Can you believe its Sturgis time again? The rumbling of bikes headed north, south, east and west to the black hills of South Dakota.
My time has arrived for departure. Monday July the 29th. 7am sharp. all packed and ready to roll. My stereo is all cranked up with the “ Eagles” tune “Take it to the limit one more time,” My buddy “Santa Claus” had left the day before. He broke down in San Angelo, engine problems. Stopped in Juntion for gas and rolled north to Eden. Left at Eden to San Angelo. “Claus” was at a local motel. Stopped to check out issue. Sure enough! Engine sounds bad! No local bike shops. Call for friends help back from Fredericksburg. Well he is in good hands, I roll on.
The weather is pretty cool till about Lubbock. The heat arrives! Stop for gas over by Plainview. Pull in the clutch, nothing there! Pump-it a few times, finally get down shifted. Almost hit the gas pump. Wow whats wrong! Found out in extreme heat the fluid can fail. I was 108 at this point, no wonder! Finally got the bike in nuetral to start. Continued north to Amarillo, continued to pump clutch before stopping.
Made my usual stop on west 6th street in Amarillo. Smokey Joes, Great burgers and cold Shiner. After a short break, time to roll, Take hwy 1061 from here. Kinda a short cut to Dalhart. Last year it was under construction, hopfully this year it wont be? Luck is on my side! Smooth sailing to Dalhart. God this heat is incredible! Gas up in Dalhart, Gatorade break. Still in excess of 100 degrees. Make it to Raton Pass, my destination for the evening. “Jetson” was to meet me in Raton. Change of plans! He will meet in Salida tomorrow. Bryan in Colorado City will meet tomorrow in Pueblo.
Settle into my 5 star hotel for the evening!! Not really, a low budget one. At least its shelter with a/c. After a good nights rest time to ride over the moutain into “Colorful Colorado.” Meet Bryan in the parking lot of “High Octane” Grill. Meet for breakfast at the “Cracker Barrel” the Harley dealer is next door. Bryan picks up some parts and I browse.
I head to Salida to meet “Jetson”, Will meet up with Brian later in the week for Sturgis trip. Beautiful ride along the Arkansas River to Salida. “Jetson” and Ronnie are waiting for my arrival on the front porch. After greetings and catching up on things. Supper time approches. Mexican food is in order! After a full belly, time for a little rest.
Next morning off to Leadville, cant make this trip without some trout fishing. Just west of town is my normal fishing spot. Ronnie and “Jetson” drop me off at the bridge. Get waders and rubber boots on. Carrying and extra 20lbs with all that gear. Make my way up the stream. Slipping and a sliding. What a job too not fall down. After about 3 hours of this and four trout later time to call it a day. Also my reel jammed up. Boots full of water and waders wet, quite the job to make it back to the truck. Only fell one time, hit my head on a rock! Good thing I have a hard head! Arrive at the truck out of breath. Got those waders and boots off, what a relief! Had to stop at the “Manhattan Bar” in town to wet the whistle and see some old friends. Back to Salida for an evening meal along the river. Scenery very nice, food not so much!
Next morning, breakfast in town and off to meet up with Bryan in Colorado City. “Jetson” runs with me to Colorado City. He is not sure about going to Sturgis! To be decided later. Bryan meets us at the cut-off to his house. Not a road for the faint of heart. The road has many ruts and switch backs and quite the grade. Made it, but a little shaky. We setle in at Bryan’s cabin for the evening. Bryan grills some steaks for the evening meal. Great stuff with an incredible view of the moutains surrounding us.
