Gremlin's Tall Stories

8.30am and the alarm rings. Murray has already been up, got ready and left. I head downstairs for breakfast and on the way try to pay for Murray’s movie the previous evening. The very cute girl behind the counter informs me that the entire room needs to be paid for…

I ask her to double check, and apparently when Ken was paying for the rooms, they skipped ours because of the movie, and when dealing with it last, the card had been erased from the system, so no payment. Nevermind I say, I’ll sort with Ken later. I pay for the movie initially, and I’ll sort the room later.

Nice breakfast, took a while to find utensils and cereal (having a man look y’see) but pastries, cranberry juice etc. I did try the orange juice, but it was so watered down, it was a waste of time. Back to the room, bit of packing and the heat has set in for the day. The hotel is situated right next to the onramp to the Interstate, so I was constantly hearing vehicles (mostly bikes) accelerating up it. If Rapid City was going to sound like this for 3 days, 4 nights, then it wasn’t going to be fun at all.

I left just after 11am, experiencing the joy of filling with gas with piles of other bikes around, but the bike was full in due course and I headed down the Interstate. It was only 30 miles on the Interstate and with most of it at 75mph it passes quickly. Exited onto Highway 14, aiming for Devil’s Tower. The road was quiet, so down one straight I had a good try to see how fast the BMW could go, and topped it out at 118mph, which is about 188kph. It simply would not go quicker, but I suspect losing the square panniers, it should be able to crack 200kph. It was still quite stable, despite all the weight of the luggage.

Settled back down at the limit and was in the process of passing the odd bike when I found the turn off to Highway 24 to the big rock… and a whole invasion of bikes. They were coming from the other direction, presumably Sturgis for a day trip, and I gave up passing bikes as they stretched into the distance. At Devil’s Tower there were even more bikes, and so began my introduction to Sturgis I guess. The Tower is simply a big rock amongst rolling hills, and some even climb it.

The temperature was high twenties, so it was a brief stop to take the obligatory pictures and keep moving. Everyone seemed well aware of Sturgis with extra rangers on duty, processing passes and money to enter the Park, checking on vehicles etc. I chatted to one person, who was interested due to the NZ flags on my bike. On the way down I spotted some prairie dogs in the field, but couldn’t get too close without them ducking into one of thousands of holes.

Getting back on 14, I headed for Hulett and had my notion of a dead town squashed, entering the main street and finding it packed with bikes parked both sides. Temporary stalls had been set up, lining the street, mostly selling gear and souvenirs, also some tattooing I think. I stopped for a picture of the sight and moved on straight away.

Next stop was Aladdin, on the same road. Stopped at the population board to photograph a population of 15, and the general store was humming, again, plenty of bikes parked out front. I was supposed to back track a kilometre or two and head down 111 but I carried on, thinking I could find a gravel road to link up instead. Finding what looked a good one, I only got 2-3 miles before an infernal “private property – no trespassing” board was seen next to a gate. I wonder why they don’t just put it on the main road to save the trip.

Giving up, I headed back to 111 and headed south to I-90, picking up the pace and heading for Sturgis. Ken’s plan called for heading to a saloon, where he would buy the first round, but since I wasn’t with the group, I didn’t bother trying that. I did try finding the Sturgis BMW/Yamaha dealer so I would know where it was the following morning, but as is becoming a bit too normal, the Garmin waypoint was wrong, so I knew I would need to find with laptop the normal way (look up address, punch into GPS) so back onto the Interstate and Rapid City sir!

Heading south, I’m slightly envious of the nutters not wearing helmets. It’s just nudging the 30s now, and such freedom would probably feel good, but bugger it, no thanks. It was a reasonably short trip, only 30 miles, and since it was the Interstate, it was mostly at 75-80mph. I got my own back on the helmet-less riders, as it started raining extremely hard on the outskirts of Rapid City and all the bikes are tucked up under overpasses, sheltering from the rain. I wouldn’t want to imagine the pain of the rain hitting your face at 80mph, as it stung plenty through my jacket.

I arrived at the Alex Johnson Hotel with it still raining, about 2.30pm. The rooms weren’t ready, so I couldn’t check in, so to kill some time I went across the road to the Silverspoon Café, which had very reasonably priced food and had a bowl of roasted garlic and potato soup for $3.75. Half an hour killed, it’s still raining, so no desire to go exploring the town, by bike or foot.

Back into the Hotel, and asking them to let me know when the rooms were ready, I get thrown a curve ball. Because I’m supposed to be sharing with Ken and Jan here, I’m a secondary, and not even listed. This means they want to see Ken before letting me near the room… Drat. I settle down at a table with my Kobo and continue reading The Bourne Supremacy.

Ken arrives in due course, I think around 4pm, and a bit of a debacle ensues, trying to get all the rooms arranged. We get a couple of people trying to sort it all for us, but one is on the phone taking phone calls and they’re stacked 3 deep. Eventually, most are sorted, are some of the guys are provided their room keys. I’m still out in the cold, it materialises that the room for Ken and Jan doesn’t have the extra piece for me, so they provide an additional room free. I think there were several couples jealous I had a room to myself, but sharing allows you to share your experience, so pros and cons…

Once checked in, I try sorting the bags from the van, some have been dropped off, but for couples that hadn’t arrived, the bags are in the van, and the van has disappeared. It turns out Ken has been off looking for extra accommodation, as our scheduled driver for the van, Kevin, has finally arrived in the USA, after 3 days of flights, following a lot of drama even gaining his entry permission (which prevented him from starting at the beginning). He’d been bounced around due to a storm and flight cancellations, having about 5 flights in all, and he’d looked absolutely shattered.

Once the van returned, we unpacked the rest of the bags, and I even had a stint as a bellhop, delivering some of the bags to rooms (I didn’t even get a tip). Finally, we were all in the hotel and in rooms. A bit of chatting and drinking downstairs led to dinner, and I headed off with Gary, Barbara, Ernie and Murray to the Silverspoon Café for dinner.

The prices were excellent, and I had a Wild Idea Buffalo Burger for $12. The only problem was that we almost starved before the meals were served. We even had ideas about helping the chef out. When the food did finally come, it was indeed delicious. I was tempted to order dessert, but Gary threatened to leave me all alone if I did

Back to the hotel, a bit more socialising and I turned in for the night.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DcD85jiy9rWgxrPg7