Yup, Sturgis 2020 Was a Terrible Decision
Sturgis 2020 was dangerous, irresponsible, and embarrasing for the Harley community at large. We need to do better.
To date, nearly 200,000 Americans have lost their lives to the coronavirus. Millions more are unemployed due to shuttered businesses, and right now, parents are wrestling with the prospect of sending their children back to schools which may not be safe. There is no timetable for when things will be back to normal. We don’t even know what “normal” will look like yet.
In the midst of the pandemic, Harley-Davidson wisely pulled out of the annual rally in Sturgis, which is kind of like Santa cancelling Christmas. But while experts at home and abroad have implored people to wear masks, practice social distancing, and avoid large gatherings, 450,000 motorcyclists recently ignored that advice. For 10 days, the tiny town in South Dakota was packed with bikers drinking and partying like everything was normal, despite the fact that most residents did not want them there.
Now, we’re getting a look at the projected fallout from the event, and it’s terrible. Here’s a quote from a new paper by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics:
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally represents a situation where many of the ‘worst case scenarios’ for superspreading occurred simultaneously: the event was prolonged, included individuals packed closely together, involved a large out-of-town population (a population that was orders of magnitude larger than the local population), and had low compliance with recommended infection countermeasures such as the use of masks. The only large factors working to prevent the spread of infection was the outdoor venue, and low population density in the state of South Dakota.
The German nonprofit’s 30-page study goes on to state that people attending Sturgis are responsible for 250,000 new coronavirus cases nationwide, and that the ultimate price of the event could top $12 billion — even if there are no fatal infections. According to IZA, that total means each attendee is responsible for roughly $46,000 in healthcare costs. Let’s hope seeing Smash Mouth was worth it.
Unfortunately, the first Sturgis-linked death has already occurred. The Minnesota man was reported to be in his 60s, and died earlier this month. Cases in South Dakota also spiked post-rally. Because despite what some people may think, this pandemic is real; COVID-19 exists, and it has real, life-and-death consequences for people of every age, ethnicity, and socio-economic group. It is not going to go away just because we are bored of staying home and are tired of everything on Amazon Prime or Netflix.
Of course, not everyone agrees with the findings of IZA’s study. Upon its release, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem quickly fired back, calling it “fiction.” Here’s what Noem said in a statement, as reported by USA Today:
‘Under the guise of academic research, this report is nothing short of an attack on those who exercised their personal freedom to attend Sturgis,’ Noem said in the statement. ‘Predictably, some in the media breathlessly report on this non-peer reviewed model, built on incredibly faulty assumptions that do not reflect the actual facts and data here in South Dakota.’
For the record, the governor is correct in that the study has yet to be peer reviewed. And honestly? Even if every academic institution in the world were to go through it with a fine-tooth comb, an exact account of the human and economic toll Sturgis will inflict on the United States would likely remain unknown. Science isn’t always exact, and studying the coronavirus is surgery on the battlefield. So maybe, IZA’s findings are wildly off the mark. It’s certainly a possibility.
But with the vast majority of Americans staying home and taking precautions to fight the spread of coronavirus, what kind of message did the robust attendance at Sturgis — a gathering synonymous with the MoCo — send about Harley riders? That we’re idiots? That we’re not concerned about our communities? That we’re so selfish, we won’t let something like a global pandemic impact a vacation? That we think it’s cool to spread a deadly disease because “freedom?”
The ignorance which was on display at Sturgis was infuriating, particularly because you don’t have to look hard to find stories about groups of bikers performing acts of kindness. Search “bikers doing good deeds,” and you’ll get page after page of results that’ll make you proud of the people who share our love of riding. Remember this story about this little girl’s lemonade stand? It’s beautiful.
In the coming weeks, we’re going to learn more about the true cost of Sturgis, and there will undoubtedly be more deaths. How many, we don’t yet know. What we do know is that all Sturgis-related infections were 100 percent preventable. There was nothing essential about traveling from far and wide to party in a little town. There was nothing essential about going to a rock show there. If everyone who made the trip to Sturgis had stayed close to home, and went for long rides on their local twisty roads, our country as a whole would be better off.
As Harley fans, as motorcyclists, and as Americans, what happened at Sturgis this year was deeply embarrassing. We need to be better than this.
Photos: Ed Tahaney for HDForums
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