Book of the Black Hills, Volume 3, Chapter 15

[Valkpilot]

In 2010, Disco, JC, and I completed our IBA SS1000 by riding to the Deadwood, South Dakota in a single day.

In 2012, Chauffer, JC, Jaime, and I rode again to the Black Hills to help Jaime accomplish a lifetime dream of visiting Mount Rushmore, with intent of tagging the end of Inzane in Eureka Springs.

This year in June,  JC, and I again mounted up and headed for the Black Hills, this time with BnB Tom in tow.  Like NASA propelling a spacecraft around a planet, our intention was to use the gravitational pull of Inzane XV to draw us northward via New Mexico, Eastern Colorado and Wyoming, then slingshot us around Spearfish and back through western Colorado to home.

Tom had missed the first two trips we made, so we wanted him to experience as many of the sights and sites as we had on the previous expeditions.

The trip was meticulously planned, complete with pre-printed maps and turn-by-turn directions; pre-loaded GPS routes, trip summaries by-day including suggested restaurants based on Food Network or Chamber of Commerce recommendations; hotel reservation particulars; and shared-expense logs.



The plans lasted exactly two days.  But, as General Eisenhower once said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable"   JC shortens this to "adapt and overcome," which is what we did as the need arose.

[BnB Tom]

   So.....  Go ahead.  Tell em the rest of it.  It's your party. 

[Valkpilot]

Black Hills 315 Day 1: A Volcanic Start

The plan for the day was to head for Raton, NM by way of Amarillo.



This would be about 550 miles --not excessively long by our standards, however longer than our target of 400 miles per day -- and necessary to set ourselves up for a decent Day 2.  There's no doubt about it,  one of the (minor) drawbacks of living in most areas of Texas is that you are a normal person's full day journey just to clear the state line.

We met at our usual launch pad on 380 just east of I-35.  And, again, it was early.  

Last minute gear prep is always needed.



Except for our resident strack trooper, who was ready NOW.



Speaking of gear prep, all the bikes had been extensively serviced, but Tom took pre-ride preparations to a whole new level.



This would come in very handy later in the trip.

Traveling up 287, we saw a lot of long, straight highway, so most of the day looked like this.




Around 11:30 we arrived in Amarillo and headed for the Big Texan Steak Ranch, a major tourist attraction.



The big draw at this joint is that if you eat a 72 ounce steak, plus potato, bread, and salad, all within an hour, you get the meal for free.

This is as close as any of us got to meeting the challenge.



Our next planned stop was Capulin Volcano, one in a string of volcanos in northeastern New Mexico. (Who knew?  I didn't, until Buzzkill suggested we make the stop.)

As we approached, a pretty strong storm front was moving through that area.  We stopped, suited up, and rode through some driving rain.  Fortunately, we missed riding through some significant hail that had pounded cars coming from the west.

By the time we got to Capulin, the weather was clearing.  All of us were happy to get out of the rain suits.



They wouldn't let us go up to the crater.  This was disappointing, but we kind of agreed that the danger of a lightning strike up there trumped our sightseeing.



We were only about 30 miles from our motel in Raton at this point, so we headed for the barn and looked for a restaurant, taking a chance on this one.



As it turned out, the Mexican food was really good, and we left more than satisfied.

Night fell. We slept.



Tomorrow, we would climb a mountain.

[Red Diamond]

My kind of trip, now the rest of your report.

[Disco]

I'm ready to go again!      Looking forward to more.

[Jess from VA]

Thanks for sharing. 

[Baron]

Looks like a great trip.

[BnB Tom]

 Looking forward to more.

   me too

[YODA MASTER]

Me Too, or actually Three! I was on the ride. Kinda like being in combat. We only knew what we were doing when we read it in Stars & Stripes!

[BnB Tom]

Me Too, or actually Three! I was on the ride. Kinda like being in combat. We only knew what we were doing when we read it in Stars & Stripes!

                                           Hmmm ...   "Kinda like being in combat."   

                                             

[BnB Tom]

   Please continue Mr. Valkpilot...

                                

 

[BuzzKill]

Which one is the bear?

[f-Stop]

Yeah, don't leave us hangin'...!

 ???

[BnB Tom]

 
   I got it from a very reliable source...



