Thought I would put up some links for anyone traveling to the rally this year! I will probably edit this as I think of more places, but here is a start!
IN STURGIS!
This is a general Sturgis link. Has some other great links on it and good info!
http://www.sturgis.com/
I always recommend a trip to the Full Throttle Saloon. You have to see it to believe it and the concerts are free!
Another great place is the Buffalo Chip. It is a campground, but they also have some great concerts. The concerts aren't free and they are usually only about an hour long, but this is still a fun party spot.
Glencoe is a campground across the road from the Full Throttle. Great place to stay and great people to party with. They also have free concerts!
One of my all time favorite Sturgis bars is the Loud American Roadhouse. Be sure to grab some steak tips while you are there! This is one of the bars that I worked at. Fantastic owners that are great to their employees, so show them some love while you are there!
Other fun bars downtown:
Sidehack Saloon
The Oasis/Fireside
Gunners
The Knuckle
Don't forget the races!! That is how the rally started! Support the Jackpine Gypsies and have a blast at the races that started it all!
OUTSIDE OF STURGIS!
Let's face it, there is a lot to see and you aren't going to spend all your time in Sturgis. Here are some suggestions for trips out of town!
Mount Rushmore (need I say more???)
Reptile Gardens is a fun little attraction. Great snake show, but my favorite part is the giant tortoises!
Custer State Park is beautiful, and a great ride. Just watch out for those buffalo! Seriously, these things will kill you. Don't mess with them. Just enjoy them from a safe distance.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally History and Origins
How did the beast we know as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally begin? Well, it has very humble beginnings to be sure. It all began with a motorcycle club called the Jackpine Gypsies, founded by JC Pappy Hoel. They are still around today. I knew several of them and they were all great guys.
Anyway, they started in 1936, and in 1937 they were a chartered member of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association). The AMA began to promote their racing events. This began on August 14, 1938. The event only featured 9 racers and a small audience of about 200 people, but fun was had by all and a beast was born.
Since that day in 1938, attendance has steadily risen with numbers in attendance now in the hundreds of thousands every year. Now the streets are packed with people from all over the world! And don't judge a book by its cover, because that grizzly looking biker sitting at the end of the bar is likely a cardiologist. And that hooker playing pool is likely a kindergarten teacher. That is what makes the rally special. It is that spot where people from all walks of life can come together and what you look like or what you do for a living doesn't matter. What you ride, how you treat people, and how you can handle yourself are the only things that matter here.
Want to know more? Here are some links that I found that I feel are reliable and useful. Enjoy!
Jackpine Gypsies Website:
www.jackpinegypsies.com
Brief History of Rally Origins and the Jackpine Gypsies:
http://www.sturgis.com/rallyhistory.html
Chart of Fun Facts Including Attendance, revenue, and police citations:
http://www.sturgis.com/2kstats.html
Bio of J.C. Pappy Hoel:
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?racerid=198
Anyway, they started in 1936, and in 1937 they were a chartered member of the AMA (American Motorcycle Association). The AMA began to promote their racing events. This began on August 14, 1938. The event only featured 9 racers and a small audience of about 200 people, but fun was had by all and a beast was born.
Since that day in 1938, attendance has steadily risen with numbers in attendance now in the hundreds of thousands every year. Now the streets are packed with people from all over the world! And don't judge a book by its cover, because that grizzly looking biker sitting at the end of the bar is likely a cardiologist. And that hooker playing pool is likely a kindergarten teacher. That is what makes the rally special. It is that spot where people from all walks of life can come together and what you look like or what you do for a living doesn't matter. What you ride, how you treat people, and how you can handle yourself are the only things that matter here.
Want to know more? Here are some links that I found that I feel are reliable and useful. Enjoy!
