TWO-LANE FREEDOM
TWO-LANE FREEDOM
Round two is already on the calendar. This time it's a father-and-son ride — Niklas & Michael, Tom & Cole — joined by more friends for a loop from Santa Clarita, California to the 87th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, the biggest gathering of riders on the planet, and back.
← See All RidesIf 2024 was about the coast, 2027 is about distance. This loop runs from Santa Clarita out through the deserts and canyons of Nevada and Utah, up to Devils Tower, and into Sturgis, South Dakota for the 87th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally — ten days of racing, live music, and half a million riders in one small town. The way home swings south through Colorado and the Grand Canyon for one last change of scenery before the final run back to California.
This one's personal: it's a father-and-son trip, with Niklas riding alongside Michael and Cole riding alongside Tom, plus a handful of friends joining for the ride. For rally week, the whole group will base out of a vacation home in nearby Deadwood.
A stylized map of the planned loop — out through the desert Southwest, back through the Rockies.
🗺 Open Route in Google MapsEleven stops, out one way and back another, with the rally itself as the centerpiece.
Same starting line as last time — bikes loaded, route set, headed for South Dakota instead of the coast.
The familiar first fuel-and-food stop before the long haul east begins in earnest.
Trading neon for sandstone — the climbs in and out of Zion Canyon are some of the best technical riding in the Southwest.
Wide-open canyon country around Arches National Park, made for cruisers with nowhere to be in a hurry.
An unmistakable monolith on the way north, and a classic staging point for riders converging on the Black Hills from every direction.
The main event, running August 6–15, 2027. Half a million riders, ten days of racing and live music, and the Black Hills at their absolute best. This is what the whole trip is built around.
Home base for rally week: a vacation house on Shirt Tail Gulch Road with a deck looking straight out over the Black Hills — close enough to ride into Sturgis every day, quiet enough to actually get some sleep.
A short ride from Sturgis into the otherworldly rock formations of Badlands National Park before turning back west.
One of the highest paved roads in the country, and a serious change of scenery on the way home.
One last bucket-list stop before the final stretch back to California.
Full circle again. Bikes parked, boots off, and stories that'll last until the next one is planned.
Mileage and stops are an early plan and may shift closer to departure.