Saturday July 15th
Well, it was another very hot day here in Rapid City. Close to 95 degrees at 9 am. It went up to about 105. Yikes!

Most of us went our separate ways today taking care of personal things. Me, I got my laundry done. Clean clothes for the ride home....yeeeeeha! Some bikes went into the shop and others got cleaned. My got neither. No point in washing now. There's about a zillion bugs between here and home and I figure I'll hit a few of them. (I actually had one hit me on the leg yesterday at 70 mph, survive and crawl up inside my pants. Not fun.)

Rob and Scott left this morning, taking the eastern chase car with them. Scott needs to be back at work in Vancouver on Tuesday so they have some serious driving to do.

This afternoon we went to Konrad & Angela Winters' place over in Buckhorn, Wyoming for dinner and relaxing. It's about 25 miles south of Deadwood & lead, SD. The country is really beautiful. Mike Sapsis had rented a van for the day to replace the one that left, and most of us took advantage of the air conditioning for the ride over. We may be diehard bikers but we're not crazy.

After the party Frank left for parts unknown. I think he's heading west for a little while.

This evening we went to the Go Kart place for one more run (we actually took two). It turns out that Henry is the best of the bunch of us as he had the best time, by far, in the 2nd session. And his 1st session times were darn good also.

Then it was time to say our goodbyes. This is always the hard part. But the morning will see most of us gone. Mike and I are headed out at first light. We'll try to make Beloit tomorrow night to see some friends. Mike Maynard and Cris Dopher are still talking about doing an Iron Butt as they head east. I wish them luck but it's not for me. I think it'll be too hot. Moe and Christine head for Indiana. David and Henry start making their way to LA. Loren, Kate, Carol, Tracy and Kenneth head out for San Diego. Fitch is staying here till Tuesday and then he heads back east. And Greg, Alice and Matt aren't yet sure what their plans are. All of the riders will check in with me when they get home and I'll pass the word along to you that they have arrived safely.

It's been another wonderful trip. I want to thank everyone involved in this years' ride for helping to make it such a success. The riders, chase car drivers, Sarah Gowan for the website, Lori Rubinstein at Behind the Scenes and Joe Norton at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, all of the donors, sponsors and service providers, the folks at home who took care of families and businesses while we were gone, and last, but certainly not least, all the terrific people we met along the way. We could not have done it without you.

I'll have one more post for you when I get home, sometime in the middle of the week.

Thanks again
Be well
Bill

Greg writes:
Saturday July 15, 2006
Early on Saturday, several of us went to the H-D dealership. We had called ahead from Lexington Nebraska on Thursday to get tires shipped in for Matt’s Buell, and the good folks at Black Hills Harley Davidson agreed to work us in if we came in early Saturday morning. We took our Electra Glide in as well and got an oil and filter change just to be safe because of the heat out here. When we arrived at the dealership at 7:30, it was already above 80 degrees. Thanks to Doug and Bruce and Rachel and all the other good people there for taking such good care of us!

Mike Maynard had to break out the handkerchief to keep the drool off his face as he fell in love first with a Wide Glide, and then a V-Rod. Rob and Scott came by to buy some souvenirs before hitting the road for home. Work commitments called, and they had to go early. David & Henry came by as well, and bought a pair of really nice matching jackets. I think they were concerned that the jackets would make them look too “precious” riding together, but since they don’t have matching helmets, we assured them it would be okay. Cris Dopher came for the comfort of the cushy leather couch, and took full advantage for a nice long nap during our service. He ended up buying a really nice stretchy heat shield for Roxie, to keep the sun from hitting the seat and tank directly.

When we got back to the motel, several of us went across the street to the Millstone and had a late breakfast/light lunch. We loaded several of us into a 2nd rental van and headed for Buckhorn Wyoming after that, and the mighty fine hospitality of Konrad and Angela Winters, and their son Sam. What a feast! They have a summer home on 15 acres in the woods up on a Wyoming hill, and it is quite beautiful there.

After an early evening meal, we headed back to Rapid City. Frank Stewart left out at that time for points west, headed for somewhere in Montana. Loren, Tracy, and Moe rode between the two “cages” as we kept a sharp eye out for critters come out to feed in the cooling twilight. Several deer spottings later, we were back in Rapid City. We dropped some people off, picked up the Edelsteins and Mike Maynard, (who chose Crazy Horse over Winters’ Feast) and headed back to Flags and Wheels, the go-cart track.

The Family Edelstein, Racing Division, pretty much smoked the rest of us. Henry, in fact, was quite aggressive on the first ride of the evening, wiping out yours truly, who was plodding along under the yellow light (as you’re supposed to do…) when the supposedly quiet shy lad from London smacked into my car at full speed, gave a quick flick of the steering wheel, and sent my car spinning out of control into a wall. I don’t think Henry’s car even slowed down as he waved and jetted past. I’m officially changing Henry’s nickname from “Crazy Frog” to “The Shark”, because he glides along quietly beneath the surface until it’s time to strike, then it’s fins out of the water and teeth bared … WHAM!

On the 2nd ride of the evening, Henry came within 1/2 second of the all-time record on this particular track. The record for one lap is 18.75 seconds, and Henry turned one in 19.20. Pretty amazing.