Last year 3 buds and I rode out west from eastern MN. We had a blast and I thought I'd share a little. Encourage everyone to ride these bikes and do some touring.

Are we there yet?

Diane and I planned a trip to Sturgis, Wyoming and Montana in 2007. We stopped overnight in Pierre, SD. When we woke up and checked the weather, we were disappointed to see that severe thunderstorms were the order for the next two days in Wyoming. We decided to forgo the Wyoming and Montana adventure and settle for a few days at Sturgis. It was Diane’s birthday and as we put our rain gear on, she told me in colorful language that next year she would not be in Sturgis, in the rain, on a motorcycle on her birthday (a milestone event :- )!

Fast forward to 2008. Diane and I spent her birthday in Las Vegas – a great time. Two days after we returned, the four amigos (Tim Daun-Lindberg , Mark Anderson, Don Mitchell and Gordy Haubenschild) hit the roads for parts out west. We decided to lead foot to Rapid City on the interstate the first day. We stopped at the overlook of the Missouri River in Chamberlain. This would be the last time we’d see green until we got to Rapid City. The rest of the ride out was HOT. Every time we stop for a rest or for gas, Gordy would ask me “Are we there yet?”

We arrived in Rapid City where we stayed with my friend, Bob Case. Bob put out inflatable mats for us. We stayed two nights at Bob’s and enjoyed some really beautiful riding through the Black Hills. We stopped in Custer National Park right next to a herd of buffalo. We road the switch backs of Iron Mountain, the tunnels of Needles, ate buffalo burgers at Lake Sylvan , got our HOG pins at the Sturgis headquarters in Rapid City and saw the sights of Sturgis on Friday.

Saturday morning we rode through Eastern Wyoming to Devils Tower and then headed north to Sheridan, Wyoming. We decided to take a back road. Big mistake! It was hot and very buggy. After being stung by some bees, we arrived in Sheridan and set up tents at the KOA. The Sheridan KOA is located right next to the Interstate, so we wound up tearing our tents down and moving to some sites a little further away. We all used the pool to cool off and met some really nice folks from Vancover, Canada that seen Sturgis for the first time.

