Aug 28/08 - Wind "Resistance"...

Thursday Aug 28/08 - Day 6

It is hard to leave Maryon in the morning – being typical Scots – we both have tears welling up. A nice ride into Okotoks, we stop at the Esso to refuel my bike. While there we meet a fellow filling his pickup. He commented on Rod’s Wing having owned the same year and model. Rod said that “it just keeps on going without giving me any problems”. The response he got was “Yes, not like a Harley”. Now, no dis-respect here to Harley riders but in his experience he had assisted a number of ‘dead’ Harley’s. In one case he stopped to help and the owner said he probably couldn’t as his Japanese wrenches would be metric and ‘the Harley’ would need imperial. With a smile he said he carried both in case he had to rescue a Harley fellow. A final comment was at least riding a Harley gives you something to do when you’re not riding… I believe he may have been referring to working on the bike…

After a quick coffee at Julian’s we head south on Hwy 2. The farther south we travel the more the wind picks up until we can no longer ride side by each as the wind shifts our bikes out of line. It used to happen to me a lot when I rode the sport bike with the full lower fairing but rarely on Paladin and I have never seen it shift Rod on the Wing. Loaded with all his gear and with Rod on it, it would tip the scales at 1200 pounds. I would be ½ that much. I’m not sure I’ll EVER get the cricks out of my neck from the attempt to keep my helmet from severing my head from my neck. My newly reinstalled flag pole seems to be holding up well but my new flag which ‘should’ be flying out behind me is stuck straight out sideways due to the immense cross wind. In an effort to change direction in the hope of lessening the wind we turned off Hwy 2 before Fort McLeod onto 810 intending to head to Glenwood for fuel.

No luck with the wind abating – those prairie grasses are lying flat and there is a huge temperature drop sucking the heat out of our bodies.

Coming over a ridge there are hundreds of wind turbines spinning at such a rate I wonder if they can come loose from their restraints. A sign proclaims a photo op for “Wind Farming”. We don’t stop. The turbines are almost mesmerizing as they appear to turn cartwheels over the grasslands.

We turn into Glenwood looking for fuel. At 106 miles on the tank I’m amazed I’m not yet on reserve as it’s likely the bike has been a little thirstier fighting with the wind. Idling up Centre Street and crossing Main, what appears to perhaps have been the only station in ‘town’ is closed and sports a “For Sale” sign. It looks like it may have been there for quite some time. We reach the end of the paved portion of Centre Street and turn the bikes around. Rod stopped to chat with a young fellow on a John Deere to inquire about where the next fuel station may be as we are both running pretty low. Their 2 dogs ran out to visit and then Mom and another brother came out. I felt a little panicky when she said it was about 35 km into Cardston. “I won’t make that distance”. Without hesitation she sent one son for the gas can and the other into the house to ‘get some shoes on. His white socks were a little worse for wear from the gravel drive. I said he may do differently when he has to do his own laundry. She laughed with mock exasperation and said “He already does his own laundry. He just don’t care. He’ll just wear them out and buy new ones”. Ah - the generation of disposables.


Not wanting to be greedy I just ask for a small amount I think will tide us through He is gazing longingly at Paladin and saying what a cool bike – I think he would have traded that John Deere in a heartbeat!

In true prairie fashion she refused to take a penny for the fuel. Remember now that gas at $1.25 per litre (about $4.70 per US gallon) that’s like giving away gold!!! Thank you Lisa for your wonderful generosity. Even at that we barely made it into Cardston and were both heavily into our reserve. At Lisa’s suggestion, we have lunch at “Our Place Café”. It sure didn’t look like much from the outside and I was having 2nd thoughts but my stomach overruled my head and I enjoyed one of the best beef dips I have ever eaten.

Mercifully, the wind died down some and the sun was peeking through. We crossed the border into Montana just after 3:00 p.m. After that the wind picked up with a vengeance with gusts over 100 kmph that brought an icy chill off the glacier. I pulled over to don my rain gear as the sky was looking ominous.

We fell quite short of our destination of Great Falls and decided to stop for the night in Browning, Montana. It is pretty much a one horse town and we stopped at a service station to ask what our options were for accommodation. Our option was one, a quaint little old fashioned motel but we were both so tired we just needed to get off the bikes and warmed up. After we unpacked the bikes Rod went down to the supermarket and picked up some nibblies that we enjoyed and called dinner. Tomorrow we head to the north gate of Yellowstone which is the northwest corner of Wyoming. We have a reservation at a B & B in Gardiner, Montana that sounds lovely. A 1903 home.