Jackpine Gypsies Website:
www.jackpinegypsies.com
Brief History of Rally Origins and the Jackpine Gypsies:
http://www.sturgis.com/rallyhistory.html
Chart of Fun Facts Including Attendance, revenue, and police citations:
http://www.sturgis.com/2kstats.html
Bio of J.C. Pappy Hoel:
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?racerid=198
Valuable Lessons From Howie
There are many people from Sturgis that I will remember for the rest of my life. Howie is just one of many that you will hear about, but Howie has a very special place in my heart because of a some very valuable lessons he taught me on a lonely night in an empty bar. I was young and had a lot to learn about life and people and will forever be grateful to Howie for the effect he had on me.
See, I didn't like Howie the first 6 months that I knew him. He was a loud, obnoxious, and mean cowboy. Not exactly my kind of people. I'll always remember his drink order, "double jack water with a lemon". A drink that brings out the best in no one, Howie included. It brought out a very dark side in Howie that led him to fight everyone around him. It was sad and ugly to see, so much so that I wanted nothing to do with Howie and cringed every time he walked in the door.
Then one night things got really weird. A bartender from another bar asked if I had seen Howie that night. I hadn't yet and told her so. She tells me that she had just seen him at the bowling alley. He ran out of the door of the bowling alley onto the street right in front of her. He threw his hands in the air, started screaming, and ran off in the other direction. The other bartender told me that she tried chasing him "trying save his little life, but that little fucker can run faster than you would think he can". She lost him and hadn't seen him since. She was more than a little worried about him.
I responded by saying "shit", cause I knew he would stop in if he was out, and knowing this story I wasn't about to serve him. I know the bartender telling me this and know she is a straight shooting gal. If she tells you something you need to listen. The other bartender agreed that he shouldn't be served. So then the waiting game began. How long would it take Howie to show up? And what would he do when he couldn't have a drink?
I didn't have to wait long. Only about 30 minutes. The other bartender had left by then and the bar was empty when Howie walked in. He strolled up to the bar and ordered his usual. I told him I couldn't serve him. He took it really well. He didn't argue at all. It was going much better than I had anticipated, but I forgot to factor in that there was 2 bars open that night, so Howie wasn't mad because he thought he could just go over to the other side of the bar and order from there. Now the problems begin.
Howie walks over to the other bar. The bartender working that bar was a very sweet girl that I liked a lot, but she was not good with confrontation. So I walk over and make the "cut off" sign to her so she knows not to serve Howie. I see Howie starting to get worked up, so I walk over to deal with him. It was only fair that I dealt with it. I was the one who cut him off and the other bartender knew nothing about what I had been told about his behavior earlier in the evening.
He is upset because no one has explained to him why he was cut off and asks for an explanation. I thought it was totally fair to be upset about that and that he deserved to know why he wasn't being served. So I explained to him what I was told, but refused to tell him who told me. So now Howie is even more upset and yelling at me that I am stupid and judgmental and need to take a good look in the mirror. Okay, all of those things are probably at least a little true, but I am not going to stand there while Howie is screaming at me in the middle of the bar. So I calmly tell Howie that it is okay for him be mad at me, and he can stay mad at me for as long as he wants, but he doesn't get to stand in the bar and scream at me. Time to start walking to the door.
Howie puts up no fight walking to the door. He is still yelling at me and calling me names, but nothing I haven't been called before. So I get Howie out the door and don't see him for the rest of the night. In fact, I don't see him for about a week. But, as I already mentioned, I didn't like Howie so I can't say that I missed him during that week. In fact, I didn't give the matter any thought at all.
After about a week though, Howie turns up in the bar again. The bar was completely empty. In fact, I was getting ready to close up. Howie is pretty snarky and asks if I am going to serve him tonight. I respond by asking if he is going to be an asshole. He loses the snark and says no, he is not going to be an asshole. So I lose my snark and grab a glass to pour him his double jack water with lemon, but he stops me to tell me he just wants a Budweiser. This is a new one. I have never seen Howie drink a beer before.
So I grab the Bud and put it in front of him. Normally I would just leave him to his own devices, but all my work was done and there was no one around, so there was no polite escape from conversation with Howie, and he felt like talking. I had never really talked to Howie before, but pulled up a barstool and started to shoot the shit with him. We ended up talking for 2 hours. In those 2 hours, everything I thought of Howie changed completely. We talked about everything. Where we were from, how we grew up, what we liked to do. We swapped all kinds of stories and I found myself really enjoying hanging out with Howie.
