The late afternoon August sun irradiates the cityscape, roasting the glass, steel, and concrete no less than it would a barren desert. The barrage of traffic beating it's way across the weathered and torn freeway stirs the air, breaking the images that would otherwise be mirages. This is Saint Louis, the gateway to the west.
The BMW touring bike is sporting a hot and tired rider through the building five o'clock rush hour traffic. The rider and his steed have both traveled a long and tiring 790 miles in the last 12 hours and while the rider may be reluctantly facing the remaining 250 miles the motorcycle is faithfully putting the miles behind them. The traffic builds and then slows and then stops. The rider, with a painfully full bladder, looks for a service stop visible from the freeway. None are in sight and he debates exiting to search for a rest stop. A 10 or 15 minute break at this crucial time in rush hour traffic could easily become an overall delay far greater than the actual off road time, the bain of the long distance rider. As each exit, void of any signs of facilities, slowly comes and goes in the rush hour traffic he squirms in the saddle. Finally, a candidate exit approaches but the traffic is no longer stop and roll it's actually moving at a good clip. Stopping now would cost valuable time and miles. The process repeats several times, traffic slows and with no exits in sight, traffic flows and exits are aplenty; what a conundrum. After 30 miles of this cat and mouse game the city traffic abates and the GPS shows an icon for an interstate rest area only five miles ahead. The rider presses on.
The rider speeds into the vacant rest area grateful that he has managed to minimize the rush hour traffic delays. After relieving himself and splashing cold water on his face he has a chance to admire the long afternoon shadows being cast across the scenic rest stop. The waning sun isn't as harsh as it was and with a freshened outlook he remounts the bike, secures his gear, and presses on.
One hundred miles from Kansas City, 950 miles on the trip meter, 15 ½ hours on the clock. With the cooling of the evening and the reduction of the aches and pains as a result of some aspirin the rider begins to think that he has not reached his limit and can keep riding. Checking his GPS trip meter he sees that his average moving speed and overall trip speed are on target to reach a next level milestone of 1500 miles in less than 24 hours. Thoughts of adding 500 miles, destinations, and routes circle within the fatigued brain. The debate centers on the overall trip. Adding another 500 miles translates to 1000 in the long run, he will have to ride back to reach his final destination which is Kansas City.
Since this is the first long distance ride he has made, making it a 2000+ mile trip may be more than he bargained for and becomes the deciding factor. He would later discover how prophetic this thinking would be, deciding to not press on was a wise decision.
(to be continued)