Packed up and went to the Prairie Rose restaurant to meet Cowboy from advrider. On the phone the other night, he said look for a guy with a bright green jacket. Easy enough to spot him when I got there. Unfortunately he gave me the bad news and said I-80 was closed on the way to Cheyenne and there was really no other way to go East. Well, I guess I was stuck there for a while. We had breakfast and talked about riding, life, etc. By the end of our breakfast, we went back into his office to check the road conditions. I-80 was still closed, and the only other way out was a 150km detour. Only problem is that I would be going through a mountain pass and it was likely to be bad there. Well, you be the judge.
Road looks a bit slushy and the snow is just blowing across the road. It wouldnt be too much of a problem so I took the detour since I had to make up some ground. Although there was no snow or slush on the ground, it was worse than I thought. Black ice. The tire tracks were clear of black ice but the road surface between the tire tracks were covered in black ice. I started seeing cars spun out in the ditch and I started to wonder if I was a little crazy. It wasnt the first time someone thought I was a little crazy so maybe it was true.
Well, I eventually got to Fort Collins, Colorado, and headed East to Nebraska. My goal was to head as far East as possible before I took a break. I was in for another surprise....Tornadoes.
The storm was ahead and I knew it wasnt going to be good. Heavy rain is not too much of a problem for me, Ive ridden it before so I pushed on. The rain got heavier and rain turned into hail and storm winds. I think I've pushed my luck too far. Hail started to accumulate on the road and it sent me all wobbly. I managed to get the bike under control, I spotted a highway underpass where I stopped. Highway underpasses are not a good place to stop in tornado conditions but I could not risk wiping out on the hail. Visibility was 50-100m and if I wiped out, I surely would have been run over by the many trucks using I-80. Interestingly enough, across the interstate, there had been a spun out car, that is how bad the storm was. Ask this guy:
Eventually, the weather lightened up a little and I was able to head to the next exit where I found a place to stay. As I pulled up to the hotel, I saw another bike. A BMW. The rider asked me where I was from. It turns out that he was from Toronto too and runs his own site http://adventuremotorcycleroutes.ca/ Cool!
Called it a night and hoped tomorrow would be a little better...
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