Sunday Riders

Riding through the Black Hills of South Dakota should be a very enjoyable experience. This city of Deadwood reminded me much of Pigeon Forge, TN in the sense that it was crowded in the tiny city of hills. Unfortunately this made for slow going, just motorcycling in Pigeon Forge last summer, sweltering in the summer sun. While I recalled the stench of exhaust and the heat of my pipes frying my leg as I tried to make my way through the traffic, I was grateful the tourists were all gone now since the Sturgis Rally was over.

My gripe isn't with riding in the slow-goings of this touristy treasure, but leaving Deadwood and expecting a wide-open ride along the sweepers and twisties on our way to Hill City. Because what we found were beautiful roads, incredible, breathtaking landscapes. and the "Sunday Riders".

I'm not referring to Sunday Drivers; drivers of cars. I am referring to motorcycle riders who obviously ride very little and are not confident enough in their riding skills to take what I would consider a moderately challenging road. Now certainly I subscribe to the phrase, "Ride your own ride." I do not begrudge any motorcycle rider for taking a road slowly. One must ride withing their skill level. Taking a road very slow could be an issue of  comfort level, or a even just a choice to enjoy the scenery.

My issue lies with the amount of vehicles they hold up behind them. 5, then 10, then 12 vehicles strolling along at only 40 miles per hour when the posted speed limit is 65. On top of being incredibly selfish for everyone stuck moving at that pace, this can be dangerous. If someone got rear-ended in a blind corner because they were traveling so slow, the rider wouldn't even know the harm they caused.

We followed these riders nearly the entire 40 miles into our destination of Hill City. Once we hit town other vehicles behind us turned onto side streets to avoid the slow-goings of the center of town. We rolled up to a restaurant which was an historic saloon for lunch and the Sunday Riders parked across the street from us. It was all I could do to not bitch them out.

My only request to you if you're going to ride slow is to PULL OVER in the turnouts and let others get by. We don't all want to go as slowly as you. And the way you can tell you are holding up traffic is if you have a few cars behind you. It never hurts to let them pass and besides, you certainly have the time don't you? After all, you aren't riding like you're in a hurry.