sturgis 2002 31 jul thru 11 aug 02

Harley Owners Group #0243 / Antelope Valley CA Chapter / Ridgecrest Activity Group

Sturgis 2002 Ride

31 July thru 11 August '02

George Bruce Char Judy Don Jim Roger
Seven HOG Club members at Mt. Rushmore, SD, 6 Aug '02.
None of us had been to Sturgis before!

STURGIS, SD 2002 -- 31 July thru 11 August '02
3650 miles, well over 800 pictures and 12 days!

Riding temperatures varied from a high of 122-deg in Death Valley (the first evening, riding from Ridgecrest to Mesquite, NV.) to a low of 48-deg in rain and hail at over 10,000 feet in elevation...between West Yellowstone and Red Lodge, MT.

This was the ride that Billee and Bland Burchett so carefully planned and arranged. But because of an illness in the family at literally the very last minute...they were unable to go. They were, however, able to spend a few days riding both their bikes to Las Vegas, Zion National Park, etc. and to Mesquite, NV...where we met up with them to party on our last evening of our wonderful adventure. We all rode home from Mesquite together.

Leaving Jack-in-the-Box, after work 31 July, 5:20 PM, for Mesquite, NV., 330 miles away.
We would arrive at our destination, the Virgin River Casino & Resort, at 11:55 PM!

Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley, 31 July, 118-degrees. It heated up to 122-deg down lower in the valley. Judy thought she wasn't going to survive the night... let alone the entire Sturgis ride. She kept it to herself... but said if there was any way to abort the ride... she'd have done it.We stayed well-hydrated with an ice water-filled Camel to drink from.

The three veterans!

Char and Judy in Beatty, NV. with smiles. Judy did survive Death Valley and her spirits began to rise again as temperatures abated.

Getting ready to ride after a short night's sleep at the Virgin River Casino & Resort in Mesquite, NV. George and Jim had shorter nights than the rest of us! Destination: Evanston, WY., 403 miles away.

Bland said that Jim gave our group Harley credibility! He took up his position as the last bike...behind Judy and Don on their heavily-loaded Springer Softail. Occasionally, Jim would stop to pick up, say, a sleepbag that managed to slip away from Judy and Don's bike pile!

Park City, UT. (think winter olympics -- think beer!)

Refreshments at a micro-brewry in Park City, UT. Judy's talking with her daughter, Teddi, in Houston, TX.

In Bland's absence...and with the hint of an easy smile...George competently (and quietly) took on the duties of our leader on his Road King. Another day in the saddle -- from Evanston, WY. to West Yellowstone, MT., 344 miles.

Char and Bruce creating bad karma (two-up one-finger gestures)...that would soon show up as a failing whinning crankshaft bearing that would nearly end their ride to Sturgis and on to Minnesota.

Thumbs up from Roger! Roger would leave Sturgis and travel to Kansas and Missouri to visit with relatives.

No...we don't know that couple! But Judy got this picture on the fly of one of the piles of antlers in the famous city park in Jackson Hole, WY.

At the southern entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

A promise of rains to come up the road in Yellowstone.

We arrived at Old Faithful just minutes before she blew (approx. 45 minutes apart)! I ran a couple hundred yards to get this picture...after peak activity.

I don't recall what the topic of conversation was.

Judy creating bad karma by sticking out her tongue at me! The bad karma would show up shortly as the rains increased in intensity and got colder on the ride toward our KOA campground in West Yellowstone, MT. At least she's demonstrating that she quickly regained her old spunky charm!

While in West Yellowstone, MT. -- or even earlier -- Bruce noticed a whine coming from his engine. The crankshaft bearing was going out! If they couldn't get it repaired...their trip to Sturgis and on to Minnesota was ruined. George had a map that shows the Harley-Davidson dealers. The nearest one was in Red Lodge, MT. So we quit the trip schedule and route that Bland had so carefully made...in order to deal with Bruce's bike problem. The weather was nice as we rode thru Yellowstone. But it soon turned nasty. It rained and hailed most of the day...on the ride to Red Lodge and Billings, MT. where we spent the night.

Red Lodge turned out to be a satellite HD dealership that couldn't fix Bruce's bike. But a HD mechanic traveling thru Red Lodge said to take the bike to Gillette, WY. and they'd fix it overnight...which we did and they did!

A lone coyote? Roger was hoping it was a wolf.

Elk in Yellowstone creating bad Karma by sticking their butts in my camera! I can't say that they suffered for their insensitivity!

Yellowstone's Mammoth Hot Springs

A clump of very pretty flowers survive the hostility.

Yellowstone-to-Red Lodge-to-Billings, MT.
Rain and hail at 10,000 feet in elevation!

More of the same for hours!

