Third Week In Rapid City

Hello again from Rapid City where today it's the end of Sturgis bike week.  I suspect the locals are glad to see this week end, however, I'd think, it has to be a good boost to their economy especially in the Sturgis/Deadwood/Spearfish area and then overflowing here into Rapid City.  From all reports we're hearing, attendance has been down this year but as a 'first time/one day attendee' you couldn't prove it by me.  Wow.....I've never seen so many bikes, all shapes, colors, and sizes.  More about that a little later.

It has been a good week weather wise as we've been enjoying more 80 degree days & cool evenings and mornings.  Great mornings for a bike ride and no I haven't made that hill yet.  It's strange because I can make the second hill but not that darn first one.  Oh well.....I'll keep trying.

The 'welcome bikers party' at the RV park last Sunday was not a success.  A lot of preparation work by several folks here at the park but no attendees, except other folks here at the park, which was a shame.  In addition, to no attendees, it rained off and on Sunday afternoon so the band would play for awhile, stop for the rain and then play again.  Needless to say, there was a lot of food left over so we all enjoyed a community potluck on Tuesday evening.  Then on Friday evening there was still some leftover sweet sausage so we had a community meal of spaghetti with sausage and the trimmings.  Yum!  The owner was planning on another 'farewell bikers' party Satyurday with another band, however, the band has a member sick so this event was cancelled.  For the past 2-3 days, and especially yesterday, we saw many many many bikes and RV's heading out of town so I think people are just anxious to get home.

Dick and I did take a road trip this week to Wall, SD and visit the famous drug store that has been there since 1931.  Of course, today it encompasses a whole city block and is much much more than a drug store but still a fun place to visit.  Coffee is still 5 cents a cup, veterans still can have a free donut and everyone is welcome to a free glass of cold water as you enter.  The cold water was their trademark in 1931 to get people to pull off the highway and rest a bit.

Dick was not interested in going to Sturgis so our RV neighbors, Herb and Ginger, new full-time RVers as of about 2 weeks ago from VT, said I could ride along with them Friday.  It was a fun day and as I said earlier, I've never seen so many bikes and people (some very scantily clad people as well).  We had been given a tip on where to park in Sturgis to avoid the crowds, and it was perfect.  Once parked we only had to walk a short distance to Main Street and there it all began.  Thousands of bikes just parked up and down Main Street and many side streets.  People of all ages, but MANY boomers walking around, shopping, eating, getting tatoos, you name it, it's there.  We enjoyed the sites, had a nice lunch at The Knuckle Saloon, and headed out of town with a stop at the famous Full Throttle Saloon known for its beer, babes and bands.  There is no way I can explain this place but again thousands of bikes, many different bars and places to eat, and again many 'sites'.  I saw my first 'motordrone' which is a carnival sideshow type act where a guy rides around the wall of a wooden diameter cylinder and performs tricks while we watched from the top.  People rewarded him nicely by throwing money down into the cyclinder and also one of his tricks was picking money from your hand as he climbed the wall.  This guy has been doing this for many years and admitted he's broken many bones over the years but on Friday his performance was flawless.   I compared Sturgis bike week to a Nascar race at Talladega X 5.

Main Street in Sturgis 

More of Main Street 

One of the many 'sites'

Bikes of every shape, size and color

Full Throttle Saloon

Motordrone at the Full Throttle

This saying was on a t-shirt I bought Dick in Sturgis - "The High Price of Freedom is a Cost Paid By A Brave Few".  Thank you to all the fallen heros including two policemen here in Rapid City that were killed by a young punk last week.  Very sad for this community.

Today we're going to ride the steam train from Hill City to Keystone, SD so I will report on that next time.    Have a great week everyone!