San Juan Nat'l Forest, s/w Colorado:

Five o'clock air was scented with Douglas Fir. We're sitting at a picnic table not 10 feet from the edge of a small rocky mtn stream, a foot or two deep, 20 feet wide, thinking.. there's not enough water in there for a decent size fish to exist. After firing up the night's hot coals for what would be pork chops smothered in peppers & red onion, & mozeralla cheese, (chops bought on sale .99/lb..), a pop-out camper pulled down into the mostly-deserted campground, to seek out a faraway spot, eventually producing three k-6 age boys, riding banana seat bikes, pulling wheelies out of respect for the ABM black bike. Chops stiknking up the campground, We munch, the kids are whooping it up, yelling, & peeling around, fishing poles & one net, on their bikes. "Yeah, they'll scare the daylights outtta every fish within a quarter of a mile, & won't catch squat" I figured..................

By the time I burned up the chop bones in the pit fire, the kids were back. The oldest boy, with a nice 2 pound Rainbow. The two younger ankle-biters soon followed, each with 3-one pounders, on stringers. Geez, Louise, one fishy stream! This area, full of great opportunities, lake & stream. North of Durango, Co. Fish, after it quits raining for 5 days to a week, hit the fist of a full moon, but I'll bet the bite is on, constantly, to some degree. Is it stocked? Who cares!

Best part?

It cost $14 a day to camp right on the creek. For another three bucks, you can have electricity! $17/day. With the free Rainbows, that's ABM heaven!

Keep checking the ABM blog. There's always sometin' going on!

Is This Baghdad?

A typical SoCal morning. 70 degrees, a little foggy, damp as we fired up the black bike, and took off on US1 for a ride from Oceanside, to L.A. via Laguna Beach, Newport Beach. Home to hollywood movie stars. Not many "for sale" signs on these high cliff properties overlooking the calm, aqua blue Pacific Ocean. Recessions are only for American working stiffs? At a gas stop, some woman warned us to use the interstate system instead of using it to get all the way to downtown. Thought she meant because of the traffic, this being a Sunday morning. After 90 minutes of stop 'n go, light to light stuff, the vague outline of downtown L.A. tried it's best to cut through fog, which, after comming down with a dull headache, (duh), knew this is smog, not fog, in fact, "smog inspection stations" dot corners. Buildings lining these city streets began changing along with the ABM headache's intensity. Beautiful landscape, palms, exotic flowers which were seen and smelled along the Pacific Coast Highway began turning a seedy side of industrial gray. Five hundred dollar window awnings morphed into 100$ burgular bars, and finally, vacant lots, trashed cars, cash-only gas... The difference is striking..you get the idea. Yeah, every city has a "seedy" side, but this town has a lot of displaced residents, some with signs saying... "I'm Starving".. Still, the L.A. air is much cleaner than another town we passed through...

Las Vegas:

Riding down & out of the southwest Utah mountains, 'Vegas looks like it's poised on the end of a giant tailpipe. Honest 'ta gawd, downtown is so obscured by smog, you couldn't stop to take a picture, because from the foothills, all that can be seen is the very top of the skyscrapers. Again, another headache. Thank your lucky stars that what goes on in 'Vegas, stays in Vegas. Going? Take a gas mask. If you really want to see a smog-infested town with it's pants down, look down at it from altitude.

Next: Remember the best trout fishing day you ever had, this could be better.

Free Plastic Bag!

"Pharmacia--No Prescription Nessary.."

"Coronas--99 cents--Three for $2.50"

"Tacos 3/$1.00"

Separating the US from Mexico is a concrete aquaduct, probably devoid of all biological life. We're talkin' bubbling spew from between concrete slabs lining the "river" bottom. Rio Grande supports life, so you'd expect Tijuana to look like crap, but the opposite is true. Sure, if you venture way off the beaten path, but mostly, it's a vibrant, clean (considering), and safe (considering) city. ABM spotted idential condo projects 20+ stories w/building cranes right on the border, could be for Americans? Bottom line, this place feels a lot safer than Nogales, but maybe that's a poor comparison.

Yeah, Tijuana. You can party every night, shop all day, for minimum dollars, and maximum pleasure. Merchants beckon/beg you to simply shop in their store... "Everything,--100% off, for you, today only, look, I give you.. Free Plastic Bag!"

