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Hi Folks,
New to this forum but been riding 50+ years. On my second Ultra (2018) and wish I had made the switch years ago. If it hadn't been for my Wife's bad back, I would probably still be riding sport touring bikes. We attended the first week of Sturgis this year and loved it. Really loved the Black Hills area in general. Crowds, not so much. So my question to those of you who went, did you feel it was lighter attendance than prior years or same? I ask because I cannot imagine any more than what we experienced. Solid lines of cycles everywhere within a 100 mile radius of Sturgis. We stayed in Custer and did many rides, but everywhere were large crowds. In fact we didn't bother even entering the Devils Tower center, just parked outside and had our picnic.
Thanks just curious.
Had a wonderful time. Got to Sioux falls on the 4th. Stayed the night there. Left Sioux falls after visiting the park and the dealer. Got to the Missouri river and decided to take the 2 lanes instead. What a wonderful idea. Got to the badlands around 6pm local time. Ate dinner in wall. Hit the badlands and pitched my tent on the side of some dirt road. Woke up to a buffalo standing 30yrds from my tent. What a great way to start the day. Toured the badlands and headed to my campground. Set up camp about 3:00. Got an early dinner and went to town this was Thursday afternoon. Walked around a little bit and headed back to camp. Got up early Friday and hit the road about 10. Put on about 300 miles going to Mt Rushmore and all the surrounding areas. What a beautiful way to spend the day. Saturday went to the other side of town. Deadwood was hopping. Ended the day with about another 400 miles. I guess you could say I saw all the tourist traps. Went to town after a shower bought a couple t-shirts, picked up a pizza and back to camp. Headed home Sunday got home Monday night about midnight. Had a wonderful time. Ready to go again. By the way this was my first trip out there. I went solo.
IMO, busier than the last few years since the 75th. Tuesday the 11th in Alzada, MT was busier than I've ever seen with 2 mile backup on 212 getting in. It has for the most part replaced the Hulett on Wednesday trip for us. Lots of places had plenty of bikes.
IMO, busier than the last few years since the 75th. Tuesday the 11th in Alzada, MT was busier than I've ever seen with 2 mile backup on 212 getting in. It has for the most part replaced the Hulett on Wednesday trip for us. Lots of places had plenty of bikes.
Alzeda was nuts, to be sure, but everything else felt "normal" to me.
The consensus among the business owners in the central hills was it was pretty typical (non anniversary) from Thursday to Wednesday, after that volume went in the tank. Some vendors were packed and pulling out on Sunday morning because it was so slow.
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Sturgis Experience
