Last night of the Rally

Another night of NASCAR crowd partying.
Another night hanging with Big Kenny.
Ho hum.
Still at the Deadwood Roadhouse, and then up at Big Kenny's Casino - the Deadwood Mountain Grand.
A nice hotel with a very impressive bar/concert hall.
There was a great country western/pop sounding band playing while we there.
Definitely another memorable night in Deadwood, SD.

Ride Report - The Badlands

My next bike?

So far I love these big front wheel custom "Baggers".
I also have a new appreciation for the Victory bikes. Not due to any effort by Victory or Polaris though. (Their booth and shop in town both suck, show a weak effort, and have nothing worth mentioning.) But a touring bike with a sick amount of customization might fit the bill instead of a whole custom built bike like a bagger.
Who knows.....boys and their toys!
A guy can dream right....

The Baggers

The Victory Cross Country customized

End of the day ride report - Ride Hard

305 miles is the official tally for the day.
Somehow it took me from 10:30am-7:30pm due to a variety of factors including; traffic, planned stops, food stops, and weather.

Highlights from this afternoon include;

Crazy Horse

Needles Highway

A great ride on Nemo Road (sorry, no photos.)

And finishing the day off in awesome fashion. The last 20 miles from Sturgis to Spearfish is all highway. Its sooo invigorating to just blast off and do 90 mph, riding towards the setting sun after a long day of being in the saddle. It's a great way to end your day here at Sturgis.

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy...

My first legit night out and it turned out to be one to remember.

We started out meeting some new friends for dinner at the Deadwood Lodge. It's a casino/resort right outside Deadwood. A great pork chop dinner and some good conversation were the highlights of the menu.

After dinner we headed into Deadwood, SD. Its a very cool town, with small casinos and a lot of bars. Its about 15 miles from Sturgis, so obviously they have a huge biker crowd, but it's manageable, and not overcrowded.

We head to Saloon 10, and old cowboy bar from back in the day. Its been around since the 1800's, and Wild Bill Hickock was their most famous patron. Apparently Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were also frequent visitors to the saloons of Deadwood.

But we are hanging out having a good ole time in the bar. I strike up a conversation with some local South Dakota peoples, talking about bike rally, motorcycles in general, and the weather. They tell me a funny joke:

"What do you call a good looking girl in South Dakota? - A tourist!" Then they let me know that Big Kenny from Big & Rich is in the bar. Apparently Deadwood, SD is his adopted hometown. So there he is, sitting 20 feet away, playing Blackjack.  Some time passes, then all of a sudden he is buying the whole bar shots and proposes a toast to, among other things "Big Tits". I love this guy!

THEN, he walks into the other room where the band is playing, and next thing you know, he and the house band are doing an impromptu rendering of "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy." Un-friggin-real. 

Oh, I should mention also. After last call at the bar we go to a small house party around the corner with some NASCAR people. I walk in to the house, and who is behind the bar mixing up a double round of crown, Big Kenny again! But this is a small house party of only about 15 peeps. He tends bar and entertains us for about an hour before the bitch running the house throws everyone out...boohoo.

Note about Big Kenny: He's about 5'10". Not sure where he got the "Big" nickname from...I guess he has a large face, ok...but maybe we should have had him pull down his pants just to get some real confirmation?

Day 3, BIG ride... Mid day report

After being out late last night, I still managed to rally and be up by 8. After chilling for a bit, then getting an obscenely large breakfast (its no wonder America has an obesity problem), it was time to hit the road.

I have a big day of riding planned, my biggest ever, over 300 miles. Devils Tower and Custer National Park are on the list.

First I've got to leave South Dakota, and venture into Wyoming for the first time.

A nice ride out to Devils Tower.

More turf through Wyoming via Sundance , all very beautiful.

Sundance isn't much, actually its nothing. No Robert Redford, no movie theaters, not even a place to grab a decent lunch.

Moving on....

Next stop is Custer National Park, back into SD.

Here I sit now at a gas station, warming up with a coffee, but mostly trying to duck another rain storm!!!

Downtown Sturgis....

A wild scene no doubt.
Lot of bikes, lots of babes (mostly hired/working and flown in to work the event), and lots of beers.

Lots of biker dudes and their biker dude friends, and their biker babes (use the term "babe" very loosely).

Its all bars and souvenir shops pretty much.

Def something to see, but hardly the highlight of the trip so far
Some pics below show off the scenery...

Some nice rigs...

These are just some of the insanely nice bikes that are parked in the hotel parking lot here at the Holiday Inn Spearfish. All are among the best & most interesting bikes I have seen so far.

Custom is just the beginning here on these rides...