The Rally is officially on...

 

After getting some errands done in Rapid City (getting the helmet sent back), we geared up for a ride.  We considered going first thing this morning, but just as we were changing into our riding gear, it started to rain.  We changed the timing on the errands.

Warm and sunny when we took off on the scoots.  With today being the first official day of the Rally, we chose to go south and avoid the crowds.  Our usual back-roads routing, and the riding was good...

 We talked about going down Iron Mountain Road, past Mt Rushmore, then deciding between Needles Highway or the Old Hill City Road.  As we turned onto Iron Mountain Road, we heard the first rumble of thunder... well, maybe we'll change that plan.

The traffic was light until a few miles in on Iron Mountain Road.  We got behind a slow moving group of bikes, but that is to be expected at this time... the riding was still good.  When we got to the end of Iron Mountain Road, a light sprinkle had started.  We decided to head towards Rushmore and see what the weather is doing.  Rain - that's what it was doing.  We turned around just past Mt Rushmore, rode through Keystone, then took Highway 40 to get us back to the fun curvy roads.  The rain continued to get heavier.  By the time we were at the intersection of South Rockerville Road and Neck Yoke Road, it was a solid rain.  There was some discussion about stopping to put on rain gear... but, we were already wet; we rode on.

Back on Spring Creek Road (that takes us back to Hart Ranch), the road was wet enough that you couldn't see the "tar snakes"... and they are even more slippery when wet.  Back to Hart Ranch and our motorhome.  By the time we changed out of our wet clothes, the rain had let up.  Both bikes were grubby, so we took a few minutes to clean them up before putting them away.  As you might expect, the Vespa was the grubbier of the two, without that front fender.

Joan had put a pork roast in the crockpot before we left, and it was smelling good in the motorhome.  Joan spent some time on the patio (with the awning out to keep her dry from the on and off sprinkles; I stayed inside and started downloading and editing the video I shot today...

Memories...

 

Some surfing this evening.  I have to say that I kinda like the Facebook Memories.  On this day over the past 8 years...

Some scooter riding - no big surprise there.  A day trip to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis and touring the monuments in Washington D.C. after dark.  Various whale watch trips - one to Boundary Pass, another evening trip with a charter for a family from Chicago where we went to the Strait of Georgia in Canada to see all of J-Pod and some transient Orcas.  A couple memories with our sweet little Izzy.  Taking a family out on the water for an ashes scattering ceremony... a photo with flower petals on the water brought back the emotions.  Mail delayed because of the Washington State Ferry breakdown (a slice of island life).  First meeting my friend Steve Roberts, and finding out all we have in common; enjoying an adult beverage in Wild Blue's cockpit.  A discussion of "Fogust": the frequent foggy conditions in August in the San Juan Islands.

A wide range of emotions.  Yes, there are photos to go with all those memories; each one sparks deeper memories.  It makes me appreciate the life Joan and I have built... some of those moments are personal, some we've shared with others.  This blog has been a journal of sorts - from time to time I do look back on some things, but Facebook consolidates it into a collection of "on this day" looks back.  I've come to appreciate that.

No good deed goes unpunished...

 

Not me.  The new helmet came in this afternoon - it is gorgeous!  Light weight.  Nice feeling interior/lining.  Everything seems to be 1st class on it.  Except... it is too tight.  The strap cuts into my Adam's apple, and I don't have a big Adam's apple.  The sales guy said to "wear it for 30 minutes, take it off for 10, and wear it again for 30 - that should give you an idea if there are any tight spots."  After 15 minutes, I had a headache; took the helmet off and my forehead looks like a Klingon.

 

This was my first try at ordering a helmet online, and I don't think I'll go for a second time.  Yeah, it's going to go back.

Other parts of the day were much better: we went to Black Hills Burger and Bun Co (in Custer) for lunch; our first time this year.  Still the best darn burger ever.  Cheese curds that almost melt in your mouth.

From there, we went to Hill City; Joan wanted to go into The Handbag Shop.  She got a nice leather purse-lette (I don't know what you call a really small purse) to use when on her scoot.  She now wants something just a bit bigger.  This place has a great selection of nice stuff (so I am told).  While she was in there shopping, I sat outside and watched the people and bikes go by...

Hill City is a popular stop for folks coming for the Sturgis Rally.  Last year they blocked off Main Street for "Motorcycle Only" parking, and I assume they'll do that again.  As it was, lots of bikes parked on both sides of the street. 

And, the really sweet part of the day: Joan asked if we could stop at the new candy shop on Highway 16.  "Absolutely - it is close to our turn off for Hart Ranch."  A very nice building, it originally housed "The Founding Fathers," I assume a museum of sorts for our Presidents and... Founding Fathers (duh).  We rarely saw any cars in front of it, and this year, it is the home of Rushmore Candy Company... yep, a large candy shop.

