Submitted by Perry Bly – ‘02LT
After kicking around the idea for a while, we finally decided we couldn’t pass. Kim has an Uncle that lives in Black Hawk and gave us an open invitation. We left the kids to fend for themselves, and headed out to catch the tail end of the Rally. We left Friday after lunch and had a beautiful ride out to The Hills. The traffic coming east was bumper to bumper with bikes and campers pulled off the interstate everywhere. Traffic was so heavy. The areas where lanes condensed for construction were completely stopped. We feared there wouldn’t be anyone left at the rally. The flow east subsided as we approached Rapid. The temperature and humidity did as well. After all the heat and humidity we have had at home, Rapid felt downright cold. We spent the rest of Friday night with Kim’s uncle and had a great time.
Saturday we left Black Hawk and headed south to ride the Needles Highway and Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. It was rainy and 59 degrees. We rode out of the rain near Keystone and enjoyed sun by the time we arrived in Custer. The temp stayed cool all day. I loved it, but Kim was pretty chilly. This ride was amazing. We loved the Needles, but The Iron Mountain Road (16A) was by far our favorite. The LT is perfection for two up riding like that!
After a nap, we headed into Sturgis to see the Rally and the night life. What can I say? If I was there to party – that’s the place to do it. I’m not impressed otherwise. How many t-shirts stands can you have in a 12 block area? There should be as many muffler retailers. There are a lot of things we witnessed, that I just don’t get. I’ll just leave it at that. I did love seeing the custom bikes. BMW was very well represented there. You all can be proud.
It was definitely worth seeing. I would recommend the experience at least once. I look forward to riding The Hills again (under quieter circumstances).
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