                                                               HE'S WORKING ON IT 

                                                                   

[Disco]

I believe I spoke with the same very reliable source, and to paraphrase, he can't just, um, pull the next chapter out of his back pocket.   

[Valkpilot]

Black Hills 315 Day 2: The Bears Went Over (but not off) the Mountain

Today is a 3D ride:  From south to north the length of Colorado, east to west to east at Colorado Springs, and up and down nearly 14,000 feet.



It was a beautiful morning and we started the day's ride through a beautiful piece of road, Raton Pass.  I was unprepared for this though and failed to mount my GoPro first thing, so missed a lot of nice riding video.  

But, that didn't stop us from pulling over at a scenic overlook and, you guessed it, taking pictures of each other taking pictures.



Might as well get a scenic shot in too.



Besides the scenery, the road ahead looks pretty tasty, as long as we ignore the evil attack critter signs.






About mid-morning we arrived in Colorado Springs and headed west to Pike's Peak.  The plan was to ride the entire 19 miles of twisty stuff to the top, but we were stopped two miles from the top because the road was still blocked with snow.

Here at the park entrance, notice the red car just beyond JC?  It had overheated and was puking coolant on the ground and steaming like a locomotive.  Remember it.



Now we climb.

Going Up

As mentioned, we were stopped before reaching the summit.  Even so, the views were impressive.











After knocking around awhile, we headed back down.

Coming Down

After a brief detour that will be explained later, we headed for the King's Chef Diner, a restaurant featured on Food Network's Outrageous Foods show.

Now, you may not know this, but Tom is a bona fide burger aficionado, having owned a burger joint or two himself.  After eating this



he declared that he would not order another burger the entire trip.  This one was too good and he wouldn't sully the memory of its sumptuousness with any lesser burger.  In fact, he stated that it was possibly the best burger he ever had.

I think the altitude was getting to him.

Happy tummies were definitely the result though.



We needed gas.  How could we not stop at this place?  So much promise, so little commitment!




Having not delivered on its titillating invitation, we departed the fuel stop, and from Colorado Springs, pounded up the interstate to Cheyenne, where we bedded down the bikes for the night.



P.S.: Remember that red car at Pike's Peak?  What it had was apparently contagious.  JC's bike overheated on the way up, piddling out coolant along the way.  It made it back down OK, and a quick detour to an auto parts store allowed the coolant to be replenished.  There were no more issues for the rest of the trip, but at the time...

[Houdini]

Are you sure JC wasn't in a Harley parking spot?   

[Valkpilot]

Are you sure JC wasn't in a Harley parking spot?  

Who's poking the bear now?

JC has stood by me on two trips where I had mechanical problems.  (Of course he took lots of pictures with blackmail and humiliation in mind.)  It's hard to express the anxiety a breakdown brings when you're on a long trip and far from home.  So, I both sympathize and empathize with the forlorn disgust evident in this picture.

Just don't tell JC I said so.  He'll think I'm going soft.

[BnB Tom]

  If you look closely at the "Going Up" video you'll see the trail of coolant that JC's bike was creating.  ???

     Speaking of video.  The speakers on my computer must've gone done.  

                                Couldn't hear that catchy ridin' music in the background that you normally have on your vids.  

[Valkpilot]

 If you look closely at the "Going Up" video you'll see the trail of coolant that JC's bike was creating.  ???

     Speaking of video.  The speakers on my computer must've gone done.  

                                Couldn't hear that catchy ridin' music in the background that you normally have on your vids.  

Stripped out the audio channels.  I figured that 6 minutes of engine and wind noise was more than most would tolerate and couldn't think of appropriate tunes within the posting deadline!

I can put them in later.

[BnB Tom]

    
    Is it over yet???

                                                           

                                                                 The "BOOK" is taking longer than the trip. 

  ...  it is always easier to criticize than create.

[Valkpilot]

Black Hills 315 Day 3: If it weren't for bad Lusk, we'd have no Lusk at all.

This was the day plans and reality began to diverge.  We intended to ride this route



which would take us northeast toward our destination, keep us off the Interstate (which we've seen lots of on previous trips,) and allow for a nice diner lunch in Newcastle.

