Day 2 - Arrived in South Dakota

 Arrived safe and sound. What a hot ride!  Left at 6:30 am and arrived in Watertown, South Dakota by 6:30 pm. Another 950 km day!  Uncle Ron is a trooper having to put up with us young folk.

Mike led this morning and we had about 450 km in by lunch time. After lunch Dave took over a took us for a zig zag ride crossing 23 a few times and down a closed road (and yes Dave there were signs and barriers LOL - but we did follow).   Too funny!  The speed at times was crazy fast when passing but we all had smiles on our faces as we watched the corn fields slide by!

This afternoon I went to get on the bike and my pant leg hiked up and my leg touched a very hot pipe!  Wow that smarts!  As we were riding I knew I had aloe in the side of my bag so I couldn't resist  grabbing it and slathering it on!  Road was clear and no traffic so it was fairly easy to do. As I like to say "do as I say not what I do!"  With a leg up on the lower fairing and putting aloe on is probably worse than texting and riding. I couldn't handle the pain and wanted relief so I was bad!

We are an hour behind now and I know I will enjoy the extra hour of sleep tonight. Breakfast is at 6:30 and then we are on the road again!  We have another six hours or so which I am sure will turn into much longer as we hit more bike traffic.

Day 1 - Road Trip

This morning was an early rise for me 5:05 am the alarm went off. I thought about snoozing but thought better of it as I knew the guys would be waiting for me in Petawawa. Well of course the two lads, Dave White and Mike Williams slept in and arrived about 15 minutes late!  When I arrived at Uncle Ron's my dad was there to send me off and take the going away pictures!  I knew he would be - he likes to see me hit the road. As soon as I said hello to dad and Uncle Ron I looked over and noticed Uncle Ron bought a new bike!  Very nice 2011 Ultra Classic - beautiful!

After everyone gassed up we hit the road around 7:30 a little late but better late than not at all. I led for the day and our first stop was at Mattawa for a quick facility break.  Well I had my first scrape on my bike!  Damn didn't it tip over!  Oh well that is the first and hopefully the last!

Bikes in the morning outside my room. 

There was a lot of construction but thankfully we never had to wait very long. The heat turned up a notch just before lunch!  We stopped at Back Home Bistro in Massey, ON for lunch and enjoyed a very nice meal. A little too long of a stop but a lot better than fast food!

The afternoon cruised right along with one stop to put rain gear on for an hour or so and then off it came before crossing over at Sault Ste. Marie into the States. The line up was about 20 minutes and they let us all in!  Woohoo!  The border crossing guy thought I was younger than all the guys!  It is a good thing there is such a thing as hair dye!

I continued to lead following the GPS directions on the bike which took us through some great country side, bush and along Lake Superior.  Arrived at Escanaba, Michigan at the Super 8 and 8:00 pm after 950 km.  Went for supper at The Buck Inn which was delicious.

No pictures yet - trying to get some from the guys!  I need to get on the ball. Will update when I can!

One More Sleep!

One more sleep and I head out tomorrow morning at 5:30 am from my house to meet my Uncle Ron at his house for 6:30 am kick stands up!

I have been wanting to complete this ride to Sturgis for a few years now and it seems that there is always something that came up that pulled me in another direction.  Two years ago I decided that this would be the year and  finally we are all set to go.

Tonight the bike will need to be packed and I am packing a sleeping bag and tent in the event we don't get rooms on the way to Sturgis.  After all they are expecting it to be the largest event ever with a prediction of 1.2 million people in attendance.

Friends of my uncle have graciously agreed to allow us to stay at their place in Newell which is approximately 25 miles outside of Sturgis.  Sounds interesting!

While there, we are planning on seeing Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills and go to Rapid City to pick up our HOG pin.  Two local guys are joining us for the trip there not sure if they will return with us but time will tell.

I am so looking forward to my biking time with my favourite biking Uncle!  We are going to have a blast making great memories together!