Bargaining 101:

Establish the asking/retail price of your item. Let's say your lady wanted a nice hand-crafted leather purse, asking $50. You offer a lower price. To bid less than 50% is an insult, so bid 60%. They go 90-you go-70-they go 75 or 80. The art of the deal. Trick professionals try to get a decent retail quote before the negotiations begin. If you decline, listen while walking away, they may shout a great deal. Having said all this, we probably paid too much anyway, but ya know..consider it as a "pay forward" tip. Don't get us wrong, ABM is not into this haggling, but it's better than getting screwed.


ABM Ride to the Southside: "L.A.--If You Can See It"
(next entry)

Californication

Between LA & San Diego...

Oceanside, California. Borders Camp Pendleton, Marine base. Beach Boys got their start here. You couldn't be slighted for referring to this as the birthplace of surfing, and the west coast lifestyle. ABM rolled into town last Thursday, and found a brisk seabreeze, w/a high temp of only 72, fine, because to get here meant going through Vegas, then the Mojave Desert. More on that later. Oceanside's an "older" town, but to their credit, crime has been significantly reduced since '05. Any reservations I had about leaving the black bike in a local Motel 6 parking lot were dispelled by the end of the third day of my stay. Living in SoCal, for most people means, living within 20 miles of the beach. Florida is similar, but for every one person in my hometown, this area has at least 20. Just for the ride of it, one day, rode away from the coast, headed due east. After what seemed like forever, the surrounding hills were still blanketed with homes, the valleys filled with multi's & condos. To say this area is "built out", is an understatment of massive proportion. Build a new home? Buy an older one and raze to the ground, then put your home on the site. In spite of the home market, we saw dozens of new projects underway.

So Cal Bike Scene..

Rockets and V-twins are at a 50-50 parity. Mutual respect. We like.
Lane splitting is okay. Splitting a lane means moving between two rows of parked cages at an intersection.

Legalized Lane Splitting--Respect, Additional Safety for Bikers!

How this works, or if this is why cages treat bikes with respect, not for us to say, but lane splitting seems to create an "awareness" on behalf of cages, like they can no longer say "I didn't see him..." Allowing lane splitting should be a top priority in every state, especially those with mandatory helmet laws!

Beaches: California vs Florida..

Del Mar, Solana, and Escondito are graced with pure, blue aqua, not unlike you'd find in South Beach, or the Keys. Little rain means lagoons are full of ocean water instead of river runoff, makes for a real tropical feel around the inlets.

Final tally:

Sand quality, Florida beaches win, hands down. Too Many People quality? Florida wins again. Beaches in my town are virtually deserted nearly 7 days a week. You won't find that here, for sure. What's to like about SoCal beaches? Always blue water. Great surfer swell, every day, even on outgoing tides. People are mellow. Ultra-low bloodpressure atmosphere where everyone is into nature---don't know how they even sell any meat around here! Lots of people fishing, but it's really about the "beach" lifestyle; surfing, beach walking, jogging, and bicycle freaks. These people are everywhere, long parades of them--they start at daybreak & never quit. Want to feel guilty? Hang out at Hennesy's!

(who's up for a ride to L.A.? Is this Baghdad? Next American Biker Minute Blog!)

Brine Shrimp?

On the Border:

Great Salt Lake Shrimp?

Yeah, shrimp, but they're krill-size, so only a whale could eat 'em. Great Salt Lake is full of brine shirmp. So many, that when the wind blows north to south, they get piled up onto the swimming areas along the southern portion of the lake. Result? What should be blue water looks sort of brownish. Remember all of those pics of people bobbing almost completely out of the water due to the high salt content? In order to simply get to water deep enough to float, you'd have to walk out a mile, the lake is that shallow, and...brown.. ugh.

They must be Rentals!

