Sept 4/08 - Sturgis - The Motorcycle Mecca...

Thurs. Sept 4th/08

We awoke to notes on both of our motorcycles that read “Hello fellow traveller - from Victoria, B.C. So nice to see a Canadian plate”! It was a ‘warm fuzzy’. We find that the Canadian flags we’re flying on the bikes get a lot of attention – all positive.

We read in this mornings paper that temperatures are running at least 20 degrees colder than normal for this time of year. It is a very brisk 38F this morning and heavy overcast. We fuel the bikes, stop at the post office and ride up to a turn out that has a great view of Mount Rushmore to take some pics. Rod gets out his ‘supersize’ lens and the result looks like – well – take a look.

A young lady is trying to get a photo with a small camera and from the distance we’re at it would be a disappointing result. She tells me she wanted a photo of herself and the mountain behind it but doesn’t think it will turn out very well. I offer that Rod can take the photo and we’ll send it to her by email. She is thrilled with that idea and piles her jacket, camera and keys on my bike. Rod takes some photos with her and we strike up a conversation while Rod is chatting with a fellow who has just pulled in from Vermont on a BMW RT1150 and is a dead ringer for Alan Macey – looks, mannerisms and charm. Maureen, as I came to know her seems so young and vulnerable as she shyly tells me that this was ‘supposed’ to be her honeymoon time in Yellowstone. The invitations were sent out, the dresses bought. A month before the wedding she found out he was just not the man she thought she knew and although a difficult decision she knew it was the right one when she called it off. He composed the letter to let people know and took responsibility. It didn’t ease her pain which was tangible. She appeared to be small and fragile but I sensed an underlying quiet strength and faith that will carry her through. She already had the time booked off work so decided to go somewhere she had always wanted. God bless you Maureen – you’ll be fine. Vaja Con Dios.

We head out and ‘hitch our ponies’ up at Rice Honda in Rapid City. I am still trying to replace my temperature gauge. No one in this state has ever heard of them let alone seen them. We head out to the motorcycle Mecca known as “Sturgis”. During the motorcycle rally that is held every year during the first week of August this small town in South Dakota’s Black Hills swells in number with the addition of 300,000 motorcycles. We stop an a number of the motorcycle shops but still no one has seen anything like my gauge. I might well have to special order it once we get back home. It’s not a necessity – just a ‘nice to have’. Leaving the shop I ask someone where we could go to get a good cup of coffee and are directed to “The Pony Expresso” home of “The Sturgis Coffee Company” where they roast their beans fresh on site and do mail order all over the world. Beans roasted and shipped the same day. Now that’s fresh! It was a fantastic experience and we enjoyed a lengthy chat with the owner Mike Kahler who told us he roasted 2 TONS of beans for the Sturgis motorcycle rally and with a smile told he did exceptionally well. He had served 5 years in the military and had a 3 year tour in Italy where he developed a taste for good coffee. Finding the military very hard on his family life he came ‘home’ to the Black Hills and opened a drive through espresso spot. It became very successful and he sold it. Opened another location as “The Pony Expresso” and when he outgrew that opened his current location where he bought a roaster and all the specialized equipment to handle the high volume that he experiences. I will definitely be placing an order when we get back home. If you would like to experience it for yourself I invite (and recommend) you go to his newly developed website at www.sturgiscoffeecompany.com – you will not be disappointed. Also a motorcyclist he looked at our map, asked where we planned to go and gave us a few suggestions. One was to be sure to do the “Needles” Hwy and the other a word of warning to not attempt to go to the Badlands via Rte 44 onto the Sioux Nation reserve. He had a bad experience there a few years ago while going hunting and was pulled over by the Reserve Police which are self-governed. He had all his tags and required licenses and had done nothing to warrant being pulled over but still they decided to confiscate his hunting rifles. He checked with state police after returning home and they said “there is absolutely nothing we can do”.

Leaving Sturgis behind we head on to the infamous town of “Deadwood” made even more famous by the TV Series of the same name. The entire town is a registered National Historic Landmark and re-enacts and brings to life the Wild West era of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and many more. Walking down Main Street it’s easy to visualize the ladies in their long gowns and bonnets and the men tipping their hats with a courtly “Afternoon Maam”. We had a look at Kevin Costner’s place the “Midnight Star” and left a bit of monry behind. Rod is now sporting a very nice jean shirt which carries the Midnight Star logo. It’s raining so we take our time wandering through town hoping it will have rained itself out by the time we leave. We dawdle longer than we should have as it’s still quite a ride back to Keystone and darkness seems to come much earlier here than at home. We’re at about 4,000 ft elevation and the passes are pretty chilly. Have I mentioned that I don’t like the cold???

We don our rain gear, mount up and head out. We are in steady rain for the first 20 miles – not my favourite for sure but suited up it’s really not so bad. The worst is my hands and feet which in the cold get very stiff and un-cooperative. I have yet to find a pair of gloves that will keep my toasty. We fuel just outside Deadwood at the Steel Wheel Trading Post. I’d like to stop in at the ladies room but I have so many clothes on I am reluctant to start dis-robing as I am so chilled. We carry on but I am growing more concerned as the light is fading fast. I’m thinking that the only person I know who has worse night vision that me is Rosemary but that bit of trivia doesn’t help me at this point. Thankfully the rain has let up a bit but the road is still very wet. There is a LOT of deer and elk (and some bison) both feeding in the meadows and alongside the road. No matter how slow or fast you’re travelling – if you hit one of those – you are going to lose. End of story. Rod is in the lead as he can see better and I am close on his quarter. As we round an uphill right corner I see his brake lights come on and his rear tire start to slide and his bike cross the centre line. ‘What the heck” I think and then I see them. 4 full size deer on the left shoulder and 3 on the right. You just know that the rest are planning to cross you just don’t know which way. We both make it through and my heart is beating like a bass drum. I feel chilled to the bone and keep myself going by thinking of warming up in the hot tub as soon as we get back to our hotel. Rod, who normally never gets lost or takes wrong turns (that’s MY particular specialty) picks tonight as the time to try it out. When he turned off on a new route it didn’t ‘feel’ right to me but by now he was quite a ways up front so I just decided to ‘trust’ and follow. We ended up (again) in Rapid City and the new route added an extra 25 miles onto our evening ride. I tried not to be grumpy about it – hard. In Rapid City Rod stopped at a red light and leaned over to say “I made a wrong turn”. “I know” was all I could manage as a reply. Now he’s really pushing us hard to get back and it felt like we were ‘rocketing’ down the Hwy at 75MPH. I wondered if it would really make a difference if you hit a deer at 45 or 75 – it’s all bad. Finally in the last 6-7 miles I just backed off the throttle not feeling comfortable with our speed particularly with declining vision and he got quite a distance ahead. Well, Okay – I’ll admit I was pretty grumpy when we finally pulled into our hotel at 8:00 P.M. Can’t wait to hit the hot tub.