Trip to Sturgis Day 1, Part 3

We pulled out of Capital City Harley-Davidson and left for the Dells where we stopped at Monk’s for lunch. Jeff and I chose to sit at the bar and split an order of chicken sliders. Two guys from Connecticut sat next to us. We started chatting and I handed them some of Cindy’s maps. One of the guys had a faraway look and I asked him if he was feeling ok. He told us he rolled over a piece of loose luggage that fell off one of the bikes. He said his bike was airborne and he feels lucky to be here right now. The sick feeling he had was from watching his life flash before his eyes. Understandable. I guess I was wrong about that bag I saw between the lanes.

We got back on the bikes and had a somewhat uneventful ride to Mauston. When we ride in large groups, the rule is always safetly first, so sometimes the group gets split at a stoplight or when traffic merges between us. That happened at the off ramp to the Mauston H-D dealership. Unfortunately, the person at the front didn't know the area, but he had a GPS. Now, I have never been a believer in GPS's reliability so I was not sure we would get where we needed to go. Jeff didn't know the exact location of the dealership so we were at his mercy. And of course, we took a wrong turn. GPS could not adjust the mistake without taking us miles out of the way. One of the women in the group knew exactly where the wrong turn was made and we all turned around and followed her back in the right direction to the dealership.

This dealer seemed much more organized. The dealership set up a table for the Davidsons and allowed anyone to get in line for autographs. Jeff decided to take the opportunity to get his vest signed by the family so he got in line and got it done.

We met some guys from a local veterans group, as usual Jeff was making some new friends. These guys were on the Vietnam Vets ride to Lambeau just like Jeff so they had a few stories to share. While he was yapping I took the opportunity to get a photo with my favorite State Senator, David Zein. He is such a fun guy, I hope I run into him again some time.

From there we started out towards La Crosse. As we rode, we went under an overpass in Tomah that was lined with people waving and cheering us. I wondered if they knew it was Willie G. leading the group. I wondered why they were there at all. It felt good knowing we were getting close to the last stop. Riding in the sun all day is tiring, even as a passenger.