Sunday morning we headed out for the Big Horns via Hwy 14A. As we approached them, we were taken by the grandeur of the mountains rising into the clouds. We stopped on our first ascent to watch a hang glider getting ready to sail off the mountain. We waited for over an hour, but he never took the leap because the wind wasn’t right. We pushed on and the temperature began to fall. We stopped to go from short sleeves to leather jackets and chaps. Temperature keeps falling. It starts to mist up. Gordy and Mark want to ride up to the Medicine Wheel (a sacred Indian site). We pull off the highway onto a gravel road. Up the mountain about a mile of gravel and switch backs. I’m nervous. We get to the ranger station and walk another half mile. The Medicine Wheel is decorated with Indian offerings. The wheel has 28 spokes. The number 28 has been speculatively linked to the phases of the moon and the number of days in the human reproductive cycle. The wheel is 500-800 years old.
As we walk back to the ranger station we see cattle grazing along the pathway. How they got up here, I haven’t a clue! Then my worst nightmare begins. It’s now sleeting and we have a mile of twistie’s on downhill gravel to get to the bottom. We made it but my hands are numb, not from the cold, but from gripping so hard! Next, it’s down the western slope of the Big Horns. The grade is so steep and the switchbacks so sharp that we are in first gear for much of the decent. The Big Horns were splendiferous!
We continue on to Red Lodge, Montana and arrive at Alpine Lodge. The owners are real nice. There are several bikes parked there and they even have a place we can wash the bugs off our bikes. We are tired, order pizza, turn on my Ultra’s CD, jam to rock & roll and eat on picnic tables. The next morning we split up. Gordy and Mark want to do a loop through Yellowstone. Tim and I want to do the Chief Joseph’s Highway to Cody. After an outdoor breakfast at the lodge, Tim and I stop by Bonedaddy’s Custom Cycles and the Red Lodge HD for t-shirts. Then we stop to gas up and put on our warm weather gear. After that it’s up Beartooth Pass. This ride has been called the most beautiful ride in the US. Well, there may be many others that get that title, but this was one of the most awesome rides I’ve ever done. The ride up from Red Lodge is inspiring. Towering mountains, bare rock and switchbacks with sheer drop offs. It’s hard to keep your eyes on the road ahead with the beauty all around us, but you need to stay focused or sprout wings!
We stop at a visitor’s center and look back along the switchback highway we just came up. I’m so psyched that I ask Tim if I can go back and ride it all over again! We didn’t. I think we are near the top, but not even close. The temperature is really dropping and there is snow on the ground. We were lucky. Tim had tried to do this ride before and there were mud slides blocking the way up. Other years, there are blizzard conditions. For our trip, the sun is shining and while our hands are numb from the cold, we are ecstatic. I’m wondering how Gordy and Mark are doing. They left a couple of hours before us.
We finally arrive at the summit. We are nearly 12,000 feet up. We stop at a meadow and look over pristine lakes and glaciers. Mountain peaks are all around us and the clouds are close enough to touch. But there is grass on the top and even some small flowers grow in this unforgiving environment. We leave the summit and head down the Pass. We stop for coffee at Top of the World and use of their outdoor john. We sit in some chairs out side, lounging in the sun and do people watching..
The trip down the southern side is gentle. Tim and I discard our warm weather gear and strip to sleeveless t’s for the rest of the ride through Chief Joseph’s. The scenery is gorgeous! We stop at some of the historical turnoffs and read about the Army’s chase of the Indians. What a run they made to get away.
Tim and I have a nice lunch in Cody and then go to the Greybull, Wyoming camp site. Tim had said Greybull was just a big gravel pit. He wasn’t wrong. As we pulled into the campground, both of us almost lost our bikes in the 2 inches of lose gravel at the office. We sit up our tents and wait for our comrades. Mark and Gordy get in about 8:30 pm and it’s dark. After Mark and Gordy get their tents set up, we ask the office were we can get some food. Alas, everything closes at 9:00 in Greybull. It’s beer and breakfast bars for dinner! In addition to gravel, Greybull must have a lot of winged residents. All night long a mosquito sprayer goes through the streets making a horrific noise and every thirty minutes a coal train goes through town. No sleep that night!
The next morning, Gordy and Mark head out for the lower Big Horns while Tim and I take the southern route via Hwy 14 back to the upper Big Horns. We are treated to some unusual sites. First, we ride through a magnificent canyon. Next, we encounter a herd of thousands of sheep open ranging. We take several pictures while we wait for them to clear the highway. As we continue down the highway, we encounter a cattle drive that spreads right across the highway. I count six cowboys and a couple of dogs herding the cattle. Is this cool or what?
Tim and I make one more stop at the Crazy Woman Saloon before riding back to Rapid City. Gordy and Mark take a back road (Hwy 34) from Sturgis to Pierre and continue home the next day.
Tim and I overnight at Bob’s in Rapid City and then hit Interstate 90. At Chamberlain, we see a huge storm cloud in the distance. We watch this all the way to Minnesota. We stop for gas at Worthington, MN and a few minutes later we hear sirens. The gas attendant tells us that a tornado is on the ground about 10 minutes away. Tim and I look at each other and wonder if we should try to out run the storm or hunker down and take our chances “on the ground”. Tim makes the decision and we jump on our bikes, hit the interstate and pray. We are running at about 85 mph and don’t care if the police are out or not. I look up and see the sky rotating. Tim has the radio on and tells me that the tornado is to our north side and a severe thunder storm is dropping golf ball sized hail on the south side of the highway. We ride on. It gets dark and very scary, but finally we arrive in Albert Lea. We have safely threaded the needle.
Back in Rochester by 6:00 pm. We are tired but elated. What a great ride we’ve had. We saw magnificent mountains and plains, encountered all sort of wild life and met many nice people. I guess that’s what makes motorcycling such a fantastic experience. This year, Diane and I are riding to Washington, DC to participate in the Rolling Thunder parade on Memorial Day. Last year there were more than ½ million bikes that took part in the parade. We are looking forward to seeing several monuments and riding back roads on our return.
I encourage all of you to take to the road and experience the wonders of our world up close and personal.

 

Great road story!

That's why they say, "The West Is The Best!"

 

good story. I have been luckey to have been able to ride brartooth, and the bighorns. It is awsum country. The museum in Cody is worth the day it takes to see it.

 

LOVED the narrative! Now, bigger pics please!!!

 

My wife and I did do the ride to DC for Rolling Thunder this year. That was awsome. Going thru West Virginia, we took a back road that turned into a 1 1/2 lane road and no houses for miles. Diane got a little spooked and asked me where they filmed "Deliverance". After a few miles, we saw three ladies sitting outside a trailer house. I stopped and asked if the road eventually got to Westin. When the one old lady answered she had about 1/3 of her teeth and I kept waiting for the banjo's to start playing!

Rolling Thunder is awsome. Everyone should make it there sometime. We rode into the Pentagon from Patriot HD with over 3,000 other bikers. They shut down Interstate 66 for us! There were flag waving people on every overpass we went under. I had tears in my eyes about 1/2 the time we were there.

For next year, I'm going to go back... maybe join up with the Run for the Wall group. Also trying to talk Diane into going out to Sturgis, Big Horns and Yellowstone. Isn't biking great? I already have 14,000 miles on the bike this year and the riding season is only 6 months in MN :-(

Leading a "Freeze Your Butt Off Ride" for the HOG group Saturday, but we are having summer finally... supposed to be about 63 degrees.