Here is a clip of a truck that shows what happens when 35mph winds and 50 mph gusts shove the back end of an 18-wheeler. Though the front of the tractor also gets shoved around, with the weight of the engine and the use of the steering tires, it is much easier to manage control of the front of the rig than it is the back.
My Truck : about 75' long total, 13 1/2' tall. It's like carrying an umbrella in high winds. Except a LOT worse. This went on for about 12 hours of driving over two days, about 720 miles across Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado. I watched my fuel mileage drop drastically from 6.5 to 5.3 over the span of one tank of gas. Enough struggling with both hands on the wheel (which is why the video is so short and shaky) to cause back aches, shoulder and neck pain, and tired arms.
Car drivers : I know it buffets you too. But please, DON'T ride in the quiet spot alongside a truck where you are protected from the cross winds!! I had a clown with his wife and infant baby in a pickup pulling a trailer do that for 20 miles - every inch of the way I was terrified my trailer was going to sidewipe him (he was going slowly in the wind, I was passing him, he realized the wind disappeared with me next to him, and he sped up and matched my speed - 50mph up hills, 70 mph down hills, til I finally put on my blinker at a split in the highway and made him think I needed to exit. Once I was back in front of him, he slowed down and faded out of site behind me struggling with the wind on his own.
OK, wind, rain, did someone say June? Yes, snow. The high winds across the mid-west plagued me all the way to Denver when I finally slipped behind the cold front causing it. One problem, along with high profile vehicles maintaining control, is visibility. One problem is when the winds coming south so hard across the high plains of eastern Colorado decide to relocate Farmer John's top 4" of field into some other county.
Though I didn't have time to stop and take up barryk ' s offer of a PB&J sammich, I did get to toot the horn in her general direction (just look for the big water tower next to the two blue water tanks high on the hill and wave)- Hi Barry!! HEY! I just noticed I was so busy watching traffic in front of me I didn't see I was passing the Crete yard right there next to the highway! Hi Guys!!
So thru Denver and up thru the Eisenhower Tunnel, location of that "Hazard Pay" tv special on Discovery I told you about last week. So in life immitating art, I came out the west slope and was met by freezing temps and snow!
This is my first real wifi connection in a week and I have plenty of googling, story telling, and planning to do - so much that I'll probably sit here at the north Las Vegas truck stop all afternoon and not bother trying to find a casino with truck parking close enough to the strip for an affordable cabride. Also, the national Truck Expo is here this weekend, and I'd love to go and see if I could look up a friend I met 4 years ago, but the afternoon is already late and the opportunity lost.
I know anti-biotics are different, some used for bacteria and some for viruses, but I couldn't bear this any longer. Halfway thru the night I woke with a painful earache so I took an a/b meant for my cellulitus. I feel better today than I have in more than a week. Go figure.
More vids to come in next week - I'll have to join Youtube and become a famous truckin' videographer, LOL!
windy
