Day 2 _A Much Better Day ! 540.3 Miles

But only if you like to start your riding day in the rain and also end it in the rain.  I was in a much better mood today as I had a great nights sleep.  No chainsaws in evidence anywhere!!!

Lyle and I got a much earlier start this morning.  We met for breakfast at 6am and had a muffin and then we were on our way.  In the rain!  Lyle elected to start the day without his insert in his Kilimanjaro jacket.  Bad Plan!

As I had forgotten my waterproof riding gloves, we made a quick stop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Honda shop and we both bought a pair.  Then it was on to the west, still in the rain. 

At a gas stop in western SD, we met another rider coming from the west.  When he took off his helmet, we were surprised by the fact that he was a she.  I’m going to guess she was around 45 or so and riding a sport bike.  She said she had just come from the badlands area and was headed south.  She was decked out with all the right gear and she was alone.  I guess I’m still old fashioned (after all, I am old) as I was surprised that a woman her age would be out riding a motorcycle on a day like this, all by herself.  Nothing wrong with that picture at all but it took me by surprise.  Lyle too.  It reminded me of Margaret from Tasmania.  I think Lyle wanted to ask her out on a date but he was embarrassed because I was there.  

To sum up the day, it was rain, at times fairly hard, a little sun (maybe a half  hour in the middle of South Dakota, but still very cold) and temperatures in the low forties and strong winds most of the day.  There was probably two hours of riding when there wasn’t rain.  Plus, when we got to the western end of South Dakota the thick fog moved in.  I was COLD the whole day. 

Lyle summed up his observations of the day so:

“I can’t believe how long it took to get across South Dakota going 90 miles an hour!”

In case you’re one of my OCD friends and you happen to check the mileage between Sloan, IA and Spearfish, SD and see that it is less than 540.3 miles, well, I’m here to tell you that being the macho man I am, I don’t always do what Garmin Girl tells me.  I missed a turn and we had to backtrack a bit :)

 

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