| Blogs > Harleyheritage > Harley Heritage |
|
Day 3 The sound of the first of many engines turning over and coughing to life woke me up. I tried to read my watch but my eyes were still ajust a little fuzzy and unfocused yet. So pulled on my jeans and stumbled out the door, just to take a peak. It was a little after 5, still dark and chilly for us Phoenix folks, and I could a dozen or so riders warming up and zipping up their jackets. Mike and I had decided after the 2nd round of beers last night we would take our time today, and head out when we were ready. So I waved to the group and headed back to where my warm bed was waiting. Bikes kept firing up about every 5 to 10 miutes by 6 oclock, so I gave up trying to sleep and stuck my head in the shower and got ready to ride. Mike took his turn and met me down in the coffee shop. We had a quick bite to eat and gathered our stuff, and found out they had a laundry in the hotel. So we unpacked the dirty clothes and got some quarters and did our clothes before heading out again. We had the time so what the hell, why not have clean clothes when we got there this time. I took my stuff down to the bikes and got everything cinched uptight while Mike took care of the room tab. A few minutes later and we were back on the road. Rush hour was over so except for the steady flow of bikes heading the same direction we were it wasnt bad at all. The scenery was fantastic and we took a few minutes to pull off and just enjoy the view. The air was clean and crisp, and in a little over 3 hours we pulled into another little town called Lusk Wyoming. We found a few people from the group we rode with yesterday and they werent having the best luck. One of them had thrown a Rear Drive Belt and that's not a normal spare part you carry with you. Worst part of it was it had slapped his leg a bunch of times and opened it up pretty good. One of his buddies had headed off to a bike shop to get the parts, but he was still bleeding pretty badly. Mike and I checked him out, and found out where the nearest Fire Station was, and took a quick cruise for extra supplies. The Crew on duty were pretty cool, and after a couple of minutes they were happy to let us have whatever we needed. So we stuffed all the things we needed into our bags and headed back towards the Gas Station they were waiting at. We got his leg cleaned up, and he probably could have taken a dozen or more stitches, but he didnt want that. So with him laying on his sleeping bag, we butterflied his owunds closed and bandaged him up. We had a pretty good crowd standing around by the time we finished, but it broke up once the parts got there. We hung around to help them lift the bike up to take the axle out and drop the tire & wheel. After that it was a walk in the park putting it on and getting it back together and adjusted. We lifted it off the jackstands they had borrowed and we headed out. It suddenly seemed like we needed to be there now, so we started moving right along and crossed into South Dakota before the sun started going down. The signs beckoned us, but we kept the throttle at the posted limits, way to many Cops cruising and looking for someone to talk to. Luad, Deadwood, Sturgis was so close I could almost hear the music and smell the food and the beer. We pulled in and wove our way through the maze and madness of the bikes and people and made it to Buffalo Chip. It took us longer to get there and find our friends at the Homeless Shelter(as they call it) than it did anything else. ut we were here. It was warm and a little muggy, so it seems that a lot of the women there had opted for certain amounts of "clothing optional" outfits. We said hello to a bunch of people we have met over the years and got ourselves introduced to even more as we got settled. Grabbed a couple of beers and just wandered around, enjoying the scenery, and getting the blood to flow out of my ass after all this time in the saddle. We made it back and sat down with everyone and Bs'd about the ride up, whats new in our lives, and made it a great night. The sun set and the stars began twinkling on and off in the heavens, and we began to relax. |
|||
8/16/2006 9:12 pm |
when my daughter married, four years ago, her brother flew down from vermont for the wedding. he is a stone mason and doesn't take many days off. he also has a harley. in her guest book, he wrote: I GAVE UP STURGIS FOR THIS.
| ||
8/16/2006 9:12 pm |
Glad you're having a good trip, enjoy and relax!
| ||
8/17/2006 1:31 am |
I was just wondering if you kept notes along the way or if you remember everything so well off the top of the your head. I don't know if I could describe yesterday that clearly. Great travel log.
| ||
|
|
×
×