- spend time aimlessly; idle."he sends her to Arizona every January to lollygag in the sun"
- dawdle."we're lollygagging along"
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I got out early this morning. The forecast for the next 10 days is: Hot. Early is better if you want to ride. Joan wanted to get to the grocery store before it got crowded, so this worked for both of us. I decided today would be a "lollygagging" day... no destination, not riding fast or slow, just rolling along. My definition of "lollygagging" is a bit different from the above; I'm OK with riding slow... as long as it isn't "forced" because some flatlander is driving 18mph on a great curvy road where the speed limit is 35mph. And, if I am holding anyone up, I will pull over and get out their way.
After breakfast at Mickey D's, I rolled south on Hwy 16; stopped for fuel at the usual place (72 mpg) and continued on 16. When I got to the Y in the road (literally - it is called "the Y"), I had to decide if I wanted to go to Hill City or maybe ride by Rushmore. I decided to do the "passing by Rushmore thing" and stopped for a couple touristy photos...
Not kidding: a car stopped on the road (not in the pullout where I took these photos), a young guy got out, took a photo, then got back in his car and looked at it on his phone. In the right lane on a 4 lane road, on the way to a major tourist attraction. That is not lollygagging - that is stoopid.
I started up and rode around him. He was still parked in the right lane when I last saw him in my rear view mirror.
Nice thing about lollygagging - you can stop whenever you want. There is a decent National Park bathroom at the picnic area a couple miles past Rushmore. I continued on Hwy 44, just enjoying the curves - no traffic in front of or behind me. When I got to Hwy 385, another decision: go right into Hill City or go left towards Custer State Park... the park it is.
No traffic when I turned onto Hwy 87, until I got close to Sylvan Lake Lodge... behind two cars that turned into the park entrance road. Fortunately, they pulled in to get a park pass; I have a season pass, so I politely rode around them. Yes, this is Needles Highway. And surprisingly no traffic - when I got to the Needles Eye Tunnel, there wasn't a vehicle in front of me, but I had to wait while a pickup driving approximately 2 mph came through the tunnel.
That provided the time for a group of about a dozen riders on obnoxiously loud bikes (exhausts and stereos) to get behind me. I turned off at the first available pullout to let them pass. And as long as I'm here, another photo op...
Proof that I was there, not just the bike...
Most of the rest of the way into the park, was blissfully quiet and traffic-free. Until a couple miles before Hwy 36, where I was behind 3 bikes and two cars. At the turn onto Hwy 36, the cars went right, the bikes went straight ahead to a bathroom, and I went right. No traffic again on that delightful road through the park.
The number of bikes on the roads has picked up significantly. And the first sign of Rally-riders: a group that was stopped at the State Game Lodge, and one of the ladies was wearing white cheeky shorts under black leather chaps. It's a look; no, I won't be wearing that. You're welcome.
Then, the next decision: take Highway 36 out of the park or turn onto Iron Mountain Road... no traffic ahead of me, so Iron Mountain Road it is. Again, it may be the last time I'll see this until well after the Rally, there was no traffic ahead of or behind me. Lollygagging... at a smile-inducing pace.
With Siri's help, I sent Joan a text to let her know that I would be home in time to feed Rufus for lunch... easy, with no traffic ahead of me.
That ended abruptly, when I came around a corner and saw the backend of a slow moving Slingshot; ahead of him was a VW based trike and a motorcycle. I assumed they were all traveling together, since they were all doing... yes, 18 mph or this 35 mph stretch of road. All double yellow line along the way. I hoped they would pull off at the General Store... nope. Maybe into the Iron Mountain Road Store... nope. I continued at this 18 mph pace (they were consistent), with one more "escape opportunity" ahead: the turn off Iron Mountain Road to Playhouse Road. They went straight on IMR, I turned onto Playhouse, with no traffic ahead... losing that time on Iron Mountain Road meant I'd have to pick up the pace on Playhouse, South Rockerville, Neck Yoke, and Spring Creek roads in order to be on time for Rufus's internal lunch clock. Lollygagging at a faster pace. ;-)
I pulled up to our site at 11:50. Enough time to put the bike and my gear away before getting Rufus's lunch ready. When it's lunch time, the furry boy is not about lollygagging.
Some nice riding today.
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