What a great day! Ken and Shiela Kissel led the ride today - it was AWESOME! I rode to Mt. Rushmore (photo with Dave), and then we stopped at Custer State Park for buffalo burgers (yummy!). Despite feeling a little anxious I rode the Needles Highway (87)! Woot woot! Photos 2 and 3 were taken when we finished. I was quite proud of myself, doing the twisties and a few hairpin turns! But that was just a warmup for the next part of the ride...Iron Mountain Road (16A). I had followed Dave on Needles Hwy, drilling a hole in his back with my eyes on some of the tight turns, and then started following him on the Iron Mountain ride as well. Our group stopped for a few minutes to see Mt. Rushmore in the background, but when we started up again, there were bikes and a truck coming, so I stopped since I didnt think I could pull out in time. Ken and Bobbie Shank were behind me, and Mike and Anita Abhold were taking up the rear. The bikes passed us, and we all fell in behind them, but the rest of the group was now ahead of us. The bikes in front of me pulled off to an overlook spot, and I came around a corner to see Dave pulled off to the shoulder. I shot right past him, thinking that he wanted me ahead of him so he could film me (he had a GoPro camera mounted to his helmet). I was so focused on looking where I was going that I never realized that he didnt jump in behind me. I caught up to the rest of our group and we finished the ride. When we pulled into Keystone to buy a shirt, Dave wasnt there! Poor guy never saw me, Ken, or Mike go by him, and he thought that perhaps I hadnt made one of the tight turns (and maybe dropped the bike). He turned around, went back to the previous stop, tried to call me (I was still riding), and then barreled the rest of the way down the mountain to see if he could find me. When he caught up to us at the tee-shirt shop, he was in dire need of a stiff drink! :). We bought tee-shirts that show the route and say: 17 miles 314 curves 14 switchbacks 3 pigtails 3 tunnels 2 splits 4 presidents The best part of the ride was the last one-lane tunnel; as we came up the hill, Mt. Rushmore was perfectly centered through the hole in the tunnel! Spectacular!! There were a couple of times I found myself holding on with a death grip, but I kept the bike up. Feeling quite accomplished right now! :) We had planned to go to Sturgis after the ride, but dark clouds were looming...we made it back to the motel and took a quick dip in the pool instead. The nine of us climbed into a truck designed to seat five, and drove to Dirty Daves (aka Famous Daves, but Mike kept calling it the wrong name). BBQ chicken for me and steak for Dave - delicious! We will do Sturgis tomorrow - I had planned to ride on the back with Dave but I just might try it on my bike with the group tomorrow...stay tuned!
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 03:20:11 +0000
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