Vespa in Sturgis...

OK, not just my Vespa, but Joan's PCX, too.

An absolutely gorgeous day - we were ready to head out around 10:00 am...

Yes, an "over all" look at the Vespa, with the new Corbin seat (above).

Heading towards Highway 16...

We stopped for gas in Rapid City, then headed for Nemo Road - other than the town parts of today's ride, it is all great curvy roads...

That is the community of Nemo in the photo above.  There was surprisingly little traffic on Nemo Road.  From Nemo, we turned onto Vanocker Canyon Road, heading for Sturgis...

We stopped for some hydration and time for me to set up the action cam...

Rolling into Sturgis...

For us, this routing is better than doing the Interstate (avoid much of the "slab traffic") - and more fun.   The "official" Sturgis sign gets some attention...

It is a mile or so from the Interstate intersection to the "world famous Main Street" - along the way...

You don't have to bring a Harley to Sturgis: you can rent one right here.  No, we didn't stop to check rates.

There was some discussion on one of the forums where I participate: "You aren't taking your Vespa to Sturgis, are you???"  Yep.  And a Honda PCX.  Yes, Harleys are the main brand represented here (by a huge margin)... you have to be sure of yourself to roll into Sturgis on a Vespa and a Honda scooter.  ;-)

We had to stop for a bit to let the ambulance roll past - someone is not having a good day...

And, Main Street in Sturgis...

And some stills...

Bikes are parked on either curb and two deep down the middle of the street.  This is a small portion of the people who are here: you just can physically fit 500,000 people and bikes on a 4 or 5 block stretch of a small town.  But, this is what everyone comes to see.

There was some discussion about "park and walk" and the decision was made to keep riding.  From Main Street, we turned off and got into the "conga line" on Lazelle (one of the two main drags in Sturgis)...

This was more of a traffic jam than Main Street - it is hard to make a right turn at the stoplight because of all the pedestrian traffic.

There are vendors of all kinds lining both sides of the street for blocks - if you want a sound system for your bike, LED lights to replace your headlight, "glow lights" for under your bike, leathers, a life-time supply of Sturgis T-shirts, food, beer, tattoos, pins, patches, and just about anything else a proper biker needs - this is the place.  This booth even demonstrates the proper way to wear chaps in Sturgis...

Proof that I was there, on a Vespa...

We managed to make our right turn, and headed south.  Just before leaving town, we stopped for lunch...

Joan suggested Arby's.  Yes, instead of Rally food.  It turned out to be a smart decision: air conditioning and a place to sit; unlimited soda; reasonably clean bathrooms.  Most of the Rally food vendors have no place for you to sit, and Joan said, "I am beyond sitting on the curb to eat."  Makes sense, and the food was decent.  It is on the "other side" of the Interstate, and isn't getting all the drive-by traffic.  It was nice to eat without all the "roar," and without having to wait.

From there, it was back through Vanocker Canyon...

Yes, the traffic has picked up just a bit from this morning.  We did manage to come across the occasional bit of uncrowded road...

We turned the other direction at Nemo, taking Nemo Road to Highway 385...

Compared to Sturgis, this was pretty light traffic.  Again, picked routing based on having been through the Rally a bunch of times.  We knew Sturgis would be packed earlier this week, with people just arriving; it was a good time for us to do Iron Mountain Road and the southern Hills.  Today, the weather was gorgeous, so we expected a lot of people would be heading to other parts of the Hills.  It all played out for us.

We stopped at Lake Pactola for another break, even found a nice biker lady to take our photo...

Down 385 to Sheridan Lake Road.  We stopped to fuel up on that road at an uncrowded gas station.  Yeah, we gassed up twice today: I figure we did about 130 to 140 miles today.  Both fill-ups for me were over 85mpg... yes, Joan's PCX blows that away.  It is good to put the scoots away with a full tank, for our next outing.

When we got home, Rufus was excited to see us...

We put the scoots on the patio, knowing they would need to be cleaned...

Between the northern part of Nemo Road and Highway 385, I thought I felt rain drops... nope, it was zillions of little flying bugs.  They plastered our windshields and the face shields on our helmets.  Oh, and my camera was "in the wind," too...

I have a waterproof case for it... zero percent chance of rain today.  It would have worked well as a "bug proof case," too.  All together now: "Ewwwwwwww!"

We didn't see a lot of people wearing helmets today... yes, we did.  Glad to have that windshield and the face shield.

More Rufus in the next post.