I'd imagine most people would be fairly keen to leave Cheyenne - perhaps unkind, but there seemed to be little hold for most. The trip had drawn to an end, and we'd had pizzas and a few drinks to mark the occasion, a few stories told, and reflection on the many highlights of the trip. We only had 120 miles to cover, virtually all freeway, and plenty of time, but heading into any major city in heavy traffic is never much fun. Bikes returned, and off to the airport, all disbursing in different directions, some home, other to Hawaii or Florida - we have a few days in Las Vegas. Unfortunately your intrepid reporter has finally succumbed to a bit of a cold, so not really in the mood for too much carousing (it is 39C here which is also hard going) - perhaps tomorrow. My Fit Bit has had a holiday whilst we've been gallavanting around the mid west, but it is now on charge in anticipation of being kicked back into life - hopefully early in the morning. I am not sure why but quite a few posts have loaded from the bottom- anyone interested may have to scroll down Most of us were fairly tired after a day on the prairie and happy to enjoy a short late afternoon rest. After predinner drinks we wandered across the road to a Whiskey Bar for dinner - steak, ribs and burgers. In fact, we started with locally grown peanuts - shells to be thrown on the floor. Our four days and five nights close to Sturgis (from our base in Rapid City) had come to an end. To celebrate we had a wee party at the hotel last night, complete with Barbque from Famous Dave's just along the road - as anticipated, food for 16 fed 23 of us. - very nice. Leaving at 9, we were over the border into Nebraska within an hour, the rather featureless plains and arrow straight ribbon of white concrete road stretching over the horizon proving to be quite testing for those of us with limited concentration. I rely on music to keep me engaged, Dire Straights and The Doors, Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel - all played LOUD! The pasture land is undulating and unless irrigated, fairly patchy, with few cattle seen outside - most spending both aummer and winter indoors. I did see a herd of cattle quietly alseep in the long grass, with only ears and tops of their heads showing but these were very much the exception - other than those in holding pens, probably awaiting their last ride... The railway obviously plays an important role in these parts, with the first massive train of over 100 carriages of coal soon surpassed be another, even bigger, pulled by 6 big locomotives (with one more at the rear, just in case) - we were travelling at 72 miles per hour and it took roughly 90 seconds to pass it - well over a mile long. The driver was obviously a Harley man - tooting and waving as we passed. As previously, the small towns we passed were mainly abandoned motels and gas stations, and the homes of once proud farmers, empty, forelorn and sad. Lunch at a supermarket in Alliance, a small town, seemingly relatively prosperous judging by the many banks in the main street, a street made of bricks. Alliance has one other main attraction - a "Stonehenge" made of old cars... Hmm We have arrived in Scottsdale, and are please to be out of the heat, some now in the pool, others gathers for a few drinks, soon to include me. The party is over, at least for us, and for the great majority of bikers who have travelled so far to be here. Many have journeys of several days (or longer) to travel thousands of miles to New York or Miami, Quebec or Mexico. Those who are not riding have loaded bikes into big trailers behind pickup trucks or RVs, packed all the gear and have gone. The diehards will again enjoy the Mad Max atmosphere of the big bars, the Dwarf fights,the cage fights, Alice Cooper and Def Leopod, the naked guy suspended by meat hooks with a bottle of whisky dangling from his best bits, and of course the young ladies with stars adorning their breasts. Meanwhile, we've headed for Nebraska. Today we went to Walmart - a real experience, think Warehouse and Countdown combined, then double it. As you'd expect from the biggest retailer in the world, they have some great bargins - other things are better bought elsewhere. We by passed all the fast food joints at a massive Harley outlet in favour of something healthy - check out the list of ingredients on my filled roll! I neglected to mention Deadwood yesterday, famous for being the resting place of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, both well known names from the Wild West. What was once a notorious mining town, it is now reliant on gambling for its liveblood. Without exageration, every business premise in the city centre adverises itself as a casino or bar, or both. Many offer free beer to entice punters in (worked for me), with the benefit of a bikini contest thrown in! Several bikers arrived back to their room on the 4th floor sometime after 1:30 this morning. Despite being slightly the worse for wear, one decided to hang up laundry from earlier in the day. Unfortunately he chose a fire sensor and set all the alarms off. The hotel and disoriented patrons😳 were thrown into a state of uncertainty. Alarms screaming, water everywhere, cascading from the top floor through out the building. Some wandered around in their pajamas, and once I'd established that there was no fire, we relaxed. Apparently the Fire Brigade 🚒 turned out in force, and were here for hours cleaning up - by then the contingent from NZ were all sound asleep. Today big fans are operating through out the hotel drying out carpet. By all accounts the reveller involved in late night laundry faces a bill for thousands.😢 There has been a technical glitch with two of yesterday's posts. Unfortunately you'll need to scroll to the bottom to read them At last, an opportunity to find out what all the fuss was about. Motorcycle people (and I really mean Harley people) almost consider the trip to Sturgis as a pilgrimage - you'd have to say that in lasting 75 years, and getting bigger each year, there is a strong arguement for that. 50 weeks of each year, Sturgis is a small town of about 8000 people, in fact, like so many towns in Rural America, it would be kind to describe it as a small poor town - some may not be quite so charitable in their description. Suffice to say there are few signs of much prosperity much beyond those involved in the event. Then for two weeks in late July, early August the town is over run with motorcycles (over 90% Harley, most of the other 10% aspiring to one or some having a perverse preference for Victory or Indian- Japanese bikes don't feature), and vendors determined to extract every cent from them. Camping grounds and RV parks that accomodate 10's of thousands abound, bars like the "Full Throttle Bar" and the "Knuckle Saloon" are huge, holding upwards of 30,000 people at a time - there may be several bands playing, or there is always walk up Cage Fighting - take your chances, bare knuckles, no rules.... Want to buy a T shirt? No problem, there would be several hundred retailers vying for your business. Likewise leather, and every bike accessory imaginable. Many smart vendors have attractive young ladies, many cosmetically enhanced and wearing very little, to promote their respective products. We sat outside at an upstairs bar and watched the traffic go by - just non stop, hour after hour, cheap bikes, exotic and expensive bikes, massive RV's (camper's), some towing a car or truck, and even a trailer to round it off. The police were about, and I understand their numbers increase dramatically as the day passes - one of our guys ended up in the slammer two years ago for failing to put both feet on the ground at a stop sign - $1200, a night in jail and a criminal conviction (plus $200 to get his bike back). So Sturgis - would I come back, hmmm, the roads are great, the scenery spectacular...but like the Easter Show, once is probably enough. |
Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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