Yeah. After seeing cars with 2,3,4 & even a half foot of baked-on salt hanging from running boards, you can only imagine what they look like on the bottom, and you were worried about driving in snow when the road was salted down? Running west and away from salt lake city, the baked, dry, & brown desert gradually gives way to this huge salt flat. At night, it looks like snow. Don't think salt as in a shaker, this stuff is thick, and sticky. Get some on your boots, it takes a brush & a gallon of water to wash it off. ABM's trip to Death Valley, and the sordid salt flat at Badwater Basin taught me to stay outta the salt. Nasty, sticky crap. It only looks like snow! The little town of Wendover supports the Bonneville Speedway. A few miles on down I-80, you'll cross over into Nevada. Soon as you don the mandatory skid lid, you'll see casinos, that means you're in West Wendover, glitzy, new, buildings. Lots of casinos with cheap(er) rooms than what's on the speedway side. Think they have a way to make back the difference? Yeah. Nevada. Legalized prostitution, but they make bikers wear a helmet...things that make ya go hmmmm... Nevada 93-south is fairly unremarkable as scenery goes. Found myself wishing we'd backtracked I-80 to Salt Lake, but did get to see a ghost town on the loop back into central Utah. "Old Frisco", a mining town, shut down operations around 1900, and by 1920, the last resident either left, or died. What's there now is leftovers of a smelting operation, with giant "beehives", where they'd cook up ore for smelting on a side hill. Picked up a couple pcs of iron ore, so heavy, it felt like hefting a chuck of a meteor. Pretty cool. No park rangers, it's just on the side of Utah route 21, just west of the little town of Milford. The road is good enough to ride in. We left it just like we found it, except for that hunk of ore.

Hurricane, Utah. Thrills in the Hills!

Yes, Hurricane. Pull out a map of extreme southwest Utah, and look for Saint George. Go east 10 miles on route 9, and you're in Hurricane, Utah. Ten miles off I-15, you'll find decent motels, for 49 bucks, out the door, tax, tag, title. Why Hurricane? Because this little town is only a dozen miles from one of the best rides we've ever taken! Get up early in the morning, grab ya some eggs & coffee, and get to the park early. If you're on a bike (and I know you are!), the charge is 12 bucks a head. What a great deal. You hit 6-9 percent grades, twisties, canyons, jagged peaks, not unlike the swiss alps. If the temp in St. George is 105, up in Zion, it'll be 75, if it's even that warm. How's this sound? A ONE MILE LONG TUNNEL! Be sure to remove your tinted shield or dark goggles before you enter, because it's freakin' BLACK inside. No lites, except for you, and it's loud-loud-LOUD! Again, my description of Zion National Park pales in comparison to the actual experience of this beautiful chunk of the old west--you punch out the other side, but it's not over yet!

Dixie Forest:

Take 89 north to 14 west, and go back over the mountain again, this time from the other side. We thought the scenery was almost as nice as the park side, lots of streams, including a roadside "grotto", spewing thousands of gallons of artesian well water out and onto a lake teeming with rainbow trout! Several people were fishing, a few more hearty souls were diving into the liquid-crystal-blue grotto, and gasping for air as the 50-60 degree underground water goose-bumped their skin. This stretch has many places where you can rent four and two wheelers, places to camp, and even a little cabin or two, but be advised, if you're staying for a few days, you'd better pack in some serious supplies, 'cause the nearest grocery store is 50 miles away. The black bike was running crappy, which bothers me to no end! That's when we reached the summit; Almost 10,000 feet! Dude, nothing runs right at 10k feet, including me. The air is so thin, I was high as a kite. Better be careful goin' back down! We were freezin' cold, the descent began, and at the bottom, my up front dual discs were squeaking like a rabid mouse. Finally Cedar City, and I-15. Going back to Hurricane, where a shower & a sink full of Coronas awaited, but remember the temp's. Back at 10,000 feet, it was 70. At I-15, bottom of the mountain, temp had climbed to 105! And you want to know why everyone out here wants to build in the hills? So there it is. I'd love to tell you exactly how many miles this loop is, but the chop hasn't had a working speedo since '06. Let me give it an educated guess: 175 hard miles, because most are up, down, or twisty. Hey, isn't that what we crave?
ABM rating of Zion National Park Loop? ...#3 of all time!
(#1 Death Valley, #2 Joshua Tree Forest-Northern Arizona.)

Next Blog: Californiacation of American Biker Minute.

Put this thing on my head each time we ride? that SUCKS!

Helmet Bias?

Irritating? Yes.

South Dakota does not require motorcycle riders to wear a helmet while riding, so why does the local newspaper always mention whether or not a rider was wearing a lid? Unless the rider dies of head injuries, how does the mention of a helmet add credibility to the news story? Is someone near the top of a news gathering organization biased in favor of new legislation requiring riders to wear helmets? Sure looks that way, when a helmet is mentioned as a tag to each biker accident story. Why aren't car accident victims mentioned as not wearing a helmet? After all, they're not required to wear one either. Hey Rapid City Journal...GET IT?