Next morning up early with departure around 6am. A long day ahead of us, to make Sturgis before dark. “Jetson” runs with us to Colorado Springs. We head eastward at the Springs he stays straight. All well, next time! We hit hwy 24 to Limon then hwy 71 to Brush. Are you sure we are in Colordo? Looks like Kansas to me! Finally connect hwy 385 somewhere in Wyoming and run through Scotsbluff, Nebraska. Pretty uneventfull until we reach South Dakota. Speed limit drops to 55 mph at the Dakota line, down fom 70. Why, not sure, nothing to slow down for? Catch hwy 79 come up through Rapid Ciy. Hit I-90 in Rapid City. Easy cruising to Sturgis. Stop at the VFW in Sturgis and call Jim, our staying place in Buffalo Chip. He says come on out we will meet you at the gate. After a few cool ones, we roll that way. Purchase an arm band for the evening. RV with a bunk bed for both, Bryan and myself. Great setup, This place is like a small city, food, drink, music, what more could you ask?
Next day, 2nd day of the rally. We ride Rushmore, Hill City, back to Sturgis. VFW seems to be the home base.
Next day, Sunday, Deadwood, Place is so packed, no parking available, we go on to Hill City, down hwy 385 construction most of the way! Loose gravel, not fun. But parking in Hill City. Ride the Nemo road back. Stop for gas. guess what “Speechless” rolls in the parking lot. We had just been talking about where he might be! After a few cool ones time to roll. We stopped at Black Hills Harley to check out their venue. Seems like the same old stuff. Oh well back to camp.
Bryan and myself running down the interstate at a fair clip. Suddenly a loud backfire from my bike. Coasted to a stop. The engine would turn over, but knew it was gone. Got on the phone and got a wrecker on the way. 20 miles from Rapid City. Wrecker showed within 45 minutes! Loaded bike and headed to Black Hills Harley. Unloaded bike checked into service. Said they would call in the morning on the bad news. 10am received a call. Rebuild engine! Flywheel, pistons, you name it. Good news, they have the parts and can have it ready the next day! Pretty impressive! What you going to do! Your at their mercy! Started rebuild Monday afternoon, ready to roll Tuesday about 4 pm. In the meantime, we had music at the Chip every night, Travis Tritt, Quite Riot, Jelly Roll and others. Our neighbors from Kentucky had a golf cart, made it real handy to ride to the music venue each night, thanks Mark and Floyd. We had a large time in spite of the break-down. Thanks to Jim and Ray for a place to lay our heads!
We depart Sturgis on Thursday morning. We head north to Belle Fourche and west to a place called Stone House. In the middle of nowhere. A place where Cowboys and bikers drink side by side. Food vendors and clothing vendors available. Nice little rest stop. Bloody Marys were good as well. Traveling west on to Hulett, on down to Devils Tower. Quite the site, Does’t appear to belong there! Continue on south and connect with I-90 and head west. Stopping at Gillette for gas. Pull into gas parking lot, Bryan’s handle bar breaks off! Never witnessed this in my lifetime. We limp over to the Harley dealership about a mile away. Do you have a handlebar that will fit? No, we can order one! Not acceptable. In the meantime I noticed oil dripping out of my cam cover! Not sure we can look at it today, He says! Because of a music festival in town, no rooms available. You have got to look at this I say! Otherwise I will be camping in your parking lot! We shall see he says! They finally pull the cover off. The cam cover was damaged when the engine failed. Somehow they failed to see the cracked cover!! Bad news we don’t have one. Finally after 2 hours they find one. At about 5 minutes to 6 they pull the bike out of the shop. Meanwhile , Bryan goes to Home Depot for parts to try and get the handlebars patched up to make it back to Colorado. We put hose clamps on the bars to stablize, seems to work. We travel west to Buffalo,for the night.
Next morning, rain, Bryan heads back home. I wait for the rain to stop! Two hours of waiting, no luck. Put the rain suit on. Planned on meeting my other friend Brian in Red Lodge, Montana. I hate riding in the rain! But what you going to do! Head north to Sheridian, cutting off through Bign Horn Park. The rain continues, reach the mountain range, fog!!, can’t see 20 feet in front of me! A white truck in front of me, can you believe, no lights on? Anyway, watching his tail lights all the way up the mountain. Somehow made it over the top. Reached the other side, fog lifted. Good riding all the way to Cody. Pit stop in Cody, poker Chip from the local harley shop and a Bloody mary across the street. Time to tackle Beartooth Pass. I travel north to catch the Chief Joseph hwy. Well I miss the cutoff. End up in Red Lodge! Go to the north end of town to the Ashley KOA campground. Brian waiting by one of the cabins.
