Day 4: Mobridge, SD to Baker, MT
Another hot, exhausting day. Mostly the couple hours after noon, when the temps got above 85 and even at speed it was just hot.
Started in Mobridge; stayed the night at a nice little joint, the Eastside Motel, where the owner did a load of laundry for me and was just real pleasant. The riding was good, even cool, starting out at around 8 AM. I crossed the Missouri, into the Standing Rock reservation, and the land changed immediately. Rolling hills, vistas, but the road was still basically a straight line through all of it.
About an hour in, there was a spot of construction, where the road was just gone. Unpaved gravel. I’m not sure, but I think today was the first time I’d ever ridden on the dirt? I know, I know, I’ve got this bike that’s made for hard enduro and I only use it on pavement. Anyway, the first patch caught me a little by surprise, but I was able to pick my way through it, wasn’t too far, and then there was a town.
I stopped at the little store there and got a powerade, and I was chatting with the guy there about the unexpected unpaved section and he was like, yeah, wait til you get about 9 miles west of here. Turns out the first little patch was just a preview, and the real broken up section of US 12 was still to come, about 5 miles of dirt.
I got out of town and got down the road to the start of the mess; the first hundred yards was actually the worst part, deep gravel that almost washed me out, but somehow I kept it upright and forced myself to remember what I know about off road riding: lower gears, slower speed but not crawling, because you need some speed for stability. And then it went from sandy gravel to hardpan, which is fine. I got through that part, where there wasn’t any active construction, and I was super happy with myself. I thought the worst was over, but there was a longer section with one way traffic still to come.
Really though, that part wasn’t too bad either. Type 2 fun, but mostly because of the long line of cars behind me, sitting and waiting for it to be my turn, and following the lead truck through the mess. Once I got through the construction I pulled over and let the line of cars pass me; I hate having traffic behind and I ride slow.
Stopped in Lemmon for gas and a late breakfast, and there was a huge sign, ‘world’s largest petrified wood museum’. So of course I had to go. It was closed for the season, but the sculpture garden, arguably the main attraction, was open and I walked around it for a bit. Really wild textures in some of the wood. I texted Sophie, “I’m getting far enough west that things are getting weird.” The whole thing was just the obsession of this one guy who struck rich and decided to spend his fortune on making odd sculptures with petrified wood.
It was starting to get really hot though, so I moved on down the road. I kept stopping to get a cold drink and cool off, every half hour or so. Final stop before the final push was Bowman, ND, which I’d considered for my final stop of the day, but I really wanted to get to Montana. I sat inside the Frontier Travel center for a good half hour, soaking up the cold, eating some “pizza sticks” which were narrower, fried hot pockets, and drinking a quart of powerade I got from the fountain.
I went back out to the bike and decided to forego the airbag vest for the last 45 minutes. I decided that on balance the danger of heat stroke/exhaustion was greater than a crash at this point, and chose airflow. Once I got out of town, the temperature gauge on the bike read 96ºF, which, with full gear on, is a lot. I made it to the Montana sign, took a selfie, and then rode the last few miles into Baker. The first motel was booked up, so here I am at the second motel in town. There was a very friendly kitty in the office, but/and they had Fox News on the TV.
I got to the room and immediately fell asleep for three hours. Woke up and it was still 80 outside, but I decided that I really should go get some dinner. 80 in normal clothes really isn’t so bad after 96 in full moto gear. There was a corner bar a ten minute walk from the hotel, so I walked and had a nice steak dinner. Nothing fancy, but decent enough. And now I’m here. Still need to edit the photos, and then get some sleep; I’m going to try to get up at 6 and get moving before it warms up. If I can get west soon enough, it should be all right; I’ll be adding altitude all day and the high in Billings tomorrow is only 86; if I’m there by noon it’ll still be 80.
Anyway. More tomorrow. I’ll have all afternoon hopefully to sit and chill, maybe see what Billings has to offer.