Day 6: It's my party and I'll .....

...cry if I want to. OK - I admit it. I couldn't hold back this morning. I didn't really cry, but my eyes did well up when we got to Mt Rushmore and it was pretty well socked in by fog. Or we think it was. We couldn't see it from the approach road nor could we see it from the parking lot. You have to actually park and walk up through a visitor centre. I wanted to walk up to see what, if anything, I could see but Jim didn't want to. How disappointed was I, after riding 3800 km, to be missing what was intended to be a highlight of our trip?? I'm usually too pragmatic and sufficiently mature (IMHO) to get too upset over things like this. I know enough to consider my blessings (a good man for a husband who supports my hare-brained schemes - albeit not overtly; some very good friends; and, in this instance - a good reliable motorcycle and a riding partner in Jim who decided he was overdue for a long-distance ride). But, on the heels of yesterday (not seeing the Badlands to the extent I'd wanted) and riding in 4 days of cold and rain, this was too much. BTW, I DID count my blessings and I fairly quickly 'moved on'.

The photo was taken after we left the parking area. It's the profile of George Washington. When we stopped, the profile was barely visible. I took a photo, had put the camera away and was putting my gloves back on when Jim said "oh, look - the fog has moved off." Sure enough - I grabbed my camera and snapped this but as we discussed the possibility of going back to the viewing site, the fog rolled back in.

I can't even tell you how many times we rode in and out of rain today. Sometimes it was light - other times, heavy. We weren't waterproof after all. Rain normally runs up the sleeve but today it dripped back down into my right glove and soaked the inside of the glove and jacket cuff. Jim's boot covers didn't quite stand up either today. And temperature? Remember when we thought 11 degrees was cold riding into Sault Ste Marie? If you've been paying attention, 9 degrees has pretty well beccome our new 'normal'. Well, today when it reached 6 (!) degrees during our ride into Deadwood, where we had a great lunch, I was HOPING for 9 degrees. Funny how one's perspective changes. And then we hit a new low.... 5 freaking degrees after we left Deadwood. Actually, it was 5 degrees when we left Crazy Horse and I rode out the gate at an angle over a texas gate (= a potentially big mistake as I kind of skidded over it; I should have gone straight across it) but it had 'warmed up' temporarily to 7 or 8 before it dropped back to 6.

Today's ride had ALL the potential to have been the best ride of the trip to date and it turned out to be the worst - summed up in 2 words: rain and cold. BAD combination. Suffice to say, it was somewhat typical of the last 3 days but it never did get warm and there was no sun. Today was, simply, the wettest and coldest yet. The Black Hills of South Dakota are, without a doubt, absolutely beautiful and the roads are perfect for a great bike ride - excellent condition, long sweepers, some twisties and fabulous scenery. Again, even in the rain and cold, I was glad I was on a MC with panoramic views. No craning to see out a windshield or side windows of a "cage" (car). Unfortunately, I (and Jim, to a certain extent) couldn't really enjoy the potential of the ride as we both experienced moments of sliding a bit in the corners - not fun :-(

Cold and wet can make you stupid and clumsy. And me on a 670+ bike (loaded with gear and full tank of gas) - another bad combination! No mishaps but I have to work extra hard at maneuvering in tight & slow-moving situations. I got into a bit of a predicament this morning when we pulled off quickly to get a photo at the Mount Rushmore sign. The side of the road was steeply banked to the right and I ended up stopped in 4th gear (supposed to stop in 1st gear). I couldn't put my right foot down to balance the bike in order to shift gears and put the Feej on the sidestand because the ground was too low - I would have dropped it. I had to get Jim to shift my gears for me so I could ride off!!! Talk about (kind of ) embarrassing! In many respects, that bike IS too big for me (this incident is case in point) but I handle it fairly well in most conditions. Jim was somewhat sympathetic yesterday when we had occasion to do a few u-turns on narrow back roads. I had to do a 3-point turn at one point and couldn't get the bike from the gravel shoulder over the pavement and he had to give me a little push. His analogy of me on the Feej was him being 7 ft tall on a 1200-lb bike. I love that bike but it does challenge me.

Regarding weather, when John and I started dating 29 years ago, he taught me a little ditty passed down by his mother: "Don't grumble about the weather nor render it a curse, but take it as you would a man, for better or for worse." So, it is what it is.

Our route today took us on a loop from Rapid City down Rte 16 to 16A and back up to Deadwood and Sturgis. Once we took the obligatory photos at Sturgis, we set the Zumo for Sheridan WY and hit the slab at 1600h to cover some 400 km.

It was in Wyoming that we first saw even a hint of a break in the weather - what Jim called a sucker hole. It rained off and on during that ride as well. We didn't make it to Sheridan (allegedly "America's #1 Western Town") but we ARE in Buffalo in a very nice Comfort Inn (as opposed to the expensive "Quality Inn" that we were in last night). 492 km today.

Wyoming is spectacular in a rugged way. The landscape is definitely not pastureland or used for crops; although there are cattle, (including spotted ones!) they're sparse. Rather, the land looks arid and is peppered with sagebrush or tumbleweed - I don't know which. Jim calls it high range country or like foothills. It's uniquely beautiful and I'm afraid I lack the creativity to adequately describe it. Jim has the sense you could buy Wyoming rangeland at a reasonable price ;-). I'm still looking for bison although I did see 2 pronghorn antelope - at least I think that's what they were - in Wyoming; and we saw the same critter in the Badlands yesterday.

At dinner tonight (Bozeman Trail Steakhouse), there were 4 people beside us speaking french !?. I inquired as to their home and they're here from Lyon, France - on a motorcycle tour! On Monday, one couple was rear-ended in Spearfish (town very near Sturgis). He's on crutches, has a black eye and his right arm is in a cast; she has her left leg in an immobilizer but is walking without an aid. They didn't speak sufficient english that we could get the full story. Jim did an admirable job of communicating with them (he told them about his daughter, Anna, studying at Mont Pellier) and I managed to convey the fact - with their help - that Jim and I left our respective spouses at home while we are having this great adventure. Man, and we think our trip is less than perfect because of weather. There's that 'perspective' think again!

And that's all I'm going to talk about weather. We're good and tired of it. The only good thing about rain is that we're not constantly cleaning our helmet visors! After a rain, mine's so clean it's as though I have NO visor! By the way, the thing about bugs and visors: if you don't clean the bug splat immediately, you end up looking through carcasses as opposed to looking through smears ;-)

Tomorrow's plan - and need I tell you, it's dependent on WEATHER - is: we go north to Red Lodge, Montana, and run back down Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone Park (which seems unlikely since the weather there at 2100h today was "30 degrees and snow showers") OR we go directly west into Yellowstone Park. (sigh) dependent on weather in the morning, of course.

Friday (or tomorrow), we head north through Montana for Calgary.

We're both enjoying enjoying your comments!!

ps- regarding a CFR prize, the gender card is off the table. I'm now hoping there's a prize for the "Rider Who Has Travelled the Greatest Distance in Crappy Weather"! You can't say I'm not a typical Maritimer - weather is always a hot topic with us ;-)

KSAO&E quiz (sorry there wasn't one last night):

1. who was the sculptor of Mount Rushmore and how many years did it take to complete?
2. whose faces are depicted at Mount Rushmore?
3. this August is the 69th Anniversary of what annual event in Sturgis, SD?