To Sturgis and Back or: How I Rode to the Biggest Land Pirate Rally in the World

Ah, the open road :-)

So I know for a lot of you who personally know me as well as having mentioned it in an earlier post, I was going to be going to the salt flats in Utah.  Well, plans changed slightly and then they changed a bunch again and my whole trip turned into a trip to Sturgis, South Dakota.  So, sadly, no Salt Flats this year, but boy oh boy what a trip it turned out to be!

Our first day of riding started on Wednesday at 3:30PM.  I met up with a friend of mine and his wife at the Dairy Queen down in town and we took off to link up with another rider at the Harley shop in Lebanon, MO.  After that it was a hard ride to Clinton to pick up two more riders and then we were off to Sturgis!  We hit Kansas City around 830PM and stopped for a photo op with the whole group and to gas up.  Our original plan was to try and push to Sioux City or Sioux Falls, but we felt it better to stop sooner than that.  It was probably a good idea since we were pretty beat. 
Now, normally I’m not a fan of riding in the evening and really only ride long distances and on the highway at night if I must, but this time out on the road it wasn’t so bad.  The cool air felt refreshing and the blinking lights of the LED kits on JD and Steve’s bikes were quite entertaining to watch as they looked like low flying UFOs on the open road We finally pulled off near Council Bluffs and called it a night.

After a night’s rest we were back on the road again, riding hard and enjoying the wind in our hair!  Riding without a helmet ,while for obvious reasons is inherently more dangerous than with a helmet (sort of), is incredibly liberating.  Riding a motorcycle through the open country is of itself freeing and when you can experience it as it was when motorcycling was at the height of it’s heyday, the experience is all the more intensified.  We rolled and roared down the open highway of Iowa and pushed hard for South Dakota.  I was absolutely amazed by the views.  I know they talk about Montana being “Big Sky Country,” but I think that Iowa and South Dakota are fairly big on lots of open sky!

I took the opportunity to utilize the wide open road and fairly sparse traffic to do a little cinematography with the group and using my GoPro HERO3 I lane split (pre-coordinated with the group of course so we wouldn't have any awkward surprises) up between our little group to catch them all on film.  It turned out OK.  It definitely could use some editing.  I definitely need to get more practice using the cameras so I can find the best possible camera positions on the bike to catch the rides I take at various points.  Then I'll be able to snip out the scenes that I think look best and stitch them together to create fun videos to capture my adventures!










We stopped in Wall South Dakota at the Badlands Harley Davidson for a while and got t-shirts and checked things out.  They had a huge selection of t-shirts and other merch but what attracted my eye the most was the very early Knucklehead and the old Flathead Servi-car.  Talk about cool old bikes!  That Knuckle is a legend!   Soon after we finished looking around, we were back on the bikes and riding hard once again. 

South Dakota was amazing.  The Badlands were so visually stunning that it is almost impossible for me to adequately describe what I saw and how it impacted me.  The plateaus, mesas, and bluffs in the distance were breath taking.  Words simply can’t begin to describe the expansiveness and the beauty in that.  Unfortunately my GoPro was experiencing some technical issues, specifically a broken mount and I really couldn’t get it positioned how I would have preferred until later on in the trip.

We arrived st Sturgis late Thursday afternoon and checked in at the campsite at Sturgis View.  The view of the Black Hills from our campsite was amazing!  We could literally see for miles!

Our  campsite.  The group from Denmark is off on the right

The campsite was clean and the staff was friendly and so were our temporary neighbors!  We camped next to a group of folks from Denmark!  They were pretty awesome.  I furthered US international relations with them by passing around my flasks of Catdaddy Moonshine and Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey moonshine!  Peter, one of the cats from Denmark, had traveled to the US with his best friend, his girlfriend and his parents for a six week motorcycle trip covering over 4000 miles.  They shipped their bikes from Denmark to Minneapolis so they could ride their own machines instead of renting.  Peter and his girlfriend were rolling on a 1940's Panhead/Knucklehead hybrid and his buddy Stephen was rolling his beautifully restored '72 Shovel.  Peter's girlfriend actually preferred riding on the Bobber's passenger seat to their father's Road King.  I've been following Peter on Facebook and he has some really neat shots that he is posting from his trip so far.  That night I hung out in the Campground's cantina and drank a couple of beers with Peter, his mom and Stephen and one of the guys from my group.  We had a great evening of talking and telling funny stories as well as talking about our respective countries.  It was great to be able to connect to folks from so far away through a common love of motorcycling!

