Jefe's Next Chapter

One of the things that I didn’t communicate well about day 3 was how amazingly beautiful and varied the landscape and scenery are leaving Yellowstone. I awoke before the sun and headed toward Custer SD. This was Friday, the day that I had scheduled a massage in the morning and a day spent on the computer working from the  Custer Mansion Bed & Breakfast, with the expectation that I’d wake up there in the morning.

I took this panorama photo about 30 minutes after I hit the road, having silly hopes of arriving in Custer in time for breakfast, and my massage.This did not turn out to be a day when I stopped for many photos as I felt so very rushed to cover the 250 miles or so necessary to get to my destination.  As I rode into the rising sun I kept thinking how amazingly stunning the landscape was, from foothills to dramatic mountain roads, many, many deer out grazing in the morning didn’t seem terribly disturbed by my passing through.

Coming into the Black Hills a week after the big Sturgis Bike Rally was also interesting, as this is obviously the major economic event of the year for many of the local businesses. There were still an awful lot of motorcycles on the road, and shops and especially bars and restaurants had banners hanging welcoming bikers.

Friday would turn out to be the first day that I had no rain at all, just sunny skies and warm air all day, ironic since it was also supposed to be my first day off the bike. I guess weather just works that way sometimes. Because I was so rushed, and didn’t stop for the scenery, the ride is something of a blur, it was also my first real day of bugs on the windshield  yuk. They splattered in a range of colors, some reddish, some more green and others a bit of yellow. Every stop for gas included a moment to clean the headlights, my visor, and the
windscreen. Every once and a while, I’d feel one hit my gloves, or hear it as it impacted the helmet.

Although Google Maps indicates that Dayton to Custer should be a 4 1/2 hour ride, it took me longer (this is unsurprising by now) to manage my way through the twistiest of mountain passes and narrow roads along rock faces, it also turns out that a tremendous amount of road construction is going on, and I passed one mountain road that was being completely re-done and rode on nothing more than compacted gravel as I rode past the road grader as it leveled out the surface and pushed gravel to the side. In further stretches we simply sat by the side of the road as only one direction of traffic was open so flaggers let groups of vehicles through, in one direction at a time.

It became obvious that I wasn’t going to make breakfast so I hit a McDonalds for coffee, OJ and a breakfast sandwich, I was in such a rush that i hardly finished the hot, hot coffee and got back on the road. I had been in contact with the massage person, she knew I’d be late and found a cafe to watch some webinars while she waited for me to show up. I’d been unable to schedule with any of the local folks in Custer, so Susie was willing to drive down from Rapid City in exchange for some travel compensation.

I arrived sometime before lunch and the nice folks there offered me some coffee and muffins that they had made for breakfast. I contacted Susie and she headed over with her massage table. We discussed doing the massage outdoors as there was a private yard, got settled in with my room, and headed toward the back.

All of this time, I was very aware that this was supposed to be A) not a road day, and I had just spent 4+ hours riding, and B) a working day and it was already near lunch, I hadn’t worked, and was about to get a much needed massage.

The massage was decent, Susie showed evidence of plenty of experience, strength, and body awareness, but not as much technical physiology as some of the more skilled practitioners I’ve worked with in Seattle and other more metropolitan areas. I loved being in the sun with the sound of leaves rustling with the wind, and the sound of big motorcycles rumbling along the road while getting my massage, it was calming and released a lot of knots from my shoulders, lower back, and especially my right hand, the one I use on the bike throttle.

Afterwards, while getting ready for work, I chatted with my host Bob, who is also from Chicago (left in the early 70’s) we talked about neighborhoods and where we’d lived. He mentioned having been born in Evergreen Park, within about 10 years of my parents, and I thought, “now wait a minute, Evergreen Park, isn’t that where the hospital I was born is?” Sure enough, here in Custer SD, we discover that both of us were born at the same hospital, where the first human organ transplant operation was performed.

Much of the rest of the day was far less exciting, as I had a lot of work to catch up with. I got online and checked e-mail, contacted colleagues, and made sure I wasn’t too far behind. At some point, probably around 4:30 I went out for lunch. I had a smoked prime rib sandwich (in other places, it might have been called a French Dip) at Mac’s Grub, which must be a fairly new place, because Urban Spoon and Google Street View both show the previous incarnation “Budget Burger”, at 631 W Mount Rushmore Rd. Was a tasty sandwich, and a very good cobbler for dessert, and then back to work.

I didn’t have much energy to go out and explore the town, or do any drinking and socializing after I finished my work day. Sleep comes easily on the road. The next 2 days may be the most productive in miles covered. I did a little bit of sightseeing on Saturday morning, but mostly it was long, straight roads, for many, many hours.