Sturgis - Black Hills Tour (Last Day)

Friday was the last day for us to ride the Black Hills before we headed back on Saturday.  We had planned to trim the trip home from 4 days to 3 days and stay on until Sunday, but after completing the trip up, Rhonda and I knew that simply wasn't feasible.  Having three 650 mile days back to back was not going to work.  So we had to squeeze as much as we could into the last day.  The weather cooperated as it was the best day of the trip so far.  It was perfectly sunny, cool and no forecast of rain!

We started heading south into Deadwood.  It is a cool town, but unfortunately walking around Deadwood is something Rhonda and i will have to leave to the next trip.  We only drove through on this go.  We continued on past Deadwood toward Hill City in search of the Prairie Berry Winery for some Red Ass Wine.  We had seen the signs for it and also seen the ads for their Rhubarb and Raspberry Wine.  No way it could be any good we thought, but we had to try it right?

We stopped at the winery along with several other bikers and proceeded to try the wine.  I guess it won't win any awards, and I know Rhonda and I are not wine connoisseurs, but we shipped a case of it home! We really liked it.  It will be perfect sitting on the deck or porch in the summer time.  So when we get home, we will have a case of wine waiting on us.  How strange is it that we came to a biker rally and ended up shipping wine home?

After that, we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  You can read more about that and the town of Custer in another blog entry here: Link to Blog Entry.

We also rode Needles Highway/Road.  And you can read more about that here: Link to Another Blog Entry.

Beware of non-existant buffalos

We met up with Sherry and Rich and drove through Custer State Park in search of buffalo.  We weren't lucky enough to see any buffalo, but we did see some prairie dogs and a ton of wild donkeys.  In fact, one time we topped a small hill and immediately in front of us in the middle of the road were 2 donkeys. just standing there.  Looking at us like we were out of place.  And I think we were!  It was a good run through the wildlife loop even without the buffalo.  Some good roads and some great views.  Maybe next time the buffalo will cooperate.

We turned the bikes toward Rapid City and on to Spearfish.  That was it for riding the Black Hills.  But I think we did about as much as we could in the days we had.  Tomorrow is the ride home.  I will be happy to get home, and happy to see so many sights on the way home, but I will always wonder what things the Black Hills hold that I missed on this trip to Sturgis!

Sturgis Day 1 - Clayton NC to Nashville TN

Well, the first 582 miles are in the books.  And it went as well as can be expected.  Better in some regards.  We pulled out of Clayton at 6:15 this morning after pulling the gel pads out of the fridge.  Note to anyone that might use gel pads.  Put them in the fridge before you use them (if it is hot outside).  It was awesome!

It was overcast when we got on, but we expected it to burn off pretty quickly once the sun came up.  But we were wrong.  And we were glad we were wrong!  The weather stayed completely overcast until the first stop just past Winston Salem.  We stopped there for some gas and a quick McMuffin and we noticed that it was looking a little ominous up the road.  So we put the rain pants on and got back on the road.  About 20 miles up the road the bottom fell out and we ducked into a rest area and covered the bag and put the rest of our rain gear on.  We road in the nice cool rain all the way across the mountains until we hit Asheville where the sun came out.

We spent some time at the Asheville Harley Davidson talking shop and then got back on the road.  This is where it got interesting.  It got hot, sunny and the road was loaded with truckers.  It was slow going up/down the mountain and we were going through water pretty quickly.  But the mountains were pretty, so Rhonda tells me.  I was too busy trying not to kiss a truck's backside.

The ride from Knoxville to Nashville was not overly fun.  Between the intense heat, sun and frequent stop and go traffic, Rhonda and I were about done for the day.  But we made it.  The last 10 miles took over an hour since we (poorly) planned the trip to make sure we arrived in Nashville at 5:00 on a Friday and were headed out of the city.

Anyway, here I sit in a nice comfy chair in the hotel and I could not be prouder of my wife.  In fact, I think she did better than I did today!  We really enjoyed each other's company the entire trip.  I look forward to spending then next several days with her!

So how did the gear do?  The SENA headsets arrived with enough battery to take us to Chili's for dinner.  They were awesome.  Music and conversation the entire way.  The gel seats were good, especially for the first half.  But we are going to try switching it up tomorrow to see if moving to ride with them and then without them helps.  I will let everyone know.  The bike did great, even though slow maneuvering with the bag and Rhonda on was something to get used to.  But on the open road it was perfect.  We tried out the Garmin GPS app on the iPhone and it worked great with the headsets.  However it ate thorough the battery in no time.  Got to try something new there tomorrow.

In general, it was a great day.  I just hope the ones to follow are as good.  I apologize there are no pics tonight.  I am short of time, space and energy.  But I promise that if not before we get to Sturgis, I will get pics up for everyone.  I tweeted a few and Facebooked a few today.  But we took others.

Here is the route from today.  About 1300 miles to go!


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