Day 10 Buffalo, WY to SHeridan, WY

July 1st

Woke up this morning disappointed that the trip has been paused... Not sure how quick or long of a fix this is going to be. How quick can you get a chain for a bike in the middle of Wyoming?

Either way I was up and out the door of the hotel early to try to get to Valley Motor Honda in Sheridan, WY (only about a 40 mile drive) Driving when your chain is hitting your tire constantly is not a good feeling... You start thinking about how many more times can your chain rip up the side of the tire before the tire blows out...



View Buffalo, WY to Sheridan, WY in a larger map

Once I got to Valley Motor Honda I ended up meeting a man behind the Parts counter, who I would later come to know as Ken Weber. He was great from the start in trying to get me back on the road as quick as possible. The original goal basically was to just take some links out of the chain. In order to do that you need to get a properly sized Master Link to join both ends back together.  

After numerous phone calls and talking about other options like possibly just replacing the chain I left to go get a coffee… It was probably 90+ degrees out and I was wearing my gear and carrying my tank bag (which has all of my valuables). By the time I was done the 3 block walk I was already sweating.

Since I was stuck in town for some amount of time I decided I should probably get a haircut... Come to find out it's not the easiest thing to do on a Monday in Sheridan. I must have walked 8 blocks in one direction and every time all the salons or barber shops were either closed, booked, or the hairdresser wasn't in yet. So I turned around and walked another 7 blocks. By this time I am sweating pretty good.
I happened to run across a Salon I must have missed when I was looking because I walked in and asked if they had time for a haircut… Unfortunately they didn't but they did tell me to stop back by or call later… On top of this, the lovely lady saw how much I was sweating and forced me to take a water from her... I told her I could just walk to the convenience store but she was not having that as an answer.. SO Sweet of her!

Bank of Commerce- built in 1882 (now a lawyers office)

During my walk along Main Street and the surrounding area I took a lot of pictures of old architecture. Something about the past and how they built things back then and imagining what tools they had to build with at those times has always been interesting.

J.C. Penney? Yup doesn't look like the one at the Pheasant Lane Mall..

built in 1907

Old car dealership

I made my way back to check with Ken about my repair options and by this point it was still before noon. I got back and the closest place to get a chain was 300 miles away in Billings Montana & it wouldn't arrive until the next day. I ended up calling AF1 Racing ( a giant Aprilia dealership in Texas) with some questions and they suggested I change my sprockets (basically gears) too. So I ended up ordering my chain and sprockets from them because Ken couldn't get me the sprockets.... 1 day shipping = $80 

At this point I started to find a cheap hotel room and then Ken actually left work and gave me a ride to the hotel so that I didn't have to lug all of my gear (which feels like it weighs a ton when you walk a mile). 

Ken and I had talked a lot today about my trip and about his town. I ended up finding out a couple of things this town is known for... The Mint Bar, which has been featured in a few movies and King's Ropes & Saddles, which was and is world reknown for its quality of ropes and saddles. In fact there is a King's Rope Museum which houses tons of old artifacts from the earlier days.

So I freshened up at my hotel and then walked around the town to check things out. 

First stop.. King's Ropes Museum

Knife Sharpener

Gold Pan and minerals that contained gold

Old blasting supplies - dynamite, blasting handbook, blasting caps, and detonator

Miners lunchbox. Mining was a big industry in the west.
Gold, Copper, Silver, Coal and other important minerals have been
mined all around the U.S.

Old Catalog Book from a company that sold all sorts of supplies

Miners and their horses (remember there were no cars)

Sioux Indian Moccasins (shoes)

King's Ropes
In every color...

Next Stop... The Mint Bar

 This place was real interesting... I swear it hasn't been touched at all in many many decades....

Yes there were plenty of animals skulls, stuffed animals, and trapping
supplies on display

As well as Ranchers logos. Every Ranch has it's own sign that is
seared (burned) or tattoed onto all of their animals. I did notice on some cattle during
my drive the other day that some had tags around their ears... I wonder if this is the "new" way
off labeling a Ranch's cattle or herd???

Forced Stops.....

One thing I have noticed along this trip is just how much trains are really still used for shipping of materials across the U.S.  Every 15 minutes it seemed another train would stop traffic in Sheridan. Their was only one road that actually went under the tracks... and for the most part only locals knew of it so traffic could get really backed up.... 

Something amazing.....

It was getting to be around 7 PM and I had missed a phone call but I checked the message. It was Ken Weber just calling to check up on me and see if I wanted to come spend time with his family... OUT OF THIS WORLD!! That was awesome.. I was already out getting dinner so his wife and him came and met me and we just talked for a while. Then they drove me around sight seeing afterwards!! Can't ask for more out of human kind!!! Ken dropped me off at my hotel room and I made him wait so I could give him and his wife a gift. I had stopped at a winery in the wine region of New York (along Lake Erie) and I had picked up two bottles of wine to give as gifts.... Well there was no one else I would rather give one to... Thank You Weber family!!!

