As we draw closer to Minneapolis MN which is where we will be spending 4 days at the BMW National Rally we have calculated out ahead and are running ahead of schedule. That is why we have been scaling back on the miles per day - to ensure we don't get there too early. For that reason, today we only scheduled 280 miles to get to Sturgis, SD. That means we don't have to leave at the crack of dawn, though it's hard to sleep in. Our hotel did serve a cold breakfast so we wouldn't need to stop as on some previous days. This morning was also a bit warmer than yesterday with 64 showing before we left.
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| Day 29 Track |
We headed out from the hotel on US-26 northwesterly at 7:38 AM. It would be a short hop over to US-85, but we did see an incredibly long coal train headed east before we got to US-85.
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| Coal Train - goes on and on and on... |
US-85 would be a long run - just short of 100 miles to our next turn. It wasn't twisty at all, and the elevation did climb from a little over 4200 ft at the start to a peak of 5170 and then back down to 4200 ft again by the end. So, it wasn't a particularly "fun" motorcycle road, but it was a pretty ride. Nothing "spectacular" as in the Rockies but mile after mile of rolling fields of amber grain, punctuated by rocky mesas made for pleasant views all along the way.
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| US-85 south of Lusk, WY |
We did stop in Lusk WY, which was about half way of the US-85 leg. We needed to shed a layer of gear and we got coffees and killed some time so we wouldn't get to our hotel for the evening before check-in time.
It was 10:00 AM when we made the turn eastward onto US-18. This would bring us over 10 miles to cross the border into South Dakota and into the Black Hills. I got this photo over my shoulder looking back.
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| Leaving Wyoming |
We would take US-18 all the way into Hot Springs SD.We actually missed our turn onto 89, but Larry wanted to make a stop in town so we went there. From there we worked our way through town and then on to 385 which would take us through the Wind Cave National Park, and ultimately back onto 89. I really hoped to get photos of the bison through the park, but they only appeared for a very short few seconds and well off the roadway so I couldn't get the photo. Eventually, we made our way up to Mt Rushmore, which would be our only waypoint of the day - for the Presidential tour. The road got tighter and twistier on the way in, but there was too much other traffic on it to really enjoy from a riding perspective.
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| Presidential Tour - Mt Rushmore |
We stopped in Keystone SD for lunch and then took a short twisty back road that Larry knew about and in an effort to kill some more time. From there is was US-385 all the way up to Deadwood where we would turn onto US-14a to get us over to Sturgis. We did see a lot of Corvettes around, like probably over 100 so there must be a Corvette meet somewhere.
We got into our hotel in Sturgis at 2:03 PM! I was surprised they had a room ready, but they did. This gave us time to do some laundry, do some more washing and cleanup on the bikes and take a bit of a break before getting out for dinner.
Today's Stats: 270.8 miles in 6:28 elapsed time, 5:08 saddle time
Don,
ReplyDeleteActually, I DO have a neck strap, but I don't wear it because I am concerned that in the event of a "get-off" it might present a choking hazard. So I hook the strap to the key clip in my tank bag and keep the camera in the bag. Then I can open the bag, pull out the camera and operate it with my left hand - and in the event that I need my left hand, I can drop the camera and it will still be attached to the tank bag. It works OK, but I would like to rig up something a little more convenient.