Sunday morning arrived as a 55 degree, cold, cloudy, drizzly, and generally clammy morning in Sturgis. From our mountainside retreat, the entire Sturgis valley looked like mom was steaming up a pot of cabbage & carrots. Seemed like a good time to leave, so we did. A 5th m/c accident victim died yesterday, as a result of a trike mishap on I-90 last Thursday. His lady passed away at the scene. People always want a semi-final count, so here it is: Deaths-5 DUI's-over 300 Misdemeanor Drug Arrests-250 Felony Drug-55 Between 1600-2000 tickets issued, and to the cops credit, around 3500 warnings..

Annual Sturgis Rally: South Dakota's Biggest Tourist Attraction..
Killing the Goose?

What we found during the ride through Wyoming.. A grocery store with almost bare shelves, and lots & lots of bikers tooling around. Could be lots of Sturgis riders are only staying a day or two, then moving on to remote locations free of high prices and cavity searches. The Disney World analogy is becomming an apt description. When NASCAR began it's push to go "family values", longtime fans deserted the ticket booths in droves. Is this happening to what used to be the world's biggest m/c rally? NASCAR makes tons of money on television rights, and they race every week. For Sturgis, there's only one golden goose. Chop off her head, and she's..gone...forever. ABM complains about this every year, but every year, it gets a little worse, and 50,000 fewer bikers show up. Is this the plan?

Stories we've heard..

Same dude get hit twice in 3 days: Out of state, he brought his chopper, and loaned his hog to a bro. Last Monday, they're leaving Deadwood, and get tailed by a cop, who pulls over his bro. Knowing there will be a multi-hundred dollar fine for not having a regisration, he turns around, gives up the paperwork, and next thing he knows, the cop has him lay everything in the saddlebags out on the ground. Two days later, the pair are riding hard on the way back from No Panty Wednesday at Hulett, Wyoming. Near the border (we ALWAYS tell you to take it easy 20 miles away from or comming up on any state border), the Wyoming highway patrol, silently waiting in a median dip, roars out & nails the lead bike in a pack of 9. After the Deadwood experience, the other eight bros decide to make a run for the SD border, waiting for the unlucky dude at an exit. He got a ticket for 90 in a 75. Cop told him that if the pack had stayed together, he would have simply "tailed" them to the border to keep their speed down. Somehow, they ain't gettin' the "ring of truth" out of that statement, ya know?

Wanderings..

Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona. No particular place to go, but ghost towns, abondoned mines, the great salt desert, including Bonneville, which is already packed for the BUB/Speedliner trials is a possiblity. The local Motel 6 is asking 79/nite, most others are booked, but after 12 straight days of occupying dirt, we're flush with motel cash!

Click back from time to time. If it's worth reading, you'll see it here. If it's worth talking about, you'll hear it on your local ABM affiliate!

Last Weekend,Til Next Year!

Happy Dudes..

South Africans bought plane tickets out of Johannesburg, bound for L.A. Upon arriving, they rented five Harleys and set out north along the pacific coast highway, eventually riding on out to Sturgis. After a couple weeks on the road, they could't be happier with what they found: America. Sometimes we forget how absolutely cool, and beautiful our country is, a big reason we travel to reach places like the Black Hills. Estatic would hardly describe the look on their faces as a long searching gaze uncovered more bikes parked on Main Street than they'd see back home in almost a whole lifetime. Americans, rich or poor, young or old, have easily, the world's best country for motorcycle riding.

Shocking:

Colorado, long one of the only American states with absolutely no prohibitive motorcycle laws is going nuts with new legislation putting "lids" on operators under the legal age, and Colorado riders tell us they fear it's only the first step in helmets for every rider. ABM has never been quite able to figure out why cage drivers don't have to wear a helmet, if we do. Aren't head injuries sustained in car crashes too? Also recently enacted, is a nutty law in the Denver area requiring all bikers to bring in their scooters for a decibel/pipes check once a year. All that's gonna do is make some shops rich, probably the same ones who'll (maybe) swap out your custom pipes for stockers every 12 months...

Do they get together on pricing?