Peter 's Bobber (Left) and Stephen's Shovel (Right)

Friday morning we arose and headed into Black Hills Harley Davidson to check out the vendors and displays.  We had breakfast there and walked around for a while.  I ended up getting my ECM flashed/tuned while there. 

After checking out the sights and sounds and wears being plied by the merchants and snake oil salespeople we headed into town to check out the spectacle that is Sturgis.  Holy cow.  Just, holy cow.  It's the largest land pirate convention in the world.  The streets of downtown Sturgis were filled with both man and machine.  Street vendors, t-shirt and trinket stands, food and booze stands lined the streets as thousands of motorcyclists and bikers hung out and talked.  It was a zoo!  People and motorcycles everywhere!  It was something that I am glad I was able to see and I won't soon forget. 

The Streets of Hill City

Once we had finished taking in the sights and sounds as well as smells of the town of Sturgis and ate our fill at the Knuckle Saloon we hit the pavement and beat feet back to our rides.  From Sturgis it was North to Deadwood (yep same place from the show, just y'know... modern day...) and the "ring route" that went around part of the Black Hills with stops at Hill City, Rapid City and Lead.  We stopped in Hill City (if I remember correctly) to get out of the torrential downpour that had plagued us as soon as we hit Deadwood.  It rained on us the entire time we were on the ring route and didn't stop until we found ourselves at Deadwood again. While in Hill City we stopped for coffee and pie and checked out a gold store there on the strip.  We shared a lot of laughs about the crazy volume of rain that was keeping other visitors as well as residents under the awning that ran most of the sidewalk.  Cold, wet, and tired we rode back to camp and called it an evening.  I rolled dice for quarters in the bar until late that night hanging out with a few patrons and enjoying a couple of Redd's Apple Ales and a small personal pizza since we didn't stop for food anywhere.

The next morning upon waking we began to break camp.  We watched Peter stroll out of his tent in his briefs, kick start his bobber and then with a smile and a wave, ride off.  It was rather amusing.  Europeans definitely have a different way of doing things, aww hell it was Sturgis, I'm fairly certain that just about everyone there had a different way of doing things!  Once we were packed up hit left the campsite and headed for the highway to go see Mount Rushmore.

We stopped in a little "town" that was below the monument and got breakfast there.  We took advantage of the buffet and ate heartily because we knew we would be making minimal stops after we got out of Rushmore and our follow on destination the Crazy Horse monument.  It was a pretty ride up to the park's entrance and we stopped along the way to snap a few pictures just prior to the entrance.  When we got to the gate we were told it was eleven dollars and the tag would last us all year.  I guess if I get a wild hair up my arse before the year is out I can always go back to Mount Rushmore!!  We continued up to the parking deck and proceeded up to the viewing area.  the monument looks SO small from the viewing area.  Logically you know and understand it's monumental size, but perspective really throws you for a loop! 

 Myself and JD snagged some ice cream in waffle cones and proceeded to take some silly shots which you can see here on this page.  After snapping the pictures of me with my ice cream in front of the monument I was approached by a couple of guys who thought it was a great idea and wanted to know if they could borrow my cone.  Ahh sure, why the hell not!  Laughs were had by one and all and everyone got silly pictures and all was well with the world!

After finishing up at Rushmore, we loaded back up and headed for the Crazy Horse Monument.  If you can tell from the scale of the photo, the mountain inthe background that they are carving the CH Monument out of is MASSIVE.  Once complete, it will be so large that the Rushmore monument would actually be able to fit inside Crazy Horse's head.  It is currently the largest sculpture in the world.  If you take a look at the photo of the small sculpture you can see how it will look in profile once completed.

 It will be very impressive to say the least.  Once we finished up at Crazy Horse, it was time to begin our journey home.  Due to some unforeseen circumstances popping up at home with one of the folks in our group we had to cut our ride short by a couple of days.  Even still it was a great trip non the less!

 The rest of the ride home through Wyoming and Nebraska was fairly unremarkable, yet at the same time beautiful.  Vast stretches of arid land and prairies as well as cornfields dotted much of our ride back to Missouri.
The call of the open road is a powerful thing and once you have danced with her it will always be there for it will permanently etch itself upon your soul and entrench itself in your heart.  Journeys like these will move you to the very core of your being. They will test you, they will amaze you, make you laugh and make you cry.  To stand next to your machine by the open road and look out into the distance where the asphalt seems to disappear miles away and in your mind's eye you can see and feel and hear the rush of the wind and the world that is about to wash over your senses is to truly know and touch true freedom.  So point

your forks down that painted ribbon that winds it's way through the heart of this great land and go forth.  Feel the rush of the wind and acceleration, hear the roar of your engine speeding you along.  Take in and see the great beauty of this land we call home!