Milestones and Mile Markers

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That is what today boiled down to. We both passed the mile stone of 5000 miles within the last 12 days. Whether we made it to AK or not, that is still a good mark of endurance. I also passed 15000 miles on the bike since September. That is what the 3 hour delay in the Sturgis area was for; I needed to get a service done on the bike. Great dealership and people. The service manager gave us his personal vehicle to go get lunch while thye worked on the bike. You won’t see that too often.

Prior to that though, we left Gillette WY this morning and headed to Devils Tower. First day we hadn't need cold wx gear at the start. From there, down to Deadwood, Sturgis, and then Black Hills HD. Even with great service, 3 hours of sitting and waiting will drain you. Once we got the bike back, we jumped on I90E, and watched mile markers pass as storms built up behind us. We had a steady crosswind the whole way that kept us at a 15-20 degree lean. Not too bad except when passing the trucks. The wind was strong enough that it had the huge car dealer size flags standing straight out. Not much fun, but it gets you where you are going. I'll need new tires before the left side wears out do to the extra 500 miles on the right side.

You have a lot of time to think when doing that type of riding, some good, some not so good thoughts. I have second guessed our decision to abort since the moment we made it, and will continue to do so until we go back and complete it. Anyway, with all the time to think, and running through my head hundreds of times, I am confident we made the right call based on what we knew, the information available, and other factors such as time and money.(For all the arm chair quarterbacks out there, if you know me, you know what I will think of your “advice”). Until it is complete though, it will be in the back of my mind. Same subject, but lighter note, it is nice to have Mike on the other end of the CB to have some human interaction. My Utah trip comes to mind first, as it was a lot of alone time riding. It has its benefits, but also drawback. If a shrink recorded some of the conversations I’ve had with myself, they’d lock me up.

So tomorrow we are headed to Milwaukee. The factory tours aren’t running on weekends, but the museum is open. We are also going by Mr. Witt’s house to put some oil spots on his driveway, and leave some empty Bud bottles there.

Even without reaching our original goal, this has been a great trip, with beautiful sights and meeting great people, and great company.

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Comments

[caholan]

Wyoming
Nice close encounter w/Devil's Tower