Sept. 10, 2000
Well, taking us back to the 8th of August when I was complaining (sort of) about the sound of the motorcycles..........
We hung around South Dakota mostly to pick up at least some of the 60th Black Hills Annual Motorcycle Rally and Races. Sometimes simply known as "Sturgis." In the fall (August) it's Sturgis and in the spring (March} it's Daytona Beach. Been riding motorcycles for years and never attended any kind of a rally, so we might as well start with the biggest one, now that we have the smallest of all motorcycles and aren't doing any serious riding.
And that was pretty much the scene wherever we went within about a 100 mile radius of Sturgis.
And this is why we could hear the motorcycles so easily. I can't imagine how the folks in the pop-up camper parked behind the garage got any sleep at all, what with their fabric sides. That's highway I-90 with the bikes on it, and of course there's more than a few big trucks on that highway as well. We sure were grateful to the people who owned the land for letting us park there. We were only about 4 miles from Sturgis, and that was real handy. The price was right, too. And they were real friendly which was a bonus, even brought us blueberry muffins one morning!
On the left is the street we used to get home, and on the right is a bit further down I-90 from the Road Abode showing another ad-hoc campground.
On the left we have one of the racing events. FLASH. Fully Legal All Street Harley racing. The bikes have to be street legal and have to make a 70 mile ride before being allowed to race. There were stone stock bikes and some pretty hot bikes as well. On the right we have a full-race Honda going against a full-race Kawasaki. First time in the 60 years of the Sturgis rally that any non-Harley raced on this track. These guys were just for show, and the Kawi beat the Honda every time by just a little. Then one of the FLASH Harley guys challenged the Honda and really beat him bad. The Harley was doing 120 MPH at the finish of the 1/8 mile run! That's pretty quick for a street legal bike!!
Remember Gene Reed and his wife Gladys that we met in Grand Rapids? Well, Gene's son-in-law was going to be racing his bike and Gene asked if we'd find him and say hello. When I took the picture of the pro-race Harley doing a burnout on the left, I didn't know that the son-in-law was in the picture as well because at this point we'd not met. That's him in the black shirt, with a friend on his left. I knew the fellow was a Christian, and there were several of the racers that I talked to who knew him, but nobody knew where he was. Finally, as the testing was about to finish, I spotted a fellow on the fence with some kind of a Christian slogan on his T-shirt. He not only knew the son-in-law, but told me that he was the next guy to race. What fun. We got to get some of the "inside" scoop on the timing light malfunction (which eventually killed the whole event, again a history first) and all kinds of things because these guys were so friendly and helpful. Great fun for us.
On the left is a street legal Harley going off against one of the pro bikes. On the right is proof that this racing stuff is a pretty serious business. Right.
In the parking lot across from the H-D truck they had some kids doing some pretty fancy stuff off the ramp and down the dirt. Made my hands sweat. Motocross racers are nuts!
I hope the detail of these pictures comes out for you. Gene and Gladys were kind enough to play tour-guide one afternoon. One of the greatest things we saw was a place called "The Prairie Edge." In addition to a lot of great art and Indian artifacts was this paper art. It's not paper-mache. It's hand-made paper put over a mold. The stunning minute detail is incredible. The eagle on the right is from the upper right hand corner of the big picture. Over the tent. Price tag on this 5' x 9' piece of art was $48,000!
OK. So South Dakota is a land of extremes. On the left is some more paper detail (and the rifle was accurate!) and on the right is some more local "art." The pump, of course, was non-functional.
Well, every trip has its high points. On the left is the highest point in the Black Hills that Gene and Gladys were kind enough to take us to so we could get a view of Grand Rapids which really was grand. On the right is the "Oh Boy Oberto." Shades of "home"! Now, why an unlimited hydro was going through Sturgis is a story I never did get. Sorry.
Yellowstone is next!