Sturgis, 2015, Day 4

Day 4 started normally, with a little breakfast and doing a little cleanup on the motorcycle.  Then it went downhill fast.

I jumped on I-90, about ¼ mile from my hotel, and headed west towards Sundance, WY and Devil’s Tower, about 20 miles north of Sundance.  The entire trip looked to be about 220 miles round trip.  It’s about 30 miles to Sturgis from Rapid City…at highway speeds…but that didn’t happen.   About 10 miles from Sturgis, signs and emergency vehicles lined the roadway telling everyone to slow down and that there were stopped vehicles on the highway.

I thought it was just traffic trying to get off at the Sturgis exit but unfortunately it was worse.  I sat in traffic for about 30-45 minutes, sometimes moving 5-10 miles per hour, and finally got past the problem, which by that time was just a bunch of police cars, a wrecker, some cars and motorcycles.  I couldn’t tell what had happened, other than cause a traffic jam.

Once past the traffic jam, I made good time to the next town on the interstate…Spearfish.  I needed to make a stop at the Walmart.  It was immediately obvious that I wasn’t the only biker in town who had that idea.  It looked like the others were mostly campers as they had whole baskets full of stuff.  One guy outside was tying down an ice chest and a box fan with bungee cords.  Needless to say, he was just about maxed out.  Good thing he didn’t have a passenger.

Shortly after leaving Spearfish I crossed the border into Wyoming and shortly thereafter I saw a sign advertising the Vore Buffalo Jump.  I had read a little about this place where the Indians would work to stampede the Buffalo into this hole and then harvest the meat afterwards.  I saw the place just off the highway so I decided it would be worth the detour to check it out.  When I got there, the two buildings I saw weren't much to look at.  In fact, the whole set up was in bad shape and I thought I was fixing to get ripped off.  Well, to my surprise, a $7 entry fee entitled me to a private tour from a college kid down into the sinkhole where there were hundreds...maybe thousands...of bones and other artifacts.  The site was discovered when they were building I-90 back in the early '70's.  It still hasn't been totally excavated.  The University of Wyoming is the only people allowed to work the site so it's slow going.  Look it up on the internet...very interesting.

On to Devil’s Tower. Once I got off the interstate and headed up towards the area, the scenery started to get more interesting…rolling hills and twisting roads.  About 10 miles or so down the road I started getting glimpses of Devil’s Tower.  Even from 6-7 miles away, the mountain looks huge, and only gets bigger as you get closer.

Once I turned into the park, I hit another traffic jam…cars, trucks, RVs and motorcycles…all paying their entry fee into the park.  Devil’s Tower is definitely one of the biggest draws for the biker bunch.  The area at the base of the Tower was very organized…not like the entry, manned by one little old lady.  There were 15-20 volunteers from a Christian Motorcycle Club directing traffic and helping everyone find a parking place.  It worked very well.

I read some of the history of the Tower, bought a couple of post cards and then it was back on the road.  I wasn’t excited about walking up the steep path to get closer to the Tower.  One of the other interesting sites along the road back to the entrance was a town of Prairie Dogs.  They were extremely tame and let people get pretty close to take pictures.  However, they weren’t too excited to have one little girl up close and personal.

Just outside the entrance gate there’s a KOA campground as well as a Trading Post and Café so I decided it was time to eat and review my next stop.  While I was eating I saw a guy going from table to table asking something but he didn’t come by my table.  I thought I heard him say the word “Texas” so in case my motorcycle was hit by a car or something, I went to the window and looked out.  Seeing nothing wrong, I went back to my lunch.

After lunch and a little shopping next door, I went outside to find that I had left the key on and my battery was totally drained…bummer to say the least.  I pulled out my handy jumper cables and waited until an unsuspecting car came by.  Soon a young couple came out and started getting in a Kia Soul so I asked them if they would be so kind as to give me a jump.  They said sure so we hooked the cables up and nothing…the bike wouldn’t start.

