Day Ride: Two-Wheel Therapy

Today we thought we'd go down to Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest and maybe hang around to see this year's Saturday night headliner, the Steve Miller Band. The NewWestFest is a free, community music festival that takes place in the heart of Old Town Fort Collins every summer. Northern Colorado has a very active music scene, and Bohemian Nights is just a small part of that scene.

Parking is a hassle in downtown Fort Collins on a good day, let alone during one of the street fair events. And with free entertainment like the Steve Miller Band, the Old Town area promised to be packed -- rumor had it that event organizers were expecting as many as 30,000 people for the concert tonight.

Donna and I decided to take the motorcycles downtown because they are easier to park than a car. As we were donning our riding gear, I got a text from our friends Lisa and Vickie asking if we wanted to join them for a late lunch / early dinner. We decided to accept that invitation. In the end, we opted to meet them for dinner and take our friend Laura (in the chrome helmet, with Donna and Lin) out for a little two-wheel therapy.

I didn't tell Laura that we were on the bikes when I texted her and told her we were coming over to say hi. She used to ride with us, but the residual effects of West Nile Virus have changed a lot of things for her. Now, our circle of friends is very conscious about mosquitoes.

Lin led us out toward the Rawhide Power Plant on the county roads and then back into the Fort. Again, the weather gods favored us. The cloud cover kept us cool, and we managed to time the ride so that we rode between the rain storms. The winds were behind us for most of the trip -- well, except when we turned east, the wind was pretty mean out of the north, and it pushed me around a little.

All in all, we rode about 55 miles before Laura was ready to go home. When we got her off the bike in front of her house, she was wearing an ear-to-ear grin.

Another of our friends, Denise, arrived at Laura's before we left for Old Town. Because Denise is leaving us for a short time to learn how to be an organic farmer (and to see if that's really what she wants to do), Donna and I decided to take her to dinner with us, so she rode with Lin when we went to Old Town.

After dinner, we wandered around the booths at the street fair, but by that time most of the vendors were packing up for the day. The streets were getting crowded and noisy, so we decided to pack it in for the day as well. The ride back to the garage didn't take as long as I thought it might and we parked the bikes before it got dark.

It was another great day for a ride and we managed to miss the worst of the weather. Good friends, good rides, good food. You can't ask for more than that.

Until next time. Ride on.

Sturgis Day 7: Home Sweet Home

We traveled back home today. We had our bikes packed, the camper secured, and were on the highway heading for breakfast by 9:00 AM. The restaurants were pretty crowded this morning as a lot of people looked to be heading home today. Of course, by the time we finished breakfast (and visiting) and hit the highway, it was after noon.

This morning, I saw a steady stream of motor homes, pickups with trailers, and motorcycles as we rode into Rapid City. I also saw a lot of folks heading into the Black Hills all day. I have to admit that I saw a lot more people pulled over getting tickets than I remember seeing in the past. Law enforcement was ever so vigilant this year.

We met up with our young friend Jacob again for breakfast and he rode back to Colorado with us. The ride home was uneventful -- just the way I like it. We rode south on US Hwy 85 all the way to I-25 just north of Cheyenne. I like traveling that road. The traffic is usually reasonable and it's not too fast. Unlike most years when we ride that stretch of highway, the fields were vibrant greens and yellow wildflowers lined the road. 

The weather conditions were perfect for the ride home -- warm with just enough cloud cover to keep the temperatures from becoming blistering. What little wind we experienced mostly helped push us along. Donna and I decided to forego a couple of our usual gas stops in favor of getting home sooner. Our last gas stop was Wellington, and Jacob continued on to Denver while Donna, Lin, and I took CO Hwy 1 into Fort Collins. I hope he made it home safely. 

And so ends another Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Tomorrow we wind down from vacation and get back to reality. 

Until next time. Ride on. 

Sturgis Day 6: Takin' Care of Business

So, today we needed to rest a bit and wrap up the week. We only had a few errands to run, so we took our time getting out going. We returned a couple of items to Menards, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back to the Harley dealership to pick up the bracelet I bought a couple of days ago.

On the way in, I wanted to see about getting some leather fringe for my levers and one of the vendors there does a braided leather wrap. I pulled my bike in and waited to for one of the guys that worked there. And waited, and waited. Another bike pulled into the stall next to mine and one of the employees walked up the him and asked what he needed. I blew a gasket and stormed out, bike and all. Those of you who know me, know that I don't put up with that kind of stuff. So you know that I didn't leave quietly.

I vented to Donna all the way over to the bracelet vendor. We sat down to have a beer and for me to cool down and headed back to the bikes. As I was getting dressed to get on the highway, Tony, the owner of the leather wrap stall, came up to ask what had happened. I explained my side, and how I felt that I had been snubbed. He apologized and offered to make it right. I apologized for losing my temper.

