The OFMC In The Black Hills
Narrow tunnels are part of riding the Black Hills.
With 11 bikes–the most ever for the OFMC–we rode the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road today. Tomorrow will be a ride up to Sturgis and Deadwood.
The initial seven were joined yesterday here in Hill City, South Dakota, by Johnathon–a regular–and Ray, Steve, and Kenny–all newcomers to the group. The first three all rode up from Denver yesterday and Kenny drove up late with his bike and keyboard in a trailer. Steve, Johnathon, and Kenny will be heading out early Wednesday to get to Cheyenne to play during the Frontier Days festivities. These guys are all part of Homeslice, a pretty darn good band.
We came on to Hill City yesterday from Chadron, Nebraska, on a pretty short ride. This trip is full of short rides, which is kind of nice actually. Our rooms weren’t ready so we strolled on down to the main street and went in the Mangy Moose for some liquid refreshment. Turns out that in preparation for the Black Hills rally, which starts very soon, the bar was clearing out its taps so they will sell only bottled beer. It’s just faster than drawing from the tap and changing out kegs constantly. But they managed to draw us a couple pitchers.
This close to the rally there are already a lot of bikes here. They’re intermingled with families, however, so we’ve been seeing plenty of mommies and daddies with the kiddies. This is just a popular tourist place at any time, although in September, once school starts, it’s pretty quiet.
So we took off this morning and boy, what a chore it is getting 11 guys ready at once. We rode the narrow roads that would be broad one-ways but which in fact have traffic going both directions. Speeds are between 15 and 25 so it’s pretty safe but then there are the narrow tunnels that only permit traffic one direction at a time. If you’ve been here you know the score. If you haven’t, you should. Several of the tunnels are aligned so that as you go through them Mount Rushmore is right there ahead of you on the other side. A fabulous image.
Come Wednesday we’ll be heading to Wyoming and we’ll be back down to seven. Right now we have seven Harleys, one Kawasaki, one Suzuki, and two Hondas. Then we’ll be back to five Harleys, one Suzuki, and one Honda. Ranging in size from 650 to 1800. We’re a pretty eclectic group.
It’s just so good to be out away from family and jobs and all responsibilities. And riding motorcycles.
Biker Quote for Today
Ride hard or stay home
Tags: Black Hills motorcycling
July 31st, 2014 at 11:56 am
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