Sturgis - Home of the world famous Motorcycle Rally

We drove through the Home of World Famous Motorcycle Rally on a day that there was, not only not a Rally, but nothing going on at all. There wasn't even traffic. THIS is actually a picture of the day we were there:

Since we don't have bikes, and we've only just passed through, and there was nothing going on that day, I'm going to hand the blog over to a guest writer for the day - an expert visitor of the Famous Sturgis! I feel that it'll be better represented by someone who's experienced Sturgis in all of its splendor.

Please give your attention to Corrine!

Bike Week in Sturgis South Dakota, or as many say, "Mecca of Bike Rallies" is held every year the first full week of August ~ an event that was started by the Jackpine Gypsies in 1938 and registered as a State Rally in 1940.

.

Transport back to 1987 - our first year when attendance was about 75,000 bikes. 2 blocks of Main Street were lined with bikes and the streets filled with "Bikers" including the iconic Hells Angels mingling together in the common interest of biking. We spent 3 days taking in the sounds (constant roar of motorcycle engines) the sights (the biker gear ranged from the ordinary leather to the 70-year-old grandmothers in tube tops and daisy dukes!) and of course the bikes (choppers/custom bikes and of course the old "Rat" bikes)

We came home with many stories of our awesome first time experience with plans already in place to attend next year. We stayed by ourselves in a motel in Spearfish the first couple of years and then we found our home away from home at Kemps Kamp in Keystone-Home of Mount Rushmore (www.kempskamp.com/).  It is here we meet our family friend for our annual reunion. We camped with a tent for many years, but have grown up to the comfort of a cabin with indoor plumbing.

Our most memorable year was 1996. Our anniversary just happens to fall during bike week so for our 25th, the owners of the campground and our family friends gave us an anniversary celebration (even had a wedding cake!) with more people attending than we actually had at our wedding. It was a beautiful /loving event.

The year we could have skipped was 1990. That was the year of Sturgis' 50th Anniversary. There were approximately one million people attending which equates to about 750,000 bikes. Today, Sturgis is a town of about 6,500 residents, so in 1990 this town became a major city!!

Traffic on the highway was like driving down a residential street for a good 5 miles from the 2 entrance/exits into town. Main street ran the whole length of the town to accommodate all the bikes and people. The down side - it took 1 hour to do anything (there were many a pee-pee dances going on in front of the numerous porta potties). The upside - the economy for a one hundred mile radius of the Rally was absolutely booming.

Having attended the Rally for more than 20 years, my husband and I now go to meet up with the many friends that we now consider family, rather than the Rally itself. We don't even make the trek into Sturgis from Keystone very often anymore; however it is always a joy when we bring a "Sturgis Newbie" to the Rally and watch their jaw drop in awe when we turn the corner onto Main Street - what a sight!!!!

......
Thank you, very much, to Corrine - she said she could've gone on and on about Sturgis! One thing I have determined, after reading her account and after seeing some of her pictures: When I DO go visit Sturgis during Rally Week and am the "Sturgis Newbie", I think I would like her or her husband, Roger, to hold my hand...

Sunday, we'll be visiting Devils Tower, Wyoming!