Long Way Up...and Over! 2011 Alaska Motorcycle Trip: Day 31: Terre Haute or Bust!

We’re off to Terre Haute today, but first I spent a little more time visiting with my mom.

Mom likes BMWs too!

Herb and Mom. Aren’t they a cute couple!

We departed Branson around 9:30 am and immediately encountered some light rain.

Actually it felt wonderful and kept the temperature down nicely.

The rain cleared in an hour, but remained overcast and cooler through most of Missouri.

Is it cooler wearing a heavy black leather jacket in 111 F temperatures?

Kd and Alli both were correct. The answer is yes. And I proved it by taking my off for a mere 40 mins. I thought I was going to die! Felt like riding through a blast furnace. No cooling effect, and the only sweat I felt was in my eyes, mixed with sun block.

Coats are insulating devices. We usually wear them when its cold, allowing our body heat, 98.6 F, to form a pocket of warmer air inside the coat, keeping us warm. In theory, the warmest temperature inside the coat, assuming adiabatic conditions, is 98.6 F, over ten degrees less than 111 F! When temperatures are above 98.6, the temperature inside the coat, assuming it is “insulating”, must be cooler than outside. You still need some ventilation to allow your sweat to evaporate keeping you body temperature down. Hard lesson!!

Rode Interstate 44 to St. Louis.

This would have been a great rest stop a few days ago.

New road construction gave an option of which lane to ride . . .

. . . and presented a couple refreshing new views!

Of course, traffic picked up as we headed Northeast. The silver Prius ahead of me played leap frog with me 5 or 10 times. At least enough to attract Mick’s attention on a day blog material was hard to come by.

Mick’s odometer turned 53,131 indicating Mick has ridden one more mile on the K1200 then its previous owner, Ron. Yep. I’ll bet Mick dropped it one more time, too!