It's interesting to go to Sturgis before the crowds roll in. The vendors are still in the setting up process; those who are set up are very attentive as a potential customer walks into their tent... a week from now, they will be ass-deep in people wanting a T-shirt, and the customer attention will be a bit different. We have a "shopping list": a Rally shirt each, and I would like a helmet slick (a beanie type thing to put on your head before you put your helmet on - it allows the helmet to slide on easier and keeps your head sweat from skanking up the helmet liner).
Getting ready to head out...
Rolling...
Rolling through a bit of Rapid City to get to the good roads...
It is about 30 miles from Hart Ranch to Sturgis. If you take the "secret back roads," you can cut that down to about 60 miles... and get in some truly great riding. OK, it isn't really a secret: once in Rapid City, go out Rimrock Highway to Norris Peak Road; take that to Nemo Road; take a right on Vanocker Canyon Road, and that takes you into Sturgis. It is fun to ride these roads before the crazy Rally traffic arrives. As you can see in the following photos, there is almost no traffic...
These roads are different from riding Iron Mountain Road and going through Custer State Park in the southern Hills - I consider Iron Mountain Road a "must ride" when in the Black Hills, but it is more of a novelty, with the pigtail bridges, one lane tunnels, switch backs, splits, and occasional peeks of Mt Rushmore. On our ride today, the speed limits are higher and the curves are more "sweeping." Oh, this isn't "easier" to ride, if you are doing it right; but you feel the pull as you lean into the corners and accelerate out on the other side. This is about the riding. Probably my favorite roads in the Black Hills (and that is saying a lot).
When you come out of Vanocker Canyon, you are in Sturgis...
The light traffic and empty streets will be a thing of the past in a few days; in the meantime, we get to enjoy this...
We parked the scoots and walked around town. Less than half of the vendors are set up, but we had lots to pick from and could take our time looking around...
Sturgis is all about this week coming up. There are statues here and there that convey what the Rally started out as...
That tent in the photo above is one of many set up all around town; the other 50 weeks of the year, that is an empty lot. Walking through town before it is a jungle of vendors, we both commented that town looks good. In a few days, it will be a sea of humanity in black t-shirts, and then 10 days later, it will look like Chernobyl after the meltdown: vendors packing up as fast as they can to get out of town and get to the next event. There will be a lot of empty store fronts.
After finding what we wanted, we went to the Loud American Roadhouse for lunch. I am a big fan of their steak tips, Joan went for a grilled chicken sandwich. There will be all kinds of food booths set up around town - it was nice to get a table outside today and watch the light traffic flow by.
Then, time for us to head out...
We'll probably come up again sometime during the Rally, if we feel the need to see the crowds. This is the 79th Rally... some people are saying the crowds will be lighter because some people will be waiting for the 80th next year. Like it makes a difference? Well, maybe it does... we were here for the 50th when the crowds went from 40 to 50 thousand to over 300,000 that year. They've gotten bigger since, with most years in the 600 to 700 thousand range. Any way you look at it, it is a LOT of people, a lot of motorcycles, and a lot of business being done. As we walked by the "T-shirt Lady's corner" on Junction and Lazelle, we talked about when she was the only one in town selling Rally t-shirts back then (in the 70s). It was before the Buffalo Chip Campground and all the other Rally campgrounds - most people camped in the city park. Remind me to tell you about why they closed the city park to camping during the Rally and how the guy who first imagined the Buffalo Chip changed the Rally.
I didn't take many photos on the way home; just enjoyed the riding...
I may be making an understatement when I say the riding was spirited...
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