We picked our time: late morning on a Tuesday. A perfectly lovely kinda day, so we knew a LOT of the crowd would be out riding - taking in Mt Rushmore, over to Devil's Tower, off to Deadwood. A good time for us to ride to Sturgis, get some video going down Main Street, and get off and walk around a bit.
It worked out pretty much like we planned. The numbers getting tossed around this year sound like this will be the biggest Rally yet. This was a good time to come, for those of us who tend to be a bit crowd aversive.
I shot a lot of video, from riding through town to walking Main Street. Then, on to a ride up Vanocker Canyon. Down Nemo Road. Out Norris Peak Road, and back into Rapid City via Rimrock Highway. We stopped at Canyon Lake Park for a picnic - it was too crowded to find a place to spread out food in Sturgis.
I'll be working on the video this evening.
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Here's the video...
If you aren't feeling like seeing it almost in person via the video, here are some stills (screen captures)...
4 comments:
As a long time motorcycle rider (now retired from riding) I live vicariously through your Sturgis reports and footage. It's almost like I'm there, but don't have to wear ear plugs for the loud pipes. We've flown in to the Oshkosh Air Show, but never made it to Sturgis for the rally. I almost went about six years ago riding along with our next door neighbor, but I could not get away from work that long.
Hi Earl. Sturgis is one of those "bucket list" things for a lot of people. The video shows a glimpse of what it is like, but really should be experienced at least once... like Mardi Gras, the Oshkosh Fly-In, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, or the Super Bowl. It is a mass of people, but so much more than that. Having lived in the Black Hills (Sturgis and Spearfish), you were immersed in it whether you wanted to be or not. Fortunately for us, we, too, are long-time riders. It can become a sensory overload, though.
The riding (anywhere in the Hills) is less fun during the Rally, just because of the sheer number of bikes on the roads. More fun for us before and after the Rally for the riding experience.
Thanks for the kind words. How's the shoulder doing?
Best wishes,
Jim
The shoulder is pretty good, as good as it ever will be again. 2½ years post surgery, a year of PT, and diligent home exercises almost daily. Our massage therapist got in deep and released some trigger points in FEB and that has helped regain better mobility more than anything else. For reference, I'd gladly take another knee replacement over shoulder surgery any time. Shoulders are no fun AT ALL. This injury and rehab played a major role in my decision to give up riding, although I still feel the call sometimes.
Alice is really enjoying her retirement. She is now involved in two community orchestras plus a flute quintet with some really good players. Starting today she will be participating in the National Flute Association virtual US convention all weekend, followed by two days of jazz flute virtual workshops with a nationally known player. (We both went to the last in-person flute convention in Salt Lake City in 2019). No grass growing under her feet.....
Sturgis is still on my bucket list for "someday", but we would plan on hitting the shoulder days on one end or the other, not the thick of the rally itself.
And Rufus IS a good boy. :-)
Hi Earl - Glad to hear the shoulder is doing well. For the first year after the new hip, every step was still painful; these days I don't think about it much, so I guess that is a good sign.
Regarding Sturgis: there are certainly folks who come there without a bike, but that cruise down Main Street is part of the "event" for me. I guess I am more jaded now - not much about the Rally raises an eyebrow for me these days. Still, I enjoy the people watching.
Sounds like Alice is one of those who can say, "I don't know how I had time to work, after retiring."
Best wishes to you two,
Jim, Joan, and Rufus ('cause he's a good boy)
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