So this was my big trip for the year even though it is one of the shortest I have done that was not a local gathering. This trip only involved 1100 miles round trip. The destination was to NatSTOC, the National Sport Tourer Owners Club Rally for those of you that do not speak the lingo. This event is held each summer in Spearfish South Dakota. Spearfish is up in the Black Hills, some prime riding roads call the Black Hills their home!
On this trip I invited my brother-in-law and his HD 883 to come along. It took some convincing to get him to understand that we in the ST community does not care what you ride as long as you ride. He finally agreed that it would be a fun trip.
I set to making the plans and decided that this trip would allow me to color in two more states on my states ridden map, South Dakota and Nebraska. I figured since we were so close to North Dakota I might as well head on up there and color that in as well. I laid out a route that would take us pretty much all two lane roads from Colorado to Wyoming then to South Dakota. I figured that North Dakota would be a day trip and then we would take two lane roads down to Nebraska and then back into Colorado.
We set out to leave on Wednesday July 11, 2012. I told my Brother-in-law I wanted to get a 5:00 am start to get out of the city before traffic had time to build. He and his lovely bride decided to spend the night at my house Tuesday night.
For this trip I decided to go for a slightly different option for hydration while underway. I mounted a one gallon water jug to my right side passenger foot peg. In my opinion this turned out to be far superior to my Camel Pak that I have used in the past.
Wednesday arrived with a plan to take US 85 most of the way to Spearfish. The trip was pretty much uneventful however I did spot a muffler man in Greeley Colorado. I stop for a photo op each time I find a new one of these.
Crossing into Wyoming.
We stopped just shy of the South Dakota border for lunch. After passing the 3 food places in the small town, a U-turn was in order. During the simple maneuver David drops the 883. Time to grab the camera that I wear on a lanyard around my neck. DANG IT it is tangled between my audio cable and water hose. Just as I get the camera in hand, David has the bike righted. I drop the camera and he drops the bike again! I go for the still tangled camera and he rights the bike. Sadly, I got no picture. I figured that this is the most miles that he has ridden in one sitting and the little 883 was tired and trying to lay down for a nap.
We then hit a bit of construction which required about three miles that of riding in loose gravel. Loose gravel is no fun on an 800 pound bike.
Crossing into South Dakota.
From there we took 14a into Spearfish to the Spearfish City Campground. 14a is Spearfish Canyon and was a great way to end the day of flat land riding. This was a wonderful place to call home for a few days. Nice creek running down the center and plenty of shade trees. Since the temperature were 95 plus for our entire stay the creek and shade were very welcome.
On Thursday David and I rode over to Sturgis to see what all the hype was about. Do you know how hard it was to find a T-shirt that did not have anything about the rally on it? I was not there for the rally and most likely never will be, so it took me seven different shops to come up with one that just said Sturgis.
We ate at the Knuckle Saloon which had a great vibe and really good food. We then walked the town and visited the Motorcycle Museum. What a great collection of bikes! Well worth the five dollar admission fee. While at the museum I could not resist buying David a Gremlin bell for his 883. It worked as he did not drop the bike for the rest of the trip. We headed back to the campground where we sat around and kicked tires while trying to beat the heat.
Friday by the time we were up and moving after being up late the night before it was already 90+ degrees. We decided to cut out the North Dakota side trip, and not to ride that day at all, but hang around and talk to all of our friends from across the USA and Canada. I love my Canadian peeps and spent much of the trip talking with them.
Friday night we had a group pizza party and they held a raffle. David won a t-shirt which he gave to me since it was WAY to big for him. Thanks bro! This was also a good time to get the Team Colorado folks together for a group photo. We got everyone but Smash and Karla who arrived to the party late.
While we were in Sturgis we picked up a ride map that had suggested rides in the area. Just about every store had these maps for free so if you are in the area pick one up or print on at http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/ Here is a scan of my well loved map. (http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com owns all right to this map, no copyright infringement intended)
On Saturday we set out to run the blue line. We had to avoid 14a due to a marathon so we shot I 90 back over to Sturgis then down Vanocker Canyon. I fired up the GoPro and chased David down the Canyon. David cut his teeth on a rice rocket and it was obvious that he had not figured out that an 883 will not take the twisties the same way. After watching him cross into the oncoming lanes a few times I backed off so I would not run him over if he wiped out. I did not want to have to try and get his blood out of the ST after all. It did not take very long for him to figure out the lines needed to run the curves however. He is a very quick study!
He made it to Nemo in one piece but not without worrying both of us a little bit. We stoped in Nemo for breakfast. The biscuits and gravy at the Nemo Restaurant are worth the 500 mile one way trip by themselves.
We left Nemo and continued to 44 and then over to US 385. We took US 385 to US 85 and then back to I 90. If it was not for the race we would have hooked a left onto 14a and ran Spearfish Canyon again. Before we left Nemo, I set the GoPro to take a pictue once a minute hoping to get a few good shots.
At our gas stop I switched the camera to the topbox and had David follow me. I should have aimed it a bit higher.
Sunday we started the trip home. We decided to run Vanocker Canyon again this time with the GoPro on David's bike and him chasing me.
We cut over on 16 and headed over to see Mt. Rushmore. Very cool sight to behold.
We left Rushmore in search of a place to spend the night. He headed west on 244 and I spoted a few camping spots but then I saw a KOA. After several days of heat, a swimming pool sounded like a grand idea. And for $21 bucks total for the two of us I could not ask for more!
After a dip in the pool and feasting on Hot wings and cheese fris. We headed back to the campsite where we split a 6 pack and crashed out for the night.
We got up early and departed for home. We had side stands up at 8:00 am. More riding in gravel to get out of the camp.
We considered finishing off the red line on the map but both of us agreed that after being gone for several days in the heat and a long day of 95+ degree riding ahead of us, we just wanted to get on the road. We took 87 down and picked up US 385 again near Hot Springs where we jumped on 71 toward Nebraska.
We took 71 over to US 20 back into Wyoming.
We then headed over to I25 to hit the super-slab to beat the heat home. Highest temp I saw was 98 degrees.
At a gas stop we decided that since I already have several photos of the I25 Colorado sign we would just pass it by and make time. Then we found I25 closed due to a over-turned semi and were stuck in traffic for what seemed like hours. It took us over an hour to go between two exits so we could get off. After we cleared the traffic, we hit rain and the temps dropped to 66 degrees. BOY DID THAT FEEL GOOD!
We jumped onto I 270 and parted ways just before I 70. I was fed-up with the interstate and traffic so I took side streets back to the house.I arrived home right around 6:00 PM. The heat made for a very long day but boy was the trip worth it. I would do it again if it was 110 degrees.
Now it is time to figure out where to go for the next trip! As always the rest of the photos can be view on my photobucket account. The link is at the top right of the page.
No comments:
Post a Comment