Sturgis

dropdown To imagine what "Sturgis" is like, you really need to go there; words cannot fully express the atmosphere of this small town in South Dakota (the middle of nowhere) when, each year, it is invaded by hundreds of thousands of American bikers. dropdown They come from all over the USA, and from all over the world, most of them on Harley-Davidsons. There are old Harleys, new Harleys, big ones, small ones; standard ones, custom-built ones, shining ones and muddy ones. The riders come to watch, to talk, to discuss, to drink beer, and to meet friends; but most of all, they come for the atmosphere. dropdown It was back in 1938 that the first wave of bikers came to this unsuspecting little town (the twelfth biggest in the whole state of South Dakota) in the heart of rural America. They had been invited along by J.C. "Pappy" Hoel, a native of the town who had a passion for "Indians" (the name of a type of bike), and decided to organize the first flat track races officially recognized by the American Motorcycle Association. dropdown In the year 2000 the Millennium rally brought 633,000 people to Sturgis for Bike Week, a large percentage of them on Harleys; but though the races drew in huge crowds, the main thing most people wanted to do was to walk or drive round Main Street and the roads around it. On bike or on foot, there was little difference in speed; either way, it took about two hours to cover the two miles from the town center to the interstate. dropdown As for the Sheriff and the State Police, they are always alarmed about the impact on the small tranquil community of the sudden and brief invasion of hundreds of thousands of people -- many of them tattooed! Police are everywhere, and it is said that there are over a thousand FBI agents in the crowd, passing themselves off as ordinary bikers. dropdown The press make a lot of noise whenever bikers are killed or injured; but there are not a lot of problems at Sturgis - and certainly no more than one would expect to encounter among an excited population of around half a million.