This is IT. The Big One!
By and large, there are two types of motorcycle riders: Those who have gone to the Sturgis Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and those who WANT to go to the Sturgis Rally. Last week, July 7-14, we became the ones who “WENT”! And of course, we didn’t trailer our bikes – we actually rode them all the way from the Los Angeles area. In total, including all the sightseeing rides throughout the Black Hills, we rode a total of 3,177 miles that week!
On Monday, August 7th Dale, Donovan, Con, Dave and Dan met Pat’s house in La Verne, CA at 6:30 a.m. Because he’s so thoughtful, Pat had a nice little breakfast set out for us that included coffee, bagels, donuts, bolts, motor oil and cigars. And I’m not exaggerating! We may have felt like he-men leaving on such an epic ride, but come on Pat, you know we only drink 10-40!
As each rider arrived and came up the driveway, the fist pumping grew more frequent and the smiles grew wider. Holding his arms in the air, Big Dave just couldn’t contain his excitement! Unfortunately, there were no ladies to see us off because they were all in Hawaii missing us (at least that’s what they said). When it was time to go, the big motors began to thump while we connected our headsets and gave each other a “thumbs up”. OK, Dan’s BMW didn’t really “thump”, but it’s a truly awesome and sophisticated bike!
Opening the throttle down the freeway ramp, I remember thinking “boy do we ever have a long way to go!” But we were all living in the moment and loving life. The freedom we feel when riding across the country can’t really be measured or communicated. How can we describe the cool, fresh air, the smells, the views, and the feel of the awesome machines we ride? And when you count the brotherhood we have developed, there’s absolutely no substitute!
We met our other two riders, Rick and our special guest Bob in the town of Baker, about 2 ½ hours away. Bob is a very impressive 77 year old Marine and Vietnam veteran. His bike is a gorgeous Indian that he handles extremely well.
Now that the eight of us were all together, it was time to light ‘em up and get across the California and Nevada deserts before it grew too hot. Our goal was the Cracker Barrel restaurant in St. George, Utah. We arrived about 12:30 for a great brunch with all kinds of kidding and exciting talk. How could we possibly ride without that wonderful comfort food? From St. George on, the elevation made the air a lot cooler and the countryside was full of green grasses, trees and rugged red rocks. It was time to put our feet up on the highway pegs and lean back to enjoy the kind of riding we all yearn for. Gone were the freeways, the crazy drivers weaving in and out, and the miles of stopped traffic.
After we turned east on Interstate 70, the seemingly endless highway became long, sweeping turns though pretty mountains covered with pine trees. Entering a big green valley, Richfield, Utah and our first hotel could be seen in the distance. Naturally, we parked our 8 bikes in a long line, perfect for a group photo. After showering and freshening up, most of us walked across the parking lot to a yummy little all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta and salad restaurant. Boy did that hit the spot!
Tuesday was another travel day, but what a pretty one as we traversed from pine covered mountains through amazing sandstone formations and on into the Colorado Rockies. Of course, we had to stop at the Devil’s Canyon lookout for a photo. We rode by beautiful ski resorts like Beaver Creek and Vail, enjoying the blue sky and puffy white clouds. Rick and Bob spent that night in Golden, Colorado, while the rest of us stayed at Dale’s home in Morrison. As we pulled into Dale’s driveway, his son Brett’s family surprised us with a cooler full of ice cold beer. Brett’s pretty wife Hope and their two kids, Paxton and Hadley, welcomed us with lots of smiles and hugs. Dale loved holding those kids so much that he didn’t want to let them go! Then, after cleaning up, they all enjoyed a great Italian dinner at Homegrown Tap and Dough. So good!
Wednesday was the last leg of our journey up to South Dakota, so of course we had to stop on the way at a Cracker Barrel to make sure we were adequately stuffed for the ride. Dale’s original plan was to get gas somewhere near the restaurant, but since we had nearly full tanks, he reasoned that we could just top them off in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which was only an hour away. When there were no gas stations on our path through the outskirts of Cheyenne, he thought that “for sure” we’d see some along highway 85. Well, there were gas stations on that highway all right, but not for over 80 miles! Oops! Poor Rick ran out of gas, while the rest of the gang limped to a Maverick station in the town of Torrington. Dale and Pat bought gas cans, filled them up and then went back to find Rick on the side of the road about 40 miles away. Rick said that whenever groups of motorcycles had passed him, he acted like he had just stopped to stretch so he wouldn’t have to answer any embarrassing questions. But in the end, our lesson was learned and no real harm was done. That evening, we all pulled into our nice hotel in Custer, South Dakota, just in time for another meal!
