My oh my, Wyoming! 🏞️🏍️
In a word, Wyoming is INCREDIBLE! In many words, "my oh my," Wyoming has everything - snow-capped mountains, smooth asphalt, twists, hairpin turns, rapid elevation ascension, rivers, valleys, colorful and random rock formations, views for miles, big skies, and quaint small towns. It’s a riding mecca.
Today’s 360-mile ride had few stops, which included gas ⛽, breakfast at the Crazy Woman Cafe in Ten Sleep, WY 🍳, and a brief photo session at a vista overlooking Meadowlark Lake 📸. To ensure I made it to Sturgis, SD on time for a tire-changing appointment at 2 pm ⏰, I left Cody at 6:30 am.
My route was 50% perfect and 50% blah. The perfect part included secondary highways Route 14, WY 30, and US 16 until I reached Buffalo, WY. The blah part was I-90. While I-90 is scenic for an interstate, it is fast, pretty straight, and relatively boring.
Arriving in Sturgis on time, I found lunch next door to the dealership and spoke to a salesperson about local riding. His input helped me plan tomorrow’s journey, promising to avoid interstates from here to Milwaukee. I aim to hit some of SD’s best roads, including the Badlands National Park and decently curvy routes in SD’s interior.
After receiving the bike, I rode one exit along I-90 to the hotel and noticed the bike was acting funny. I called the dealership and let them know I was coming back. A team of technicians waited and inspected everything. They even swapped out the front tire due to concerns with balancing. After sorting things out and another test drive, we determined the issue was the rain grooves on the interstate. Once I tested the bike on different surfaces at similar speeds, the problem disappeared. Safe and sound, I finally checked into the hotel.
Tonight, I enjoyed downtown Sturgis. With a 1.5-mile walk from my hotel room to Main Street, I experienced the town without its usual influx of motorcyclists and revelers. Despite its reputation, this is actually a sleepy Midwest town. All the shops were closed by 8 pm 🕗, leaving only the bars awake. I stopped by the Knuckle Saloon (apparently a local favorite, according to the BMW dealership guy) and enjoyed a couple of locally brewed red ales 🍺 along with a decent chicken salad 🥗. I passed the time texting with friends, feeling connected despite the miles between us.
The texts continued to flood in on my walk back to the hotel, making the journey seem shorter. Anyone who thinks traveling alone is lonely is wrong. I’m having the time of my life and feel more connected to the world than ever!
