2015 Central Black Hills Rally photos.

[Mark Olson]

Great pics guys , Looks like a great time had by all.

[Firehawk068]

 Friday, we made a run to "Devil's Tower"
I led one group, while Fred led another. We both chose different routes.
We found some amazing "Roads less travelled" off the main routes through the Black Hills.

Eventually we ended up at our intended destination.







We stopped at the "Prairie-Dog Town" to pay a visit to some of the locals.







I got the feeling we weren't welcome.
This one kept yelling at us.  


We made our way to the Visitor Center, and took a short hike to the base of the tower.









Then it was time to head back toward the Black Hills, where we planned to have some food in Deadwood.
After a few more parting shots, and some souvenirs, it was time to hit the road.
We stole part of Fred's group for this leg of the ride.  







We arrived in Deadwood after making a detour down through Spearfish Canyon. (amazing road, by the way)
By coincidence, we met up with Fred's group again for the second time that day.

We fed the parking meters, and walked a couple blocks to find this great place to eat. "Buffalo Bodega Saloon and Steakhouse"



I made it a point to try the "Rocky Mountain Oysters". I've never had them, and there were a couple others that were adventurous enough to share them with me.



We all had a fine meal, and a bunch of excellent conversation. It was great to get everyone together.

Then it was time to head south back to Hill City.

[Firehawk068]

Friday night, a few of us decided to make our way over to Mount Rushmore to see it lit-up.





Saturday, we planned a couple routes, gathered up the riders, and were just barely able to run a quick blast up Deerfield road (Yes, it was so good we wanted to run it again  )
Just as we got back into town, the skies opened up!



Luckily this Exxon station was gracious enough to let us gather under the awning for a little over an hour.



The most severe part of the storm was centered right on top of us.







After the rain let up some, we decided to make a break for Camp.
The water was flowing down the hills into town, and there was quite a bit of flooding.
Randy and I rode through a river of water (up to our knees) while some guy stood in the middle of the street swearing at us.

After awhile, everyone arrived back at camp safely. 

We piled in our cages and set out to look for this certain BBQ restaurant that no longer exists.
We eventually had to settle for something else.

That evening, we had an awesome dinner at Camp, reflected about the Rally,and a bunch of us said our goodbyes.
I had a little too much to drink.

The next day, it was packing up and heading for home.
Derek, Donna, Pat, Ron, and I had breakfast in town at the Café before picking up my official "Rally Sign"



We said our last goodbyes, and split up to head in separate directions. 

Pat, CapnRon, and my rig headed south, where Pat split off from us at Cheyenne.
We dodged storms the whole way back to Denver.





I can't say enough how awesome this Rally was!
Thanks again to Fred for spear-heading the organization, and pulling the trigger on the location.
It was EPIC! It's going to be really hard to top this one, I promise.

Here's to the next one. 

[chainus]

Great pics everyone! Looks like a beautiful area of the country.

Seeing pics of Devil's Tower makes me want to watch "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" again.

[ribbert]

Say, isn't that the guy from "Caddyshack"?


Noel

[Firehawk068]

Say, isn't that the guy from "Caddyshack"?


Noel

Wandering around their little "Town", watching their little heads peeking up out of their holes, made me wish for one of those giant inflatable cartoon hammers. 

[ribbert]

I was a bit premature posting this the other week but same sentiment applies and only requiring a slight alteration.

Great to read and see the rally reports trickling in.

Good friends, great roads, even better bikes, the weather Gods smiling on you pissed off and no doubt plenty of social lubricant and tall tales and no casualties.

Does it get any better?

Pleased to see everyone had a good time and Mike's (Skymasteres) bike made it there and back, against the odds, after it's hasty middle of the night assembly and around the block shakedown ride. Well done Mike!

Good on you all and half your luck.

Noel

Too many posts to comment on but great to see every one had a good time and a safe one.

I love the contrast in that photo of Fred's recently refurbished bike next to Ramos' highway weary mount and that rocky tower must have been spectacular in the flesh!

As usual, I have no idea who most of the folks in the photos are but probably know them well by name.

Interesting to no

Noel

[copper]

I love the contrast in that photo of Fred's recently refurbished bike next to Ramos' highway weary mount.

