Sturgis in August

If you drive through Sturgis, South Dakota during a certain week in August, you might think something strange is going on. 

















 The traffic in this small (pop. 6500) town is unusually heavy,

with a somewhat different composition that you might find on a regular day. You might have to wait longer at the gas pump,


















or find that all of the parkinglots (especially those at bars) are incredibly full...incredible because in the winter months, most of these establishments are abandoned and closed for the season!


















Yes, if you come here the second week in August, you will encounter the Sturgis Road Rally, an event which is apparent famous, but which we had never heard of before we moved here last year, during this very week. Driving through town takes an hour instead of ten minutes,



and the local nightlife reminds you more of Los Angeles or Las Vegas, rather than small town middle America. Believe you me, we were definitely worried that the baby would be born this week and we'd have to drive through all of this on the way to the hospital (and at night, it is 10 times worse!)
Luckily, we were only on our way to our regular doctors appointment when we passed through town this year. I found it most interesting to see all of the custom bikes,


















and all the people who probably aren't regularly bikers in their everyday lives. While there were mostly highly tattooed young people around, (psst, that helmet is supposed to go on your head..)





it was fun to occasionally see folks like these blending with the crowd:

One thing I did find a little disturbing, was the lack of protective clothing. I mean, if I were to ride a motorcycle, I would dress like this: leather jacket and chaps or thick pants, helmet, thick boots...I don't want to die!


















But it seemed people were more concerned with showing off their...assets rather than being safe. There were lots of shirtless guys,


















but even more ubiquitous were the half-dressed girls! Ahh!

Hence feeling like we were near a beach somewhere. I mean really, do they feel safe riding around this way?  Hey, I guess she figures the helmet will save her life, right?


















When I saw this girl, I was a little shocked until I realized that no, she isn't topless. There's a string involved somewhere, I'm sure.


















And I renewed my vow that we would never live in Sturgis while we have small children at home. Yikes! I hope you're not offended at some of these, I just really want to show you how weird it is during this one week...and actually, I didn't take pictures of the people who were most offensively dressed (think obscenities and pasties, if you know what those are...) I'm just hoping my kids didn't notice those people.

I wondered where this lady got the idea for her outfit...


















then I realized she was just showing off the popular fashion being sold at booths all up and down the street. (Again, sorry if you're offended. I just thought these were hilarious.)


















In fact, some of the booths were more entertaining than the people, selling everything they thought bikers might need. You know, like knives,


















and horned helmets.


















Sometimes, they're not what you expect to see at all, when you actually stop to read what they say:



Finally, I wanted to show you this very interesting saloon, right at the edge of town. It is always full to capacity during the Road Rally, but the rest of the year you might see two or three vehicles in the whole parking lot on any given day.

Which is funny because there's a big sign outside that says they film a reality tv show there, for the TruTV channel! I wonder what happens on that show every month but August? Not much, I'm sure.

So now you've seen it first hand! Welcome to Sturgis...at least the Sturgis you can see in August.