Summary - Looking Back

This was a great trip. I was able to see some beautiful sights, had plenty of great riding and got the chance to rise up and meet a personal challenge. My Road Star ran great and was a wonderful traveling companion. It even did a lot better in the twisties than I expected! They certainly named this bike accurately.

Of course, with every trip you would do some things the same, and some things different. Here's my lists of what went well and what I would do different next time.

What went well:

The large amounts of time I spent planning my route paid off. I was able to cram a ton of things into four short days. I returned not having missed any of the things I had intended to see, and saw some things I wasn't expecting!
I'm glad I made hotel reservations rather than just trying to find something on the road. The area was pretty busy, so many hotels were full. At the end of a very full day of riding, it was nice to know I had a place to stay rather than having to hunt around for lodging.
The beaded seat cushion rocks. One of the best $1.84 I've spent. At the end of each day my body was complaining, but it wasn't my butt that was screaming loudest which is a nice change.

What I would do different:

Wear sunscreen lip balm. 'Nuff said.
It would have been nice to add a day or two to the trip to slow the pace down a little. This would have let me get off the bike and see some things in Yellowstone that are only visible via hiking. It also would have allowed me to have proper meals, and gotten me back into my hotel a few hours earlier each day, to give me a little more recuperation time and maybe even a nap before supper. That being said, my goal for this trip was to cram as much riding as I could into 4 days and I think I accomplished this goal. The next time, however, I'm going to take it at a slower pace.
Not bother taking a 2nd helmet. When I did hit rain I never used it, and it was a pain lugging that thing around.

And for those of you who like technical data, here's the information on all of my stops, mileage, gas prices, etc.

Stop	Arrival Time	Stop Length	Departure Time	Miles	Gas Used (Gals)	Gas Price	MPG	Avg Speed	Cummulative Miles
Day 1 - 7/20/2006
Sioux Falls			5:01 AM
Chamberlain, SD	7:00 AM	22	7:22 AM	150.4	4.488	$3.06	33.51	75.83	150.4
Wall, SD	8:35 AM	16	8:51 AM	153.5	4.409	$3.06	34.82	69.25	303.9
Spearfish, SD	10:18 AM	22	10:40 AM	105	2.583	$2.98	40.65	72.41	408.9
Gillette, WY	11:55 AM	25	12:20 PM	94.2	3.004	$2.76	31.36	75.36	503.1
Sheridan, WY	1:53 PM	17	2:10 PM	109.7	3.294	$2.74	33.30	70.77	612.8
Lovell, WY	4:12 PM	18	4:30 PM	100.5	2.229	$2.88	45.09	49.43	713.3
Red Lodge, MT	5:45 PM		7:30 AM	75.1	2.03	$2.95	37.00	60.08	788.4
Day 2 - 7/21/2006
Cooke City, WY	10:00 AM	25	10:25 AM	66	1.31	$3.20	50.38	26.40	854.4
Mammoth Springs, WY	11:42 AM	28	12:10 PM	52.6	1	$3.20	52.60	40.99	907
Old Faithful	1:45 PM	57	2:42 PM	51	0.78	$2.99	65.38	32.21	958
Jackson, WY	4:46 PM	29	5:15 PM	99.7	1.589	$2.99	62.74	48.24	1057.7
West Yellowstone, MT	7:45 PM		6:45 AM	131.2	2.845	$3.08	46.12	52.48	1188.9
Day 3 - 7/22/2006
Cody, WY	10:39 AM	21	11:00 AM	172.9	3.358	$2.02	51.49	44.33	1361.8
Ten Sleep, WY	12:50 PM	35	1:25 PM	120.4	2.926	$2.93	41.15	65.67	1482.2
Gillette, WY	3:26 PM	17	3:43 PM	134.3	3.522	$2.76	38.13	66.6	1616.5
Deadwood, SD	5:37 PM		8:00 AM	129.2	3.481	$3.06	37.12	68.00	1745.7
Day 4 - 7/23/2006
Keystone, SD	9:11 AM	43	9:54 AM	47	0.86	$3.06	54.65	39.72	1792.7
Custer, SD	12:11 PM	49	1:00 PM	65.3	1.16	$3.06	56.29	28.60	1858
Hot Springs, SD	1:33 PM	20	1:53 PM	38	0.7	$3.06	54.29	69.09	1896
Martin, SD	3:45 PM	16	4:01 PM	112.2	2.48	$3.06	45.24	60.11	2008.2
Wagner, SD	8:10 PM	20	8:30 PM	205.8	4.772	$2.90	43.13	65.33	2214
Sioux Falls, SD	10:10 PM			113.6	2.93	$2.98	38.77	68.16	2327.6
Totals
				2327.6	55.75	$2.94	41.75	56.78

This page last updated on 02/12/2011