artfuentes
Active Member
Breeze...lol, nice hint. I'll start on my log, hope I can recall like you did! I'll post as soon as I have get the cobwebs out of my brain and get something written down...
Sturgis: beyond and back
- Thread starter Breeze3at
- Start date
Breeze...lol, nice hint. I'll start on my log, hope I can recall like you did! I'll post as soon as I have get the cobwebs out of my brain and get something written down...
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
Days 6 Rapid City, SD. A cold front came through behind the storms, it was 52 degrees when we left the motel. It felt WONDERFUL after the 100+ heat of previous days. Toons had planned a great looping ride. First we rode South past Mt. Rushmore then North on beautiful roads like Nemo Rd., Spearfish Canyon, and others. It stayed overcast and cool, this was great riding in the canyons and hills. We made it to Deadwood by 1:00, and I split from the group and went to Saloon #10 to meet up with Capitol Jack, brother Jeff (Lawman) and Webtron (he has the pics). We had a good visit, then I rejoined my group and we walked around Deadwood. John-boy won $200+ at a casino. This was Friday 8/3, and I thought there were a lot of people around the whole general area. We then rode into Sturgis and walked around. Lazelle (?) street looked pretty crowded to me, but others said not so much, yet. We had burgers and Gyros at the Knuckle Saloon, then I bought the obligatory t-shirts and headed back to the motel, while the others had a few beers at the “famous” bars of Sturgis before returning. I had a nice visit with the 5 Aussies in the rooms near us. One of them bought a ’01 Indian in Ohio and they were seeing the US on the way to CA, then shipping the bike home. Pics are Arnolds Diner next to our motel in R.C., the Knuckle Saloon in Sturgis, and Doc on Main St.
Attachments
It's like a good book Breeze, can't put it down and hope it never ends!
lorne
Senior Member
like Jeff said :21:
Webbtron
Banned
Speaking for myself it was very cold that Friday, clouds hanging over the tops of the Black Hills. When I left the boys I went up Spearfish Canyon, which I took 3 times and it is I think 14 miles of very pleasant riding. I got lucky all 3 times that I was in a slot of traffic that fit my riding style. Once I got out of the canyon and north of Spearfish it was like someone pulled back the clouds and the sun felt good. I could literally look back toward 'Deadwood and see the cloud cover still hanging there.
Spearodafish
Banned
Thanks flipper...I'm really enjoying this forum..great people and tons of good useful info
Spearodafish
Banned
Hey artfuentes,
Rode just about what you covered too, but I tried the coast on the way home to beat the heat...didn't work so well. Once I hit Ukiah, it was over a 100 for the last 6 hours home...still had a blast and put the cooling vest to task
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
Day 7 Rapid City, SD. Another cool morning, and we headed out to ride the wildlife loop in Custer State Park. Iron Mtn. Road at the North end of Custer St. Park has twisty narrow roads through some spectacular rock formations, tunnels and elevation changes. I knew we were going to see animals when we started seeing fences. First encounter was the Donkeys, who stuck their heads into any open window in search of a handout. One with HUGE ears headed towards us but we boogied around some cars and left the area. A few miles further we got into the herd of Buffalo, some of which were on the road, with a park ranger present for our safety. Amazing how often he had to yell “do not approach the buffalo’s, they are wild and not friendly” to the people who were ready to walk up and pet them. The things I remember, they are BIG, Dirty, and smelly. A little later, we saw several small groups of Pronghorn Antelope. Some were close to the road, but did not seem inclined to ask for handouts. All the animals were in a 3-4 mile area, and there were livestock gates built into the road. After leaving the park, we rode more great roads, and a few had “pigtails” where we made 360 + degree turns under or over our track. Some were very narrow one way roads through forests. We made our way back to the R.C.H.D. dealer, where we met up with the 2 guys that opted out of the days ride in order to spend $$. The place must have had 5 acres of bikes parked, with another 10 empty acres available for parking. Vendor tents/shops were everywhere, and almost all the lifts had bikes on them, getting upgrades. Joker popped for reshaped/gel pad seat, upgraded speakers & amp system and engine/frame stabilizer. I noticed Jokers seat was sticking up a couple inches off the tank, and he took it back to the seat place and they “adjusted” the bent bracket. John-Boy also got his seat reshaped/gel pad. Yea, I told them they could get better stuff at lower prices, but that is part of their “rally experience”. We wandered around for a couple of hours, and I don’t remember seeing the actual HD dealership building. John-boy went back to finish cleaning out the Deadwood casinos, while we headed back to the motel. Jokers bike had been stalling occasionally, so we removed the a/c assembly and squirted some carb cleaner through the IAC, and ports. While doing this, I saw his outer/inner fairing had large gaps in places from the stereo installation, so we reinstalled the fairing. John-boy came in after we were asleep. Next morning he informed us the Casinos were still in business. We weren’t surprised.
