Rapid City, SD to Harvey, ND

July 18, 2013 KP Editor

I spent a day in Rapid City with my sister and her family before heading north once again. I went for a couple of rides with my Brother-in-law, Jeremy and even took Brady for a ride on my bike on our way back from Nemo, SD where we had some ice cream.

The day there was spent relaxing, exploring the city to see areas that have been updated since the last visit. We met at the park on Main Street that has a splash park where my nephews played in the water as us adults talked and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.

I picked up a couple pair of smartwool socks because the “As good as Klim” socks are no where near as good as Klim hot weather motorcycle socks. They worked well on the first ride. My new Klim touring pants have performed fantastically, kept me cool and protected. The AlpineStar goretex boots have been amazingly comfortable and cool as well.

The Touratech Zega Pro bags are so nice and hold everything so well. Spend the few hundred more to get them if you are on the fence.

This morning (Wednesday) was a pretty warm and humid day for riding, but was fairly calm so it was a smooth ride.

I left Rapid City and went through Sturgis, which is gearing up for this year’s rally. There were already quite a few bikers in town and I saw many on the road heading into the Sturgis area during the day. Having been to the rally a few times I had no interest in stopping, so I just cruised through town and headed north past Bear Butte on the way north through Newell, SD.

Heading past Bear Butte I went through a swarm of bees and had two hit my helmet and neck, then eventually into my shirt where they stung me. That’s not fun when you’re doing 75mph, but I pressed on knowing they can only get me once.

I stopped in Lemmon, SD at the Alaskan Cafe for lunch and had a surprisingly good fish sandwich. There was an older couple in the restaurant as well and we talked about my trip as well as their trip. They were also from the Phoenix area and were from Lemmon. The gentleman had graduated from Lemmon High School in 1949 and had some Great War stories as well as some very interesting perspectives on life and people. We parted ways and they headed due east and I continued north across the North Dakota border to Mandan, ND.

While filling my tank up in Mandan I met another dual sport traveler who was on a Kawasaki and was headed from Wyoming to Grand Forks, ND. He said he had already had two flat tires…I am knocking on wood now. My new Metzeler Tourance tires are doing extremely well and provide a very smooth ride.

After being on small highways for the majority of the day it was strange to get back on an Interstate, but it was for less than 50 miles and I was happy to get off of that and back onto a two lane. As I turned north again off of the Interstate it looked as if the rain was headed my way, but I was lucky enough to drive in between the storms. The temperature when from mid 80s to mid 70s with the cloud cover and surrounding storms and I greatly appreciated the change.

Unfortunately two birds ran into the bike today as I was riding and I don’t think they survived. One of them hit the top of my windscreen and we locked eyes right before it hit. I tried to apologize for what was about to happen because everything seemed to slow down right before it slammed into my bike and bounced past my helmet. Poor bird. The other hit my fairing and went off to the side.

When I was riding across North Dakota I saw Pheasants and Antelope! That was neat! There were also massive herds of various types of cattle in many fields. The crops seemed to all be growing well so I hope the harvests turn out well for the farmers. Many were out working the fields in their vehicles and it really made me realize how much food our farmers produce for us. When you sit down to eat, remember those who worked hard to grow that food for you.

As I was riding into Harvey the odometer turned over to 1900 miles! I’ve been very impressed with the Sena headset so far. A full charge will last almost two full days of riding while listening to music streaming from my phone, taking calls, making calls using the voice recognition and getting navigation updates when I can’t remember which highways to turn onto.

I called my father on the Sena BT headset in my helmet and met them at the home where my Grandmother lives. We were able to spend an hour or so talking and catching up with her life. We’ll see her for the next few days and celebrate her birthday with all of her children, grand children, great grand children and great great grand children. This is going to be such a memorable weekend with so many of us together again.

The next portion of my journey will begin again on Monday when I head across the border to Canada and visit friends in Winnipeg and go to Grand Beach north of the city.

North of Nemo, SD