Sturgis - Day 3 The arrival

Gillette, WY ! I wanted to dedicate the entire post to GW, but today we met up with the International Mild Hogs so much of my rant on GW was lucky to make the editor's cut. Well, I checked out the town… no razor manufacturing here, however there were several points of interest. Did you know that GW is home to the Rock Pile Museum? And, believe it or not, it is FREE to the public! No Repo Man, we cannot stop this time. There is also a campground in the middle of town called “Green Trees Crazy Lady Campground”. Now if that thought doesn’t make you want to pitch a tent, I don’t know what will… GW is also a college town! The Gillette College of Diesel Mechanics was not far from our hotel, and it is home to the Fighting Piston Rings. GW has made great use of its former gas stations by converting them to laundromats, tanning salons, real estate offices and one church. On my early morning run, I ran into the town’s one tri-athlete. He was riding a bike, smoking, and drinking a beer all at the same time! That is "tri" right? We ate at a fine eating establishment known as Granny’s Kitchen. The dining room was spacious and had a lattice partition to separate the smoking and nonsmoking sections. How accommodating. I will add the word “Granny” to the words in a restaurant name that I will never go to again. It joins the list of “Copper”, “Skillet”,”Mom’s” and “Down Home”… I’ve often thought about moving back to the United States after leaving the Peoples Republic of California. GW is seriously making me re-think that plan.

Our early morning drive lead us to Rapid City where Repo Man picked up his bike that was previously shipped. The driver tried to convince Outlaw and myself to ship rather than trailer..."you know those trailers can tip". No Sh--, I said! I then described the tractor trailer I saw halfway down the mountain. Let's face it, it is always a miracle when the bike makes it. We headed to Hill City where the front desk ladies went out of their way to find us a room that we could check into immediately. Repo Man has a way with "the ladies". We quickly unpacked and of course washed the bikes before heading out.

Soon we were on the road to meet the other Mild Hogs (M'hogs). It was good to be back on the bikes in the lovely South Dakota country side. We soon met up with the M'hogs at the predetermined spot. It was great to get to meet all the others. There were folks from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, Australia and of course, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

After grabbing lunch and some group photos, we were off to ride the wildlife road taking us through Custer Park. Throughout the ride we spotted elk, antelope (ahhh!), deer, wild ass, and buffalo. With a herd of buffalo on the side of the road, Outlaw got off his bike to take a picture of the group with the buffalo in the background, you know, one of those "this is what they looked like before the buffalo attack" pictures. As Outlaw stood with his back to the herd, a large cow worked her way up behind him. She was as big as a truck with nostrils the size of dinner plates. When he realised she was nearby, Outlaw leaped behind Snake and his bike. He surprised us all with his cat like reflections.

The band of M'hogs eventually found their way out of the park and into Rapid City where we planned to meet to eat. Unfortunately, one of the other riders had bike trouble and caused us to miss the BBQ. You know, no M'hog left behind. We said our goodbyes, promised to write and went our separate ways. It was good to meet the other and know there are M'hogs across the globe sharing our love of riding.

Tonight dinner was in Hill City so that we could call it an early night. Tomorrow we are planning to go into Sturgis during the day and night. There should be some good stories and pictures. I will look forward to sharing them with you.

See you on the road.