Motorcycle

Last week, my wife and I embarked on a thrilling adventure with our Can-Am Spyders. We joined a rally in Council Bluffs, where we spent the weekend with approximately a hundred fellow Spyder enthusiasts. Together, we embarked on a scenic tour of western Iowa and eastern Nebraska. In the attached image, you can see us participating in an exciting obstacle course game during the rally. Although we didn’t emerge victorious, the experience was enjoyable and will be remembered.

Image Source: © Sherwood Archibald, 2025.  Used with permission.

I will never miss an opportunity to ride at the end of December with temperatures peaking at around 50 F. I rode about 50 miles yesterday! It’s pretty warm for this time of year here in South Dakota. The ice is looking rather thin for safely ice fishing on most area lakes…I hope those I saw ice fishing this weekend stay smart and be safe.

With a Friday off on December 22, 2023 I took a short ride in the afternoon on my three-wheeler. For a near-Christmas ride in South Dakota with no snow on the ground, no wind, and temperatures approaching 50F...it couldn't have been a more perfect ride on my 2017 Can-Am Spyder RTL. The ride only totaled 30 miles but gave enough distance to ride west out of Sioux Falls to Wall Lake and then head north making a round trip through Hartford.

I can't recall ever having this enjoyable of a ride this close to the end of the year. With rain and snow in the forecast for Christmas, I likely won't have any more opportunities to ride in 2023. That doesn't make me sad, because I already got my Christmas miracle...a motorcycle ride in South Dakota at the end of December. So for now, I'm just going to look forward to discovering where the roads take me in 2024.

Living in South Dakota, most of the motorcyclists around here don't really get their bikes and trikes out until May. However, as one that likes to ride all year around, I'm in full swing by the start of April. Yesterday with the temperatures in the 50s, I decided to take a solo ride to knock the winter dust off my Can-Am Spyder. I had no destination in mind beyond finding some county roads I've never ridden on before.

My catch phrase when riding is that "Random roads take me to random places. I like it!". In this case the South Dakota roads took me to Parker, Monroe, Lake Vermillion, and Montrose. From Montrose I took Highway 38 back to more familiar well-ridden territory of Humboldt, Hartford, and of course Sioux Falls. 

From a pleasant Wednesday here in Sioux Falls with a high temperature of 51 to a day of Winter Weather Advisories with temperatures in the 20s, it can be a frustrating time for any motorcycle rider. Today, both of our Can-Am Spyders sit in the cold garage as I prepare the EGO snow blower to do battle with the snow. The batteries are fully charged and I'll be out in the elements once the snow stops falling. The fact that I won't be riding the Spyders for awhile just makes the snow sitting on my driveway look deeper than it should be. 

By Saturday morning, I'm trading in my motorcycle helmet for a stocking cap any my motorcycle for a snow blower that goes goes from 0 to 3 MPH in 10 seconds.

For two-wheeled motorcyclists a 382 mile trip is quite doable but can still be a challenging trip when crossing the high plains and mountains. Only the dumbest people would do such a lengthy trip two-up on a mini bike though. If you recall that's what exactly happened in the movie Dumb and Dumber with the shows two main characters, Lloyd Christmas (played by Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (played by Jeff Daniels).

But if the mini bike scene in the movie isn't funny enough for you, what would happen if you made this same trip from the plains of Nebraska to Aspen, Colorado for real? That's exactly what Zack Courts and Ari Henning did in a YouTube video for RevZilla and Common Thread XP.

As some of you already know, I ride a Can-Am Spyder which is a motorcycle that is a inverse trike (two wheels in front, one wheel in back). Unfortunately, I live in South Dakota where the climate around here isn't too favorable for riding from November through March. By this time of year it's not too uncommon to see snow on the roads or temperatures well below freezing.

The normal high temperature for Sioux Falls this time of year is 37 deg F. But yesterday was a different story as afternoon temperatures on December 1, 2021 reached to a high of 61 deg F. I took advantage of these warmer temperatures by riding my Spyder at the end of my workday through downtown Sioux Falls and Falls Park as sunset approached.

With snow on the ground and long stretches of subzero temperatures, I wasn't sure I was going to get in a motorcycle ride for the month of February. Then on the second to last day of this short month, the temperatures rose to the lower-mid 40s and the roads were mainly dry. That was good enough for me as I took my 2017 Spyder RT out for a 20 mile ride from home to downtown Sioux Falls. 

As I write this blog entry, I just completed shoveling a couple inches of snow from my driveway. The streets and the lawns are covered with a new fresh layer of white snow from our latest winter storm. Earlier last week, knowing that new snow and colder temperatures were fast approaching, I decided to take my Can-Am Spyder for a spin on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2021. The trip was short with only 18 miles for the round trip to and from work but I was all smiles the entire time I rode my three-wheeler.

This time of year, we're always on a roller coaster ride of weather with a mixture of winter and spring often rolled into one week. The past several days was no exception, with temperatures in the early week reaching highs in the 50s, 60s, and even 70s but this morning greeting us South Dakotans with temperatures in the teens.

But for the warmer days, they're perfect days to pull the motorcycle out of the garage, dust it off, and go for a ride. Every time I get on a motorcycle (or bicycle) this time of year, I'm just grateful that summer is approaching and have the opportunity to once again enjoy the open road.