Like a desert flower blooming after a rainstorm, Sturgis goes from a small backwater to a full-blown party machine over those 10 days. Town authorities struggle to find room to park ever more bikes, mainly Harleys. Bikers pack local bars, cheek on jowl. It's a Biker Bacchanal.
Generally speaking the bikers are hardcore Trump supporters and they don't want to hear any crap about masks or social distancing either. The very nature of the festivities makes that all but impossible.
This year it was thought the pandemic would pare down the numbers of visitors by half but even that would be a horde for tiny Sturgis. The locals, 60 per cent of them, wanted this year's rally canceled but what do they matter?
You may have read that Native Americans are getting hammered by Covid-19, a result in part attributable to the reservation system, a lack of testing, a lack of healthcare resources. It's not surprising that the Sioux tribes of South Dakota want no part of the bikers riding through their reserves. They've set up roadblocks along highways crossing their reservations.
The decision to prevent access across tribal lands to the annual rally, which could attract as many as 250,000 bikers amid fears it could lead to a massive, regional coronavirus outbreak, comes as part of larger Covid-19 prevention policy. The policy has pitted seven tribes that make up the Great Sioux Nation against federal and state authorities, which both claim the checkpoints are illegal.
A duty officer for the Cheyenne River Sioux told the Guardian on Saturday that only commercial and emergency vehicles will be let through the checkpoints onto reservation land.
A number of bikers had tried to enter but had been turned back, they said. Other reservations in the region, including the Oglala Sioux, were also turning away bikers that had attempted routes to Sturgis that pass through sovereign land.The governor has said the state will sue the Sioux. What she won't do is the sue the rally organizers for the logical and foreseeable consequences of bringing hundreds of thousands of bikers into one tiny hole in the wall to party and drink and mingle for the 10 day inebriathon.
The clampdown comes as fears mount that mask-free bikers visiting Sturgis for the largest gathering of people since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic could spread the virus to tribal groups that are already experiencing a rise in cases.
During the rally, people are expected to cram bars and pack concerts with at least 34 acts playing. “Screw COVID,” read the design on one T-shirt on sale. “I went to Sturgis.”
On Friday, a worker at the event told the Guardian crowds seemed larger than in previous years and warned that Sturgis attendees were paying little heed to medical advice.
“I’ve not seen one single person wearing a mask,” said bartender Jessica Christian, 29. “It’s just pretty much the mentality that, ‘If I get it, I get it.’”
“In downtown Sturgis it’s just madness,” Christian added. “People not socially distancing, everybody touching each other. It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out.”When the party ends next weekend the bikers will hop back on their machines and happily shed coronavirus as they wend their way home to just about every corner of the continental US.
13 comments:
.. 'sue the Sioux' .. oh man.. (oh women) .. I sure the Sioux are quaking in their moccasins.. That like Custer joking to his Lieutenant as they head over the rise at Little Big Horn about getting another pair of lizard skin boots.. that was a deal that was never consummated.. instead there wuz a hair lifting legend transpired.. as they expired
It's the formula for a perfect storm. A small venue. A huge crowd. Masses of booze and revelry. No masks, no social distancing, no hand washing, nothing. A multi-day event affording plenty of time to soak in whatever is being shed. Then a ride home, shedding all the way. And they're backed up by a rather stunning governor, Kristi Noem, who is an extreme Trump devotee, vowing that those noble bikers will get through no matter what.
Ironic that this is the same week that was to see the opening of the Tokyo Olympics.
I see outsider harley guys wearing bandanas as masks out on the road: why not here.
Rumley, those guys just don't want to eat bugs, that's all. I have certainly swallowed my share over the decades. The worst part is when you have to force them down and they're still alive. Ewwww.
Yeah but , couldn't the Coronavirus be loosly classified as a bug ?
That the bikers prefer Harley Davidson motorcycles as their preferred means of transport says much about the USA.
Cubic centimeters or in the good ole US ,cubic inches, verses design and refinement of an internal combustion engine.
Bigger is better/ think GM's 454 cubic inch monstrosity.
TB
If these people are stupid enough to do what they are doing(watched this last evening) let them go...may be a few more deaths in this crowed will wake them up.
I had my own Harley years, TB. Back when we were young, riding Bonnevilles and Lightnings, HD met the competition with the Sportster.
The Brit bikes went the way of the dodo bird, run out of business by the Japanese machines and I do admit to having owned both a Honda and a Yamaha.
Then, when I turned 50, I found this magnificent 1200 Sportster - all chrome and deep red metalflake and I couldn't say no. When I fired it up, after fiddling with the carb in the familiar old school fashion, it was a delight. It was like going back in time. It roared and it shook much like Brit bikes other than the featherbed Norton.