Then the conversation took a personal and more intimate turn. He told me something that broke my heart that I will keep with me always. He told me how he had lived in Sturgis his entire life. He knew everyone in town. But he was a wild one when he was younger, and although he was in his 50s now and not at all the same person, everyone still looked at him like he was 21. No one wanted to talk to him. People he had known his entire life would walk past him on the street like they didn't even know him. So he would sit at home all alone, until he got so lonely he couldn't stand it, and then he would go to the bar just to be around people. I was about ready to cry. This was a side of Howie I had never seen before, and it explained a lot of his unruly behavior. I was seeing Howie in a whole new light, and I found that I really liked him a lot. He was well spoken, polite, and very pleasant. He was full of fun stories, including one about frog races. I saw an innocence and a kindness in him that endeared him to me.
Then I did start crying when he told me that all he wanted was for someone he knew to walk up to him when they saw him on the street and say "Hey Howie, how are you?". I found it so sad that he never got to experience this. It is such a small and simple thing that is easy to take for granted. I wasn't even from there, but, because I was a bartender, most of the town knew me and I couldn't go anywhere without running into at least 3 people that I had to share small talk with. How could someone who grew up here not get the same treatment?
Howie and I talked about his drinking, and I told him that I enjoyed his company a lot when he was drinking beer. He acknowledged that the Jack Daniels wasn't helping him make friends, and he started just drinking beer from then on. He was a completely different person. One that was sweet, friendly, fun, and very likable. The change I saw in him was incredible. I found myself valuing his friendship more and more each day.
A couple weeks after having this conversation with Howie, I ran into him on the street. I walked right up to him, gave him a big hug with a kiss on the cheek, and asked him how he was. His eyes just lit up! His face was taken over by this huge smile as he told me about his day. I felt so good to see him so happy! It only took such a small act of kindness to make Howie's day. He knew that someone cared enough to ask about him, and the hug with the kiss was probably the cherry on the cake of his day, as he didn't get a lot of affectionate physical contact. I don't know who got more out of the exchange, Howie or myself.
Howie and I were both on journeys, and for a short time our journeys met on the same path. Howie learned to stop hiding from people. He started letting people in and his life was better and he was happier because of it. I made a new friend in Howie. I also learned that people aren't always what they appear to be. And that the smallest gestures, like a hug and a "how are you", are often the most meaningful. Anymore, I never underestimate the value of a hug or a short conversation.
I don't know where Howie is now. I imagine he still lives in the same trailer in Sturgis. I do hope that he is doing well. That he is surrounded by people that care about him and appreciate his fragile heart. I hope that I one day I will run into Howie again so I can thank him for the lessons he taught me. I will forever remember him fondly. I don't even know that guy that drank Jack Daniels anymore, and I hope that Howie doesn't either.
See, I didn't like Howie the first 6 months that I knew him. He was a loud, obnoxious, and mean cowboy. Not exactly my kind of people. I'll always remember his drink order, "double jack water with a lemon". A drink that brings out the best in no one, Howie included. It brought out a very dark side in Howie that led him to fight everyone around him. It was sad and ugly to see, so much so that I wanted nothing to do with Howie and cringed every time he walked in the door.
Then one night things got really weird. A bartender from another bar asked if I had seen Howie that night. I hadn't yet and told her so. She tells me that she had just seen him at the bowling alley. He ran out of the door of the bowling alley onto the street right in front of her. He threw his hands in the air, started screaming, and ran off in the other direction. The other bartender told me that she tried chasing him "trying save his little life, but that little fucker can run faster than you would think he can". She lost him and hadn't seen him since. She was more than a little worried about him.
I responded by saying "shit", cause I knew he would stop in if he was out, and knowing this story I wasn't about to serve him. I know the bartender telling me this and know she is a straight shooting gal. If she tells you something you need to listen. The other bartender agreed that he shouldn't be served. So then the waiting game began. How long would it take Howie to show up? And what would he do when he couldn't have a drink?
