My trip to the Sport-Touring.Net 2003 National, in Custer, South Dakota.

You should read Part I first.

Part II. From SLC and to Minnesota

I arrived at the BMW dealership at 8:00am localtime, even though I knew they wouldn't open until 9. That was fine, I wanted to have the time to let the bike cool down so they could get started on it as soon as they opened; it needed it's 18000 mile service, annual service, and a new rear tire, and I still wanted to get part of the way into Wyoming before calling it a day.

I pulled out my camp chair and read until 9am when they opened. The guy who checked me in asked, "Where are you from" and I told him. Unimpressed, he said "We've been getting lots of people from Florida lately" -- what, are we lepers or something??

At any rate, they took the bike in, and got started on it while I made myself comfortable in their visitors lounge. Now, if you're a beemer rider and you're near SLC, you really need to check this place out. Their visitor lounge has it all, every single map you can get your hands on, espresso machine, and internet kiosks. I spent most of the morning sending email to a few friends, as well as composing and posting Part I of this report to a few web-boards (note: I've revised Part I after reviewing my journal for the trip, and included route numbers and daily mileage for the curious).

By 1:30pm localtime my bike was ready and I was on the road. Although I really wanted to avoid the slab as much as possible, I knew that there was no other way to make decent time into Wyoming, so I reluctantly headed towards I-15. I took I-15 south to I-80, then headed East into Wyoming (Land of Wind Tunnels).

Unlike New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, the rock formations which framed the road in south-western Wyoming were not red. Instead they were a greenish-blue, as if they were loaded with copper ore. The roads were apparently made of the same rock becaue the asphalt on the interstate had a bluish tint to it. The contrast between the roads and the surrounding countryside produced an eery image when viewed through polarized lenses.

I continued on I-80 to Rock Springs, exit 104, where I headed north on 191. The wind was howling coming from the west, and I rode at a serious lean. A few miles on 191 and I came across a lone rider on an ST-1100 with Tennessee plates. I waved as I passed him, and he decided to keep up. We rode at a rather spirited pace along 191, the wind causing us to work the left side of our tires pretty well, as we raced (not figuratively) along the prairie.

We stopped at a park in the town of Eden, and chatted for a bit. His name was Robert Lee, and he's from Memphis; but I doubt he's named after the famous general from the War of Northern Aggression. He was on his own solo trip and was heading on 191 into Yellowstone. I told him about the national, and invited him on the trip -- offering to give him Josh's meal ticket since Josh was a no-show.

He thanked me, but said he always wanted to visit Yellowstone. We talked for about 20 or 30 more minutes, as if we were two solitary travelers exchanging news from some long forgotten time, before finally heading our seperate ways.

I veered east on WY-28 and headed toward Lander. The wind in Wyoming was howling now, and I noticed that it was such a persistent entity that the tops of many of the surrounding hills were scrubbed clean as if they were bones in an acid bath. The grass could not establish a foothold in the places where the wind continually tore at them.

In Lander I hopped on 789 east towards Riverton. Of course, I ran into that persistent thorn in my side, 'road work ahead,' on 789. There was a five mile stretch where the road was nothing but dirt and gravel, and several other places the road was one-laned.

I stopped in Riverton for dinner, then took 26 north into Shoshoni. On 26 I encountered the most unique single-laned road -- it was completely self-serve. A light stopped one side of traffic for two minutes while it let the other side travel. How odd, but if it works for them...

In Shoshoni I hopped on 20. While on 20 I passed "Red Canyon" which was stunning. Beautiful red hills with lush greenery everywhere. The contrast between the orange and green was very pretty.

Continuing on 20, I eventually came into Boysen State Park and Wind River Canyon. They had road-side camping for $12, so I went ahead and pitched my tent. A valuable lesson was learned, camping in a place with the word "Wind" in the name can be trying; even with my ear plugs in, I still thought I was stuck in a hurricane all night long. I'm sure Lewis and Clark didn't have it so rough when they came through here..

Total miles: 383/3149

Wednesday, June 4th

I woke up bright and early and broke camp in a hurry, mostly to keep everything in my campsite from blowing away. I headed north on US-20 into the town of Thermopolis, home of the worlds largest warm mineral spring.

