We got off to a later start this morning, around 10am, and decided to take a short ride through the Spearfish Canyon - about 70 miles return. To get to the canyon, you leave Sturgis on US14a through Deadwood and Lead. Deadwood has an interesting history as a goldmining town and scene of numerous shootouts. For example, today (August 2) is the 131st anniversary of the shooting death of Wild Bill Hickock in Deadwood.
US14a then heads down the Spearfish Canyon toward the town of Spearfish. It is not a particularly hard ride - kind of "twisties for beginners" I guess, but it is quite scenic. The canyon is very narrow and the walls rise almost vertically (pics). In Spearfish, you return to Sturgis on I-90.
We were back in Sturgis by 11:30am and headed downtown for a day of shopping at the numerous vendor tents. The action takes place on Main Street (pic). We are here early, the real action starts tomorrow and goes through next weekend. Nonetheless, there are thousands of bikers here already.
Mandatory t-shirts, pins, hats and other memorabilia were acquired and we had lunch and drinks at several of the local watering holes. Of particular note was One Eyed Jacks, a magnificent and expansive bar (pic) with a particularly attractive bar tender from Phoenix (pic). It seems that most of the bartenders and others arrive in Sturgis from elsewhere for the two weeks of the rally. There is no way the locals could staff all the needs of the hundreds of thousands of bikes that will descend on Sturgis next week.
1 comment:
John,
Send more pics of bartenders. We need to show the ones in Palm City, Fl, what a real outfit looks like. Hope you got some chaps for Suz (the kind you wear).
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