Judy smiling after I dumped her in the mud here. I dropped our bike from a standstill...as she climbed off. I'd been riding with my fogged up goggles down on the tip of my nose...and couldn't see down and lost my orientation. I only broke the left footpeg spur. sigh

No helmet laws in UT, WY or MT.
So...NO HELMET!
Day four and we were off to Gillette, WY to get Bruce's bike fixed. Bruce and Char would stay in Gillette overnight...while the rest of us rode on to Sturgis, SD. and set up camp in Nisland, SD. 22 miles north and 6 miles west of Sturgis...on a remote portion of a ranch owned by Billee's brother..

The Spotted Horse was to open at noon...but there was nobody home!

This was our first taste of Sturgis! We arrived two days early...according to Bland's original trip schedule. We changed our plans to accommodate Bruce and Char's bike problems. This gave us four days in the Sturgis area instead of two. Bruce and Char met us at Nisland, SD.

Camping was wonderful at Nisland, SD. at Billee's brother's ranch.
It was 22 miles north and 6 miles west of Sturgis.
They're building this cabin on the property.
It has an adjacent camper with a battery-operated light and a working toilet!
The mosquitos thrived on the irrigation water in the area.
They were small critters...but prevelant in camp.
Fortunately, there weren't many mosquitos at the make-shift
"...shower..." at a nearby horse trailer and watering trough
fed by a warm water Artisian well.

Jim's chuckwagon fix'ns in camp at Nisland, SD.

Full Thottle Saloon just east of Sturgis. It's only open 3 weeks out of the year. And I think it's only been here for a couple to three years. It's a huge complex of buildings (bars, tatoo parlors, shops, bandstand, etc.).

Judy and I stopped at the Full Throttle around dusk of our last day at Sturgis...after riding to eat in Rapid City. We wanted to see some of the "...action..." that took place after dark. (George got to see it!) However, it turned out to be a near-dissaster. We parked in the grass to the east of the main parking lot -- which was full of bikes. We walked the building complex to the far end...and were watching some tatoo artists at work. It began to rain...and five minutes later the lights when out! There was barely enough glow in the sky to carefully find our way to the bike. I don't know if that was good or bad. Judy and I climbed on the Springer and it immediately began to slip in the wet Bentonite clay -- which swells up to 22 times its dry volume when wet. It was worse than being on ice or grease! I asked Judy to get off so I could walk it the 70 yards to blacktop. I got about 10 yards before I dropped it. The right side disappeared into the brown muddy ooze. A couple of guys helped me pick it up and stabilize it. I tried again...making maybe 20 yards before it went down a second time on the right side...trapping my right leg. Again...I was rescued. This time the guys walked with me for about 5 yards...and then said "...you aren't going to make it..." and left me there. Well...it took maybe 5 minutes to carefully negotiate the last 40 yards...but I stayed vertical and made it out. We rode the 30 miles to camp...with cars passing and splashing us, etc. It felt good to get dry and warm in camp.

Sturgis was pretty family-friendly.

It took about an hour of stop-and-go to get to Sturgis in the morning. But once there...there was plenty of parking: we parked at a well-attended lot at the edge of town. No one bothered our helmets all day. It was Judy's idea to mail most of what we bought right from the postal service at the Harley dealership in Sturgis.

The ride toward Devil's Tower, WY. and on to Mt. Rushmore was the best of the trip! We stopped 14 miles short of Devil's Tower itself because of time. We had 28 miles in and 28 miles out to see the Tower and move on to Mt. Rushmore.

Repacking Judy's and my Springer. The load kept shifting -- nothing serious...but it looked funny!

There was a special line for motorcycles at Mt. Rushmore and it moved at a nice pace. They had covered parking and a very spacious restaurant with plenty of seating and good fast food...with a view of the Presidents.

Breakfast at the Full Throttle Saloon. Most of the girls were from Spearfish, SD.

Judy talking with my daughter, Heidi.

We ate breakfast and were on our way home from Sturgis here. This cafe and laundry is in Nisland -- less than half a mile from where we camped. There's also a bar and a post office. Yes...Judy and I mailed home some more stuff we didn't want to pack on the bike any longer. Char and Bruce went their own way toward Minnesota. And Roger took off for Kansas and Missouri to visit with relatives. That left George, Jim and Judy and me riding home.

Judy had time to get off the bike to take this striking picture. We were stopped briefly by some road construction on our way to Spearfish, SD.

Thermopolis Hot Springs

We were suppose to camp in Lander, the first night after leaving Sturgis. But Judy and I had had it with camping...since we spent the last evening in Sturgis dumping the bike in the Bentonite mud, riding in a driving rain, and camping afterward. So we opted for a motel in Lander. The next morning...we boxed up all our camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, ground pad, etc.) and mailed it home! It was much easier to pack the bike after that. Here's Judy...we're off to the post office!