396.7 Miles

That's the mileage Gretl racked up today from the gas station near the house to the hotel in Custer, South Dakota. It took us nine hours to ride this distance, with multiple stops for gas and just stretching out sore muscles.

All the motorcycles did great, though when my wife saw me riding with my two riding buddies on their larger motorcycles she came to the realization that yes, perhaps I do need a bigger motorcycle! She apparently giggled to my friend's wife who was riding with her that it looked like I was riding a Vespa when compared to one friend's Kawasaki Concours 1100 or the other friends's Honda VTX 1800! It's all good, it helps move me closer to a bigger motorcycle.

And a bigger motorcycle is what I thought about on those stretches where a little more horsepower would have come in handy in order to pass slower moving vehicles more quickly and safely. A bigger motorcycle with perhaps a longer wheelbase and more legroom to stretch out on. A bigger motorcycle to bull through the headwinds with ease as opposed to sometimes struggling. These were the thoughts running through my head at certain points during the ride.

Don't get me wrong, Gretl did great. As long as she was not called upon to exceed 85pmph when passing or on some of the more boring stretches of road in Wyoming, she delivered what I needed.

The ride through Wyoming was windy as expected but not too bad, it was rolling hills and flat range at first and when near the S.D. border it became quite moonscape-like. Lots of rocky mesa-like rock formations. I could picture what the geologists say that the whole area had been sea bottom at some point eons ago.

We got to Custer at 1630, having made only one wrong turn, which is pretty good I have to say. Checked in, went out for a steak dinner nearby and now tired and fed, making these notes before calling it a night. I've half a mind to go to Sturgis tomorrow, it's about 70 miles from Custer, and take a test ride on that BMW R1150RT but we'll see how I feel in the morning. The temptation is high to trade Gretl in and ride the beemer home! : )