I didn't have to wait long. Only about 30 minutes. The other bartender had left by then and the bar was empty when Howie walked in. He strolled up to the bar and ordered his usual. I told him I couldn't serve him. He took it really well. He didn't argue at all. It was going much better than I had anticipated, but I forgot to factor in that there was 2 bars open that night, so Howie wasn't mad because he thought he could just go over to the other side of the bar and order from there. Now the problems begin.
Howie walks over to the other bar. The bartender working that bar was a very sweet girl that I liked a lot, but she was not good with confrontation. So I walk over and make the "cut off" sign to her so she knows not to serve Howie. I see Howie starting to get worked up, so I walk over to deal with him. It was only fair that I dealt with it. I was the one who cut him off and the other bartender knew nothing about what I had been told about his behavior earlier in the evening.
He is upset because no one has explained to him why he was cut off and asks for an explanation. I thought it was totally fair to be upset about that and that he deserved to know why he wasn't being served. So I explained to him what I was told, but refused to tell him who told me. So now Howie is even more upset and yelling at me that I am stupid and judgmental and need to take a good look in the mirror. Okay, all of those things are probably at least a little true, but I am not going to stand there while Howie is screaming at me in the middle of the bar. So I calmly tell Howie that it is okay for him be mad at me, and he can stay mad at me for as long as he wants, but he doesn't get to stand in the bar and scream at me. Time to start walking to the door.
Howie puts up no fight walking to the door. He is still yelling at me and calling me names, but nothing I haven't been called before. So I get Howie out the door and don't see him for the rest of the night. In fact, I don't see him for about a week. But, as I already mentioned, I didn't like Howie so I can't say that I missed him during that week. In fact, I didn't give the matter any thought at all.
After about a week though, Howie turns up in the bar again. The bar was completely empty. In fact, I was getting ready to close up. Howie is pretty snarky and asks if I am going to serve him tonight. I respond by asking if he is going to be an asshole. He loses the snark and says no, he is not going to be an asshole. So I lose my snark and grab a glass to pour him his double jack water with lemon, but he stops me to tell me he just wants a Budweiser. This is a new one. I have never seen Howie drink a beer before.
So I grab the Bud and put it in front of him. Normally I would just leave him to his own devices, but all my work was done and there was no one around, so there was no polite escape from conversation with Howie, and he felt like talking. I had never really talked to Howie before, but pulled up a barstool and started to shoot the shit with him. We ended up talking for 2 hours. In those 2 hours, everything I thought of Howie changed completely. We talked about everything. Where we were from, how we grew up, what we liked to do. We swapped all kinds of stories and I found myself really enjoying hanging out with Howie.
Then the conversation took a personal and more intimate turn. He told me something that broke my heart that I will keep with me always. He told me how he had lived in Sturgis his entire life. He knew everyone in town. But he was a wild one when he was younger, and although he was in his 50s now and not at all the same person, everyone still looked at him like he was 21. No one wanted to talk to him. People he had known his entire life would walk past him on the street like they didn't even know him. So he would sit at home all alone, until he got so lonely he couldn't stand it, and then he would go to the bar just to be around people. I was about ready to cry. This was a side of Howie I had never seen before, and it explained a lot of his unruly behavior. I was seeing Howie in a whole new light, and I found that I really liked him a lot. He was well spoken, polite, and very pleasant. He was full of fun stories, including one about frog races. I saw an innocence and a kindness in him that endeared him to me.
Then I did start crying when he told me that all he wanted was for someone he knew to walk up to him when they saw him on the street and say "Hey Howie, how are you?". I found it so sad that he never got to experience this. It is such a small and simple thing that is easy to take for granted. I wasn't even from there, but, because I was a bartender, most of the town knew me and I couldn't go anywhere without running into at least 3 people that I had to share small talk with. How could someone who grew up here not get the same treatment?
