Our pal Murph has arrived from points north and has joined our little travel party for the duration. By pure coincidence, all three of us ride the same make, year and model of motorcycle, the venerable (to Metric bike riders, at least) Yamaha Roadliner, a 1900 cc behemoth that pulls like a train and can stop on a dime (two cliches for the price of one). Murph is pulling a camper behind his bike, a two-wheeled clamshell-design trailer that features a bed, awning, and even a patio. He also brought a case of beer, which we thought might come in handy yesterday as we got to pondering our options in the face of a relentless series of thunderstorms and rain showers that had us holed up here in the very non-biker hotel, the Hampton Inn in Rapid City. (Incidentally, even in this bastion of middle-class business travellers and vacationing families, there is a sense of excitement among the hotel staff who are planning a bike wash today (redundant, most likely, given the weather) and will be opening a cash bar this afternoon.) But before we closed the door on riding by opening the beer fridge door too often, we decided to brave the elements and make the 50 km run to Sturgis. The rain gods frowned upon our insolence and tried to disuade our progress, but to no avail as we endured the downpour and soon found ourselves amongst the throngs in the epicentre of the rally. Most vendors are now in full swing and the bars and restaurants are seeing a substantial increase in customer traffic. Bike traffic will be immense over the next few days as this small town of 6,500 will host more than 400,000 bikes by the end of the weekend. The hotels and campgrounds within a fifty kilometre radius and beyond are already witnessing the swell of two-wheeled tourists, and the highways are becoming more packed with RVs of every description, many of them 40+ footers with every amenity known to humankind. Open and closed trailers abound, some with as many as three bikes aboard. A popular vest patch in Sturgis says "I rode mine to Sturgis 2013." Small compensation in the face of the prospect of the two and a half-day ride home, but a badge of pride and honour no less!
The rise of the three-wheeler in bikerdom is well in evidence, with many $40,000 (before any mods!) Harley trikes and equally expensive Honda Gold Wings cruising the main drags along Main and Lazelle streets. As of today it will be motorcycles only in town with other vehicular traffic banished to the outer limits.
Despite the dour predictions of meteorologists (and they call economics the dismal science!), we enjoyed many hours of sunshine and warm weather as return on our brave travel investment. No visit to Sturgis is complete without having a pint at One-Eyed Jacks, our second sojourn there in two days. Bars in the region enjoy iconic status, with their names and logos emblazoned on thousands of t-shirts: Full Throttle Saloon, the Buffalo Chip, Broken Spoke Saloon, all enormous establishments. We rode out to the Chip to check on concert ticket availability and prices. The scope and status of entertainers playing in the Black Hills during the rally rivals what you might find in any of the entertainment capitals of North America. Who's in town? Just Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Travis Tritt, Toby Keith, and The Doobie Brothers to name but a few. Tickets at the Buffalo Chip campground were reasonably priced at $72 a head for mainline acts that also feature less-famous opening acts in a six-hour marathon of music and partying.
As I mentioned before, the hospitality and friendliness of local folks and travellers is remarkable. And there is, unsurprisingly, no shortage of characters. Whilst taking in the sights and sounds at the Full Throttle Saloon,
we had the opportunity to meet "Little Girl," an adorable chihuahua who "just loves to dress up in biker gear" according to her 'Mom'. I scooped a pic of her in her biker goggles and vest, and her mom told me in return I have to "like" her Facebook page. And I would have done just that, but you try searching for "little girl" on Facebook- be lucky if the U.S. National Security Administration doesn't make a personal call after they see the metadata.
The journey continues.
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