Wind, Sky, and Wheat

If Montana is Big Sky Country™, then southern Alberta should just rebrand itself Bigger than Montana (By a Lot). Monday I made the trip across Alberta on Hwy 1 surrounded by the bright greens, golds, blues and whites you see wherever the land is flat, the sun is shining, and the, uh, amber grain waves atcha -- the drive was remarkably reminiscent of the half-dozen or so trips I've made from Minnesota to Oregon across the American plains. Toward the end of day, for the last 200k or so before I hit Medicine Hat, I hit the worst wind I've ever encountered on a motorcycle. Because the bike is so loaded down with luggage it can act like a sail sometimes -- that it's relatively lightweight compared to a car doesn't help much either. I have no way of measuring how fast the wind was blowing, but there were stretches where I'd have to lean the bike upwards of 20 or 30° into the crosswind just to keep it upright, and I'd still get blown three or four feet to the side when big gusts came up. Passing (or getting passed by) semi trucks and their wind-wash all the while made an incredibly straight highway about as challenging as any twisty mountain road I've hit yet...