Deadwood, SD >> Sturgis, SD >> Minot, ND 445 miles ridden/8 hours
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Well, I’m back in Minot, ND, waiting for some parts to come in that will hopefully stop my bike from leaking oil like a ’70s AMC-era Harley-Davidson. I’ve gone through close to 10 quarts in the last week, and this issue has really got to be resolved before moving on. While originally I was going to leave Minot and take 2E to Grand Forks, then head north into Manitoba, I might just head north and cross the border into Canada at the International Peace Garden (recommended to me yesterday by a Saskatchewan rider while I was filling gas) and then check out Winnipeg the next day, assuming all goes well at the shop tomorrow and I can leave at a reasonable hour. My rear tire is so worn down, I think it’s only by the grace of God I’m still able to ride on it. Although coming back from Sturgis yesterday in crosswinds that had me leaning between 10 and 11 o’clock just to stay straight certainly helped, as it kept me off the tire’s centerline. Hanging on to the seat with one cheek, it felt as if I was training for a MotoGP event… Now all I need are some knee sliders and a ticket to Italy!
Speaking of Sturgis, I can easily see why it’s the largest rally in the world, and why an otherwise sleepy town of 6,200 balloons to nearly half a million for a few weeks… The Black Hills are crammed with roads that are hands-down some of the best in the country, where even the “normal” roads are filled with wide, gentle sweepers and the squiggly, spaghetti-like Needles Highway makes Maui’s infamous Road to Hana look like child’s play! It’s no wonder bikers stream down these roads like an army of ants en route to a picnic… And this is to say nothing of the scenery: the canyons; the fragrant pine forests; the rolling, grassy dunes; herds of bison grazing in roadside fields; riding through a one-lane tunnel that perfectly frames Mount Rushmore… With so much to offer, it’s surprising people leave before winter arrives!
And thanks to Alan, my first Sturgis experience definitely went up a notch. He hooked me up with VIP access at the Buffalo Chip – including concerts by Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue (he saw Bob Dylan open for Kid Rock, and rode in a VIP rally led by Pee Wee Hermann) – as well as some amazing home-cooked/RV-cooked meals, and introduced me to a great group of people, in addition to providing me with a couch to crash on for a couple of nights. Alan’s been coming to Sturgis for about a decade and he shot me an email when I originally landed in Minot inviting me down; I can’t thank him enough for doing so. It was absolutely one of the most relaxing, enjoyable weeks of the trip so far, and I was grinning like a fool the entire time.
It also provided a setting for the following quote, which came up during a conversation about the safety of riding during a lightning storm and whether or not a rider would be grounded on their bike: “If it works in a Van de Graff generator, it must work in the real world, right?” Ten-to-one says anyone can figure out who provided that ditty, which I’m sure will be the nerdiest quote of the trip, although I still have a month or two to outdo myself!
BTW, if anyone knows the answer to the above, let me know because the forecast is for a lot of rain across Canada for the next week.
Hoping everyone’s enjoying their summer,
-GK
Reply:
To answer the question about lightning, you actually would not be protected without a metal cage around you. Your tires do not protect you from lightning. Probably best to stay off the road if there is a big storm like that. Cars are safer because most have a metal cage that surrounds the people inside. As long as the people are inside the metal cage they are protected. But if even a finger is outside the line of the cage – i.e., out the window – they will get zapped. You can touch the metal on the inside of the cage and not get hurt. But a single break of that plane and you’re done. Again, tires don’t provide the insulation. It is the metal cage that does it.