
