However, as we were breakfasting on the fine free cuisine of hard boiled eggs and raisin bran in the hotel cafetorium, we were discussing our route with another couple going the same way.  A guy who lived in the Black Hills overheard us and chimed in to say that route 18 was closed at Lusk.  The heavy spring rains had washed out the bridge.

Now, if you take a close gander at a map of Wyoming, it becomes pretty clear that there aren't many alternatives to either I-25 or US 18/85 if you want to travel from south to north and make anything that resembles decent time. 

So, we re-routed:


This put us on more Interstate than we wanted, but in Wyoming, even being on the super slab is pretty nice riding.



In 2010, riding from north to south on I-25, I had problems with my Valkyrie running consistently and it varied from working great to belching black smoke and backfiring, to flat out stopping.

We made it to Casper and found a Honda Powersports dealer to try and figure out a solution.  Their "best" GL1500 mechanic came out, listened to it run, and declared it healed.  It wasn't.

Since we had to go through Casper anyway now, we decided to hunt the place up, just for old time's sake...and found it closed.



Not far north of Casper, we headed east on Wyoming 387 which took us through wide open spaces interspersed with oil fields.  Along this route we saw more antelope than I knew existed.  They were everywhere. They were grazing in herds of 20 and 30 or lying beside the road calmly watching us ride by.  One large buck was standing on a ridge about a tenth of a mile off the road majestically surveying his domain.  Saying that we saw 100 might be an exaggeration, but 70 would not.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped for gas and Tom was apparently possessed by the spirit of Fonzie.



At Newcastle, we turned northwest, heading for Devil's Tower National Monument.

As you approach up Wyoming route 24, the formation begins to loom in the distance.

Approaching Devil's Tower

(A little bird told me that he, and maybe some others, didn't know that clicking on the orange-yellow text would take them to other web sites and videos and things.  It will.)

Tom found a money shot.



And then there was a money shot of another sort.



Time for an unobstructed view.



It's pretty awe-inspiring. 



Wait, what's that?



Holy cow!



Here's a view of the monument that you don't often see.  The north face is eroding faster than the rest of the stone.



From Devil's Tower, we headed southeast and picked up US 85 at Four Corners.  This turned out to be a spectacular riding road, one of the best sections on the trip.

At the junction of US 85 and US 14a, we turned into Spearfish Canyon, and about halfway through the canyon, pulled out at our favorite spot.



JC climbed up on a rock and started telling lies about the size of his snake.



Seriously, it wasn't that long.



Tom apparently bought it though.



Once the snake was back in its hole, we revisited "The Pose" from the 2012 trip.




Finally, we headed up the canyon for Ground Zero.

Leaving Spearfish Canyon

[5_19]

It's good to see you had great weather going to Devils Tower. We only saw the base when we got to the KOA campground. We waited a while at the store for the fog to lift. Luckily for us it did somewhat. That is one big rock.

Spearfish Canyon remains one of my favorite and memorable roads. Just ask HayHauler and Disco. Looking at that video brings back great memories.

~TJ

[BnB Tom]

   Okay, okay.  Enough resting already!! Get back to the story... inquiring minds are waiting     

 
              "PLEEEeeeeze continue with the prose and pics".


  I will attempt to remain relatively silent   

[BnB Tom]

"In 2010, Disco, JC, and I completed our IBA SS1000 by riding to the Deadwood, South Dakota in a single day.

In 2012, Chauffer, JC, Jaime, and I rode again to the Black Hills to help Jaime accomplish a lifetime dream of visiting Mount Rushmore, with intent of tagging the end of Inzane in Eureka Springs.

This year   2015 in June,  JC, and I again mounted up and headed for the Black Hills, this time with BnB Tom in tow.  Like NASA propelling a spacecraft around a planet, our intention was to use the gravitational pull of Inzane XV to draw us northward via New Mexico, Eastern Colorado and Wyoming, then slingshot us around Spearfish and back through western Colorado to home."

           ...  Tic Toc    

[RainMaker]

This book is overdue at the library.

[Valkpilot]

Sorry.  Life is getting in the way...


Soon.

[BnB Tom]

  Okay Mr. Pilot, it's time to dust off the old keyboard

                                                                   and share some more of "the journey" with folks

[Valkpilot]

 Okay Mr. Pilot, it's time to dust off the old keyboard

                                                                   and share some more of "the journey" with folks

I know, I know.  Soon, I hope.

