Me and my old lady and a friend of ours headed to the Sturgis Rally Friday afternoon. We parked just off of Lazelle St. and walked over to main street. A hot cloudless day and the sun reflecting off the chrome from hundreds of rally goer bikes was blinding. I have never seen so many motorcycles in one place. Main street was lined with four rows of every brand, model and color of bike. Small shops on both sides of the street were trying their best to lure in the crowds with cold drinks and great deals. Looking at a few signs, I wasn’t so sure about the great deals though…$6 for lemonade? The Sturgis Rally provides South Dakota with a huge economic boost, just look at the numbers from 2018.
In 2018, approximately $786 million were spent in South Dakota because of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
We walked up and down both sides of main street in the blazing sun. Thirst was getting the best of us and we started eye balling all the vendors displaying ice cold drinks. Sorry, cash only! The old lady left her cash in the car and I had my debit card. I headed over to good ol’ Dakotamart and picked up some ice cold bottled water and we sat in the shade to cool off for a bit. Heading back to the car, up ahead was a giant burly man wearing a barrel and blowing some kind of horn. Yes, it is a little hard to describe and harder to picture. Another guy was taking his photo with his cell phone so I thought I would jump in and get his photo. Nope. Obviously drunk, or maybe not, he started howling about wanting 25 cents and that I was the paparazzi. I laughed and said I don’t have 25 cents thinking he had to be joking. He told me to get the F–k out of here. So that wrapped up my day at the 79th Sturgis Rally.