After taking a few photos, I continued on 20 into the town of Worland, where I grabbed a quick breakfast. It looked like it might rain on me, which would have sucked, so I dragged out the rain gear and prepared for the worst.

In Worland I hopped on US-16 and followed into Buffalo. If you're ever in Wyoming, you MUST take this route. Heading east, it takes you into Ten Sleep Canyon, and then into the Big Horn Mountain range via the Cloud Peak Skyway.

Ten Sleep is a small community with a very artistic feel to it. There are Bed and Breakfasts every ten feet or so, and the whole area is very scenic with rolling hills, snow capped mountains, rivers, and small workshops.

Continuing east on 16, I crossed into the Big Horn National Forest and Mountain Range. The fresh scent from the surrounding pine trees filled my nostrils, and deer were everywhere. US-16 has several gentle sweepers as you slowly make your way to an elevation of 9673'. At 9600', I was almost level with the snow capped peaks, and the view was breathtaking.

I continued on US-16 through the mountain range until I reached the town of Buffalo. I had to hop on the slab in Buffalo, but it wasn't too bad since most of this area of Wyoming is rural. I took I-90 east to exit 153, where I stopped for gas and water. Then I took US-14 north into Devils Tower National Park.

Devils Tower is one of our most recognizable landmarks, and our first national monument. Indian legend says that Devils Tower got it's unique markings when seven young women were being chased by a bear. They called out for help, and one of the spirits raised the ground they were standing on to take them out of harms way. As the ground rose, the bear clawed at the peak, dragging it's nails into the earth, thus creating the distinctive ridges which surround the tower.

Devils Tower is also recognizable from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was the meeting place where the aliens landed to meet with us. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find Richard Dreyfuss anywhere.. :-(

Maybe he was hiding out with Jodie Foster??

I paid the $3 admission, and played tourist. 200 yards into the park there was a field filled with little holes and several cars were stopped. Being the eternally curious sort, I stopped too and quickly noticed several prairie dogs standing up from their holes. Many were just sitting, begging for food. I asked a ranger if I could play "Whack-A-Mole," but he just threatened to throw me out of the park. Some people have no sense of humour.

I rode around to the forbidden side of Devils Tower, and searched in vain for the secret military base. I was denied in Roswell, and once again I was denied any chance to see the aliens from Planet X.

After leaving the park, I headed south-east on 14 until I came into the town of Sundance. Sundance, WY is not the same Sundance that is famous for the indy films, and it's better left undescribed..

Knowing my plan was to arrive in Custer, I hit the slab once again. If you're on a bike, and you're in south-western South Dakota, there's a place you have to visit, and I was on my way there. 35 minutes later, and I was in Sturgis.

I stopped in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, and took some photos. I asked if they had any postcards in their gift shop, but they reacted as if I was saying, "Mmmphf booklesplat smeagle," and then directed me to a gift shop down the road. You'd think that the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum would have had postcards...

After taking care of the postcard business, I took 385 south. My plan was to ride it all the way into Custer, but I was to be denied this simple wish. You see, it had been awhile since my nemesis had plagued me, and this time 'road work ahead' really had it in for me. Instead of 385, I was directed to take an alternate route (85) into the town of Lead, home of the Gold-Diggers. In Lead, I was directed to a dirt road which stretched 7 miles until it finally arrived back on 385, about 10 miles south of where I started.

Actually, the detour was quite scenic. It took me through a small valley with a pretty cottage, and a stream running right down the middle. Hey, I was in Ponderosa!! I think I see Hos over there!

(an aside) Why is the school mascot for Lead, SD the "Gold Diggers"? Didn't they ever think it through? "And everyone, let's welcome YOUR GOLD DIGGER CHEERLEADERS!" (yeah, great one guys).

Back on 385 south, I debated about whether or not I would stop to see Mt. Rushmore now, or wait until later. I decided it would be better to head into Custer and check in for the national, rather than potentially missing the group dinner.

