Friday, August 7, 2009

Sturigs: T-shirts and lack there of

    For the last couple of days people we meant kept asking us if we were going to the rally. What is this rally to which they keep referring? Sturgis.

     Yes Sturgis, the small humble town of 6000. However, for a week in August it hosts the worlds largest motorcycle rally. Over 500,000 bikers from all over the globe converge in the middle of the Black Hills to do what bikers do. And what is it that they do? From what we saw they park their bikes on Main St. then go shopping for things that say Sturgis on them. 
    It was a little less exciting than what I imagined it to be. There were a lot of nice bikes, but it seemed like Halloween for motorcycle enthusiast. Everyone was dressed up as a biker or a biker babe. You could tell that 99% of the people in attendance never dressed like this except at Sturgis. Guys are tough and act the role to prove themselves to each other? Most of the women there wore the typical biker babe attire, within a functional purpose. Then there were the gals who wore pasties, chaps with underwear only,........you can get the picture from there. What if you fall off of a motorcycle wearing that? You would be lucky to have half of your skin left if the fall was bad enough. It was petty ridiculous. Other attractions included wet T-shirt contests, beauty pageants, burn-out contests, and rock concerts with "awesome" bands like Aerosmith and Korn
     Guess what! Steven Tyler fell off stage during his bands set while trying to entertain the crowd after the sound system failed temporarily. His groupies were supposed to catch him, (so we heard from a local here in Rapid City) but the message didn't make it to them somehow. He fell several feet and suffered neck, head, and shoulder injuries and was life-flighted out to the nearest hospital. That is hilarious!!! I don't hate Steven Tyler, and hopefully the fall didn't seriously injure him, but the image of a sixty-something year old rocker of skeletal thinness with a ginormous mouth flailing around stage, then falling off the side is too much! Sturgis would have been completely worth it if we had been at the Aerosmith show. 
    We could only handle so much of Sturgis and left after a full day and night of gawking at the spectacle. 
     Before we had even got as far a Sturgis we spent half a day in Deadwood. Its a very nice looking historic town tucked away in the Black Hills, in a small valley. If you like to gamble then Deadwood is a great place. I'm not the biggest fan, but we both played the penny slots for a little while just to test our luck. Ryan won $8.00 and I won $13.00. At least we came out on top. We also happened to be there on the anniversary of Wild Bill's death. The bar he was shot in still survives to this day, but all the historical glamour it once had has been replaced with gambling machines and modern casino amenities. It's nothing special anymore.
     South Dakota is normally very hot this time of year, but like the rest of the nation the weather has been abnormal. Two nights ago, Ryan and I sat watching incredible lightening bolts illuminate the sky during a rain storm. We were camped right off of Hwy. 90 in a big field ten miles outside of Rapid City. We sat under our tarp huddled up together in the rain watching the bolts flash brilliant against the clouds. The sky filled with oranges and pinks behind the sheets of grey clouds and downpour. That was more fun than pasties and lots of exhaust fumes.

Ryan and Allegra 
       

                                                Pride of America.
      Legs at the custom bike show during Sturgis.
          Custom motorcycle with an airplane engine.
                        Classy viking style motorcycle helmet.....very classy.
                                Thousands of motorcycles...
                                       Rat, on a cat, on a dog.
             Another picture of Sturgis motorcycle rally.
           We stopped into check out the scene of the shooting.
                                           Magnum P.I.'s car.
                                  Deadwoood, South Dakota.
                   Life-size bronze statute of Wild Bill Hickock.
                      View of Deadwood from Hwy. 85.

           Could the welcoming committee be a little more cornier?  I love great faces and great   places."Thumbs up!!!"

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