Mosquitos? No. Lens Splatters - what's the last thing to go through a bug's mind when it hits your windshield? Answer: His ass. (rimshot) It applies to camera lenses, too.
Out on the bike, solo again. I decided I would do a northern Hills ride today. Out Nemo Road, all the way to where it meets up with Highway 385 (what I call "the backbone" of the Black Hills). A right on Hwy 385, then a left to drive through the town of Lead (the home of the Homestake Gold Mine - no longer being mined, but it was the biggest gold mine in the Americas). From Lead, up by Terry Peak (the highest skiing east of the Rockies), then back down; a right on Highway 14A that takes you through Spearfish Canyon.
The only video I was planning to shoot was in Spearfish Canyon. As I rode through the canyon, I had it in my head that I would call this post "A Hat Trick"... as in the scoring of three goals by one player in a hockey game. Today would be the third outing in a row where I didn't have a single car in front of me, all 22 miles of Spearfish Canyon!
We used to live in Spearfish, and I often rode the canyon - never in all those years did I not get slowed down (double negative) by traffic. I was almost giddy about the prospect of another "all in one take" video.
At the Spearfish end of the canyon, the temperature warmed up quite a bit, and I stopped at the DQ to treat myself to an ice cream cone. When I was putting my camera away to go inside, I saw what looked like a bug splat on the front lens of the camera... yes, the lens that gives you the view from the rider's perspective. That can't be good.
I did stop for a picnic lunch that Joan had packed me - stopped at that same picnic area on Nemo Road. I had it all to myself.
From Spearfish south, I took the Interstate. I had a tentative plan to get off at Exit 17, ride that road to Deadwood, then take Boulder Canyon to Sturgis, then the Interstate back to Rapid City. Mother Nature had other plans - coming over that first hill at Spearfish, the sky looked black towards Deadwood. Scrap that. Over the next hill at Whitewood, it look like a wall of rainshafts across my path south. I pulled in at Sturgis so I could pull up weather on my phone and check radar... a large cell to the west of the Interstate, and an even larger cell east of the Interstate... there was one area between them that looked like it might be good for my timing, even though it didn't look that way looking at the sky.
Back on the road... some rain drops and wet road, but I didn't get soaked; just the way it looked on radar. A quick stop for gas (75mpg again - not bad for a tank that had a good share of highway miles), then headed for Hart Ranch. A large cell to the west and one to the north as I got close.
And then: road construction - a flagman was stopping traffic on Spring Creek Road, the road to Hart Ranch. They are doing a chip seal on the road... most of it hasn't been oiled. Yet. The lane I was in had been oiled and a lot of loose gravel. This road is going to be ugly for a while, and it is the only way to get to Hart Ranch.
I got back just in time to wipe down the bike and get it in the cargo trailer before the sprinkles started. It looked nasty, but the weather for this round moved on by us.
The video I shot looked decent to start and then... yep, a big gooey splat on the lens that spoiled it. The only usable part after the splat is looking back at me. So...
And, a few still images...
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