Some memmories of the 50th sturgis rally and a few from the earlier days?
I lived for many years in the small town of Newcastle, Wyoming (about 9 mi. from the border of South Dakota) and one of the advantages to that location, besides having the entire black Hills to roam on my Harley was the fact that I was only about 60miles from the Sturgis rally.
<o
I started attending the rally when I wore a much younger mans hair length, (Hippie degenerate motorcycle trash?) and never had TOO much excitement going on at one time.
The whole purpose of my attending was to try to hit a NEW LOW every year!
<oNow, over the years that has became increasingly difficult. Back then you could party pretty hard in just the downtown area without a lot hassle from the cops. Now they roam around in gangs for crying out loud and you best behave as if you were part of the temperance movement.
<oDeadwood was wide open in the early years before they shut down the brothels, and gambling changed the entire attraction of the place.
The hog jam in Hullet, Wy. Was not a stand out destination, as you could cut your wolf loose just about any where within a few miles of the rally, and now the hog jam looks like an ice cream social?
In the early days there was no Hog Jam, in Hullet Just the Rally and the Fantastic Races.
You may be able to raise a little hell in the campgrounds as long as you stay there; DUI has become the states major source of income Near as I can tell.
<oAnd political correctness has tainted, what used to be for BIKERS!
<oBut I'm reminiscing about some earlier days and talking about some of the shining times ok?
<oYou know, You mayhave seen me there?
(I was the guy dressed in blue jeans and a black tee –shirt!)
<oI always made it a point to camp in the Buffalo chip campground so I could always be close to the action and big name concerts.
The sanitary facilities were something way to unsanitary for the conditions, and you better set up your tent along the back fence so you wont get run over by a drunk on his bike at three am.Just in case things ever settled down long enough to get a little shut eye, usually about 3 days into the rally? ( Of course, Electric wine didn’t have anything to do with it?) Ever try to sleep next to a 20’ tall speaker?
That’s about what it was like, and any thing your decadent little heart could desire was in that campground somewhere.
I remember the night some ugliness took place and was shocked by how many of the so called bikers in the crowd turned out to be undercover law and Uzis suddenly appeared in the hands of folks on and close to the stage to protect the band.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<o
That- (look for me in Sturgis, I will be dressed in blue jeans and black tee shirt) mode of dress turned out to be a boon for whoever decided to rob the bank during the 50[SUP]th[/SUP]. Rally. (I am to dumb to think of it and lack the nerve myself)
But think about it?
They robbed the bank in broad daylight and once they stepped out the door they looked like 5,000 other people on the street. To My knowledge they were never seen again.
<oSome of the funny quirks about being on main street , come to mind?
<oMy wife and I were sitting on a window ledge at one of the rallies enjoying an Indian taco when a drunk, flying colors, took it upon himself to stand in front of Susan and mimic her every move, The guy was wasted and I really didn’t want to hurt him, he was just having fun, showing off to his club brothers, making a nuisance of himself,knowing I wouldn’t do any thing about it because of all the back up he had?
Susan was getting scared so I handed her my taco and up-ended the jerk and stuffed him head down in the trash can at the curb.
His buddies mostly laughed at it!
It looked like some thing from laurel and hardy really.
Glad I had my heater.
<oThere where so many people on the streets that you could barely get through the crowd and yet most times,when some one would bump you a might hard they would turn and apologize?
That rarely happens at a rodeo!
The guy who looked most likely to cut your throat turned out to be a dairy farmer from Minnesota.
The only way you could tell the millionaire from trash like me was to see what he rode in on.
Bums didn’t ride the type of bikes I built my garage out of spare parts (although I loved those old choppers) and painted with a spray can. (“Poe folk got Poe ways”) There were folk from Yale, and folk from jail!
<oThe guy you better watch out for was the one that rode in with a rolled up towel for a seat.
<oSpeaking of seats, I was on the main street one day when a guy rode in on a red/white/and blue, Kawasaki ninja.
He was also wearing a matching set of red /white and blue designer leathers, he backed into a parking place not to far from where I was standing and it was hard not to notice that there were clear plastic windows cut out of his pants that showed of his buttocks.
<o
I don’t think both feet touched the curb when a gigantic arm shot out of the crowd and knocked the poor miss- guided soul up against his bike and his clear plastic windows came into contact with the exhaust when he knocked over his star spangled nerdy ninja. (I will let your imagination play out the rest of it) Sure was funny at the time! He left in a hurry, kinda like a calf with his backside branded? That melted plastic must have hurt?