Rally merchants selling hats, tees, shot glasses, patches, etc. So far, we've gotten great deals on some stuff, but for a "down" year like this one, there doesn't seem to be any "panic" selling, you know, $30 shirts for three bucks. Wonder if they had an emergency meeting of the minds? Hard core shoppers seem to be holding back on their purchases.

Last dance with Mary Jane is this Sunday.

Bands tonight include Marshall, & J'ville fave Blackfoot at the Boneyard, while over at the Chip, it's that Daughtry dude. "Lil Jon" does a freebie at the Throttle.

Fresh Garbage...

Biker Trash? Yep, we leave a lotta stuff behind, and according to the Rapid City Journal, tonnage runs into the hundreds. Top throwaways? 35%-Cardboard, 25%-Glass, followed by Food Products, Aluminum, and Plastic. Some visitors have been complaining that officials should begin a recycling program. ABM agrees. Our hometown is among the leaders of recycling cities in the US, and instead of costing the city money, the program is paying for itself. It'll be a long time before Meade County runs out of landfill room, but who wants the possibility of groundwater contamination?

Have a great weekend, ride hard & keep checking the ABM blog for more Sturgis '07 info!

Sturgis Needs A Tune Up

Rapid City TV station KEVN reported interviewing a Sturgis vendor with more than a decade's experience, and he says this year is the slowest yet. ABM thinks he's correct w/respect to the last half-dozen years. Pepper Massey is the new Sturgis rally director, and along with Mayor Maury LaRue, they'll need to take the next few months to figure out what's happening. Our take?

(1) It's the housing slump + adjustable home loan rates. Experts estimate that over a trillion dollars worth of home mortages will come up for adjustment by this October.

(2) Money is tighter than my dad with the car keys on my 16th birthday.

(3) Prices for everything out here have gone scalper high over the past five years.
(a) Main Street Hamburgers: $3 to $8.
(b) Motel Rooms: $65 to $235
(c) Longnecks: $2 to $6
(d) Gasoline: $1.50 to $3.50

How the city of Sturgis can help: (1) Lower vendor rates for the prime Main/Lazelle lots, & make vendors sign a promise to lower their prices by a percentage. Do more to make the rally more biker friendly. With all due respect, local enforcement has written the same number of tickets each of the past five years. Problem is, numbers of Sturgis rally bikers has decreased in the last five years, so per capita, the number of written infractions has virtually soared. Less bikers, same amount of squad cars = more tickets for the two wheeled crowd. We're only passing along what we've heard in countless interviews this week. Unlike Daytona, Sturgis is not in the center of a huge population area, so people have to commit to sometimes thousands of miles to get here, and if the wallet's going to get beat to death, they'll stay home. Having said all that, personally, ABM appreciates being able to find a parking spot. Sturgis ain't dead, all it needs is a fresh set of spark plugs, anda new air cleaner!

ABM Tip of the Day:

"Dungeon Bar" Main Street, Sturgis. COBB's might have a rough time navagating down the narrow stairwell, downstairs and into the Dungeon, but once you get there, you'll find a tasty "Beer Breakfast". Each morning, between 9-10am, all cans are one buck. If you come hungry, they'll make ya a nice muffin for a buck. So there, good value! A muffin and a can of brew!

On the ABM schedule for today: Test ride on an S&S Motorcycle equipped with the new "X-WEDGE" V-Twin engine. We've heard so much about this groundbreaking mill, we have to ride it. The guys handed over a pass, and we're headed out to the speedway at 11am to check it out. Listen for a full report in a future ABM. If it's great, we'll say so.

Friday, the annual American Ironhorse ride. It's open to all riders, all bikes. We really like this ride, because it always winds up at a far away eatery, and the AIH dudes put out a really nice buffet. Last spring in Daytona, we ate and ate at "Mad Dog's" on the intracoastal waterway. It was fantastic. First bike out at 12 noon. Cya there? Hey, it's a freebie! Plus you get a nice shirt.

Keep checkin' back in as we continue to report from what is STILL one of the best party weeks in America, Sturgis, SD. It's more fun than getting a warning instead of a ticket! By the way, that apehanger fine we told you about yesterday is only $20. Hardly seems worth pulling us over, ?

