21:39 CDT, Bonne Terre, Missouri

We rolled out at 5:00 a.m. from Oga-la-lee-loo and made it four hole miles before it started to rain. I thought it was going to be a good idea to put on my dark visor and tough out the hour or so until sunrise.

Wrong choice. Rookie mistake. I still toughed it out….cautiously.

What can I say about Nebraska? For the lack in elevation changes they more than make up for with flatness.

We did have two surreal experiences today….or at least the monotony of the “drone” was relieved by first seeing a tourist site as we entered Nebraska. Perhaps impressive as the Great Platte River Road Arch covering I-80 is the reason why one would have possibly built it. Admittedly, I didn’t take a tour, but at freeway speed one puzzles on this point…for at least 50 miles…..which was a pleasant distraction. Well done Nebraska!

Once we rolled into Lincoln the humidity started to climb and the sky started opening up in earnest. Not hot yet as we’ve heard reports of 102 in St. Louis, but we stopped for gas and my one picture from the ride.

After we had left the humid and wet….but still cool Lincoln area this horrible thing happened. The rain stopped and the sun came out. This made it unbearably hot and humid. 101 degrees worth. And running point I wasn’t a cooked puppy like folks back home would know from staying out all day at boat races. I felt like a hot dog left in the tub of simmering water…..neglected and very, very moist.

…anyway…it was frickin’ hot and the air felt heavy….OK? I’m supposed to be an Iron Butt rider, but I was whining in my flip-face helmet and a wimp. So, I tried to put a postive sping on things……….

The nice thing about the IBR starting in Missouri is that we’re going to immediately aim our bikes away from this sauna hell hole!

The second surreal experience happened in Blue Springs, Missouri. I chose it because it was slightly over half way from Lincoln and made the last leg slightly shorter….purely a mental thing that Lisa and Paul totally got!

Loading up on Gatorade this FJR rides up and it’s this dude from the FJR forum…..eeksnake! And we had seen him in Park City three weeks earlier. Weird cosmic coincidence….or he’s stalking us……. We exchanged pleasantries and he headed west back home to Vegas as we went deeper into the belly of the steamy beast.

We rolled into Bonne Terre about 5 p.m. and Bronce Smith’s home for a tire and oil change. He’s another member of the FJRForum and volunteered his shop to help us. We had sent off tires to his house weeks earlier, he arranged oil, had the fridge stocked with soda and water…and was the coolest host in the world!

To go over the top he arranged for a local auto parts store (B&D Auto Parts in Bonne Terre) to donate 6 gallons of Shell Rotella oil for free! My first and only sponsorship in this event. Thanks B&D!

And he has a nice shop with tire changer and lift. In fact, I got to break something in the first 30 minutes I was there. See anything wrong with this picture?

So, I apologized profusely, he was the ultimate host by blowing it off, and I signed my faux pas with a Sharpie.

We ordered pizza and spent the next few hours munching slices, changing tires, oil, and shooting the breeze in the humid evening. Also there were another FJRForum member, Bronce’s brother, and a Beemer guy. The cicadas were doing their 13 years dance and I defintely feel like I’m not in Kansas….or Washington anymore.

A picture of me sporting my official IBR haircut…..courtesy of a #2 clipper. Sweat is courtesy of the 427% humidity.

I also rethinked my notion of having him install a cruise control and instead took off one of my throttle springs. It was a good compromise as it just lightens up the throttle tension enough to let my Vista Cruise work without slipping. This will pay dividends after about day 5 when my right hand wants to seize up.

Greg is due in about 15 minutes having come from Arizona. And in the morning is a leisurley breakfast next door and migrate up to the Chesterfield Doubletree to unpack, relax, tire kick…….and get ready for the game that will start Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with tech. inspection.

UPDATE 23:00

Greg rolled in and looks unusually fresh. He should look more wiped out after his ride. Hmmmmmm.

UPDATE 00:15

Paul, Greg, and myself are like school girls, amped up, and getting no sleep. Greg is retelling his story about his cell phone scittering down I-something or other as it fell off the bike, jammed the brakes, and running back down the freeway to pick things up as he feared a semi would run the phone over just before he got there. He’s talking on the cell now to his girlfriend….with scratches and chunks missing. The battery sits precarioulsy askew. ….something clearly to occupy his Friday to fix.

Paul is lamenting our poor meal habits today and announces, “Is that Waffle House 24 hours….I’m hungry.” He just wandered off.

It’s like a high school sleepover….except that we have money to buy expensive bikes and hotel rooms for 3 weeks….just to ride around North America taking Polaroids of things.

We’re clearly nuts.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE 12:30

Paul is back and I thought he got aced out with a closed Huddle House….except that he says, “All I had today was a Hostess frickin’ fruit pie. They gave me eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and white toast…..I was outta there in 15 minutes….. I’m an LD Rider!”

….we’re going to try and sleep now. I’ll spare you the sleeping arrangements since Skooter got here. Suffice it to say two of us are gay.

UPDATE A DAY LATER

While we were finally about to drift off asleep Paul mentions that he runs Rotella oil in his Jetta. It hits me that three FJR owners all happen to be Volkwagen owners sleeping together. It’s confirmed….all three of us are gay! We finally drift off spouting stories of how many MPG we got. Not only are we all gay…..we’re all nerds.