If Fred is riding 34 to Sturgis I hope he left Pierre with a full tank of gas. Did that ride a few years ago and all I saw was wheat fields from horizon to horizon.
He's in Pierre right now, crossing the Missouri. I'm sure he's topping off.
I'm hot 'n tired just watching his spot.
The W's are in Pierre, probably in rain and possibly thunderstorms. I'm guessing it's an early day and spot isn't going to move until tomorrow morning.
You are both right!! We topped up, with "real gas"!!, no less, right when we rolled into Pierre (pronounced Peer, not Pee-air, I was told). And we had planned to stop here since this morning, to take a light day and let more of the Pirates clear out of the Badlands and Black Hills for us tomorrow.
And, also, there was a good deal of rain today, mostly drizzle with a few steady rains, but neither of us really minded it all that much. It kept the temps down (below 80 for the moist part) and I got a free bike wash to get rid of the first three days of bug guts.
Good news for the bike is that tahr plug is holdingup well, as advertised. Bad news is that the wobble of the front Conti-motion is not getting any better, even after upping the pressure a bit to 41 psi this morning. It shouldn't be a deal breaker if it can last the trip.
We slept in this morning. Well actually the new time zone
let us sleep in without being actual slackers. We knew up front that today was going to be an easy day, so we took our time clearing out of Lakeville. Plus we had a spacious king sized bed, so the sleeping was good (get your minds out of the gutter)
Took in the Free Continental (FC) again, all a part of trying to keep this trip on budget both financially and caloric-ally . Tasted their sausage gravy, but it wasn't very good, and would have blown the calrie budget if I went for it two days running. Opted for the blueberry Belgian waffles from one of those regular hotel waffle-matics. Not pR0n suitable.
Headed west from Lakeville and quickly got onto US Route 14. This is mostly 2 lane, but in what I would say is excellent condition, and much of it is wide open spaces. The speed limit on it is 65, but the traffic runs 70-75. No problem at all running at 80-85 (even in the rain) as there is very little traffic, very few crossing roads, and plenty of wide open spaces to make leisurely passes.
This one is for captain Jack (yes there is a Gay Lord, almost everywhere!)
We ran US 14 all the way to our stop tonight in Peer. I've got to say, I really liked riding this road, considering it was flat, straight as an arrow, and it was raining about 50% of the day. We're starting to get the vibe that we aren't in the congested east anymore.
Actual functioning wind farms in western Minn.
Crossed into South Dakota and the road quality actually improved quite dramatically
Camera didn't come out much today due to the 100% relative humidity, but we enjoyed the open farm land scenery a lot since we could gawk around with no fear from the non-existent traffic. Another bonus over the interstate is not as many trucks with all their dirty air. It makes for a more pleasant ride cruising along at 80 mph, the FJR singing its song somewhere down between your knees, and not another car or truck in sight.
Wanted to make mention of a hot tip passed along by the Asphalt Junkies when they heard of our upcoming trip. This is a shot of the rolling adult refreshment container. It is a 1 liter stainless steel, screw top container, that fits a fifth (or liter) of your favorite libation for carrying in you luggage with no fear of cracking a glass bottle or perforating a plastic one, when you hit a big bump. It has served us well for the first 4 days, but will need a refill on Day 5!
By the way, I scored this hot commodity at Satan's ******* (AKA Walmart) for a paltry double sawbuck. The bourbon was not included.
Heading out for some chow in a while, so I may check back in later with some pR0n. It's a chain within walking distance, but I hear this place has decent p-i-e.