Swimin' Hole--$2 Bottles--$120 Apehangers

The 'Ole Swimmin' Hole:

Taking the scenic route out of Rapid City, stopped by a place advertising fresh fried Rainbow Trout. Waitress said we'd have to wait because the fish weren't biting well. How's that for fresh? On down the road, we dropped by a vacant stretch of roadside pullout on a wide bend of Rt 14, and right up next to a sandy shore with about 3-4 feet of COLD WATER. After a half hour of the Big Chill, rode on back toward Lead, and just before town, on a wide bend, found "The Hideaway", nice little bar with $2 longnecks, our kind of place.

What is that, a Hurricane?

What we call a 50 mph wind in the sunshine state is a tropical storm. Half the tents in our area of the campground were missing this morning. Either they blew away, or somebody.. "got a room".

Peeing in public will cost ya!

Shower room talk: Allegedly, one Biker dude watered the driveway between two buildings in Deadwood. After he zipped up, an awaiting patrol car gave him a ride to the jail for the evening. Fine? $700. That's an expensive leak.

More shower room talk: Longhaired dude says he hit I-90 after leaving the Whitefish exit, a half dozen miles up the interstate. Before he gets into 5th, the cops pull him over for 2 inches too high ape-hangers. $120 ticket, payable right on the spot. Oh, how I love our automated society. Back in Fla, they print it right out in the patrol car computer--4 minutes and you're on your way--For our convenience, right?

ABM's take: Bikers always complain about police. Police complain about bikers not following the rules. Because rally attendance is somewhat down this year, the cop/biker ratio has greatly increased on the cop side. More police, less bikers, the bikers get more tickets. If I were you, I'd put it up after 10pm. I-90 is like a motorcycle meat-grinder for tickets.

Check soon for another ABM Sturgis Rally update. It's almost as exciting as Brittney Spears in a short dress!

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly..

The Good:

Nice ride down I-90 to Rapid for a quick visit with ABM's local affiliate, "The Fox-100.3". After dropping by the sponsor's place, we took the scenic route on up to Deadwood/Lead. (Almost everyone now knows "Lead" is not named after the packing in your pencil..) We got on 14-a, and followed a nice creek which we'd shadowed earlier in the week. Way down the bottom of a hill, there was a waterfall, and a nice sandy area with water about three feet deep. Of course we went in..Gawd...IT WAS COLD...but nice. Working our way back toward Sturgis, we hit a couple of nice little roadside places, doing a brisk business, but the locals said it was nothing like last year's crowds. $2 bottles? Why not? Lead, the outskirts of the northern edge of town, it's on a curve so you gotta look closely for "The Hideaway Bar", right side on that wide bend, very nice people, clean new bar and furnishings. On the way to the swimmin' hole, we stopped by a place advertising fresh fried rainbow trout. Wish I could remember the name, but all Ican tell you is it's not the "Fish n Fry", but the other one. After we sat down, the waitress informed us that we'd have to wait some for our fish, because they sold out of everything in the 'frig, & the boys were outside catching some as we spoke..& the fishing was really sucky so there was no telling when those 'bows would hit the grease. Sure enough, we saw a couple of young dudes, one with a cane pole, the other heaving fish pellets into the brown water, hoping to chum up some trout for the pole guy. Problem was, every time the pellets would hit the water, a half dozen wood ducks gobbled 'em up before the fish got there. The 2nd pond's water was crystal clear. A young girl grabbed an ultra-light outfit, spooled with 2 pound test line & a tiny shiny lure, and first cast, she hooked on to a 2+ pounder! Right away I knew the muddy pond contained the 10-12 inchers they feed the customers, the clear pond contained the breeding stock females. Man, we shoulda stayed for one of them fat filets, but we had "other fish to fry..."

The Bad:

Attempting to do anything last night--After that great all day ride, we arrived back at the campground just in time for an afternoon deluge. Not complaining, ours was just a dusting of small sleet, but out northeast of Bear Butte, along rt 34, some areas took a pounding from baseball-sized hail. Rain was steady until almost dark, when the wind took over. How hard did it blow? I guessed about 45 to 50 at times, with a steady 35-40 for hours. Back at the Ultra-Plush, Maximum-Security ABM compound, at sea level, depending on what season, we'd refer to this as a gayle or a tropical storm, here it's just an afternoon squall. This morning, all the tents around me were gone. Either the owners put 'em away, or they're in the air somewhere over Iowa.

