Thursday, 22 August 2013

Sturgis Bike Rally 2013

I will start this blog with an explanation of what the Sturgis bike rally is as some people back home in Australia have never heard of it before.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, usually during the first full week of August. It began in the mid-20th century and was originally held for stunts and races, but has evolved into being a meeting for motorcycle enthusiasts from around the country. It brings a lot of income to the citizens of Sturgis. Today, it is one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world. The City of Sturgis has calculated that the Rally brings over $800 million to South Dakota annually. Rally-goers are a mix of white-collar and blue-collar workers and are generally welcomed as an important source of income for Sturgis and surrounding areas. It is estimated some 500,000 people attend this rally and they all have a motorcycle, except Rose and I.

As Sturgis is normally a small town of some 6,600 people you can imagine what a sudden influx 500,000 bikers does to it. A number of satellite camp grounds open up each year around the area to accommodate all the bikers - places like the Full Throttle Saloon, Buffalo Chip and Shade Valley (where we stayed ) are open for just two weeks a year.

Buffalo Chip Camp Ground


Shade Valley is about 10 miles from the town of Sturgis and like all parks it's not as cheap as you would expect - a mere tent site is $130 and up to $600 plus for an RV site for a week. Shade Valley has been in operation for a few years and they add a new attraction each year - this year it was a zip line ride. The more established Buffalo Chip is huge, ZZ Top was one of the many headline artists they had performing there and the Full Throttle Saloon had Bret Michaels from Poison playing - for $10 a head we couldn't resist going to see him.

To get to Shade Valley we had to go through the town of Sturgis - as expected it was Harley Davidson motorcycles everywhere - this was going to be fun. A trip down the main street that would normally take just minutes took us 30 minutes. During rally week the main street is closed to cars.

Our First View of Sturgis taken 5 Days Before the Rally


During the Rally




The RV sites at Shade Valley are huge at 50 foot wide as they anticipate that most campers will be hauling an extra trailer carrying their bikes. So sharing a site with Shaun and Sheree was not an issue.

Our Camp Site.



Now the story on how we ended up in Sturgis South Dakota during Rally week. One night when we were staying in Vegas we were sitting outside our 5th wheeler having a drink and a young bloke with tattoos stopped to admire our Bundaberg Rum sign. Shaun and his wife Sheree are from Australia with Shaun growing up in the town of Bunderberg in Queensland. Shaun's business is building custom motorbikes and he and Sheree have been in Vegas doing this for 5 years. His company is called Chop De Ville and they are currently filming a show called Chopdeville Unchained for a TV network. They tour the country attending bike shows in their 53 foot long prime mover (hauler) which is their mobile work shop - he is one smart guy. After parting ways in Vegas we kept in touch with them and as luck would have it our paths would cross again at Sturgis. He needed a "fill in" camera guy for the weekend and I was it - a quick demo of the camera and I was "crew".

In addition to building motor bikes Chop De Ville also have a selection of merchandise they sell ranging from T-shirts and caps through to Sheree's handmade jewellery and dog collars.

Setting Up The Hauler - Rose Doing Her Bit


Rose and Sheree all Set Up


One Big Setup


A True Mobile Workshop


Even at Night it Was Impressive


Chop De Ville were sponsoring a number of events at the Shade Valley Eye Candy Saloon - things like bull riding contests, best body paint and the obligatory wet T-shirt competition plus a number of other random raffles. As a number of these were being held over the weekend, and as the stand in camera man, I was required to film some of these events - the things a man has to do! Having said that it is all done in good taste and humour. Body painting is very popular in Sturgis - ladies of all ages get into it - some probably shouldn't but obviously 'what happens in Sturgis stays in Sturgis' must be their motto!

Body Painting at the Eye Candy Saloon.


There were two winners for the body painting, best female and male.