In the car show world, that is the equivalent to a "trailer queen" and a "daily driver"

[Mike Ramos]

[Not so] Aimless Wanderings....

Ramos' "road weary" Fj...?   Looks are deceiving... [following over 1,000 miles going to, riding at, and coming from the West Coast Rally] ...in this case on the way to the Central Rally brought on by a 700 mile ride up into west/central Idaho for dinner and rest. 

The second day followed a 1,000 mile ride meandering through the lower Idaho panhandle before heading west/southwest into and crossing Montana, passing through the Crow Reservation along Hwy. 212 across a corner of Wyoming and finally into South Dakota; the majority of this second day spent in heavy rain from the same storm system that brought such varied weather to the Central Rally.

Two days of riding and visiting with some very fine people at the Central Rally before another 1,800 miles west and eventually into California and home. 

Almost 5,000 miles of principally high speed touring (a substantial portion being night time riding) along secondary highways and byways; pausing to ride at the WCR and the Central Rally without any sort of mechanical issues.  Added less than two quarts of oil and never even adjusted the chain. 

A true Magic Carpet... 

And the "road weary" FJ cleans up very well remains pleasantly presentable... but admittedly not quite as nice as Conlon's '92...!

Much thanks and appreciation to those who organized and attended these Rallies; both were vibrant events, with excellent riding, exceptional camaraderie and great people!!!

Ride safe,

Mike Ramos.   

[Pat Conlon]

.....And the "road weary" FJ cleans up very well remains pleasantly presentable... but admittedly not quite as nice as Conlon's '92...!

Mike, your bike is trick. The auxiliary 5 gallon fuel system, the LEO avoidance systems (Laser/radar) the driving lights. etc...

These things are not apparent in the photos.

BTW, I sold my '92 to Paul Lawson....I'm down to just my '84.

[movenon]

  Looks damn fine to me. Mike rides more miles in 30 days than most of us all season, some times multiple seasons....

George

[ribbert]

Mike "Road King" Ramos weather beaten FJ.

To those sensitive souls who took umbrage at my use of the term "Highway weary" to describe Mike's bike as seen in the photo. I know he rides more miles than anyone, I know he rides in all weather.
It was simply a good natured acknowledgement of the above and of a well used bike. I have no doubt it cleans up well, I have no doubt it is in good nick, and I know it has toys on it.

Now if I had called it "weather-beaten" for example, that would be a different matter.

Sheesh, welcome home guys. 

Noel

[racerrad8]

Well, I finally got o get my bike up on the lift today and give it some care after the two rallies.

I can tell you the water of the river that Alan and I crossed was higher than the engine case as there was root and twigs on the brake calipers, upper front engine mounts and even the top of the clutch housing has a bunch of mud in there.





We got to see a lot of cool stuff as this country is just beautiful. My wife found a rod stick out of the side of Devils Tower that looks like a face


The water in the geyser areas of Yellow stone were just pristine blue


We had a up close & person meeting with a bison as he cross the walking path in Yellowstone. I got within about ten feet of him and he paid me no attention, I wasn't comfortable getting any closer


We were able to visit Mount Rushmore a couple of times. Look closely in the picture and see if you can find the Yamaha tuning fork in the picture


Great time at both rallies, too bad the weather did not hold out on Saturday, it started off so perfect.

How does one get a reservation at the famous Al's Bar & Grill, I need to know for next year?

Randy - RPM

[Firehawk068]

How does one get a reservation at the famous Al's Bar & Grill, I need to know for next year?

No Reservations required.
Walk-ins Welcome. 
"No Shirt, No Shoes................No Problem" 

One just simply shows up, and most times there is enough food to be included, especially if we know ahead of time.

[Pat Conlon]

Yes, Alan, your hospitality at the rally was extraordinary. Thank you for bringing the amber O'Douls.

A big shout out to George and Garth for also bringing some O'Douls and being able to use George's stealthy 4x4 red truck for restaurant and munchie runs during the storms was delightful.

That Saturday storm cell over Hill City was something else. One minute cloudy, next minute all hell broke loose.
Garth, George and I were just getting ready to leave camp when it started. I'm amazed everyone got back to camp.