September 2006
Colleen Swartz
Riding the Rally, Sturgis Style
If you ride, you have to go to Sturgis at least once in your life. This is something that I repeatedly tell everyone I meet who rides.
I have been to Daytona Bike Week, Myrtle Beach and many other rallies around the country and although each has its charms and attractions, there is no place on the earth like Sturgis South Dakota.
The difference is the riding. When I am in Myrtle Beach I ride to get from one destination to another. They are all great parties, but if you want to go to a place in this great land of ours to see some incredible riding, I would suggest South Dakota every time.
This past Sturgis I was thrilled to have a couple traveling with us who had never been there before. I was psyched to show them the huge bars and Main Street and Lazelle Street and the sheer volume of bikers who descend on this little town of 4,600 but my favorite part was taking them to Spearfish for the Motorcycle Hall Of Fame induction ceremony and then on a fabulous ride through Spearfish Canyon, to Lead and then Deadwood and back to Sturgis.
It continually amazes me that you are on this flat, hot freeway, and then you exit onto a frontage road not unlike many other interstate frontage roads and you head out of town just a short way and suddenly you come around a corner and the world opens up before you into this incredible canyon that literally swallows you whole. I reveled in watching my friends experience the beauty, cool mountain air and winding roads that make this rally so radically different from anywhere else I know of.
The first “From Behind The Lens” that I ever wrote was on Spearfish Canyon and now I find myself revisiting that same feeling that caused me to pick up my pen way back then.
I have a busy schedule when at a rally and way less time for riding than I would like but in Sturgis I am more than willing to block out that time to relive the feeling and photo opportunities of some of the most beautiful riding in the country.
If you are not a fan of the huge week-long rally and don’t want to deal with the crowds and congestion of The Sturgis Motor Rally, then come out before or after the rally. Sturgis is happening weeks before and after the actual rally and I know many people who prefer it that way. The amount of bikes can be nerve racking and hard on those air-cooled engines, so mark your calendars and take the time to visit the place in our country that speaks directly to the hearts and wheels of every biker who has ever ridden it.
And that is how I see it, From Behind The Lens.
Colleen Swartz
Comments and suggestions are welcomed at bigshotphoto@aol.com.