The next day was another 586 miles, mostly up I-25 through Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins. Called it a day a little before 4 p.m. at Lusk, Wyoming, where I checked out the Silver Dollar Bar and met cheerful bartender Sue Cummins (photo 01) and Cindy and Pat (photo 02), a Denver couple on two bikes headed for North Dakota, northern Montana and Sturgis.

Sunday, July 30 was an easy 147 miles to Spearfish, South Dakota, where I checked in with Penny and Larry Capp and the Kozy Motel about 10:30 a.m. The entire trip was right at 850 miles, requiring 14 hours and 40 minutes - a savings of about 250 miles and five hours compared to previous trips from hometown Dallas. Chick's HD had fixed my sticky throttle grip, and the cruise control was back in good shape.

Hirata had flown to San Francisco and was doing a 50-day auto tour of the US. He hopped on the back of the dresser and we rode out to the new (and not yet officially open) Full Throttle Saloon, which is east of Sturgis toward Buffalo Chip.

Back in town we went in the Broken Spoke Saloon where I took his picture with saloon manager Brian Forster (photo 03) and later outside with a lady biker named Lulu (photo 04), a pipefitter from Canton, Texas. When I took Hirata back to his rented car on Main Street, he was extremely generous with his thank-yous (and those jerky little Japanese head-bobs that accompany Oriental expressions of gratitude). One think I like about Sturgis is being around so many people enjoying themselves so much, and Hirata was no exception.

The pre-rally week also included some touring during which I shot a photo of the well-known rock formation on the back of Mt. Rushmore (photo 05). If you want to know exactly how to find it, drop me an e-mail at dvdallas@pobox.com.

All hell broke loose about 10:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 1. I awakened to big-time storm sounds and the loss of electricity in my room. The entire area from Spearfish to Sturgis to Rapid City had a taste of a weather phenomenon called straight-line winds. Per the local media, wind speeds reached 97 miles per hour.

Sunday, August 6 I finally met - live and in person - Web host Muthuh and wife Kim. They were both pretty beat from their ambitious ride schedule and Kim's hassles with United Airlines. But they're troopers nevertheless. We did breakfast at Mom's in Sturgis and then headed for Deadwood, Lead and Spearfish Canyon.

That's Muthuh and Kim up ahead (photo 11) and again in front of Bridal Veil Falls in Spearfish Canyon (photo 12). We wrapped up the tour over a brew at the B&B Lounge in Spearfish where a sign says, "Sexual harassment in this area will not be reported, but it will be graded." You can check out Muthuh's account of the day in his ride report. I enjoyed meeting them. He's exactly the same guy his Web site depicts.

The best dinner I had there was smoked pheasant ravioli with sage cream sauce. The grilled salmon is also superb. I got to know owner/chef Leigh Rawlings (with me in photo 15) and husband Jerry, plus hostess Staci Huber. It took nine rallies for me to find a great place to eat in the Black Hills.

Jack is a blind Vietnam vet (a land mine incident, I believe), and Don was doing everything imaginable to make Jack's rally experience a great one, including "C'mon, Jack, let's take your picture with some girls!" Two ladies riding Main Street graciously obliged (photo 17). Jack was having a great time and Don, who quickly gained my respect, was enjoying the delight he was enabling for Jack. Neat guys - all of them.

Across Junction Street from Sturgis Harley Davidson is the two-story house of 94-year-old Florence Bedsaul, who rents her front yard during the rally to legendary parts vendor, Bulwinkle (his real name is Brady Vassallo). His daughter, Joey, turned 22 during the rally (photo 18).

Also had a chance to chat with Mrs. Bedsaul (photo 20) and hear about the success of the breakfast operation at the Sturgis Senior Center, where she volunteers. Quite a lady.

I got to know Brady and Joey in 1996. Thanks to them, my brother, John, got to ride one of their Mopeds (similar to one John had when he was about 15) on Main Street. You can check out pictures of their old scooters and George and Lucy at http://users.mis.net/~bulwinkl/index.html.

At the 1995 rally I met Toni and Eldon Penner, at that time from northern California. Last February they sold Eldon's business, retired and moved to five-plus acres that back up to 43,000 acres of federal BLM land near Gardnerville, Nevada, not far from Lake Tahoe. If you're a rally regular you'll probably recognize Toni and Eldon because they're a popular photo subject on Main Street (photo 21). Always good to see them.

At the Silver Dollar Lounge in Spearfish I had a long, two-beer visit with Nina Klippen and Tom Herndon (Mr. and Mrs.) from Annapolis. Nina was riding a beautiful 1972 Triumph chopper (photo 23) and one of the highlights of the week was watching and hearing her tickle the Amal carbs (a standard Triumph starting ritual) and kick start the 650 cc scoot as she and Tom left to go to dinner.

Rod Jensen from Tremonton, Utah consented to let me shoot him and his trailering T-shirt (photo 24).

On Main Street I became acquainted with Mike Petrelli (photo 26). Mike, a foreman for Kiewett at a Wyoming coal mine, added a sidecar to his Harley because he couldn't get his dog, Sophie Tucker, to ride on the bike. The bad news is that Sophie, a Boston terrier, also rejected the sidecar by insisting on jumping out of the hack. Sometimes man's best friend isn't scooter material. Mike sent word that he had surgery after the rally and I hope he's doing well.

At dinner one night at the 11th Hour Bistro in Spearfish I met three couples from Erie, Pennsylvania (photo 27). They are (l-r, front) Mary Ann Curry, Jim Curry and Chris Sweet, and (in the back) Speedy Ewing, Chris Ewing and Butch Sweet.

Jerry was parked next to Roy Moses from Tukwila, Washington. If you want to attract girls on Main Street, put a sleeping dog in a basket on the back of your bike - which was the case with Roy and his three-legged dog, Willie (photo 29). I was carrying dog treats for George and Lucy at Bulwinkle's, so I quickly became Willie's pal (photo 30).

After the rally in the parking lot at Lynn's Grocery on Lazelle Street I spotted a remarkable little shovelhead, resplendent with - not chrome - but polished aluminum. According to the owner, Travail Garanti from Billezois, France, the bike had won best of show at the Harley show in Rapid City and at Big Daddy Rat's show in Sturgis. I haven't confirmed this, but I don't doubt it, and my hasty photo of Travail on the scoot (photo 32) doesn't do the bike justice. Travail's card shows his e-mail address as ritchyspolishing@aol.com.

Last year I got to know Lavina and Sam Sagrani, Daytona-based T-shirt vendors who, along with other family members, work their tails off at two stores on Main Street. Lavina and daughter Krystal posed for the camera (photo 35).

A Sturgis first time find this year was the Veteran's Club at 868 Main. Two bucks buys a 16-ounce draft beer (compared to $2.75 a can at Gunner's, the Pyramid and most everywhere else I audited) and the chairs are upholstered and have backs. Plus, there's no blaring music, something that is increasingly important to my age group. Sherrill (photo 38) presided behind the bar during most of my visits there.

Thursday and Friday of the rally had Dallas temperatures - in the 80s at dawn and around 100 in the afternoon. When I tackled a dehydration situation at the Silver Dollar Lounge in Spearfish (514 Main), I met owner Doug Rans and shot a photo of daughter-in-law Jackie Rans (photo 39), who doled out the pre-Bud ice water I needed. Regrettably, the autofocus had a hiccup and Jackie's photo isn't very good.

Thanks, Muthuh, for posting the ride (that almost sounds like some kind of religious uttering that calls for a genuflect!). Amen.

 

 
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