388 miles
We had breakfast in Oacoma SD, lunch in Gettysburg SD, and dinner in Stockholm SD. It was a day in South Dakota! The highlight of the day was visiting Gettysburg. For all of my 27.99 years I have heard about BMWPop's first cross-country trip in 1972 with his college buddy. They were both on Hondas, however, BMWPop was on a Honda 305 Dream. It was "one of the first electric start motorcycles Honda made AND the same bike Elvis had." Heard the story WAY to many times. One of my favorite stories from that epic trip happened in Gettysburg SD. BMWPop's riding buddy had an unfortunate meeting with a sheep that was trying to cross the road. The bike's front forks were bent and his buddy's shoulder was broken. In order to finish the trip the Gettysburg clinic braced his buddy's arm in a position position so he could still ride. Thankfully, the local Honda engine shop (not motorbike shop) was able to bend his forks back so he could continue to ride. It took a few days for all the human/motorbike repairs, so they camped in the Gettysburg City Park until they were ready to continue on. As we pulled into Gettysburg, BMWPop's face light up. We found the city park where they camped. The best part was discovering the Honda shop that was still open. The original shop was next door to the current Honda shop and had vintage Honda motorbikes out front. As we were getting pictures of BMWPop in front of the original shop, he took a peak inside one of the windows. To our delight there was a Honda 305 Dream sitting inside the original shop! Classic!
I was happy to spend a whole day in South Dakota. My favorite part of our last trip was riding through the Black Hills. One of my favorite parts of this trip so far has been riding through the beautiful scenery South Dakota provides. However, there are three things that intrigue me; 1) the birds b) the cows III) the wind
1) Apparently word has not gotten out about my deadly encounter with a South Dakotan bird yesterday. I'm not sure if these birds think we are giant insects (with our bright green vests and bubble helmets) or some kind of enemy. The birds have continually tried to dive bomb us as we made our way through SD. It wasn't just the unusual dive-bombing that concerned me but also the behavior of the ever so abundant pheasants. The pheasants would sit in the middle of the road and stare at you as you approached (around 80-90 mph). They would look at you as if to say "Oh, you know what? I should probably get out of the road." It wouldn't be till you began your swerve to avoid them that they eventually hustled out of the way. Pheasants are beautiful birds that lack intelligence.
b) Cows, cows, and more cows. Its funny to see how the cows react as we pass by; some ignore us, some glance up but then continue eating, and some stare us down. I think I have watched far to many BBC On the Wild Side: Animal Voice Overs (either that or spent far to long on the road with no music), because I can almost hear them saying "Bessie, did you see those green vests? I didn't know vests were in this season. I have to get one of those. All I have are these big earrings that I didn't even get to pick out."
III) For most of the trip the trip a strong wind has been coming from the southwest. My motorbike, BB (Blue Bayou or Blue By You--depending on the situation), is light and tall. This combination does not do well in crosswinds. Therefore, for most of the trip I have been leaning into the wind wearing out the left side of my tires simply trying to stay in my lane. For whatever reason as soon as we start to head east in SD (and as soon as I start to think I will finally get a rest from the wind), all of a sudden there is a forceful wind coming from the northeast. This means I am once again leaning into the wind wearing out the left side of my tires trying to stay in my lane. I noticed BMWPop was having the same problem when I glanced at his tires. We are going to have to only take right hand turns for the next three months just to even out the tread.
