Formerly a college English and Communications Skills teacher, he has authored a college text book on Travel and Tourism and a biographical novel. His literary works have been published in newspapers, as well as national and international magazines.
A motorcycle rider for over 45-years he now specializes in Harley-Davidson sales at Black Hills H-D and writing, focusing on motorcycle rides across America with particular interest in local history. He has served on the South Dakota Tourism Advisory Board, is a past president of the Keystone Chamber of Commerce and the South Dakota Campground Owner's Association, and was the Public Relations Director and instructor at National American University. An Army veteran he was an international travel writer for the U.S. Army being published regularly in magazines and the European Edition of Stars and Stripes. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for excellence in journalism.
Mitchell has been a national motivational speaker specializing in Employee Retention and Motivation always with a motorcycle twist. He once rode a motorcycle into a banquet room before giving a presentation. His goal is to write a "You Are Here" motorcycle riding series with Black Hills Motorcycle RIDES being his flagship book. He combines a unique blend of "nuts and bolts" logic with a mix of humor and a keen insight into local history and the motorcycle riding experience.
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| TUFF ENOUGH |
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| TUFFER |
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I got my first bike, a Triumph 650, before I was old enough to drive. It only ran on one cylinder and cost $90. When I figured out how to make it run on both cylinders my dad made me sell it, telling me I could only have a one-cylinder bike. Maybe he was thinking a mo-ped. I found a BSA 500 one-lunger which satisfied dad's specs and would run circles around the Triumph.
I took my first Black Hills motorcycle trip on a brand spanking new Honda 250 Dream as a still wet behind the ears 18-year old. That was early August, 1966. While riding through Sturgis I noticed several hundred bikes in the Sturgis City Park and curiously pulled in to see what was shakin'. With the exception of a few years in the Army I've been riding the Black Hills ever since and have punched my ticket each year at the world's greatest motorcycle rally and races.
I've always been a student of American frontier history, especially history of the Black Hills Gold Rush. And I've always ridden a motorcycle through these pages of history telling people I met about the beauty and history of the Black Hills. So, being a journalist, a Black Hills historian and a motorcycle rider it only stands to reason that sooner or later this book would emerge from the experiences. I was convinced Black Hills Motorcycle RIDES needed to be written five years ago when I came to work for Black Hills Harley-Davidson. I soon became the "go to guy" when we were asked the same question by thousands of riders: Where do we ride? What should we see? Where do you ride? Five years later, hundreds of hours of reading everything I could get my hands on regarding Black Hills History and The Black Hills Motorcycle Classic, hundreds of conversations with riders and historians, then finally riding each of these rides dozens of times and even walking some of the curves over and over again to get the feel, and finally sharing this all with riders who come into our store and to the Black Hills by the hundreds of thousands for the rally, Black Hills Motorcycle RIDES became a natural.
I was asked once what I felt was one of my life's most satisfying professional achievements. When I wore a younger man's clothes it might have been something different--maybe some superlative happening, but as my life's experiences come together I'd have to say it was writing, researching and compiling the input of hundreds of riders in putting together this book and in a realistic daily sense selling Harley's and personally changing people's lives 'one bike at a time'. I'll never get tired of introducing seasoned and first-timers to the riding experience.
The bottom line is "riders love to ride". What better way to communicate with fellow riders than to share the ride with them and Black Hills Motorcycle RIDES was born. I have to thank my fantastic fellow employees at Black Hills Harley-Davidson for putting up with me throughout all this. But they are riders and understand. On that first trip to the Black Hills over 45-years ago I stopped at the Wasta rest area just 40-miles from the Black Hills. I was looking at a big map on the wall covered in plastic. There was a big red arrow pointing to this very spot. Next to the arrow in bold black letters it said, "YOU ARE HERE!" I was excited. I could see the Hills in the distance, Harney Peak standing guard over the horizon. I was on my bike, loaded down and eager to move on much like the Gold Rush Black Hill's '76'rs must have been 135 years ago....and much like the thousands of people who ride to this motorcycle Mecca every year. That is the theme of Black Hills Motorcycle RIDES and any other future books I may write on motorcycle riding---You Are Here--The Black Hills. Lets Ride! |