There was nothing wrong with the bike. It was the Harley image that I found offputting. They were the preserve of self-styled "badasses" and I could not abide that. When I lived in England I rode with some rockers, hit the Ace Cafe and more obscure biker cafes. Those lads cultivated an image but they were more into their machines and riding than anything I ever found in the Harley crowd. That sportster, much as I loved it, almost killed my interest in motorcycling. I left it in the garage, covered in an old sheet.
Then I read about this amazing new bike from BMW, the R1200GS, an immensely powerful and capable long-haul enduro machine. MacGregor and Boorman did a series, the Long Way Around. I was smitten. I got mine in 2006 from a dealer in Eugene, Oregon. They trimmed some three grand off the best price in Canada.
I got on that machine and it was like being reborn. The dealer told me it was imperative for warranty purposes that I bring it back into their shop for a major service once I had 600 miles on it. They asked when I wanted to book the appointment. I said 10 a.m. tomorrow. I returned the next morning with something like 595, 597 miles on the clock.
I'm still mad about that machine. An honest 100 hp. on the back wheel (the new models are at 125 hp.) There's a governor that caps it off at 130 mph and it gets there smartly. It's an enduro that is as nimble in the corners as a sport bike. That beast has conveyed me from west to east, north to south, and never let me down. It is the best motorcycle of its time.
It's almost time to hand it off to someone else, perhaps my son-in-law, but that's on me not this amazing machine. I have gotten into some really bad places where this bike pulled me through. After a while you develop a genuine fondness for something like that. It's a friend.
If you're looking to replace your "friend," you might want to hold off. Sturgis is bound to lead to some great deals on used bikes in a couple of months.
Cap
I think I'll pass on that, Cap. After the 'mighty GS' (Gelande/Strasse) a Harley would only disappoint. I do, however, think this looming fiasco will have an effect on American motorcycling generally and on the Harley image thing in particular. Harley exists on image. So many want to purchase the badass persona that they get the machine, the gear, maybe sprout a little facial hair and they're off. Through a friend I met a partner in one of the major accounting firms in Vancouver, a real milquetoast guy. When I next saw him a couple of years later he had the Fu Manchu moustache, tattooed forearms (sleeves) and plenty of deaths head rings. Very flash.
All real individualists, lone spirits chasing the freedom of the open road, yet all exactly the same, numbingly identical.
Until two years ago I would go on solo trips that might last between three to six weeks. Out to Ottawa, across the US east to west, the Pacific coast from Vancouver Island to Cabo or the Yucatan. I carried everything I needed - a place to sleep, means to cook, clothes, first aid, essential spare parts, tools, tire kit, electric air pump, the lot. That's an art in itself. The GS has a power outlet so you can run the air pump or wear heated gear in the winter.
Longest ride I can recall began with breakfast in Lethbridge and ended with a late dinner in Kenora. That was a lot of miles at completely illegal speeds.
.. upon a time I took mny 55 Mercury to Austin Texas & on to Corpus Christi.. I had my trusty 360 Honda dirtbag in the stepside box..days later while wheeling cross .. a arroyo at rattler struck at my metal armoured bootie.. but my over reaction to the reptile attack left me face down out cold.. Then later.. came a redemption.. bit of a ways later.. I thought I was in hell.. was sure that wuz why all wuz very black. Soon enough though, I found the courage & I lifted my full coverage Bell helmet from the dry riverbed.. and saw the reptilian creature observing me at very close range .. we agreed to disagree (OK it hissed some more) & we parted ways.. the bike fired up.. that lusty 4 stroke.. Good times.. Austin wuz a fun time.. crazy good music .. it was Lone Star 3$ or Bud.. 5$ a jug.. boot cut jeans girls everywhere.. and I had offers for the tailgate of the Mercury everywhere
That's the beauty of enduros, 'dirtbags' you call them, the extra inches of travel in the suspension. Properly set up that travel will take you places a streetbike could never go.
And, yes, you may have a run in with some unpleasant creatures. Fortunately I never had a run-in with a rattler - that I know of. My most imprinted memory was coming around a bend on this
'movie-set' dirt road in Baja. As I cleared some rocks there was a flock/pack/nest of buzzards gathered around some poor critter. They seemed as surprised as I was but, unlike me, they were not unnerved. To the contrary, several of them fixed me with a steely gazed that conveyed a "you're next" message. I didn't think a bird could be that menacing to a human. Apparently I was wrong.
Good times.
.. I thought to buy a 100 or so cc Suzuki Mound..
you know.. give one a whirl
a pure rattlesnake competition motocrosser..
Did a checkride.. the hell ! Ya shift at 8500 RPM !
The 12 year old punk sez.. 'maybe too much bike for ya?'
I had to agree ... 85 cc
Same experience with a Husqvarna 360 moto
Hell, just getting from 1st to 2nd was freakshow
dirt flying.. wondering if my neck was broken.. again
instant torque from hell.. sign here before attempting
Wuz fun playing on the edges
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