Part 3 The Good Stuff

Somewhere between the planning, expectations and conflicts was a great ride…

Day one Thursday 7/10 3:00am

I could hardly sleep the night before the ride it was so exciting and I didn’t want to oversleep. Up early to pack the bike and head out to the rally point a Shell gas station sough of Parker, CO. Unfortunately Phil and Ray went to a Conoco station a mile away so we didn’t meet until 3:40 but such is life on the road. We also had our first mechanical issue; Phil’s tail light was burnt out so he could not be seen from behind in the dark. With no way to repair it without parts and nothing open at that time we put phil between Ray and I and off we went to meet Scott for breakfast at Brush, CO – about 140 miles from Parker.

We saw a great sunrise (sorry no pictures, it kept getting better and all of the sudden it was too late) We did experience the strangest weather that morning… The temperature dropped at sunrise as compared to 3:00am to the point that we needed to stop and add a layer of clothing. Scott was waiting in Brush and we had breakfast at a large building with a sigh that read “Hay Auction” (See Above) The building was also home to the Cowboy Church. After breakfast we got gas and hit the road.

At one point rider who will remain nameless took turns leaving the pack and testing the strength on the bungee cords to see if the tent will stay attached at 100+ MPH. After a few minutes of that we rejoined as a group and road at or near the speed limit and crossed into Nebraska. At our next Gas stop we found out that Ray and Phil got very little sleep and needed a nap so we found a park with some shade (it was getting HOT) and they went to sleep as Scott and I found an auto part store to fix Phil’s running light problem, and join them for the last part of the nap. A quick lunch and off to Alliance, NE home of Carhenge http://www.carhenge.com/index.htm a full scale replica of Stonehenge made of Cars. My guess is that Carhenge is a great place to visit if the temperature is in the 70s or 80s but when the day is in the high 90s to low 100s it was just a hot field with a bunch of dead cars.

At this point we were all hot, tired and getting more than a little cranky. The ride out of Nebraska into South Dakota is boring and that is putting it nicely. The Black Hills of South Dakota have some great riding but coming from the south you don’t get to the Black Hills until the last 40 miles or so.

Just as we entered the Black Hills area we passed through the town of Hot Springs where the Bank sign said it was 101 and we are all sure it had cooled down by then, in short it was HOT! The last forty miles to Custer were beautiful and dangerous. The beauty is obvious but the danger was more subtle, it was the combination of several things: 550 miles which are more than most of us ride in a week, heat (Did I mention it was HOT?) and four legged obstacles (Buffalo, Deer and Elk Oh My) On mile 547 of 550 miles with the one traffic light in sight a deer bolted in front of me and I was on the brakes hard and almost got run down by the other guys in the group who didn’t see what had happened. Moments later we entered the KOA with our heart rates returning to normal to see our families were already in the pool. After stripping down and standing under a cold shower for several minutes I began feeling normal again.

What a day!!! Two State Lines, 100+ heat, Car Art, Bike Repair, Midday Naps and a Cold Shower It just doesn’t get any better than that.

We spend two nights in Custer visiting Mt Rushmore and the surrounding area before the families went back to Denver and we pushed to the west but that is another day

More to come.