About 15 miles from Custer, I was once again struck by my arch-nemesis, and was held up in traffic. This time there was some lady from Polk County slowing traffic down on top of 'road work ahead.' I looked down at the GPS, and saw that there was a turn off coming up that would put me right at the entrance to the American Presidents Resort, and would most likely take me out of the traffic. I double checked the route on my AAA map, and it looked good, but I was really curious what those little squiggle marks on the GPS meant...

I took 87 from 385 south to the entrance to Custer State Park, then hopped onto 89. 89 took me right into 16-A, and right next to the entrance to the American Presidents. So, that was my introduction to "Needles Highway" in the Black Hills. What a serious trip that turned into, it's awesome. Forget Deals Gap, this thing has all of the turns, and no damn traffic to boot. And those squiggle marks, well I've been scouring the GPS base maps to find more of them!

I checked in at the camp-ground, paid my $12.50 fee, and setup my tent. About 5 minutes after I finished getting my tent set, some guy on a completely mud covered SV-650 comes up and starts talking. He turns out to be Mike, King Kaz, from North Dakota where he's studying to be an air traffic controller. Hmm, what is it with people and blue SV-650's that are studying to be air traffic controllers? (I know two of them now).

We then met up with Dave from Texas, and shot the breeze for awhile. Eventually it was time to head to the VFW, and away we went. Dinner was fun, I sat next to Carl - "I'm on the road for the next five years, and pass the god damned pepper foo," and everyone had a good time. As soon as dessert was done, Mike and I split to go see if we could catch Mt. Rushmore at sunset.

I took him on 89, then 87, and showed him the road I had found. He was giggling like a school-girl on her first date when he was done riding that road, and to be honest, so was I. It's really a fun little road.

We made it up to Mt. Rushmore, but the monument wasn't lit up and it was too dark to get any decent photos. So, we decided to head over to the Crazy Horse Monument, which was lit up. We arrived at Crazy Horse just as they were closing, but the attendant let us in to check the site out anyway. We went ahead and rode up, and I took some photos but unfortunately they didn't come out.

We headed back to the presidents where I was ready for bed. I went to sleep, and was woken up about 1am my time (I stayed on EST for the whole trip) by mnrstrider (?) telling me that I was silly to leave so early because I had won an award at the dinner. He presented me with my award, "farthest person from home, roughly 1900 miles" which included a $50 gift certificate for Aerostitch.

Thanks! Oh yeah, and at next years meet I'll be presenting a little token to the winner of the award (and it better not be me), hehheheh.

Total miles: 483/3632

Thursday, June 5th

Being bummed out about the photos from the night before, I really wanted to get up to Mt. Rushmore and get some pictures in the morning. I also knew I was planning on heading into Minnesota (Land of Paul Bunion) that day, so I broke camp then told Mike my plan. I said, "I'm going to go to Mt. Rushmore and take some photos, I'll be back in 40 minutes if you want to go riding later."

He was cool with the plan. I headed toward Mt. Rushmore on 385, and got there in about 15 minutes. I took several photos, then headed back to Custer; total round-trip time was about 45 minutes.

Mike, Texas Dave, and myself headed over to the "Internet Cafe" where Dave and I had breakfast. Mike had already filled himself up with a filling bowl of students staples (ramen). At breakfast we discussed plans; the weather looked like it was going to be bad, so Dave decided to head to Colorado. Mike and I wanted to do the other half of needles, then hit the badlands, so that's what we did.

We headed back up 89 to 87, then took 87 south. We had to pay our $5 entrance fee, but that was fine. The southern part of 87 is not as challenging as the northern part, but it was still fun. There are several switchbacks to keep you interested, and it runs through a pretty forest filled with tall pines and birch trees.

In one of the switchbacks I felt this banging on my foot, and realized I was scraping my pegs with a fully loaded bike. 87 eventually ends into 16A, which we followed east to 36, then we took 36 into Hermosa. The route followed several little valleys, with gently rolling hills and forests. Deer were everywhere, and it was very relaxing and pretty.

Once we got to Hermosa, our plan was to follow 40 east for a ways, and then hop onto this road which had no number, but showed up on the AAA map. We weren't entirely sure if it was going to be a dirt road or not, but it was a short cut into 44 and would pop us right through Buffalo Gap and well on our way into the badlands.

