I started the day out by riding to Mount Rushmore to finally see that monument in person, and it didn't disappoint. Walking along the Presidential Trail and looking at it from many different angles really impressed upon me the amount of work that must have gone into the sculpting. I spent close to an hour there, and by the time I left I was itching to check out the famed roads. It was a thrill to crack my throttle in the parking garage, and I heard at least two car alarms go off. Not nice of me I know, but I'm supposed to be a bad, mean biker right?
I want to personally thank the many members of HD Forums for posting their experiences, without that site my entire trip would probably have sucked! All the really great roads that I've ridden today, in addition to the ones from previous days came from suggestions on that message board. Thanks guys!
After Rushmore, I doubled back to Iron Mountain Road/16A. I had never heard of a pigtail bridge, and I found out that they're pretty cool. They basically spiral up, gaining altitude quickly in a very small amount of space. There was a fair amount of traffic, but most cars were quick to let me by them, which was appreciated. It's unfortunate that cars are allowed on these roads;). The views were incredible, as they would be for the rest of the day.
From 16A I turned onto S Playhouse road, and followed that until reaching the Needles Highway/87. The rock "needles" that one rides through here are pretty strange looking, although very easy on the eyes. And yeah, I got my cheap thrills by blipping my throttle in the tunnels! I stopped at the Sylvan Lake recreation area for a light lunch, and then I was back on the bike.
When I hit 385, I took that through Hill City and on to Lead and Deadwood. Construction crews had stripped the highway, and riding on the grooved pavement got old real quick. I will avoid that road for the rest of my time here, although the scenery was still nice. I rode through Deadwood, and didn't feel like stopping today, so I headed south on 14 to the Spearfish Canyon road/US 14 Scenic Byway. Traffic wasn't heavy at all, and for most of the way I was not stuck behind any cars, so I could get on it a bit. I ground off a lot of chrome on the highway pegs today! I just can't say enough about the scenery and the awesome roads, I'm not sure how I will survive once I get back home, where its just straight and flat.
At Spearfish I got back on the I-90 and headed for Sturgis. I spent about an hour in the store, now way was I going home without a shirt. Of course I bought 2, so I'm guessing one of my old shirts from home is going to lose its home in my bags. The people in this area are the most accommodating towards bikers that I've ever seen, but I suppose a lot of their economy comes from us biking tourists.
I was not taking the I-90 back to Rapid City, so Vanocker Canyon road, and then Nemo road was the route back. They seriously don't build a road here with more than a quarter mile of straight stretch, the engineers must have been bikers. All the roads today were "must rides", so if you ever come here do them all. I will be spending an extra day here, as tomorrow would not be enough time in my opinion. There's a few more a I want to ride, as well as repeating some of the ones again just because they're so awesome!
After eating in Rapid City, I finally washed my bike. Almost 5000km after leaving home it was high time, and the forecast isn't calling for rain. Anyway, this entry got a little long-winded, so time to wrap it up. Here's a few pictures from today, not that picture taking was a priority today.
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