As Shade Valley Campground is a few miles out of Sturgis they provide a free bus service into town, stopping at the Buffalo Chip and the Full Throttle Saloon. Sunday night we took "Da Bus" to go to the Bret Michaels concert at the Full Throttle Saloon (FTS). This is no ordinary bus. It is an old yellow school bus with one very loud sound system cranking out rock music. Marker pens are given out so you can legitimately leave your mark on the roof. They also sell beer at $3 a can and shooters at $4! We arrived at FTS and after a series of seat changes got a great vantage point for the concert. Where else can you drive your bike through a concert revving the engine - a truly unique experience. In addition there is a burn out cage where some bikers go to "smoke" their tyres covering the crowd in burning rubber - all while Bret Michaels was pumping it out! What a great night!

"Da Bus"


Full Throttle Saloon No Cars Allowed


Full Throttle Saloon Here We Come


Where Else But Sturgis, Just Ride Your Bike into the Crowd


Anything Goes at Sturgis


Bike or Car?


A Great Concert




Shaun not only builds custom motor bikes, he also competes in a number of motor bike competitions throughout the country. There were a couple of competitions in Sturgis during the bike rally weekend and Shaun had entered his latest custom built bike in them. The bike Shaun has built is fully hand made - he machined and created just about every part on the whole bike. He entered this bike in the 'freestyle' category which means the bike is judged on his creativeness. A point to note is that this bike does run, it has been ridden and is tagged (registered) in Nevada. Unlike a normal motor bike it runs on racing fuel! The ability for a bike to be ridden is a pre requisite in some shows.

There were two categories in this competition - the first being the "Ultimate Build" which is judged by the other entrants in the competition. This is a hard one -being judged by your peers. The second category was the "people"s choice.

Unloading the Bike.



Once unloaded the first job was to detail the bike. Shaun and I both armed ourselves with polishing cloths, tyre black etc - presentation is an all important part of the show! I cleaned every tread on the bike tyre - I wanted this beautiful bike to win!

Detailing Before the Show



There were a number of different television channel crews conducting interviews throughout the day - in our opinion they seemed to be asking our Chop De Ville hero an awful lot of questions! We felt like we were hanging out with a real rock star! After a long hot day in the sun judging time came to an end - we waited for the announcements to be made.

The people's choice award went to Shaun Ruddy of Chopedeville - whoo hoo - wow! The last award was the Ultimate builder award, and the announcement was made - Shaun Ruddy of Chopedeville!!! Within seconds of leaving the stage he was being interviewed by the waiting television crews. How fantastic to see an Aussie bloke from Bunderburg doing good in the USA! It was an honour to be there.

This bloke is and will be Famous, being interviewed by Travel Channel


Rose and I With the Ultimate Builder Bike Winner




Most nights we were busy in one way or another at the Eye Candy Saloon - late nights or early mornings were the norm - the earliest night was midnight and on several occasions it was past 2am, we will need a holiday after this week!

The next big event for Chopedeville was the Rats Hole Custom Bike show which is held at the Buffalo Chip. This is the signature event for the Sturgis bike rally. People liken the Sturgis Rats Hole Show to the Grammys, as it only comes around once a year and it recognizes the best of the best. It rounds up the countries best bike builders and to win the rat trophy is the ultimate prize for a bike builder. Another long day as we detailed the bike and presented it for judging. Finally the time came for the announcements so we all gathered at the stage with the many other hopefuls.

First category - extreme bobber - winner - Shaun Ruddy from Chopdeville! Wow he is on a roll! Next came the "Best of the Show" which is the Rat Hole Trophy. The winner was Shaun Ruddy of Chopdeville - can you believe this bloke?

That's One Big Trophy!


Simply The Best



We are no bikers but as we watched and listened to people talking about Shaun's bike throughout the competition we gathered that he was a winner but we never expected him to clean sweep all the major awards. Well done and congratulations to Shaun and Chopedville!

As the overall winner of the Sturgis bike show, Chopedeville, or Shaun, gets one of 12 invites to compete in the national bike show in Milwaukee. in fact, as he won another bike competition in Las Vegas earlier in the year he has 2 entries into this competition. The winner at Milwaukee goes to Germany - good luck Shaun.