Impressively large for a candy shop.  Sugar-hyped kids all over, and some worn out looking parents.  We had fun looking around...

A wall of popcorn flavors (above), and nostalgia from our youth (home of Twin Bing)...

Krispy Kreme flavored Jelly Bellys...

Bins and bins of taffy...

The decor above...

 

 

And what kid wouldn't want a bag of Bull Crap, Buffalo Chips, or Coyote Poop?

We did not leave empty-handed.  Joan got some caramel popcorn and a couple fancy chocolate-covered caramels; I brought home a chocolate-covered Twinkie... haven't tried 'em, yet.

The helmet was delivered after we got back to the motorhome.  A disappointment, but not a big problem - my current helmet still fits and functions fine.  I will continue looking for a modular (flip-up)... in person.  Not going to make it "a project."

Getting close...

 

Joan wanted to do some running in Rapid City today, so I took the opportunity to take the Vespa to Sturgis.  My plan: stop at Corbin's (the seat maker extrordinaire) to ask about something I might like to modify on my Vespa seat.  Joan said, "Since you're going to be there, stop and get some steak tips for lunch."  That sounds like a very good plan, too.

I took off, rode through Rapid City...

 ... then mostly direct to Sturgis, including some Interstate time.  Plenty of bikes and motorhomes and pickups hauling cargo trailers as I got closer to Sturgis.  Off the Interstate and into town, including a ride down Main Street.

It is a hustle of activity: some vendors are set up, others are hard at work getting ready for the crowds.  It is a combination of cars, pickups, and motorcycles on Main Street.  It makes it look like there are more bikes with the street and parking open to 4 wheel vehicles.  In another couple days, Main Street will be blocked off for Motorcycle Only parking.  Then, it will be a row of parked bikes on either side of the street, and two rows down the middle of the street.

I rode through a few blocks of Main Street (yes, I shot some video), turned on a side street, down to Lazelle, and on to the Corbin display.  I rode the Vespa into that area, waved hi to Mike Corbin (the guy who started this Corbin enterprise), then visited with Juan about what I had in mind.  He came out to the scoot, looked it over, and said, "Yeah, we can do that."  Something for me to consider once we are back home and I can put the original seat back on.

 

Back on the scoot and Main Street, where I found a place to park across the street from the Loud American Roadhouse.  The sky had looked a bit ominous as I got closer to town, but it stayed dry.  I got a table outside, avoiding the crowd inside.  A waitress took my order, brought me a soda, and I sat back to watch the crowd ride and walk by.  Right after a young lady brought out my food, the sprinkles started.  A minute later, the drops got huge and the sky looked ugly.  I was concerned it might hail, but instead, Mother Nature opened a deluge of rain.  People came running to get under the cover of the outside seating area at the Roadhouse.  I had left my camera in the bike after stopping at Corbin's, so no photos of the pounding rain and people running.

The steak tips were good; I took my time with the meal, hoping the rain would pass... one in a row, it did.  By the time I paid for lunch, the streets were drying.  I waited a bit longer, then headed back to the Vespa.  I pulled a micro-fiber cloth out and wiped down the scoot.  When I got the camera back on the bike and myself geared up, the middle of Main Street was dry; hard to imagine it had been pounding rain just 20 minutes ago.

If you look just beyond the trike (behind the woman doing an on-camera), you can see my mighty Vespa.  Well, the back end of it.

I had considered taking Vanocker Canyon and Nemo Road back to Rapid City, but the sky looked ugly that direction... back via the Interstate.

Joan was already back by the time I got there.  It never rained in the Rapid City area.  We sat out on the patio and compared notes about our outings.  Yes, Rufus was out there, too.

I did shoot some video; here's a ride through town as it gears up for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally...

I am wore out...

 

No, not from the "dog-cat incident."  I will have some new scars, but the punctures and gouges are healing.  I have spent a lot of my free time searching out my next helmet.  "But, Jim, you are retired - isn't all of your time free time?"  Yeah, pretty much.  But, I have spent a lot of time looking at all the helmet review videos on YouTube.

I made a choice today: the HJC RPHA 90S Carbon Balian.  Quite the title.  In the end, it ticked the most boxes on what I was looking for in a helmet.  In the olden days, you went to a dealer, put on a helmet, and if it didn't poke into your scalp, you said, "This'll do."

Helmets have gotten more sophisticated these days, with some having plush interiors, installed communication systems, snazzy graphics (not important to me), and other interesting features.  This helmet looks to solve my quest for: light weight (it's carbon fiber), comfort, and quiet.  I say "looks" because I had to order it.  No dealer around here has any of the helmets I was considering in stock.  First time I've bought a helmet without trying it on first.  Of course, I used to say that about guitars, too... and look at the cool carbon fiber guitars I'm playing now... every one of them ordered without being able to play it first.

