Monday, August 6, 2018

Sturgis 2018

I left Hayward WI. on Thursday august 2 for my 42nd run in a row to the motorcycle rally in Sturgis SD. This is the 78th running of the rally that started in 1938, they missed 2 years because of WWII. When I left my house about 9am it was in the low 50's and some mist in the air and damp roads. I sure am glad I spent 4 hours cleaning up my bike so that after 10 miles it again looked just like it did before I cleaned it, oh well. It wasn't until my first gas stop in Cold Spring MN, 185 miles from home that it finally started to warm up and the sky's started to clear.
By my next gas stop in Dawson MN it had turned into a great day to ride. All my gas stops are preplanned so as to avoid buying anything with alcohol in it. I have to run premium in my Harley, thank god for the Internet which makes it pretty easy.
By the time I reached my destination for day one, (Faulkton SD, a nice small friendly town along US hwy 212) it had turned into a clear very warm day. There were thunderstorms to the north and northwest, but we stayed dry.
I stay at the Faulkton Inn and have stayed there several times, low rates and clean rooms. This time she gave me the suite with the Jacuzzi for my 70 dollars.
Friday morning turned out to be a great riding day. I went through one small area of just a few drops of rain near Eagle Butte SD. Everything is very green. I've heard that they have gotten above average rain this year.
I stopped for a break about 70 miles from Belle Fourche SD at the Ben Ash monument (a wide spot in the road) and discovered that I was down to the wear bars on my rear tire. I guess I missed that detail when I cleaned the bike before I left. That is not normal for me. I'm pretty anal when it comes to my tires.
Upon reaching my final destination, Wyatt's Hideaway Campground before noon on Friday, I discovered it had become very hot and humid.
My next order of business was to get camp set up and find a tire. It took about a half hour to get everything squared away. By then I was sweating profusely.
My first call went to Deluxe HD of Sundance WY about 50 miles away. They told me it is first come first served. I said great see you in an hour. I arrived at about 1:30 and headed back to camp before 3, with a new tire and a lighter wallet.
And then the drama started to unfold. Upon arriving back at camp I discovered that my tablet was not in my trunk, oh crap. I had removed it to use while they serviced my bike. I didn't know if I had left it at the dealer or the bar where I had lunch. I called both and they hadn't seen it. Darn. As it ended up I talked to the wrong person at the HD dealer. My next call was to Verizon to deactivate it.
After all of that I just wanted to have dinner with my friends Rich  and Lynn who live out here in the summer. We had a great visit.
Saturday morning I decided to take a chance and drive up to Sundance and see if anybody had found it. My plan was to start at the HD dealer then the bar and finally check at the sheriff's office a block away.
As I walked into the dealer there it was sitting on the counter. I talked to the service writer behind the counter. He told me that it got to be closing time and he saw it sitting there and thought, somebody is going to miss this. so he put it behind the counter. The next morning he put it back out figuring somebody (me) would claim it, and he was right. I reactivated it that afternoon and life was good again.
Sunday ended up being great, sad, and alot of wet. It was great because breakfast at the VFW was with people I may only see once a year. It was sad because after breakfast we went to a cemetery near Deadwood so my friend Tom could spread some of his wife's ashes. She past away 51 weeks ago. Alot of wet because the weather looked good to the northwest towards Devil's tower. It may have started out that way but then it changed. It was just a very light rain before the tower, and as we went by, it got pretty heavy for a mile or so. It was more of a nuisence than anything. We didn't stop to put on raingear. More drip drip most of the way into Sundance. We stopped there for a bite to eat and enjoy it not raining. Then it was back in the saddle again for some more rain enhanced riding back to Sturgis to drop off my most wonderful passenger for the day, Terresah. I hung around Sturgis for an hour or so waiting for a storm to pass that was blocking my dry return to camp in Belle Fourche.  I walked main street from the VFW on the south  to the police station on the north end of the motorcycle only area street parking, about 5 city blocks long. There seems to be alot more food venders in town this year. The group on todays ride included Lyle, Carl, Lisa, Terresah and the new guy Jose.
Today monday I am taking as a day to relax.
I don' have alot of pictures this year. Partly because of all the smoke in the air from western wildfires.
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Sunset in Faulkton day one.
Sturgis, everybody wants to be here.
Motorcycle museum.
Sturgis main street south end. Sunday 8:30am.
Hulett WY sunday afternoon, dry, soon to change.
Sundays rain riders, (LtoR) Lyle, Carl, Lisa, Terresah and Jose is hiding behind Carl.
From saturday in Sundance: The Dime Horseshoe Bar, a group of about 40 South Dakota riders stopping for a break.
I really liked this bike, just enough orange pinstriping and it's hard to beat black.
Home base with Lisa, Carl, Jose and Lyle.
Another sweet looking black bike.
And finally what I rode this year.
Tomorrow will be another day of riding and then start home on weds.






1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad you found your tablet.
    I don't think there's such a thing as too much black... Too much chrome? for sure, but never too much black. They remind me of the 1980 FXB Sturgis.. all black w/orange

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