The Ugly:

Bikers complaining about law enforcement practice is nothing new. Two opposing forces meet: (1) Bikers who are out to have a good time--most are okay, some deserve to fork out some money for infractions, and (2) Cops with a job to do, most okay, but on occasion, the f.n.g. out to use up the yellow pad in record time. Here's what I heard in the shower area this morning: Long haired dude pulled over on I-90 after leaving the Boneyard headed back toward Sturgis: His words... "I wasn't even doing 65 (in a 75 zone), and the next thing I know, I'm sittin' in the back of a squad car being "----- out" because my ape hangers are two inches above my chest". Result? $120.00, payable on the spot. Item: Deadwood. Dude sneaks in between two buildings to take a whiz.. When he comes back to the street, suprise! Squad car. Result? One night in jail, $700 fine. (Allegedly, they told him it'd be $2,000, but $700 was all he had). Gonna be in Deadwood & can't find nowhere to take a leak? Go inyour pants! It's gonna be a lot cheaper in the long run, even if your bud's never let you live it down. Again, we listen, we report, you decide. So what's different about attendance in '07? Credit is tight. Gas is expensive. Stratospheric prices for food, lodging and souviners. It adds up, and what you see is the result. Every American, riding or not, is feeling the pinch. This year, we know that when facing missing a mortgage payment or going to Sturgis, the house stays, the trip goes. Vendors and local officials are busy trying to put some thick lipstick on this baby, but when all is said & done, we'll likely be 50,000 or more below last year's rally. If you increase the number of law enforcement officers, then fewer people come to Sturgis, enforcement will appear more strict, simply because the cop-biker ratio changes. Like the Moody Blues LP, it's just a "Question of Balance"

Today?

"No Panties Wednesday" up in Hewlett, Wy." You oughtta see the signs posted just outside the town limit. Ten points on how to stay out jail, and that includes "No Panties" Go Figure.

Rivaly Deluxe: Glencoe vs The Buffalo Chip

This Could Get Ugly..

The open mike announcer at the Buffalo Chip Campground announced the arrival of 30,000 guests. How many in Glencoe? A lot less, probably. No way of telling for sure, because we were denied a press pass so many times at Glencoe, there didn't seem to be any point in asking for one this year, but from what we've heard from a few bikers inside the place, there ain't too much goin' on. Last night they had Tanya Tucker. Rest of this week, it's 38, Smash Mouth, Joan Jett & Eddie Money. Over at the Buffalo Chip, the rainy sky parted just in time for Friday night's Edgar Winter show. RATT/Poison blew 'em out last night. Toby Keith's armada of 18 wheelers is inside rght now. Tuesday it's Grand Funk, Foreigner. Wednesday, Dale Jr. & Velevet Revolver. Thursday, Buckcherry & the Top Boys. Daughtry, Seether, & Papa Roach round out the week.

The New Kid in Town..

Upstart lodging & music venue... "The Boneyard" owns up to the name by having the back of the sound stage less than a hundred yards from the town cemetary...whoa. Don't come-a-knockin', when the bones are-a-rockin...
Beginning August 1st, and continuing through the week, this is just a partial list of the couple dozen headliners... Jesse Lang, Canned Heat, Corey Stevens, Foghat, Jimmie Van Zandt, Great White, 7Mary3, Pat Travers, Quiet Riot, Firehouse, Warrant, Ga. Satellietes, Blue Oyster Cult, Blackfot, Marshall Tucker, Crow, & Steppenwolf. The Boneyard is west, about a half dozen miles. Take the first exit past Sturgis, in the little town of Whitefish. We've been there a few times already, and it's impressive for a debuet venue. Local bars like the Full Throttle are doing several bands, no cover, no admission. Thin Lizzy was last year, swap that out for Molly Hatchett in '07, plus others.

Dude, Why So Negative?

Most bikers are in town to have a good time, and not berate others because they chose a different brand of bike, brought their rv, or don't fit the "tough biker lifestyle". For instance, this morning while riding down Lazelle, there's a half sheet of beat up plywood board with black hand-sprayed..."Welcome to Sturgis Trailer Week."
Yesterday I rode into town wearing shorts, tee, & boat shoes on the way to wash up some jeans, and got screamed at by a pair of crusty old bro's packing down some sloppy sausage bisquits...they were po'd because I wasn't dressed exactly like them. Man, give it a break. The Christian riders don't like the heathens. The Harley dudes hate rockets. Everybody who doesn't own a chopper automatically figures all chopper dudes are buttheads..

