Back to Sturgis...

 

Nothing to do with the belt replacement on Joan's bike... we bought a couple T-shirts at One-Eyed-Jack's yesterday; trying them on once we were home, they were too small.  Being the gentleman I am, I offered to run up to Sturgis to exchange them for a bigger size.  Taking my bike, of course.

Joan chose to stay home and get laundry done.  I'm not commenting any further on that.  It was reasonably cool when I left, 72º here at the coach.  I took back roads as much as possible, but there is about 8 miles of Interstate you can't avoid... not that Interstate speeds are a problem with the CTX - the back roads are just more fun.

I rolled into town and went right to One-Eyed-Jacks.  It took a bit to find someone who "knew how to do an exchange"... I explained the process: "I will take this one out of the bag and replace it with the same shirt, only one size larger.  Then, I'll do the same with the other one."  Eventually, they were able to find the woman who could do the exchange, and it was apparent that English wasn't her first language.  She looked over each of the shirts I was returning to make sure I wasn't trying to pull a fast one.  

She looked me over and said, "You look large."

I said, "Thanks for noticing - that large fit me skin tight.  And nobody wants to see that."  I got a smile out of her.  Exchange done.  Time for more riding.

Heading south out of town on Vanocker Canyon Road.  I was on this last week, and they had just sprayed oil on the road.  Now, it has fresh blacktop.  I still couldn't tell if the surface had good traction, so I kept my speed reasonable...

You can see the difference in the road surface between the pull-out and the road.  No lines painted, yet, so it may be a good idea to pick other roads for the next week or so.  Fortunately, there are plenty of good riding roads here.

I took Vanocker Canyon Road to Nemo Road, then onto Norris Peak Road, and back towards Rapid City on Rimrock Highway.  I like all those names.

The riding was good.  The weather was good.  But, the weasels were predicting thunderstorms from 2:00 on this afternoon.  Back at our site, I rode past the cargo trailer and onto our patio - the chain is due for some lube.  Joan was due for lunch.  I whipped through the chain chore and we went off for a late lunch at Taco John's (Joan's choice).  A fine lunch, topped off with Mexican donuts (kind of like a beignet, but with a gooey frosting instead of powdered sugar).

Before we got back to Hart Ranch, the sky took on a threatening look to the west.  The weasels were reporting Flash Flood Warnings for the western part of this county.  Thunderstorms are about to happen here.  If this sounds like "more of the same," it is typical on warm summer afternoons for storms to kick up over the Black Hills.  Hopefully, it will all stay liquid.  Looking at radar, it will be close.