downtown Sturgis-  first ones in, first ones out

spearfish canyon

July 4 - up early.   left at 830am.  crossed the missouri headed for rapid city SD.  made it there, and continued on to Sturgis.   took a few pictures, stopped at the harley dealer in town for a shirt.   continued on to Spearfish and rode through the Spearfish Canyon, an interesting winding road with soaring canyon cliffs on both sides.


 it was extremely hot.  my air temp gage read close to 100. Stopped by stream. Tony changed from black shirt to white shirt due to the heat. i packed the helmet and jacket, and went with a shirt and bandana only.
  First time without a helmet.  I have to say it is much more enjoyable to ride that way.   at the end of the canyon ride we ended up in Deadwood.  we stopped in town and visited the Silverado Casino for a drink.  Drinks are free if you are playing at a machine....so we played the slots.  Tony put $100 in and ended up winning $200. he quit at that point.  I also played the slots. But i lost it all. Oh well it was only a dollar, but  it still hurts. when he cashed in his winnings he told the cashier i lost my dollar. so she gave me a  tissue..

Back on the road headed toward Billings Montana.   after riding for a while we notice dark clouds up ahead. rain falling to the left and to the right in the distance. looked like the road was going to go right down the middle to the sunlight.    then when it looked like we would make it dry, the road turned right into the dark clouds

rain/hail up ahead. 

fireworks in billings by tony

it started raining, then heavy winds, and hail bombarding us from the right, so we couldnt hide behind the windshield.   ten minutes later we were indeed in the clear hot weather again. .  no worse for getting smashed in the face with hail.   dried off in a few minutes.  we continued on and stopped for dinner in Sheridan Montana, and because radar showed more showers ahead of us. while we were eating the showers passed by our route. proceeded to Billings after dinner and encountered no more rain. overall it wasnt a bad day, just very hot.  rode 746 miles today.   total 2345 miles in 3 days of riding.  after we got to the hotel, Tony rode down the road and watched what he called the best fireworks show he ever saw..

playing chicken with 18 wheeler

fireworks by tony

PS it was a great day. my new ride is made for this type of riding. i really thought i made a mistake buying a road glide ultra and leaving my 99 road king home but this bike chews up the miles and begs for more. these out west states are  my new favorite roads. no traffic, great conditions, and virtually no speed limits. the posted limits have all been 80 mph. cruising all day with the radio blasting, the cruise control locked on, and plenty of room to stretch out. this bike is definitely this shit.  i highly recommend for all you local riders to get out and  see this country. it is awesome. i cant wait for virginia to meet up with us in alaska so she can ride on this bike. i cant see how she wont love it.
post script by tf
oh yeah, sturgis is gearing up for bike week and the spearfish canyon run was great.