It seems that the bane of many a motorcycle rider and the dread of many more is the prospect of colliding with a deer. First, they can be hard to see at the side of the highway. Second, they are unpredictable as hell, and third when a motorcycle and a deer try to occupy the same space at the same time the results are never good. It is just a question of how bad they will be.
This morning as we were loading our bikes we saw a H-D Road King parked near our bikes. There were broken signal lights, a damaged windshield, scuffed tank, with blood on the brake lever and tank and on other parts of the bike. something bad had happened. We didn't make the connection with the guy who had a knee brace and a bound up right hand who was having breakfast at the motel.
The guy came out and was checking over the bike when Garry began to chat with him. It turns out that he had been riding east on I-94 last night at about 9:00 p.m., just after dusk. He saw a deer on the side of the road and slowed down but the deer suddenly bounded across the highway right into the front of his bike. He said that he could see the deer wrap itself around the front of the motorcycle come up over the windshield and knock him off the bike. The bike slid into the ditch.
The guy, Scott Boelter, from Everett, WA, was able to get the motorcycle upright and ride it out of the ditch and into Forsyth before he went to the hospital. He had torn ligaments in his right hand, had road rash on his arm and right knee. His full face helmet had scraped along the road surface, saving his face from damage. He saved himself a great deal of hurt because he had been wearing a full set of leathers and leather gauntlets. Scott's plan was to meet his brother in Sturgis but that plan blew up last night.
Scott Boelter with his damaged hand and motorcycle
When we saw him he was waiting for a tow truck to take the bike to Billings, MT and he was going to fly back to Seattle and have surgery to repair the ligament damage in his hand. Despite his injuries this could have been much worse and riding with proper gear had save Scott for a lot of extra damage.
Our first stop after getting on the road was Miles City, MT, where we stopped for gas. Today was the day that my brother in Perth, ON was having a ninety-third birthday for our dad. He set things up so we could do Face Time on my iPad so I was able to connect with MacDonald's WiFi. I have never used Face Time before but it worked flawlessly and I was able to see and talk to my relatives who were at the party. I even had the chance to speak with my father. Pretty amazing when you think that I was more than two thousand kilometres from home.
The main point of today's ride was to get to Gillette, WY, in time to get a motel room for the night. As we have ridden closer to Sturgis the trickle of Harleys heading east has grown into a torrent. The first town south of Miles City is Broadus, MT. Since it was almost one hundred miles to Gillette, we stopped for to top up. There are only two gas stations in the town and both were flooded with Harleys. I topped up and pulled ahead and the guy behind me, who was dressed like a real badass with the doo rag, sleeveless Harley shirt, and a tan that spoke of many hours in the sun either riding or in construction, pulled up to the pump and promptly dumped his bike into the gas pump. I felt bad for him as another rider helped him get his bike upright, but a little bit of me was laughing inside as well.
Some of the riders heading to Sturgis at Broadus, MT
Fuelling up at Conoco in Broadus, MT
It seems that most of the riders were going straight to Sturgis and they took the more direct route. We continued south on Highway 59, a road with very little traffic and a 70 mph speed limit. The miles just melted away under our wheels. When we entered Wyoming the road turned from grey to red. As I rode along I couldn't help but think that Wyoming is so Republican that even the roads are red.
The landscape here is high desert which means that it is quite arid. There is some farm irrigation bit it seems that the main thing ranchers grow here is hay and cattle and you can ride for miles without seeing any sign of human habitation other than the road and power lines. Erosion has revealed layers of different colours and in spots there are even thin layers of coal. In some respects the landscape here reminds me of that near Drumheller, AB.
This whole area is called the Powder River Basin and is one of the prime coal producing areas in the United States. It is named after the river of the same name. It is not an impressive stream with slow moving greenish brown water. Further on we crossed the Little Powder River. One could easily step across this ditch like stream. I am sometimes amazed by what passes for rivers in this part of the world.
Approaching Gillette we passed a large coal mine and its processing plant. One train loaded with coal was leaving the mine while another was waiting to roll out. The quantity of coal that is being taken out of here is unimaginable. Most of the coal mined here is used for power generation in other parts of the US.
When we arrived in Gillette, we rode directly to Deluxe Harley-Davidson. The parking lot was filled with Harleys from allover the US and western Canada. A group of riders who may have been a gang from Las Vegas, NV, named The Ironcrossmen were a real presence.
We had arrived in town early enough to get a motel room, we thought. The first place we stopped had a sigh on the front door that said, No Vacancy Without Reservation. We rode to the America's Best Value Motel where we were able to get a room only because a reservation had been cancelled. Five minutes later and we would have been out of luck. As it was a regular room cost us USD161. The most expensive lodging yet. Motel owners know that the 75 Anniversary Rally is going to be a big one and they are adjusting their rates to take advantage of the situation. Fortunately, we have already paid for camping for the next six days so we are free of expensive rooms for a week.
Tomorrow we will arrive in Sturgis and from all accounts it is going to be big. Traffic will be incredibly busy but we're glad to be here.
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