So, now I wait.  Glad to be beyond the information overload.

I would have preferred white, but that would take a coat of paint and add weight... not to mention covering up the carbon fiber weave.  No, they don't make it in white.  You get black, or this blue/gray.

Yes, I can return it if it doesn't fit.

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It never ends.  I was out for a bit, and when I came back, Joan said, "I got the e-mail for your helmet order... I don't think this is the right one, though."  I looked at the e-mail... yep, they ordered the wrong helmet... close, but not what I specifically requested.

I called.  Revzilla is a big operation, so you don't get back to the person with whom you placed the order.  The guy I ordered it from was great - very friendly and informative.  This guy was indifferent.  I asked to speak to a supervisor... she came on, knew my name and info, and asked, "You want to modify the order you placed today?"

"Absolutely not - I want you to send me what I ordered.  Not my screw-up.  Yours."

To make a long story shorter and less painful, she is trying to cancel the order and get another order placed.  Apparently, that isn't as easy as having someone get the wrong helmet out of the shipping box and putting the right helmet in.  I could hear her clicking away on her keyboard.  When their order info says "in stock," that doesn't mean they actually have it in their facility... it is being drop shipped from the distributor, and that is where the problem lies: they already sent the wrong item number to the distributor.  In all likelihood, the first helmet is going to ship.  She assures me they will try to get a "Return to Sender" with the shipper so I don't get two helmets.  Assuming they are going to send out the second (i.e. the correct) helmet.

So, as of right now, two helmets may show up.  Or, no helmets may show up.  Not the end of the world.  I can always buy it somewhere else, and/or I can get one of them sent back.  No cost to me, just the run-around time.  Yes, this would have been much easier if I could have gone into an actual building, tried on the helmet, and given them my money.  What?  Yes, a "first world problem."

Remember the good ol' days?  Back when you ordered something and a real person took it to their "shipping department" (which was a counter in back where they could get it boxed up) and it was sent to you.  Or, the really good ol' days, when you went into a motorcycle dealer and actually tried on a helmet.  It fit or it didn't.  If it didn't, you tried on another.  That was a pretty good system.  ;-)

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Speaking of "the good ol' days"... remember way back on Monday?  Yeah, yesterday.  When I ran into town today, gas all along my route went up 20¢ per gallon overnight.  Because the Rally is about to "officially" start.  On Friday.  That's 3 more opportunities to raise gas prices before the official start.

'Tis the season...

 

If you said, "To be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la," you are WAY too early.

I pretty much took the day off yesterday to keep my wounds clean and regularly covered with Neosporin.  Joan wasn't feeling like a ride today, but I was getting a bit stir crazy.  We are back into the low 90s for highs for the near term, so she sent me off with ice water and some apple slices (really helps keep one refreshed and hydrated).

No destination, just feeling the need to ride.  The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally officially starts this Friday - it is very apparent that a lot of people are here to get in some riding before the big crowds roll in: LOTS of bikes on "the popular roads."  For the first 40 minutes or so of my ride, I had the roads pretty much to myself.  As somewhat usual, I was heading towards Iron Mountain Road.  We are definitely in "the season"... the Sturgis Rally season.  Out of habit, I waved at the first dozen or so motorcycles I passed... not one single return wave.  I had to restrain myself to keep from waving.  Before this week, almost everyone waved back; Harley riders, BMW riders, crotch rocket pilots... about the only ones who didn't wave back were Goldwing riders... and that was about 50/50.  Also, it seems that riders and passengers aren't smiling.  That might be because they don't know where the uncrowded roads are.  ;-)

I stopped at my favorite shady spot on Iron Mountain Road and fired up my 360 camera.  And, the Instamic.  I thought I might do a narrated ride video on this great road.  Alas, it was not to be: the Instamic popped up with: "battery is very low - save any audio files now."  I definitely plugged it in last time I used it, and checked it at that time to make sure the battery was topped off.  Somewhere along the way, I must have bumped it and turned it on.  So, no audio track.  I took a few jpg photos...

I turned on the video and let it run while riding Iron Mountain Road.  A VERY long video, as I was caught behind a Jeep, who was caught behind two BMW riders, who were definitely caught behind a couple on a Can-Am Spyder (one of those three wheel bike(ish) things that looks like a snowmobile on wheels).  The couple on the Spyder were going real slooooooow.  That said, it was still a pleasant ride, just didn't make for much of a video, since the camera was always looking at the back of the Jeep when it was facing forward.  I'll download it and put it aside to see if I can do something with it another time.

