Sturgis 2021

Everyone’s Bucket List Should Include one Trip to Sturgis Before You Die

By Dave Elliot

It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end. Ursula K. LeGuin

Located in western South Dakota is a small town with a population of 6,796 residents. However, it hosts one time per year the largest motorcycle rally in the world and every August since 1938, the town swells with some 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts making their way through.

This trip is a once in a lifetime bucket list item, and no matter how much one prepares for this event, it will exceed every expectation. Louis L’Amour once said, “A journey is time suspended.” If this is the case with any journey, adding a motorcycle to the adventure makes one feel like this ride is one in heaven surrounded by a glowing white light. There is nothing like it. It only took me 48 years to get there, and my journey allowed me to see and feel and touch places and people that I never thought imaginable. So here it is by the numbers!

16 – USA States

• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Dakota
• Vermont
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

19 – Days

• Departure – Monday, August 2, 2021, 6:20 AM
• Returned – Friday, August 20, 5:20 is AM

5,132.4 – Miles

53 – Gas Stops

$2.94 – Cheapest Gas, Mitchell, SD

$3.95 – Most Expensive Gas, Hulett, WY

1 – Sturgis Bike Rally

• Sturgis, SD – largest rally in the world
• 2021 – 775,000 in attendance
• 10 – days in length
• $800 million – revenue generated
• 525,768 vehicles
• August 7 – highest single day count with 67,482 vehicles
• Original Name – Black Hills Motor Classic
• Event founded August 14, 1938
• Sturgis town population is 7,000
• 40% of attendees tow or trailer motorcycles to Sturgis each year
• Rally cancelled from 1942 to 1945 due to wartime gasoline rationing
• Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club originally organized and promoted event

1 – Lost breast cancer flag off trailer, Chicago, Illinois

1 – Lost passenger drink cup holder, Chicago, Illinois

1 – Rock through coolant reservoir, Chicago, Illinois

1 – State Park

• Custer State Park, South Dakota

1 – National Park

• Badlands National Park, South Dakota
• 75 miles east of Rapid City, South Dakota

Beware of rattlesnakes! Didn’t see this sign until after I went exploring for Black-tailed Prairie Dogs!

See BELOW!

Prairie Dog Burrow Layout and Features

• Depth: Most main chambers, such as nurseries and sleeping quarters, sit about three to six feet below the surface, while certain entry shafts drop straight down further.
• Length: The underground tunnels stretch from 15 to 40 feet long on average, but large systems can span over 100 feet.
• Chambers: The system includes specific rooms for sleeping, raising young, storing food, and even separate bathroom areas.
• Entrances:
   Holes feature dirt mounds that act as levees to prevent flooding and serve as lookout points.

• 7 – BunkaBiker Hosts

Carrie Sprout, Lock Haven PA

• Erin Kidd Kozina, Swanton Ohio

Andy Flanagan, from Phoenix, AZ, also stopped for the night.

• Cordell & Heather Royer – Reedstown, WI

Overnight in Yukon Trailer

• Donald and Tricia Ellis – Grinnell, Iowa

Robert “Bobcat” Rider and girlfriend Chris (on left) also came from Sturgis and were traveling the perimeter of the USA. We were all hosted by Donald and Tricia (BaB) the same night! We had a great time together.

• Carla Cavanaugh – Northfield, Ohio

Carla rode 145 miles with me to my next stop in Tidioute PA and then returned home in the start of Hurricane Fred.

• Tim Jones (Wheels & Paddles @ Wildwood Campground) – Tidiouette, PA

Amish Cabin

• Jaina Reynolds – Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

• 4 nights – Host, Black Hills Implant & Family Dental, Sturgis, South Dakota

Roadman Motorcycle Camper

Host – Chuck Young, Camby, Indiana

Chuck and his Mom

Host – Bill Smith – Minneapolis, Minnesota

1 – Campground, Atkinson, Nebraska

Atkinson Mill Race Park

Hosts – Todd & Sharon John, West Chester, Ohio

• 7 – Tours

Mall of America – Minneapolis, MN

• The Brothel, Deadwood, SD

1876-1980 storytelling interpretation of history of

prostitution in Deadwood and the Wild West

• Bunk a Biker Tour Guide – Sioux Falls, SD

          Heather Hansen

• 1880 House – Midland, SD

          Featuring many of the Dances with Wolves movie

props

Check out the last entry!

• Wall Drug, Wall, SD

            Known as the geographical center to nowhere, roadside

attraction, offers men and women serving or having

served in the armed forces free coffee and donuts to this day. 76,000 square feet in size is Wall Drug, gift shop, and eateries.

