BF to BS Sans BB

11 May 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada

Bun Froster to Bun Scorcher with no Bun Burner...

Turns out the "start" receipt from the gas station did have the correct time on it but it was hidden in the transaction code.  So we were okay as far as that receipt goes.  As it turns out, none of the receipt problems will be a factor because we were time barred from completing the ride anyway.

After following the first half of our flight plan to perfection (we arrived at the hotel in Laramie within minutes of the time I predicted) we ran into a little bit of a problem the next morning.  Upon waking up and turning on the weather channel I learned it was 24° outside.  Yes, that's in Fahrenheit...  This wasn't really that big of a problem.  Not nearly as big of a problem as the predicted 30 mph winds from the North that were to come if we sat around any longer.  Besides, we've got liners for our riding gear...  We've got Widder electric vests and chaps...  We're Endurance Riders, dammit!  Let's go!!

After a quick emergency repair to one of the plugs on my Widder chaps (one of the wires pulled out...  They really ought to tin the ends of those wires before they assemble them) we packed up the bike and took off.  Secure in the knowledge we had fourteen hours remaining to make the next eight hundred miles.  A walk through the park, actually.  Then it got cold.

By the time we reached our first gas stop at Wamsutter, Wyoming our water bottle had frozen solid and the temperature was down to 16°.  As well as electric chaps and vests work, they only do so much.  They don't keep your arms warm, they don't keep your feet warm (I have only my leather flightdeck boots), and they don't keep your hands warm.  I haven't figured the wind chill factor for 16°F at eighty miles per hour yet, but I think it can be found in the dictionary under "Damn Cold".  After a bit of discussion and a lot of warming up we decided to soldier on.  We are Endurance Riders, after all, and if this isn't enduring...

We made it as far as Point of Rocks, Wyoming (about 40 miles) before we had to stop to thaw out again.  Finishing the BB was looking pretty grim at this point.  I quickly calculated that if we keep stopping every half hour to warm up it would take us 42 days to reach Las Vegas from where we were.  We continued on...  About sunrise we had made it as far as Little America, Wyoming.  The temperature had risen to tolerable levels but reaching Las Vegas by the time the clock ran out on our 36 hour ride would have required riding far faster than I was willing to do.  After all, this is a fifty-state tour, not a fifty-state speeding ticket collection tour.  We bagged the ride and set our sights on making it to Las Vegas alive and unticketed.

As we passed the 36 hour mark we had only 1,358 miles on the trip.  We hit 1,500 miles at a little less than 38 hours.  Take away all the time we spent warming up and we would have easily made the ride.

The further south we went, the warmer it got, the more clothing we shed along the way.  By the time we got to the hotel in Las Vegas I was about ready to drop out from the heat.

One very encouraging thing happened, however...  As we were approaching Las Vegas, Tamara told me how disappinted she was that we failed to meet our goal and started trying to figure out when would be the next time we could try again.  She went from being apprehensive and unsure if we should do the ride to planning the next one...  I think she's got the LDRider Virus.

-Are We There Yet?

Travel Stats:
Miles Traveled 1,517
Total Average Speed 40.2
Total Moving Average Speed 70.5
Miles Traveled Total (including "local" travel) 10,515

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