Howie and I talked about his drinking, and I told him that I enjoyed his company a lot when he was drinking beer. He acknowledged that the Jack Daniels wasn't helping him make friends, and he started just drinking beer from then on. He was a completely different person. One that was sweet, friendly, fun, and very likable. The change I saw in him was incredible. I found myself valuing his friendship more and more each day.
A couple weeks after having this conversation with Howie, I ran into him on the street. I walked right up to him, gave him a big hug with a kiss on the cheek, and asked him how he was. His eyes just lit up! His face was taken over by this huge smile as he told me about his day. I felt so good to see him so happy! It only took such a small act of kindness to make Howie's day. He knew that someone cared enough to ask about him, and the hug with the kiss was probably the cherry on the cake of his day, as he didn't get a lot of affectionate physical contact. I don't know who got more out of the exchange, Howie or myself.
Howie and I were both on journeys, and for a short time our journeys met on the same path. Howie learned to stop hiding from people. He started letting people in and his life was better and he was happier because of it. I made a new friend in Howie. I also learned that people aren't always what they appear to be. And that the smallest gestures, like a hug and a "how are you", are often the most meaningful. Anymore, I never underestimate the value of a hug or a short conversation.
I don't know where Howie is now. I imagine he still lives in the same trailer in Sturgis. I do hope that he is doing well. That he is surrounded by people that care about him and appreciate his fragile heart. I hope that I one day I will run into Howie again so I can thank him for the lessons he taught me. I will forever remember him fondly. I don't even know that guy that drank Jack Daniels anymore, and I hope that Howie doesn't either.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Introduction
Although I now live in Seattle, Sturgis will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up in eastern South Dakota, so I wasn't always right in the thick of things, but we always knew when rally was on because of the hundreds of bikes on every highway and interstate. It was incredible! I loved the sound of the bikes and watching them ride in formation. It was like a ballet to me, with the baffled mufflers providing the music, and some very skilled riders dancing on the open road. It called to me and I eventually answered.
This blog isn't just stories about the rally or motorcycles, although you will read a lot about both. This is more about the town itself. The locals are a fantastic cast of characters. There are ones you will love and ones you will hate, just like everything else in life. There will be stories that will make you laugh, and ones that will make you cry. This is a story about life in a town that most people really know very little about. I will discuss some history and try to show you the Sturgis that I know.
This will be the year round experience of Sturgis. Everything from the quiet winters with nothing but the locals for entertainment (and entertain they did!) to the decadence and debauchery of the rally. You will read about the transformation the town undergoes when the rally starts and when it ends. I have at this point in my life experienced dozens of rallies, all of them different, and all of them full of stories. Of course, names will be changed to protect the guilty. Innocent people have nothing to fear so they are on their own. Of course, the innocent people won't be making any headlines here, as most of them are incredibly boring.
I will be trying to post once or twice a week, but if you enjoy it you might want to subscribe so you can see when new stories are up. Next post will be a little history lesson of how this beast we call the Sturgis Rally began! Also, please feel free to share your Sturgis stories in the comments below. I'd love to hear your experiences!
This blog isn't just stories about the rally or motorcycles, although you will read a lot about both. This is more about the town itself. The locals are a fantastic cast of characters. There are ones you will love and ones you will hate, just like everything else in life. There will be stories that will make you laugh, and ones that will make you cry. This is a story about life in a town that most people really know very little about. I will discuss some history and try to show you the Sturgis that I know.
This will be the year round experience of Sturgis. Everything from the quiet winters with nothing but the locals for entertainment (and entertain they did!) to the decadence and debauchery of the rally. You will read about the transformation the town undergoes when the rally starts and when it ends. I have at this point in my life experienced dozens of rallies, all of them different, and all of them full of stories. Of course, names will be changed to protect the guilty. Innocent people have nothing to fear so they are on their own. Of course, the innocent people won't be making any headlines here, as most of them are incredibly boring.
I will be trying to post once or twice a week, but if you enjoy it you might want to subscribe so you can see when new stories are up. Next post will be a little history lesson of how this beast we call the Sturgis Rally began! Also, please feel free to share your Sturgis stories in the comments below. I'd love to hear your experiences!
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