Day: October 8, 2008

In Cody – half hour from the park – great riding today. No Internet in
the park so next update tomorrow 🙂

Cold but dry. Can see the mountains already with snow!! Almost ran out
of gas – a guy at a rest area had 2 gallons to spare for $10 – would
not have made it! The next gas station was 35 miles down the road –
well – might have made it but not worth risking 🙂

Now off to secondary roads to Cody, WY. Right now in Buffalo, WY.

Going to do a lot of miles today – have to get to Yellowstone before a cold storm arrives!
Here is what the Weather Channel is saying:

… A MAJOR CHANGE TO COLDER AND SNOWY WEATHER IS HEADED FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN WYOMING THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY…

… A COLD STORM SYSTEM OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA IS FORECAST TO DROP INTO THE GREAT BASIN ON THURSDAY AND THEN STALL OUT OVER THE SOUTHERN IDAHO… NORTHERN UTAH AREA FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY…

… SNOW WILL LIKELY DEVELOP IN THE MOUNTAINS BY THURSDAY NIGHT…

… THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING WILL ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY…

… HUNTERS… TRAVELLERS AND OTHERS WITH OUTDOOR INTERESTS SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER FORECAST OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. THE MILD… EARLY FALL WEATHER IS ABOUT TO COME TO AN END WITH A SUDDEN SWITCH TO WINTER CONDITIONS.

But then again – the Weather Channel OFTEN exaggerates in their forecasts – SEVERAL times in NY they would forecast rain one day and the rain would never get there.

In any case – don’t want to risk being caught in snow… probably one of the most dangerous things on the road is black ice… the bike simply “disappears” from under you.

Wish I had a thermometer on the bike to see if the temperature is at or below freezing point – I guess I will have to feel it 🙂

Kind of long video but it was a great day for capturing video 🙂

This is the photo album I will be collecting all of the photos from the trip:

Wow – truly impressed with this restaurant – great food and lovely
decor!

At a very nice Italian restaurant in Spearfish, SD and was
contemplating on what a great tool the iPhone and the applications
that have been written for it are.
Besides the obvious email checking and map/routes I can read about the
place I am in, update my location straight to a map, check what my
friends are up to on Facebook, play Backgammon and many other geeky
stuff.
But most of all at the moment is the companion it is while I'm eating
alone 🙂

Gorgeous day today – sunny all the way – even peeled off some layers off of my gear – too hot 🙂
Went through the Badlands National Park and through Black Hills National Forest where Mount Rushmore displays the face of 4 American presidents sculpted on the face of a mountain. Beautiful and such a refreshing change from the flat and straight roads of eastern South Dakota.
Very annoyed with my headphones (Ultimate Ears super.fi 4vi) – it’s the 3rd time they break on me – fortunately the company sends me new ones – and fortunately I brought some extra sets – but annoyed because they simply sound amazing and block outside noise like no other… Small things that really put you in a bad mood in a trip like this.
Another annoying thing is my card that has been cloned – probably in Miami – had to cancel it and send faxes to Citibank so that they can open the investigation – fortunately I have a second credit card that I can use!
In any case – small stuff compared to this amazing trip I am taking – cannot complain at all 🙂
The bike is riding amazingly well and very comfortable.
Interesting how everyone appreciates the bike around here – back in NY no one had the slightest clue of what kind of bike it was – no one had ever heard of KTM – here everyone asks if I like the new 990, say they have some smaller dirt KTMs at home and so on… guess it’s all in the kind of riding people do… NY is all about Ducatis and speed bikes… middle America is all about off-road and extreme sports I guess.
Off to dinner and then going to upload some more photos and pictures of the day 🙂