Attachments
artfuentes
Active Member
Here it is. Sorry it's long.
The riders: Art and Teri Fuentes, Bill and Ramona Scott
The bikes: (2) 2010 Harley Davidson FLHTK’s – Electra Glide Ultra Classic Limited
4501 miles, 21 days on the road
Day 1: Left the house in Antioch, CA at about 6:00 AM. We wanted an early start because we knew we would be crossing the Mojave Desert in the heat of the day! The temp was cool, but nice for a ride with leathers at about 57*. The bikes were loaded as we had a stop in Las Vegas for a few days, and of course we were riding two up. I knew I was way over weight limits, but a test drive the day before showed the bike was running well and handling the weight.
Rode for a few hours before stopping for breakfast. We knew we were going to be on the freeway all of the first day so we just pushed it along. Had a great breakfast at a truck stop type restaurant and got back on the road. Pretty uneventful until we started shedding clothes near Fresno as it was getting pretty hot already. By the time we made Bakersfield the temps were over 100*.
Rode over the Tehachapi’s and got a little reprieve with the temps cooling as we crossed the grade, but man was it hot on the other side. Stopped at Peggy Sues 50’s style diner in Calico for lunch and a heat break. We decided to wear our cooling vests at this point as the temps were triple digits, and we were feeling it! By the time we hit the Mojave it was at 111*, but felt hotter!
We started stopping every hour or so to rehydrate our bodies and vests. We were about an hour outside of Vegas when my wife started complaining about dizziness and headache. I knew this was not good as heat exhaustion was setting in. Of course we stopped, got out of the sun for a while and drank lots of water. By the time we hit Vegas she was sick, started vomiting etc. Got her cooled down and she started to feel better, but it was time for her to call it a day. She got some good sleep and the next day she was good to go. Day 1 ride was 542 miles.
Days 2-4 were spent in Vegas, stayed indoors as much as possible trying to avoid the heat. We had been to Vegas on our bikes several times so riding was not a big deal on this leg.
Day 4 we left Vegas and the real ride began. Rode through St. George, UT, unfortunately it was a Sunday and the dealership was closed. The dealership, Zion Harley, is a great stop if you are ever in the area. They are always friendly and willing to help. Last time I was in on my Road King had to get a quick check up on the bike and they took me right in. They have some great logo tee shirts too. We had been through Zion National Park a few times so we decided to go around with our destination being Lake Powell, AZ. We took Hiway 9 to US 89s. If you have the chance to ride the red rock canyons of Utah and Lake Powell do it. This in my opinion is some of the prettiest roads around. Day 4 we rode 278 miles, but took our time as we enjoyed the red rock canyons of Utah and Lake Powell.
Day 5 we left Lake Powell, AZ and rode to Monument Valley where we stopped for lunch. We took AZ 98 e to US 160 e to US 163n. If you’ve never been do yourself a favor and ride there. Monument Valley is a great ride and what a view! We left Monument Valley with the weather not so bad, high 80’s low 90’s, but muggy as a storm was threatening all day. Our plan was to ride as far as we could this day and get into Colorado, unfortunately my wife came down with a nasty stomach bug and we made Moab, UT, where we stopped for a break. About an hour or so outside of Moab we stopped for the night as she was really sick. Fortunately it was a 24 hour thing and she was good the next day. We thought she had food poisoning, but when she felt better the next day I knew it was the flu. We rode about 200 miles this day.
Day 6 we left UT, heading to Denver, CO, pretty uneventful, a little too much hiway riding as I like to ride back-roads as much as possible, but it was unavoidable. Trying to make some time. As we pulled into Denver I started looking for a place to stop for the night. We stayed in Aurora, CO at the suggestion of the HD Dealership. We were at a loss of where to stay so I thought of calling the local HD. It worked out as they suggested of nice place in Aurora that happened to be across the parking lot from them. Today’s ride was about 375 miles, mostly on I70.
Day 7 we rode out of Aurora towards Loveland, CO where we planned a dinner visit with some friends. As we reached the Aspen Valley area I started to feel lousy. We stopped at a very nice place in Glenwood Springs, CO. Unloaded the beasts and took a ride to Aspen. Very nice place by the way. By the time we left Aspen I was sick, darn my wife! Made it to the hotel where I was done for the night. As you guessed it I came down with the bug. I was sick through the night and into the early morning (both ends!). I vomited for the fifth and last time at 5:30 in the morning and was on the bike ready to ride at 8:30 AM. We rode about 150 miles to Loveland, CO. Still feeling lousy, but didn’t want to pass up our visit, plus our friend Dave can cook! Day 8 was pretty much a wash with being sick and visiting.