[Valkpilot]

Time to return to the chronical.

I'm going to posit that I have strategically waited until it was almost time for Inzane to finish the story in order to whet everyone's appetite for this year's trips.

Believe it or not.

Probably not.

[Valkpilot]

Book of the Black Hills 315, Day 4: A Monumental Ride

We spent the night at Ground Zero which gave us a chance to participate in some German/USA detente involving mutual exchanges of cigars and nips (more than nips in some cases) of mysterious spirits from unlabeled flasks.  



It made for sound sleeping after.

Today we planned to visit the local monuments and ride some of the more interesting roads in the area, something we'd missed doing on past trips because we packed those agendas too full.  




Per the pattern this trip, the actual route did not always correspond to the planned route.

But that was in the future.  In the now, the morning was beautiful.  Time to ride.

Buzzkill and Hollyday joined us and we started out through a sun-dappled Spearfish Canyon.  (Even if our destination was the opposite direction, we'd have started out through Spearfish Canyon.  After all, that way we could ride it twice!)

Here's nearly 20 minutes of Spearfish Canyon.  Get a cup of coffee, throw this on the big screen and enjoy.  

Leaving Spearfish Canyon, we headed toward Keystone and Mount Rushmore (although not without a U-turn or two due to failure of my interface between GPS directions and common sense.)  

Along the way, it's mandatory to stop at the beautiful Pactola Lake reservoir.

Tom represents for the Republic as he, Hollyday and Buzzkill enjoy the scenary.



For some reason though, the experience put Tom in a fighting mood.



JC suffered with neck, shoulder, and arm pain for most of the trip.  Three weeks after we got back, he underwent surgery to repair discs and stabilize four vertebrae in his neck.  In the meantime, all he could do for relief was over the counter pain relievers and vitamins.  Time for a hit:



On to Rushmore, one of my favorite testimonies to the ideals of this country.



Big Head(s)



It's hard not to take good pictures at Rushmore.  Here's an unobstructed view of the mountain.



And of course we had to take pictures of us taking pictures.  Note that Hollyday has introduced a level of professionalism that will be hard to top in the future.



And finally, I cannot visit the monument without taking this shot, as the juxtaposition of Texas and the men on the mountain speaks to me.




We left Keystone with an intention of riding the Scenic Byway that includes the Needles, through Custer State park, and generally criss-crossing the area before visiting Crazy Horse.

Instead, fate said, "Oh, you've got a carefully planned route?  You fool! Bwahahahahah!  Here, have some road construction, puny mortal!"

<sigh> "Recalculating..."

So, we missed the Needles part of Needles highway, and spent more time on the wildlife loop of Custer State Park instead.  

I was hoping to see at least as many buffalo as we had antelope, but we rode miles without seeing any.  Finally:



OK, it's only one, but worth stopping for a picture anyway.



Now, the problem is that this guy was laying down, perfectly content until I started snapping shots and Buzzkill began HONKING HIS HORN. Which caused Mr. Very Large Bison to get up and start pawing the earth and seriously considering that he should come over to teach us a thing or two.  




Time to exit, stage left.  (Name that 1960's cartoon character.)


After lunch in Custer, we headed for the Crazy Horse monument.  For some reason, the approach from the main entrance was more impressive this year than in the past.



This is the third visit since 2010, with no appreciable outward change in the sculpture.  It makes me wonder if this colossus will ever be completed.  Perhaps, like motorcycling, it's more about the journey than the destination.  Anyway, it still gives good photo.



During the afternoon, we ran into some brief rain showers.  These didn't really interfere with our progress and actually made for some interesting video.

And we did finally see more than one buffalo at a time, not a herd, more like a klatch at the local Starbucks, but more than a few and not spread out.



The next two nights were planned in Deadwood, so we headed for the hotel there and then to Mustang Sally's for cheeseburgers and beer (no cheeseburger for Tom of course, he was remaining true to his pledge to the King's Chef burger.)

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, so we spent some time mapping route-arounds and schedule adjustments just in case.

[HayHauler]

Awesome story.  Keep 'em coming.
Thanks for taking the time.