After several failed attempts, I gave up, thanked them for their help and started thinking of another plan.  About that time, the driver of a Dodge Dually came over and asked if I needed a jump from him.  I figured, what the heck, it might work better with a bigger vehicle.  We hooked the cables up and tried the starter a couple of times, but no luck.  After the guy fooled around with the cables, I tried one more time and it fired up.  The connection must have not been good.

We disconnected the cables and the Good Samaritan started packing up his family.  For some reason, I tried the throttle and got nothing.  He said that perhaps the battery needed to charge more.  After he left, I let the engine run for 30 minutes or more with no change.

To make a long story a little shorter, I ended up calling the dealership in Sundance for some help, called road side assistance and began to wait for the wrecker to arrive…the ETA given was an hour or more.  On a whim, I tried the starter one more time and low and behold it started.  I cancelled the wrecker and very quickly got back on the road.

Now my phone was dying and I realized I didn’t have a charging cable.  You guessed it, another trip to Walmart.  I got the cable and headed to Sturgis…finally!

As I got closer to Sturgis, the traffic began to get heavier.  As soon as I got off the interstate, the traffic…cars, RVs and motorcycles was bumper to bumper headed downtown.  Of course, I had no idea where downtown was so it was follow the leader for me.

At one stop light, 4-5 bikes in front of me peeled off to the left down a side street and turned right to parallel the street we were currently sitting on.  After a couple of minutes I decided those guys had a good idea so left I went.  Of course, by the time I got to the cross street, they were nowhere in sight.  I continued down the small residential street, parallel to the main drag, a few blocks until I noticed bikes parked on a side street to my right.  I turned in, found a place to park and hit the bricks on foot.

Downtown Sturgis is an amazing place at this time of the year.  Probably every motorcycle vendor out there is present.  It is a virtual candy store for motorcycle owners…except that most of us can’t afford what they’re selling.  There were people everywhere.  I made my way over to main street where there were even more people.  Motorcycles were parked in the middle of the street and along both sides leaving two narrow pathways that only motorcycles could get through.

I left town about 5:30, not really wanting to be caught up in the craziness that was beginning.  I really didn’t want to be anywhere around after the sun went down.  Even so, on the ride back to Rapid City, I noticed hundreds of motorcycles headed toward Sturgis but moving very slowly as there was at least two wrecks or “situations” on the westbound side of the highway.  Eastbound was clear sailing.

All in all it was a pretty good day.  Tomorrow should be better…assuming I remember to turn off the key when I leave the bike.  

Sturgis, 2015, Day 3

Day 2 started with a little exercise…seriously.  I woke up at 6am and couldn’t go back to sleep so I went walking and did a little workout in the exercise room before showering and hitting the road.  I opted to skip the Harley dealership in Grand Island for a change because I wanted to get on the road.

My route was to take me west on Nebraska State Hwy 2 and then at some point turn north to hit I-90.  Hwy 2 was interesting…mostly a two lane highway that ran through miles and miles of farm land.  When it came time to turn north, I opted to stay on Hwy 2.  About 200 miles further west in the little town of Alliance, NE, I turned north onto Hwy 385, which took me into South Dakota.  This highway was also a two lane road most of the way into Rapid City.

One of the interesting things along Hwy 2, besides all the small towns I kept going through, was the large number of marshy, swamp areas alongside the road.  I would never have expected that.  The other interesting thing I saw was a sign announcing I was entering the Nebraska National Forest.  As you can tell from the picture, it’s not much of a forest.

Once on Hwy 385, I drove through the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands…now this made sense based on the scenery…and several historic sites, like Wounded Knee.  I was about 70 miles south of my final destination for the day and did not know how far off the road the site was…might be something I look into on the return trip, IF I go back the same way.

While driving west on Hwy 2…it felt like I drove the entire length of the state…I didn’t see many motorcycles or RV’s pulling trailers like I anticipated.  However, once I arrived in Alliance and turned north the numbers increased dramatically…at least I knew I was on the correct highway.