<oThe idiot was lucky he didn’t choose the Buffalo chip to commit his lunacy in ; his rice grinder would have been that year’s choice to burn in effigy to the Harley Gods!
Now a chick would have been applauded for her obvious, feminine, sense of fashion!
<oThe feminine fashion at the rally ranged from the modest to the ever popular pair of chaps with a G string for underwear and set of pasties to barley cover her fun bags more pointy points?
until nightfall and it all fell off.
These were invariably worn by women who could get away with that look and many a roll of film was burned to prove that you had actually been to see the elephant, as we westerners in all our new found political correctness, would say it!
<oInevitably some chick that looked like a berserk-o Barbie model in a leopard skin bikini could be found
Chained to a parking meter in front of the bar.
I don’t know, maybe it was an advertisement?
Maybe someone chained her there to keep her out of trouble while he had a beer?
Or perhaps she was there to shock the sensibilities of the tourist?
<o(The whole place looked like a zoo anyway and I never bothered to ask her.)
I was warned that you didn’t want to try a free her out of some misguided hero complex, she would scratch your eyes out.
<oDuring the rally it seems girls just couldn’t keep their tops on and many woke up the next morning with a tattoo, and have one of those “Gods, what have I done moments?”
<oIt had always surprised me when the little woman was unmarked at the end of the week because the Rally had a power of its own and the whole aura of the place could suck you in.
They sold all kinds of leather halter tops on the main street of Sturgis and I will tell you a story within a story/
Susan and my friend’s wife had their eye on a couple of halter tops and wanted to try them on.
My friend’s wife Kathy just tried it on right there on the sidewalk . But Susan being of the more modest type didn’t even want to do it in the alley behind the booth.
I was distracted by something (perhaps one the aforementioned ladies?) and didn’t see her get escorted to the rest room of a service station across the alley, I turned around and panicked when she wasn’t there at the booth.
One of the sales ladies told me where she went and I thought I better keep an eye on things. She was only about as big as a button and I always kept her within my site at the rally.
(I have never figured out how we got together in the first place? (Try, if you will, to givePolly-Anna a staring roll in west side story?)
<o
Any way there was the biggest man I have ever seen (he looked like the genie from the lamp) standing there with his arms crossed and said “YOU AINT GOIN IN THERE”!
My miss spent youth flashed before my eyes because I knew damn well; I WAS going in there no matter what.(I didn’t know who he was? I assumed her escort would be a female) And the gun in the small of my back didn't feel near big enough.
I was saved by her coming out wearing a leather halter top that looked like a rabid squirrel got to it before she did, but I wisely held my council.
Later in the day our friends went with us to deadwood and heading into the # 10 saloon, there was a couple old men sitting on a bench out front as we passed I heard one of the old boys chuckle in his old mans voice,
“Heh! Heh! Heh! There must be shortage of leather nowadays!”
<oI guess I didn’t mention that Kathy was rather well endowed?
I think I finally used Susan’s top for a chamois.
<oI remember the time a big grudge fight promoter tried to set up a tough bikers match.
Before the end of the week he was complaining in the Rapid City journal journal that he thought bikers were tough?
His big tough mans contest was going broke. You Know? I really can’t remember talking to anyne that said they had saved their money for two years to go to Sturgis, and get the snot kicked out of him?
It tickled me to see him fall on his collective ass.
The bungee jumping booth across the street made a killing!
<oSpeaking of killing: I was there, off main St., on the night, during the 50[SUP]th[/SUP] rally when a big old boy from Australia got hopped up on Meth. And tried to take on the police and everyone in the crowd with a Bowie knife.
There sure wasn’t anything about it that is good to remember.
The man really was 6’tall and seemed bullet proof. It sure took enough of them to stop him.
<oYou know, I didn’t go to the rally every year after that, I started going in the other direction and only went back about every five years.
I guess it’s really true?
That old age has mellowed more of us than religion ever did?
<oI went back some years ago now, and noticed that that the place is more of a tourist attraction to my way of thinking; you can’t hit a NEW low without going to jail.
Family's are prowling the streets with there little children dressed like tough guy wanna bee's? buying cut rate tee shirts that will last for one washing?
The accepted ladies attire has changed dramatically and not to my liking, I can see the same attire in a laundry matt. I think I seen a few of the women who, if they weren’t the same half naked girls from 30 years ago, they must have sent their mothers in their places?
<oMaybe, I have just gotten old enough to believe that a guy might visit the ZOO once, a year?
