Basta! I can't ride like that anymore!
It's impossible to take pictures and ride at the same time. There is such a
beauty around me that it is a real crime not to photograph it. Let's calculate…
One shot - stop and set my Magna, take out my camera, choose right position,
etc., etc - takes minimum 10 minutes. I take 30 shots a day with my regular
camera and 50-60 digital pictures. Multiply this number with 10, and we have
800 minutes!!! And where can I get the time to ride?
But I do move forward, I do!
It's been 2 days since my last letter, and I've made a hell of a move.
I wrote my notes at the gas station in Idaho, crossed Montana and reached Yellow Stone, national park, Wyoming this night. I am actually about 3 miles from the park, and I must see this miracle place tomorrow and get by the end of the day to Stugis. This is my plan for tomorrow, and I am going to tell you a little bit about my previous experience now.
I am still in Canada in my notes ;) Of course I am! I spend my day time on the road, and keep the night time for my writing - it is quit e uncomfortable to type lying on my stomach in the camping tent, or sitting on the ground at my Magna's engine till my back hurts. By the way, I woke up last night with only one thought in my mind - "laziness is your second nature, Sinus" - and right away I started to think this funny thought over, and why did it wake me up? Aha, I got it! I did not want to unpack my sleeping bag before I went to sleep, and - naturally - it got chilly by the dawn … You got the point ;) So it was time to find this sleeping bag ;)
My road goes very high above the sea level - about 3 kilometers. Thanks to the capacity of my Magna's engine it is very easy to go up the mountains, but when it's time to get down… well, imagine (if you can ;)) the Vladivostok road from Prospekt Krasoty down to Avangard… For those who have never been there - this is one of the most dangerous steep descent-ascent in Vladivostok. So, the one that I am talking about is much steeper. Let's say passing 2-3 kilometers of a road you move 700 meters down. It was unforgettable, by the crazy serpentine road I descended today from the Yellow Stone Plato - from height of 2700 meters to 1300 meters level. My speed was limited by 25 miles/hour and every time I'd look down and right I'd immediately got sick ;)
By the way, I've seen that famous Yellow Stone.
And I have to admit that I was not impressed. I spent a day for it, but did not see anything more that a couple of gazers and little boiling ponds. Well, there were some wild animals grazing around in groups. Somebody spotted a ËÎÑÜ, and the whole tourist crowd ran towards that poor animal. So did I :)
What was impressive though - prices on everything they have there: souvenirs, gasoline, and food. All prices are 15-20% higher than in a regular city that does not have such a tourist attraction like Yellow Stone park. Well, I may be very selfish in my judgment… it is beautiful there, and the one would need 2 or 3 days to see it all.
It was extremely hot today over there… It's great when you are on the bike, riding; but a soon as you stop to admire a boiling puddle, you immediately start boiling by yourself. And as you head down towards the valley, it becomes even hotter. Well, it is not actually a valley - I am at the height of 1250 meters above a sea level observing the landscape …
I noticed a very interesting thing - my Magna eats so much up here! Cannot feed her with a fuel enough J Yes, it's hard for her… I understand that. Probably she does not like mountains very much, like the one who is not a photographer. I was ready to fight with that bloody photographer in Yellow Stone today! Or he was not a photographer… and my Teddy looks at this things with his still-not-fixed eyes and makes fun ;))
It came to my mind - whatever you do to picture mountains, you will never be able to capture this monumental, spectacular beauty. You can catch a piece of a mountain, but not an entire atmosphere. To photograph mountains, you must be able to photograph. And I am not…
I passed a group of 8 bikers on the road yesterday - all riding over-too-much Harleys. They just 'walked' along the high way at 100 km/hour causing traffic jam. I took the median strip and easily left them behind …
In about 5 km I stopped at the gas station. Right at the time when I was ready to leave, this relaxed colonna was heading towards the station. Several men approached me and I noticed an image of "Angels From Hell" from Seattle at their backs.
People explained me before that one "angel" can be quite social, open for the
conversation and jokes; but two or more of them - it is a gang. And here they
are - 4 angels… Ok. I put #41 mask ("what the hell do you want from me?") on
my face and wait. It appeared that I broke The Rule by passing them - nobody
passes The Angels J Oops, I am in trouble! How would I know their rules after
all? And than one of them noticed my plates - "Russia?" Sure, Russia…
-Where are you going?
- Sturgis
- Oh!!! There has never been a Russian at Sturgis…
I know for sure that a number of Russian guys from Canada and States regularly
come to Sturgis, but what's the point to argue? Ok. I presented my yellow little
pennant (thanks to "21 Century" Advertisement Agency!) to each of them and sad
Good Bye. I continued my trip and they stayed in the little cafe. See you at
Stugis! J Sergey Loner, Russian biker from New York, told me later that I was
very lucky - they could've berried me right behind that gas station.
It seems like I am too lucky these days…
What I wired story I made here… memories jump out of my mind one by one… no chronological order. Well, where am I? Still in Canada? Ok, let me continue my story than … JWhat I really liked in Canada is an absolutely free coffee at every gas station. Like in that old joke - "halyava, sir!" Unfortunately, I learned about this "halyava" too late - almost by the time I had to leave this friendly country. ;))
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