That's what it's all about...

Did you say, "The Hokey-Pokey"?

So did everyone else - no bonus points.

One of the big reasons we are here in the Black Hills: the great riding... 'cause that's what it's all about.  Generally, when I do these posts, I keep everything in chronological order.  Today, I am featuring my "Shot of the Day": a photo of Joan cruising through one of the hair-pin curves on Iron Mountain Road, with Mt Rushmore way in the background...

I kinda remembered that we could see a glimpse of Mt Rushmore in this vicinity.  I shot this from my scoot, knowing I'd only get one chance and one second too soon or too late would lose the shot.  Yeah, I can still do this photography stuff when I have too.  ;-)  OK, I didn't have to, but this is a cool shot.

OK, back to the chronological stuff: gearing up...

The breeze was starting to kick up - you can see it in the flags at Hart Ranch...

We found out later that the wind was gusting to 30.  Joan said her Xmax felt solid and planted, but still fun through the curves.  Yes, there are curves coming.

We stopped for a bit in Keystone so Joan could call back a place where we are trying to make a reservation for next winter.

If you aren't familiar, Keystone is the town that is closest to Mt Rushmore.  Rushmore is having fireworks on the 3rd for the first time in over a decade (due to concerns about forest fires).  Trump is coming for the celebration and fireworks at Mt Rushmore.  Yeah, there is plenty of controversy about this; but someone put a "pop up" store between two buildings - I'm guessing they will have plenty of sales...

As we got close to the intersection where one way takes you to Iron Mountain Road (our choice today) and the other takes you to Mt Rushmore.  You can see they are getting barricades positioned so they can put them out for Friday...

Mt Rushmore will be closed on Friday - the only way you will be admitted is if you have a ticket for this celebration...

No, we do not have tickets.  My political influence is limited to being friends with one of the Directors on the Board for our Village.  ;-)  The expectations are for long traffic waits getting to and leaving Mt Rushmore on Friday.  We have seen military helicopters flying over the Black Hills in formation - my guess is they are practicing for moving the President from Ellsworth Air Force Base to the helipad near Rushmore.  They are flying right over Hart Ranch.  You can be sure that Trump won't be waiting in any bumper to bumper traffic.

On to Iron Mountain Road.  This is the approach to one of the pig-tail bridges that do more than a 360º turn...

Coming off that bridge, we got behind something we haven't seen on this road before: a pickup pulling a travel trailer...

While it will barely fit through this tunnel, there is no way they can stay in their own lane on some of the extremely tight curves.  We followed this to the first split.  "The splits" are two sections of this road where the lanes separate and there are some great curves on one way lanes.  We stopped at the start of the split to let the travel trailer get far enough ahead of us that we could rip through this split...

And then behind it again at the next tunnel...

There is no safe place to pass on this part of Iron Mountain Road, but the guy pulling the trailer did get to the side of the road where we could see to get around him.  Nice on his part.  Back to enjoying the ride...

No, that image above is not the same as my opening shot; it's another hair-pin curve, though.  10mph speed limit - I was glad to be in front of that travel trailer because this is one of those curves where it is impossible for that rig to stay contained in their lane.  The opening shot was taken after this one.  Another tunnel...

Another split...

No, I did not ride behind Joan all day.  Most of the time, I ride in front, but it is easier for me to get photos when riding behind.  Plus, it is fun for me to watch her - Joan is a great rider, very fluid in how she handles the bike.  I enjoy watching her pick a line and then effortlessly guide the bike through it.  I tend to ride a bit more aggressively: come into the curve fast, brake while picking a line, accelerate out of the curve.  Her style isn't any slower than mine... and since her bike has more horsepower than mine, I have to really get on it as she accelerates out of the curve.  I can tell that she has become very comfortable with her Xmax.

Leaving the Black Hills National Forest and coming into Custer State Park...

Yes, we wave...

We came up on this "buffalo jam"...

That is a traffic slow down (in this case, it was a complete stop), so gawkers can look at some buffalo that were near the road.

Custer State Park is home to a large buffalo population.  They are big, and they go where they want.  It is a treat to see them, but this stop put us behind that smelly bus when they finally started moving.

We are able to talk with our helmet communicators.  Joan suggested we get take-out from Black Hills Burger and Bun Co in Custer.  Best burgers we have had anywhere, so she didn't have to convince me.  Not knowing what their in-restaurant dining situation might be, Joan ordered take out on line, with a pick up scheduled 30 minutes later...

We knew it would take that amount of time to get through the rest of the park and into the town of Custer.

We found a parking spot not far from the restaurant.  Joan went to find a picnic table across the street in front of the Custer County Courthouse, while I went to pick up our food - right on schedule.  Good thing we chose to not eat in there: the place was packed.  If there was any distancing, I didn't see it.  They do, however, have tall partial walls around their booths (part of their decor), but nothing between tables.  A bit too close for my preference.

It was a picnic of sorts... well, we were at a picnic table, we had food, but the wind was blowing and gusting to where you had to hold everything down to keep it from blowing away.  I have arrived with our food...

After lunch, we stopped for fuel (Custer has a station that sells non-ethanol fuel), then had to decide what route to take back... yeah, we decided to do the curves again.  Driving through Custer, I took this photo of one of their "art buffaloes"...

Kinda like we have our "art dolphins" at home, these buffalo are located all around town.

Back through Custer State Park...

We didn't see any turtles at this turtle crossing.

The license plates here say "Great Faces (Mt Rushmore), Great Places."  In this part of the Black Hills, they should also add "Great Roads"...

We made a stop about mid-way for a re-hydrating break...

It started off cool this morning - the local morning weather weasels said it got down to 48º overnight... I don't think so, but it was 60º in the coach when I got up.  In the 70s when we left this morning, but back to the mid to upper 80s by the time we were headed back.  A stop in the shade is a nice break.

Another fun ride today.  It is supposed to be warm and windy again tomorrow... and Friday will probably be a good day to stay off the roads.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.