Sturgis...

 

Yeah, it has been a long build-up, but the Rally is on.  A nice change of weather today: a bit of rain overnight, overcast this morning, and a predicted high in the low 70s - a welcome relief after all the hot weather.  A good day to make a run to Sturgis - I can wear a mesh jacket and not melt.

I made breakfast on the griddle, took Rufus for a walk, cleaned up, then geared up to head out.  Joan wanted to make a grocery run, so a solo trip for me.

I took the Interstate to get there; plenty of bikes and other traffic between Rapid City and Sturgis.  I pulled off the Interstate at Exit 32 and got in the traffic heading for downtown.  Yes, I put a 360 camera on the bike, so there will be video of Main Street.

Perhaps because I have made a few runs there in the past month, but now that the Rally is in full swing, it seems packed.  Perhaps the weather is keeping people on Main Street?  I set out on Main Street with a 360 camera to capture a slice of Rally life on Main Street.

I walked around a bit, shooting mostly bikes and people watching.  And shot a LOT of video.  I'll put a few still shots here, and the video will happen later.

For those who haven't been to Sturgis during the Rally, it should be a bucket list item.  It is hard to comprehend, even looking at the videos.  The noise is a sensory overload: the roar of the bikes, the music blasting from the bars.  So many bikes, most are a variation on a theme: Harleys make up about 90% of what I saw today; Indian has another 2 or 3%, leaving 2 or 3% for all the other brands combined.  Dressers (bikes with a fairing up front and bags and/or a trunk in back) are by far the most represented, but there are many different types of Harley dressers.

The crowd is friendly and happy; t-shirt sales abound - you have to take home something that shows you were here.  In fact, anything you might want to buy, motorcycle related, you can find here.  I have been known to call it: the world's biggest motorcycle stuff flea market.  Great people watching.

I only walked a couple blocks of Main Street.  The crowd and noise was enough for today - I made my way back to my bike, geared up, and got in the "cha-cha line" to get out of town.  No purchases (we picked up a couple t-shirts over the past month).  The crowd was pretty sedate, but it is early afternoon on a reasonably cool day... things change with the weather.

I'm guessing we'll make another trip this way this next week.  The roads are crowded this week, so you have to entertain yourself in other ways.  In our younger years, we used to do nights in Sturgis (since we were working during the day), but I'm content to be off the roads before the drinking and riding really gets going.

And now, on to editing a bunch of video.