Where does it all end?

Brothers & Sisters, dress how you want, go to church if you like, pick out a motorcycle that works best for you and your budget, and ignore people who want you to fit into their personal lifestyle. Their blood pressure is already so high, they probably won't be around in '08 anyway!

I found love at the Laundomat..

Dirty laundry? Come on down to the Main Street Laundromat, in downton Sturgis, SD. Not wanting to wait on a line of people doing dirty clothes, the ultra-secure, super-plush ABM campsite was vacated at 7am. A giant pillowcase full of dirty towels, sheets, jeans, and tees was bungied onto the chop's sissybar for the four mile run to washer heaven. A beautiful blonde woman was doing clothes. She's from my hometown, who woulda known? Vendors across the street had some very cool Sturgis '07 hats for ten bucks. Just down from the laundry, cool hats with "Sturgis 2007..Stewed, Screwed, and Tattood"... $4.00

Softball Sized Hail Update:

KEVN, local RC/SD tv news, showing pic's of holes in rooftops as a result of the freaky hail storm that came through. People were dodging those ice balls, and diving for their cellars, like it was a tornado! Jeez-Imagine: You're watching Jeapordy, and a freakin' ice ball comes crashing into your living room! Wild wild west, dude...and just like rock 'n' roll, it's not for everyone.

Did somebody say free pork sandinches?

Lynn's Dakota Market is the only supermarket in downtown Sturgis. Their freshly ground pork has been a fave forever. In dixie, we pride ourselves on having the best pork & chick'in in the USA, but yesterday at appx. 1pm, I changed my mind forever. Local American Biker Minute affiliate "100.3, The Fox"/Rapid City and the SD PorkCouncil set up a giant grill outside Lynn's and for a couple of hours, gave away free "poke" sandwiches, hands down, (appology to the vegans!), the freshest, and best grilled pork we've ever tasted. No marinade, just some pepper & Lawrey's Garlic Salt. Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce on top...mmmm....saaannnndddicchhhesss.

Initial Sturgis traffic seems a bit lighter than at this time last year, but downtown Lazelle Street was jammed on our way to the Buffalo Chip today, and wow-the Chip concert area has been leveled, and sprinkler system put in. There's grass where there used to be dirt. Can I have an Amen?

Yeah, were supposed to give a complete band lineup in this blog, but ya know what? ABM got stewed last night, so we couldn't leave the campground, for our own safety, and yours. You'd see right thru us if we tried to make something up, so i promise to behave myself tonight(not)and get some kind of a decent schedule lineup posted tomorrow.

Softball - Size Hail ?

Yes, Virginia, Softball sized hail:

Right after enjoying a home cooked one-burner meal of fresh pork ("poke" to you southerners), over a bed of fresh pepper 'n' onion, in a nice tomato sauce, & smothered in mozerella cheese, someone in the campground began yelling about a tornado/severe storm warning, & sure enough, over the western sky, I-90 & Spearfish way, a classic-looking black flat bottom cloud, with a monolith trying to form on the bottom side. Wow. We were spared, but the southside of Rapid City got hit with Softball sized hail, smashing out windows in cars. It can't be too good for the paint finish either. We didn't hear of any local bikers being hurt as a result of the storm, but one town south of here had to put up 20 bikers for the night inside the local courthouse. Imagine, being hauled down to the courthouse is a good thing?

Bands tomorrow. Was going to do them today, but I lost my signal after doing the whole blog. That's all the typing in me for now, except; The boys are back in town: Thin Lizzy, thought they'd OD'd back in the seventies! Something for everyone this year. Catch you tomorrow.

Here They Come!

It's gettin' a little crowded around here, what with all of these motorcycles.. they told you what..? Every motel in South Dakota is booked?? (Uninformed touristos here in the Black Hills look a little confused, dazed, even stunned by the sheer numbers of American Bikers.)
While on the Needles Highway yesterday afternoon, one of them shot me the tongue, and i don't mean in a nice way! Who can blame them? Bikers are the freaks who take over for a couple weeks a year, leaving the hills to the tourists for the other fifty... Gee, what ya want us to do...

Stay Home?--But wait, I got more...

Check back tomorrow for some of the bands playing Sturgis this year!