Things have been far less eventful since the mishap on Day. 1, which suits me just fine. My BMW-riding neighbor, Dean, and I rode Friday’s easy route, “What’s Up Wyoming.” The ride description listed no hazards or challenging areas. It was a long ride, 171 miles, that looped out through some endless easy dirt roads in eastern Wyoming. This means that my bike has now been to Wyoming, but Smokey II has not! I got no pictures, because we were busy riding, not stopping for every photo opportunity the way I sometimes do when I’m alone. The route was just as advertised, long but lots of fun with no challenges, just the way I like it.
Well, no challenges in the riding, at least. I continue to have problems with Rever. I completely lost the route halfway through the ride again, despite having saved it as an offline route. Fortunately, Dean still had it, so I just followed him the rest of the way. Part of the problem seems to be that when my Apple CarPlay unit turns off with the bike’s ignition, it can’t seem to get the info back when it reconnects to Rever. I wired it that way after a parasitic draw killed my battery during two weeks in the trailer across the southern US, but it seems to work better if it’s powered on regardless of the ignition during a ride. It’s easy enough for me to unplug it when I put it in the trailer, and/or plug my battery tended into my BougeRV power station as Dean suggested. When we got back, I rewired the CarPlay unit to run directly off the battery again.
I ended up in line for dinner with Ian of Big Rock Moto. I wasn’t familiar with his channel before, but I am now. I also met Inna Thorn, executive director of the Backcountry Discovery Routes, right ahead of me in line. I told her I’m the one writing up all the new route announcements for ADVRider. Part of my reason for coming here was to make connections, and I seem to be making them left and right. The next BDR route announcement is the Black Hills BDR-X, being streamed live tonight from right here at Get On! ADV Fest. I already told ADVRider that I’d write this one up, which I might as well since I’m actually here to report the news. There’s nothing wrong with making a little money during my vacation.
Day 3
Saturday’s easy route stated clearly in the description that it has gravel roads, double-track, and a challenging downhill section like a “moderate” ride has. This intimidated me, because I only barely got through part of Friday’s “easy” route with double-track, and watched a guy take a bad tumble. After much deliberation, I decided instead to ride one of the all-paved routes instead to Iron Mountain Road. I rode this before during Sturgis 2019, but it’s also been on my list of roads to revisit this time around. Dean decided to join me.
The ride south was fast and not too exciting, but US 385 is pretty much the way to get there. I recognized Pactola Lake from my previous visit, and since I was in the lead, I pulled in so Dean could take it all in. I needed a water break anyway, and took some pictures. Rever crashed mid-ride, as usual, but between my Apple CarPlay unit never losing power and also having cell service, I was able to get the route back this time.
It wasn’t all 385, though, as we diverted onto some side roads that were narrow, twisty, and crossed back and forth over railroad tracks so often I lost track. Our timing was perfect, because in between crossings we actually passed a tourist steam engine going the other way!
Soon we entered Iron Mountain Road itself. This is not a speed run like the Tail of the Dragon, though it’s even more narrow and technical. According to the website, Iron Mountain Road contains:
- 17 miles
- 314 curves
- 14 swtchbacks
- 3 pigtails (the road loops back over itself in a more than 360º turn)
- 3 tunnels (blasted out of the rock)
- 4 Presidents (you can see Mount Rushmore from a few places)
- 2 splits
Dean had never been here, so it was a new experience for him. I pulled over after one of the tunnels where a cutout through the trees gives a perfect view of Mount Rushmore. As for me, I had much more fun on my V-Strom than the Indian Springfield Dark Horse I rode here last time. That was the perfect bike for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, but mine goes around corners much better.
The surprises continued with even more fun twisty roads on the way back to Sturgis. The route took us straight through Rapid City, the biggest city this side of South Dakota. But it took us over the top of a mountain with spectacular views and all the TV antenna towers. We wound our way north avoiding I-90, dropped into the town of Nemo, and picked up Vanocker Canyon Road, which is one of my favorites near Sturgis itself. We returned to the Buffalo Chip around 1:00 pm, early enough for me to get the catered lunch, and for Lister to not be mad at me for leaving him inside the van for too long again.
One of the points they try to make about Get On! ADV Fest is that you can attend even if you don’t have an adventure bike or ride dirt. These paved routes prove it. It was well worth doing. I was going to ride Iron Mountain Road regardless, but I never would’ve known about all those other fun twisty roads without the official route’s help. Where the Saturday “easy” ride seemed a bit too intimidating for my limited dirt skills, the paved route was a good choice.
The event ends tomorrow, so I have to figure out where I’m going next. While I’d like to go camp out in the Black Hills National Forest for a few days and visit places like Needles Highway and the Crazy Horse Memorial that I haven’t seen yet, temperatures in the 90s the next few days mean that I shouldn’t leave Lister alone in the van, so I might have to slowly press on to the west.
During today’s ride, I was thinking about how I’d like to spend more time in this area, exploring all the roads, paved and otherwise, that I didn’t get to see this time around. Maybe next year I can plan to come back during a more temperate time of year and spend a few weeks doing that. While I have time right now to spend up to a week here before heading west to Montana for the Rocky Mtn Roll, temperatures in the 90s aren’t going to let me enjoy it the way I want to.
Will I return to Get On! ADV Fest? Maybe. I have no regrets about coming to this one. I had a good time, got some great riding in, and got a good discount on the saddlebags I’d intended to buy anyway. But I’m not nearly as serious a dirt rider as most of these people. While my bike can now handle the “easy” routes, I’m not sure I can, or want to risk trying. Smooth gravel is adventurous enough for me. I don’t feel a need to test my skills or push my limits. But one thing I’ve learned from this visit is that I need to come back and spend more time exploring this area. I just don’t know enough about the place right now to head directly from here to a cooler, higher elevation with free camping where I can get online to work.
Smokey Da Van 