So I want to give a shout-out to Mike and Tony, the IronBraid guys out of New York. Mike did an awesome job on my levers and the red and silver looks great.

With our errands complete, we went back to Box Elder to clean up for dinner. We took the family out to the LongHorn Steak House, and had a great time.

We also met our friend Kristie at the restaurant, so we had quite a party at our table.

After a wonderful meal, we rode back to the camper and started the packing process. Tomorrow we head for home and back to reality.

Sturgis Day 5: Braving the Crowds

Sturgis is the epicenter of the motorcycle rally that takes place in the Black Hills of South Dakota every August. And today we went into Sturgis. We got another early start as Lin, Donna, and I headed to the gas station and a fast food breakfast before jumping on the interstate for the 35-mile ride from Box Elder to downtown Sturgis.

For the most part, people are pretty friendly during the rally. We trade ride stories, recommendations, and warnings; and frequently give each other little hints, tips, and tricks to getting into and out of the crowded little towns. Today was no different. Another tip for riding into Sturgis with minimal hassle. I had planned to go in that way anyway, so it was nice to know that my idea was a sound one.

The rally seems to have a natural traffic flow. For the most part, rides move out and away from Sturgis. I have found that if we travel opposite that flow, we miss the worst of the crowds. Of course, I've also found in my life that timing is everything.

I thought it would take longer to get on Main Street than it did. Within 10 minutes or getting off the highway, Donna and Lin had found places. I wanted to get some footage on my GoPro, so I did one circuit and started a search of my own. Now, that took a few minutes. I'll upload some video when I get it cleaned up and compressed.

Sturgis is an interesting place during Rally week (and the weeks before and after while the Rally ramps up and winds down). Some people come for the motorcycle races, some for the concerts, and some -- like me -- to ride in someone else's back yard for a few days. We also see a lot of interesting folks, like this fellow that Donna saw in her travels up and down Main Street.

When we were all tired of walking around in the crowed streets and ready to ride again, we rounded up our bikes and went for a quick bite before tackling Vanocker Canyon on our way back to Box Elder.

All-in-all, it was a pretty good day. We even made it back to our camper well before dark. Tomorrow is "clean-up" day. We need to spend some time getting our stuff packed so we can get an early start home on Saturday.

Sturgis Day 4: Ride On

We were up and on the go early this morning. We met our friends Sharon, Vickie, and Holly at IHOP in Rapid City at 9:00 AM. The idea was to have a nice long day ride and be settled back at the camper by the time it started to rain.

As a group, we decided to ride through the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park, then circle back up to Iron Mountain road into Keystone. The ride around the Wildlife Loop is always amazing, and this time was no different. We came around a turn into a knot of sightseers and these little guys.

Of course we missed the buffalo when they were near the road, but we did see this herd from a distance.

After finishing the Wildlife Loop, we circled back to ride Iron Mountain Road. Now, Iron Mountain Road is one of the most technical roads I have ever ridden. This 17 mile long road has 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, and 3 tunnels. Depending on the direction you travel the road, as you come out of a couple of the tunnels, you see the faces on Mount Rushmore. At the end of the road lies Keystone, SD. We stopped to calm our nerves after the stress of all the twists and turns.

On a whim, as we left Keystone to ride to Deadwood, we decided to take the Old Hill City Road instead of the road more traveled. The Old Hill City Road is an 11-mile road that intertwines with the 1880 Train railroad tracks. The road crosses the tracks 14 times in that short ride. This is another road that can be a bit tricky to the unwary rider.

After the Old Hill City road, we turned north to Deadwood. By the time we reached the parking lot across the street from the Silverado Casino, the clouds were rolling in.

When we finished dinner and were discussing how long to stay and gamble, the lightning and thunder were making themselves seen and heard. So much for missing the weather today. Because our friends were staying in Deadwood, they decided to head back to their campsite before the rain started, so we said our goodbyes.

Lin, Donna, and I stayed in town after the rain started trying to wait it out. When the Weather Bug indicated that the storm was slacking, we made a dash for the bikes and our rain gear. Somehow I managed to stay fairly dry and found a place to gear up. The traffic through Boulder Canyon into Sturgis stayed at a comfortable pace for a change. Donna and I have been through that canyon in bad weather and been pushed through by the flow of traffic. Pretty hairy-scary.

Even though we got caught in the rain after dark (not our favorite riding conditions), I thought it was a pretty awesome day. We rode some of my favorite roads in the Black Hills, it doesn't get much better than that.

Tomorrow we head to Sturgis, mostly to register for the rally. We'll see what else the day brings.

