Rollin' n Rockin'

We put on our Sunday best- i.e., the same jeans, tees and boots- to meet our friends from the Delphi Stratoliner and Roadliner forum at the Powder House Resort in Keystone.  Was great fun to meet folks that we had only conversed with on the forum, though having done so for years:  Rich (RW), Alan (bikrdad) and his wife Sue, Gene (Mid-wester), and the three of us (Caper, hughze and TeeEffEss) had a fine repast and got some pics of the seven Strats and riders for posterity.  Murph and I followed RW to the exit for the Crazy Horse Monument before we bid our final adieus.

Crazy Horse is a must-see, as is the short documentary film shown in the reception centre.  Though not usually inclined to take in such details, we thoroughly enjoyed the story of this ongoing effort to carve Lakota warrior Crazy Horse and his horse (redundancy intended) out of Thunderhead Mountain on private and sacred native lands.  The Crazy Horse Memorial Monument is an awesome tale of persistence, dedication and talent.   When completed, the monument will be 27 metres high; the four busts of Mount Rushmore are, comparatively, 18 metres.

The project began as a discussion in 1929 between a Lakota chief and Korzak Ziolkowski, a sculptor who had worked on Mt Rushmore.  Blasting began in 1948 and will continue likely for several more decades before it is completed.  The project eschews any public funding and has been operated since the sculptor's death thirty years ago by Ziolkowski's wife and ten children.

Later in the evening we rode out to the Full Throttle Saloon on the eastern fringe of Sturgis, where heavy rocker Bret Michaels was headlining on the main stage of the saloon.  Riding into the grounds was a spectacle in itself- 12,000 motorcycles parked on the vast acreage of the property.  (Bartender: last Thursday we had 15,000 bikers here!)

Parking required a bit of dirt-bike riding through the 'back forty' before we made our way into the bar.  The place is simply enormous, large enough that two rock bands played different stages at FULL VOLUME without interfering with one another.   Not unlike  a resort, there are multiple watering holes to accommodate the patrons.  The logistics must be staggering, yet you could buy a drink without even being in a line-up. And not many resorts can boast having a burn-out pit inside the bar.  Full Throttle Saloon is not boasting in its claim of being the "world's largest biker bar."  It might well be simply the world's largest bar!

Sobriety has its advantages, so after this amazing experience of such massive scope in motorcycling and entertainment at the  Full Throttle Saloon, we headed back into town to the Loud American Roadhouse on Main St., where the band Dirty Word had the place jumping.  Wicked guitarists, drummer and vocalists, the band displayed a sensational degree of talent and energy.  As has been the case throughout this road trip, folks were friendly and engaged, and we chatted with riders from all over the US and Canada, including a rider from White Rock, BC, where Murph currently resides.
     
Sturgis SD, home of the world's largest biker rally, is the only place in the world where you can experience this quality of riding, vast list of events and massive entertainment venues on such an unbelievable scale.  No wonder at all that riders converge here from all over the world and return year after year for the same adrenalin rush and sense of rider/biker community that the event entails. Wouldn't have missed this for the world.