I don’t care who sees me! I’m in Sturgis Baby!

few weeks ago, we were at Sturgis like many of you. We were glad to see many of you face to face and proud to see so many Viking Bags saddlebags throughout the whole week. Here’s a short recap we had our friend Sash write for us, quite the story I tell you!

“I don’t care who sees me! I’m in Sturgis Baby!”

Diana shouted at the top of her lungs as she pulled up her top and flashed the crowd. The Full Throttle Saloon was packed and the roar of the crowd overwhelming. The cheers were not only for my topless friend in the balcony overlooking the stage, but for the Midget Wrestling down below. I knew then the 75th Sturgis Rally had reached its full momentum.

For over a year I had been hearing from friends how I MUST GO to the 75th Anniversary Rally.

“It’s going to be the biggest rally EVER! You can’t miss it!”

Diana had been one to encourage me to attend. We rarely see one another, even though we’ve been girlfriends for a couple of years now. We run into one another at motorcycle events and keep up with one another on Facebook. But at this moment when my topless girlfriend was shouting at the crowd, I knew I had made the right choice.

Moments later she pulled her top back on and we laughed with excitement. Before I knew it, we were hugging, then kissing deeply. The craziness had reached a whole new level.

The roar of motorcycles, laughter, cheers, and music filled the air in every campground, bar, saloon, restaurant and street for miles. The party atmosphere penetrated every fiber of one’s being, compelling everyone to reach new heights of mayhem. Nothing would be regretted the next day, because everything was fair game in Sturgis.

After Midget Wrestling came other shows, including Hot Strippers on stage at Full Throttle Saloon. But out and about, there were group rides on every road for 100 miles around to sites such as Needles Highway, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument and Iron Mountain. Non-stop bikes were cruising Main Street with crowds at maximum capacity in every establishment in town. The race track held the usual 1/2 mile track races, and hillclimbs. The campgrounds held mini-bike races, concerts, and all of the other bars and saloons packed to the brim with happy bikers.

In 1936 when Clarence “Pappy” Hoel purchased an Indian Motorcycle dealership in Sturgis, formed the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club, and held their first rally in 1937, I doubt he could have imagined how enormous this annual event would become. Over 1 million attendees were expected through the city streets of this tiny South Dakota town for the 7 day event, but Sturgis Police Chief Jim Bush was hesitant to go that far with his estimation.

On patrol Sunday night, he said two-wheeled and four-wheeled traffic was the worst he has seen in 38 years as a police officer in Sturgis, including the last 25 years as chief.

“I don’t care where I went, every bar, every venue was packed,” he said Monday. “It doesn’t matter if you were in a great big bar, a parking lot at a convenience store or in a campground, everything I saw was way beyond what I ever saw before.”

But with bikers, the theory is always, “The More, The Merrier!”

Yes, while being unexpectedly groped and kissed by my girlfriend in the bar, I would say, this was certainly merrier!

Sash Walker rides alongside her husband working their motorcycle marketing and media business along the highways of North America. Riding over 46,000 miles in the 2 1/2 over 34 states, the Founder of Too Much Tina Media is a former beauty queen turned motorcycle marketer. In February 2015 Sash released her latest book, “Rude Biker Chick: Lessons From My Daddy”, available on Amazon & Smashwords.