One of the things I quickly noticed on this excursion is that if I am going to write about my days, it would help to take notes. However, it’s difficult to write while riding and I don’t want to stop every time I want to remember something so I am relying on memory and the photos I take. Perhaps I can figure out how to use “Hey, Siri” to do a voice dictation while I am riding since the electronics in my helmet are connected to the phone and some Siri suggestions do work.
This morning I awoke to some nearby roosters letting me know it was time to get the day started. I checked the time and it was about 4:30. I was able to ignore them and the cows who seemed to keep up their chatter all night long and got up at a more reasonable, and lighter, hour. I had a nice breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup. Cooking on the MSR stove is not like using a burner at home since its forte is to boil water, fast. It takes some finesse to keep things from burning but it can be done.
I got things packed up and loaded on the bike, quickly establishing a system for doing so. One change I made is to get my duffle bag mounted a bit more rearward to give me a little more room on the front seat. I got things tied down and set up my extra battery to charge in the “glove box” and for my phone to charge in my tank bag. The glove box is a small space with a locking lid that is in the left side fairing. It has a cigar lighter thing that I plug a USB adapter into that is powered when the bike is running. I carry a small lithium battery that I use to charge things in the evening when I don’t have power and it fits well in the glove box. The charging cable in the tank bag is one that I made last week that connects from the SAE battery tender on the bike, mounted just under the handlebars to a USB in the tank bag. The battery tender connects directly to the bike battery through a 7 amp fuse. All in all this works pretty well.
I gassed up before leaving Faith and was rolling about 9am. One of those things I don’t have documented but remember well is that somewhere in the first hour or so heading, east along Hwy 212, I’d just left a small town and was getting back up to speed when I went around a big S-curve. Coming out of it I saw one of those animal crossing signs that indicated, well, the potential for an animal crossing. Sure enough right up ahead were two doe on the road. I got on the brakes while trying to keep and eye on them and the semi-tractor that wasn’t far behind me. One doe headed off the road to the right while the other went off to the left. I kept slowing down knowing that they are unpredictable and like to stay together and, sure enough, the one on the right looked like it was going to come back on the road until it saw its friend on the left bolt across in front of me to rejoin it. By this time I was under 10 mph and the semi behind me had almost stopped as well. I slowly drove by them and got on my way.
This reminds me of the 2 deer I saw yesterday along the road. They were grazing on the left side and when the buck raised his head I saw the biggest rack I’d even seen in the wild. Don’t they count the tips on the antlers as points? (I’m not a hunter.). This guy must have had at least 10. A beautiful animal.
As I cross into South Dakota on Hwy 212, I get into the rhythm of it. The road is mostly straight, a good surface, not many cars, and punctuated by a little town every 10-20 miles. I can see the towns up ahead because every one of the them has a water tower that announces it presence and makes me think of those red pointer things that Google uses on its maps. One town, Eagle Butte, had five of them. It was getting warm so I stopped there to shed a layer and snapped a photo of this one.
One of the highlights of the day was coming into the very small town of Ridgeview, SD. They have an automobile junk yard that is larger than the town itself and rather than be an eyesore that is usually put up behind metal fencing, they have used the cars themselves as the fencing. It seemed to go on for quite a while and couldn’t resist turning around and going back for second look and some pictures.
All of this is surrounded by miles and miles of corn. I noticed that as I left Faith, SD and headed east, the ranch land gave way to farmlands. Yes, there is lots of corn grown out this way. Lots. That and sunflowers. I also saw some lower, green plans that looked like beans. Everything looked healthy and lush.
The winds kicked up and I was fighting a strong crosswind for 50 miles or so as the road started losing elevation and I came to the Missouri River. The crossing is an awesome old steel bridge that delivered me to the other side to a spot where it begged for a photo.
I was going to stop for lunch in the hamlet of Gettysburg, which proudly announces on the sign entering the town “Not the one where the battle was,” but the Main Street was completely torn up and the detour that routed me around it dumped me back on Hwy 212 outside of town so I just kept going. It looked to be an interesting town as they had as many grain silos as commercial buildings.
Hwy 212 took a turn to the right and that came up on me pretty quickly and I had to do a quick, double downshift not to miss it and I got to hear and feel my “slipper clutch” doing what it was designed to do, to prevent the rear wheel from skidding. I made the turn and not far ahead was Redfield, SD, and none too soon. I was ready for a break and spied a Subway and pulled in for a sandwich. Not too long after I sat down to eat, a group of Harley riders pulled in, 2 riding and one on a trailer pulled by a minivan. The owner of the one on the trailer struck up a conversation while he waited in line and, of course, wanted to know if I was coming from or going to Sturgis. They were on their way back to Glencoe, MN after a quick visit to the rally. He said that he had small kids and he and his wife couldn't spare more than a few days but like to go to the rally every year to just people watch. He said that it’s quite the show.
I continued on west and just a mile from my lunch stop I remember to look at my odometer and pulled over for a photo.
The 5,000-mile mark. It’s well-broken in by now and it running great.
I rode for about 2 more hours, crossed into Minnesota, and pulled into Dawson looking for a park. I wanted to lay on some grass in the shade. The town, like the earlier town of Gettysburg, is replacing all their streets so every turn had a “Road Closed” sign warning for “Local Access Only.” I spied a city park down one of them and rode the gravel to get to it. It felt great to stop for a bit, get a drink, have snack and who knew that I’d be getting a floor show. As I learned, the local football team was having a “Captain’s Choice” workout and were running laps around the largest section of the park that included a big baseball field and a large field behind it. They were running the long sides of the rectangle and walking the short sides, right next to where I was parked. One of the kids wanted to know if my bike did wheelies. I told him that I didn’t but my son could. Another one, looking pretty beat from the running, asked for a ride.
The remaining ride of the day took me past more cornfields and got interesting and twisty for a while as it wove its way along the Minnesota River. I made a turn north on County Highway 15 and rode the dozen or so miles into Hutchinson. It was a busy place as the road in when past Menards, Walmart, and all the other Main Street America offerings. I stopped for a quick check on the map and readily found the campground. It’s in the Masonic West River Park and is pretty nice. I had to converse with a guy who had already select my site as him own but he readily moved on to another one. As soon as I got off the bike another guy wanted to give me a booklet and have me join him at a revival meeting of some kind.
Since they had a sign indicating no motor vehicles on the grass “Tents Only,” I pulled my bike just off the road and pitched my tent there and then drug the picnic table from the fire ring about a 150-feet away to make this home for the night. It was getting late and by the time I got set up and made dinner it was already getting dark. I called it a day.
434 miles.
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