Rapid City, along with every hotel and RV campsite I saw, was filled with motorcycles of all types and RV’s of all types.  Even though we’re still 25 or so miles away from Sturgis, this area is a great jumping off location for touring the area.  I guessed correctly when I chose Rapid City.

Tomorrow I plan to ride the Devil’s Tower Loop and check out Downtown Sturgis, if everything goes as planned.

Sturgis, 2015

Welcome back.  It has been about a year since I posted anything…guess I haven’t been anywhere too exciting…at least on the motorcycle.  I have wanted to go to Sturgis for a long time but never really had the time, until now.  This year, being the 75^th anniversary of Sturgis, I decided it was now or never.  Sharon wasn’t too sure I should go alone, especially riding all the way, so we compromised…thus I am driving up pulling a trailer.  Better than nothing and at age 66 probably better than riding all the way.

I also decided to break the trip up into three days…6-7 hours of driving a day, just in case I had any problems or came upon interesting sites where I might want to spend some time.

Day 1 was from College Station to Edmond and since I have driven that particular route often enough, I didn’t see anything interesting that I wanted to see again.  Mostly, the drive was spent getting used to pulling a new trailer with the motorcycle tied down in it.

Thanks to the hospitality of the Ogle Hotel in Edmond, I had a nice night’s rest after trying a new hamburger place nearby.  In case anyone is interested, the name of the place is Ron’s…not too exciting a name, but the burger was good.  Recommended by my Brother-in-Law, I tried the “Buster”, ½ pound hamburger meat, ½ pound sausage, a slice of ham, bacon and cheese.  Needless to say, it’s a large burger and I couldn’t finish it.

 

After a few adjustments to the trailer and tie downs, Day 2 started about 9am.  For most of the day, I headed north of I-35 and then I-135 without incident, other than a nice rain shower that lasted about an hour or so.  Once the rain passed, the sky cleared and the day warmed up. 

Kansas and Nebraska aren’t much to look at, unless you like to look at hundreds mile after mile of farms and fields of unidentified crops.  I thought about stopping and seeing if I could pick something to see what it was but I eventually thought better of that idea.

Conveniently located at my first gas stop in Wichita, KS, was a Harley dealership so of course I had to stop…didn’t buy a t-shirt!  Next stop was lunch in Salina, KS, at a hamburger joint recognized by USA Today as the best in the State of Kansas…The Cozy Inn…serving little burgers for 93 years!

After lunch, I had to drive by the Harley dealership in Salina…it was on the way to Grand Island.  As I left Salina I initially missed the turn north because I-135 ended and Hwy 81 started.  I drove west a couple of miles until I could turn around and got on the right highway.

Hwy 81 is a divided 4-lane highway that goes north through the farmland of Kansas and eventually intercepted I-80 where I turned west.  I drove through three or four construction zones where the speed limit dropped from 65 to 55 but the traffic was light.

The most interesting thing I saw was the road signs along this stretch of highway…about 100 miles.  Here’s one example, but the roads would start with “A” at the county line and, depending on how wide the county was, the signs would go all the way through the alphabet and even start over with “AA”.  I guess the folks in Kansas didn’t want to come up with names for all the roads between farms…can’t say I blame them.

One thing they did spend some time on was naming creeks and rivers.  I crossed several of them, some you’ve heard of…like the Red River, Arkansas River and Platte River…but most of them you probably haven’t…like the Cimmaron River, Saline River, Little Blue River and West Fork of the Big Blue River.  Creeks were too numerous to remember.

Between Wichita and Grand Island, the numbers of motorcycles and RV’s pulling trailers with motorcycles increased substantially.  I assume that the closer I get to Sturgis on Day 3 the more I will see.  There are several riders staying in the same hotel I’m in here in Grand Island.  i definitely need one of these....

Day 3 will be another 6-7 hour day…all things being equal.  I’ve never been in this part of the country so I don’t know what to expect to see, however, the closer I get to Rapid City the closer I will get to the Badlands…I think I go right by that area on the way in to town…we’ll see.

Come back in a day or so and hopefully I’ll have some pictures of the craziness that is Sturgis.