Colllld again this morning, a bunch of 20s on my route. So I waited until 9 AM to head out.
Plan was to do some loops around the Black Hills and then head to Cheyenne.
Wow, those were some amazing roads. You could definitely spend a couple days riding around there. I imagine during the summer you get a lot more traffic, but I mostly had the really twisty stuff to myself. The routes through Custer national forest & around Mt Rushmore are amazing. Do a google image search for “Iron Mountain Road” for some more flavor.
Hwy 16a is awesome – basically all 20-30 mph switchbacks and spiral turns and cool single lane tunnels through the rocks. I quickly decided if I was going to get a speeding ticket, this was the place. It was by far the best riding of the trip (sorry Gap & Cherahola.) Again probably just luck of the season, I imagine during the summer you’d be stuck behind endless tourists.
I had zero traffic for the entire 16a loop. Really amazing and got to use the sides of my tires (and some peg feelers.)
Unfortunately a few roads were still closed so I ended up wandering around a bit, but it was all good. Plenty of snow still lying around on the hills and not much wind.
Around noon I started heading toward Cheyenne – this is a pretty boring drag through the grasslands and lots of local speed traps. Saw someone nailed for 5 over (I was doing 3 over and they passed me.)
Tomorrow I get to deal with the cold again because 60+ mph gusts are coming in after noon on the edge of this storm system. I want to get as far west as I can and have the storm pass over me during the night, and then hopefully clear sailing all the way home.
Dennis Rides - Motorcycles & Bicycles 