Sturgis and Beartooth - trip report PartI

So the first part of the trip is done but the second part is changed. Just too much interstate travelling to squeeze in Utah - but also there is so much to see in Wyoming that I haven't seen.

I decided not to go directly to the Buffalo Chip and spent the first two nights at Angostura Reservoir State Park near Hot Springs. Beautiful area and I thought I would have less traffic heading north to ride the Needles Hwy and Iron Mountain. Also because it was closer from Hot Springs than Sturgis I was able to make an early morning start and get a couple of good runs in before the traffic jams. Needles is more scenic but Iron Mountain is more fun to ride, especially on the FZ6R without being loaded down with my camping gear. Also since my Pilot Road 4s didn't come in in time for my trip (rear still on back order) we threw sport tires rather than sport touring on - so the twisties have been all kinds of fun. The interstates not so much.

Part 1 is going to be shortened because I am in Red Lodge Montana at a KOA and the store is just about opened _ time for coffee. Beartooth is great but Chief Joseph Scenic Byway is better - will elaborate and pix later. Time for coffee and off to the Grand Tetons today. I haven't had enough internet access or time for postings but next couple days are in cabins not tenting it

Chief Joseph Scenic Byway i

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hmphhh - you just HAD to say that....GPS screw up ( me ) and I by passed it.
How is weather? Looks pretty fine on national radar.

http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

You can burrow in to any region. We used on the 3 weeks in June very successfully.

Enjoy - I guess you did Beartooth East to West??

I gave up on posting from the road, although I often had access to free wi-fi, it was intermittent and extremely slow – and after hours on the road, my patience was not up to sitting hours in front of my netbook once I got settled in.
But back to South Dakota – since my first stop was in Hot Springs rather than Sturgis, and there were already highway signs warning of heavy volume and backups in only 200 miles, I booted off I-90 shortly after Sioux Falls and dropped down to take Hwy 18. It turned out to be a good decision for a variety of reasons. Aside from the light traffic, the speed limit is still 65mph – with just a few small towns where it would drop to 45 and briefly to 30. And instead of sucking in diesel fumes from the trucks and being blown around by the cross-winds, I had a beautiful relaxing ride. Fields of sunflowers, hills and valleys – and of course some grassland. I do have some pictures which I still need to figure out how to post. The only downside was trying to find premium gas on the reservation lands.
I was staying at the Angostura State Park and Highway 18 drops a little south of that, then hooks up with Hwy 79. The Angostura Reservoir is beautiful – but the bugs were horrific! But as noted earlier, it was a nice base for exploring the Custer State Forest and Mount Rushmore area, as I made an early day for the fun bits and then looped back around and just enjoyed the scenery instead of the yellow lines  After riding the Iron Mountain Hwy, I came back down and rode the Needles Highway through Custer, then took a gander at Mount Rushmore. I did not take any pictures of Mount Rushmore because really who doesn’t know what it looks like?? By the time I was heading back to Hot Springs bike traffic was pretty well crawling– which was okay as noted, this was the time to just relax and really take in the scenery. On the second go-round through Custer I also took in the Wild Life Loop – all the animals were pretty blasé and stayed far off the road this day – except for the one donkey who decided to direct traffic – pictures will follow 
The only wild life I had problems with was the wasp that stung my wrist on my first day in Hot Springs! I ended up getting an infection from the stinger and spent a ½ day at a walk-in clinic in Hot Springs and then getting my prescription filled.
Thursday was my actual ride into Sturgis – or rather to the Buffalo Chip. I looped around north west, through Belle Fourche with a side trip to the Devil’s Monument, then came in the back way to the Buffalo Chip. As it turned out, only one of the people I was hoping to meet up with showed up and that was for Thursday only. Staying at the Chip not as good as I had hoped or as bad as I had feared it might be. Thursday was Styx and The Guess Who – or what’s left of them. There are so few original members, it’s close to being a tribute band by now – but of the two nights of concerts, they were the band that really brought the house down.
Figuring that there would be so much noise and partying going on, I stayed at the concerts to the end, but when I got back to my site, everyone around me were sleeping like babies. So Friday morning, having gotten in a solid 7 zzz’s, I took the opportunity to ride to the Badlands National Park. I was pretty bored with the Chip by then – and it wasn’t bad getting through Sturgis that day. I just hit “detour” on my Garmin and it took my down the side streets, instead of duck walking my bike through town.
The Badlands were worth the trip and again, I do have pix.
FZ1 vs FZ6R? After Sturgis, I ditched my tent and camp chair – the FZ6R was just too unbalanced with that much weight on the back with a not very big person on the front. Other than that, I am quite satisfied with it as a touring bike. I did ask a lot of my little bike for this trip.
I would definitely go back to South Dakota, but not during bike week. Next on to Wyoming – which I absolutely loved!

MacDoc said:

hmphhh - you just HAD to say that....GPS screw up ( me ) and I by passed it.
How is weather? Looks pretty fine on national radar.

http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

You can burrow in to any region. We used on the 3 weeks in June very successfully.

Enjoy - I guess you did Beartooth East to West??

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Well like many things in life, it's subjective I did enjoy the Beartooth, but the Chief Joseph just blew me away. I started off in Red Lodge, then rode to Cooke Town, then back to the cut off for the Chief Joseph, then back to Red Lodge.

Maybe if I hadn't already ridden Trail Ridge Road, the Million Dollar Highway, Independence Pass and Mount Evans I would have been more taken with the Beartooth - it is beautiful and actually one of the easier rides in terms of mountain passes that I have experienced so far - and I do realize that I have experienced a limited number. But its kind of like the Grand Canyon - I had such high expectations for the Grand Canyon, but after going through Arches and the Bryce Canyon in Utah - the Grand Canyon fell a little flat for me - like I say, subjective - just cuz I like it better doesn't mean it is better - lol.

Everyone I've talked to that has ever gone to Sturgis says you have to do it at least once. Looking forward to some pics.

DJM said:

Everyone I've talked to that has ever gone to Sturgis says you have to do it at least once. Looking forward to some pics.

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Took me a while to resize the pictures from South Dakota, but here are some from my campground at Angostura Reservoir (by Hot Springs), Bad Land National Park, Custer - including the Needles Hwy and the Wildlife Loop and the Buffalo Chip.