• Cleveland, OH Tour- by BaB host Carla Cavanaugh

• Bloomington, Minnesota Tour

By Bill Smith, former General Manager of the Minnesota Twins. My elementary and high school class mate.

7 – National Landmarks

• Mt. Rushmore, Keystone SD

            Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, & Lincoln

• Mt. Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, SD

            Burial site of Wild Bill Hickok (buried in 1879)

• Devil’s Tower

            A butte, possibly laccolithic, composed of

igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the

Black Hills, near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from summit to base.

• Mall of America, Bloomington, MN

            Largest shopping and entertainment complex in North

America

• Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
• Chicago Cubs @ Cincinnati Reds (Red won 14-5, history made with Reds’ Joey Votto’s 2000th hit)

• Rock’N Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH

            Famous museum on the shore of Lake Erie

1 – Florida Southern College /Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity Reunion

• Chuck Young, Indianapolis, IN
• Todd Johnson, West Chester, OH

1 – Most Random Stop to feel the pulse of America!

• The Central Bar, Stuart Nebraska, Holt County
• Robert Norton, Owner
• Population – 667 population was 60 in 1882
• On February 15, 1879, John Carberry, an immigrant from Ireland, became the first settler of Stuart, Nebraska. He and his family filed a homestead claim and built a sod house.
• Located on the “Cowboy Trail” which currently runs 195 miles across northern Nebraska, following the old Chicago & Northwestern rail route from Norfolk in the east to Valentine in the west. The railroad called this the “Cowboy Line.”

3 – Least Favorite Roads

• I-94 in Chicago, IL

Lost a passenger drink cup holder,

Lost a breast cancer flag off my trailer, and took a rock

through my coolant reservoir

• I-88 from Schenevus, NY and north

            Single lane travel due to construction on both side of

highway with Jersey barriers and cracks in the road

making extremely treacherous for motorcycles

• I-80 PA

            18-wheeler trucker paradise with no respect for

Motorcycles

5 – Favorite Images

• Custer State Park in the Black Hills of SD – Buffalo crossing within five yards of me while on my

motorcycle

• The Badlands, SD – 3 Bighorn Sheep on top of one of the geologic mountainous peaks

• Mall of America, Bloomington, MN

Massive creative Lego formations – With eight larger-than-life models, including a LEGO robot towering over 34 feet tall!

• Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH –

            Reds Legends of Crosley Field is a group of bronze

sculptures by artist Tom Tsuchiya, located at the main

entrance of Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati,

Ohio. The sculptures represent four Crosley Field era

Cincinnati Reds players: Ted Kluszewski, Ernie

Lombardi, Joe Nuxhall and Frank Robinson.

• Happy Chef Statue, Mankato, MN

38’ talking chef statue On US Route 169 named after the original owner. One of its comments is  “Hey, can you help me out?” asked the Chef’s recorded voice. “I’ve been holding up this spoon since 1968.”

1 – Favorite Restaurant

• Hazelwood Food & Drink, Bloomington, MN

1 – Best Pizza

• Broadway Pizza, Richfield, MN

1 – Best Ice Cream

• Honey Hut Ice Cream, Cleveland, OH

            Cleveland’s original homemade ice cream, founded in

1974.

1 – Most Challenging Ride

• Iron Mountain Road, Custer State Park

            The road that engineers once said couldn’t be built.

This winding road runs between Mount Rushmore

National Memorial and the junction of US 16A and SD 36 in Custer State Park. Along the highway, visitors will find wildfire exhibits, pigtail bridges, magnificent Black Hills scenery, and tunnels that frame Mount Rushmore. 17 miles long, 324 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, 3 tunnels, 4 presidents, 2 splits.

564 miles –

• Longest one day ride from Tidioute PA to Northwood NH on the final day

1 – Tropical Storm Fred (my final day/night of my journey!)

• Tropical Storm Fred was a strong tropical storm which

affected much of the Greater Antilles and the

Southeastern United States in August 2021. The sixth

tropical storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Fred

originated from a tropical wave first noted by the National

Hurricane Center on August 4 and lasted until August 20.

My hands were like prunes from the storm by the time I arrived home

This image has become my symbol of hope, purpose, perseverance, and the courage to keep pursuing what matters to you – even when the journey takes longer or becomes more difficult.

“Never forget your dreams” is a reminder that the dreams we carry today can become the adventures and accomplishments we live tomorrow. Keep dreaming, keep moving, and never stop chasing the road that calls you.