The Most Dangerous Day of the Rally...

I have no statistics to back that up - just an observation from years at the Rally.  There is a portion of the crowd that arrives early - the Rally organizers have moved "opening day" to Friday Evening, instead of the way it was for decades: Sunday evening.  Of course, this whole "opening day" is kind moot, because there is nothing organized about people attending the Rally.  It is a giant party, and people wander where they want.  Each major campground has their own concerts, vendors, and amenities.  At some point, most people wander up and down Main Street in Sturgis, but the vendor numbers are so great that they expand all over town.  And, the area.

I consider Thursday (today) the most dangerous day because: those early arrivers have been here almost a week.  They are sleep deprived, numb from the constant roar, fueled by alcohol, wind and sun burned, and are in need of doing something crazy they can talk about when they get home.  They are joined by the new arrivals who are feeling they have "missed out" on some of the party, equally fueled by alcohol, and feeling they have something to prove.  It culminates on Thursday evening.

We decided to make another run to Sturgis today, with timing once again in mind.  We are completely OK if downtown isn't a gridlock, so we left around 9:00 am.  Joan had been doing some map research and found what looks like a good twisty road that we have never been on: Norris Peak Road.

We connected with Norris Peak Road at Johnson Siding, off Rimrock Highway.  It eventually connects with Nemo Road...

This, once again, takes you to the community of Nemo...

This pickup towing a trailer slowed down traffic around Nemo...

From there, it was into Vanocker Canyon...

A video I posted a couple days ago showed an organized ride going the opposite direction from us in Vanocker Canyon - this one is more typical, as we approached Sturgis...

Rolling into the outskirts of Sturgis...

And, back on Main Street...

We found a place to park in the first block...

The loose plan for today is to just wander around on foot a bit.  It was close to 11:00, the crowds were very light.  Joan stopped to check out the official Main Street Photos - way fewer people in the photos...

The shops were seriously uncrowded...

Some general lookin' around...

While the great majority of the T-shirts for sale are emblazoned with "Sturgis" on them, some were just generic...

Seems that every building full of vendors has at least one person sewing on patches...

One Sexy Biker Chick...

It has to be true: it's right there on the front of the building.  Not sure who they sell to the other 50 weeks of the year.  I like this sexy scooter chick...

The obligatory animal (dog) carrier on a bike...

Bikes everywhere...

The photo tower...

There is another at the far end of Main Street - you pay for a couple minutes up there so you can take your own photos.  That, and the fact that everybody carries a phone means less demand for the official Main Street Photo.

We went into the old Armory Building.  People used to come in here and put a pin in the map, showing where they were from.  The vendors in here have it easy: air conditioned, out of the weather, and less roar.  Back on the street...

We passed by the scoots again...

Still there.  We are planning for steaks on the grill at home this afternoon, but decided we should have something light to hold us over.  Domino's Pizza was selling it by the slice...

And, air conditioned comfort, inside seating.  Again, pretty unoccupied inside, over the lunch hour.  Back to the scoots - this guy thought we were on mopeds.  Joan was educating him about the performance...

"80 miles per hour?  What, going over a cliff?"  ;-)

It was too hot to put the jackets back on, but we donned helmets and gloves and make a plan for getting out of town...

A Hell's Angels rider in front of Joan...

A block past that next photo tower, we turned left instead of right.  One block off Main Street and the traffic was pretty slack...

Across Junction Avenue is the Sturgis Harley Davidson dealer.  Well, they don't sell motorcycles, but they sell a bunch of T-shirts...

Heading out of town, the police had a small group of bikes pulled over...

Most likely, ape-hanger handlebars taller than shoulder height.

We decided to do Vanocker Canyon, Nemo Road, and Norris Peak road back...

Parts of Nemo Road were wet - again, our timing was good: if we had left any earlier, we would have been in that rain.  Back onto Norris Peak Road...

And, more rain clouds ahead (above).  We knew we'd be turning east before getting under those clouds.  East on Highway 44 (Rimrock Highway) into Rapid City.  In the hazy sunshine.  Dry.  Joan suggested an ice cream stop, and that sounded good with the 90º heat.

Culver's hit the spot!  We rode up Sheridan Lake Road, stopped to top off our tanks (did another 120 miles or so today), then headed for home.  As we turned onto Highway 16, the black clouds loomed ahead, with lightning and thunder...

Now, the new goal: make it back to Hart Ranch without getting wet.  Another turn to the left before getting under those clouds above.  You could smell the rain, but nothing was falling.  Yet.  We rolled into Hart Ranch and put the scoots into the trailer.  Just before I closed the trailer door, there was another flash of lightning and the thunder clap followed immediately!  That's close!  We could see the rain shafts moving east from us - close enough to drop the temperature and smell it, but we didn't get wet.  Again, good timing.

We aren't looking to go to the rowdy parts of the Rally, but it sure seemed less occupied than the anticipated numbers would have you believe.  It will be interesting to hear what the attendance tallies are.