Cabins & Highways

Deb and Sam did a great job of arranging everything for our trip. All I had to do was show up and be ready to ride! It's not easy organizing a dozen people for a four-day outing across state lines, but everything went smoothly with only a few minor hickups. We staged out of two cabins at a campground in Custer, SD. Paul, the owner, was super-friendly and didn't mind having 9 rumbling bikes on his property. As you can see, the cabins and grounds were beautiful and more than adequate. They were equipped with linen and kitchen supplies, all we had to do was grocery shop. We actually got three grocery carts full of groceries into the bags of half a dozen bikes!

Before heading out each morning, we made breakfast at the cabins. On the second morning, Kelly made the best biscuits and gravy I think I've ever eaten! Needless to say, I was off-duty as a nutritionist for the weekend!! One evening we BBQed and the other we made spaghetti and garlic bread. We defintely didn't go hungry on this trip!

With temps in the 90s and 100s, we stopped pretty often on the journey home. This was my first large group ride for an extended time. Everyone in our group rides together back in the Springs, so we were all pretty comfortable with each others' riding styles and levels. I'm happy to report that over the course of 1300 miles, there were no dropped bikes, crashes, run-ins or speeding tickets! There were the occasional inattentive and rude motorists who would cut one of us off in our formation, but other than that, no real hazardous situations!

Now that I know my residency in Colorado has an end date, I'm trying to enjoy as much of the Western territory as I can before I make the move to southern California. There's lots of good riding up here and I'm trying to fit in as much as I can before relocating. I've reconciled myself with my poorly manicured and mostly dead lawn by deciding that I won't remember a perfectly landscaped lawn 10 years from now, but I will remember the rides and friends I spend time with on the road. There's nothing like the feel of the wind in your hair and the sight of friends on bikes in front of you and in your rearview mirror!

I'm not sure what adventures await me next, but I'll be sure to post anything exciting, and maybe even not so exciting, that happens over the next few weeks.