Day 6, High Plains Drifters

Stats:
Billings, MT to Shelby, MT
Distance: 304 miles

A bit of an odd day today; we got a lot done but it just didn’t involve riding. Prior to leaving the ATL I had made arrangements with the local Kawasaki dealershipto have new tires put on. Unexpectedly, this took up all of the morning and we didn’t get out to town until 1:00 PM. Yes, we were there when the doors opened at 9AM, and yes, it is a 90 min job to replace tires, but somehow that added up to 4 hours – must be that new-math. Truthfully, the wait was aggravating but the shop treated us well, and they were good guys to do business with – they just were not going to be hurried-up.

Escaping Billings put us on the path to Great Falls, MT by way of Route 3. One great thing about traveling in the west – there is absolutely no penalty for using two-lane vs. four-lane roads; you can do 80 mph on any of them. However, driving out west does have an odd effect on one’s vision: It is hard to adjust to anything up close after riding in these incredibly vast expanses. I think my eyes are now permanently focused just this side of infinity.

Last night Alan and I had a serious strategery session and came to the following conclusion: Getting our young selves to Prudhoe Bay is now the only objective. No more sightseeing. These last two days we have been enjoying the luxury of extra time, knowing we had a hard stop commitment for tires in Billings. This allowed us to check out some sites without detriment to the schedule. No more – all business now – strictly game-faces. The plan is to get to Prudhoe and back to Fairbanks, pronto. Then we can see how much time we have left and plan some fun from there. Tomorrow we cross into Alberta, Canada and start pushing for 500 miles per day.

Alan reminded me that I forgot to share a certain event in yesterdays log, and in the name of full disclosure, I acknowledge receipt of the first travel foul. Yes, I got pulled over by the local police in Moorcroft, Wyoming. With the help of some sincere begging and pleading and lots of “yes, sir, no sir” I got away with a warning. Alan thinks it was a setup because the cop spotted us coming into town and circled back to catch me speeding out of town. I think I was just a bone-head.