there are several things to keep in mind when planning a trip to sturgis south dakota during the motor cycle rally in august if you have any intention of riding your bicycle.

first, if you look at maps and plan and plan and plan all your routes ahead of time, you should be aware that south dakota lists all of its roads including gravel roads on its maps. yes even on google you will be looking at gravel roads without knowing it. so your routes will be more limited than you think.

second, bikers (the kind with motors) don’t really get up early so be an early bird to get the pedal worm. otherwise you’ll be blasted off the road by people going 90 mph way closer to you than you would like and most likely they are still drunk from the day before.

thirdly, south dakota has wind. lots and lots of wind. obviously both good and bad.

fourthly, you’ve only got about 2 hours before the weather changes. you think i’m kidding. try it out. you’ll wake up to bombing rain and by the time you get over not getting to ride and get into something else it will quit and get sunny and beautiful. or the opposite. so be prepared when you go out for any length of time for all sorts of weather.

fifthly, there are very few excuses for stopping in south dakota. i was there during one of the busiest times of year when the states population literally doubles and i almost never stopped pedaling. i went for well over 20 miles on a few rides and never saw a stop sign or traffic signal. so be prepared to ride.

what else? oh, the map listed here is a combination of the rides i did while i was there working for silly reality tv. but i have to give thanks to the owner of the full thrittle saloon, mike ballard for letting us film him cuz that’s how i got to ride around sturgis. i did a few of the rides a few times and the one out to deadwood is amazing. i wish i had more time…

the cop in town that pulled me over for “running a stop sign” actually listened to reason and let me go when i explained that it was safer and that HELLO! 8 fucking motor cycles went through on one go and you didn’t bother with them? shut the fuck up and do what makes sense. okay you did. good. leave me alone. i’m safe, thank you peace officer. go power trip on someone who acknowledges your authority.

i realize that this is a pretty janky post for like 9 rides combined into one over the course of two weeks but not having the ability to internet it up while i was there made everything better, yet less immediate.

if you make it out to south d you should check out…well, check out everything really. devil’s tower is as impressive as the man made rushmore thing and the black hills are as beautiful as any other landscape i’ve ever seen.

chirp,

hilary