Hay
Jimmyt

[BnB Tom]

         Aw yes.  I remember it well.      

                              Not actually  ???  Too long ago (more than a day  )

                Thanks for the memory jolt.    We really did have a good time... didn't we?   

[Valkpilot]

                Thanks for the memory jolt.   

See, there's a method to the (delayed posting) madness!

We really did have a good time... didn't we?   

We sure did.

[RainMaker]

We might even see the epilog to this Inzane story before the next Inzane takes place.

[Red Diamond]

I'm certainly enjoying the trip, keep the book alive.

[Big Ed]

Good stuff...!!!

[Valkpilot]

Book of the Black Hills 315, Day 5: Bad to the Wall, then Bad Lands


Our planned route for the day called for us to leave from Deadwood, ride the southern edge of Badlands National Park, ride through the park, stop at Wall Drug for lunch, touch base in Sturgis, and loop back to Deadwood for the night.  A leisurely day was anticipated.



It was raining in the morning with no letup forecast until afternoon, if then. Well, we didn't really want to do the Badlands in the rain if there was a possibility it would clear up later.  Besides, I was having intermittent CB transmission issues that I thought might be the PTT switch and wanted to find some electronic contact cleaner.  There was a NAPA store in Sturgis that would have the stuff, so we decided to reverse the route.

We started out through misty rain and fog and just out of Deadwood, the CB lit up: "...crackle, garble...DEER...garble, garble...JC...garble, crackle...HIT..."  I'm busy checking my rear view mirrors, expecting to see mayhem behind me, but can't see past Tom who was between me and JC.  Finally, JC radioed that all was OK and we should keep riding.

It turned out that Tom had spotted a deer running toward the highway from the right side.  Just as he passed, it leaped up and ran between him and JC.  In its mad scramble to get across, it lost its footing and slipped in front of JC, who rather calmly rode around it.  Score one for training and reflexes.

All the CB chatter had been Tom warning JC about the deer and not to hit it -- I just couldn't hear everything!

We made it to Sturgis unscathed, but for the third of the three times JC and I have visited there, we arrived in the rain.

First things, first: Get under an awning and make plans for hot coffee and donuts.




Tom considers the haute couture available at one of Sturgis' finer fashion emporiums, I hope not for himself.  He's rooming with me this trip.




We stopped at the NAPA store and I got the contact cleaner and sprayed the PTT switch and every CB connection I could access.  No joy.  (I found out after the trip it was a break in one of the wires in the boom mike.  It would work when I was off the bike, but after things got moving it would randomly lose contact and I couldn't transmit.)

As we headed east on I-90 towards Wall, weather conditions worsened.  Besides the rain, there was a front blowing from the north.  And when I say, "blowing", I'm understating.  According to the weather band radio, winds were steady around 30 MPH with gusts much higher.  This would have been more manageable as a head or tailwind, but these winds were square on from the side.  To make it all worse, semis were passing us at about 90 MPH, adding their own bow waves to the turbulence.

The wind from these passing trucks would push us from the left track of the right lane all the way to the shoulder, and then the winds from the north made it nearly impossible to tack back to the left before the next passing truck pushed us off the shoulder and into the dirt.  Nerve-wracking, to say the least.

We reached Wall with the rain starting to let up.  We ditched our rain suits, did some souvenir shopping, and grabbed some lunch.  Wall Drug is known for its roast beef, so roast beef it is!



And pie.



 
Now we head into the Badlands.


Because of the weather, instead of intense sunlight, the lighting was more subdued.  This kept the colors in the landscape from being washed out.








Rattlesnake warning signs are posted at the lookouts.  Notice how relaxed Tom is not.  Snakes aren’t his thing.




As we cruised along, we spotted a knot of stopped cars.  These Bighorn Sheep were calmly feeding on the shoulders, completely oblivious to both vehicles and tourists filming and photographing.




I forget why we stopped here, but it was worthy of a picture.




More Badlands video


And a parting view:




Back to Deadwood.

[BnB Tom]

  It really was spectacular

      Very difficult to capture the enormity of such a place. 

                                                        AND to imagine what it must have been like years ago to ride through the Badlands on horseback. 

[Big Ed]

When is the next trip west?

I wanna go if work schedules permits.