While in Sturgis we shopped, people watched, visited a couple (?) of bars and just looked in awe at the thousands of bikes that lined the streets. This was truly an amazing experience - bikers or not - one we would recommend to anyone. The majority of people seemed to middle aged and just having a good time.

It was a huge week, one we would do again in a heart beat! Our final night at Shade Valley was spent with the caretaker and remaining staff to celebrate a very successful 2013 Sturgis Motor Bike Rally. Dinner consisted of deep fried walleye fish, homemade potato salad and the best 'peaches and cream' corn of the cob we have ever tasted.

Our Final Night



As always its a sad time to leave friends and this was no exception. However we have agreed to meet Shaun and Sheree in Milwaukee for the National bike show in two weeks time, we are hoping this will result in another trophy for this great bike builder and proud Aussie.

- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Sturgis SD

Sunday, 18 August 2013

Custer's Last Stand and Mount Rushmore

We doubled back up to I 90 and then east to the small town of Hardin which was about 25 miles to the Custer National Memorial and the site of Custer's last stand. We figured an afternoon would be sufficient to see the park so we booked just one night. On arrival at the park they asked if we were heading out to the park, we said yes and they provided us with the audio tour CD. Nice!!

We arrived at Custer National Park had a look through the small museum and then headed up the hill to the actual site of of "Custer's Last Stand". It's quiet sobering to stand at the site look out and just imagine the bloody scene on the day. Standing at the memorial you look down at the markers which show the actual spots where the 7th Cavalry soldiers fell.

Looking up to "that" hill, Custer's last stand


A Memorial marks the site


Looking out at the markers


We then set out to drive the audio tour of the battle ground and as you drive you stop at the appropriate marker and listen to the background information of that spot.

Looking down to the where the Indians were camped


As the park is a National Memorial it also has a cemetery for veterans and seeing these all over the USA really does show the huge sacrifices made by the US military.

May they all Rest In Peace


It felt weird only staying one night and moving on the next day but we had seen what we came to see and time to move on and in reality Hardin didn't have a whole lot more to offer!

On the way to Mt Rushmore we had a lunch stop at a "biker" bar and a what a bar it was. The floor was covered in saw dust just like a butchers shop of old. The lady that ran it obviously was a biker and quite eccentric, short tie died dress, huge black glasses and covered in tattoos. It was an unusual experience and we can only imagine what goes on here during the rally.

The Bar at Alzarda


Inside The Bar


We were heading to a campground in a town called Silver City - this would put us close to Deadwood, Mt Rushmore, Sturgis and Rapid City. The Sturgis bike rally was building up but the plan was to catch up with our Aussie friends Sheree and Shaun, take a drive through Sturgis before the rally began and head off.

Our first visit was to Mount Rushmore - there is no cost to enter the park but you have to pay $11 to park your car - seems like a entry fee to me? We, like many others, parked a little further down the road in one of the pull overs and walked the short distance up the hill to take our photos.

The Famous Mount Rushmore


As Seen Through the Road Tunnel


Even the Trees Are Trimmed for Photo Shots



After Mount Rushmore we headed to Custer State Park. We rounded a corner and came across a large herd of buffalo leisurely wandering across the road which caused quite a traffic jam lasting at least 20 minutes. We had been complaining that we hadn't seen too much wildlife - Custer State Park would change that!

A Fitting Entrance to the Park


We All Gave Way to this Massive Bull


The Heard was Huge


As we continued to the town of Hot Springs we came to a junction in the road and came across a rather large colony of Prairie Dogs, not really a dog but a burrowing rodent native to North America. Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark, hence their name.

Prairie Dogs


Animal watching done we headed to Hot Springs for a late lunch and a beer. The drive back to our trailer covered what I would say was the most beautiful countryside I have seen, just rolling green hills that went on forever and ever. It would be lovely to see it covered in snow in the winter.

