My USA & UK Trip After leaving the motel at Kalispell the terrain became very different, the route followed through rather flat and very similar country to what we have in the Orange Free State, and very much agricultural. There was a lot of farming and it was obviously cattle country because they were stocking feed for as far as the eye could see. There were no cattle to be seen however but I guess it is not likely that they would have the cattle where they are cutting and bailing the feed. The roads were also fairly empty but in very good condition, and the consequence of this was that during the last two days I made very good time and covered a lot of distance and arrived in Sturgis late on Thursday evening. On the road as far back as about 100 miles from Sturgis I started to encounter groups of bikes on the road, some in small groups of four or five and then bigger groups of 20 to 30 bikes. Contrary to the behavior of the Harley riders in SA there are a lot of Harley owners in the US who actually ride their bikes for big distances, some of them are so loaded I can hardly imagine how they ride and then there are a lot who have trailers. Some even open up like fold up caravans, I have loaded some pictures which I hope will give some impression of the ride and event. The center of the event is the town of Sturgis, but there are activities and people stay as far as 70 miles away. Some just camp in the forest. There are some camp grounds like the Buffalo Chip which have such a big event with entertainment and all types of facilities which are so good that the people just stay in the camp and do not really venture out to the town. There are also a lot of other saloons and towns which are fully involved and there are hundreds of people who ride out to these places for the day, I have just returned from such a one day out ride and I was in the town of Deadwood, which was really interesting. The feeling of being a part of such a massive event with so much to see and do is beyond description. They have managed to capture the spirit of the Wild West and somehow integrate it into the biking life and a lot of these fellows are so serious about their biking I do not think they do anything else. I have found it to be an amazing experience, today riding the open road with literally hundreds of Harleys thundering all around you is beyond description. At night I lie in my tent and hear the Harleys thundering along the road up past the camp and when the ride in groups it sounds like a squadron of Second World War aircraft flying past. All in all, there is so much to see and do, I know I will only manage to touch the tip of the iceberg, but it is just simply amazing to be here. And I will do my very best to have as much fun as is possible in the time I have. Tomorrow I plan to be in Sturgis again, listen to music, see the displays and just sit and watch the passing parade. The day after I will ride out again, there are so many places to see.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 02:21:00 +0000
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