About 5 miles down 40 my arch-nemesis struck again. Yes, that's right, 'road work ahead' was at it again. We were stopped for about 5 minutes until we were given the go-ahead. Half-way through the one-lane road I spotted the turn off on the left. Sure enough, it was dirt, but it looked like it was hard packed enough that it would be manageable. I looked at Mike, and he gave me the thumbs up, so off we went.

The road headed north for a mile or so, then veered east. It was packed well enough at the beginning that we were able to make reasonable time (~40mph). About 15 miles into the road though, the gravel was loose and the rear end of my bike was getting a little squirrelly. Not to be one bothered by trivial details like having my rear-end slide out from under me, I kept trekking on, and eventually we came to a junction which had the road I was looking for. We headed due north, and about 10 miles later we emerged on Hwy 44, a bit dustier for sure, but safe and sound.

We took 44 through the Badlands National Park to Cedar Pass. At Cedar Pass we each paid our $5 entrance fee, then stopped at a little cafe. The weather was looking really rough, and I really hoped to make Minnesota by nightfall, so we agreed to split up. I wished Kaz a good ride, and thanked him for the trip, then we each went our seperate ways. I headed North-East on 240, but didn't get more than 5 miles away when the rain finally caught up with me in Cactus Flats.

In the process of putting my rain jacket on, the plastic holder for my chatterbox broke; no more tunes on this trip for me, but this really just emphasized what a poor design the chatterbox is...

I continued north on 240 to I-90, then headed east on I-90 for 12 miles to route 73. I headed north on 73 into the town of Philip, where I got gas and water, then proceeded east on US-14 towards Minnesota.

This area of South Dakota was really empty. Grass prairies spread out in front of me as far as the eye could see. There were several cows, but not much else. About a hundred miles from Philip I arrived in Pierre, which was a medium sized city (probably population 100,000). Between Philip and Pierre I was able to escape the storm, and most of that stretch of road was done in the sun.

After a quick stop for lunch, I left Pierre and continued east on US-14. The area is dotted with large farms, and not much else. Visions of the Stephen King movie, Children of the Corn, flooded my head as I passed several of these farms. Would one of these farms hold a Malachai?

Eventually I started seeing signs on US-14 proclaiming it as the "Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway" -- Laura Ingalls?? Like the "Little House on the Prairie" Laura Ingalls??

Sure enough, when I arrived in the town of De Smet I saw signs proudly describing De Smet as the "Little Town on the Prairie." I always thought she was from Westville, Florida.. I wondered if this is where Nellie Oleson was from too.

Well, the rain started to catch me again, so I stopped at one of the many road-side parks and donned my rain gear again. Although it looked really bad with lightning and thunder crashing around me every which way I could imagine, I never saw more than 10 minutes of rain before reaching Minnesota.

Just before I reached Minnesota I caught up to two other bikers on Harleys. I waved as I passed them, and continued on. When I crossed into Minnesota I noticed windmills everywhere, and stopped to photograph several outside of Lake Benton. As I was taking the pictures, the group passed me again and I inadvertantly got a pretty good shot of one of them waving (or giving me the bird??).

I continued on US-14 into the town of Tyler where I stopped for gas. There was a little old lady trying to figure out how to fill her car (apparently it was the first time she ever saw a pay at the pump type of pump), so I helped her out. She said I had a nice bike and asked where I was from, then wished me a safe trip as I continued on my way.

After filling up, I headed east on US-14 into the town of Florence, from there I hopped on MN-23 into Granite Falls where I checked into a motel for the night. It was starting to get cold, and everything was wet, so I didn't feel like tenting that night. The last entry in my journal for that night read, "242 miles to Duluth, 350 to Canada, and a lake is calling me..."

Total mileage: 572/4204

Posted at: 21:11 on 22/06/2003   [ /travel ] #

TR and work
I put up part one of my travel report yesterday. Although part two is written, I need to touch it up a bit before posting it.

Last night Sandy, Geoff, Kathy and I went to the new Cuban restaurant in town. I was in bed by 9pm, but that was good because I was at work this morning by 7:45am to swap out network electronics in the 2nd floor closet.

Posted at: 19:07 on 22/06/2003   [ /diary ] #