Sturgis Day 3: Into the Madness

Last night we watched a pretty awesome lightning show -- after Donna woke me and Lin up at 1:30 AM. It really was spectacular, but I'm glad that we saw it from a distance. We met some folks this afternoon who had been caught in the storm. They didn't think it was so spectacular from their point of view. Apparently the concert at the Buffalo Chip was stopped because of the storm. Ah, the joys of summertime activities.

For those of you who have never visited the Black Hills in August, I can tell you that the weather this time of year is very similar to that of Northern Colorado. This means that in late July and early August the weather has this kind of Jekyll and Hyde personality. The mornings are beautiful and temperate, and the heating of the day boils up the afternoon thunder and lightning storms. Sometimes those lightning storms can last well into the night as they roll across the plains to the east, like they did last night.

Now that we have the camper up and we have settled into our new digs, we decided that it was time to brave the crowds. This morning it was breakfast at the Morningside Cafe then on to the Black Hills Harley Davidson shop in Rapid City.

This year, the crowds were something else. We thought the Black Hills were a mess for the 65th Rally? Everywhere we went today, the lines were more than twice what we saw in previous years. I can hardly wait to get to Sturgis on Thursday.

Now, I don't ride a Harley, but they have some pretty neat stuff and you can even buy stuff for your Honda. We have gotten a lot of leather goods at this place and the Kuriyaken tent has metric items (translation: Honda stuff).

We spent a couple of hours roaming the tents, deciding whether to spend money and on what, and getting patches sewn on our vests while we wandered the grounds. Then we went to the lot next door to see what they had over there (not much).

On a whim, we decided to ride out to Caputa to say goodbye to our old digs. It sure looked different than when we left it last year. Of course, it was pouring rain and the camper was still up.

After saying our goodbyes to the place we rode to for so many years, we headed back to our new home for the rally. Tomorrow morning we meet our friends from North Dakota for breakfast, then we ride the Black Hills.

Sturgis Day 2: Settling In

We spent the day settling into the new place. There isn't a way (yet) to get the popup into the back yard, so this year we get to camp in the driveway.

When we went to pop the camper up, we discovered that we were missing a few things. One of them was a critical piece -- the crank to raise the roof. So, in addition to the groceries and ice that we usually get on the first day, we had to go in search of something to use to pop the camper up with. Off to Rapid City in search of an RV store we went.

We ended up at the Smiling Moose Deli where the staff was exceptionally friendly. We went to this place a couple of times last year, and really liked the food, so apparently Lin's bike had the idea that we needed to eat there today.

I think every one of the employees came by our table and asked if we liked the sandwiches, and then told us that our sandwiches were made with love. You can't ask for more than that.

After we finished our awesome sandwiches, we went in search of the RV shop and a crank so we could pop the trailer up. The RV shop was a bust, but they had a couple of suggestions. We ended up at Menard's and found piece of metal that we were able to use to improvise a crank. I'm not sure if it was cheaper to go that route, but it saved us a trip halfway to Sturgis. So now the camper is up and tonight we brave the driveway.

Donna has been talking to our friend Sharon from North Dakota about riding together tomorrow. I'm not sure what the plan is yet, so tune in to see how we deal with the crowds.

Sturgis Day 1: The Road North

Today began the pilgrimage to Sturgis, SD, for the 75th annual motorcycle rally. As we usually do, we stayed at Lin's house last night so we could get an early start this morning. As anyone who has traveled with us knows, anything before noon is an early start. This morning, we were out of the driveway around 9:30-ish. We had lunch in Cheyenne at a little Mexican place on Dell Range before gassing the bikes and heading north on US Hwy 85 toward Torrington, WY.

The word of the day: Wind. After leaving Cheyenne, the wind was mostly behind us, but as the day wore on, we caught more crosswinds. Nothing as bad as what we experienced in Nevada last month, but enough to make us take note.

We saw more traffic heading toward the Black Hills today than we have in past years, but that's to be expected considering the anniversary. At our gas stop in Lusk, WY, we met a nice young man, Jacob Waldo, who was heading to his very first Sturgis rally. He asked to join us since he wasn't sure where exactly he was going. He rode with us as far as the rest area at Mule Creek Junction before we parted ways.

We made sure that Jacob had a rally map and directions to Sturgis before he took the highway north to Newcastle. I hope he was able to find a place to camp.

We stopped at Woolly's Western Grill in Hot Springs for dinner before gassing the bikes one last time before finishing the ride into Rapid City. Instead of our usual digs in Caputa, south of the airport, our camper has moved. Genevieve and Dave bought a house in Box Elder, so here we are.

Tomorrow we pop the camper up and get settled in here at the new digs (we're on air mattresses in one of the bedrooms tonight), then we brave the crowds. This should be interesting.