We ride into town to catch up on old times. Been maybe 3 years or so. Meet a couple in the local watering hole, end up across the street eating pizza. After few hours of visiting, time for the cabin. Tried to get Brain to ride back over Bear Tooth Pass with me, but need to head back home. He took off work to meet me! I head back south up and over Beartooth. If you have never traveled this road, please put it on your bucket list. Probably one of the greatest rides in the US. Climbed to the top of the pass, Photo op at the top. Continue south to the Chief Joseph hwy cutoff. Sweeping curves and switchbacks all the way to Cody. In Cody catch hwy 120 down to Thermopolis. Miss my turn and travel about 30 miles out of the way! All part of traveling. Hit a severe rain storm just south of Landers, Wind blowing at 60 mph, heavy rain, running side ways! Lasted about 20 miles, soaked to the bone. Reached Rock Springs for the evening. Time to dry out and get chow.
I had contacted the Green River Harley earlier to get an oil change on my new rebuild. They said first come first served. I arrived at 7:30. They pulled me in at 9am, out by 10am. Back on the road. Hit hwy 530 running south along side Flaming Gorge. Down through Manila. Just south of the dam. Nice scenery, watch the deer! Down through Vernal over to Rangely. Hit hwy 139, what a rough road, lot of bouncing. Make Grand Juncion, connect with hwy 50. Travel south on hwy 50 to hwy 141. To Gateway, probably one of my favorite roads! Cliffs and travels along the Delores River for many miles.Turns into hwy 145 at Naturita. At Placerville turn back east to Ridgeway. Going to get a room at Rigeway, little pricey for me! Run North to Montrose. Front wheel felt little funny when I turned right! Pulled into a motel, guy on a bench said, “Your front tire is almost flat” Good news there is a gas station with air right up th block. Go get air and travel up the street for a room.
Next day being Sunday, no shops will be open. Well the next morning the tire is still up! Great!! Had planned on the Million Dollar Hwy, But with a tire issue, maybe not! Traveled east to Blue Mesa instead. Turned south to Lake City and Creede, not a bad option! Make it down to South Fork and take a left on hwy 160 to Alamosa turn south on hwy 285 into New Mexico. Run to Tres Piedras and take a left on hwy 64 towards Taos. Make a quick stop at the big gorge outside of town. Man, had to be something to cross back in the covered wagon days! Stop in Taos for a green chili burger at the 5 star burger joint. It hit the spot! First food of the day. Run down to Mora on my way to Las Vegas. Get a motel in town, Stopped there on previous trips. The old lady running it got to be close to a hundred! Nice old lady always makes you welcome. After a few cold brews across the street its time for some rest.
Next day up at 6 am ready for the road. Last day on the trip time to make some miles. Head south on hwy 84 to I-40, go east to Santa Rosa ,connect to hwy 84 to Fort Sumner. Where by the way “Billy the Kid” is buried! Continue on 84 to Clovis. Stop for Muleshoe and Littlefield. Catch hwy 385 down to Brownfield. The temperature is increasing. Reaching 100 plus. Hit hwy 137 and
travel on to Lemesa. Gas and gatorade at Lamesa! The home stretch! Big Spring and Sterling City. Got to cool down! Dairy Queen stop at Sterling City. Quick malt does the trick! Down through San Angelo, man this heat is increible! Make it to Lums BBQ in Junction. Good Texas BBQ, welcome home! After some good BBQ, and a cool down, time for that last 50 miles! That front gate always a welcoming site! Roll in with the “Eagles” Playing “Peacefull Easy Feeling” 4300 miles later. Lot of ups and downs but still a great ride!
On a side note, Bryan did make it to Colorado City with that broken handlebar! Good to see my wife and my animals, they were over joyed!
Like I always say live life to the hilt, you never know when its your last
trip?
“RIDE FREE AND OFTEN!”
DAD
HDdad407@gmail.com