Off to bed and hope my parts arrive early in the day not later in the day!!

Thanks Valley Motor Honda (especially Ken Weber)

Thank you to all of you at the Hi-Lites Salon (even the guests that I talked to while I was there)

Day 9 Sundance WY, to Buffalo, WY

Day 9    6/30

About 220 Miles driven (experienced mechanical problems)



Since I almost ended up without a place to sleep last night I decided I would book a hotel first thing in the morning to avoid being stranded. I booked a place in Cody, WY, which is basically the last town before entering Yellowstone National Park's East entrance.

I packed up and got my bags back on the bike and was ready to head out when I realized my chain was real loose again. I decided to just keep an eye on it and ride on becasue it was not as loose at it was the last time.

Leaving Sundance, WY I rode on US-14 West and then turned off onto WY-24 (State Route 24) to head to the Devil's Tower. As I rode up a small mountain and crested the top of it I could see the Devil's Tower off in the distance.

Devil's Tower off in the distance (right)

Entering Devil's Tower National Park (cost $5)

 By the time I reached the front gate I was ready to get off the bike. Riding in all this gear I just keep sweating and losing water so I constantly have to make sure I am re-hydrating (drinking water) my body. Outside the front gate was a convenience store & gift store.

I rode into the park to get a better view and to check out this amazing rock formation. Inside the park along the way up to the base of Devil's Tower there was a large area of grasslands. I saw a bunch of people taking pictures and couldn't figure out what they were looking at... Well on the way down I stopped and realized that there were little Prairie Dogs everywhere.

I can't imagine climbing up this but there are some people that do

Notice the prairie dogs and the mounds of dirt that surround the
burrows they dig in the ground to live in.

close up of a praire dog

Tractor Trailor Billboard trying to get visitors of Devils Tower
to turn onto US-14 East towards South Dakota

After leaving Devil's Tower I had to ride back to US Route 14 West.  Just as I was getting to the intersection I saw quite the billboard.. Rather than the billboards we see on our highways and that I have seen constantly on this trip this one was the old tractor trailer that was painted to act as a billboard....

I continued riding back towards I-90 and just before I got there I stopped for lunch at a small local diner. Met a really nice older gentleman and had some great food and conversation before I headed back out on the road. I asked him about the animosity towards the Native Americans. He explained to me how local Native American tribes are trying to go to court to own the rights to Devil's Tower and they are trying to make it illegal to climb it. I know this is very sacred land to certain Native American tribes so I can understand why they don't want visitors coming and potentially ruining their land... However, I feel that there must be some sort of compromise... Devil's Tower and  the hiking trails are beautiful and should be allowed to be enjoyed by all Americans. As well as the Native Americans should be able to have religius cermeonies there as well...

At this point my chain was definately looser than when I started the day and was hitting my back tire at times... I continued on and go onto Ineterstate 90 West (I-90W) towards Buffalo, WY. It was on this trip that theRocky Mountains came into view. I could see them off in the distance and they seemed like they were never going to get closer.. They were amazing even from a distance! One thing about driving on relatively flat ground is that you can see everything.. Even the harmless white clouds forming over the mountains get bigger and bigger and blacker and blacker.... As I was driving I could see strorms forming over the mountains and was hoping to not get stuck in one as I was going up them.. Even from a distance you could see 

where it was raining. 

Notice the rain coming down (where you can't see the line between the ground and the sky

Finally getting closer to the
Bighorn Mountain Range

So by the time I got to Buffalo, WY it was already getting to be after 6PM and from Buffalo, WY to Cody, WY was about another 3 hour drive and you have to go up and over the mountains on windy roads.. SO I was already worried about driving in the dark in the middle of nowhere with tons of animals roaming. What made things worse is that I new the chain was eating up my tire every time the chain hit it..If the tire gets chewed up enough it could easily blow... and that would probably mean I would be crashing pretty hard too. So I checked my tire again and despite better judgement decided to try to get throught the Big Horn Mountains and on to Cody before nightfall.  Well... I was about 20 miles into the Bighorn Mountains and these roads just keep winding back and forth up steep hills. I could feel and hear my chain hitting my tire, as well as I started to smell the rubber burning from the friction... SO  I stopped and turned back, called the hotel and had to cancel, and then find a hotel in Buffalo. After that I had to search for the nearest motorcycle repair shop.. Cloesest one - Sheridan, WY about 50 miles away.

Looks like Day 10 is going to be all about getting my bike fixed....