Day 9 we made it to Lusk, WY. Stayed at the Covered Wagon Inn. Nice place, very popular with the riders heading to Sturgis. Our ride to Lusk was nice as we rode to through Aspen Valley, Breckenridge and Vail, Co. That is some pretty country. Wyoming was desolate. We figured we would stop as this was one of the last places with any population to support multiple hotels and we did not have reservations. I figured we rode about 200 miles, which was fine with me as my stomach was still acting up a bit, and we wanted to get into Custer, SD early enough to enjoy some rally time.
Day 10 we made Custer, SD, our stop for the rally. We checked into the hotel and unloaded the bikes. Spent the rest of the day in and around Custer. Had lunch at the Bugling Bull (?) and rode the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. Nice, but was hoping to see some buffalo, not a one! It was late so I figured they were hiding. Did run across some wild burros who decided to make the street their hang out, mostly because of all the two legged creatures who were feeding them. Made it back to Custer where my buddy and I got our fairings painted. Got a mean looking skull on mine and he got a flame job.
Days 11-14 spent riding and enjoying the rally. Did Hill City, Rapid City, Deadwood, Sturgis, Mount Rushmore, Spearfish Canyon, The Full Throttle Saloon, and Crazy Horse. I have to tell ya, even though we saw some interesting sights in Sturgis, lots of painted women etc, we enjoyed the venues around Sturgis much more. I liked Deadwood, ate at Kevin Costner’s place which was pretty cool, with all of his movie memorabilia on the walls. Lots of bikes and everyone was friendly. Rapid City Harley was busting at the seams with vendors. The Full Throttle was cool, like the $10.00 cover which included one free drink and a concert. The ride on Needles Hiway to Mount Rushmore was cool, a tad too much traffic with cars, but great views of the mountain through the tunnels. Spearfish Canyon was a nice ride as well, just too short.
Unfortunately got caught up twice in stopped traffic from motorcycle accidents. Read there were 9 fatals this year. This was our first time but I heard attendance was up from last year, heard estimates from 400,000 to 450,000 people this year. I have no idea, but I have never seen so many bikes in one place at one time in my life, and this is not my first rodeo, been to Las Vegas Bikefest, Hollister etc. It was cool to see all of the different bikes as riders get their bikes decked out to fit their personalities.
Day 15 left Custer and rode to Jackson Hole, WY. Not a lot to see on this route until you get near Yellowstone and Jackson, and then it gets really picturesque. The Grand Tetons are a cool backdrop. Hit some road construction and was on gravel/dirt for about 15 miles in all, but other than that a nice climb up the mountain to Jackson. If you married and your wife likes to shop, or whatever the case may be, then take her to Jackson, WY. It’s like a grownup Disneyland of shopping. Some cool stuff for the boys as well, especially the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. This place is cool, all of the wood inside this huge bar is imported and mostly burl. Live music on the weekends!
Spent two days in Jackson then headed home. Went through Idaho and into Reno, stayed on I80 most of the way, except Wyoming. Rode 80 into Auburn where we stopped for lunch at a pretty cool brewery in old town. Made it home in one piece, the bikes ran great, especially after I sent home 50 lbs of “stuff”. 14 from Glenwood Springs, CO and another 35 from Custer, SD. Remember I said I was way overloaded.
Would I do it again, oh yes, but the next time I’ll ride the coast of CA, into OR and WA, Then cross into Canada and ride to Montana when I’ll head down. Can’t wait.
Sorry this was such a long blog, but once I started writing it got away from me. I know I left some stuff out, but I’m glad I remember yesterday!
Last edited by a moderator:
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
Day8 to Jamestown, ND. We put Rapid City in our mirrors and headed East on a morning cool enough that my cheeks were feeling it for a while, and I had to put full finger gloves on with my jacket (loving it!!). It didn’t take long for the geography to flatten out again. Some corn, soybeans and sunflowers, but mostly cattle. Even though it is very flat, there is something beautiful about the miles and miles of land. Some of the ranches/homes are so remote, I wonder how they get frozen food home from the store. It got warm, but not unpleasant. As we were entering Jamestown and looking for the HD dealer where I was supposed to meet up with Geezer, he pulled up along side of me! I’d seen him wave as he passed us going the other way, but I was in a highway induced daze and hadn’t recognized him. We pulled into the HD dealer just as the parts manager was pulling out after locking up for the day. I met Geezer at the HDT meet and greet in Salt Springs in Feb. (he had driven from Winnipeg to Florida JUST for the meet!) Darn, it sure was good to see Geezer again! As I introduced him to the guys, the parts manager came back and opened the place so the guys could buy shirts and stuff. That was a nice thing to do! Then we headed to the motel. Geezer bought dinner for Toons and I at the restaurant next to the motel, then we went back and had a nice visit catching up on happenings since our Salt Springs meeting.
I can't find pics for today.
I can't find pics for today.