Rough Terrain

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo! Today’s prompt is “When was the last time you did something brave? What happened?”

(Staring at blank screen)

I know this will pale in comparison to many of the posts I’ve already read for today, but here is my story.

We were out in South Dakota on our annual motorcycle road trip out to Sturgis, several years ago. On our way into Custer, we took Highway 87 from Wind Cave and ran into miles of construction. The kind where the digital signs read MOTORCYCLES USE EXTREME CAUTION about every 50 feet. They weren’t kidding. Not only did it seem to go on forever, we rode over many stretches of road that were packed dirt. Dark red dirt (maybe clay) and it was very rocky. Huge rocks. Okay to bounce over in a car going slow, but on a bike, it was treacherous. Where it was paved, the road was covered in gravel.

I had to keep my speed to where I was far enough behind Bill so that I could keep moving at a decent clip. My fear was having to come to a complete stop on this very, very uneven road and not be able to hold the bike up not being on level ground. I prayed. I kept watching the car behind me in my mirrors to keep an eye on how much space I had behind me if I did dump it, and kept watching traffic up ahead, hoping it kept moving.

This went on for way longer than I care to remember! We finally made it into Custer and when we parked, I wanted to kiss the ground. I figured Bill, with his many, many years of experience on a motorcycle, would not have thought anything of it. To my surprise, he told me what a great job I did and that he was proud of me. Apparently this made the list of difficult rides, even for him.

So was I brave? I guess I had to be because I had no other choice. I had to keep going and do my best not to drop my bike in traffic. As unnerving as it was, I’m glad to have the experience, and I hope stretches like this one are few and far between.