Just a Quick Beer


As always we try to fit in a bush walk and to our relief the are no bears in South Dakota so we were able to ditch our newly acquired bear spay - we did however encounter a couple of snakes.

A Great Walk



Not a Well Worn Track


One of the Locals



Our initial plans to head out of the area before the Sturgis Bike Rally began were suddenly changed by a phone call and an invitation to join Sheree and Shaun at the Shade Valley Campground which is located about 10 miles out of Sturgis. We were now part of the 'film crew' for Chop De Ville. What an unexpected adventure we were about to embark on!


Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Hardin, Montana and South Dakota

Tuesday, 6 August 2013

Buffalo Bill Cody

Although Cody was not on interstate 90 we made the decision to make the hundred mile detour down to see this famous town. We had read there was a nightly rodeo during the summer months so we thought why not let's go.

The road down to Cody was perfect as most roads seem to be in the USA. The drive was over rolling hills classed as high desert and it seemed to go forever and ever. Suddenly the road began heading down to the river and bang we were in Cody Wyoming. We often wonder what made the early settlers decide to settle in such a desolate remote place - generally it was water and there certainly is that but we are not sure what else made Buffalo Bill pick this spot to build the famous Irma Hotel. Early photos show it sitting in the middle of absolute nowhere.

One of the first things we did was the trolley bus tour around the town and local area to get some of the history of the place. As always we find this type of tour good fun and very informative.

The Main Street of Cody





Buffalo Bill got his name from the fact that he shot some 4000 buffalo in just over a year to supply the railroads with meat for their workers. Buffalo Bill was just one of many professional shooters at that time - hence the buffalo was almost shot to extinction.

Cody is also home to the Buffalo Bill Historic Centre. The centre is home to 5 different museums - The Plains Indians Museum, The Whitney Gallery of Western Art, The Draper Museum of Natural History and the one that interested me the most, The Cody Firearms Museum. As we entered I glanced at the art but the lure of guns was too hard to resist so I left Rose to her art appreciation agreeing to meet up later!

The Cody Firearms Museum houses the most comprehensive collection of American firearms in the world. The collection includes firearms ranging from a 16th Century hand cannon to guns of modern manufacture, and includes guns from almost every significant gun manufacturer in the world. The Winchester Collection, the heart of this museum, was transported from New Haven, Connecticut to Cody in 1976. This museum is filled with racks and racks of just about every gun made.

Rose Checking Out the Guns


I Think She is Loosing Interest?


Yep I Have Lost Her



The number and variety of motor homes and 5th wheelers in the USA is amazing. Our Cody neighbours, James and Carol, had, like many others, sold their home and invested the proceeds into one of the most amazing coaches we have seen. As we soon learnt it was a Newell. Newell only make a certain number of coaches every year and each has its own unique identification number. We were given a tour - wow this was one luxury coach - certainly a very comfortable way to travel!

After sharing a meal of BBQ ribs and a corn bake we all headed to the front gate of the RV park to catch the bus to the rodeo. At a cost of $18 we agreed that this was the best rodeo we had been to with the highlight being the bull riding. We certainly raised our hats to those brave cowboys - the bulls were huge and cranky, one even jumped halfway out of the shute before the gate was even opened!

The Cody Nightly Rodeo


We Were Looking Forward to This


Our Hats We Bought In Mexico Come in Handy



James and Carol (and of course Rose)



Whilst in Cody, Rose had been in contact with our Aussie friends Shaun and Sheree who we met in Las Vegas earlier in the year. These guys have lived in the USA for a little over 5 years now - Shaun builds custom motor bikes and they are currently in the middle of producing a TV show based on that business. Check out their website - www.chopdeville.com. They told us that they were heading to the Sturgis bike rally in South Dakota and as we were heading in a similar direction wondered if we would like to meet up with them there. We weren't sure exactly where we would be at that time but we penciled in a catchup, especially seeing we had a jar of Vegimite that Sheree was keen to get here hands on.

After 3 great days in Cody we hitched up our home and headed off on I90 east - destination unknown!









- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Cody, WY