Corkscrew Bridges and Great Roads

After a great month in Utah, Riley and I decided to move a bit north to cooler nights and days. The Black Hills area of South Dakota is pleasant in June, with temps from the mid 40s-50s at night and 70s-80s in the sun. Great riding weather for certain. Caveat is there always seems to be the threat of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. I just plan the day so I will be back home by 3 p.m.

Tenacious Pine
While eating dinner outside our first night here this was the view. A mere 40 yards away.

Our first campsite in the 'Hills.'

But great weather alone doesn't make for perfect riding. The roads complete the  package, and the Black Hills has some of the absolute best motorcycle roads this old dog has ridden. That's the main reason I visit this area so often – six times since 1998, including every year since 2009. Perhaps that's why Sturgis has become the most popular biker event in world. Ya think?

The Sun about to be covered by a storm. This one brought lots of pea and marble sized hail.
It is good that Rex has a portable garage.

Iron Mountain Road has become my favorite road here. It has everything for a mildly aggressive motorcycle rider like me. Ample sweeping turns, lots of switchbacks, and three corkscrew bridges, all correctly banked. The bridges are actually turns greater than 360 degrees. Riding this road (when not following a timid cage driver) is the closest thing man can experience to flying and not leave the ground.I will try to get some still images of the bridges but it is difficult.

I wish I had my old ’73 Triumph Bonneville here now. Compare Rex to a slightly overweight thoroughbred while Bonnie is a seasoned and trim cutting horse. Rex is fun but Bonnie was seriously exciting.

I have a new gadget toy, a small HD video camera that I can mount on Rex’s handlebars. So far I have recorded two roads: Iron Mountain Road and the Needles Highway. I plan on capturing more. All I need now is some more experience in creating videos that work well with the internet. They have to be modestly small in size but retain the quality I demand. That is a skill I have yet to master. 

My Security Service on Duty.

Riley is happy to be here, too. He is full of energy on the cool morning walks we take. And he now gets to hunt squirrels and marmots (a kind of groundhog) instead of the lizards in Utah. Hey, it saves on the food bill. HA. Do not worry; I really don’t let him get to them but he enjoys the hunt.

Now THAT's a Fence!