May 22, Winnipeg to Saskatoon was a beauty.

Like I said in my early morning post, I woke up to sunshine and a brisk 41 degrees. By the time I packed the bike, fueled her up, and took off, I was looking at 50 degrees. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and no rain in the forecast between start to finish of today’s route. It did not let me down.

At my first break of the morning, I needed to lose the double socks and Gerbing heated gloves. No I didn’t even turn the heat on but I was wired and prepared for the worse if it turned against me. The little town I stopped in was Brandon and it just happened they had an old vintage war plane sitting out front of a Comfort Inn Motel, so I walked over and took a few shots. It was a Bristol Bolingbroke Mk. IV. Never heard of it. Apparently three crew died when it crashed about 12 miles from Brandon. Later the Historical Society up here rebuilt the plane for display only in tribute to those men and those that served in World War 2. Pretty cool the things you run into just driving in different places.

What happens when you put an experienced motorcycle rider on a flat straight roads, no turns or hills in sight, and no scenery to speak of? Boredom!! As beautiful as the day was and it was perfect in so many ways, I had to find something to entertain me on the 7 hour, 503 mile leg. Singing to my Bluetooth I-phone inside my helmet was great, but I need singing lessons. I’m not that bad, but since I’m the judge and jury, I might be bias. Then there was the little toy girl figurine I was given to pose in any location of interest so the previous owner could get some laughs and likely show the kids. Do we have a name for the girl? I think it was Shortcake or something like that, but I need to re-name her something special. It’ll come to me, but if anyone has a suggestion, I will consider it. Remember, Judge and Jury, and I never said I would be fair. So, today I introduce my toy passenger checking out her makeup and hair at 70 mph’s. Then she is reading my Garmin to approve or disapprove my selected route. Finally, I give her a Titanic moment looking out the front of the BMW at 70 mph’s. If she screaming, I can’t hear it. Ok, can you tell I was just a little bored. No wife to harass, nothing but me and BMW.

You think I’m done with my boredom while riding post? Nope. How about a little video from my I-phone while cruising down the highway? Yep, set the the throttle lock and then set the phone up and shot a short 38 second video. I put a little music to it so you didn’t get blasted with wind noise through your speakers.

Ok, I think you get the point. Even though it was a fantastic weather day, the roads reminded me of Kansa or South Dakota. Not a lot of scenery but in it’s own right pretty. You could see forever and when there was a high point in the road, you could see the curvature of the horizon. What happens when you walk in a hot dessert without water for a day or two? Maybe that was it. I also got passed by a sportbike today, so finally another biker. I think all total, I saw 5 motorcycles today. Wind? Well it was there again today after about 1 or 2 pm, but I’m getting so use to it now, I can do it without my hands on the bars. Shhhh, don’t tell Lori!

How about a few catch up stats to put this ride so far into prospective. Since I left Saturday morning, I have done 5 legs or 5 days of traveling. Today I laid down 504 miles bring the total to date to 2,297 miles. That is an average of 459 miles per day. I also lost another hour in time zone, so I’m now 2 hours behind those on the East Coast. I have no idea now who is following me, so I do not know all the times zones, just mine and home. The next 3 days planned are calling for 500 miles plus per day if weather, roads, and body allow. My entry day into Alaska is proposed Sunday, May 26th, and that day will be relatively short mileage wise at 386. As far as the BMW goes, she is doing very well as expected. Yes, the tires are still hanging in there. Speaking of tires, the ones that are pounding the pavement for me have a nice wide flat pattern on them now. That crap happens when you never see a turn. Give me some corners to play in. I think I will be saving them all for British Columbia and the United States. I also need to pay a little more attention to the Spot Tracker because when that little green light stops flashing connect, I need to re-boot it or put a new set of batteries. I have some special recharable AA batteries where the top pop opens and I can plug them into a USB port. Disadvantage is that they do not last all day. I have two sets, so they will cover a day.

Tomorrow’s weather is not going as nice as today but it should not be raining. It will be a little cooler at 68-70 max, but the wind should be steady the entire route. I’m expecting 20-30 knot winds, but until I start driving, I will not know if they are cross, head-on, or pushing winds. Pushing winds are always nice. Looking 2 days out, it looks like I will again run into rain. I’m praying for more days like today, but I know I’m heading north so that is not reasonable. Still Cold and Dry would be a very nice thing to happen. Rain is just no fun to ride in and it ruins the views.

In my pictures of the day you will see some cool stuff. The large Windmill power generators, I got a shot of one being hauled down the Interstate. A few shots of trains and of course the War bird. I shot of the passing sportbike to prove it. Some of the horizon and what I saw. Then the figurine. I will do my best to get shots of her at different locations just for amusement purposes only.

Mike Browning  and Bob Gigeous, be careful on your return trip back to Virginia. They are out there riding motorcycles through VA, TN, KY, and WV. Sorry John Cassarly, time for you to come home from the islands and get back to work while I stay out on the rode. I’ll be thinking about you and others, while ya’ll are working. All of you, have a safe trip home.

Pictures of the Day