More Black Hills

My last full day in South Dakota and yet more excellent riding. Today I rode out of Rapid City on Nemo Road towards and through the hamlet of the same name. Sweeping curves, up and down, what I picture when daydreaming about motorcycle riding. The terrain changes so quickly. Rapid City is in a bowl of sorts, rolling prairie surrounded by hills. Dry and not a lot of trees. As you climb there are many more trees, mostly conifers, and green fields. And how do those trees grow and how does that grass stay green? Rain, which threatened on and off today. The forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms, which always worries me.  I don't like the idea of being out on some open plain when lightning strikes. But it was fine, only saw one bolt and had just a few sprinkles. Tomorrow may be a different story.  

I rode the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. I couldn't ask for a better road.  Scenery, sweeping curves, low traffic, and smooth road surface.  And a pretty creek running alongside the road. 

So green it almost looks like Cascadia. 

While traffic was low, there were plenty of other motorcycles. Harleys, of course, and Goldwings. There's a big Goldwing rally in Billings. I've seen scores of them throughout the trip. And most of them pulling trailers. I've benefitted on trips with friends who pull trailers behind their bikes. Who's going to turn their nose up at a cooler full of iced down beers? But I can't see doing it myself. 

There's a Mustang rally in Sturgis this weekend. Lots of pretty ponies exploring the area. 

I stopped for fuel in Deadwood, kept picturing Al Swearingen surveying from the balcony of The Gem. Or Calamity Jane spewing invective at any and all. Yes, my image of Deadwood is the HBO version. I thought about stopping there for lunch but was turned off by not just the touristy nature of the place but the preponderance of gambling halls. I'm no bluenose, but gaming has never appealed to me. 

Just up the road is less assuming but very charming town of Lead. I stopped for lunch at a place housed in an1890s building that was one of the few to survive the moving of downtown Lead. There had been so many mines dug in and near the town that the earth no longer supported the buildings. There's also a huge pit mine right off the main street. For something so large it is remarkably un-apparent. I was struck by the dozens of names on the miners memorial, people who have died working in the mines since the 1870s. 

Since I was in the area, I had to stop in Sturgis. I briefly attended last year's rally, for a few hours on a Monday morning. That was more than enough. I wanted to see what the place was like when there weren't tens of thousands of grizzled Caucasian males on American made cruisers milling about. (As a grizzled Caucasian male, I can say that.)  It was pretty quiet.  This streets had thousands of bikes parked on it when I was last in Sturgis. 

Plenty of parking. 

It started to rain, there weren't many Mustangs to be seen (and I didn't feel like looking for them) so I headed back to Rapid City via Vanocker Canyon Road.  More superb riding.