Day 4.
August 24th, 2021.
I awoke early, a little before daybreak and opted to remain in bed a while longer.
My mind was back in time relishing the ride of the previous day and with the resulting smile on my face, drowned out the news channel on the television set.
I was glad that I came off the road as early as I did because I had afforded myself a good long night’s rest.
I felt so much more relaxed and decided to make a slow start for the day.
The plan for today was to overnight in Billings, MT a distance of about 720 km (450 miles) for the day - very attainable before sundown.
At least, so I thought.
It would be much easier and less stressful since I was better rested now.
Fighting headwinds on the open highway for the last 2 days had really taken a toll on my energy, dehydrated me and left me feeling worn out.
My body was still calling for fluid.
Close to 9:00 a.m. I was loaded up and prepared to continue the journey.
I was very excited.
I was looking forward to this day’s ride.
I was now 2011 km (1257 miles) from home, with the expanse of the Great Plains of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Desert of South Dakota well behind me.
That meant I would be getting into more scenic and thrilling riding compared to the more efficient but monotonous straightways of the interstate highway.
After breakfast, I took off from the hotel parking lot, went directly across the busy, early morning road to a gas station, fueled up the bike and loaded up with water and Gatorade for the morning.
At $4.79 for a gallon of gas, The ST took on 12.11 liters (3.2 gal). - who says Rapid City is not expensive?
I don’t!
A crew of concrete pavers working in the open lot of the station could not keep their eyes off the bike and I.
I wondered what thoughts could be going through their minds.
My guess (and I could be wrong) was that they were wishing they could be doing what I was doing.
That is, being on vacation and traveling the country with wanton abandonment.
Regardless, I immediately reminded myself to be grateful for my blessings of being able to do exactly what I was and have what I had - the freedom to travel this country and see spectacular places and things, encounter other interesting people and indulge myself in this life-long passion of riding a motorcycle.
I was truly living a part of my teenage motorcycling dream!
So back on the highway I found a comfortable spot between the vehicles and settled into a relaxed pace and state of being.
I could feel myself beginning to shed the stress of my city life in northeast Ohio.
Felt like my holiday was now beginning.
I drove past the town of Sturgis (been there before, seen it)! - and took the first exit (exit 30) off the interstate in to put myself onto highway 14a in the northern part of The Black Hills.
The Black Hills, talk to any motorcyclist who has ridden here, present some of the finest canyon and mountain roads this country has to offer motorcyclists.
And highway 14a is no exception, but rather another very fine example of one such road.
So with Sturgis at my rear, I followed the GPS route guidance to find the beginning of highway 14a.
I had come a long way on this trip seeking out this particular road.
"14a was the only one I was interested in, folks!"
Right from the start, the road threaded a path through lush green vegetation and soon, much to my pleasure, started to weave, dip and dive its way through the mountains.
I was in second heaven.
The pavement was new, quality of which was just first class!
All too soon almost at the summit of this first range of mountains, I came upon a road construction crew hard at work, laying down more continuing pavement.
So we were filtered into a single lane and forced to await clearance to proceed.
Aargh! That killed the momentum and flow of the ride I was so relishing!
Passing through the construction zone, the road continued to climb again towards the summit at which stood a sign welcoming me to the town of Deadwood!
So to all my fellow history and western movie genre buffs and aficionados, here is where the legends were born!
I took some time and visited the town of Deadwood.
To me nothing terribly special except for some of it’s history, rode along its main street, saw what there was to see of its rows of tourist traps and made a beeline out of town in a heartbeat.
I was in search of roads to ride and enjoy.
I consider myself a tourist of a different kind/breed!
Scenery was such a compliment to the road, with continued great quality.
Not surprising, because 14a is also known as the Spearfish Canyon Highway.
If you are in this area, be sure you do not miss it.
This is one of the roads on my list that is well worth going in search of.
I kid you not!
So for the next 51 km (32 miles), Spearfish Canyon Highway twisted and danced to my utmost pleasure …. And yes, I did scrape my footpads more than a couple of times along the way!
The ST, in the hands of a capable rider, is just second to none for this kind of spirited riding.
It took me past what seemed like would be a very beautiful waterfall, The Bridal Veil Falls, if it had more water flowing down than it actually did.
