Sturgis rally 2010: Cruising Spearfish Canyon

Spearfish Canyon is a favorite with bikers

There are three roads in the Black Hills that are arguably the best of the many good ones in that 90-mile by 60-mile patch of geography. One of those, and the only one close to Sturgis is Spearfish Canyon.

No surprise then that it is a favorite with those attending the Sturgis Bike Rally, also known as the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally, and other names.

The following slideshow takes you down the canyon, with a variety of interesting stories along the way.

In one case I came upon a couple of newlyweds sitting on their bike with the wedding photographer getting shots of them like that. "Just Married" was painted on the windshield.

Stopping at Bridal Veil Falls, I was just about to take off again when a fellow called out to me to wait. Turns out he was on a Kawasaki Concours, as was I, and he wanted to know about my highway pegs. The kicker here is that my wife and I were in the Black Hills two years ago when I approached a guy on a Concours to ask him about his highway pegs. Word of mouth is the best advertising.

A little further along, I was cruising at an easy pace but a rider going the other way signaled that I should slow down. I figured it was a speed trap ahead. Very shortly afterward, three guys blasted past me, revving it big time, just as we came around a bend to see several squad cars parked on the side. One cop motioned and pointed at each of the three very demonstratively to make sure they understood he wanted to speak with them, now.

So gosh, a beautiful ride and no speeding ticket, at least for me. Doesn't get much better than that.

Related articles:
Destination Sturgis: Joining the motorized river
Living with the Sturgis rally: The residents' perspective
Living with the Sturgis rally: The merchants' perspective
Sturgis rally 2010: Pee Wee Herman leads Legends Ride out of Deadwood
Sturgis rally 2010: Baddest Bagger in Sturgis competition at Full Throttle Saloon (with photos)
Sturgis rally 2010: Cruising Spearfish Canyon
Sturgis rally 2010: She rides her own (with photos)
Hoka Hey award ceremony held at Broken Spoke at Sturgis rally
Sturgis rally 2010: SD Guv rides and wins Noisy Dozen award
Sturgis rally 2010: Custom motorcycles at the rally (with photos)
Sturgis rally 2010: Trikes at the rally (with photos)
Sturgis rally 2010: Riding the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road (with photos)