Picture from the parking lot of my hotel in Buffalo.
I was staring at the mountains dissappointed I couldn't make it..
& wondering how long I might be stuck in the next town waiting for my bike to be fixed

You can kind of see how  the chain is chewing up the outermost side
of the tire

Notice the sag in the chain.. that shouldn't be drooping so much.
In fact it was rubbing/ grinding on my exhaust pipe too

Day 8 Rapid CIty, SD to Sundance, WY

6/29/13 As you'll notice on the map I did not move much further west than where I started. The day prior I had been riding to Rapid City and just made into town at night fall. While I was riding I could the badlands off to the north and they looked amazing and that was from a distance so I couldn't help and ride back to them in the morning. It was about a 80 mile drive to get back to them but it was SO worth it.


View Day 8 Rapid City, SD to Sundance, WY in a larger map

I had to drive east to Wall, SD, which is home to the oldest pharmacy in the U.S. I should have stopped  becasue literally every half mile or so I felt like there was another Wall Drug billboard. They seem to be  pretty popular in the midwest becasue I had been seeing billboards for different Wall Drug stores I think all the way back in Wisconsin... Regardless, I didn't feel I had time so I stopped for gas because there are no gas stations once you get inside the Badlands National Park.

While I was at the gas station a gentleman and I sparked up conversation which lasted for a while. It turns out this mans name is Tuffy Morrison and he is a member of the Sioux Nation (Native American Tribe). I asked him about life on the reservation because I have heard about the awful suicide rates, poverty and drug abuse. He told me it was all true. In his tribe of about 20,000 there were back to back months with 20+ suicide attempts and on month there was 21 attempts and 21 deaths... I was given an invite to spend a day on the reservation which I am hoping I can find a way to make it happen. He did tell me some interesting things related to how any services they need on the reservation they typically have to pay more for than non-Native American.. For example, if an Native American needs a parking lot to be paved they will end up paying a much higher price than a non-Native Americans. In my travels since this day I have spoken to a lot of other people and noticed that there is definitely a fair amount of animosity between Native Americans and non-Native Americans.

Well.... Eventually I did make it to the badlands and thankfully because they are amazing....

Entering the Badlands - Cost $10 per motorcycle

Notice all of the different layers of rock and how erosion has shaped the land

Yes it is really hot in my "spacesuit" & yes that is a Puma shirt underneath

This was amazing.. becasue of the different organisms that lived here
at varios times (millions of years ago) distinctive colors were caused when
they decomposed

All of the roads through the Badlands were extremly windy as they went
through the mountains

Erosion from the wind and rain has created such an
amazing landscape

After leaving the Badlands I took Tuffy Morisons advice and rode back towards Rapid City on  South Dakota SR-44 (SR= State Route). As driving through the scenery was great. It was flat grasslands with an amazing backdrop of the Badlands to my right. After another hour and a half I made it back to the Rapid City area and turned onto SR-16 towards Mount Rushmore. The roads became windy and at times went through tunnels that cut through the sides of mountains. Then I looked to my right and saw the faces of four of our past presidents. It cost me $15 to enter and as you can see this must have been a massive job to carve these faces into the rock. Despite the dangerous nature of carving the rock that high off the ground not a single live was lost depsite having 400 workers between the years of 1927-1941.

If you look up you may see a profile (side-view) of a face...

After leaving here I really wanted to drive to Custer National Park but was running behind becasue I spent so much time in the Badlands.. So I did drive through the Black Hills but not through the most beautiful portions... :( 

One said thing to see is that so many pine trees are dead in the Black Hills. Apparently there is a bark beetle that is killing all of the trees. This is truly an epidemic. Literally entire mountain sides were covered with dead trunks of trees. It was a real sad sight.. So what can be done?? Another sad thing is that many towns really on certain industries. For example there was a gold mine in Lead, SD which supported the town of Deadwood. Unfortunately the mine closed about 12 years ago an left a lot of people without jobs. So many people left. Now the town is filled with bars and casinos and is now solely dependant upon tourists. The mine was abandoned and is now home to undergound scientific laboratories about 5000' ( ' = feet) deep.

As I was riding through Deadwood it was nightime and I wanted to get a hotel because there is so much wildlife in the area that driving at night is sketchy... Unfortunately the cheapest hotel in town was $150, which was out of my budget. So I drove another 30 to next town of Spearfish, SD and checked five hotels and they were all booked... I continued on for another hour to the next town, Sundance, WY. This drive was nerve racking because there weren't many people on the rode and all I could see is what my lights lit up. I nearly hit a fresh roadkill (looked like a dear). I missed it but ran over its fluids and felt my tire slip a bit.. It definitely shook me up a bit and I was glad to finally get off the highway.Unfrotunately the Best Western was also booked but the lovely lady called around and found me a room at a local motel!!! I was so thankful!! Time to lay my head on a pillow and relax.