But I no longer wish to sleep with the animals!</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o
I lived for many years in the small town of Newcastle, Wyoming (about 9 mi. from the border of South Dakota) and one of the advantages to that location, besides having the entire black Hills to roam on my Harley was the fact that I was only about 60miles from the Sturgis rally.
<o
I started attending the rally when I wore a much younger mans hair length, (Hippie degenerate motorcycle trash?) and never had TOO much excitement going on at one time.The whole purpose of my attending was to try to hit a NEW LOW every year!
<o
Now, over the years that has became increasingly difficult. Back then you could party pretty hard in just the downtown area without a lot hassle from the cops. Now they roam around in gangs for crying out loud and you best behave as if you were part of the temperance movement.<o
Deadwood was wide open in the early years before they shut down the brothels, and gambling changed the entire attraction of the place.The hog jam in Hullet, Wy. Was not a stand out destination, as you could cut your wolf loose just about any where within a few miles of the rally, and now the hog jam looks like an ice cream social?
In the early days there was no Hog Jam, in Hullet Just the Rally and the Fantastic Races.
You may be able to raise a little hell in the campgrounds as long as you stay there; DUI has become the states major source of income Near as I can tell.
<o
And political correctness has tainted, what used to be for BIKERS!<o
But I'm reminiscing about some earlier days and talking about some of the shining times ok?<o
You know, You mayhave seen me there?(I was the guy dressed in blue jeans and a black tee –shirt!)
<o
I always made it a point to camp in the Buffalo chip campground so I could always be close to the action and big name concerts.The sanitary facilities were something way to unsanitary for the conditions, and you better set up your tent along the back fence so you wont get run over by a drunk on his bike at three am.Just in case things ever settled down long enough to get a little shut eye, usually about 3 days into the rally? ( Of course, Electric wine didn’t have anything to do with it?) Ever try to sleep next to a 20’ tall speaker?
That’s about what it was like, and any thing your decadent little heart could desire was in that campground somewhere.
I remember the night some ugliness took place and was shocked by how many of the so called bikers in the crowd turned out to be undercover law and Uzis suddenly appeared in the hands of folks on and close to the stage to protect the band.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<o
That- (look for me in Sturgis, I will be dressed in blue jeans and black tee shirt) mode of dress turned out to be a boon for whoever decided to rob the bank during the 50[SUP]th[/SUP]. Rally. (I am to dumb to think of it and lack the nerve myself)
But think about it?
They robbed the bank in broad daylight and once they stepped out the door they looked like 5,000 other people on the street. To My knowledge they were never seen again.
<o
Some of the funny quirks about being on main street , come to mind?<o
My wife and I were sitting on a window ledge at one of the rallies enjoying an Indian taco when a drunk, flying colors, took it upon himself to stand in front of Susan and mimic her every move, The guy was wasted and I really didn’t want to hurt him, he was just having fun, showing off to his club brothers, making a nuisance of himself,knowing I wouldn’t do any thing about it because of all the back up he had?Susan was getting scared so I handed her my taco and up-ended the jerk and stuffed him head down in the trash can at the curb.
His buddies mostly laughed at it!
It looked like some thing from laurel and hardy really.
Glad I had my heater.
<o
There where so many people on the streets that you could barely get through the crowd and yet most times,when some one would bump you a might hard they would turn and apologize? That rarely happens at a rodeo!
The guy who looked most likely to cut your throat turned out to be a dairy farmer from Minnesota.
The only way you could tell the millionaire from trash like me was to see what he rode in on.
Bums didn’t ride the type of bikes I built my garage out of spare parts (although I loved those old choppers) and painted with a spray can. (“Poe folk got Poe ways”) There were folk from Yale, and folk from jail!
<o
The guy you better watch out for was the one that rode in with a rolled up towel for a seat.<o
Speaking of seats, I was on the main street one day when a guy rode in on a red/white/and blue, Kawasaki ninja.He was also wearing a matching set of red /white and blue designer leathers, he backed into a parking place not to far from where I was standing and it was hard not to notice that there were clear plastic windows cut out of his pants that showed of his buttocks.
<o
I don’t think both feet touched the curb when a gigantic arm shot out of the crowd and knocked the poor miss- guided soul up against his bike and his clear plastic windows came into contact with the exhaust when he knocked over his star spangled nerdy ninja. (I will let your imagination play out the rest of it) Sure was funny at the time! He left in a hurry, kinda like a calf with his backside branded? That melted plastic must have hurt?
