Chris’ Camp is still pretty empty right now, but in a few days that will all change. Our friends from Quebec are here, Jacques and his friend Yves. Unfortunately, Lucie, Jacques’ wife could not make this years trip. (Miss you, Lucie!!) We woke Monday morning to Jacques strapping his rear wheel to his back, so that Yves could ride him double up to Dakota V-Twin. We could not stop laughing.
He had taken another ratchet strap and hoisted up the back end of his bike to a tree to remove the wheel. Crafty, indeed.
My feet in plastic bags until my boots dried from Sunday nights monsoon, I velcroed my gloves to my sissy bar and we were off into the South Dakota sunshine. We joined them a little while later at Dakota V-Twin to inquire about tires for Bills bike, and I had the pleasure and honor to meet and speak with Don and Phyllis Shearer of Iowa, who were attending their FORTIETH Sturgis Rally. Don was celebrating his 81st birthday, Phyllis had just celebrated her 76th. What an incredible couple! Her first bike was a 1947 Harley that she and her brother rode around their parents’ Kansas farm. She raced horses and he raced cars, then they raced cars together after they began dating. They’ve shared their love for riding with their children and grandchildren over the years, and now they all ride together as a family. Don and Phyllis are life members of HOG and AMA, and Phyllis is an active member of Women on Wheels. She told me, “If you rest, you rust.” How true.
From Dakota V-Twin we rode through Spearfish Canyon, stopping at Bridal Veil falls, which was more like a trickle than in past years. We curved our way though the canyon and headed for Newcastle, Wyoming, where more thunderheads formed.
We got wet, again. Nothing too drastic, just soaked from the knee down. Eventually we rode out of it and back into the hot sunshine, our jeans dry in no time. We were now headed for Custer, and stopped for lunch at Pizza Works, which has become another annual stop. We met our pastor here in 2010, the day before our wedding. We walked around Custer as more bikes rolled in, then headed back north on 385. We came upon Crazy Horse, and stopped to get a few pictures from the gate.
Cruising back down Hwy. 14 towards camp, Bill’s right signal comes on and he swerves into a driveway entrance. A lady had just dropped her bike, just minutes, maybe seconds before we came around the corner. At first we didn’t see her husband, and thought she was alone, but he was about 20 feet ahead of her. Bill and her husband got the bike upright which leaked quite a bit of gas, and saw that the driveway entrance was covered with sand. She was okay, and thankfully she had on her helmet, as it was pretty scratched and banged up. The crash bars did their job and took the brunt of the scrapes, even the turn signals survived. Hopefully someone heads out there with a broom.
Tomorrow we head to the Badlands and also to see what the new owners have done with Scenic. Excited!
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