Day 3

Post date: May 10, 2010 2:40:23 PM

Route

Goal of 650 milies. 70 E through Denver. Kansas City? Not close. Made it from just before Grand Junction to Colby, Kansas and set up for the night at Country Club Rd. Motel for just $36. Total 500 miles. Parked the bike right outside my door, alarmed.

Environment

More alpine country. Saw nigh 8000 feet. A might chilly. Pleasure reached me when I crested the Rockies and descended into the flat, lowland of Denver and the Great Plains beyond.

Psychoanalytic

Today I had my first sensation of being “one with the road,” cliché as that may sound, as I headed for Rifle out of Grand Junction, following the Colorado River uphill. I can fathom why ancients thought the earth was atop a turtle’s back; the turtle is a metaphor for the universe, which they felt to be alive. At the fundamental, metaphysical level, they believed that they were organisms in an organism. It is early physics. That was their method of logic: metaphorical images. For them, however, the images more closely approximated the real thing of experience. We moderners are too desensitized and rationalized to notice. Today I rode on the turtle’s back.

Social

Checked emails at last, at the motel. The renter was a soft, middle-aged woman of God, with a boy of 9 peeking out of the back room of the little office. Is he so curious about all arrivals? The lady gave me a pleasant feeling. This is Kansas. Dirt, tractors, slow-hand people.

Technical

Low on oil, I picked up a quart in Grand Junction at a Harley shop. They had no 10W-40 on display, so I asked, and the gentleman handed me a BMW 10W40 that was non-specific as to its blend. Anyways, it should tide me over til Ft. Wayne.. Purchased another quart plus injector/carb fuel cleaner at Target, and added some of each to their respective tanks. Averaging 40mpg with this 175lb plus driver load at 80mph at roughly 3-4000 ft elevation. I anticipate higher mpg with the future dropped load, cruise territory of 70mph, and elevation closer to sea level. I am curious how the more humid climes will affect the power and performance of the bike. So far, I’m appropriating due respect to the bike, its reputation, and the bikers who endure treks as these. Constant exposure to the wind dries the skin, particularly the lips. Vaseline works better than chapstick. A crick in the neck and back lessens with focused attention on a singular, road-aligned horizonal point. I’ve learned half a dozen grips to roll on the throttle, driven by hand fatigue at the moment.

Weird/Wild

Had to wipe my butt with my handkerchief-snotrag this morning.