Well, Thursday August 10, a day that will live forever in our memories, finally arrived. We were just about to see Sturgis! God shined His light on us that day because the weather was absolutely perfect. Some people had told us that a few days earlier the hail was larger than golf balls, pounding the daylights out of motorcycles, cars and people. I couldn’t even imagine that!
As we pulled into the little town of Sturgis, there were so many motorcycles lining some of the streets that no cars could fit or were even allowed. Nearly every store in the town had converted to a souvenir outlet. Although there were thousands of people, the town was big enough that we didn’t feel like sardines. Everyone we met was nice, fun and having a good time. We didn’t really go into any bars, but a couple of us might have peeked into One Eyed Jack’s Saloon as bikinis and other clothes were body-painted onto bare topped women. Of course, the interest was purely artistic… Hands down, Sturgis is the biggest, best and most impressive motorcycle rally in the country. And we were all very grateful that we could be a part of it!
After the rally, we rode back to Custer and got a little lost in the tangle of roads through the Black Hills. We had dinner at a great restaurant called The Buglin’ Bull, where the chicken fried steak with gravy was so amazing that some of us looked like they were on their phones canceling upcoming cholesterol checks.
Friday we were tourists, first riding to see the amazing mountain carving “Crazy Horse”, which honors the nation’s Native Americans who arrived in our land over 30,000 years ago. To me, that’s just staggering! The carving is currently in process and will take more than one generation to complete. But even now, it’s so huge and awesome. After Crazy Horse, we visited Mount Rushmore, and watched the movie about how it was carved. George Washington is honored because he helped form our nation, Thomas Jefferson wrote our Declaration of Independence and greatly expanded America through the Louisiana Purchase, Abraham Lincoln kept our nation together during the civil war and abolished slavery, and Theodore Rosevelt preserved millions of acres of our country through the formation of national parks. No wonder the likenesses of these great men have been preserved forever!
After some beautiful, meandering afternoon rides through the gorgeous pine-studded hills, and of course more chicken fried steak, we came back to Mount Rushmore for the night presentation, which was very moving and solemn. I will always remember the patriotic feeling I had at the end of the program as veterans were called up on stage to fold our flag.
On Saturday morning, some of us were a little sad as we started our migration home, but we knew that there was still so much wonderful riding ahead. We arrived at Dale’s Colorado house that afternoon and once again filled his garage with our big, bug-splattered machines, although Rick and Bob stayed in Golden again. The dinner at Texas Roadhouse was awesome – I have never seen a group of guys eat that much meat. Brett, Hope and the kids joined us again, so of course Dale was on Cloud 9.
When we left Sunday morning, Dale guided them on a little surprise route over highway 285. At one point (Dale’s favorite), it looked like the world dropped off ahead as we broke out of the mountains over Kenosha Pass and looked down into massive and beautiful South Park. We descended into the park over long, sweeping turns and then, after passing amazing homes and sprawling ranches, we rode through the 10,000 ft town of Fairplay. From there, we climbed up over 11,500 ft through Hoosier pass and then dropped down into the eclectic and pretty little ski town of Breckenridge, full of shops, restaurants and interesting sights.
Probably the sweatiest and most tiring part of our ride was from Breckenridge back to Richfield. Poor Pat had to deal with a loose shifter on his motorcycle, but he fixed it enough to get him all the way home (barely).
Our last day of riding was Monday, August 14th from Richfield to our homes in Southern California. As we parted ways, I think we all felt a mixture of sadness that our epic trip was over, exultation that we accomplished such a bucket list ride, and relief that our own showers and beds were only hours away.
For every one of us, this Sturgis ride was the very best one of our lives. And some of us even commented that it was the best vacation they had ever taken. Best of all, and most importantly, we are so grateful to have done it with our close friends, who became like brothers over that wonderful week.
Great Rides, Great Friends 
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