 

The three bikes (well, two bikes and a trike) and the Jeep turned towards Mt Rushmore at the end of Iron Mountain Road - I had a clear view in front of me the mile or so into Keystone.  Yes, Keystone was packed, with plenty of bikes in the parking spots.

Once on the other side of Keystone, I again had the roads to myself all the way back to Hart Ranch.  And these are fun roads... they just don't have the cool "features" like the pigtails (above), tunnels, and splits, that Iron Mountain Road offers.  Even with slow traffic, I enjoy Iron Mountain Road.  Oh, and there was already a photographer set up along the side of the road, taking "Rally Photos"... gotta make a buck where they can.

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Here's a video, showing some of the ride today...

Blood letting...

 

I took Rufus for an evening walk around 8:00 last night.  As usual, there were a couple big dogs in the dog run behind our site.  Ruf, being Ruf, wanted to go that way.  Generally, I steer him away from the entrance to that fenced area, and we walk around the outside of it.  If the dogs inside seem friendly, I let him go up to the fence; if they aren't friendly, I steer him well away.  We didn't get to that decision.

A dog that looked to be about 50 pound threw himself against the gate, and it blew open.  Of course, the dog went right for Rufus, snarling.  Instinctively, I stepped between them.  I reached down to pick Rufus up, and the dog went around me, coming face to face with Rufus.  Rufus went into full attack mode: the claws came out like switchblades, and his mouth was all fangs.  The dog lunged, Rufus, now raised up on his back feet, ripped a claw across his nose.  That dog rolled back.  The other dog that was in the run came charging out.  Barking and hissing ensued.  When one owner got control of the second dog, Rufus saw his chance to exit this fight and took off running.

I let out his leash, but he was faster than me - when Rufus hit the end of the leash, he busted out of it, still at full run.  The first dog was now chasing after him.  Ruf went into the closest site (next to ours), and turned, in full fury fight mode.  I have never seen him like this.  I reached down to pick him up and he swung at me.  I reached again... and felt those claws sink into the skin on my neck.  Next thing I know, I am dripping blood.  Enough blood that I thought he might have sunk into my jugular.  I tried to pull him off, and felt my skin being pulled.  The guy with the first dog saw what was happening and said, "Are you alright?"

Dripping blood, I said, "I need some help here."  The guy left.

Between the shock of it, the pain, and the weight of Rufus on my neck/throat, I was bent over.  Holding his weight with my right arm, I used my left hand to pry his claws out of my neck.  I could see blood on the ground and all over my left hand.  A short distance to our coach, and I got him inside.  Joan was in the shower when I called out, "I need some help here!"

It was the first I could see what was happening to me, looking in the bathroom mirror: my neck had several long scratches and puncture wounds, but it wasn't blood pouring out of my throat - most of the blood seemed to be coming from my ear lobe which looked like a botched piercing.  Joan handed me a wet wash cloth, and I sat down on the toilet, my hands shaking.  Looking at the shaking, she said, "Are you going into shock?"

"I don't think so - adrenaline overload!"  I wrung blood out of the wash cloth.  Rufus came in, looking terrified.

Joan asked, "Is he OK?"

"I don't think he got bit, but he may have lost a fang!"  Rufus wasn't going to let anyone look that close right now.  Joan got out first aid supplies and started cleaning me up.  After putting alcohol and an antiseptic liquid on my neck and ear, she turned to my left hand... a gash on top and a bunch of smaller cuts... not sure what happened, but my fingers all felt bruised and hurt more than my neck.

When all of us settled down a bit, Joan asked, "Do we need to take you to the Emergency Room?"

"I don't think so."

"If anything looks bad in the morning, we are going."

"No argument from me."

She wrapped my neck in gauze and taped it.  Too tight, I couldn't breathe, too loose and it wouldn't stay in place.  So, that's fun.  She took off the gauze and I went to bed... after feeding Rufus, who was still pretty shook up.

Sunday morning analyzing: it wasn't Rufus's fault.  He didn't start the fight, and certainly wasn't looking for a fight.  When lunged at, he reacted with instinct.  Do not underestimate the fury of a 16 pound cat in defense of its life.  Joan made a new rule: no going anywhere near the dog run when there are dogs in it.  I made a new rule: when Rufus is highly agitated, don't try to pick him up.  My neck is roughed up and I'm not going to be playing guitar for a while, with my left hand bruised and cut.  Rufus seems fine, although he puffed up when looking out the door this morning and a guy with a Yorkie walked by on the road... I don't think we'll let him get up close and personal with any dogs for a while.

Not sure about going out in public with me for a while.  You know how people look at the guy when a couple is out in public and the woman has a black eye?  I don't want Joan to get eye-balled like that if people see the gouges on my neck.  ;-)