<o
The idiot was lucky he didn’t choose the Buffalo chip to commit his lunacy in ; his rice grinder would have been that year’s choice to burn in effigy to the Harley Gods!Now a chick would have been applauded for her obvious, feminine, sense of fashion!
<o
The feminine fashion at the rally ranged from the modest to the ever popular pair of chaps with a G string for underwear and set of pasties to barley cover her fun bags more pointy points?until nightfall and it all fell off.
These were invariably worn by women who could get away with that look and many a roll of film was burned to prove that you had actually been to see the elephant, as we westerners in all our new found political correctness, would say it!
<o
Inevitably some chick that looked like a berserk-o Barbie model in a leopard skin bikini could be foundChained to a parking meter in front of the bar.
I don’t know, maybe it was an advertisement?
Maybe someone chained her there to keep her out of trouble while he had a beer?
Or perhaps she was there to shock the sensibilities of the tourist?
<o
(The whole place looked like a zoo anyway and I never bothered to ask her.)I was warned that you didn’t want to try a free her out of some misguided hero complex, she would scratch your eyes out.
<o
During the rally it seems girls just couldn’t keep their tops on and many woke up the next morning with a tattoo, and have one of those “Gods, what have I done moments?”<o
It had always surprised me when the little woman was unmarked at the end of the week because the Rally had a power of its own and the whole aura of the place could suck you in.They sold all kinds of leather halter tops on the main street of Sturgis and I will tell you a story within a story/
Susan and my friend’s wife had their eye on a couple of halter tops and wanted to try them on.
My friend’s wife Kathy just tried it on right there on the sidewalk . But Susan being of the more modest type didn’t even want to do it in the alley behind the booth.
I was distracted by something (perhaps one the aforementioned ladies?) and didn’t see her get escorted to the rest room of a service station across the alley, I turned around and panicked when she wasn’t there at the booth.
One of the sales ladies told me where she went and I thought I better keep an eye on things. She was only about as big as a button and I always kept her within my site at the rally.
(I have never figured out how we got together in the first place? (Try, if you will, to givePolly-Anna a staring roll in west side story?)
<o
Any way there was the biggest man I have ever seen (he looked like the genie from the lamp) standing there with his arms crossed and said “YOU AINT GOIN IN THERE”!
My miss spent youth flashed before my eyes because I knew damn well; I WAS going in there no matter what.(I didn’t know who he was? I assumed her escort would be a female) And the gun in the small of my back didn't feel near big enough.
I was saved by her coming out wearing a leather halter top that looked like a rabid squirrel got to it before she did, but I wisely held my council.
Later in the day our friends went with us to deadwood and heading into the # 10 saloon, there was a couple old men sitting on a bench out front as we passed I heard one of the old boys chuckle in his old mans voice,
“Heh! Heh! Heh! There must be shortage of leather nowadays!”
<o
I guess I didn’t mention that Kathy was rather well endowed?I think I finally used Susan’s top for a chamois.
<o
I remember the time a big grudge fight promoter tried to set up a tough bikers match.Before the end of the week he was complaining in the Rapid City journal journal that he thought bikers were tough?
His big tough mans contest was going broke. You Know? I really can’t remember talking to any
ne that said they had saved their money for two years to go to Sturgis, and get the snot kicked out of him? It tickled me to see him fall on his collective ass.
The bungee jumping booth across the street made a killing!
<o
Speaking of killing: I was there, off main St., on the night, during the 50[SUP]th[/SUP] rally when a big old boy from Australia got hopped up on Meth. And tried to take on the police and everyone in the crowd with a Bowie knife.There sure wasn’t anything about it that is good to remember.
The man really was 6’tall and seemed bullet proof. It sure took enough of them to stop him.
<o
You know, I didn’t go to the rally every year after that, I started going in the other direction and only went back about every five years.I guess it’s really true?
That old age has mellowed more of us than religion ever did?
<o
I went back some years ago now, and noticed that that the place is more of a tourist attraction to my way of thinking; you can’t hit a NEW low without going to jail.Family's are prowling the streets with there little children dressed like tough guy wanna bee's? buying cut rate tee shirts that will last for one washing?
The accepted ladies attire has changed dramatically and not to my liking, I can see the same attire in a laundry matt. I think I seen a few of the women who, if they weren’t the same half naked girls from 30 years ago, they must have sent their mothers in their places?
<o
Maybe, I have just gotten old enough to believe that a guy might visit the ZOO once, a year?But I no longer wish to sleep with the animals!</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o</o
