A friend gave me a couple of days notice that he was coming for a visit and during that short notice we decided I’d ride back with him for part of his return trip to Santa Fe. I did a really brief look-over on the bike and, apparently, missed a ton of semi-serious to serious stuff. At first, I figured I’d just ride a day with him and turn back. A day turned into two and two turned into about 2,000 miles round-trip.
On the way out, I did a half-assed job of babying my near-worn-out tires and pushed them a bit too hard. Along the way, I noticed a few other things that needed work or replacing. A busted front fender bracket. A bit of play in the front axle. Thin rear brake pads. Engine oil a little past its time. All stuff I would have normally worked through if I’d been planning a trip, but stuff that caught me out on the road when I let myself get carried away on some one else’s trip.
When I started writing this bit, I was about 325 miles from home and torn between doing about 100 extra miles of sightseeing or slogging it carefully home the last day. I discovered some great roads on this trip and since I made it home unscathed it will have been one of the most fun trips I’ve made through Nebraska and South Dakota.
So, here comes the trip report.
