Gangs

My week really started on the first Saturday with a ride to Devils Tower. We ran the freeway over into Wyoming and took the back way to the tower.

Sturgis 2009 – looks like a motorcycle event to me!

There is nothing much better than running those two lanes with a group of friends. In our case we had about ten bikes and everyone found their own comfort zone, the really fast riders at the front, the more cautious riders at the back and the rest of us in the middle. No pressure to keep up with anyone particular. Just enjoy the ride, the ones in front will only get there a few minutes ahead of everyone else anyway. The key is to keep the group small and go early in the week when traffic is light.

You can have the Tower to yourself, you just have to go early and find the back way in.

Hanging around in the city of Sturgis is certainly part of the experience. The freaks, the vendors, the endless rows of bikes, the beautiful bar maids… I wouldn't miss it for anything. But I only make one or two visits during the week and I try to get in and out before it gets too late. That way it's easy to park, fun to have a beer before the bars get too busy, and easy to get out of town again before the traffic builds and the bulls get too aggressive.

Maybe going to Sturgis is like riding to the Tower with my group of friends. You have to find your own comfort zone. But if you're a little burned out on the crowds and the high prices, there’s an easy solution. Get out of town. Discover all the equally interesting little towns from Lead to Nemo, and Spearfish to Sundance. The people there will welcome you with open arms. And if you do just a little planning, you can probably have the roads going there pretty much all to yourself.

Karen on the left, and Nikki, enjoy a cool one after a great ride.

Shade Tree Mechanic
During my time in South Dakota the front wheel bearing on my little Ranger pickup truck took a dump (as we like to say). Which left me with only two options: have the Ford dealer fix it, or fix it myself. Being naturally cheap I chose door number two.

First I had to find the bearing. The NAPA store in Spearfish, close to my motel, explained that it's not just a bearing, it's actually a bearing and stub axle assembly. And yes, they did have one, but it cost three hundred bucks. Luckily the assembly is a bolt-in-deal, so I didn't have to pull the whole spindle and take that to a machine shop to have the new bearing pressed in.

A bunch of people jumped in to help me make this a one-morning deal. Alan, who owns the Spearfish Creek Inn, offered me a nice floor jack and a puller for the stub axle, and insisted I park the truck in the shady part of the parking lot. Charlie from Iowa loaned me the one wrench that I didn't have in my own kit. And various characters offered advice that I surely couldn't have lived without. In the end it was a generally painless, three hour deal. Breakdowns often turn a trip into a small adventure – and show you who you can count on when you’re in a jam.

Tim's Garage: Nice shade and a cool pool if it gets too hot under that fender.