My guess is that it was too late in the season to have full water flow.
Nevertheless, the roadside parking area teemed with vehicles of tourists who had all gathered to see it and to get their own personal photo ops.
It was still pretty to see/witness.
14a eventually dumped me back onto Interstate 90 at the town of Spearfish, from where I continued towards the Wyoming state line, took my obligatory state line photo, pressed on through Sundance, Carlile Junction and on to the Devil’s Tower Monument along Highway 24 - which was another thrill of a ride through the highlands of this area.
Devil’s Tower, a rock formation, is very sacred to the Native Americans of this area and is the First National Monument established in the USA. (No doubt you can get so much better information and history about it on the internet, than you can from me).
It was just about lunchtime and after all the calories I had used up getting here, I used an opportunity to get something to eat and drink for later on in the day.
I did not want to take a protracted break but used the opportunity to duck into a cafe/souvenir store that had a sign advertising themselves as The Home of The Buffalo Burger and ordered one to go, along with an ice cold Pepsi.
After seeing the monument I quickly moved on and made my way away from the Devil’s Tower Monument, brushing up on a little history along the way.
My Buffalo Burger, cooked on order to my preference was indeed good, as I was to find out when I finally stopped for a break 51 km (32 miles) further along Highway 14 in the town of Moorcroft, WY., where after fueling the bike up I found a lonely shaded spot at the end of the lot which made for a quiet, restful spot for a lunch break.
So if you’re in the area and have an appetite worked up, I would highly recommend you pop in to the Devil’s Tower View along the Devil’s Tower Highway for a great tasting Buffalo Burger.
They also boast a restaurant, camping, home made ice cream and a gift store.
As I savored my lunch, a trio of ADV Bike (adventure bike) riders pulled up for their break off the road as well.
I couldn’t help but notice from their registration plates that they were from Ohio as well.
Striking up conversation we found out that we all lived barely an hour and a half from ourselves - they from Columbus, OH and I from a suburb of Cleveland, OH.
What a small world, eh?
It was “pushing” almost 3:30 p.m. local time when I finally resumed the journey, but not before making a phone call to my buddy Rocky in Montana, to whom I was heading, to update him on my traveling status.
We had been planning to meet since 2015 and finally now in 2021 we were hoping to make that happen.
6 years late and bittersweet.
Bittersweet because his wife and riding partner, the sister of Jeff, one of my “Texan Motorcycling Brothers”, passed away in 2016, succumbing to cancer.
In retrospect, I wish I had been more adamant and done more to prioritize this visit/trip for that time.
But as it happened I lost out on the opportunity to get to meet them both at that time.
Both she and Rocky along with their dogs have “motorcycled” the whole of the North and South American Continents.
So I got back onto the interstate highway …… and back into serious headwinds again!
Nothing I could do.
Just had to manage and keep going.
Even at a slower, safer manageable speed, I was burning up much more fuel than I would have liked to.
I had no choice!
I made sure though to stop at an hour and a half intervals to rehydrate, using the same chance to take a few photos.
It was very scenic wherever I stopped.
If you take time to look at your surroundings, you can and may always find something spectacular or attractive enough to photograph which will add to and compliment the memories you wish to immortalize.
It was 5:30 p.m. local time as the rich glow of the natural orange light was tempered off in the distance as the sun sank behind the seemingly endless mountain ranges.
I was tired from fighting the headwinds again for the best part of the last few hours.
This headwind I had encountered on the interstate, had been relentless for these past days.
Today being the 4th!
No way I could make it to Billings before sundown.
It was a little after 6:00 p.m. when I made an executive decision to find a place to bed down for the night before dark, and an hour later I found myself in the town of Sheridan, MT.
I had crossed back into Montana from Wyoming without even realizing it.
Again I was hungry and thirsty and my body was calling for some sugar.
No doubt as well that caffeine-loaded Pepsi I had with my lunch had contributed to my being dehydrated.
So finding a hotel, I set off to find some dinner for the evening.
I settled fore a Subway Sandwich dinner with 2 large bottles of Gatorade to replenish my electrolytes.
I spent part of the night doing laundry, downloading and organizing photos.
Apart from the aggressive headwinds it had been a good day on the road.
All was well, life was good.